The Sweet Taste of Desire
Author: carrickorourke
Title: The Sweet Taste of Desire
Challenge: At-Hogwarts, Gluttony and Lust
Summary: A Bill and Fleur Wedding Story, with lots of food and lots of snogging!
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Humor, Fluff -- sweet enough you might get cavities
Word Count (optional): 7170
Notes/Warnings: Lots of innuendo, plenty of snogging -- hey! the challenge was LUST!
The Sweet Taste of Desire
The darkness of the summer night covered the backyard of The Burrow and the farewells and well-wishes of the wedding guests could be heard echoing through the gardens and trees as Bill and Fleur left for their honeymoon.
Despite the laughter and happy voices, the backyard looked like a battlefield. Tables, chairs, glasses, bottles, and even articles of clothing were scattered about and lying askew. While some of the wedding guests were milling about, others were sitting around the backyard with dazed expressions on their faces. In the center of the backyard were the smoldering remains of a canopy.
At one of the few upright tables sat a group of people including Arthur and Molly Weasley and their children, Charlie, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny, as well as Hermione Granger and Harry Potter. All of them looked a little disheveled and shell-shocked.
"Well," Harry commented dryly, "that was a lot of fun."
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One Week Earlier
"Mais non!" Desiree Delacour, her long silver hair swishing back and forth, exclaimed in frustration as she and Molly Weasley entered the Burrow’s kitchen. C’est vraiment horrible!" Glancing at Molly’s blank expression, she translated into English with a heavy French accent. "Eet ees horrible."
Molly glared at her in exasperation. "What’s horrible? What on earth are you talking about?"
"Zee food," Desiree gestured around the kitchen at nothing in particular. "Your suggestions for zee food for zee wedding. Eet ees all too 'evy."
Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley stifled their laughs as Molly rolled her eyes and looked helplessly at them. The three of them were sitting at the kitchen table eating a snack of sandwiches and chilled pumpkin juice, having just arrived from a few weeks at the Dursleys. Molly had specifically asked the trio to return that day hoping for the extra moral support with the expected arrival of Fleur’s family from France. And, it appeared to be support well needed.
Only a few hours after arriving at the Burrow, Desiree Delacour, Fleur’s mother, and Molly were already going the rounds on what they thought would be the best food to serve at the wedding. Molly placed her hands on her hips and glared at her French guest as she attempted to control the frustration in her voice, "It is not too heavy. These are just some traditional English dishes that also happen to be delicious."
"But," Desiree exclaimed as she sat down at the kitchen table, "eet ees, what do you call eet? Ah yes, summer. We need light food, not zees ‘evy English food. Zee guests weel not like ‘evy food."
Molly glared at her and growled through clenched teeth, "Yes, they will like the food. They’re English."
"Not all of them."
"Almost."
"But, not all." Desiree also placed her hands on her hips and glared back.
Harry wasn’t quite sure how it happened. He wasn’t even sure the word contest was ever even used. Nevertheless, by the time the two women left the kitchen, there was at least an informal agreement that the two women would each prepare their own dishes and let the guests decide whose food was the best.
The three blinked in surprise as the two women exited the kitchen by opposite directions, both with proud, determined looks on their faces. Harry burst out laughing while Ron’s ears turned red and Hermione, eyes wide, kept opening and closing her mouth like a fish.
"This should be interesting," Harry said, trying to get control of himself.
"Yeah," Ron grinned, "interesting and tasty. Think of all of that great food they’re going to make."
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Six Days Before the Wedding
Harry awoke early and hurried downstairs to the bathroom. Given the large number of people now sharing the house, he figured the sooner he got in and out of the bathroom, the better. He arrived to find Ginny coming out, having just finished taking a shower. Her hair, while still a little damp, was brushed into the silky smoothness Harry loved. She was wearing a smallish, rather threadbare green robe which was open and showing a long white nightshirt. Harry stopped short and did a quick up and down and then focused on her chest.
As she realized where Harry was staring, Ginny gave him a cheeky grin as she closed her robe. "Do you like what you see?"
"Yeah." Harry’s eyes opened wide as he realized what he had just said. "I mean, no, of course not." Ginny raised an eyebrow and gave him an expression showing she didn’t believe him. Harry blushed. "Well, okay, maybe a little." Ginny gave him another disbelieving look and his face turned bright red as he mumbled, "Okay, yes, I did like what I saw."
Ginny giggled, stepped a little closer and looked up into Harry’s eyes. "That doesn’t sound like something someone who just broke up with his girlfriend should say."
Harry gave a stuttering, incomprehensible reply that Ginny quieted by stepping even closer, reaching up and planting a kiss on his lips. He looked at her in surprise and then returned her kiss. After a moment or so, their lips parted and they looked intently at one another.
"Gi-Ginny, I don’t know . . ."
"You don’t know what, Harry?" Ginny stared at him defiantly. "What is it you don’t know?"
Harry shifted uncomfortably. "It’s just that we broke up and . . ."
"We broke up because you wanted to protect me. I understand and that’s why yesterday I acted like nothing more than a friend. I had to keep up the appearance we’re no longer an item." Ginny put her hand up to Harry’s face. "But you can’t tell me you don’t feel anything for me. I know you do. And you know I’m still interested in you. So, I’ll keep up the little act that we’re not together, but in private, I’m going to snog the hell out of you. Is that a problem?"
The fire in Ginny’s eyes was contagious and, by the time Ginny was finished, Harry pulled her close to him and kissed her hard as she wrapped her arms around his neck. After several moments they separated as he tried to catch his breath. "You don’t mind keeping it secret?"
"Does it look it?" Ginny grinned.
"I guess not." Harry pulled her close to him and they again started kissing. Ginny ran her hands through Harry’s hair and did her best to pull him even closer to him as she deepened the kiss. After several minutes, Harry pulled himself away from Ginny. She gave him a questioning look and then gave a little gasp as he quickly untied and opened her robe and reached in under it. Blushing, Ginny gently pushed his hands away and closed her robe.
"Sorry, Harry. We’re not ready yet to move to that level." She reached up and kissed him one more time before turning around and walking to her bedroom door. Watching her hips sway, Harry swallowed hard and quietly groaned.
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Two Days Before the Wedding
The Burrow kitchen was a scene of frantic activity as Molly rushed about with food preparations. Several mixing bowls were sitting on the counters with spoons turning at different speeds, dependent upon the ingredients being stirred. Upon the table were cutting boards and paring knives quickly slicing and dicing various vegetables. Also in the kitchen were Ginny, Hermione, and Harry who were scurrying about assisting where they could.
"Where is Ron?" Hermione growled, wiping a bead of sweat from her brow.
"He’s fraternizing with the enemy," Ginny scowled.
"Now, now, Ginny," Molly frowned in concern as she turned from the fry pans on the stove, "Mrs. Delacour and her family are our guests, not the enemy."
"Oh, really?" Ginny asked with an innocent look on her face. "Is it normal for the bride’s family to set up their own kitchen out back because they’re having a competition with the groom’s family? I’ve never read about that in Fleur’s bridal magazines."
Molly had an embarrassed look on her face. "Well, it’s just a friendly little competition, it isn’t like . . ."
Ron’s walking through the door from the outside interrupted molly. He had glazed-over eyes, a far away look on his face and the remains of some kind of sauce on his lips. All four turned and stared at him as he sank absent-mindedly into a chair.
"You’ve been out flirting with Gabrielle again," Hermione said with a hurt expression on her face.
"N-not really," Ron replied unconvincingly.
"Oh for heaven’s sake, Ron, she’s twelve years old!"
"She’s mature for her age though . . ."
Ginny punched him and Ron seemed to come out of his daze. He quickly glanced around at his mum who was giving him a very disapproving look.
"Sure you don’t want to finish that, Ron?" Hermione asked through clenched teeth.
"Uh, no. Look, I’m sorry, Hermione."
"Don’t you feel a little foolish? I mean, she’s only twe . . ."
"Yes! I know she’s only twelve." Ron cut in with a frustrated tone.
Harry stepped in trying to avoid a big blowup between his friends. "Hermione, I don’t think Ron’s completely to blame for the way he’s acting around Gabrielle. Remember, she’s Fleur’s sister. She’s also part Veela and obviously has Veela powers over males."
"Yeah," Hermione retorted, "well, it doesn’t seem to bother you."
"Oh, it affects Harry," Ginny replied with a chuckle. "You just don’t notice because you’re paying more attention to Ron." Harry muttered under his breath as Ron nodded in agreement. Hermione was not impressed.
"If you’re being bewitched by the Veela magic then why do you keep going out there? Why don’t you just stay away from Gabrielle?"
"Because, they give me food. Every time I go out there, either Gabrielle or her mum let me sample what they’re preparing. And," Ron added as he glared at those around him, "they’re always nice to me."
Molly pinched her lips. "Well, I’m sorry. Here, start peeling potatoes." Ron grumbled under his breath but aimed his wand at the mound of potatoes and got to work.
After several minutes, Molly looked up from her work. "Ron, you said you’ve tasted some of their food?"
"Uh, yes."
"How was it?"
"What do you mean, how was it?"
"Well," Molly asked in frustration, "did it taste good or not? What sort of things is she fixing?"
"Yeah. Yeah, it tasted real good." Both Ginny and Hermione grimaced and shook their heads behind Molly’s back. He noticed and immediately began to back pedal. "But, but, it’s not as good as your food."
Molly didn’t seem to believe Ron. "Oh, she’s going to beat me and I just can’t take that. Not with our whole family here."
"Mum, she’s not going to beat you." Ginny said soothingly.
She grumbled under her breath and banged some pots and pans around. After a moment or so, she turned to Ron and told him to go out to the garden and pick some cabbages. He got a happy expression on his face as he headed for the door until Hermione, realizing where he was going, grabbed his arm and told him she’d help. He merely nodded and the two went out. Molly then turned to Ginny. "Ginny, would you and Harry mind going upstairs and bringing down the big bag of flour? I think I’ve finally got room in the pantry for it."
Harry followed Ginny up the stairs to her parents’ room but hesitated a moment as she opened the door and went in. She turned and smiled.
"Well Harry, are you going to come in or are you afraid I’ll throw you down on the bed and have my way with you?"
Harry’s mouth dropped open and he stared wide-eyed at Ginny who burst out laughing, grabbed his arm and pulled him into the room. "What are you worried about? We’re not even boyfriend and girlfriend anymore.
Harry grinned as he closed the door and pushed Ginny up against it. "I guess we better not tell anybody about how much we’ve been snogging this week. They might not believe us." With that he leaned in and proceeded to kiss her . . .
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One Day Before the Wedding
"So, why are you here?"
The question had come from a very frazzled-looking Molly to two very relaxed-looking twins. Fred and George were sitting casually sipping coffee at the kitchen table, which was piled high with the remains of almost a week of frantic food preparation.
"We’ve been working on a surprise Bill had us make for the festivities tomorrow," Fred replied with a mischievous grin.
"And also a surprise of our own," George added with a similar grin.
"Oh, I’m sure Fleur will be happy about that," Hermione muttered skeptically. All of a sudden she had an expression on her face as if she had had an epiphany. "No," she said slowly, "she won’t be happy at all." She turned to the twins with a big smile. "That sounds great. Go finish working on the surprises."
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The Day of the Wedding -- Morning
Harry was waiting in the hall to escort Hermione out to the chairs he and Ron had spent two hours arranging. He was very tired and his eyes drifted shut. He jumped in surprise with the sound of a very loud "'Ello ‘arry. Ow are you doing?"
Harry turned to see Gabrielle walking toward him. She had a big smile and her beautiful silver hair was flowing behind her. She was wearing some type of gold dress that looked very nice on her. His full attention was on Gabrielle who was smiling and flirting with him. Deep down, Harry knew Gabrielle had turned on her Veela charm, but it didn’t matter. All that seemed to matter to Harry was that it was, all of a sudden, very warm and Gabrielle was very enticing. Harry just wanted to talk to her, impress her, hold her, kiss her, and . . .
Harry started, as if coming out of a trance. There was an angry voice saying, "For hell’s sake, Harry. You’re acting like some kind of googly-eyed prat!"
"Wha--what?" was all Harry could manage. He turned and noted Ginny was wearing the same type of gold dress Gabrielle was since they were both bridesmaids. She looked very nice in her dress, but before Harry could compliment her, she shook her head in frustration.
"Oh, never mind." With that, she went back into her room to finish doing her make-up.
Harry looked at Gabrielle who gave him an innocent smile and said in a more quiet voice, "I’m sorry, ‘arry. I really can’t ‘elp eet. Eef I am attracted to someone, well, c’est la vie."
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The Day of the Wedding -- Early Evening
Harry came into the Burrow kitchen to see it filled with people sitting and relaxing after the wedding ceremony. Ginny was sitting near the end of the table looking much more relaxed now that the actual wedding ceremony was over. Ron was sitting next to her with Hermione on his lap and next to them were the twins, Fred with Angelina Johnson on his lap, and Neville and Luna, and finally Charlie. Harry found the remaining vacant chair at the other end of the table, sat down and poured himself a glass of ice cold pumpkin juice. He took a long drink and then looked around at the rest of the table.
"Well, that was a nice ceremony, and they both looked happy. By the way, where are the bride and groom?"
"Fleur and Bill went up to his room to freshen up," Charlie responded with a straight face.
"They both went to freshen up?" Harry looked at Charlie and then some of the others. The twins were smirking, Ginny had a big grin on her face while Hermione was blushing. Harry gave them a questioning look.
"What?" Ginny rolled her eyes as Ron broke out laughing.
"I bet they’re up there celebrating privately."
At that moment Molly entered the kitchen and frantically glanced around at the relaxing group. "What are you all doing sitting there? We have guests out in the back and a lot of food to serve."
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Later That Evening
In a short time, the serving tables were laden with delicious-looking dishes of food. They were located on either side of a spacious canopy tent with a large wedding cake on a small table in the middle of the tent.
The wedding guests made their way to the tables, the one on the east side being food prepared by Molly Weasley and the food on the west side prepared by Desiree Delacour. To make sure people would know whose food was on which table, there were signs floating in the air. Over Molly’s table the sign read, "Molly’s good old English food," and Desiree’s sign stated, "Desiree’s elegant French cuisine." Both tables offered a delectable delight of fabulous cuisine and the guests greedily snatched the offerings up.
While all of the food was good, the item getting the most attention was what looked like little crème puffs. They were located at the end of Desiree Delacour’s section and were, by far the most popular of all the dishes. That did not sit well with Molly.
"She made a dessert!" she whispered indignantly. "She knew we were going to be serving wedding cake and she still made a dessert. That was against the rules."
"Were there actually rules?" Harry asked bewilderedly.
Molly cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Well, no. But . . . but, there should have been." Molly glared at the throng of people gathered around the end of the other table and muttered under her breath as several guests left her table and went over to the other table. "Why is everyone eating so many of those little things?"
"Becaush thew good!" Ron answered, as he shoved another crème puff into an already full mouth. "Yum, really good." A giggling Gabrielle Delacour followed him close behind.
"Ron, I do not think you should be eating so many of zeese. You should only eat one or two. If you eat more, you weel be . . ." She stopped mid-sentence and seemed to get a sly look on her face and then a broad smile. "Uh, never mind. Eat, eat . . . et bonne appetite." Hermione scowled as Gabrielle floated back toward the table where her mother and a couple of others were frantically refilling the serving trays holding the puffs.
Desiree was practically yelling, "Mais non! Mais non! You English are eating too many of zeese. Eat only one or two! C’est dangereux de manger plus d’un ou deux des morceaux."
The guests, however, were not listening. They continued to scoop up the dessert. Angelina and Fred were feeding each other while Harry kept taking them from Ginny’s plate. Even Arthur was going for seconds and thirds.
"Arthur," Molly scolded as he sheepishly walked back over to her, "why are you eating that?"
"It’s good, Molly. You should try one."
"No," Molly peevishly replied. "I’m not going to have one."
Hermione nodded in agreement. "I won’t have any either. I’m supporting you completely."
Molly thanked Hermione. "I don’t even know for sure what these little things are called."
"Madame Delacour called them les morceaux de la passion. It means, uh . . ., yeah, bites of passion."
"Well," Molly huffed, "I don’t know if we should even be serving something with a name like that."
"Oh, fow the love of Muhlin," Ron complained, mouth still full of crème puffs. "It’s not like it’s going to do anything."
Molly gave Ron a withering look and then turned back to her table to make sure the platters were still full. Hermione turned on Ron. "Ron, you should be ashamed to be eating . . ." Ron stopped Hermione’s scolding by shoving one of the crème puffs into her mouth. Her look of surprise turned to one of pleasure as the taste registered. "Ooh, that’s really good." She turned around to see if Molly was looking at them. She wasn’t and Hermione grabbed two or three more puffs from Ron’s plate. "These are really good, but I can’t let Molly see me eating any. I promised her I wouldn’t, and the name is rather scandalous."
"Oh yeah," Ron intoned sarcastically, "just horrible." With that, he fought his way through the crowd to grab a few more of the quickly disappearing crème puffs. When he returned to Hermione’s side she again sneaked a few of them.
By the time the dinner was over and the band had begun playing, the sexual tension between the various guests was almost palpable. The Pendle Witches, a band made up of four witches and wizards, played a slow song to which Bill and Fleur danced. The next song was a faster-beat number and the majority of the attendees were on the dance floor gyrating to the music and flirting with one another.
Molly came out of the house, followed by Ginny and Hermione, all three carrying large trays of food. They gasped in surprise at the scene that met their eyes. Even though the music was fast-paced, several of the couples were dancing slowly and snogging. Others, including Fred and Angelina who were bumping and grinding, were dancing suggestively and a few even appeared to be undressing. "Arthur. Arthur! Come here, Arthur." Molly waved frantically at Arthur, who seemed to enjoy watching the dancing and snogging. He approached his wife at a leisurely gait and with a big grin on his face. Harry, who had also been watching the dancing, followed at a short distance because he really wanted to dance with Ginny or, better yet, snog her.
"Arthur, I know weddings are supposed to make people more romantic, but this is ridiculous. What has got into everyone? And why do you have that silly grin on your face?"
"I don’t know, Mollywobbles," Arthur replied with an even larger smile. He reached forward and pulled Molly into his arms causing her to drop the tray she was holding. "But I do know I want to take you to bed."
Molly’s eyes went wide and she glanced back at Ginny and Hermione, both of whom were staring open-mouthed at the couple. "Arthur, what has gotten into you? Don’t say that in front of the children." The girls shot each other an exasperated look but couldn’t help hiding their grins as Arthur continued to kiss Molly and whisper in her ear. Molly, however, was still looking about frantically with a mixture of embarrassment at Arthur’s open display of affection and shock at the intimate activities of other couples. She wrestled her self away from Arthur and sputtered, "Oh, now that’s just too much."
"What Molly?" Arthur had a puzzled expression on his face. "You usually like me to nibble on your ear."
"It’s not that, Arthur," Molly relied impatiently, "you need to tell Nigel and Sophie Wandswanner that a wedding celebration is not the appropriate place to undress."
Arthur, the girls, and Harry all turned in the direction Molly was staring. Ginny gave an embarrassed giggle as Hermione gasped. Harry looked for something to support himself, he was laughing so loud. Arthur, on the other hand, gave an angry oath as he hurried over to the under-clothed, over-sexed couple. "Oh for the love of Merlin. Nigel! What are you doing?"
Molly was about to follow when Desiree Delacour came racing up with a horrified expression. "Zeese ees horrible. You English, you do not know how to do things een . . . what ees eet called? Uh . . . moderation."
Molly blinked owlishly at her in puzzlement. "Desiree, what are you talking about?"
Desiree Delacour motioned frantically around her. "Zeese! I am talking about all of zeese. Zee people ate too much of les morceaux de la passion. You should not eat too much of les morceaux. Eet makes a person . . . uh . . . uh . . ." She seemed to be at a loss for words and Molly, who still was looking completely puzzled, was not helping her.
"I think she means randy," Ginny smirked. Both Harry and Hermione grinned and nodded in agreement as Desiree searched her vocabulary for the correct English word. She finally smiled as she thought of an English word.
"Amorous. Oui, c’est ca. Eet makes zee people amorous."
"Amorous?" Molly asked incredulously.
"Oui. Amorous. Zee people want to make . . ."
"Yes, yes. I know what amorous means." Molly scowled. "I just don’t understand why your food makes them amorous. What is so special about it?"
"Zere ees a potion in zee food. Eet ees a potion zat encourages zee people to be amorous."
Molly scowled even more. "Why on earth would you put that kind of potion in your food?"
Now it was Desiree Delacour’s turn to be puzzled. "To help people be more loving. To encourage l’amour."
"Really," Molly sniffed disapprovingly. "We English don’t need any help."
"Oh yes," Desiree responded, her cheeks coloring with obvious anger, "and zee English are known worldwide as great lovers."
"Well . . ." Molly was interrupted by Arthur who came racing up.
"Molly! Molly, come with me immediately. Zania Twizzleton decided to go for a swim in the pond and several others want to join her." Molly made a loud exclamation, handed her tray of food to Harry and hurried away, followed by Arthur and a very unhappy-looking Desiree Delacour.
"Well," Hermione said with a little more relish than was probably proper, "she put a love potion in her food. Well, not really even a love potion, more like just a straight sex potion -- an aphrodisiac of some type that enhances the libido and causes . . ."
Hermione was interrupted by Fred and Angelina pushing past the three. "Hey," Ginny called after them as they climbed the steps into the house, "where are you going in such a hurry?"
Fred gave her a cheeky grin. "Never you mind, little sister. We want a little more privacy."
With that, the two disappeared, leaving the Harry, Ginny, and Hermione staring after them in amazement. After a moment or so they turned and started walking toward the canopied serving area. On the way, they had to step around a couple snogging on the grass and another couple chasing one another around. They grinned at each other when they saw Neville and Luna kissing each other in the shadows. When the three arrived at the canopy and had set the food down, Harry turned to Ginny.
"Ginny, we need to go somewhere alone and talk. I . . . I mean, we really have to talk."
It was Harry’s emphasis on the word really that made Ginny laugh and Hermione roll her eyes. She smiled at Harry. "It’s obvious you two are still together, so just tell her you need to go snog. I know you had several of the crème puffs, too." She blushed.
Ginny grinned wickedly as Hermione’s cheeks turned a bright crimson. "It’s okay," Ginny continued, "I think I’m feeling kind of in the mood for some snogging myself."
Hermione got a funny look on her face. "Ron ate a lot of those little crème puffs. I bet he’s . . ." her voice trailed off as she started scanning the back yard. "Oh no," Hermione loudly exclaimed. "He’s with her again." Ginny and Harry turned to see Gabrielle leading a very agitated-looking Ron toward some high bushes across the lawn.
"Yes, yes, Ron," Gabrielle cooed reassuringly, "She ees over zere, behind zee large bushes."
"Are . . . are you sure?" Ron asked shakily.
"Mais oui, bien sure."
"Does that mean yes? Cause I really need to talk to her. I mean, I really need her."
Gabrielle giggled. "Yes, I zink you are . . . uh . . . desperate." Gabrielle’s voice then took on a seductive tone that even Harry had to admit would affect any male. "Zat ees why we’re going to find your Hermione, or eef we can’t find her . . . well . . ." They disappeared behind the bushes.
Hermione clenched her fists and gave what sounded like a primal scream. "Aaaargh! I’ve had it with those damned Veelas!" With that, she took off at a fast clip toward the bushes.
Ginny and Harry watched in shock for a moment and then Ginny started running after her with the comment, "We better go and make sure no one gets hurt." Harry followed behind but wasn’t sure by Ginny’s maniacal grin whether she wanted to prevent violence or enjoy watching it. As they neared the bushes, they heard a scream and saw Gabrielle staggering out from behind holding her right eye.
"She heet me. She heet me in zee eye. I can’t believe she actually heet me."
Harry did a healing spell while Ginny patted Gabrielle’s back and offered some comforting words. Her wide grin, however, belied the platitudes of sympathy. Gabrielle sniveled a little and then continued to explain.
"I wasn’t going to do anything bad. I just wanted to kees a little . . . okay, maybe kees a lot. But I wasn’t going to do more than that" Gabrielle blushed, gave an embarrassed smile and then continued. "Besides, he wouldn’t kees me anyway."
"Oh, I don’t know about that. You could always use that Veela magic of yours and make him do whatever you want," Ginny grinned conspiratorially.
"Non, non, ce n’est pas vrais! I mean, eet ees not true. I asked Ron to kees me and all he kept doing was asking for Hermione. He kept saying he needed to find her. He wanted to kees her." Then, after a moment, her eyes got wide. "Les morceaux de la passion are very powerful. Perhaps he wanted to do more than kiss."
Ginny got a disgusted look on her face. "Ooh, I really didn’t want to hear that!"
Gabrielle laughed and with that was off toward the dancing. After she was out of earshot, Harry grabbed Ginny and pulled her into his arms. She looked up into his eyes and grinned.
"I get the feeling my brother isn’t the only desperate bloke at this party."
Harry grunted. "Yeah, I get the feeling there are a lot of desperate blokes here tonight, but I only care about one -- me."
Ginny wrapped her arms around Harry’s neck and gave him several little kisses. "Umm, do you want to do a little snogging?"
Harry groaned with desire at the feel of Ginny’s body against his. "I want to do more than kiss. I want to take you and shag you right now." Ginny’s eyes and mouth widened in shock and she gave a little gasp. Harry’s face turned crimson and he swore under his breath.
"Ginny, I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I just said that to you. I mean, I’ve thought it plenty of times and I’ve had dreams about . . . well, we won’t go there. But still, I’m sorry for actually . . ."
Ginny’s laugh interrupted Harry. "It’s okay. I was just a little surprised."
Are you sure?" Ginny nodded and Harry breathed a sigh of relief.
"Believe me, Harry, I’d like to shag you too." Harry started, but Ginny quickly put a finger to his lips shushing him. "But, it won’t be happening tonight. I want to, but I’m not ready. But we could snog. Believe me, I think I ate too many of those crème puffs because I feel the same way you do." She gave him a kiss and then looked back up into his eyes. Her eyes were sparkling with desire and anticipation. "And, I may be ready to move to the next level."
Harry’s eyes automatically fell to Ginny’s chest and he sucked in his breath in excitement. She blushed, grinned, and gave him a soft punch in his arm. He gave her a lecherous little smirk, took her by the hand, and quickly led her to some bushes a few yards away from the ones into which Hermione and Ron had disappeared. As soon as they were behind the bushes and out of view of the wedding guests, Harry pulled Ginny into his arms and kissed her. While the first kiss was soft, almost gentle, the next was harder and, as his passion quickly grew, the kisses were more urgent. As Harry deepened his kiss he lowered his hands from her waist to cup her bum and pulled her closer to him. She sighed with satisfaction and seemed to melt into him even more. For the next half-hour the two were in complete bliss and it was only with great reluctance that they finally separated and went back out to the party.
As Harry and Ginny exited the bushes they ran into Ron and Hermione who were also just coming out from where they had been. Both of them looked a little tussled and Ron had a relaxed, satisfied look on his face. Harry took one look at the two of them and gave his best mate a suspicious look.
"I don’t think I want to know what the two of you just did."
Ron gave Harry a goofy grin. "I imagine I was doing the same as you, snogging a lot and actually not getting my face slapped." Harry couldn’t help but laugh and both girls blushed appropriately.
The four started walking toward an open table. As they did so, Ginny elbowed Harry and pointed over to Neville and Luna who were still standing in the shadows kissing. He grinned, "Good for them."
Molly bustled over to them, looking agitated. "There you four are! I’ve been looking all over for you. Where have you been?"
Hermione’s eyes went wide and she had a nervous expression. "Uh, we, we’ve been around."
Molly frowned. "Really? I didn’t see you, and I looked over here a few minutes ago."
Hermione stood there open-mouthed and wide-eyed. Ginny finally came to her rescue. "Mum, what are you trying to say? Where do you think we were?"
Molly said hurriedly, "Never mind that now, I guess! What I really need is help with some of the guests."
"Why us?" Ron whined, "You have other children." Harry felt like agreeing. He wanted to stay with Ginny as long as possible.
"I’ll tell you who you should be looking for -- that’s the twins."
"Yes," Molly agreed, not realizing that Ginny was using her older brothers to shift the attention elsewhere. "I’ve looked for both Fred and George and can’t seem to find them anywhere."
Desiree Delacour came up at that moment and motioned to Molly. "Beel and Fleur want to cut zeir cake and zen leave on zeir ‘oneymoon."
"Oh," Molly seemed a little flummoxed, "well, are there enough people around to do a decent job of it?"
"Yes, yes, zere are plenty of people who are just fine," Desiree said almost too quickly, showing her discomfort over the effect her dessert had had on the wedding guests.
"Okay, then I guess we’d better gather everyone around for the cutting of the wedding cake and all of that." Molly seemed to be a little shell-shocked over the way the party had gone and was now just going through the motions. She turned to the four. "Come along and watch the cake being cut." All four of them sighed, but resignedly followed Mrs. Weasley.
When they arrived at the canopy covering the cake and serving tables, Bill appeared to be searching for something or someone. He was standing on tiptoes and looking around the gather guests. "Fred, George, where are you?" Several of the guests also took up the call.
"Beel, why are you looking for Fred and George?"
"Because, Fleur, they’ve prepared a surprise for you. They need to light the cake."
Fleur got a shocked look on her face. "Light zee cake? No, no, Beel, you don’t light a wedding cake. Don’t let the tweens near zee cake."
"You don’t need to worry, love. They’re only small fireworks." With that, his pointed his wand at the cake. "I just need to remember which of the fuses I should light first . . . ah, yes, here we go." Bill said the spell and little fireworks started going off all around the cake with little pops and explosions and then continued on up toward the top of the cake. The crowd oohed and awed at the miniature bursts of color and then, as the flames and fireworks got to the top, several larger ones exploded, again accompanied by appreciative noises from the guests.
Unfortunately, two of the fireworks at the top of the cake went wild and, instead of going up a couple of feet and exploding like the rest, they hit the top of the canopy and immediately caught the fabric on fire. Before anyone could withdraw their wands and cast a water spell the whole canopy was in flames and the guests ran, stumbled and fell out from under the conflagration. Standing away from the fire, Bill, Arthur and several others pointed their wands to put it out. But the fire was traveling too fast and reached the corners of the canopy where the twins had placed a number of large fireworks. These rockets caught fire which sent the whole canopy -- burning top, poles and ropes -- about one hundred into the air where there was an enormous explosion producing numerous bursts of bright color. A large message reading "Lguck ood Blli and Flrue" lit up the night sky and caused a chorus of oohs, awes, and a smattering of clapping and whistles from the admiring wedding guests below, as well as several comments of "What the hell is that supposed to spell?"
It was Hermione who first realized there was a problem up above. Like almost every other person in the Weasley’s back yard, she was staring transfixed up in the sky watching the pyrotechnic display when all of a sudden she realized the flames were getting closer to the ground. She grabbed Ron’s arm and yelled, "The canopy’s coming back down." He swore loudly and pulled her away from the center of the yard.
Other people, either remembering the old maxim, "what goes up, must come down," or just seeing the looks of terror on other people’s faces, started running and screaming. Some fell over chairs while others dived under tables and a few just simply Disapparated. The burning remains of the canopy hit just about where it had originally stood, completely destroying the wedding cake. Once it appeared safe to approach the remains, people gathered around it, all staring in silence as if they were witnessing the dying embers of a funeral pyre.
From the house ran Fred followed closely by Angelina. He had a look of shock and anger on his face. "What the bloody hell happened out here? Where’s George?"
"I’m over here, and I have no idea what happened." George was stumbling out from behind some bushes that were opposite where Harry & Ginny, Ron & Hermione had snogged. A silvery-blond haired girl who appeared to be one of Fleur’s cousins followed him. "Bill, why didn’t you come and get us before lighting the fireworks?"
"We looked all over for the two of you and couldn’t find either of you. And whose brilliant idea was it to put those larger fireworks around the top of the canopy?" Bill scowled angrily while ineffectively patting a crying Fleur on her shoulder while her mother and other family members were speaking quiet words of consolation in French.
"We wanted it to be a surprise for you," Fred answered.
George nodded in agreement. "And it did surprise you, didn’t it?"
Before either Bill or Fleur could answer, Molly came over and began chewing the twins out for ruining the wedding. Others got into the conversation offering their opinions for and against the twins and the fireworks. It had begun to reach a fevered pitch when Fleur stopped the argument, wiping her eyes and straitening her dress.
"Quiet. Eet ees over. Zee cake ees ruined and there ees nothing we can do about eet." She took Bill’s hand and looked into his eyes. "I’m ready to go whenever you are."
In a short time, the farewells and well-wishes of the remaining wedding guests could be heard echoing through the gardens and trees as Bill and Fleur left for their honeymoon. Harry and the others surveyed the remains of the wedding celebration. He took Ginny by the hand and walked over to one of the few tables still standing upright and sat down. Hermione and Ron, Molly, Arthur and the other Weasleys followed them.
"Well," Harry commented dryly, "that was a lot of fun."
Ginny giggled and gave Harry a sly look. Hermione blushed and Ron’s ears turned red while the twins burst out laughing. "We ought to serve those little morsels at every wedding," Fred said.
"At every meal," George added with a grin.
"No," Harry responded quietly as he gave Ginny’s hand a squeeze, "I don’t think this lot needs any extra help."