Parvati looked at the fire place. Her twin sister had just disappeared into it, going to see one of her friends in her year in Ravenclaw. Until she'd been grounded for an excessively long phone call to Ireland, she would have been departing minutes before her twin, to go to Ginny's birthday party.
Not that Ginny was one of her classmates, but she was a closer friend thatN Mandy Brocklehurst was to Padma. Parvati slumped back into an overstuffed chair opposite the fire place. This was so unfair. Her sister was spending a day with the girls from her year in her house, and she couldn't spend a day with the girls from her house in her year. True, Lavender wasn't going to be there, but everyone else was, even Hermione, who had a baby to take care of!
Briefly, Parvati wondered what was happening to Lavender. Last she'd heard, Lavender was doing a tour of nude beaches, and enjoying the way her father reacted to boys near her. That letter, however, had arrived by royal mail ten days after term, and she hadn't received anything since.
"Parvati! I need your help in the kitchen," her mother called out. "We need to have everything ready for Kaamilee when she comes over."
It seemed that her new sister-in-law couldn't cook, and that meant there was about to be the biggest disaster in the kitchen since her mother tried to teach Padma and her how to bake ... Parvati couldn't even remember what her mother was trying to teach. She just knew that the red stain directly above the stove was Padma's fault, and she was sticking to that story.
Neville Longbottom had seen Ginny Weasley a few times, since he first met her back on Valentine's day. She'd been his date, but back then she'd been just Ron's little sister. Not that she'd been a bad date. Neville had never been on a date, before or since, so he had little to compare with. She'd been nice to talk to, and he'd really had a good time having dinner with her.
Then she'd left for home, and Neville had quite frankly forgotten her. That had changed when he visited the Grangers for Jimmy's Baptism. That was the first time he'd ever seen a girl in a bikini, and most of the girls in his year in Gryffindor had been in them. It was Ginny in her deep green one with yellow pin stripes that had caught his attention, though. She just seemed to be so happy, and he just couldn't look away. He had no idea why, at least until his father had given him the talk. Even weeks later, he still found his cheeks warming at the thought of that conversation.
How he'd managed to join Harry against Ginny and Hermione in badminton without making a fool of himself he didn't know. The feelings of attraction were new to him. His father said it was because he was growing up, and he could have done worse than Ginny for a first crush and relationship. Neville had been offended at the faint praise for the Weasley girl. He'd also denied that he had a crush.
Then his father had somehow managed to snap a picture of him the moment that Ginny had come out of the floo. It was evidence that he couldn't deny, especially after what all the innuendo had done to him during the rite. He was determined not to bumble and hem and haw in her presence, though. It had been hard, especially after she borrowed his broom.
He'd been told that Ginny was talkative, and a tomboy. That was certainly true, on her eleventh birthday. The moment he'd stepped out of the floo at the Burrow, he'd been dragged outside, and down to the pond. It was a good thing that Ron had forewarned him to bring his swimming trunks. He was undecided if it was a good thing that Ginny had been forced to wear her bikini, instead of her usual swimming attire at home, nothing. Fred and George had swum that way, as had her oldest brother Bill, who had apparently just barely managed to get time to attend his sister's birthday party. Harry had his swimming trunks, though, and Hermione along with Sally-Anne was actually doing laps in her yellow polka dot bikini while a house elf watched their baby Jimmy.
Neville was wearing a new pair of swimming trunks that his mother had taken him shopping for. Going shopping with his mother was not something he intended to do again any time soon. He couldn't say he hadn't been warned by his father that his mother seem to have more fun making her men try things on than letting them purchase any outfit. He also couldn't find a way to say no, not after spending a decade without his mother, and still couldn't think of one, so it was probably going to happen again.
Neville mounted the diving board, deciding on his dive. Fred and George were just in the right position. He ran to the end of the board, bounced and shot into the air, crying out, "cannonball!" He was sure he'd made a great big splash, and from the way that Fred and George were heading towards him, he'd been right on target. He swam away, but soon found the two closing on him from two directions, near the shore. Neville stopped, and started to tread water, waiting for their response.
"You got us good," Fred said, or at least he thought it was Fred, as it was hard to tell them apart clothed, though he had managed to catch onto a subtle cue in the way Fred seemed to always end up with his left sleeve turned upwards. "Of course you know this means war."
Neville ducked under the water, making the return splash quite moot, instead he propelled himself towards the Weasley twin, who appeared to be standing on a rocky underwater outcropping. A quick push, and down into the depths behind him, Fred went. Neville surfaced a good couple meters behind him, crying out, "Lay on McDuff! A watery revenge is not an offering to give to a Longbottom!"
"Oh really," came a feminine response just to his right. Moments later Neville found himself being pushed under water by Ginny.
Neville twisted underwater, and his right hand somehow found a piece of cloth. Revenge was his, as he used it to pull the birthday girl under water. Her feet hit rock bottom, and the Longbottom let go of the cloth, and finding purchase on her shoulders as she crouched underwater, he shot up, just as she executed her own push off the bottom. Into the air he went, arching over the approaching other Weasley twin.
As soon as he cleared the water he heard the call from Mrs. Weasley. "Food's on the table, come on in."
"Better luck next time," Neville cried out as he reached the dock, and climbed up onto it. He began to walk towards the Burrow, only to hear the cry of his doom behind him.
"Longbottom, where are my bottoms?" Ginny Weasley growled.
A glance backwards revealed to Neville that Ginny was stalking out of the pond, and though still in the waters, was further enough out of it, to reveal that the bottoms of her swimming suit were missing. "Probably on the bottom of the pond," Neville said, increasing his pace away from the pond and trying not to look like he was. "I let go once you were underwater." Then he looked away, just as the girl fully exited the pond.
"Accio Ginny's bikini bottoms," the oldest Weasley brother cast. Neville looked over gratefully at Bill, as the bikini bottoms shot out of the water into Bill's free hand. He stopped, and looked back. Ginny was heading towards Bill now, obviously believing that Bill was just going to hand it over. "Accio Ginny's bikini top!"
The next thing Neville knew, the now naked Ginny was chasing her oldest brother back to the Burrow. Neville joined the chase, somehow ending up alongside Ginny. Bill was not easy to catch for the twelve and eleven year olds.
"And I thought you were my favorite brother," Ginny cried out, as they sped by the door to the Burrow. Bill apparently knew better than to go into the Burrow naked holding his sister's bikini.
"Ginny, you know you love me," Bill said over his shoulder as he continued to run. Then there was a crack of apparition, and the oldest Weasley tripped, falling flat on his face. Neville jumped on top of him, so he couldn't get up and Ginny could get her bikini back.
"Actually, she loves me best," the stout boy said, bending down.
"Thank you Charlie," Ginny said, snatching her bikini from Bill's hand.
Neville got up off of Bill as Ginny put her bikini. Bill got up as well, and summoned his pants and shirt. He politely kept his glaze away from Ginny while she dressed, instead turning to the stout man who was obviously Ginny's second oldest brother. Charlie's gaze was a bit stronger than Bill's had been.
"So, you'd be Neville Longbottom, the boy that replaced the Boy-Who-Lived in my sister's letters," Charlie said.
Neville found himself gulping. He was well aware that Ginny had once had a crush on Harry. Not that was anything different than a lot of girls had. Neville was pretty sure that at least a third of the young girls around Harry's age had a crush on Harry as the Boy-Who-Lived, or at least had one, until Hermione had gotten pregnant with Harry's baby. He'd thought that would have ended all of the crushes, but Lavender and Parvati had informed him that he was wrong about that.
"I don't just write about Neville," Ginny said. "And I write about Harry more than anyone else still. He answers my letters, unlike some older brothers, who apparently can't be bothered to give something to return with an international owl, nine and five times each."
"Sorry Ginny," both Charlie and Bill chorused.
"Come on, time for Lunch," Charlie said. Neville found Charlie's arm going around his shoulders. "Say, Neville, have you ever side-along apparated?"