Harry Potter and the Legend of the Twelve

Family Dinner

The night after Albus's Quidditch accident, Carly came to the family dinner in the Room of Requirement, as she did the next three Sundays. They had given her an open invitation.

Ginny watched Carly, and was surprised to see that with all she had been through, she remained friendly, kind, and happy. Ginny noticed how she clung to Albus, and thought he had a lot to do with her being happy.

Dinner on the twenty-first of October began as any other. James, Albus, Lily, Rose, Hugo, and Carly were there. On this night, James was allowed to bring Danny and Jason also, so the entire membership of the New Marauders was seated at the table with Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Neville. Everyone was missing Sirius, but they knew he would be back around Halloween, and everyone looked forward to his return. Right now, he was their best chance of finding anything out about The Twelve.

As they finished dinner, Hermione stood up and cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. "I'm going to let you all in on a little secret," said Hermione. "Tomorrow, I plan to announce that instead of the usual Halloween feast and entertainment, we will have a dance. It will be open to all students, and coming in costume is not required. Dates are certainly allowed but not required. It will be Halloween night from six to ten o'clock in the evening."

"Can Lily and I go too?" asked Hugo.

"It's only open to students," said Hermione, with a sly look in her eye. "However, since Uncle Harry and I have to chaperon the Dance, Aunt Ginny might need a date, Hugo."

"Aunt Ginny, would you go with me to the dance?" asked Hugo, excitedly.

"I would be delighted," said Ginny with a smile.

"Too bad I have to go all alone," said Ron with a bit of a sarcastic tone. "Unless," Ron turned to Lily, "Miss Potter, would you do me the honor of attending the dance with me?"

"Oh, yes," squealed Lily excitedly.

Ginny saw Albus lean over and whisper something in Carly's ear. Carly beamed and gave him a kiss on the cheek, having obviously been asked to the dance.

Ginny also saw Danny summon his Gryffindor courage and ask Rose to the dance. She said yes immediately as Ron choked on his pumpkin juice. If not for the death stare Hermione gave him, he would have said something, but he backed down when he saw the look on his wife's face. He didn't look happy though.

After dinner, the children started to leave to go back to the Gryffindor Common Room, and do the homework they had left all weekend.

"Al," said Ginny, as he headed to the door. "Can you come down to my office for a minute? I want to discuss something with you."

"Sure, Mum," said Albus. "Carly, Rose, go on ahead, I'll meet you in a bit and we can do that Defense Against the Dark Arts assignment."

"Sure, Al," said Carly with a smile.

Ginny and Albus left for her office, and Hugo and Lilly talked animatedly on the couch about the dance, leaving Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville at the table.

"Harry, I want to know everything about this Danny. He is Seamus' son, right?" asked Ron. "I never did trust Finnigan."

Harry laughed. "He's a good kid, Ron. Now Jason on the other hand, he's a bit of a charmer just like James. Him I might worry about."

"Pipe down, Ron," said Hermione, shaking her head. "Danny and Rose have a crush on each other. Nothing more. And I happen to like Danny."

"I'm glad I don't have any children. I couldn't handle this stuff," said Neville.