"Remember, no humor, and if you insult what she's wearing, you'll be changing my twins' nappies once they're born until you go back to Hogwarts, if not beyond," Percy said standing at the foot of the stairs.
Ron looked up at his brother. Both he and Ginny had been invited to Neville's birthday party, which was apparently semi-formal. For Ron, that meant he had to wear his school uniform with an added suit jacket instead of the robe. He wasn't quite sure what that meant for Ginny, but he knew that she felt it was important. Mum had helped her with her hair, and they'd spent the last hour at least getting her ready. It had taken Ron ten minutes to get ready, and since then he'd played three games of chess against Percy. He'd only won once.
As he suspected, Percy was glaring at Fred and George. Ron wasn't sure it was working. They seemed to have irrepressible grins on their faces. If he wasn't mistaken, there was something in their pockets too. He knew that Percy couldn't do some of the things that his mother would have in such a situation, at least until Percy's twins were born. If Mum were in the kitchen with the boys, she'd be summoning whatever was in his brothers' pockets, Ron was sure of that.
Ron heard a slight creak on the stairs, and he turned towards the sound. His sister was coming down the stairs, but Ron couldn't quite believe that it was Ginny. Where was the tomboy who fearlessly climbed the tallest tree? Ron's brain refused to connect that to the beauty that descended the stairs.
The first glimpse he saw was her shoes, sandals in deep green, revealing light pink painted toenails. She wore a knee length dress in shades of green from pale to deep. It was held tight to her narrow waist by twisting green vines with deep blue yellow throated flowers on the buckle. The dress did not hide the fact that his little sister was developing breasts, like so much of her attire around the Burrow did. Her fiery hair had been restrained by a woven tiara of vine and flowers, the green stems highlighted by small deep blue flowers, matching the belt.
"Wow, Ginny," Ron said. "You're going to knock Neville's socks off."
"Thanks, Ron," Ginny said blushing.
"I have to agree with Ron, sis," Percy said. "It seems that my brothers and I are going to have to discuss what to say to Mr. Longbottom. Such loveliness needs to be treated properly, and as your brothers, we should see to that."
"Yes, if Longbottom," Fred began.
"... doesn't treat you ..." George continued.
"... right, we might just..."
"...have to remind him ..."
"...of our reputation."
"Might still do that ..."
"... even if he ..."
"... behaves."
Ginny giggled. "It's just a birthday party," she said.
"It is a formal birthday party, Ginny," her mother reminded as she came down the stairs behind her daughter.
"What's the difference?" Ron asked, as his mother straightened his Gryffindor tie.
"It's not a gathering of friends, it's a function," his mother said. "Neville is going through the Adorning Rite. The Longbottoms aren't going to just invite his friends, not for the first formal function at Foggy Bottom since Frank and Alice recovered. I know that the Malfoy boy was invited."
"Where did you hear that?" Ron asked. He knew that Neville and Malfoy hadn't exactly hit it off at Hogwarts. True, Malfoy had turned around, but it seemed a bit unlikely to him.
"Erlene Malfoy mentioned it during her chess match with your father," his mother said. "There. Now, be careful with the pronunciation. I don't want you ending up in that bar instead of Foggy Bottom."
Ron rolled his eyes. He'd never had any trouble with the floo. He got in the fire place and said "Foggy Bottom."
It didn't take long for him to come out of the floo, carefully stepping into the entrance hall of the Longbottom estate. Ron barely had enough time to taken in the oak paneled hall before Neville greeted him.
"Hey, mate," said the Longbottom heir. Neville was dressed much more formally than Ron was. He'd exchanged his Gryffindor tie for a golden bowtie, and his jacket was a crushed velvet waistcoat. "It's nice to have a friend arrive and not get bowled over."
"Let me guess, Sally-Anne," Ron asked, as the floo activated again.
"Got it in one," Neville said, then his mouth opened, as if he had seen something entirely unexpected.
Ron turned around, and saw that his sister had arrived. Remembering his mother's lecture about protocol, he decided to introduce her. He took his sister's hand and pulled her forward to his side. "Lord Longbottom, may I present my sister, the honorable Ginevra Molly Weasley of County Devon?"
Neville quickly recovered, enough to reach out to take Ginny's hand, and bowed. He took on his most formal tone, "Your beauty outshines all of the ladies gathered herein. I would escort you to the Conservatory where all are gathered, and never leave your side, my lady. Duty, however, compels me to stay at my post. I shall tarry not, in my duty, and have reserved a choice seat at my table for you."
Ginny giggled as Neville let go of her hand. "Neville," she said, but was unable to form any other word, as it seemed that the idea that she was the prettiest girl was not something that Ron knew she thought of herself. Ron knew that his sister thought herself plain, though as he saw the blush of her cheeks, and watched her straighten the skirt of her dress, he couldn't agree.
"What, too over the top?" Neville asked, as the floo activated again. "Not enough? I could quote from that book Hermione had, the one with all the sonnets in the back, if you want."
"No, Neville, don't bring out the Complete Shakespeare," Ron said. "It's almost as heavy as Hogwarts, a History, and not as entertaining."
"I beg to differ," a newly arrived blond said. "My eldest sister practically swooned when Julian sent her one, and that was very entertaining. How did it go ...
"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
"I think my sister is besotted with him."
"Besotted, Malfoy?" Ron said. "I hope you're not that way with my sister."
Draco looked directly at Ginny, and smiled, before turning back towards Ron. "If my father wasn't already negotiating with the Parkinsons on by behalf, I might. Still, it is only polite to ask, may I have an introduction?"
"Lord Malfoy, this is my sister, the honorable Ginevra Molly Weasley of County Devon," Ron said. "Ginny, this is Draco Malfoy of the County Wiltshire."
"It is my pleasure, Miss Weasley," Draco said.
"Ginny, Ron, Malfoy, if you'll follow Mister Hilliard to the Conservatory, I shall join you there shortly, as I am only awaiting a few more guests," Neville said, as last year's sixth year Hufflepuff prefect came to a stop at a side door.
It was kind of strange to see what had been a sixth-year-prefect last year suddenly appearing no older than he was, but Ron followed the boy who seemed a bit stiff at the moment. He made sure that Malfoy was in front of him though. Malfoy may have improved a bit since he became an uncle, but Ron still didn't trust Slytherins, especially around his innocent little sister.