Professor Harry Potter let out a loud, pitiful groan and thumped his head into his desk the moment his last student of the week’s classes closed the door behind them. It wasn’t like this every week, but Harry swore then and there that if he ever saw another of his brother-in-laws’ products being used in his class, he would be jinxing both of the twins and forcing them to clean up his classroom every day. Especially if, like today, there were three counts of ‘suddenly and mysteriously’ becoming violently sick only for the student to be right as rain by the time they made it up to the Hospital Wing.
A smirk stole across his face as he recalled the look of nerves and astonishment on his students faces when he had taken Mr. Gould’s antidote side of the Puking Pastille he had just eaten, and explained (over the sound of his student being violently ill into the pot Harry had transfigured from his quill) that he had been present while the Weasley twins had been workshopping their Skiving Snackboxes, and did they really think Harry couldn’t recognize his own family’s handiwork?
Suffice to say, the third bout of sickness in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom was the last and most messy— but it proved a point, and Harry was stuck collecting every single Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes item any student had in their pocket at that point.
He had to hand it to George and Fred— judging by the overflowing broken cauldron filled with confiscated Wheezes products— the Hogsmeade location was clearly doing well for itself.
This was the first year the new location was open. With the war only finishing a few years ago, their initial plans to take over the old Zonko’s building had been shunted to the side amidst Death Eater raids, rebuilding the main shop in Diagon Alley and helping to re-erect Hogwarts. As well as the numerous weddings that had happened over the last three years; Fred and George had been busy. Everyone had.
And now, Harry was debating whether or not it would be cruel to go and trash the Hogsmeade shop, if it would be good for his mental and physical health in the long run. He could out run Fred and George, surely?
Then again.. He would never make it out alive if he was caught by Hermione. Better not then.
Sighing again, Harry grabbed the cauldron of tricks and treats as he waved his other hand over this desk, collecting the new rolls of essays into a neat stack. He stared at the rolls and rolls of parchment, debating if he really thought he would actually read them if he took them with him, and decided he wasn’t insane and left them there.
Leaving the DADA class, Harry didn’t bother closing or locking the door behind him— if a student was in need of the space, they were welcome to it . He always told his students so, and on more than one occasion he’d stumble across a few using it as a study place or somewhere to talk. He never minded. Until he caught someone snogging, then he might have to change his rules.
Oddly enough (and much to Ginny's amusement) no one ever thought to use the Chosen One’s classroom as a snogging station. Weird.
So Professor Potter swept his way down the corridor, jumping over the trick step and tapping his wand on the railing of the moving staircase to suggest it move a bit more quickly than it perhaps had intended to. He continued down the stairs to make his way towards the library.
The Hogwarts library had undergone a large amount of work following the Battle of Hogwarts. He could recall more than a few tombs and old texts being strewn down the grand staircase and trailing down random corridors. Maybe there had been someone using the books as fodder against the raiding Death Eaters.
During the first walkthrough of the ruined castle school, Minerva McGonagall had come across a rather distraught Hermione Granger-Weasley in the library, crying over the ruined books strewn across the expansive room. It had been about an hour before Fred (with the help of Fleur and Ginny) had been able to move Hermione away from the room to calm her down.
After that, Hermione had become a one-woman recovery team in her mission to save the library and books. While everyone had begun in the dungeons, rebuilding walls or recovering anything they could salvage, Hermione was dedicating her time to restoring the library… which when she measured it, apparently amassed as much (if not more) space on the first floor as the Great Hall.
McGonagall was so grateful someone had stepped up to handle the task, she left Hermione alone to repair the library how she saw fit. She recalled the girl had spent most of her time in the library during her year visiting from Beauxbatons and had every belief the young woman would do the old, historical room justice. The last librarian, Madam Pince, had still not been seen since the battle, and Minerva was loath to leave the room in its current manner while they attempted to recover her.
Hermione took over the restoration of the library on her own. She turned away help for the first few weeks, citing she was too busy fixing and rebinding the books to try and teach anyone else how to do it properly. On one humorous occasion, both Fred and George had been seen literally being thrown out on their arses after attempting to help Hermione without her knowing. Ginny had promptly fallen to the ground in laughter, marking the first time she had done more than give a small smile since the battle.
Most of the castle had been restored by the time Hermione finally finished sorting and fixing the piles and stacks of books and the room they belonged to. Fred had dragged his wife out on many occasions to force her to take a break; sometimes setting her in another classroom in need of assistance to give her a change of scenery, or making her sit down for a meal at least twice a day. If nothing else, those forced breaks gave everyone else a moment of amusement and laughter as they followed the fondly-bickering couple with their eyes as they themselves took a much-deserved break.
Once Hogwarts had opened its doors to new students the September following the battle, McGonagall had asked Hermione how she would feel about staying as acting Librarian.
Three years later, Harry was immensely grateful to his friend and sister-in-law, as new a title as that last one was. Having someone close by all the time was a relief… at least, someone who Harry could talk to without feeling like he was speaking to a colleague rather than a friend.
The library doors were opened as was their usual; the light streaming through the large paned windows escaping out into the corridor. Harry turned into the expansive room, finding the sight of the dark wooden stacks and perfectly sorted and placed books a comforting sight after the long day he’d had.
Hermione Granger-Weasley was sitting behind the large oak desk with her nose in a book; the u-shaped desk covered in books either stacked on top of one another, opened or closed, and in no noticeable order. Clearly, Hermione’s second job as Researcher was keeping her busy when the books were sorted as perfectly as they could be.
Harry strode right over and plonked his cauldron full of Wheezes products on the corner with the least amount of coverage, keeping his hand at the base just in case it decided to tip over. Hermione didn’t even look up, just flipped the page and continued to read.
“If I'd known you were going trick-or-treating, Harry, I would have made sure to save some of the treacle tarts Molly sent over to the cottage."
Huffing and rolling his eyes while she wasn't looking, Harry shuffled a few books over in order to sit upon the desk top. Now he got her eyes to lift off the word on the pages, only to glare up at Harry instead.
"Excuse me, Mr. Potter, what do you think you're doing on my desk?"
Harry grins down at Hermione, "Getting your attention, Professor."
Hermione rolls her eyes now, going back to the large book in her hands, "I'm asking Minerva to rethink her decision on allowing us to take House points away from professors."
"No, 'Mione! Gryffindor would be at an all-time low if you got your way!" Harry groans, knowing perfectly well he had fallen into her trap with the familiar teasing threat, "All those Weasleys, me and Neville?! Not to mention Sirius… Gryffindor would lose after a day, as soon as we got caught by Professor Granger—"
"First of all," Hermione cuts him off, her smile no longer able to be contained behind a book, "it's not 'Professor', it's 'Mrs.' Granger-Weasley."
"Not if you'd just give in and take the extra positions from McGonagall—"
"Secondly," Hermione speaks over Harry's complaining, "I think you're more worried that you'd realize all those points were just being taken away from you, if Minerva allowed it."
Harry and Hermione are stuck in a stare-off, neither willing to break, until Hermione smirks. Harry points a finger in her face childishly,
"I win!"
Hermione rolls her eyes, "You’re a twenty-year-old man, with a wife and a mortgage."
He shrugs, unbothered, "Doesn't mean I didn't just win that one,"
“Le diablotin," Hermione mutters under her breath, "why'd you come in here, other than to bother me?"
Snagging the cauldron once again, Harry drags the contraband over as he says, "The better question is: why did your husband and his twin make it their life's purpose to bother me?"
Hermione takes in all the Wheezes products with wide eyes, "Was that all from this week?"
Harry gives her a deadpan look over his glasses, "Mione, this is from today."
Grimacing, Hermione pokes at a box of Exploding Whizz Poppers, "Er… it was a good sale?"
She only gets a glowering look from her little brother-in-law, "All this? It's more likely that those two started up mailing service again, just to spite me "
Biting her lip, Hermione tries not to start laughing, "Well, you did damage one of their most profitable sources of income by forcing a stop to Hogwarts mail-ins…"
"Because a second-year used Peruvian Darkness Powder in my class, Hermione! The poor thing was so lost in the mess, she stumbled into the same cupboard as a boggart!"
"Oui, that is bad," Hermione sighs, nudging the cauldron back from the edge of the desk, "you know them though, Harry. They're just going to find it funnier that your students keep trying to pull all their merchandise on you."
"I know," Harry groans, running his hands over his face, pushing up his glasses, "Maybe after this load, the tricks will at least slow down for a bit."
"It's Hogsmeade Weekend, Harry." Hermione reminds him regretfully.
Harry's answering moan is loud enough that a Ravenclaw student pokes their head out from the stacks with a worried look. Hermione waves them away with a smile before looking back up at Harry with fond exasperation.
"Come on, Professor," Hermione closes her book and stands to collect the cauldron and Harry's hand, which she uses to pull him off her desk, "maybe going to yell at the boys in person will make you feel better. We can even invite everyone down, make an evening out of it?"
Harry took a deep breath, looking at Hermione's hopeful and cheerful face, "That does sound good.”
Giggling, Hermione agrees and procures a Patronus— the little other happily backstroking from the tip of Hermione’s wand— and asked it to go tell the others their plan, if they wanted to join them.
-~-~-~-
Fred met them at the doors of Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, hands filled with a tray of thermoses and a wide grin on his face as he spotted Hermione and Harry rocking up to him.
“Fancy seeing you two here! What are two such distinguished professors such as yourselves doing muddying your reputations by darkening our doorstep?”
Harry was already growling, muttering under his breath at one-half of the whole of his problems. Hermione ignored her friend and leant over to give her husband a kiss when they reached him, taking one of the thermoses for herself.
“Thank you, mon amour. Were you already home? You could have stayed if you’d had a long day, we wouldn’t have minded.” Hermione asks as she sips her tea, humming at the warmth and peppermint flavour.
Fred shrugs as he passes one of the drinks to Harry as well, cocking a brow at the look of clear deliberation of the other man’s face, before Harry seemed to make a decision and took the tea from his hand, “Nah, Georgie actually sent me home before we even opened. Apparently, he’s offended I haven’t taken a day off in about a month, so I got the boot for the day. Crooks and I have been chilling most of the day.”
He rolls his eyes, but Harry thinks the look of relief in Hermione’s eyes means it may have been one of the more genius ideas of George’s.
“Well, Harry and I wanted to have a nice evening in Hogsmeade, if you’d like to tag along. I’m not sure who else was coming, but I sent out the message to everyone.”
Fred gives them a shrug again, not really bothered by the plan, “We can go in the shop, see if George wants to come with. Lee can handle the rest of the day on his own.”
Agreeing, the trio step into the shop to see George and Lee bickering over something at the checkout counter. The shop wasn’t very busy, so it made sense why Fred had been sent home.
“Oi you two!” Fred shouts over their bickering, also effectively silencing the rest of the store as everyone looks over to see what the hubbub was about. Hermione’s cheeks burned at the attention, tugging at Fred’s sleeve with a little scowl, “Quit the love spat and either pay attention to the shop or come and grab some drinks!”
George cackles and shoves Lee back to the till, jumping the counter to come and grab one of the proffered drinks. He gives Hermione a wink after a sip, “‘Lo Hermione, did Freddie drag you out of Hogwarts because I sent his arse home?”
Hermione chuckles, going on her tiptoes to give her brother-in-law a kiss on the cheek, “No, rather the other way around. Harry wanted to curse said arse, and yours as well. SO I brought him by.”
George and Fred looked at her with wide eyes, taking identical steps back from both Hermione and Harry. While Harry grins, feeling a bit vindicated, Hermione rolls her eyes at the twins.
“I’m kidding, des imbéciles. I pulled Harry to the village to grab some butterbeers and spend a few hours with some adults. If you two want to act like some, that is.”
Exchanging looks, both Fred and George agreed and the now foursome set off down High Street, leaving Lee to tend the mostly empty store. They only made it down to the next shop when they ran into Ginny and Ron, both coming down from Hogwarts as well.
Ginny swoops in to give her husband a kiss in lieu of a hello, much to all of her brothers’ chagrins. Ron gagged, nearly toppling over when Ginny caught the motion and shoved him into the nearby shrubbery.
“Piss off, Ron. You’re already on my shortlist after that stunt you pulled in class.”
Hermione rolls her eyes, though the action is born out of fondness for all her Weasley’s, “What did he do this time?”
Ginny turns to her friend, looping her arm through Hermione’s to continue walking at a near stand-still pace, leaving all the boys to trail behind. “Ron decided to teach the sixth years how one could ‘hypothetically’ manage the Wronski Feint.”
Harry groans, “You didn’t,”
“Oh, he sure did,” Ginny says while Ron looks a bit sheepish, “I’m sure you can imagine all the tiny little firsties I was trying to teach in the adjoining field, watching all Ron’s sixth-years attempt to pull off the most difficult Quidditch maneuver known to the Wizarding World, with stars in their eyes and absolutely no attention span.”
“Actually, that’s not completely true though, is it Ronald?” Ginny shoots a death glare over her shoulder. Even George looks concerned for Ron’s safety at this point.
He looks over at his younger brother, “Mate, what’d you do?”
Ron winces, “I, er, may have offered to have the first-years join my lesson…”
The rest of the group let out a loud groan while Ginny nods sagely, completely done with the whole ordeal, “First-years on their second flying lessons ever.”
Hermione gasps, “Oh, they weren't hurt, were they?”
“Um, maybe just a few…”
“Ron!” Everyone groans again. Ginny looks a bit happier (or perhaps more smug) that she was being validated.
Ron tries to defend himself quickly, “I didn’t let them do it! I was just telling them what you’d have to do to get it right, and how the sixth years weren’t actually going to do it—”
“Except while he was explaining this, three of his sixth-years were, indeed, trying it behind his back. And while I was flying up to catch them, Ron somehow couldn’t catch the four firsties who decided to try it while Mrs. Potter was in the air…”
“Yeah, Poppy wasn’t all that excited about having seven new patients for the night with broken wrists or ankles.”
Fred and George snicker, “You’re lucky McGonagall wasn’t on you for it.” Fred jostles Ron’s side, handing over one of the thermoses of tea now that Ron was no longer in visible danger of being tossed into a wall by Ginny.
“Yeah,” George grins over his own tea, “Just imagine if she could take points off you still. Gryffindor would be in the hole at this point in the year.”
Harry pointedly ignored the smirking look Hermione shot over her shoulder at him.
“Anyways, all of Ron’s idiotic teaching habits aside,” Ginny grins, “where are we headed this evening?”
“Just around; Harry and I needed a break from the castle and a walk around Hogsmeade seemed like a nice idea.”
“Add in the fact you now don’t have to travel back down to the village from the school in the dark and cold later?” Fred smiles at his wife, who shrugs like she hadn’t thought of it. Fred knew better. As did his shins, which normally bore the brunt of Hermione’s frozen toes under their quilt after she’d walked home.
“Well,” Ron pipes up again, staying a healthy number of steps behind his sister, “I heard Honeydukes got in a new shipment for the weekend.”
Harry rolls his eyes at his friend and his bottomless stomach, “Did your stash run out again, Ron?”
“Erm, not as such,” everyone gave him bemused looks, so he cracked and added, “I, um, handed out the last of it to those firsties…”
“Oh, Ron,” Ginny groans but Hermione can tell the younger witch was stuck between exasperation and fondness.
“I’d not mind some Sugar Quills, actually.” Hermione pipes up. Fred, seeing his moment, stepped in and stole Hermione’s arm from Ginny. Happily wrapped around his wife again, Fred looked away from his sister’s glare, completely innocent.
Harry piped up, “I haven’t had a Chocolate Frog in ages actually. I gave up my last one during a Teddy Tantrum.”
“Sounds like a plan. Best to get there before the students overtake things tomorrow anyways,” George heads off to the left, now leading the way towards the Honeydukes location.
The candy and sweets shop was just across the Street from the Wheezes shop and next door but three. The shop was a bit busier, but not much than the joke shop, also filled with a few of the village residents filling up on sweets before the Hogwarts students converged on the shop.
Almost immediately upon entering the shop, Hermione ran into one of the sweet older women who lived nearby she and Fred and was pulled into a conversation about the woman’s garden. Too polite to pull away, Hermione shot a pleading look over at Fred, her husband shot her a wink and picked up a box of Sugar Quills he added to his own purchase, but was unwilling to go and save his wife from the lovely Helen.
Ginny grabbed a couple of Pumpkin Pasties and a scoop of No-Melt Icecream. Harry did the same, but replaced the Pasties with Treacle Tarts. Ron bought himself his usual two Chocolate Frogs and a bag of Pepper Imps. He also grabbed a Frog for Harry, thinking it might put him back in Ginny’s good books if he made the effort to boost Harry’s foul mood.
George swiped up some Acid Pops and a bag of Salt Water Taffy for Angelina. He went through the till first and rocked up to Hermione’s side, slinging an arm over his sister-in-law’s shoulders while giving lovely Helen a smile.
Helen, being unaware of how to spot the difference between Fred and George Weasley, cooed over the sweet young couple and waved them off, telling Hermione she’d taken up enough of her time with her handsome husband.
Hermione said her goodbyes and escaped from the shop with George as quick as she could, snagging one of George’s acid pops as recompense for him taking over what should have been Frde’s job to save Hermione.
Fred did come out afterwards and handed over the Sugar Quills (sans one, which he popped into his mouth quickly before she could snatch back).
Ron trailed out after, already one Chocolate Frog down with an obvious streak of chocolate against his cheek. He was pulling out the Card from the box, scowling and flicking it away.
“Another Celestina Warbeck. There’s only so many I can give to mum before she’ll be making a scrapbook of them. They need to get some new subjects for these cards.”
Hermione gives Ron a look until he pick the card up and pockets it, promising he’d find a bin instead. Ginny and Harry trailed out after, licking at their cones and waving at a young boy stood in the window, watching Harry with wide starry eyes.
Ginny licked a stripe up her minty chocolate, “Want to head to the Shrieking Shack? Or back to the school?”
Fred shrugs, “We can head to the cottage, no promises on Crookshanks not snagging your sweets though.”
Before anyone could agree or disagree, Ron made a stupendous choking noise. Everyone looked over to see a red face Ron, holding one hand to his mouth and the other clutching his second Chocolate Frog. Fred and Harry, both closest to Ron, moved to give him a thump on the back, thinking he’d let the chocolate go down wrong.
Ron shook them off, clearing his throat and trying to wipe away the tears in his eyes from the shock, “No— look! Ginny!”
Fred screwed up his face and took the card from between Ron’s fingertips, squinting down at the card. Hermione bit her tongue, not wanting to once again raise the idea that she thought Fred needed glasses, especially not around George. They’d probably both have a conniption.
But then Fred was gasping and throwing the card at George before jumping up and down like Teddy when handed a sweet from Mrs. Weasley.
George took it immediately of course, looking at the card and letting out a scream. Hermione, Harry and Ginny, all fully concerned and deadly curious, dove for the card together and saw what the others were so excited over.
There, very clearly printed and photographed in her official Quidditch robes, stood a small portrait of Ginny Potter (née Weasley). In her very own Chocolate Frog card.
“NO!” Harry shouts, grabbing the card in both hands to look it over again, not believing it. “No way!” He flipped the card around, seeing the official foiled bio of Ginny written on the back, like all the other Chocolate Frog cards had.
“It’s real!” Harry yelps, nearly shoving it up into Ginny’s face where she’d been bending down to read it herself, “Oh Merlin— my wife’s on a Chocolate Frog Card!”
"Give it back, give it back! I wanna see it again," Ron tries to reach around Harry, but his friend pulls it closer to himself to keep reading. The twins were just as overexcited and also joined Ron in attempting to climb Harry in an attempt to see the card.
The girls were having none of it and took the card from Harry just before he was lost underneath a doggy pile of Weasleys.
Ginny read from the back of her card with big eyes, "Ginevra Potter nee Weasley. Current Chaser of Hollyhead Harpies and Flying Instructor of Hogwarts. Order of Merlin, First Class. Known for her inclusion in the defeat of Voldemort in 1998, as a member of the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army and one part of the Golden Trio. Potter is most known for her Quidditch playing, being the firstborn female of her family, and her marriage to Harry Potter."
Scowling a bit, Ginny pinches the card a bit like she was displeased by the look of it suddenly, "Excuse me, but if Harry's card doesn't say 'well known for being married to Ginny Weasley', I'll be having words with the people who make the Chocolate Frog cards."
"As will I, dear," Hermione takes the card to read it again, a proud smile on her face, "I like the 'first born female' bit, that sounds good."
Ginny hums, thinking it did make her sound a bit more impressive when Hermione said it.
Harry, on the other hand, looked a bit gobsmacked.
"Wha'do you mean my card? Why would I have a card?"
Hermione and Ginny gave him looks as if they had caught him drooling on his shirt. Ginny raises a brow, "Uh, cause you literally defeated Voldemort?"
Ron pulls the card back to himself finally free of the cloying twins, who had made it into a game between the two to see who could keep Ron in a headlock the longest. Finally on his feet again, Ron finally got a look at the card at the same time Harry was trying to figure out how he would have a card as well.
"Gin's got one cause of Quidditch, though, right?"
"Nah mate, look!" Ron smacks at Harry's shoulder to get his attention, "at the bottom here, it's got 'Heroes Series' written down. It's a whole new series!"
This made everyone fight to see the card again to make sure, leaving Ron at the bottom of a small pile that included both twins and Ginny. Hermione somehow stayed standing while Harry fought to pull his leg back from Ginny’s clutches.
Hermione’s squeaking noise made them all stop and look up, 'Ooh, it is! It's got a number here that says Ginny's card is number three out of thirty-three."
The group of Potters and Weasleys were all absolutely still, whether on the ground or still standing on two feet like a respectable adult. It was nearly a full minute before Fred whispers, somewhere from under George's armpit—
"That means… we all could have Frog Cards…"
Ron shot up and was back inside Honeydukes before Ginny had even managed to get back on her knees. Harry was digging in his robes for his sack of coins while Fred pushed George into the shop ahead of him, following his brothers inside.
Ginny had to pull Hermione inside as the older witch was still admiring the card and a bit surprised by the speed of her family in their rush to buy out the remaining Chocolate Frogs from Honeydukes.
-~-~-~-
Ten minutes later, and literally every last Chocolate Frog Honeydukes had to sell, a table has been procured at the Hog's Head much to Aberforth's chagrin.
There were an abundance of charmed Frogs that hopped off the table, no one bothering to catch half of them in their rush to open the package and spot which card they had. One of the emptied bag was used to haphazardly toss the actual chocolates into for later.
It was a good thing the Hog's Head was much quieter than The Three Broomsticks, as the shouts of well known people's names coming from the table of rather well known people was a sight to behold.
Each package opened was followed by an announcement of whose card had come with it, and a clamoring from each of the group to read it before another was read aloud, and the cycle continued.
Cards for the twins were found first, with a duplicate Ginny breaking up the two:
George Weasley
Inventer and Owner of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes
Order of Merlin, First Class
Most well known for the successful joke and goods shop co-owned with his twin, Fred. Weasley is also known for being part of the Battle of Hogwarts in 1998, member of the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army, fifth son to Molly and Arthur Weasley. Weasley is married to professional Quidditch player, Angelina Johnson, and teaches part time at Hogwarts. Weasley is patented with numerous inventions, potions and charms attributed to his business that aided the Ministry during war, as well as being used by the Auror department of the MoM.
Fred Weasley
Inventer and Owner of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes
Order of Merlin, First Class
Most well known for the successful joke and goods shop co-owned with his twin, George. Weasley is also known for being part of the Battle of Hogwarts in 1998, member of the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army, fourth son to Molly and Arthur Weasley. Weasley is married to Hermione Granger-Weasley. Wealsey is patented with numerous inventions, potions and charms attributed to his business that aided the Ministry during war, as well as being used by the Auror department of the MoM.
Fred and George thought it quite amusing their cards were nearly identical and made a point to say they commended the people who made the cards for not mixing them up enough to match them with the in order wife. Though, they were genuinely impressed with the couple mentions of individual inventions made by the both of them. It was nice to see their individual accomplishments being seen as well.
Ron found one for Fleur next, which made everyone cheer. Ron handed it over to his sister-in-law who happily read it aloud:
Fleur Weasley (née Delacour)
Curse-Breaker of Gringotts, Order of Merlin, First Class
Well known as the Beauxbatons champion during the 1994 Triwizard Tournament, Weasley was a part of the Battle of 1998, a member of the Order of the Phoenix and one-half of the acclaimed curse-breaker team of Gringotts, with husband William Weasley. On top of being world-renowned author of her book 'Mingling Magics: Werewolves, Veela and other Creatures', Weasley volunteers at Hogwarts in numerous subjects as a guest speaker and teacher.
Everyone clapped for Fleur's card, thinking it was highly complimentary for their friend and sister. It was a laugh when they found Bill's a bit later, numbered nine of the available thirty-three, and found that while the beginning of his was similar it lacked any other accomplishment other than 'being well known for partnering with and marrying Fleur Delacour'. Ginny thought it quite a lark, and pocketed the second one of Bill's she found in the pile, thinking of framing it next to hers.
"We'll have to have them next to one another and title it, 'Married Above Themselves'."
Fred found this equally hilarious and threw a duplicate of his own card into the pile as well.
He then found Hermione's, which only added to his excitement.
The group opened cards for Neville and Luna, then ones for both Arthur and Molly as well as Sirius and Charlie. They all became a bit weepy when Ron found one for Percy, and took the time to raise a toast for their brother.
The evening became one for many toasts, as the further into their pile of cards they got, the more they found lost friends.
There were cards for Remus and Tonks, both beautifully depicted with small quirks and their accomplishments, as well as their marriage and Teddy.
Cards were spotted of Kingsley and Moody, and a very exciting find of "Dumbledore's Army" as well as ones for both the old and the new "Order of the Phoenix". The group pictures were rather heartwarming, even if there were faces in both portraits that would have perhaps been better left out in hindsight.
McGonagall; a newly updated one for Dumbledore;— Seamus, Dean, and very excitedly spotted ones for Angelina, Alicia, Katie and Lee. One for Cedric. One for Lavender, scars and all.
Harry swallowed hard when he found one— just one— of his parents, James and Lily Potter, encased in the same frame together. Their actions and sacrifices spelled out so plainly, with the Marauders immortalized and the Potters regarded as the martyrs of the century, that saved the World when they selflessly saved their child.
It was touching and there wasn't a dry eye among the table by the time they opened the last card— another Alicia— and looked over their piles.
Ron, however, was not content. And to be fair neither was Harry— only he had always been better at hiding the turmoil than Ron.
"How've we not found a single one for Harry or I? There no way there isn't one— we're in the bloody group shots! Harry, mate, count up the numbers, which are we missing?!"
Fred and George couldn't hold back their snickering as the younger men frantically checked over every card, noting the numbers as they went and finding that throughout the entire pile— and it was quite a pile— they were still missing numbers one and two.
"One and two?! You're kidding— Harry!" Ron was close to whining, looking terribly distraught that he hadn't found his own Frog Card.
Harry tried to rationalize things, "Obviously we're in them, we just got an unlucky dip, that's all. Maybe some student bought some earlier and they just happened to be the ones with you and I in them."
Ron looked heartened by this, and maybe even a bit excited, "Yeah! Hey, I'll bet they'd come and show us at the school if they do, right? And it's not, like, against school rules to buy something off a student, right?"
Hermione frowned, but still looked highly amused while doing so, "it's certainly frowned upon, Ron."
He waves her off, too excited for this plan to think perhaps it was frowned upon, “This is brilliant; whoever sees the first one— yours or mine— owes the other a Galleon.”
Harry grins, getting excited alongside his friend, “You’re on. Five Galleons if we can get the card as well?”
“Deal!”
The boys shake on it and the new bet is formed.
-~-~-~-
And thus begins one of the most turbulent school years of Minerva McGonagall’s life.
After that Hogsmeade weekend when classes were resuming on Monday morning, Professor Potter had opened his Defense Against the Dark Arts class by asking, point blank, if any of his third year Ravenclaw and Gryffindor students had happened to buy any Chocolate Frogs over the weekend.
A couple students nodded or murmured ‘yessir’. But it was one young Mr. Douglas that shot his hand up with wide eyes and an even wider grin.
“Professor, I was going to tell you after class, but— look!” the young Gryffindor dug into his robe pocket, producing a familiar hexagon shaped card.
Harry actually pumped his fist for a moment, making the room dissolve into a few snickers and giggles. He strode over to Mr. Douglas to see the card, with all the students surrounding peering over curiously, not sure what was so important that Professor Potter wanted to know about Clint Douglas’s Chocolate Frog card.
Mr. Douglas handed over the card with a grin, “Was gonna show Mrs. Potter when I saw her this afternoon as well. Have you found one already? I wouldn’t mind giving it to her if you haven’t!”
Harry groaned, much to his class’s amusement, when he saw it was not a card of himself, but of his lovely wife.
“No, sorry Mr. Douglas. Gin— er, Mrs. Potter has hers already. My family and I went to Honeydukes over the weekend and bought out the Frogs.”
“That’s why— I was saving up all week to try and get one of the new series! Sir!” An outraged cry from one of his Ravenclasws made Harry cringe while also cracking a smile.
“Sorry Miss Cleaves, we got a bit excited. Found the whole lot apart from two though!”
This impressed many of his students and he got a couple shouts of wondering which two he was missing. Harry frown, looking the most grumpiest his class had ever seen him.
“Couldn’t find mine or Ron’s. Can you believe it! You’d think mine would at least be as common as Dumbledore’s! The amount of those cards Ron and I have found over the years…”
Miss Cleaves perked up, “You found all the others? That’s quite impressive!”
Harry shrugs, figuring at this point, there was no point in trying to pull his class back together and actually teaching anything this morning, “Yeah, my wife and her brothers and Mrs. Granger-Weasely all popped down together and bought the store out. We got a few doubles, triples a couple times. I’ll talk with Ron, but I’ll bet if anyone needs to trade we’ll be able to find the ones you want, if you’d like.”
This was very exciting. DADA classes for the rest of the morning were basically null and void in concern of new content, so Harry just decided to make the rest of his Monday catch-up work days, where he found himself talking Frog Cards with his classes throughout the day while his students periodically did some of their homework.
Annoyingly, not a single student had come across a Harry or Ron card. It made sense though, seeing as Harry and the others really had bought out all of Hogsmeade.
It was sweet though, the number of students who promised their Professor if they found one, they would give it to him. Harry tried to tell them it wasn’t necessary, he just wanted to see it, they didn’t need to give it to him.
Only, then his class of sixth year Slytherin and Gryffindors caught wind that Professor Potter and Mr. Ron Weasley had made a bet… and the rest was history. It was basically life or death to some of them to win their own bets, on which of the two war heroes would find their card first.
The entirety of Hogwarts suddenly made it their mission to show their Professor his own Chocolate Frog card. Plans were made in common rooms, where those who had been beginning their collection were trading nearly daily with Harry and Ron, as the older wizards were also still hard at work trying to find the last two remaining cards. It gave them quite the stock to be able to trade with the students though.
A month of this constant and frantic hunt for trading cards, eventually, Headmistress McGonagall had to make a decree during an evening meal that any and all Chocolate Frog Card trading had to take place only during the lunch hour each day. Frog Cards had begun to overtake lessons and it would not do.
After this new rule, Harry found his students became even more frenzied. Two more months passed by, and numerous afternoons of trading doubles between Houses, students and their DADA and flying professors, neither Harry nor Ron’s card had been spotted.
People were beginning to think the Chocolate Frod people just hadn’t released the cards yet, like they were going to be the most rare find. But others said this didn’t make sense, because then wouldn’t they have also done the same for Mrs. Potter and Professor Longbottom, both also being in the Golden Trio?
Trading began to slow down as students began to find themselves with full sets (aside from the coveted two, of course) and didn’t need to trade one another as often. Ron began collecting doubles, triples and multiples of the same cards just to help out the few students who were still looking for particular cards. Trading with Mr. Weasley was always welcomed.
Hermione came one day with large, old frames she picked up at a muggle flea market, which she gave to Ron and told him it might be nice to frame some of the cards, since most of them had members of their family on them. So the Burrow now had the nearly full set of cards, showing both front and back, framed lovingly in the attic room.
Months passed again, and it was nearly the end of the year. Harry and Ron had given up on finding it, taking Ginny’s suggestion that the cards must have been minimal prints, to keep people buying the product. Ron suggested after that, that if there really were going to be new prints like Ginny thought, that their bet should reflect it… they should raise the stakes.
Accepting a card from someone else, trade or gift wise, wouldn’t win the bet. You had to find the card yourself.
There were still no sight of the missing cards over the summer break. There was an incredibly exciting fire call from Fleur, who told Harry she’d run into a co-worker who told her her son had found a Ron Weasley Frog Card, and did Ron want it?
As desperately as Ron did, in fact, want to see his card, the stakes had been set. They needed to find it for themselves.
The new school year came around and harry and Ron (as well as Hermione, Ginny, Fred and Geroge) were immediately asked if the two remaining Frog Cards had ever been found. The students were aghast that they still had not seen them.
The Slytherins were especially interested in the new bet when they were listening to Mr. Weasley complaining about it, after a young first year said her older brother had spotted a Harry Potter card.
No trading, huh? Well, there were ways around that.
Harry suddenly found unopened Chocoalte Frogs on his desk most days, or left behind at a students desk. He tried to ask who they belonged to, but the students would wave him off and tell him it was a gift, or that they hadn’t meant to buy two.
Ron had a few given to him at work, not sure who in the Auror Department would be giving him chocolate randomly. When he asked Seamus, the man had smirked and mentioned the last few had been dropped off by a house elf. Obviously, the Hogwarts students were getting crafty.
Secretary gifted Chocolate Frogs aside, Harry and Ron still hadn’t found their cards. Ron had nearly cried when Lavender had been helping him open his last pile and opened one with a Harry Potter card inside— but it was deemed invalid, as Lavender had been the one to find it, not Ron.
Harry had laughed for ages the next day when he found out from a rather upset Lavender, who had only been trying to help. Ginny had taken the poor girl away from her laughing husband to drink some tea and ruminate over their ridiculous partners together.
It became a bit of a running gag at some point. Harry and Ron were suddenly gifted Chocolate Frogs for every occasion. Birthday? Chocolate Frog. Anniversary? Chocolate Frog. Good day at work? Chocolate Frog.
Harry stopped trying eventually. He still accepted the Frogs when they came his way, but he found it more amusing than stressful now at this point. Ron was still a bit hung up on it, but had slowed significantly when Molly had pointed out the piles of cards were beginning to overtake one of the rooms in his and Lavender’s apartment.
It was nearly a year since the release of the new card series when Harry left his office to begin the days DADA lesson. He had seventh year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaws this morning, which was meant to be a theory day. He was planning to run them through his obstacle course next week, and wanted to ensure they were prepared with their newest spellwork.
A few times a week, Harry was pleasantly surprised with one of the many members of his family that volunteered or guest-spoke at Hogwarts. There had been a few times he left his office to fine Fleur or Hermione sitting at the back, reading to help as his assistant for the day, or Ginny already there and chatting to some of the students.
So it was a lively surprise to see Ginny, his beautiful wife, perched on a stool at the back of the classroom with her and Harry’s godson perched on her knee. The precocious, turquoise-haired three-year-old was eating up all the attention he was getting from the seventh-years. A few of the girls were cooing over Teddy Lupin, as he cheesed and shifted his hair and eye colour whenever he spotted a new one, delighting everyone when he tried to emulate them.
When Harry came down the small staircase, Teddy spotted him and his hair immediately went raven-black and all sticky-uppy. Harry was much better at taming his long hair back into a bun at the back of his head for professional purposes, but Teddy had seen the rat’s nest many a time in the morning to know better.
“Ha-yee!” Teddy called and launched himself at Harry, who picked him up under the arms and launched him up in the air. Teddy landed in his godfather’s arms with giggles, his little arms wrapping around Harry’s neck happily.
“Hello, mate. Did Auntie Ginny drag you to school with her today?” Harry asks his godson while he points his wand at the blackboard, setting the chalk to begin detailing the spellwork for the class. While his students seated themselves and began pulling out their things, Harry enjoyed a moment with his little godson.
Teddy nodded, with a wide-toothy grin that looked more and more like Tonks’s, “Yup! B-ought you a p-esant!”
“You did?” Harry asks with a small gasp, looking down and seeing the purple packaged chocolate clutched in one sweaty hand, “Oh, thanks Teddy! I haven’t had one in ages.”
He’d in fact had a Chocolate Frog left in his socks by who the hell knows just yesterday, but Teddy didn’t need to know that.
Teddy clapped and wiggled to be let down, jumping over to the front of the class. Harry followed after telling the class to begin looking over their textbooks to read the initial theory and he would begin hands-on in a moment. Receiving nods from all, Harry went over to Teddy while Ginny took it upon herself to begin walking around the class, in case anyone needed any help.
Teddy, well used to this particular ritual, handed the Chocolate Frog up to his godfather while he wiggled and giggled on the desk top. Harry took the Frog, something he had taught Teddy was Uncle Harry’s job only (he’d learned from Ron and Lavender’s mistake) and looked over at his little godson with a keen eye.
He whispered down into the raven-black and turquoise streaked hair, “Did you need a wee?”
“No!” Teddy scowls, but pauses and deliberates a moment before shaking his head and saying more decisively, “Nope.”
“Good, can’t share chocolate with little boys who don’t use the loo.”
Teddy shook his head, “I not little, I big!”
“Right, of course, how could I forget?” He wouldn’t, in fact, forget… but Harry had also been the one to have to clean up an accident just this past weekend from the ‘big boy’. “You want a leg or an arm?”
“Leg!” Teddy says with a big grin, laughing gaily when the charmed Chocolate leapt out of the box as soon as Harry had opened it, landing in front of the little boy before it seized and solidified. Teddy waited for Harry to snap off a leg and handed it over.
Chewing on a bit of the head, Harry smacked the box on the top of his desk, tapping one of the five corners to dislodge the card tucked at the bottom. After so many Choclate Frogs over the past year, Harry flipped the card casually and skimmed over the name and paragraph without taking it in.
Then he choked on the chocolate, making his wife, godson and entire class of seventh-years look up at him in a mix of alarm and vague amusement.
But Harry didn’t notice. He was scrambling to pick the card up, his blunt fingernails no help as they scraped and slid over the card. He finally swiped his hand over the desk top, sending the card flying to the ground. Launching himself at it, Harry ignored (or maybe didn’t hear) Ginny calling his name in a manner that resembled her mother in order to grab the card up from the cobblestone.
“Gin! GIN! It— I found it! Merlin’s saggy left—”
“HARRY POTTER! Little ears!”
“— sorry— It’s me! I found my card!”
Silence met his announcement before the entire class cheered, work forgotten amidst the clapping and full out celebration. Ginny rolls her eyes at the fanfare but can’t stop smiling, laughing at Teddy who was entirely caught up in the excitement and her husband, who was staring starry-eyed at his card.
Ginny crossed her arms from her spot in the center of the room, watching her husband fondly, “Go on then. I’ll cover your class, you go brag to Ron.”
Harry’s head snapped up and he stared at Ginny, excitement making his eyes nearly as wide as his circle-rimmed glasses.
“Oh Merlin— RON!” He was dashing out of the room faster than anything, on his way to boast to his best friend that he’d won, finally won, their long running bet.
Ron was both sad and excited when his best mate burst onto the Quidditch pitch that day, jumping up and down like a maniac with no care whatsoever that Professor Potter was being unprofessional and acting a twit. They read over the Harry Potter card over and over together, while Ron’s class of third years Gryffindors clapped and listened along.
Headmistress McGonagall made a very deliberate and patronizing announcement at the evening feast to congratulate Professor Potter as he and Mr. Ron Weasley shook hands and accepted the hard won Galleons. Hogwarts celebrated the whole evening, making the long-winded and yearlong joke of Chocolate Frog gifting finally come to an end.
So it was with great sadness and exasperation that Ron opened a Chocolate Frog he had forgotten about from the day before… after his first class of the morning the day after Harry’s win… and found his own face staring up at him from under the charmed chocolate amphibian.
le diablotin - imp
mon amour - my love
des imbéciles - you fools
[The Frog Cards]
Harry Potter
Current Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts
Known for his many monikers and for defeating Lord Voldemort in 1998, Professor Potter was awarded an Order of Merlin for his contribution to the Battle of Hogwarts, being a member of the Order of the Phoenix, leading Dumbledore’s Army, and ending the Second Wizarding War. ‘The-Boy-Who-Lived’ is credited with many feats throughout his years at Hogwarts, including the capture of a troll, slaying a basilisk, participating as a champion in the 1994 Triwizard Tournament, creating the DA, and the Battle of the Astronomy Tower. Potter is married to his wife, Ginny Potter (nee Weasley). It is rumoured Potter solved the mysterious truth behind Beedle’s story of ‘The Three Brothers’, though Potter has never explained or spoken of this since the conclusion of the 1998 battle. In his free time, Professor Potter enjoys spending time with his family, playing Quidditch and enjoying treacle tart.
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Ronald Weasley
Current Auror in the Ministry of Magic
Order of Merlin, First Class. Known for his inclusion in the defeat of Voldemort in 1998, as a member of the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore’s Army and one part of the Golden Trio. Mr. Weasley is well known for his particular combative and offensive spellwork, as well as being the sixth-born son of Arthur and Molly Weasley. Through the Second Wizarding War, Weasley was integral in aiding Harry Potter and is noted for his contributions in the Chamber of Secrets. In his free time, Weasley volunteers at Hogwarts as a flying instructor and at the St. Mungo’s children’s ward.
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Ginevra Potter (nee Weasley)
Currently Chaser on Hollyhead Harpies
Order of Merlin, First Class. Known for her inclusion in the defeat of Voldemort in 1998, as a member of the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army and one part of the Golden Trio. Mrs. Potter is most known for her Quidditch playing, being the firstborn female of her family, and being married to Harry Potter. Through the Second Wizarding War, Mrs. Potter was an integral part of aiding Harry Potter and is well known for her particularly strong Bat-Bogey hex. In her free time, Mrs. Potter volunteers at Hogwarts as a flying instructor and part-time professor.
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