Writing Harry and Ginny's Wedding Part II

Yesterday, I posted the first half of a story written during a discussion I started on Goodreads. It is a fan's take on what happened after the book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K Rowling.

By clicking here, you can read the rest of the story. This material is the compiled work of several Goodreads members, and therefore what they contributed is their property. I have listed their usernames on the bottom of the document to give credit where credit is due. Please respect that. Thank you.

To read the previous part of the story, click here

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Writing Harry and Ginny's Wedding Scene

The following was a discussion I started on Goodreads, a website that allows readers to talk, share and write about what they are reading or have read.

I figured as Harry and Ginny's wedding scene never made it into the book or the movie of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K Rowling, it would be fun to write it as a group:

The Weasley's kitchen table was covered in white envelopes, each with a neatly folded piece of parchment inside. Three quills floated above them, addressing them without a hand. Harry leaned over the table and studied some that had already been addressed. Written in perfect script, were names like: Professor Neville Longbottom, Mr. and Mrs. George and Angelina Weasley, Ms. Luna Lovegood, and Professor Horace Slughorn.

Behind him, Harry heard the creaking of the stairs. Ron appeared beside him.

“What are you doing down here?” said Harry.

“Mum sent me down here to keep you occupied. You are not allowed upstairs.” Ron replied.

“Why not?”

“Ginny’s trying on her dress robes. There’s some stupid rule about the groom not seeing them till the day of.” said Ron.“Ouch, that’s going to be awkward.” He pointed a finger to an envelope addressed to Ms. Cho Chang.

“I know, but Ginny insisted on inviting everyone we were even remotely friendly with at school. And, you were a little more than friendly with this one.” Harry pointed to an envelope one of the quills was writing out now: Ms. Lavender Brown.

“Aw, Harry come on, why did you have to invite her to the wedding? It’s going to be torture!” cried Ron.

Ron looked different than when they were at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He still wore his fiery red hair long, but red hair now formed itself into a beard on his chin. Ron was still taller than Harry, but he was more muscular now too. He was no longer the lanky boy who looked like his legs were too long for his body.

“So, when you going to ask her?” Harry asked.

“Who do you mean?”

“Hermione, of course.”

“Aw, I don’t know. You think she wants me too?”

“Ron! You’ve been dating for forever! Plus, I think she’s wanted you to ask her to marry you since she sent those birds to attack you in our sixth year.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
Ginny came down the wooden stairs, clad in a gray shirt, maroon sweatshirt, and jeans. She was trying for nostalgia; she had worn a similar outfit at the Burrow during the school years.
Harry smiled.

"We finished picking out my robes," Ginny sighed with a smile. "Mum just couldn't make up her mind and she certainly wouldn't let me," she laughed. She came to the table where Ron and Harry stood.

"I see these quills are busy," she joked. "How many more invitations are there?"

"Not many more, I don't think," replied Harry.

"And by the way," she grinned, "I heard you two talking. You should definitely ask Hermione to marry you.

"And I know how you should ask her," she said. She went to her brother and, hand cupped around Ron's ear, she told him the perfect setting (Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade; for nostalgia) and the perfect way (Put the ring inside of a book [One of those that has a hole cut in the middle]).
Then Ginny retreated up the stairs. Her brother and her fiancé watched her go....   
In silence Harry watched the hovering quills as they dived down to new letters and scratched names of friends and their addresses upon them.

"I'm going upstairs to my uh room, Harry," said Ron as he began to hike the stairs.

"Okay," said Harry. He was staring, staring, staring...

He shook his head. The quills had now ceased their work and had dropped to the table. They adjusted themselves until they lay perfectly straight beside themselves before going limp.

"Hedwig! Pigwidgeon!" called Harry. The two owls landed on his arms- Pigwidgeon on his left, Hedwig on his right- before turning their smooth feathered heads to Harry for instruction.
"Go on, Hedwig, Pigwidgeon." Harry divided the piles of letters in two. He walked to the window, flung it open, and balanced the piles on the sill. The owls obediently flew to the sill, plucked up one letter each in their claws, and flew off. They would return for another and then another once their current letter had been delivered. Harry watched them fly off, their gleaming wings sparkling in the afternoon light, as he thought of his wife to be. They would marry in three days.... 

 Mrs. Weasley interrupted his thoughts."Harry Harry HARRY!!!" she came crashing down the stairs.

"Yes Mrs. Weasley, whats wrong?" Harry asked.

"Kingsley Shacklebolt wants to see you. His patronus is in the living room!"   

Hurrying into the Weasley's crowded and colorful, living room, Harry saw Kingsley's blue head hovering in the air.
"Harry," his voice echoed as it had done when he appeared at Bill and Fleur's wedding. "Harry, McGonnagol has been killed by Lucious Malfoy!"Harry was stunned into silence. One of his favorite teachers, one that he was very close to and one that had helped him on numerous accounts. She was gone. Killed by the enemy.

"Harry, I am sorry... I must go," Shacklebolt disappeared as suddenly as he had come.

Harry turned and began to go upstairs, to tell Ginny and Ron. His fingers gripped the rail so tightly that his fingers turned white. Ron and Ginny were in Ron's attic bedroom, laughing as they watched a group of garden gnomes fight on the ground below.

"Wow, Ginny did you see that punch?..." he turned and saw Harry. "Hiya, Harry, what's up?"

"What happened?" asked Ginny quietly. She had become very good at reading Harry's numerous expressions. She could tell he was upset because he was furiously wiping his glasses.

"Here," Ginny said. Harry held out the glasses.

Drawing her wand from her sweat shirt's pocket, Ginny said, "Occulous Repairo," and the glasses snapped into perfect cleanliness.

"Wow, Ginny, don't turn into Hermione now," Ron joked. Ginny ignored his comment.

"Thanks," Harry whispered. He was quiet a moment.

Ron and Ginny waited.

Then he told them about what Kingsley had said. Ginny started to cry, Ron sat on his bed and dug his face in his hands. Harry held Ginny and the three stayed there for a while, until Hermione came bursting in the room. "Oh my God...did you hear?" Then she suddenly started to cry. Ron got of the bed and hugged Hermione, kissed her on the cheek, wiped her tears, and held her as Harry held Ginny.   
Then Mrs. Weasley barged in. "Hello, dearies-- Oh, sorry," her cheeks flamed red. She muttered "I came at a bad time," as she left the room.

"That rotten LUCIOUS MALFOY!" screamed Hermione once Mrs. Weasley was gone.  Everyone looked at her in surprise. Hermione was generally a very calm person.

They stayed there for a while, and soon left Ron's room in the attic, which at that point had turned into the mourning room after all the crying. The next day was a bit tense but all went as a normal day would; Ron had shaved of his beard and mustache, and finally cut his hair. When he came down stairs Harry thought he looked a bit more like his old self.

"Why'd you cut your hair and shave your beard," asked Harry curiously.

"Really, I don't know. I was easy though, I just used my wand."

"Um...Harry, yeah, I think I'm going to propose to Hermione...maybe...I don't know," Ron said.

"That would be great," Ron and Harry turned their heads to see Ginny coming down the stairs.
"I really would," she said.

Ron simply sighed.

"Oh my God, RON," said Hermione as she came down the stairs right that minute.

"Your hair! Your no longer beard! About time! You look much more handsome. No longer like a cave man." She hugged Ron and kissed him.

"Geez, I thought I told you guys at the end of our sixth year, to keep your snogging to a minimum," said Harry then laughed.
Looking a little embarrassed and a little red-cheeked the two separated.

"So, " Ginny said. "When is the funeral? For McGonnagal?" No one wanted to talk about it, but it was something that needed to be discussed.

"Dad said it is the day after your wedding," Ron answered. "So the day after tomorrow." All was quiet. Hedwig flew to them and perched on the end of the table. He looked around impatiently as if to say, "Come on, people, look at me!" Pigwidgeon soon joined him. Hello!

 I was wondering when you guys would get up," said Mrs. Weasley, as she headed toward them.

"Morning," they all said at once.

"I'm going to call my mum and dad," said Hermione.

"Well, dear, how can you do that? We don't have a muggle phone in the house," said Mrs. Weasley.

"It's okay, I've got an iPhone," replied Hermione.

"What's that," asked Mrs. Weasley.

"It's a....," Hermione was trying to figure out a way she could explain this to a witch who didn't grow up with Muggles. "It's a...portable phone...," Hermione hoped she had that right.

"Oh, okay." Said Mrs. Weasley. Hermione went back upstairs to call her parents and Mrs. Weasley started to cook breakfast.

Once Hermione was out of earshot Ginny started to talk,"Ron, you really should propose. I was talking to her about getting married and stuff, and she looked a bit sad. She even asked me, 'do think Ron's going to ever ask me to marry him.?' I shouldn't be telling you two this but, you need to know Ronald. She even told me she feels as though you really don't love her and that plan on breaking up with her. She thinks that if you're not proposing, then you might be breaking. She even cried," Ginny stopped there.

"I don't know if I'm even ready for marriage and kids," Ron moaned.

"Ron you guys have dating for two years already." said Harry."I feel as though Hermione's my sister I really would hate to be upset at my wedding because her boyfriend who is also her best friend hasn't 'popped the question'." Finished Harry.

"I know. said Ron.

"I really do love her. I have been thinking about it. I mean...yeah...I am going to propose," said Ron now smiling.

"Not when Ginny and I have our first kid," asked Harry.

"No. But Harry, you have to come with to get her a ring. You know, we should go today....and I'll propose to her tonight! I'm to get her a ring with a vine surrounding it, to match her wand. She'll love it!"

"Okay, now THAT'S a bit quick...I didn't mean that quick," said Harry.

"Too bad," said Ron "Let's go"

"Now?" asked Harry.

"No not now, tomorrow," said Ron sarcastically, "Of course now! Geez," Ron sighed.

"We'll be back," Ron hollered to his mum, in the kitchen.Ron and Harry disapperated and were gone.

Hermione came back down stairs, into the kitchen where Ginny had moved to talk with her mum. "Um...where's Ron and Harry?" she asked suspiciously.

"Um, I...don't...um...know. Yeah, I don't know,:" said Ginny.

"Okay then," said Hermione. She had a feeling Ginny was hiding something.

"What should I make for dinner?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Make a light dinner so we can all go to the three broomsticks later on...to get some butter beer...yeah...that'll be our...dessert," Ginny nodded to to herself thinking how great tonight was going to be. Mrs. Weasley didn't know that Ron was going to propose tonight so she looked just as confused as Hermione.   

*There is more to the story, but this blog post is already long enough so I will post the rest at a later date. Credit for the writing here goes to myself (Bridget), Gabrielle, Gaby, and Mockingjay. Credit for character names and original book goes to J.K Rowling.

**Gaby was nice enough to include a link as to what Hermione's engagement ring looks like. Click here to see it.

***To be part of the discussion, and write more for yourself, sign up on Goodreads and then click here.

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TRANSCENDENCE Giveaway Winner!

Thanks to all those who took the time to enter!  The winner of our ARC of TRANSCENDENCE by C.J. Omolulu is:

DIALMA!

 

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The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars
John Green
313 pages

“Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.” -Hazel Lancaster, page 33

Sixteen year-old Hazel, a girl diagnosed with Stage IV Thyroid in her lungs, says the above about An Imperial Affliction, a book she has read dozens of times through.

I believe it should be said about this book.

Hazel has always felt like she was a grenade ready to blow up, hurting everyone around her; a side-effect of death. When she attends the Cancer Kid Support Group one evening, not only does she find friendship in Isaac, a boy soon to go blind, but in Augustus Waters, who just won't, stop, staring, at her. Together, the three will ride "the roller coaster that only goes up", which is one of sickness, health, humor, and love.

I read this book from start to finish in the course of today. I believe you can too. The Fault in Our Stars is so tragic, yet so compelling with humor and happiness, I had myself fixed somewhere in between laughing and crying the whole way through.

Green gave his characters such dimension, such charisma, that I felt I knew them as if I had been reading a series worth of them, instead of a single book. They take you on a journey, suck you into their life, and feed you their thoughts and dreams with a spoon made of delicate prose.

This is the kind of book I like best, a book with so much feeling, that you turn the last page and want to do something, anything, then and there to fix this insane and mostly unfair world.

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The Storyteller by Antonia Michaelis

Summary

A good girl.

A bad boy.

A fairy tale that’s true.

A truth that is no fairy tale.

It begins the day Anna finds the child’s doll on the floor of the student lounge. When it’s claimed by Abel, the school drug dealer, Anna becomes determined to learn more about this mysterious boy with the military haircut and deep blue eyes. She follows him after school and discovers a secret: Abel is caring for his six-year-old sister, Micha, alone. Anna listens in as he tells her a fairy tale, the story of a little orphan queen pursued by hunters across the oceans for the treasure she carries: her pure, diamond heart.

It’s a story with parallels to reality. Social services and Micha’s abusive father could take her from Abel if they discover the truth. Despite friends’ warnings, Anna is drawn to Abel and Micha, and falls under the spell of the story of the little queen and her desperate voyage.

But when people Abel has woven into his tale turns up dead, it’s Anna whose heart is in danger. Is she in love with a killer? And has she set out on a journey from which there is no return?

Number of pages: 416

Review

Never before have I read a story like that of The Storyteller. In a way, Antonia’s story went above and beyond everything that I expected considering nothing is as expected in the lives of Anna, Abel, and Micha, but there was also a bit of a let down. Call me a sucker for happy endings, I guess.

 The Storyteller’s story in the book is unlike any fairy tale I have ever encountered. I really feel like someone was telling me the story rather than me just reading the words and absorbing them on the paper. Abel tells the story to Micha and Anna part by part as the story of their lives unfolds before them, inspiring the story of the little cliff queen (Micha). As I read the story and compared it to the fairytale, Antonia guided me through it, making me assume things and think that I had it all figured out way ahead of time. It was incredible really how I felt and thought exactly what the author wanted me to feel and think. There were parts where my original reactions to things described in the story made me want to fling the book far away, but then the author would describe something about the characters and the actions and it would just make me go along with it. It was as if she made me feel empathy for things that I would never usually feel for. She also made me think that I had all the puzzle pieces together even though I knew some pieces were missing. In reality, I had had all the pieces, just in a different order and waiting for new fabricated pieces to arrive. This all probably sound confusing the way I am explaining it, but this story is one that I can not explain in just simple words. It’s all about feeling it as you go along.

The writing was simply beautiful. It was poetic . . . lyrical even. Usually I tend to stray away from flowery writing because I get distracted in the detailed descriptions and what not. In this book, that was not the case (at least, not often). There was a slight change in writing style, I thought, between the story of their lives and the fairytale story. I assume it was because Abel was the one telling the fairytale story, not Antonia as the author. Antonia also wrote about very different characters, ones whose personalities and problems are not that of the ones I usually encounter. Take Abel for instance: he is as unique a character as I have ever read, but I didn’t even get to discover that until piece by piece the author revealed Abel at the end as he was meant to be. And Anna: she was one of those main heroines that you feel for and understand but also want to beat the crude out of her for the way she handles things or the way she reacts. Some of her actions seemed so naïve to me—or just stupid—but then the author was make me feel she was justified by doing that whole empathy thing again. In the end, I didn’t know whether to love or hate those two. Micha I adored, wholeheartedly. That little queen captured my heart from the start, and I ached over the things she went through and the things she saw during that cold winter in their little city in Germany. I can’t blame the author for anything that happened in the end because looking back I realized that I always knew this story of the little queen and her friends was one of heartbreak, which is exactly how I was left feeling. From 1-10? The brilliant work of tragedy is a 7 to me.

P.S. I feel like a heads up is in order. While this book was very good, I do not recommend it for those who are young. Many things happened in this book that are not G rated, nor do I think that all of it is comfortable reading about to some of you i.e. murder, drugs, rape etc. 

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Something to Think About

Just as a reminder, "Something to Think About" posts are short poems or passages from novels that I think send a message to think about during your busy days. The following passage is from the book Paper Towns by John Green which I finished yesterday (a review will be coming shortly), so I figured I would post my favorite part here.

"When I've thought about him dying, which admittedly isn't that much, I always thought of it like you said, that all of the strings inside him broke. But there are a thousand ways to look at it: maybe the strings break, or maybe our ships sink, or maybe we're grass; our roots so interdependent that no one is dead as long as someone is alive....If you choose the grass, you're saying that we are all infinitely interconnected, that we can use these root systems not only to understand one another but to become one another.

Maybe it's like you said before, all of us being cracked open. Like each of us starts out as a watertight vessel. And these things happen; these people leave us, or don't love us, or don't get us, or we don't get them, and we lose and fail and hurt one another. And the vessel starts to crack open in places. And I mean, yeah, once the vessel cracks open, the end becomes inevitable....And it's only in that time that we can see one another...before that, we were just looking at ideas of each other, like looking at your window shade but never seeing inside. but once the vessel cracks, the light can get in. The light can get out."

I don't feel like I have a whole lot to explain here, because I think the main idea is said pretty clearly. I will let you reflect on it for yourself.

This is so beautifully written, and I just hope I get the chance to write something this powerful, and this meaningful, sometime in my life.

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Review and Giveaway: TRANSCENDENCE

TRANSCENDENCE
by C.J. Omololu
Hardcover, 336 pages
Published June 5th 2012 by Walker & Company

Placement in the Pile: Middle of the Stack

Summary:When a visit to the Tower of London triggers an overwhelmingly real vision of a beheading that occurred centuries before, Cole Ryan fears she is losing her mind. A mysterious boy, Griffon Hall, comes to her aid, but the intensity of their immediate connection seems to open the floodgate of memories even wider.

As their feelings grow, Griffon reveals their common bond as members of the Akhet—an elite group of people who can remember past lives and use their collected wisdom for the good of the world. But not all Akhet are altruistic, and a rogue is after Cole to avenge their shared past. Now in extreme danger, Cole must piece together clues from many lifetimes. What she finds could ruin her chance at a future with Griffon, but risking his love may be the only way to save them both. Full of danger, romance, and intrigue,

Transcendence breathes new life into a perpetually fascinating question: What would you do with another life to live?

Review:First of all I have to apologize that it took me so long to get this review up. Between family vacations, sick kids, Olympics and many other things It took me longer to read it than I wanted. Part of that was, although for me the book was enjoyable it didn't hold my attention and make me want to read without stopping.

The premise is very interesting and was a unique read for me. I've never read a book about reincarnation. Some aspects were interesting, others predictable. I liked Cole and Griffon. Laughed out loud at times. Disagreed with some of the "rules" of the reincarnation but understood why it was the way it was in the end.

In the end I enjoyed it and I now am actually more interested in the plot of book 2 than I am book one. So don't let my lower score trick you. I do want to read the next one!

And now because I was so lacking how about a giveaway to pick up the pace of the blog shall we? Plus, the beginning of this book tales place in London, perfect for Olympic fever!  Just comment on this review and fill out the information below to enter!

US and Canada mailing addresses only.  Contest will be open until 11:59 pm Wed Aug. 15th!  Good Luck!

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Cape Cod Sand, Sunscreen, and John Green

There is nothing like reading a book at the beach. Especially if the book is good, and your toes are in Cape Cod sand. I always try to keep my books clean; no dog-eared pages, no food stains, but the books I bring to the beach, never return the same way. They get wet, and some-what salty, and oily fingerprints dot the cover from all the sunscreen my pale skin makes me where. And truth be told, I don't mind that too much, because when I bring it home, I get to bring some of the beach back with me.

I am currently reading Paper Towns by John Green, an author that was recommended to me by a friend. She has read all of Green's books, and has suggested I read: Paper Towns, The Fault in Our Stars, An Abundance of Katherines, and Looking for Alaska. I am about 100 pages in of the book shown above and really enjoying it. This is a much happier book compared to some I have just finished.

Happy summer, and best wishes from Cape Cod!



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