Celebrating the New Year((Plot Members))

[Ron Weasley]

Ron sighed as he looked at himself in the mirror. He wore dress robes once again. Fortunately he had managed to shed the monstrosity of his aunts robes and had bought himself some new, respectable looking robes instead. Ron didn't feel much like celebrating at this moment. He had pictured graduating from Hogwarts to be something marvelous and grand. The ceremony had been great but a dark mood had hung over the once happy group of friends. Hermione had grown rather distant ever since her ordeal and rarely found time to hang out anymore. Ever since Voldemort's return Harry had always been surrounded by a dark cloud, always burdened with the unfair responsibility of catching Voldemort. This was the ministry's problem, they should be handling Voldemort, not a group of 17 year kids! It wasn't just wasn't fair to them. Now Harry was missing, without so much as even a word to Ron or Hermione. Either something terrible had happened, or the darn fool had run off to take care of things himself.

Ron sighed once more and turned and started to walk to the door. He didn't want to go to the party, but his parents had insisted on him escorting Ginny there and trying to have some fun while he was at it. Ron hadn't found a job yet since his graduation. His grades hadn't been much so no place was fighting for his attention. Besides, his family needed him here. With every member save himself and Ginny part of the order they were gone most of the time and it fell on him and Ginny to keep the place up. Ron exited his room and made his way downstairs to the room with their fireplace. The room was empty, which meant Ginny was still upstairs getting ready. "Come on Ginny!" Ron called upstairs. "You don't want to miss the party do you?" Ron tried to get some enthusiasm into his tone, as if he actually wanted to go.

He sat down in a chair and waited for Ginny to finish up. A few minutes later the now 7th year at Hogwart's made her appearance and Ron stood up. "Ready?" He said making his way to the fireplaces and tossing in some Floo Powder. Calling out the location of the party Ron stepped into the fireplace and soon exited on the other end, now standing inside the grand hall where the New Year's celebration was taking place. Ginny appeared right behind him and before they could so much as even dust the ash of them a house elf appeared and took Ron's coat. Ron watched the house elf disappear and than lead Ginny down the hall and around a corner into the giant center room where the party was taking place. The place was packed with partiers and music seemed to fill the entire space.

Ron scanned the room and found the food and drink table. He turned to Ginny. "Have fun. I'll find a table somewhere if you need me." With a wink he set off weaving through the guests to make his way to the snack table.

[Professor Neville Longbottom]

Neville fidgeted in front of the mirror as he pulled at the tie around his neck. He had plenty of fancy clothes now that he was working with the Ministry, but he could hardly recognize himself in the mirror. True, he needed nice robes when he went to meetings, dinners, etc., etc., but field work required dirty chinos and t-shirts. Blowing out a breath, Neville gathered up his cloak and headed out the door. Once on the stoup, he did a bit of a twist and disappeared into thin air. Apparition still made him a bit queasy, but it beat taking the floo.

A few moments later, he twirled to a stop on the walk in front of the lavish home. " Nice place," he said to himself at the looked at the stately manor that had lights blazing in all of the windows. Neville followed the crowd that was now pooling into the open doors. Neville remembered Ginny's words in the owl. They were expecting trouble, and all of the member's of the DA had been contacted to be on the lookout. Not only that, but Neville believed that the Order of the Phoenix would also be on the case. With all the people, an attack here could be a disaster.

House elves waved Neville in. Large lanterns reflected on the shiny hardwood floors while revelers danced in swirls around the floor. Everyone was having a jolly time; many of them ignoring the danger that had threatened them just months before. Many had forgotten about Voldemort since many of the attacks had ceased a few months earlier. Neville had noticed how quiet the ministry had gotten since then. Spotting Ginny and Ron, Neville made his way over to his friends. The two separated, and Neville watched as Ron headed to the refreshments. Following Ron, he soon caught up with his friend. " Hey Ron, " Neville said rather confidently. His old stutter had disappeared almost completely. " How's life been treating you?" These were of course the friendly questions, but Neville desperately wanted to ask the real questions on his mind. Had he heard from Harry? Did he really think Voldemort was planning something? Knowing that both of these might cause an uproar if overheard, he kept them both to himself.