It was a normal Saturday at the new Weasley residence except for the sadness that lingered in the air. All the occupants were sitting around the kitchen table as Hermione brewed a potion. Discussions of fond memories in the past had come up as everyone tried to push back the recent times. Although the battle had come and gone, leaving the Order triumphant, the weight of their losses pressed deeply on all their hearts.
"Do you remember when Fred and George set off their fireworks?" Someone chuckled. "It made Umbridge's first day as headmistress a living hell."
Laughing, Ginny replied, "That was so funny! She was running around like a headless chicken the whole day, and McGonagall just shook her head at the stupidity of it all!"
People say it's hard to lose anyone. In George's case, it was harder. He had lost his twin and his best friend. They had done everything together. They played quidditch, pulled pranks (including Ron's stuffed spider, one of his fondest memories), and even opened up a joke shop in Diagon Alley called 'Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes'. And now Fred was gone.
"I'm really glad that they gave me that map. It helped us get out of trouble so many times. Remember the amount of times I nearly got caught by Snape?" Harry added, thinking about the various times he had nearly been caught. "I was happy when I found out this had belonged to my dad, Sirius, and Remus, though."
Talking about the Marauders brought his emotions to the surface. As his mind wandered, his friends looked on sadly. He had lost both of his parents when he was only a year old, and never knew them. When he turned the ripe old age of thirteen, he was introduced to his dad's two best mates. Sirius was his godfather, and Harry regarded him as more than that. He was a father to Harry, and was snatched away from him when Sirius died in Harry's 5th year. Remus was murdered by a Dolohov in the final battle, loving Harry, his son Teddy and his wife Nymphadora until the end. Remus was not only a friend to Harry, but the only personal link he had to his parents after Sirius died. Remus and Nymphadora (Tonks, as she was nicknamed) had a child together named Teddy, and named Harry godfather. Teddy was being raised by his grandmother, Andromeda Tonks, but he came to Harry's house at least once a week.
As Ron watched Hermione stirring the potion, he scrambled for something to say to fill up the silence. "Erm... Do you remember that Boggart we had in Lupin's class third year? And when Neville stepped up to it?"
Ginny giggled, "There was a rumour that spread around the school that day. Something about it turning in to Snape in his grandmother's clothes?" She looked at Ron, quirking up an eyebrow at her question.
"That was the highlight of the year, besides Hermione screaming at the McGonagall-boggart for failing her in all the exams," he smirked, confirming the question.
Hermione glared at her husband over the silver steam rolling off the liquid in the cauldron. "You can't use that against me, Ronald. I really didn't want to fail, and you know it."
"Lupin was the best teacher we ever had." Ginny said cutting in, trying to avoid the infamous bickering of the long-time couple.
"Oh, definitely," Harry replied. "Crouch wasn't that bad until he sent me off to Voldemort, though. At least we learned how to throw off the Imperius curse."
Hermione nodded, "I'm glad that we got to learn that, but using the spiders was barbaric. And using Neville was just cruel..."
Snorting with laughter, Ron replied, "Those backflips were bloody brilliant, though! He could have been part of Andromeda's Acrobats!" After getting confused looks from Harry and Hermione, he coughed suggestively and looked over at the potion, his eyes looking suddenly attached to the spoon's rotation.
"Actually, Ginny, I'm not sure. I found instructions for a potion without a name on it. I showed it to my boss, and for some reason he asked me to brew it..."
"Hold on a minute. Are you saying that your boss asked you to brew and unknown potion?" Harry asked incredulously.
Hermione nodded her head reluctantly, as if questioning what she was doing herself.
"Why couldn't they make it themselves? Haven't they got a cauldron of their own?" Ron sceptically exclaimed.
"Oh, Ronald!" Hermione managed to articulate in frustration. "It's my job! My boss is the head of the department and is, therefore, quite busy. They see me as the most responsible worker, and I have the delightful task of meeting their expectations."
Checking her wristwatch, she gently removed the spoon and cleaned it off with a quick flick of her wand, muttering 'Scourgify!' "This batch is done. I'm supposed to test it, and Merlin knows what'll happen," she shook her head, muttering curses at her boss under her breath. "Right. The instructions say to place some on the floor and step into it. I hate to place anyone in danger, but I really don't want to do this on my own in case I end up in the London Zoo in a tiger pen."
Ron opened his mouth to argue, but stopped and blinked at her. "What's a London Zoo? Wait! Stop distracting me! I'm going, because there is no way I'm letting my wife go without me!" he declared, looking around as if challenging his friends to argue with him.
Ginny was next to speak, looking at Harry. "We'll go too, won't we?"
"Yes. Of course we will," Harry said, nodding.
As Hermione curled her thin fingers over an edge of the cauldron, she glanced up at her friends, "Can one of you half me, please? I could use a hand tipping this potion on the floor." Harry and Ron nodded and headed over in her direction.
The two men carried the cauldron to the middle of the kitchen and proceeded to empty the contents onto the clean floor. All four of them looked reluctantly at the liquid, which colour had now turned red, and, looking at each other, they stepped in together on the count of three.
Everything was going fine, but then it almost was if they had stepped into the fireplace and were travelling via Floo Powder. They hit a cold, hard surface, and then gasped. It was Hogwarts! But that was impossible. They were still rebuilding it from the battle from earlier.
"Maybe it's a potion to transport you somewhere..." Ron said thoughtfully, stating the obvious.
"Yes, Ron..." Hermione said, exasperated. "But there is a slight problem. Before we stepped into the potion it was daylight, and now it's suddenly night. Unless it's a time potion, of course. That would make more sense."
"Hello?"
The voice of somebody else in the room made them all jump. When they turned to see who it was, they nearly fainted. Standing directly in front of them was a 17 year old girl with flaming red hair, emerald green eyes with a badge saying 'Head Girl'. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny turned to Harry in amazement.
