By twelve o'clock the next day, Harry's school trunk was packed with his school things and all his most prized possessions, minus the Marauders Map that Rohini had insisted to keep.
"You already have their journal, that's not fair!" Harry had groaned while packing.
"The world is not fair." Rohini said, grinning. "Ok, how about I keep it for half a year, and you get it for the rest of the year, and then I get it back, and-"
"Fine, fine, keep it for now." Harry said, rolling his eyes. "It's useless until we're back to Hogwarts anyway."
Rohini stick her tongue out at her brother before beginning to pack her own belongings. She didn't know at what time exactly the Patils would pick her up on Monday, and wanted to be ready for it.
She felt butterflies inside her chest as she thought about Padma. It was the first time the two of them would spend some time together outside Hogwarts and she was both excited and extremely nervous about it. (The fact she had a crush on her best friend might explain it, too.)
"You know," She said, fighting with her trunk that refused to close, "It's gonna be the first time you and I are being separated."
"Yeah, it's a bit odd." Harry admitted. "It's just for a week, though. You'll spend the rest of the summer with us at The Burrow."
"You bet I will! I refuse to stay at Private Drive while you're all having fun." Rohini said while sitting on her trunk. "Come and give me a hand, this bloody thing refuses to close! Gosh, I can't wait to be able to use magic again."
"Speaking of magic, are you going to take back your training with Professor McGonagall once we're back home?" Harry asked and Rohini couldn't help but smile; she, too, considered Hogwarts her home.
"You mean, the Animagus training? Of course! I never really stopped; I have taken a more theory-like approach for the summer. I will put everything in practice once we're back to school."
Over the course of their third year at Hogwarts, Rohini had taken private lessons with the severe but extremely skilled Professor McGonagall in order to become an Animagus, a person who's able to turn into a specific animal whenever they want. But the training was quite intense and took time.
The twins' father -James Potter-, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew had become Animagi on their own through the course of three years. It was illegal to do so, but it was quite clear that none of them had ever been bothered by a bit of outlaw activities.
"Let's go and eat." Harry said, checking his watch.
"Here, I'll help you." Rohini said, grabbing one side of Harry's trunk to help him carry it downstairs.
The atmosphere inside number four, Privet Drive was extremely tense. The imminent arrival at their house of an assortment of wizards was making the Dursleys uptight and irritable.
Uncle Vernon had looked downright alarmed when Harry informed him that the Weasleys would be arriving at five o'clock the very next day.
"I hope you told them to dress properly, these people," he snarled at once. "I've seen the sort of stuff your lot wear. They'd better have the decency to put on normal clothes, that's all."
Uncle Vernon had put on his best suit. To some people, this might have looked like a gesture of welcome, but the twins knew it was because Uncle Vernon wanted to look impressive and intimidating.
Dudley, on the other hand, looked somehow diminished. This was not because the diet was at last taking effect, but due to fright. Dudley had emerged from his last encounter with a fully grown wizard with a curly pig's tail poking out of the seat of his trousers, and Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had had to pay for its removal at a private hospital in London.
Dudley kept running his hand nervously over his backside, and walking sideways from room to room, so as not to present the same target to the enemy.
Lunch was an almost silent meal and Aunt Petunia wasn't eating anything at all. Her arms were folded, her lips were pursed, and she seemed to be chewing her tongue, as though biting back the furious diatribe she longed to throw at the twins.
"So, Harry," Rohini said, as if they had been in a middle of a conversation, "do you know if Ginny will be here too? I'm sure she has grown up a lot!"
"Who's this Ginny?" Uncle Vernon asked, narrowing his eyes. Rohini ignored him, stabbing her cottage cheese with her fork.
"I don't know. I think Ron talked about Fred and George, though."
"Stop talking about those- those people!" Uncle Vernon barked, slamming his fist against the table. Then, he turned to Harry. "They'll be driving, of course?"
"Er," said Harry. "I think so?"
Uncle Vernon snorted into his moustache. Normally, Uncle Vernon would have asked what car Mr. Weasley drove; he tended to judge other men by how big and expensive their cars were. But they doubted whether Uncle Vernon would have taken to Mr. Weasley even if he drove a Ferrari.
As they waited upstairs after lunch, Rohini opened her own journal and decided to draw Harry while he wasn't looking. She had gotten better lately and was rather proud of her sketches. She refused to show them to anyone however, for she considered them personal.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked as he stood in front of the window.
"You know, stuff." Rohini answered vaguely. Harry raised an eyebrow, but didn't try to make the conversation goes further.
Finally, at a quarter to five, Harry and Rohini went back downstairs and into the living room.
Aunt Petunia was compulsively straightening cushions. Uncle Vernon was pretending to read the paper, but his tiny eyes were not moving, and the twins were sure he was really listening with all his might for the sound of an approaching car.
Dudley was crammed into an armchair, his porky hands beneath him, clamped firmly around his bottom.
But five o'clock came and then went. Uncle Vernon, perspiring slightly in his suit, opened the front door, peered up and down the street, then withdrew his head quickly.
"They're late!" he snarled at Harry.
I know," said Harry. "Maybe - er - the traffic's bad, or something."
Ten past five ... then a quarter past five ... Harry was starting to feel anxious and it made Rohini felt nervous too. She pushed her brother out of the living room and into the staircase where they sat in silence.
At half past, he heard Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia conversing in terse mutters in the living room.
"No consideration at all."
"We might've had an engagement."
"Maybe they think they'll get invited to dinner if they're late."
"Why do I have a bad feeling about all of this…" Rohini said, biting her nails.
"Well, they most certainly won't be," said Uncle Vernon, now pacing the living room. "They'll take the boy and go, there'll be no hanging around. That's if they're coming at all. Probably mistaken the day. I daresay their kind don't set much store by punctuality. Either that or they drive some tin-pot car that's broken d- AAAAAAAARRRRRGH!"
The twins jumped up, Rohini's hand automatically going to her empty pocket where she usually kept her wand. From the other side of the living room door came the sounds of the three Dursleys scrambling, panic-stricken, across the room. Next moment Dudley came flying into the hall, looking terrified.
"What happened?" said Harry. "What's the matter?"
But Dudley didn't seem able to speak. Hands still clamped over his buttocks, he waddled as fast as he could into the kitchen. Grunting, the twins hurried into the living room.
Loud bangings and scrapings were coming from behind the Dursleys' boarded-up fireplace, which had a fake coal fire plugged in front of it.
"What is it?" gasped Aunt Petunia, who had backed into the wall and was staring, terrified, toward the fire. "What is it, Vernon?"
But they were left in doubt barely a second longer. Voices could be heard from inside the blocked fireplace.
"Ouch! Fred, no - go back, go back, there's been some kind of mistake - tell George not to - OUCH! George, no, there's no room, go back quickly and tell Ron-"
"Maybe Harry can hear us, Dad - maybe he'll be able to let us out-"
There was a loud hammering of fists on the boards behind the electric fire.
"Harry? Harry, can you hear us?"
"Mr. Weasley!" Rohini said, running to the fireplace.
"Rohini, my girl! I think- I think there's a little problem with this fireplace." She heard Mr. Weasley's voice on the other side.
The Dursleys rounded on the twinslike a pair of angry wolverines.
"What is this?" growled Uncle Vernon. "What's going on?"
"They - they've tried to get here by Floo powder," said Harry, and Rohini fought a mad desire to laugh. "They can travel by fire - only you've blocked the fireplace - hang on -"
He approached the fireplace and stood up next to Rohini.
"Mr. Weasley? Can you hear me? It's Harry ... the fireplace has been blocked up. You won't be able to get through there."
"Damn!" said Mr. Weasley's voice. "What on earth did they want to block up the fireplace for?"
"They've got an electric fire," Rohini explained.
"Really?" said Mr. Weasley's voice excitedly. "Eclectic, you say? With a plug? Gracious, I must see that... Let's think ... ouch, Ron!"
Ron's voice now joined the others'.
"What are we doing here? Has something gone wrong?"
"Oh no, Ron," came Fred's voice, very sarcastically. "No, this is exactly where we wanted to end up."
"Yeah, we're having the time of our lives here," said George, whose voice sounded muffled, as though he was squashed against the wall.
"Lovely place for holidays, don't you think?" Rohini said between two chuckles.
"Marvellous."
"Absolutely magical."
"Perfectly perfect."
"Boys, boys. . ." said Mr. Weasley vaguely. "I'm trying to think what to do... Yes ... only way. . . Stand back, Harry, Rohini."
The twins moved back but Uncle Vernon, however, moved forward.
"Wait a moment!" he bellowed at the fire. "What exactly are you going to -"
BANG.
The electric fire shot across the room as the boarded-up fireplace burst outward, expelling Mr. Weasley, Fred, George, and Ron in a cloud of rubble and loose chippings.
Rohini began to cough, Aunt Petunia shrieked and fell backward over the coffee table; Uncle Vernon caught her before she hit the floor, and gaped, speechless, at the Weasleys.
"That's better," panted Mr. Weasley, brushing dust from his long green robes and straightening his glasses. "Ah - you must be Harry's aunt and uncle! We've met once, haven't we?"
Right after his sons had rescued the twins, back in second year, Mr. Weasley had come to pick up their school stuffs back. He moved toward Uncle Vernon, his hand outstretched, but Uncle Vernon backed away several paces, dragging Aunt Petunia.
Words utterly failed Uncle Vernon. His best suit was covered in white dust, which had settled in his hair and moustache and made him look as though he had just aged thirty years.
"Er - yes - sorry about that," said Mr. Weasley, lowering his hand and looking over his shoulder at the blasted fireplace. "It's all my fault. It just didn't occur to me that we wouldn't be able to get out at the other end. I had your fireplace connected to the Floo Network, you see - just for an afternoon, you know, so we could get Harry-"
And while he kept rambling about things none of the Dursleys could possibly understand, Rohini walked towards the twins and Ron to give them a friendly hug.
"Hey." She said, grinning. "I can't believe you managed to grow even taller! When will you stop?"
"Are you sure it's not you who keeps getting smaller?" Ron asked, using his hand to see where Rohini reached him. "Wow, I'm two head taller than you!"
"Oh, shut up." Rohini groaned, elbowing him.
"Hello, Harry, Rohini!" said Mr. Weasley brightly. "Got your trunk ready?"
"Yeah, it's in the corridor." Harry said.
"We'll get it," said Fred at once. Winking at the twins, he and George left the room. They knew where their bedroom was, having once rescued them from it in the dead of night; Fred and George were probably hoping for a glimpse of Dudley; they had heard a lot about him from Harry and Rohini.
"Well," said Mr. Weasley, swinging his arms slightly, while he tried to find words to break the very nasty silence. "Very - erm - very nice place you've got here."
Rohini burst in laugh again. As the usually spotless living room was now covered in dust and bits of brick, this remark didn't go down too well with the Dursleys. Uncle Vernon's face purpled once more, and Aunt Petunia started chewing her tongue again. However, they seemed too scared to actually say anything.
Mr. Weasley was looking around. He loved everything to do with Muggles.
« They run off eckeltricity, do they?" he said knowledgeably while pointing at different items. "Ah yes, I can see the plugs. I collect plugs," he added to Uncle Vernon. "And batteries. Got a very large collection of batteries. My wife thinks I'm mad, but there you are."
Uncle Vernon clearly thought Mr. Weasley was mad too. He moved ever so slightly to the right, screening Aunt Petunia from view, as though he thought Mr. Weasley might suddenly run at them and attack.
Dudley suddenly reappeared in the room. Harry could hear the clunk of his trunk behind and knew that the sounds had scared Dudley out of the kitchen. Dudley edged along the wall, gazing at Mr. Weasley with terrified eyes, and attempted to conceal himself behind his mother and father.
Unfortunately, Uncle Vernon's bulk, while sufficient to hide bony Aunt Petunia, was nowhere near enough to conceal Dudley.
"Ah, this is your cousin, is it?" said Mr. Weasley, taking another brave stab at making conversation.
"Yep," said Harry, "that's Dudley."
Dudley was still clutching his bottom as though afraid it might fall off. Mr. Weasley, however, seemed genuinely concerned at Dudley's peculiar behaviour. Indeed, from the tone of his voice when he next spoke, Harry was quite sure that Mr. Weasley thought Dudley was quite as mad as the Dursleys thought he was, except that Mr. Weasley felt sympathy rather than fear.
"Having a good holiday, Dudley?" he said kindly.
Dudley whimpered. Harry saw his hands tighten still harder over his massive backside.
Fred and George came back into the room carrying Harry's school trunk. They glanced around as they entered and spotted Dudley. Their faces cracked into identical evil grins. Dudley took a step backward.
"Ah, right," said Mr. Weasley. "Better get cracking then."
He pushed up the sleeves of his robes and took out his wand. Harry saw the Dursleys draw back against the wall as one.
"Incendio!" said Mr. Weasley, pointing his wand at the hole in the wall behind him.
Flames rose at once in the fireplace, crackling merrily as though they had been burning for hours. Mr. Weasley took a small drawstring bag from his pocket, untied it, took a pinch of the powder inside, and threw it onto the flames, which turned emerald green and roared higher than ever.
"Off you go then, Fred," said Mr. Weasley.
"Coming," said Fred. "Oh no - hang on -"
A bag of sweets had spilled out of Fred's pocket and the contents were now rolling in every direction - big, fat toffees in brightly coloured wrappers. Rohini didn't miss the wink he gave her before cramming them back into his pocket, then gave the Dursleys a cheery wave, said goodbye to Rohini, stepped forward, and walked right into the fire, saying "the Burrow!"
Aunt Petunia gave a little shuddering gasp. There was a whooshing sound, and Fred vanished.
"Right then, George," said Mr. Weasley, "you and the trunk."
Harry helped George carry the trunk forward into the flames and turn it onto its end so that he could hold it better. Then, with a second whoosh, George had cried "the Burrow!" and vanished too.
"Ron, you next," said Mr. Weasley.
"See you," said Ron brightly to the Dursleys. He grinned broadly at Harry, then stepped into the fire, waved at Rohini, shouted "the Burrow!" and disappeared.
Now Harry and Mr. Weasley alone remained.
"Well . . . 'bye then," Harry said to the Dursleys.
They didn't say anything at all.
"Goodbye, brother of mine." Rohini said, bringing Harry into a tight hug. No matter how happy she was about them having fun with their respective friends, she still felt odd about leaving her brother's side for a whole week. "And if you have nightmares, don't hesitate to write to me." She whispered to him.
"See you later. Say hi to Padma and Parvati for me." Harry said, hugging her back.
Then, Harry moved toward the fire, but just as he reached the edge of the hearth, Mr. Weasley put out a hand and held him back. He was looking at the Dursleys in amazement.
"Harry said good-bye to you," he said. "Didn't you hear him?"
"It doesn't matter," Harry muttered to Mr. Weasley. "Honestly, I don't care."
Mr. Weasley did not remove his hand from Harry's shoulder.
"You aren't going to see your nephew till next summer," he said to Uncle Vernon in mild indignation. "Surely you're going to say good-bye?"
"It's ok, Mr. Weasley, we're used to it." Rohini assured him.
Uncle Vernon's face worked furiously. The idea of being taught consideration by a man who had just blasted away half his living room wall seemed to be causing him intense suffering. But Mr. Weasley's wand was still in his hand, and Uncle Vernon's tiny eyes darted to it once, before he said, very resentfully, "Good-bye, then."
"See you," said Harry, putting one foot forward into the green flames, which felt pleasantly like warm breath. At that moment, however, a horrible gagging sound erupted behind him, and Aunt Petunia started to scream.
Dudley was no longer standing behind his parents. He was kneeling beside the coffee table, and he was gagging and sputtering on a foot-long, purple, slimy thing that was protruding from his mouth.
"Fred." Rohini said as she realised that the foot-long thing was Dudley's tongue - and that a brightly coloured toffee wrapper lay on the floor before him. Of course he wouldn't have resisted the urge to eat one of the delicious looking candy…
"Harry, you better leave." Rohini said, giving one quick kiss on Harry's cheek before waving at him.
Harry nodded, took another breath and said with a grin "The Burrow!" before vanishing in a blast of green flames.
Aunt Petunia hurled herself onto the ground beside Dudley, seized the end of his swollen tongue, and attempted to wrench it out of his mouth; unsurprisingly, Dudley yelled and sputtered worse than ever, trying to fight her off. Uncle Vernon was bellowing and waving his arms around, and Mr. Weasley had to shout to make himself heard.
"Not to worry, I can sort him out!" he yelled, advancing on Dudley with his wand outstretched, but Aunt Petunia screamed worse than ever and threw herself on top of Dudley, shielding him from Mr. Weasley.
"No, really!" said Mr. Weasley desperately. "It's a simple process it was the toffee -my son Fred - real practical joker - but it's only an Engorgement Charm - at least, I think it is - please, I can correct it -"
But far from being reassured, the Dursleys became more panic- stricken; Aunt Petunia was sobbing hysterically, tugging Dudley's tongue as though determined to rip it out; Dudley appeared to be suffocating under the combined pressure of his mother and his tongue; and Uncle Vernon, who had lost control completely, seized a china figure from on top of the sideboard and threw it very hard at Mr. Weasley, who ducked, causing the ornament to shatter in the blasted fireplace.
"Wow, chill!" Rohini shouted as another china figure shattered only a few inches from her face. "If you don't let him help, your stupid son is gonna die from suffocation!"
Bellowing like a wounded hippo, Uncle Vernon snatched up another ornament.
"Mr. Weasley? You should petrify him first." Rohini suggested, kneeling behind an armchair.
Mr. Weasley blasted a third ornament out of Uncle Vernon's hand with his wand and used Rohini's advice, petrifying her uncle for a few seconds before turning to Aunt Petunia and Dudley.
"This isn't going to hurt, I promise." He tried to reassure them, in vain. "Well, then-"
Two minutes later, Mr. Weasley was getting ready to leave after giving Dudley a normal tongue again and making sure to clean up the living room from all the mess left by the explosion and Uncle Vernon's wrath.
"Well, I guess I will see you in a week." He said Rohini with a tired smile. "Take good care of yourself, would you?"
"I will." Rohini assured him. "Goodbye, Mr. Weasley. Please say hi to Ginny for me. I miss her a lot."
"So does she." Mr. Weasley assured her, before stepping inside the fireplace. "The Burrow!"
And for the first time in thirteen years, Rohini found herself alone with the Dursleys.
