[Fri - Jul 18]
Not surprising to Harry, Hermione was the first to come over; so they talked about her parents while waiting. Ron and Ginny arrived about ten minutes later.
Harry high-fived Ron before he hugged his girlfriend. "Ginny, would you please start breakfast while I show Ron something? There's a menu on the counter and it's pretty easy."
"Uh, sure Harry," she said, surprised.
"Ron, I got a new trunk; it's in the parlor." Harry led his friend to go see it while Hermione stayed with the appointed cook.
"Do you have an idea for this, because I don't," Ginny said as she started the bacon.
"Other than he's trying to do two things at once, no," Hermione said, sounding like she didn't want to admit that.
About the time Ginny was finishing breakfast, Harry and Ron came back laughing.
"She really asked how you were going to get the furniture in there?" Ron said, trying to control his laughter.
"Yeah," Harry said with a smile. "I thought it was funny at first. After a moment though, I realized she's not seen all that much because Hermione can't do magic at home for most of the time she's been at Hogwarts, so Emma didn't know what was possible."
"Still…" Ron continued to laugh.
"It's not that funny," Hermione said disapprovingly, "and Harry you have the right of it. I've done a little this summer, but not all that much because I'm not used to doing magic at home. I've explained some things, but Mum and Dad have no idea about all the things we're taught and just do without thinking when we're at school."
"Someone get the plates and other things," Ginny called out as she started throwing potholders and trivets on the table and putting the hot pans on them. "Sorry, not going fancy with serving bowls."
"That's fine," Harry said as he handed the plates to Ron to place before grabbing glasses while Hermione went after the cutlery.
They all ate and talked, mostly joking. Harry was somewhat loathe to end this, but they did have tasks to do today.
"Ginny, do you know the spell your mum uses to make the dishes wash themselves?" Harry asked.
"Yes, why?"
"Can you teach us, please?" Harry begged her.
"Sure. Everyone put your plates in the left side of the sink," she told them as she filled it full of soapy water; she conjured water for the right side by saying "Aguamenti" then she spread a kitchen towel on the counter. Ginny then taught them the charm and did it. The wash cloth in the soapy water started washing each item, before each item rinsed itself, then settled on the towel.
"Brilliant, now I know how," Harry said with a grin. "Normally, it's just me and that not hard to wash a few things by hand, but this will be good to know when there's more of us."
"Whatever, let's go," Ron said.
"Right, up to the parlor," Harry said brightly, grabbing Ginny's hand as they went, making her smile.
Upstairs, Harry let go of her and said, "Everyone grab a chair. I want to talk about what we have to do and what I think will work best for getting it done."
"I'm surprised you have a blackboard," Hermione said indicating the item on the easel.
"Yeah, bought it a couple of days ago," he replied as he stood in front of them. "So, our number one goal is Vol-"
"Can we call him Tom?" Ginny interrupted. "I prefer that because it makes him more normal and, well, conquerable."
"Sure," Harry agreed and erased the three letters he started and wrote 'Tom R.'. "Before we can get to him, I've already explained that Dumbledore told me we have six items to find: a diary, a ring, a locket, a cup, an unknown item, and a snake." He wrote each as he named them to create a list.
"Fortunately, the diary is taken care of as is the ring." Harry crossed those off. "Through a bit of good luck, Hermione and I figured out who R.A.B. was and Kreacher has retrieved the locket, though it's not destroyed yet." He put a check by it.
"Way to go," Ginny told him before she flashed a smile at Hermione, while Ron said, "Excellent! Who was R.A.B.?"
"Sirius's brother, Regulus. Remember the golden locket we found here while cleaning a couple of summers ago? That was actually it and we all handled it."
Ron goggled at that news, which Harry couldn't blame him for that reaction.
"Obviously, the snake will be with Tom," Harry continued. "However, I have no idea where to even begin looking for Hufflepuff's Cup nor what the unknown item is."
"Surely Dumbledore told you," Ron told him confidently.
"No, mate, he didn't. The most he told me was that he suspected the unknown item was once Ravenclaw's. The snake is also only a guess; he said it seemed to act more intelligently than a normal snake."
"Could the snake be his familiar and that would make it more intelligent?" Hermione suggested.
"Don't know," Harry answered, "but Dumbledore indicated that it was more like a person than an animal. Still, he did say it was a guess so we might have to search for something else."
"But … you really don't know?" Ron persisted as if he couldn't believe Harry.
Harry scowled. "Yes, I really don't know. That means I have no idea how long it will take to find these things. I also don't know how to destroy them either … well, other than one way that's kind of hard to do."
"How?" asked the usually inquisitive girl.
He looked at Hermione. "Basilisk venom destroyed the diary, but that's a restricted substance. I checked not long ago when I was in Diagon Alley in the apothecary buying potion supplies for us. I got an evil glare and told to take my purchases and leave just for asking about it."
Hermione gave a quiet, "Oh."
"What if we went back to the Chamber of Secrets to get more?" Ginny asked. "I don't want to go personally, but what if you went now during the summer? Maybe McGonagall would help and let you in."
Harry just blinked at her. "Brilliant, Ginny." He added 'Get basilisk venom from CoS' to the list.
The redhead smiled very pleased with herself. "Good one, Ginny," Hermione told her.
"So, that's what we have to do, besides the obvious task of staying alive while doing these tasks." Harry sort of meant it as a joke, but no one laughed which he could understand.
"On to other matters," Harry hurried on. "We can stay here. It's not nearly as homey as The Burrow," he nodded at Ron and Ginny, "but it's under the Fidelius and I've changed the wards around the house to keep all but a few of us out.
"While the wards will keep Snape out, my only concern is that he'll bring Tom with him and blast the whole area. If he does, we'll have to leave, obviously," Harry said. "You've seen my trunk with a room. That's an option if we have a place to put it, like maybe if we stay with Fred and George. We'll have a place and not be a burden to them.
"I've also purchased a small Wizarding Tent, sort of like what we stayed in when we went to the Quidditch World Cup a few years ago. That's more comfortable than the trunk, but we'd also have to find a place to pitch it."
"Cool," Ron said with a nod.
"I know some spells to keep people away," Hermione told them.
"Sounds good," Harry agreed, "we can use the tent or the trunk, whichever we think best.
"For the last three weeks, I've kept track of everything I use to make sure we have it or can get ahold of it even during the war. I've also starting buying those things and hopefully enough to last us a year."
"A year?!" Ron exclaimed. "But-"
"Ron!" Harry interrupted him. "I told you earlier, I don't know how long this search will take. Hermione and Ginny," he waved towards them, "have pointed out to me that some things may be hard or even impossible to buy while we're doing this and I'm trying to make sure we have them. However, I'm not buying clothes for you or anything personal like toothbrushes; so you should bring those with you or some money and be prepared to buy them in the Muggle world."
"Seriously?" Ron objected.
"Yeah, seriously," Harry retorted, starting to get tired of his friend questioning him like this. "Any questions on where we're staying or what to bring?"
The girls shook their heads, while Hermione was writing in a small notebook. Ron was gaping at him but not asking a question, so he went on.
"While we're here, and probably even if we have to leave here, I'm thinking our days should go something like this." Harry turned the board around to show a list he'd already created.
"In the mornings, I think we need to spend at least two hours doing school work so we don't get behind. I'll help Ginny get caught up if she needs help, at least in the classes I know. Hermione, can you help in the other classes?"
"Sure, Harry, and good idea," the brunette agreed and smiled.
"Why?" Ron objected again. "We don't need to do schoolwork and there won't be any teachers anyway. I'm glad there won't be homework for the next however long we're doing this."
Harry took a deep breath and tried to relax as he continued to stand next to the blackboard. "Ron, beside the idea that we need to keep up, it's also a way to learn to protect ourselves. You won't have to write essays, but it might be a good idea to at least take notes."
"But we're not in school," Ron continued his objection.
Harry opened his mouth to reply, but at a small shake of her head from Ginny, he took her cue and continued his list.
"Besides school time, I'm thinking about two hours of practicing spells, especially in learning to fight together since we'll need to protect ourselves when we go out."
"Two more hours of learning?" Ron looked horrified while Harry had to work not to snap at his uncooperative friend.
Hermione spoke up quickly, "I've already started a list of spells that could be useful to us, like an advanced shield, the Piercing Hex, Disillusionment, the Bubble Head, charms for disguises, and the Tracking Charm."
"Thank you, Hermione," Harry said graciously. "That will take us to lunch. After a simple lunch, we'll use about three hours to work on our goals, like trying to figure out where to search next.
"The last hour before dinner is time to do chores. For the person who's responsible for dinner, it's making dinner. For the rest of us, it's to clean our rooms, do laundry, or maybe use it to finish something from the morning."
"What for?" Ron voiced confused. "You have a house-elf to do those things."
"A house-elf who is busy cleaning the rest of the house and running errands," Harry countered. "After dinner is free time for relaxation or to finish up something from earlier in the day.
"That takes me to meals. I've been cooking all of my meals because, honestly, Kreacher is a horrible cook. So we'll have to do our own cooking."
"You're joking, right?" Ron snorted in disbelief.
"We'll do it a week at a time," Harry said without missing a beat. "When it's your turn, you'll need to create a menu the week before and it has to be approved by one other person. You're also responsible for cleaning the kitchen that week too. Again, since we don't know how long we'll be doing this, food will not be all you can eat but reasonable portions so we don't run out." He planned to buy food as long as they could, but he now had the stash in his trunk that he hoped would last at least ten months and hopefully a year with rationing if they must.
"Ginny did breakfast this morning, Hermione has lunch in a few hours, and Ron you have dinner this evening," Harry told them. "Consider it a test run."
Ron jumped to his feet. "No, I'm not going to do all of that. And cooking and laundry? Just no, that's for girls to do."
Harry just blinked, not even sure what to say. A movement caught his eyes and he realized he wasn't going to have to say anything. No, it was better to be quiet at this moment.
"Cooking and laundry are for girls to do?!" Ginny growled.
"Are you sure you don't want to revise your statement?" Hermione said quietly with narrowed eyes, and obviously controlled anger.
Ron froze as he looked at the girls.
"Well Ron?" Ginny said as she slowly rose, her right hand moving to the end of her wand.
Unless Ron back-pedaled quickly and wisely, Harry knew what hex as coming and he sincerely was trying to encourage her mentally. He was quite upset with his male friend at the moment.
"Err, you know, just like Mum does it for-" Ron tried.
"Chiroptera Mucosus!" Ginny cried as she whipped her wand out and pointed it at her brother. From a few feet away, it really was impossible for her to miss no matter that Ron lunged for the door.
While Ron staggered around trying to slap the bat-shaped bogies away from his face, Ginny waited - still with a determined look - until he turned away from her and then a Stinging Hex left her wand and hit him in the bum. Ron screamed and ran from the room; Ginny just stared at the doorway while looking like she wanted to follow and do it again.
Slowly, Harry walked over and stood in front of her until he saw her eyes track his. He placed his hands on the side of her head gently and kissed her for a few seconds. "That was amazing and it might be wrong of me, but I enjoyed that moment so much."
Before Harry could react, she threw her arms around his shoulders and kissed him hard. She was grinning when she pulled back. "Thank you," she told him sweetly before letting go and stepping back while putting her wand away.
Hermione coughed into her fist. "Well, as much as I appreciated you standing up for us, Ginny, I'm not sure that was the best thing we could have done."
Ginny sighed. "Perhaps not, but I'm sure he got the message that he was wrong." After they all chuckled, she added, "I'll go talk to him after I finish cooling down, but he's going to have to change if we're going to really work as a team."
"I was thinking the same thing, about the teamwork that is," Harry said.
"Me too," Hermione added. "Harry, in a small way I can understand one of his concerns. I also had thought Professor Dumbledore told you more about what needed to be done. That was a surprise to me too. Nevertheless, we'll just have to do the best we can. I do like your plan though; I can see that you've put a lot of thought into it."
"Yes, well done, Harry." Ginny reached out and put a hand on his arm as she smiled at him. "I suppose I should go find him. I wonder if he's still here or if he went home?"
"I'll help. Kreacher, come!" Harry called.
The elf popped in. "Yes?"
"Is Ron still in the house?"
Kreacher stood there for a moment, obviously reaching out with his magic. "No."
"Thank you, Kreacher." The elf left with Harry's dismissal.
Ginny sighed. "Right, home it is. I'll be back as soon as I can." She left the room to get some answers.
Harry settled into the chair Ginny had used. "So, where do you think we should search?"
Hermione settled back into her chair and they tried to brainstorm the question.
— — —
A little before lunch, Ginny returned. "Sorry for the wait but it took a while to find him and then get the truth out of him." She sighed and flopped down on Harry's lap, who pulled her over some to make it a little more comfortable for him.
"And?" Hermione queried while Ginny sat there for a moment.
"Sorry, trying to figure out how to say this without making him look like a total prat … or worse." Ginny looked at each of them. "Basically, he hadn't really thought it all through as to what it might be like. I suppose it's sort of the Pureblood way, where all the little things happen in the background and you don't have to worry about them, but I'd have thought he'd have grown past that by now considering how many chores Mum makes us do; but I guess not.
"I suppose I might say he's having something of an internal crisis about the way everything works." Ginny shrugged. "Harry, can I offer a suggestion?"
"Sure."
"You have a good plan. Not only are we trying to take Tom down, but we can't work on that all day long and not go crazy, so learning schoolwork is good because we won't be wasting our time and we'll be learning how to protect ourselves when we have to go out. Obviously, there are practical considerations too, like we have to eat and I don't want to smell any of us in old unwashed clothes."
They all chuckled.
"Ron's really not ready for this like the three of us are. Let him go back and live with my parents; Mum and Dad can teach him. Then to make him feel useful, let him be our guide to the Order - or what's left of it. We can also tell him about non-immediate things we need and he can get them for us to save us time and effort, whether it's him or he gets the Order to help. It sort of makes him a part of the hunt but he doesn't have to deal with the burden."
Harry looked at Hermione as he thought about the idea. "It's not a bad idea; in fact, it borders on brilliant."
"It's very reasonable," Hermione agreed, "but will it be enough? He's our friend, but I'm not going to put up with being insulted all the time, or whining."
"Definitely agree!" Harry shook his head. "He made me more than a little upset this morning and brought back memories of our fourth year at school."
The other two nodded sadly in understanding.
"Have you tested this idea on him?" asked Hermione.
"No," the redhead replied. "I first thought of it as I came back. Didn't think it was my place to decide that either. I can go get him though if you want to talk to him."
"Hermione?" Harry looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"It's actually a good plan if he'll go along with it," she replied, "but I don't know if he will."
Harry looked at his girlfriend. "Why don't you go get him. Tell him we need to talk about a different plan."
He looked at the other girl. "Do you want to cook lunch or dinner? I'll do the other."
"It might look better if you were cooking when he came back," Hermione answered, "but I don't care and will do the other meal."
Harry smiled slightly. "Good point. Go get him Gin and I'll start lunch."
"Back in a few minutes," Ginny said as she stood. "Probably best if Hermione and I stay out of the kitchen for that conversation."
"Probably," Harry mumbled and sighed as he followed her while Hermione stayed where she was.
— — —
Harry was half done with the spaghetti when Ginny returned with Ron in tow. She winked at him and left the room. A sullen looking Ron stood there, not really looking at him. "Have a seat, Ron, I'm not going to bite your head off."
Ron snorted and took a seat and sighed before he lamely said, "About this morning, sorry mate, it was a bit of a surprise - especially the food part."
Harry nodded as he stirred the noodles and then the green beans. The usual half-apology, he thought. "Ron, I get it that we surprised you, but why did it surprise you? You know the ultimate goal and that's not going to be easy. Hell, mate, we might not all make it out of this alive. Please tell me that's not a surprise to you either."
Ron sighed. "I suppose I have considered that, once, but I've not given the whole thing a lot of thought. I mean, none of the other adventures have lasted very long - a day at most."
It was all Harry could do not to goggle at that statement. He helped that by turning back to the stove so his friend wouldn't see his expression of surprise and - as much as he didn't want to admit it - hurt.
Did Ron really think all the trouble they'd had over the years, and even the years before Hogwarts, was a few hours here and there and that was it? No shaming, slandering, bullying, abuse really, from the other students and a few professors; and then there was the Triwizard Tournament and Chamber of Secrets plus being ignored by the adults instead of helping - all for months and even years at a time. Perhaps the actual battles were short, but their 'adventures' as Ron put it were far more then the battles to Harry.
Then it dawned on him: Despite what he'd experienced at school, Ron's life was just too sheltered. He hadn't had to truly grow up and make hard choices, sacrificing to make the goal. The closest he'd come had been at the fight at the Department of Mysteries.
Ginny had grown up because of the diary and probably because she was the only girl in a sea of brothers. Hermione had grown because of being mistreated and bullied when younger, plus she hadn't had magic to fix so many things.
Harry stirred the food again. "Ron, I meant it when I said this could go on for months and I can see now that you really aren't ready to face this yet." As his friend looked up with a little anger, Harry plowed on. "Look, it's all right, you can still help us even if you aren't living here."
"Huh?" Ron's anger turned into surprise.
"What if you were our go-between to the Order of the Phoenix?" Harry walked over to get the plates to set the table. "There are times we'll need things and information but it'll be hard for us to get. It would be helpful if we had someone we could give these tasks to and if it took a day or three - even a week - that would be fine. The point is that we have someone who really knows us and knows what we have to do so when we ask for something, you'll understand and can make them understand to help."
Ron scratched the side of his face for a moment. "I suppose I can see the need for that."
"You won't have to cook or do other things around the house and you won't have to worry about your next meal either," Harry said with a grin, "but you'll still be helping us. Think about it and let me know, all right?"
"Yeah, I can do that," Ron said after a moment. "Since you have four plates, can I join you? That smells good."
Harry chuckled. "Yes, I put the fourth plate out anticipating that. Stick your head through the door and call the girls." Harry put the food on the table while Ron yelled through the doorway.
A moment later both girls came in with a pleased look. In fact, Ginny came over put a hand on his shoulder before kissing him at the back of his jaw and whispered, "Good job." Stepping backward and with her back to her brother, she pulled an Extendable Ear from her pocket so he could see it before putting it back.
Harry chuckled some more as they all sat down. Crisis averted, they ate as set of friends again though the friendship had shifted slightly.
[Thu - Jul 31]
Hermione knocked on his door surprising him. "Hey, what's up?" he asked as he let her in. "I figured I'd see you at the party in a little while."
"I wanted to talk before that," she answered and walked over to the cold cabinet and pulled out a Butterbeer, holding it up with a questioning look. When he nodded, she grabbed a second and joined him at the table, setting a bottle in front of him.
After they'd both opened their bottle and taken a drink, she looked at him very seriously. "Remember those two books I borrowed a couple of weeks ago? I've finished looking at both of them." She pulled them out of her purse and placed them on the table.
Harry looked at the titles on their covers and his eyes widened before he looked at her in shock after he read "Soul Magicks" and "Unforgiveables", each with no author on the outside and each looking very old and possibly handmade. "Err, those were here, seriously?!"
"They're right there, Harry," she mused while stabbing one with her finger and grinning at him for a moment before her expression faded back to seriousness. "They were quite helpful; answered several questions I had. The one on the Unforgiveables could be the basis for several interesting research projects. It also helped in understanding the one on magic that deals with our soul, mostly the Killing Curse.
"However, for what you care about, the most useful information was on how the soul can be expressed using Arithmancy. Based on the equations, the most stable configuration is one, or how we're born. No surprise there as that's how nature intended us to be.
"If you're going to split your soul, which the book mentions but does not give instructions on how, then three parts is the next completely stable configuration, then seven after that. Again, no surprise because three and seven are highly magical numbers. Not that it probably matters to us, but two is just stable enough that's what most Dark Wizards use.
"What is a surprise to me, and a good surprise considering the subject matter," she rolled her eyes at her own lame joke, "is that seven is truly the maximum it can be split - or six fragments plus the last remaining for the person. So we have a guaranteed limit on how many we have to find."
Harry digested that and shook his head. "I suppose that is good considering what we're talking about."
"There is one bit of bad news," she said before taking a long drink.
"What?" Harry felt his mouth going dry from concern, despite having just taken a drink himself.
"There was no indication on if Riddle will feel or know that we've destroyed a fragment," she answered. "I mean, you might want to say he won't as a few parts have already been destroyed, but he wasn't fully in a body so that might have made a difference. I mean, there must be some connection or else the whole idea to hold him here wouldn't work to begin with, so destroying one should send some … indication back to him which we don't want."
"I can see where you're coming from on that," said Harry slowly, thinking it through as he talked, "and I'd agree except that Dumbledore destroyed the one in the ring and Riddle had a body then and he didn't go on a rampage to protect them, or I'd expect that if he ever found out."
Hermione's expression lit. "Oh, good point, I'd forgotten about that." She tilted her head a little. "Did you ever find out how he retrieved that one? You know, what he went up against?"
"No," Harry groused. "When I would ask he'd always say it was a conversation for later, a later that never happened."
"Hmm, too bad," she said with a nod for agreement.
They each finished their drink in contemplative silence.
"Anything else useful in the books?" he asked as he put the empty bottles away.
"Much of the theory was fascinating and I mentioned the potential research projects, but probably not much that you'd care about," she told him.
He looked at the clock. "Just as well you read them instead of me," he told her with a grin. "It's close enough on time, might as well head on over."
"You just want some extra kisses," she accused him as she stood.
"Not the point of going now, but I'll never turn them down," he grinned and grabbed some Floo Powder to travel.
— — —
Harry came out of the fireplace at The Burrow to the usual chaos there. He could hear several conversations in the kitchen nearby. To his chagrin, it was Arthur that noticed him first since he was walking through the room with multiple bowls of food.
"Ah, Harry, can you lend a hand?" Arthur saw Hermione arrive and added, "Hermione, I think Molly could use your help in the kitchen to bring more out."
Harry grabbed a bowl of potatoes and the utensils that had been balancing on the top and followed the man outside. His bowl was added to several others that Fleur was arranging along with the plates and cutlery.
"'Arry!" The other Triwizard champion stepped over and gave him a light hug. "'Ow are you doing and 'appy birthday."
"Thank you and I'm doing well. How are you? Still looking forward to next weekend?" he returned.
"I'm doing very well and yes, I am looking forward to the wedding very much. I'm glad you will be there." She gave him a bright smile.
He supposed he could understand, at least a little, why the French witch bothered Ginny. There was no denying she was pretty and she conducted herself with a casual grace that was hard to miss. While he didn't feel enamored with her, she was hard not to look at. Still, why Ginny disliked her so…
"My apologies for interrupting, but could I have a few minutes of your time, Harry," Arthur spoke up and gave Harry a slightly pleading look.
"Of course," he answered, slightly dreading the conversation, or at least the imagined one he thought was coming. Looking at Fleur, he told her, "Excuse me please, but we can talk later."
"Yes, I look forward to it." Fleur gave him a blinding smile for a moment before returning to her task of arranging things outside. "Over here, 'Ermione," she called to his friend bringing out two more bowls.
Arthur led him over to his shed but didn't go in; he just leaned against it. "I was hoping you could help me with a few items," he said easily as Harry copied him and leaned against the building too. "Ron has told me he doesn't plan on returning to Hogwarts and now Ginny has told me the same thing. While I appreciate not having to spend money for that in this uncertain time, they need their education. I'm bringing this up because they mentioned it was to help you."
Harry just blinked. He was only a little surprised by this, but he was thankful it wasn't the harder topic he'd imagined. "Yes, well, you see Dumbledore gave me a task or maybe a set of tasks to be done for the war. My friends have volunteered to help me, which I really appreciate."
"I see…"
"Dad!" Ron yelled from across the yard.
Arthur turned and held up his hand and told his son, "Hold on," before turning back to Harry. "I suppose it's Ron's choice, even if I do disagree, but Ginny is still only sixteen, or about to be."
And here comes the hard part, Harry thought. "I understand, sir. I tried to get her to stay away for her safety, but she … well, she gave me an ultimatum that prevented that." He squirmed a little, trying to give the truth but not make Ginny look bad either.
"Ahh", Arthur said sagely with a nod, "I had wondered and that's to be expected, knowing my daughter as I do." He gave Harry a fond look. "Her mother had a few choice conversations with me, back in the day. Nevertheless, she is only sixteen…" His fatherly expression returned.
It was all Harry could do not to gulp and tried for a deflection. "I promise to keep her as safe as possible, which I believe will be safer than if she was at Hogwarts."
Arthur nodded and looked thoughtful for a moment before he said in a low tone, "Yes, I suppose I am grateful for her not going there this coming year. I don't think they would do anything to her since Hogwarts is usually considered neutral, but who can say if they would control their children accordingly."
Seizing the comment, Harry told him, "That was her and my concern. If it makes you feel any better, in addition to the other tasks to be done, I've set up a schedule for us which includes a few hours every day for learning the classes we'll miss and I've already told her I'll tutor her for the classes I can while Hermione helps her on the rest. We won't be lazing around."
Her father nodded and smiled a little. "I appreciate that, which probably also explains Ron's decision not to join you as directly now?"
Feeling a little caught, yet it seemed the man already understood what was going on, probably because he knew his children so well. "Yes sir, Ron wasn't as, uh, appreciative of my schedule and restrictions."
"I can imagine easily," Arthur replied with a bit of a chuckle. "Harry, I recently found a set of steel bars about the size of a window in my shed. You wouldn't know where those came from, do you? Ron was a bit shifty when I asked him and he mumbled your name."
Harry wasn't sure how to answer this one, but he was saved by the Mrs.
"Arthur!" his wife shouted, causing them to turn and see that everyone was out and around the table, including a few visitors.
"I believe our time is over." The man clapped him on the shoulder. "Let's go have a party."
"I'll keep her safe, I promise," said Harry quickly.
"I know you will; you've already saved her once," he said with a smile that was probably more to save himself from his daughter, who was giving her father a mild glare before changing to a smile as she slipped her arm around her boyfriend's waist for a one-armed hug.
"Sorry I missed your arrival and that you were interrogated," she said in a whisper near his ear before she released him.
"It's all good now," he told her quietly before turning to the others. "Neville, good to see you mate. Luna, I'm glad you could make it." He greeted Bill, Fred, and George also. Molly came over and gave him a hug also.
Harry enjoyed the party, the food was good, but it was the talking and laughing with friends he enjoyed the most. It took a moment, but he finally decided missing times like this was what he was most annoyed with in terms of the war. Voldemort and his group wouldn't leave well enough alone, and this group and others like it would have to give up their peace to take him down - possibly even loosing people along the way.
[Sat - Aug 2]
Harry was a bit peeved, in multiple ways. Ginny had a hand on his back to try to soothe him, but he still looked contemptuously at the Snitch in his hand, the book in Hermione's hand, and the little device in Ron's hand. "What was he thinking?"
"Who? The Minister or Dumbledore?" Ron asked as he tried to make sense of why Dumbledore would give him the Deluminator, while Hermione flipped through the book of children's tales in her hand with a confused look.
"Either, both," Harry said in frustrated tone. "I can't believe the Ministry held onto Dumbledore's stuff and is only now giving us the things Dumbledore left us, and I also can't believe Dumbledore is doing it again to us. He gives us strange clues but never really tells us what to do with them."
"If he'd left us a letter fully explaining, would the Ministry have given these things to us?" asked Hermione.
"A good question, but not my point," Harry huffed. "I suppose I'm just tired of the little games Dumbledore has played in the last year, or maybe for all my life - hard to say on that last one."
Ginny gave him a little squeeze around his waist and a sympathetic look, which he appreciated. "By the way, my trunk is ready."
"Oh, right," Harry replied, thankful for the distraction. "Kreacher, come!"
The elf popped in. "Yes, Master," he asked in an annoyed tone.
"Get Ginny's trunk from her room and take it back to the house. Put it in Sirius's old room and make sure it's made up and ready for her," Harry commanded.
"As you wish." The elf popped away.
"I guess he's not in a good mood based on his surly tones," Ginny commented.
"Not really. I told him I wanted the house cleaner and if he couldn't do it, I'd bring in Dobby to help." Harry smiled at the memory of that conversation. "Kreacher was not pleased, but he is making the house look better. It's becoming a little cleaner and there's less clutter now."
Harry shook his head and tried to not think to think about the elf. "Let's get ready for a wedding."
— — —
During the reception, Harry walked over to join Remus and Mad-Eye, who were talking quietly off to the side. "Sorry to interrupt, but can I ask a question, a favor really."
"You can ask," Moody said in his gruff voice.
Remus gave the man a disapproving look and said, "Sure, Harry. What do you need?"
"Dumbledore gave me a task to do to help with the war." Harry noted that while Remus nodded, Moody looked surprised. "It'd be a lot easier to do so if … He … was a little distracted. Could you and the Order help with that?"
Moody looked interested. "You mean like remove a few followers?"
"That would be so very helpful," smiled Harry in a predatory manner.
Remus looked surprised, but Moody nodded. "Aye, lad, I think we can help you there."
"Please be careful, but I really appreciate it." Harry continued to smile broadly. Seeing the next person he needed to talk to, he threw "Thanks!" over his shoulder as he headed to talk to McGonagall.
— — —
Harry danced a slow number with Ginny, smiling the entire time. "You look really good in that dress."
Ginny smiled back at him. "The color is all wrong for me, but thank you. I appreciate you ignoring the French witches as much as you are."
"Oh, a little jealous, are you?" he teased.
"Ron doesn't own it all." She sighed for a moment. "I'm afraid it's something you'll have to get used to, at least a little. It comes with me like the red hair."
"Yes, the red hair I love so much," he grinned. "I can live with occasional small bouts of jealousy; after all, I have them too in regards to you."
"Really?"
"Really. I can appreciate it and all your imperfections," he told her lightly.
"Much like I see yours and am trying to fix them?" she returned airily.
"Probably, although-"
A ghostly lynx landed in the middle of the dance floor and growled, "The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming!"*
Everyone had frozen and remained so for a couple of seconds, then pandemonium broke out and people started running every which way and some just disappeared immediately.
A loud cry of "Incendio!" rent the air causing a number of shouts of "Protego!" including Harry's. The curse wasn't directed at a person, but at the large tent for the wedding. A second cry of the same curse caused a large fireball to be hurled towards the house. More people started disappearing with a crack.
Harry looked around, trying to find the Death Eaters so he could launch his own curse until a mad cackle caught his attention and a spell seemed to singe the air right over his head. "I'm not ready for her yet. We need to get back to the house."
Grasping Ginny's hand tightly, he Apparated them to the back door of his house and hurried in. "We're safe." He looked at his girlfriend, who was extremely pale. "Are you all right?"
She took a few deep breaths. "I think so," she said a little nervously. "That was all so sudden and unexpected."
"Yeah it was-"
"Harry?!" called Hermione's voice from above.
"In the kitchen!"
The brunette walked in a moment later, looking as disheveled as Harry felt. "I'm glad you're all right. I saw you leave as I tried to make my way over and this was the first place I thought you'd go. Now what?"
"I think we'll give it a little time and then go back to see what happened. Maybe arrive down in the paddock and then walk up to be a little safer," he suggested. "What about your parents?" he asked.
"They were having the house packed today to move," Hermione answered as she thought it through. "If you don't mind, I'll go over and tell them to hurry and not stay there tonight. Their trip to Northern Ireland doesn't leave until tomorrow morning."
"Sure, go ahead," he agreed and Hermione left out the back door.
"Harry?"
"Yes, Ginny?"
"Hold me for awhile, please?"
"Sure, let's go up to the parlor where it's more comfortable." He led her up and then pulled her onto his lap on the couch. Neither cried, but it was a quiet and contemplative time.
— — —
Hermione returned and said her parents were fine and were staying at a hotel for the night.
An hour later the two travelled to The Burrow, only to find ash and charred lumber for the house. Arthur, Molly, Ron, Remus, and Tonks were the only ones still there; they were looking around by lit wands and a half moon, obviously searching for anything that could be salvaged.
"Ginny!" her mother gushed and rushed to her, pulling her into a hug, then she did the same for Harry.
"I told you Harry would keep her safe," her husband replied, with a thankful nod to Harry.
"Where will you go?" Harry asked as Molly led Ginny towards what little was left of the house to help them look.
Arthur grimaced. "Probably to Molly's Aunt Muriel's house. Did I see you talking to her tonight?"
"She stopped by and talked with me for a few minutes. She was telling me about Dumbledore." He still was a little peeved by what he'd learned, that Dumbledore had grown up in Godric's Hallow, must have known about his parents and where they were buried, but had never taken him there. A little more tarnish on the old Headmaster.
"Yes, she is part of that generation. I call her Molly's aunt, but I believe great-aunt is actually correct." Arthur shook his head. "Anyway, we'll stay there as it's well warded and a larger place, not that there's many of us now, just the three it seems. Yes, we'll make do," he ended to himself.
It took a moment, but Harry finally realized what the man meant. "You can't go back to the Ministry, can you?"
The man looked at his burnt house for a moment. "Probably wouldn't be good for me and I suspect I'd be sacked anyway. I'll have to send an owl to Perkins with my resignation; he's capable and can take over, though they'll need to find someone to assist him."
He kicked at the dirt a moment. "Probably good Ron and Ginny aren't going back to school; we can use that money for any necessities and it will last us a good long while. I'm sure Molly will start crops in Muriel's greenhouse immediately. Probably need to expand that too." He turned a little to look at something. "Have to get more chickens; maybe a goat or two would be good," he mused.
Harry looked over and saw a burnt spot, the chicken coop he assumed. Miraculously, Arthur's shed hadn't been touched. "Your shed survived," he pointed out as he watched Ron and Ginny help their mother search for things in the ashes of their home. He enjoyed seeing Ginny hoist her long gown up to her knees to keep it from getting dirty.
"Yes," Arthur said brightly, "I had a number of charms on it to hide it so people wouldn't see it during the party, including a Notice-Me-Not. Molly insisted since she thought it an eye-sore. Of course, you can see it because you already knew it was there."
Harry wondered if Hermione knew that one, if not, he'd have to learn so it could be applied to their tent if they ever had to use it.
Arthur cleared this throat delicately. "Harry, if I may ask a favor. Can you help Ginny get a few new clothes? I'll buy her what she needs, but I need a few days to figure out our finances and she can't wear that dress for that long. I'll pay you back next week."
Harry smiled slightly, relieved this problem was easy. "No need, sir. Ginny sent her trunk of things over this morning, so she probably lost the least. We, uh, she had planned on coming with me at the end of the wedding."
"So not at the end of August, as she would have gone to school?"
"Correct," Harry said in a clipped tone, not really wanting to talk about this.
"I see," the man drawled. "Lucky for her then."
"Perhaps we should help them look?" Harry suggested, hoping to end this topic.
"Go ahead; I've already searched and am playing sentry more than anything," Arthur said with resignation and a gesture towards the remains of the house.
There was only a small pile of things salvaged, much to Molly's ire.
After good-bye's to everyone, Harry took Ginny home with him, past a disapproving but not verbally objecting matron. They found Hermione had already gone to bed, so Harry kissed Ginny good-night and showed her to her bedroom while he went to his to clean up and go to bed.
He considered that it was good Bill and Fleur had been married and gotten away unharmed, but he was truly annoyed with the Death Eaters for ruining the wedding. Well, he'd see about making them pay. While he preferred the thought of them rotting in Azkaban, he knew there were other outcomes.
(A/N: The action has started and so shall the hunt.)