Chapter 4: Grimauld Place

When Dalia woke up the next day, it was to the sound of James and Al running past her door. James was apparently pursuing Al whom he seemed to think had stolen his hat and was shouting accusations at him. The boys' yelling and rough-housing in the hall reminded Dalia of home. She climbed out of bed, put on her dressing gown, and left her room. When she arrived in the kitchen it was to hear Ginny shouting down James' accusation of his brother. The hat, which Ginny had found under a pile of James' laundry earlier that morning, had been confiscated until James had straightened his room.

Ginny set a large plate of bacon, eggs, and toast in front of Dalia. She enjoyed her breakfast, listening to her aunt and uncle discussing articles from the day's paper and to her cousins as they talked about their plans.

When they had finished their breakfast Ginny asked Dalia and each of her children to pack an overnight bag because they would be staying the night at Grimauld Place. Dalia went with Lily to her room where her cousin hurriedly loaded items into a small bag. Then the two went to the guest room so Dalia could pack too.

"Why don't we just come back after dinner?" asked Dalia.

"It's not just us going to dinner. It's my aunts and uncles and cousins too. We do this every year before school starts. It's like a family reunion." Lily seemed to sense Dalia's nervousness because she added, "I know it seems like a lot of people but don't worry, my gran will want to adopt you, just you wait."

Dalia selected the smallest pink suitcase and began to select things to put into it.

"Do you think I'll need my wand?" Dalia asked her cousin, "Or is it silly to bring it when I can't even use it yet?"

"Bring it." Lily told her. "You'll want to get used to having it with you all the times. For wizards, having a wand with you is like having your head with you. You don't really do anything without it."

Dalia laughed and imagined leaving her head behind when she was shopping and having to go back home to get it so she could remember how to count out money.

Lily seemed to be examining the furniture carefully as Dalia shoved things into her suitcase. Dalia thought it was strange that Lily should not be perfectly familiar with this room and its contents since it was a part of her family's house.

"I love the carving on these wardrobe doors." Lily was saying, "I can just imagine them the doors to an undiscovered kingdom."

"It really is nice in here. It feels ancient. Not like my bedroom at home with all of that flat pack furniture. I think a strong wind would knock it over."

"Mum only finished this room a few days before you arrived. I know it doesn't look like it but it's a recent addition. She spent years gathering pictures of the inside of this house from friends of my dad's parents. She had reproductions of the furniture made and did some of the work herself. She got pretty good at it after a while. The wardrobe doors were the hardest. The picture wasn't all that clear but Hugo helped her fill in the blurry parts of the original carving. She wanted it to be like Voldemort never came here."

"It's crazy that he blasted the house apart just to get to a baby."

"He didn't destroy the house to get to Dad," Lily said absentmindedly as she examined a vase containing daisies.

"What do you mean?" Dalia wanted to know.

Lily stopped gazing at the vase, looked down, sighed, and said "I guess it's ok if we talk about it. I mean, we weren't supposed to before – before you knew."

Dalia had wondered about this. She hoped this meant that Lily would be more forthcoming now that it had all been explained. She was her cousin, after all, and they were family. Now that she had entered the magical world, she thought it was about time the secrets stopped.

"Well," Lily began and her confidence seemed to build. "He did some damage blasting things when my grandpa tried to duck out of the way. Voldemort, I mean. Mostly, it was his spell bouncing off Dad that caused the damage."

Dalia gasped.

"Can you imagine?" asked Lily.

Dalia couldn't imagine. She was about to say so when there was a knock on the door. Dalia beckoned the visitor inside. It was Ginny.

"I'm glad to see that you two are packed at least. Getting the boys ready is always a nightmare. I just wanted to let you know. Dalia, you've got another owl.

"Oh. I'm sorry mum's being so weird about everything," Dalia apologized.

"It's quite alright. She's your mother. She's supposed to worry. A word of advice from another mother: make sure you write at least as often as she does. It won't do any good to have your parents worried more than is necessary."

"It's not necessary. It's just Mum." Dalia mumbled but she wasn't sure her aunt had heard her.

Ginny left the room and shouted something down the hall toward the boys' rooms. Dalia read her letter, which was simply a note from her mother saying hello once more and reminding her to listen to Harry and Ginny and to make sure she didn't forget any of her things there when she left for school. Dalia dashed off a quick reply. She had just about tied it to an obliging owl which had flown in through the bedroom window, when she realized that she would be staying in London that night. So she hastily added a postscript updating her parents about this.

Once the boys had finally packed their overnight bags, it was time for lunch. After the plates had been cleared and cleaned, the Potters and Dalia were all assembled in the sitting room where a roaring fire was blazing away in the fireplace.

"Fluo powder, you three." Ginny told her children, and, turning to Dalia she said, "That's for traveling by fire."

"Won't we get burned?" Dalia blurted out, realizing the answer immediately.

Ginny laughed. "They will be traveling by fire, Dalia, I'll be taking you by side along apparition." Ginny told her gently.

"Will it be like...the duck?"

"No, side along apparition is much smoother."

"Your stomach shouldn't even need to settle before dinner. Molly, Ginny's mother, is a fantastic cook." Harry told her.

Ginny instructed Dalia to hold onto her hand. As soon as she had done so Dalia felt herself compress tightly before quickly disappearing and then reappearing. The sensation was more like reinflating but it wasn't as disorienting as the portkey had been.

Dalia found herself in a large sitting room with enormous drapery-lined windows, several sofas and a large collection of wizard pictures on the striped papered walls. Many of the subjects of these photos, she noticed, had red hair. James, Al, Lily, Rose, Hugo, Fred, and Roxanne's pictures were among them. In the middle of all of these was the largest picture of all. Its subjects were a beautiful young woman with red-blonde hair and the fairest skin she'd ever seen. She was standing alongside a young man with short spiked hair that transitioned from brown at the roots to cherry red at the tips. Both of them looked delighted to be in the company of the other. They smiled serenely, looking at each other, then the camera, then back at each other, scrunching up their noses.

The room was well-lit, with natural sunlight blazing in through the windows, whose curtains had been pulled aside. Beyond the window, Dalia saw a dingy London street. The air was perfumed with the scent of a large array of food.

When Dalia turned around, she couldn't help but notice an enormous stone fireplace and saw, to her surprise, that Lily was emerging from it, smiling. Lily's hair and clothes were covered in a smattering of soot which her mother removed with a cry of "Scurgio!" Then James and Al emerged from the fireplace, one after the other. James was holding a large wrapped gift when he came through. Finally, Harry popped into view. This, she thought, must have been him apparating into the house.

Just as Ginny and Harry were finished performing the cleaning spells on the boys, a woman came into the room. She was a short, slightly heavy woman with graying hair, and a pair of half-spectacles perched on her nose. "Ginny! Harry! Children!" she cried giving out random hugs to anyone within her reach.

Dalia was caught up with Lily in one of the many-armed hugs. Dalia was surprised but a little pleased at how easily she was welcomed.

"Mum," Ginny said, her voice slightly muffled because her face was wedged firmly into the woman's shoulder, "I need to introduce you to Dalia."

"Dalia, how lovely to meet you!" the woman said, giving her a quick hug.

"Dalia, this is my mum, Molly Weasley."

"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Weasley."

"Bah, just call me Gran, dear."

Molly Weasley was not like the grandmother Dalia knew. Dalia's only living grandmother was Petunia Dursley, her father's mother. Her Grandma Petunia was an austere woman, fussy about cleanliness and proper presentation. She was generous to Dalia and her brothers, often buying them expensive gifts and always rewarding them with money for merely paying her a visit. But the thought of hugging her grandchildren for no reason other than excitement to see them, wasn't something she imagined her grandmother would do.

"I sent Dad out to get a few last minute things for the party, he should be back any time." Molly told them all.

"What's for dinner, Gran? It smells great!" James asked.

"Oh a little of this and a little of that," Molly said absentmindedly, "I'm sure you'll find something you like."

Ginny led Dalia and Lily up the stairs where they saw many doors to many rooms. Ginny showed them the first door on their left and indicated that this was to be theirs. When they went inside to put their things away, Dalia noticed three beds in this room. There was a single bed and a pair of bunk beds. A small leather bag sat atop the single bed. Lily claimed the top bunk, and carefully hefted her bag onto it. Dalia dropped her suitcase onto the bottom bunk. They didn't have time to do anything else before she and Lily were called back downstairs.

Lily led the way to the kitchen where a large group of people were all settled around a long table in the basement kitchen. This room reminded Dalia of a somewhat larger version of the Potter's kitchen, though it had none of the long, low windows of the cottage. Dalia was introduced to Ginny's brother, Percy, his wife, Audrey, and his children, Lucy and Molly. Dalia realized that she'd already known something of Percy. He had, after all, written the letter that first indicated to her parents that she was a witch. Percy, in person, strongly reminded Dalia of the written version of himself. He was oddly formal but still friendly enough. He was tall and red-haired but balding. His wife, Audrey, was a tiny blonde witch, quick to smile, who hugged Dalia upon their meeting, much like Mrs. Weasley.

Lucy, who was small, like her mother, wore her blonde hair in a pixie cut. She was close to Dalia and Lily's age and, as Dalia learned, had started at Hogwarts only the previous year. Molly, a Hogwards 5th year like her cousin Roxanne, was another red-head. She was taller than Lucy by a considerable margin and wore her hair in a long plait that fell to the middle of her back. Her demeanor reminded Dalia of Lily's cousin, Rose. She had a book under her arm wherever she went and pulled it out when conversations grew long. However, Molly wasn't just reading, she was writing in this book.

"You two are in the room with me. Gran said so when we first arrived." Lucy told Lily and Dalia. "I'm sorry I'm leaving you two with the bunk beds but I don't want to disturb anyone."

"Lucy doesn't sleep a lot," Lily explained. "It's like a kind of insomnia. She just doesn't need as much sleep as…" Lily trailed off.

"Normal people." Lucy added with a grin. "The girls in my year at Hogwarts aren't that fond of sharing a room with me but I keep quiet. It's good practice for when I'm an auror."

Wanting to think of something to say Dalia asked, "Which house are you in?"

"Gryffindor. Lots of the Weasleys are in Gryffindor but not everyone."

"Dominique was in Ravenclaw and so are Molly, and Rose," Lily told her. "That's where all of the brainiacs go. I'm not saying nobody else is smart but academics are their kind of thing. Dominique is studying psychology in a muggle university right now so you won't get a chance to meet her."

"Victoire was a Hufflepuff and so is Louis," Lucy added. "The Hufflepuff kids are good people to know. Lots of people say they are the leftover kids, after the others are chosen, but they are just really flexible. The only house that none of us are in is Slytherin."

This wasn't the first time Dalia had heard about Slytherin's house reputation but the fact that none of the Weasleys were in it made it sound even worse. Her primer had told her that Slytherin house members tended to be people who were extremely determined. This didn't sound so bad but, from what she was hearing, it must have been the kindest thing that could be said about its members.

Lucy and Lily took Dalia on a tour of the house. "This used to be the Black family estate," Lucy explained. "The Blacks were a really old wizard family. They've almost all died-out now. Harry's godfather was Sirius Black and he inherited this place from him. But when he fixed-up Goodwood, he offered it to my grandparents. It sleeps the entire Weasley family and guests."

"One of the only Blacks left is Teddy Lupin. He married to our cousin, Victoire, a few months ago. You'll meet them later." Lily told her.

Grimauld Place was large with many formal rooms. Dalia imagined that, based on its size and apparent age, it had probably once been furnished ornately. But it was more casual today.

Near the main floor landing, Lucy pointed to a wall that jutted out a little more than the wall next to it. "Behind that section of wall is a cursed picture. Dad says that it's magically stuck there and can't be taken down. It used to scream and cry but they managed to silence it. Since they didn't like the dirty looks the woman in it used to give, they just built a wall around it.

"Once," Lily added, "James got in trouble for trying to cut a small hole in the wall to get a peek behind it."

In another room off the main entry, there was a large, sprawling Weasley family tree. Dalia saw all of the children of Molly and Arthur Weasley but there were also select branches with cousins. There were some names with broken wands next to them. Lucy explained that these were family members who had died. She saw Molly, their gran, on here with her maiden name, Prewett. On the lines next to her, extending down from her parents were two men, Gideon and Fabian, both with broken wands. She also spotted Fred, George's twin, with a broken wand.

"There used to be a Black family tree here. It's still here, underneath this one. We are distantly related to them. But many of them were corrupt, so this tree replaced it with only the nearest members on it. See, Teddy Lupin married to Victoire?"

She did indeed see Teddy. She saw that he was an only child. And on the lines above his, indicating his parents, were two broken wands.

"Teddy's dad, Remus, was a good friend of Harry's dad. His mother, Dora Tonks, was the daughter of Andromeda Black. They've added her and her husband, because she was one of the good ones and her son is now closely connected by marriage. But most of the rest of her family are covered up. Andromeda still visits from time to time. She raised Teddy and he is the only family she has left."

"Until he and Victoire start having babies," added Lily.

Lucy and Lily had gone through all of the generations, pointing out the broken wands and saying how each died. The name Voldemort was repeated again and again. Hearing about these losses really brought to life the impact of his reign of power. After a while, they left the gloomy tree.

As they ascended the stairs through the levels, Dalia lost count of bedrooms. They tramped through the four floors and the attic. Each floor's walls were lined with photos that moved. Most were pictures of the many Weasley grandchildren at various ages. There were also several drawings, done by Hugo, that graced the frames along the way.

They visited a room on the third floor that seemed to be a sort of shrine to Fred Weasley, Lily's uncle who had died when Voldemort fought his final battle at Hogwarts.

They even ventured into the attic which had been turned into a sort of dormitory that several of the younger boys stayed in. Five low beds lined one long wall opposite a pair of large windows. The girls could glimpse much of London from up here because the house stood at least a story higher than its neighbors. This, she learned, was because magical means concealed it from muggle eyes so they could do anything they wanted with it – build it with as many floors as necessary.

Once they had finished their tour going up the stairs and were two floors down from the top, they found their progress impeded by the couple Dalia had seen in the large sitting room picture.

"Victoire! Teddy!" Lily squealed as she ran toward the couple and hugged them.

Lucy also beamed at the sight of them. "Vicky and Teddy, this is Dalia. She's Lily's cousin on Harry's side."

The two greeted her enthusiastically.

The three girls left the couple, who was going upstairs, to return to the main floor. When they arrived there, Dalia found it was buzzing with chatter and even more people. Before long Dalia had met Victoire's parents: Ginny's oldest brother, Bill, and his wife, Fleur. Fleur spoke with a heavy French accent but her English was excellent. Although Bill smiled widely, Dalia noticed that his face was liberally scarred and remembered the story of his attack by Voldemort's forces that had been briefly described to her. There were still vestiges of his handsome face beneath the scars. Fleur was very beautiful and Dalia was taken aback by her sophisticatedly twisted and arranged golden hair and fair, smooth skin.

Dominque, she learned, was Bill and Fleur's youngest daughter and she was away at university so Dalia wouldn't be meeting her. However, once back in the sitting room, she was introduced her brother, Louis, a Hogwarts sixth-year who was playing piano and didn't seem to want to stop. Louis looked like a Weasley with red hair and a slightly ruddy complexion.

Dalia also met Ginny's brother, Charlie, and his partner Traian Nastase. Charlie was red-haired, like the rest of the Weasleys but looked powerfully built – probably because he worked with dragons. Traian, who Dalia was told was a wizard doctor called a healer, was a handsome man with a thick Romanian accent. His long, dark hair hung loosely and he had a casual but elegant appearance.

"You'd better get used to seeing them," Lily said with excitement. "They are both starting jobs at Hogwarts this year."

"Really? What jobs are you taking?" Dalia wanted to know.

"I'm the new gamekeeper," said Charlie. "Hagrid, the old gamekeeper is still there. He's been at it a while. He's been teaching magical creatures classes which were taking up a lot of his time. Recent exhibitions have yielded so many zoological discoveries – magical creatures that we thought were only myth. It's been exciting and the students all seem to want to know more so they've tripled Hagrid's class load."

"And I am the new healer." Traian admitted.

"At least I won't be the only new one starting there this year," said Dalia, and the others laughed.

Before long, Arthur Weasley had arrived at the house, his arms full of shopping bags.

Once he'd been given a cup of tea and was seated in a particularly fluffy armchair, Dalia was conveyed through the crowd to meet him. He greeted her as enthusiastically as his wife and with even more curiosity.

"Happy Birthday, Mr. Weasley." Dalia offered politely.

"Thank you very much, Dalia. You can call me Arthur."

"Just call him Pops," said Lucy.

"That's perfectly fine as well," he said giving a smiling nod in Lucy's direction. "So you've been living with muggles your whole life then, eh?"

"Pops, she's muggle born." Lily giggled.

"So she is. So she is. Well, you'll have to tell me all about it sometime."

"Pops is into all things muggle." Lily said. "He's been teaching me about electricity."

"It's all very simple, once you know the rules." Arthur pointed out.

Dalia disengaged at Lily's suggestion because there were more people coming down from the upper floors to greet their progenitor. "Actually, he's not really that familiar with the rules. But I let him think he's teaching me." Lily whispered to Dalia.

Everywhere on the main floor seemed to have become crowded. There were so many people, Dalia was starting to forget names and who was related to who and how. But she didn't have to mingle long, since Gran called out that dinner was almost ready.

When they all sat down to eat, it took several rooms full of tables to seat everyone. Dalia chose a seat next to Lily and across from Albus and Hugo who, Dalia noticed, seemed to get along better with Albus than James did. She sat eating and listening to the conversations that flowed around her, not contributing very much but feeling like she was learning a lot, both about the wizarding world and about the other Weasley cousins who seemed to regard her as part of their very own family.

She was overwhelmed but tried not to show it. Here, gathered around her, were people with whom she shared the gift of magic. It was exactly as her father had told her. And at that moment she felt a little sad for him, that he should have sat on the sidelines while the magical world swirled around him, with him having been forbidden to observe it.

By the time cake had been served, Dalia was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open. When everyone was finished and the many gifts, most of them containing muggle curiosities, had been opened she shuffled off to bed with her cousin Lily. She was asleep almost at once and didn't even notice when Lucy arrived.