The Polyjuice Plot
By DoublePea
Author's Note: It's can't be said too many times, my beta MinistryMalcontent does a wonderful job. Simply Wonderful! Need I repeat that I'm not JK Rowland and no one is paying to read this story?
Chapter 7 Have a Merry Detention
The twins, Harry and Ginny decorated the Burrow for Christmas. Harry was surprised at the ornaments that came of the boxes. They weren't store bought, but were made by the family. They strung cranberries and popcorn on long strings. The twins complained a lot while they were stringing the popcorn. It seems that there was a charm that would do the same thing very quickly. Mrs. Weasley wouldn't allow it to be used, saying that things made with love were better. Ginny had a great time decorating because Harry was so happy with all the Christmas traditions of the family. Well maybe not all since the singing of Celestina Warbeck reminded Harry of a cat being tortured. She appeared to be a favorite singer of Mrs. Weasley.
A few days went by in the same way. Early to bed and early to rise and play, and don't tell Mum and Dad. Charlie, the second oldest brother arrived from his job in Romania at a dragon reserve. Harry was thrilled to hear Charlie's stories about dragons. After dinner, when the room cleared Charlie asked, "Why did the twins, Ginny, and Harry go to bed?"
"Well, Ron had a very unusual start at Hogwarts. We didn't want to write you what happened. We wanted to explain it to you in person," said Mr. Weasley. He told him a condensed version of what had happened.
"Ginny? Ginny did that? How in the world did she manage to change places with Ron?"
"The answer to that question is the reason that the twins are also going to bed after dinner."
"Is everything all right now? How's Ron?"
"Ron has calmed down now, and he and Harry are getting to know each other."
"Why is he just getting to know each other? Don't they see each other in the Gryffindor common room?"
"Ron's not in Gryffindor, he's in Slytherin," explained Mr. Weasley.
Charlie spent the evening muttering to his self, "Slytherin, I can't believe he's in Slytherin." When he came down to breakfast the next morning, he was surprised to see his mother enter the room, sit down at the table, and wait for breakfast to be served. This was the first time in his life that he had not seen his mother cook and serve breakfast. He also noticed that the twins, Ginny, and Harry seemed very happy for this early in the morning. When Bill, his older brother arrived from his job as a Gringotts' Curse Breaker in Egypt, he took him aside and confided what he had seen and his conclusions.
Christmas eve morning, found the usual foursome enjoying their early playtime. Bill and Charlie managed to surprise them. Bill looked at them sternly, "Okay, what gives? What are you doing and why is Ron in Slytherin?"
Fred said, "Maybe we should go outside, away from the house. We don't want to wake up anyone this early." They all walked out to the quidditch pitch and sat down. "It all happened because the Daily Prophet printed an article about Harry's first trip to Diagon Alley. We were looking at the pictures and Ginny was very interested. Ron told her that she wouldn't be able to be Harry's friend, because by the time she came to Hogwarts he would have all the friends that he needed."
"You're joking, even Ron wouldn't be so dumb, would he?" asked Charlie.
Ginny took over the story, "It so happens, that Ron is indeed that dumb. All I could think of was that I wouldn't be able to be Harry's friend because I was starting Hogwarts a year too late. It occurred to me that if I could just figure out a way to go this year, then I could be Harry's friend. Once I decided to change places with Ron, the plan all fell into place. Harry and I met going through Gate 9 ¾. On the train we talked, and I confessed that I had changed places with Ron."
"Were you still looking like Ron?" asked Bill.
"Yes, she looked exactly like Ron. You should have seen my face," Harry said, "when I asked her name. It was the funniest prank that I had ever heard." Harry chuckled shaking his head.
"That's why the twins and I have to go to bed after dinner," explained Ginny.
Bill looked at them and said, "That explains the nightly exodus, now what is going on in the morning."
The twins wondered if a bluff would work. After looking at their older brothers, they admitted, "Mum and Dad only said that we had to go to bed after dinner. They didn't say anything about what we needed to do in the morning. Since we go to bed so early, we found ourselves getting up early. Harry suggested that we could use the time to play."
"I think that you found the loop hole in your detention. Congratulations." Bill shook their hands.
Charlie still looked puzzled, "Would you please explain how Ron was sorted into Slytherin?" By the time the tale of the hall war was told, Bill and Charlie were laughing so hard they were holding their stomachs. When Ron walked into the kitchen for breakfast, Bill and Charlie took one look at him and started laughing.
"What's so funny? Why are you laughing?" Ron asked. His brothers just shook their heads. Ron didn't have time to wonder what was going on, because the food was placed on the table just then.
Malfoy Manor – Christmas Eve
Draco was sitting in the formal sitting room with his mother. They were waiting for the return home of Mr. Malfoy. He had been gone since Draco returned home from Hogwarts. Draco was dreaming not of sugarplums, but expensive brooms and other highly desirable gifts. He looked up when his father entered the room. Lucius Malfoy looked as if he had been very busy. His clothes were stained, wrinkled, and smelled of a rather pungent odor, an odor most foul.
Draco was an indulged and pampered child. He was a child raised by wealthy parents to someday take his place in society. He was not the brightest student in his year, but one look at his father convinced him to remain quiet.
Mrs. Malfoy, not having looked closely at her husband, asked, "Lucius, was your business successful?"
"No, madam, it was not. Perhaps if you had taken more time educating your son, than he would not be the dunderhead that he appears to be," he said with venom in his voice. Turning to Draco he asked, "Are you sure that Harry Potter told you his family were the 'Dirtsleys from Surrey'?"
"I think that is what he said. I'm not really sure, that was a week ago," explained Draco.
"Think of the conversation that you had with him about his family." His held out his wand and said Legilimens. What a mess, there was no order in Draco's mind. He was supposed to be seeing a conversation about Potter's family. Why in the name of Merlin was the child thinking about a broom? Hair gel? Now, he was finally seeing the correct conversation. Here it is, the name of Potter's family. "I'll be back when I can," he said leaving the room in a hurry.
Draco was relieved that his father was gone, and returned to thinking of new brooms.
Christmas at the Burrow
Ron woke with a start. Now Ron was not an early riser. He usually took a long time to be fully awake, but today was different. It was Christmas. He jumped up and looked over at Harry's bed. Hmm, empty. So he went to Ginny's room, also empty. The twin's room was next, it was empty. He was puzzled. He had never seen empty bedrooms on Christmas morning. Every other Christmas he had the delightful chore of waking everyone. After finding out that Bill and Charlie's rooms were also empty, he headed to his parent's room. He let out a breath, when he found them asleep. "Mum, Dad, wake up! It's Christmas morning, but I can't find anyone else. Wake UP!"
Arthur and Molly blearily opened their eyes and looked at their youngest son. They had hoped every year that Ron would outgrow waking them up, but once again they heard his dulcet tones yelling 'wake up'. "Son, what do you mean you can't find anyone?" asked his father.
"I've been to everyone's room and you are the only people that I can find."
The Weasley's sighed. "Ron I'm quite sure that you will find they are downstairs, waiting for us to join them," Mrs. Weasley suggested. Putting on their robes, they went downstairs to find a very quiet, empty house. Percy was in the living room reading one of his textbooks. No one else appeared to be in the house. "This is very strange," she said.
Just then they caught sight of a broom flying momentarily over the trees at the quidditch pitch. They walked outside to investigate. The closer they got to the pitch, the more noise they heard. Sure enough, all the missing people were having fun playing quidditch. "Hey, why are you playing without me?" asked Ron.
Bill replied, "If you had been up, Ron, you could have played. You were sound asleep when we started playing at dawn."
"Dawn? People get up at dawn?" Ron was flabbergasted. He prided himself in sleeping as late as he possibly could. The idea of anyone getting up at dawn and doing anything was impossible for him to understand. Then he remembered why he WAS up and what day it was. "It's Christmas, presents. Let's open our presents." The quidditch players landed their brooms and went inside.
Harry sat and watched the mayhem of seven children opening Christmas presents. Mrs. Weasley had been noticing that Harry made no attempt to look for his presents. She was afraid that he was not used to getting presents. "Ginny, why don't you give Harry his presents. He has several under the tree," suggested Mrs. Weasley.
If it weren't for the tags that said 'To Harry', he would not have believed that the packages were for him. Finally he opened the big, puffy one. He very carefully opened it so he wouldn't tear the pretty paper. Mrs. Weasley had given him a jumper. He had noticed Ginny and her brothers all had the same type of jumper. "Thank you so much, Mrs. Weasley. This is wonderful!" Harry almost started crying. Never had anyone he could remember bothered to make something for him. He pulled it over his head. Warm.
He stopped to watch Ron open his and Ginny's present. "Wow, look at this shirt. I can't believe it. This was the year that I was born. I love it, thank you so much," said Ron.
Harry and Ginny were down to their last package from each other. They opened them up and Ginny was so choked up, she couldn't talk. Harry looked at his male styled bracelet that said 'BFF'. He looked at Ginny. "Harry, that stands for 'Best Friends Forever'. She was holding her friends bracelet. How could he have gotten such a perfect gift for her? "Did you have help picking this out, Harry?"
"No, the minute that I saw this, I knew that this was your gift."
The rest of the morning was spent looking at other people's gifts. When they heard a knock at the back door, most everyone was surprised. Mr. Weasley let the gentleman in and brought him to the living room. "I would like to introduce our guest who is going to join us for dinner, Remus Lupin. Remus, these are my sons, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, and Ron. This is my daughter, Ginny and her friend, Harry Potter. Harry, Remus was a friend of your father at Hogwarts and he knew both of your parents."
With an amazed look, Harry watched Remus walk over to where he was. "It's good to meet you, Ginny. Harry, it has been a long time since I've seen you." Remus' hands were shaking as he tried to figure out if he should hug Harry, or wait until they were more comfortable together. "You look like your father with your mother's eyes. We have a lot to talk over." Harry was so surprised to meet someone who knew his parents. They spent the afternoon talking. It was great to be able to ask questions about his parents. He never pictured when he came home with Ginny that it would be so wonderful.
Malfoy Manor Christmas Day
Draco raced downstairs Christmas morning filled with high expectations. Racing brooms and lots of toys filled his head. Reality hit hard. He found ink, quills, and parchment. He searched under the tree and only came up with one package. It was rectangular and felt like a book. Who got a book for Christmas? Upon opening, he discovered, it was a book. "Clearing the Cluttered Mind" by Mrs. Keepit Klean. What in the world was happening? "Mother, why did I get only a book for Christmas?"
"I don't know, Draco, your father has been gone most of the week. He's gone today, too. He seemed distraught. I have no idea what he's doing; and the way he was acting, I didn't want to ask."
The Burrow
The next week passed by swiftly. They continued to play in the mornings. After a week, Bill mentioned that it was New Years Eve. They had to explain the holiday to Harry. He had spent all his New Years in his cupboard. Since, they had all been going to bed early, they decided on naps in the afternoon to make it to midnight. The evening was enjoyable with most of the family playing games. Just before midnight, Mr. Weasley pulled Harry aside. "Harry, would you help us with an old tradition?"
"Sure Mr. Weasley, I would be happy to do it." So at the stoke of midnight everyone yelled "Happy New Year." There was a knock on the front door. When Mr. Weasley opened up the door, there was Harry carrying a piece of coal, a plate of shortbread, and a bottle of fire whiskey.
"Harry is our First Footer. He brought good fortune to us for this New Year. Welcome to our home, Harry."
"I thought that the First Footer was supposed to be tall and dark," said George.
Mr. Weasley answered, "Harry is dark haired, that is good enough for our household."
Meanwhile somewhere in Surrey, a dirty and tired but determined Lucius Malfoy muttered under his breath, "If it's the last thing that I do, I WILL find the Dudley family."
