He managed to get a half smile out of her with his answer and he knew she would ask for something far more specific than he had said. Still, he returned her smile with a twitch of his lips and gave a shrug. "The whole place is in severe need of restoration, although I think the sitting room would be a good place to begin," he said.
"And modernising," Hermione said as they walked, "Some of these decorations are hideous!" she indicated one of the paintings on the wall and he was forced to agree with her. That one had been a favourite of his mothers, why, he could not fathom.
"Tell me about it," he nodded. "Some of these things are ghastly!" he added pulling a face. The décor however was something he could worry about when he had the walls back in a fit state. The sitting room was as dusty and grim as the rest of the house. The carpet was practically thread bare and the layer of dust that clung to everything had not been disturbed for many years. He was willing to bet that there were some spiders that would give Hagrid's acromantula a good run for its money too when size was concerned That was if the size of the webs in the corner were anything to go by at least.
Stepping into the room caused a plume of dust to explode under his foot. This time, he did not cough, however he did pull out his wand and aim it at the window, wanting to open it to let the dust out and the cool air in. The window had other thoughts on the matter however and refused to move. Crossing the room with care, he decided that perhaps physical strength would be better than magical. "Careful," Hermione warned as she entered the room and saw what he was up to.
He gave a nod before trying to yank the thing open. It didn't give an inch. It didn't even creak to let him know it was close to giving. Deciding then that there was no way he was going to be beaten by a damned window; he took a better stance and put his shoulder into it. "You're going to break it!" Hermione warned.
"It'll be fine," he replied. This time, he felt the thing move, there was a small noise too, giving him a little hope that this might actually work! "Just needs a bit of persuading," he added. He thought he saw her roll her eyes but his attention was with the stubborn window instead. This time, he placed his large hands on the wooden frame and heaved. There was a dull groan from the dusty wood before it shattered, sending the pane and most the frame tumbling to the ground on the other side. "Shit," he cursed.
There was a snort from Hermione and when he turned, she raised both eyebrows from where she leaned on the door jamb. "Don't say anything!" he said. The look on his face, he knew was a little sheepish and he felt every bit as silly as he should. She raised both her hands in supplication and shook her head.
"Can you repair it?" she asked. He nodded, the spell was simple enough.
"I'm going to leave it for the moment," he said, "This way, the dust has somewhere to go and it'll let in fresh air," he added, as though he had meant to do that the whole time. She shrugged and pulled out her wand, he hoped she wasn't going to fix it for him. He let out a small sigh when she began working on the floor. He then turned his attention to the other surfaces in the room. He knew the spell he had used on the kitchen would be a good start, however this room would need a complete redecoration if it was ever going to be considered decent again. There was paint peeling off the walls and the plaster on the ceiling had crumbled in a few places too. That would take some more complicated magic than that which could be found in the book he had used. An idea struck him then.
"Do you have access to spell books?" he asked. Hermione looked up for a moment and nodded.
"Yes, however I would be reluctant to lend any to you, so would the Ministry."
"Even ones on renovation?" he asked, indicating the ceiling. She caught his meaning instantly and a puzzled look crossed her face.
"I can ask," she said. That was about as much as he was going to get at the moment and he nodded.
"No harm in that," he said before returning his attention to what he could do, for now, it would have to do!
