Chapter Ten
"What exactly are we doing here, Ron?"
"We are waiting for our cihldren to come from school, Harry. Not to mention the butterbeer in Three Broomsticks doesn't taste as an ordinary one. Maybe they have some special secret ingridient."
"That ingridient is called nostalgy, Ron," Hermione said, taking another sip of her butterbeer. "When you are here, you just can help but return to those glorious school days."
"Glorious, Herm'? I just don't have such associations when thinking about my school years," Harry opjected wholeheartedly. "When I remember McGonagall's look of utter despise if I was two minutes late to class, brrrrr, goose bumps all over my back."
"Don't say bad things about dead people, Harry," Hermione scolded. "I do understand that being haunted day and night by a crazy maniac is not the experience you want to pass on to the next generation. But from the academic point of veiw- Oh, well, you were never interested in academics," she ended with a sigh.
"But we did have some cool adventures!" Ron chipped, toasting with a half full glass, his fourth one.
"Yeah, I especially liked the one with giant spiders," Harry recalled.
Ron turned deathly pale. "Okay, that wasn't a great one. But Hogwarts was our home for seven years," Ron added with renewed enthusiasm. "I wish we could visit it again."
"Of course, it would've been nice, but I doubt there will be a fifteen years reunion. There isn't left many to reunite, I don't even want to know how many survived the war. Ten? Twenty? Not to mention that all Professors of our time are dead. I don't even want to think about such dreadful things." Things Hermione really didn't want to think about was the fact that if it hadn't been for the dead Draco Malfoy, none of the three would've been alive at that moment.
"Returning to the question I asked," Harry changed the uncomfortable topic, "why did I agree to spend a week in Ginny's orphanage?"
"I don't know, I have my own reasons," Ron replied. "Hermione and I are considering using the kindergarten facility for Hugo. This way he will be developing while we are at work. And we are there most of the time."
"I managed to retrieve some pictures from the media," Hermione began with exitement of her usual role – the researcher, "the place is HUGE! And the prices are not high, any working family can afford it."
"You are planning to ship the kid to another country every day?" Harry asked incredeously.
"Portkeys are not a problem these days," Hermione retorted. "And I heard they provide something for everyday use. A regular portkey of some sort. The place seems to be full of all kinds of advanced magic. I can't wait to see it! Aren't you even a little bit curious, Harry?"
Of course, Harry was curious. He was curious about what life turned Ginny Weasley into Lady Malfoy. He was also more than interested in the so called 'string of admirers.' His musings were interrupted by the doorbell's ringing. Two boys and two girls stepped into the pub, lead by a blackhaired man.
"What the Hell is he doing here?" Harry muttered.
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen," Dubrovsky greeted. "Unfortunately, I am going to accompain you, Ginevra is having a small epidemic. No pair of hands will be useless. Maybe Ms. Potter will be willing to assist me in some remedy brewing? For some extra credit?"
Veronica, who had been ignoring the happenings around her till that moment, blinked several times, surprised by the proposition. Nobody had singled out her before. It was definitely a pleasant feeling. "If it is for extra credit," she agreed impassively.
"Very good. Then I'll arrange the Portkeys and we are off."
"Isn't Ginny coming?" Harry couldn't help asking.
"Mother is very busy. You won't be seeing her much during your stay," Archie answered. "The same goes for me and Eric, but I am sure we will find the means of entertainment for you."
"Speaking of busy, Ginevra told me to pass this clipboard to you."
"I knew something was missing," Archie remarked taking the piece of wood with several papers already cliped to it. Eric chuckled. "What so funny?"
"Nothing. Just forgot how you look with it, bro."
Everybody else aside the brothers understood that it was some inside joke, so they ignored it, even if the girls were intrigued what exactly Eric was talking about. They didn't even notice how they appeared in front of a high intricate metal fence.
"Oh my God!" Hermione exclaimed, looking at the building behind the fence. "It isn't huge, it is gigantic!"
'Villa' was a very loose term used to describe the building that housed the "Hospitable orphanage". It consisted of three three store houses and one of the same hight but obviosly with only one store, but with the celling high as the three store one. The houses were connected with hallways and the guest party could already see children of all ages mulling about at high speed. To the left a park was located with swings and other attractions, a bit further a Quiddich pitch was standing out in the horizon.
"I am sooooooooooo staying here," Hugo breathed out. He was staying quiet during the disccusing in the pub being engrossed in one book or another.
"Wait till you see the rest," Eric whispered conspationally, nudging him at the side.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to "Hospitable Orphanage"!" Archie announced. "Mother appointed me your guide for today so, please, listen to me and stay close, it is very easy to get lost in here. Before we enter, about the sleeping arrangements. The girls are staying in Eric's new room."
"Haven't even entered it yet, so no cooties," Eric added to reassure the girls who weren't looking all that happy with the accomodations.
"Mrs. and Mr. Weasley, Hugo, as Mr. Potter are staying in the guestrooms in the family wing."
"And what about Eric?" Rose asked.
"I am having sleeping overs with my bro, just like in old times!" Eric said with a smile. Being back in Italy clearly raised his mood to the highest level of happiness. "Okay, let's have your things and I'll be off to settle the rooms for you. Archie, if you will be so generous as to provide help…" Eric made a deep bow, it was full of mockery, but still looked gallant.
Archie snapped his fingers three times and three House Elves appeared. "What young master wishes?" they asked at the same time.
"Please, take luggage of our guests, Eric will show where to bring it to."
"Wow, I've never seen a House Elf before!" Hugo cried. His enthusiasm seemed to grow by each second.
The shrunk trunks were deposited into Elves' tiny hands and they disappeared with Eric in tow.
"Where is Professor Dubrovsky?" Veronica inquired, visibly not taken with the surroundings. Visibly at least.
"We have an Apparition point in the Hospital Wing for emergencies. He must have gotten off to deal with the epidemic," Archie explained.
"Interesting, I haven't even hear a sound of his apparition," Ron remarked.
"Uncle Vlad is a man of great stealth. Anyway, we must be going. The very first bulding in front of you is the adminstrative pavillion. There are all offices of the administrative staff and reception and on the top floor – Malfoy family chambers, where we all will be staying," Archie began his excursion, heading for the entrance. "We have only two hours for me showing you around. Then there will be lunch and then I must go on my rounds, classes and other stuff. You can do whatever you please. Oh, forgot to mention, today is a holiday party for everyone who goes on the summer holiday so everyone above six is running around preparing for it. It's a lot of fun, no special dresscode."
Archie touched the doors and they opened on their own accord. The foyer was richly decorated in pastel tones with a small fontain in the center. The reception desk was attended by two young women who smiled and greeted with "Welcome back, Archie. Welcome to "Hospitable Orphanage", dear guests." Archie nodded and swiftly moved upstairs with gaping 'guests' behind him.
The place was really something to gape at. Of course, there were a lot of magical places in England, like Minestry of Magic, for example, but the orphanage was a strange alloy of magical and muggle world and there was no destinguishing lines between them. It seemed that the best things from both worlds were taken and put together. Nicely. The furniture and wall decorations screamed of wealth and good taste to the smallest of details.
"Here is the administration floor," Archie announced. "And here is our Chief Secretary, Mrs. Willow. Good day to you. The house is still standing?"
"Miraculously," answered the middle aged woman behind a large oak desk. It was standing right on the stair landing. To the sides of her were two arches which revealed a row of doors with name templates on them.
"Here we are," Archie said, when they reached the third store. "I suggest we all change into something more comfortable and meet here in fifteen minutes, there is a lot more to see. I just can't wait to put some jeans on! Okay, here are the guestrooms, girls are staying here and Eric's and mine room is here." Archie gestured towards the doors one next to the other. They also had names on them.
"What are those large doors in the corner?" Harry asked.
"It's the master bedroom. In fifteen minutes then."
"Why did he call it master bedroom?" Harry asked when the children and Hermione went to their rooms. "Why didn't her simply say 'mother's room'?"
"Are you implying that Ginny has someone?" Ron asked, but clearly not interested in the topic. "Maybe she does. Why not? I am more interested in the fact that we are going to share a room once again, Harry. Yeah, like in old times."
Twenty minutes later, because Hugo was uncooperative in his changing, the group met once again. Archie was wearing jeans and a neat shirt with shirt sleaves, the feminine part of the group had chosen summer dressers which made Rose look a lot like her mother. Veronica put her hair in a high ponytail to somehow get rid of the warmth it provided.
"We are going to start with our youngest clients, please, this way," Archie said, hurrying down the hallway once again. "I am sorry for moving on this speed, but it is kinda the speed of this place. A lot to do, very little time to do it. Also here are your maps, the red dot shows where you are at the moment. You can flip through the stores, wards and houses. If you get lost you can ask anyone to show you the way. There are a lot of people around all the time, so finding a source won't be a problem."
"Archie, the stairs!" Rose warned, noticing that Archie neared the landing with his back facing the stairs.
"No worries, I know this place even better than the palm of my hand," he said, going downstairs still backwards. After several stair landings they reached the first store of presumably the right house to the administrative one. "Here is the babies' chamber."
"They are so small," Hugo remarked, looking through the transperent door at two rows of twenty five cribs.
"You were the same once," Hermione said, ruffling his hair.
"Six are for adoption, others are in babycare. Mother thinks to add courses for pregnant women. The nurses do it anyway to the mothers that bring babies here, but this way it will be more organized. Soon their napping time is over so we better go." They went through the wooden double doors that opened again with only Archie's touch and thought they moved from Italy to a jungle with wild animals creeping all around the place. "The toddlers' ward. Age range two till six. Our most popular facility. Only third of them are orphans. As you see, this place is… wild."
"Look, who came back, kids," one of the nurses said to the playing group of kids, who turned their heads towards the doors in characteristic curiosity.
"Good day, Uncle Archie!" the chorus greeted.
"Hello, kids," Archie responded, "you seem to have grown several inches." The kids simultaneously turned their heads back to the nurse who translated what Archie said into Italian. "They only know some phrases in English. Please, look under you feet, there can be something or someone on the floor."
"Uncle Archie… this is-" Hermione began.
"Weird," Veronica finished flatly.
"Well, I think it is kinda sweet," Rose agreed with her mother unsaid thought.
"You'll change your opinion, Rose, if you spend a couple of hours with them. Little devils. But it is very interesting to watch how they look and understand this world, what questions they ask, what games they play and with whom and why," Archie said with affection.
"Can I?" Rose asked, looking around her with wide eyes. Everything around her looked so unusual, so interesting, so worth looking into. The love for research deffinetely was passed on to the Wesealys' next generation.
"You can join me on my rounds tomorrow." The doors closed behind them and they found themselves in a small round room with coaches and coffee tables. "This is one of the 'Minute Party Room's as we call them. They are for the nurses to take a coffee brake between shifts. The drinks are on the house, so to say. You just tell the table what you want. Anyone thirsty?"
Hugo raised his hand. He clearly wanted to try the device out. After getting Archie's permission in a form of a nod he rushed to the table and ordered limonade. The glass materialized on the table and Hugo examined it from all sides and then tasted it. From his satisfied expression was understandable that the drink was not only real but tasty.
"Anybody else?"
Everybody got a drink, Harry even got a Pepsi. How a magical table knew muggle drinks was beyong his understanding, but it was quite drinkable nevertheless.
"Our next stop is kids from six to eleven. Less playrooms more studying places. As mother said at Christmas they receive preschool education about magical environment. There are not a lot of orphans among them, we hope they will be adopted before they start a magical school. But now they all attend muggle school."
"Isn't it dangerous?" Ron asked. "All magical kids cause accidents with their uncontrolled magic."
"Certainly, but they wear charmed medalions which collect magic and doesn't let it effect any objects or people. We've collected quite a lot of magic this way."
"What for?!"
"All kinds of needs. Mostly repair works or massive redecoration."
Another set of doors, stairs, another hallway, that one was definitely more organized and clean. Doors on one side and desks and bookshelves on the other.
"Everybody must be organizing the party so the rooms are empty. I can show you if you want. The rooms are nothing special though."
"That will be quite interesting," Hermione supported the suggestion.
Archie neared one of the doors and looked at the door handle. It had a green line on it. "This means that the room's occupant is not inside." He took a key that was hanging from his clipboard and opened the lock.
The room clearly belonged to a boy. It wasn't big, just large enough to have a bed, a closet and a table with shelves above it. The shelves were full of some trinkets and that was practically the only fact that showed that someone lived in the room. Everything else was neatly clean and bare of garbage or junk.
"I wish, you could be so tidy, Hugo," Hermione said with reproach.
"It is not Robert's personal characteristic that keeps the room so clean. We are all taught to do so and every morning the Chief Caretaker inspects all rooms. If your room is not up to standard you are given cleaning duty which is not a pleasant pasttime."
"Have you ever received cleaning duty, Archie?" Rose asked jockingly.
"A couple of times."
"But you are the boss's son!"
"So what? I live here as everyone else. Maybe I'll show you another room, Mrs. Weasley? To prove my point?"
"No need, thank you."
"Then I am going to take you to our squibs' kiddy wing."
The guests went up another flight of stairs and once again found themselves on the third floor. Archie neared a table on the wall. "This table shows where any of my siblings is. The majority of them are preparing for the party, except for… Sandra." The table said 'Crying in her room heartbroken. Dumped by her boyfriend.' "Sandra is sixteen, our eldest. The question must've been raised… Will take care of it later with Lucy." He made a mark on the clipboard.
"What question?" Veronica asked. The grown ups started to fidget. Harry turned slightly green. Hugo chuckled. Even he seemed to know what they were talking about.
"About eloping," Archie replied.
Veronica seemed to be satisfied with the answer. "And who is Lucy?"
"She is our hopegiver. Knows just the words to console anybody. There she is, by the way."
A girl of about ten was slowly moving against the wall with her back towards them. When reaching a door she touched the handle and moved forward.
"Lucy!"
"Archie?"
"Yep. How are things?"
"Great. Are there guests with you?"
"Yes. Mother's relatives."
"It is wonderful that Madam has relatives. Do you know about Sandra?"
"Just found out. I plan to go to her room later. Will you help me?"
"Of course. She is too distressed right now. I can hear her wails from the other end of the hall. But she will be more or less calm in the evening."
"I'll pick you up an hour before party then."
"Okay."
During the conversation the girl didn't even attempt to turn her head to look at Archie. When they passed her, Rose turned back to reprimand her at least with a look and a lump stuck in her throat. Lucy was blind.
"She is not a squib by the way," Archie commented, seeing Rose's realization. "Completely magical, but her parents left her here, because they couldn't deal with it all and they have a normal younger boy, so…"
"So she can't perform magic?"
"Theoretically she can only not with a wand, magic allows her to orientate, meaning the map in your hands is very well imprinted in her head. All the stairs and such. She reads in Braille and types in it too, so she is normal to an extent. Sings… magically. Just a brilliant voice and music hearing. But you will hear yourselves. Okay, it is time for lunch already. We'll pass the library on our way to the Dinning Hall. It is empty now, but will be feeled out soon."
"Why?" Veronica asked. Her questions to the point always caught Archie off guard.
"The summer classes will start from tomorrow. Art, music, dancing, languages, flying. Of course, they continue during the school year, but more intensely in the summer. So we are pretty busy all the time." The group went through another hallway that connected the houses and Archie gestured to their left. "From this angle you can see a pool in the center. We have trips to the sea too, but mostly sunbath and swim here. No jumping from the windows, of course. Huh, just a bit more and we will be in the Dining Hall."
"The map says that you have Dining Hall, Concert Hall, Art, Dance and Music classes in the same room. How is that possible?" Rose inquired.
"Basically it changes to what is needed. The walls appear to form three separate classes and disappear for meals," Archie explained.
"Like Room of Requirement," Harry said amazed at the amount of magic used. Hogwarts was one thing, it had a history centuries long, but how did they manage to create this building?
From every step they took the noise increased in volume, soon they reached huge pair of doors that opened welcoming them into a hall only twice as small as Hogwarts' Main Hall. Children were everywhere. They sat in groups from four to ten – apparantly, the tables were put the way they liked. All of them were chatting exitedly about one thing or other. The staff of about fifty people accupied two long tables at the end of the hall. Behind them was another table. Only one person occupying it at the moment. She immidiately stood up as they entered. Somehow they managed to reach the last table through the maze of children.
"Mother," Archie greeted, going down on one knee with his right arm on his heart.
To everyone's surprise, even Ginny's, Veronica went into a deep curtsy too.
"What are you doing?" Harry sushed at her.
"Isn't this a proper etiquitte?" Veronica asked back, straightening up.
"This is a very proper etiquitte, Veronica. Where did you learn that?" Ginny inquired.
"In a book about balls."
"Why did you read about balls?" Rose whispered to Veronica, after everybody was sitted and began their meal.
"I wanted to know what is so interesting about them, why you need to dress up and all that," Veronica answered seeing no need to lower her voice.
"So what did curtsy mean?"
"Greeting and showing respect towards the host and/or hostess," Veronica recited.
"Oh."
"So was campus to your satisfaction, Ron, Hermione?" Ginny asked, feeling up her plate. "Will Hugo stay here?"
"I certainly will!" Hugo exclaimed, looking from from one dish to another with hungry eyes. He seemed to be unable to decide where to start, everything looked so jummy!
"He is quite taken with the place, as you see," Hermione replied.
"I believe Archie mentioned that this place is not only about games and fun. All children his age participate in classes. The mentors are arriving today in the afternoon and you can interview them during the party. If you agree with everything and everybody you can feel up the paperwork at the reception desk. Unfortunately, I can't deal with your case personally, too much management work. Even if a certain routine has worked out through the years, something always comes up. But you don't need to know all this. Relax, walk around, watch the classes if you want. Pity you won't see our first Quiddich match in two weeks, but you can see and participate in the training. I heard Rose wants to make the team in autumn?"
"I hope so," Rose responded, understanding that the question was directed at her. She felt slightly surrial at the new place. She had never travelled anywhere before Hogwarts so coming to the orphanage was her first real trip abroad. Another country or not, but it seemed like a totally different world to her. And Archie acted differently too, he looked as if he was a part of the establishment, as natural as another armchair in the foyer. He was home after all.
Rose glanced at Veronica, the other girl looked as if nothing had changed around her. Rose assumed that Veronica was used to the constant change of her living environment. She went back and forth between the Burrow and Godric Hollow due to Uncle Harry's abroad trips for Quiddich games.
"Isn't Eric supposed to be here?" Veronica asked between forkfulls of her salad.
"He is in town, buying fireworks for the party," Archie answered, glancing at his clipboard. "Going back already, actually."
The double doors opened and pale and tired looking Vlad Dubrovsky stepped into the hall. He moved towards the last table and Harry shivered noticing how the floating of his white lab coat reminded him of Snape's robe.
"Have you eaten, Vlad? You look as sick as your patients," Ginny said with motherly concern.
"Not yet, Ginevra, but I am definitely on it." He took the place beside Archie which as Harry noted was left unoccupied on purpose. So Professor had his own seat at the table? "Ms. Potter, will you be available after lunch for the extra credit we discussed?"
"Do you have plans, father?" Veronica asked, addressing Harry.
Harry looked into her dark eyes and understood that the question was asked just out of politeness, in reality she was already set on going with Dubrovsky. The dead set determination in her glance scared Harry. Was it all Malfoy influence? Yes, she became more outgoing because of him, but where was this attitude coming from?
"No, but I can accompain you. I've never seen you with the cauldron," Harry finally said, finding a solution to his problem of not wanting to leave his daughter alone with the Professor. Harry didn't await any inappropriate behavior from Dubrovsky, but who knows?
"Very well, Mr. Potter. You can manage a Pepper Up potion, I suppose."
"Of course, I can," Harry said, feeling insulted. Snape's despise towards Harry's potion making somehow was inherited by his nepthew.