15th May 1998 (Friday)
The next morning when I awoke I wasn't sure if the events of the previous day had been a dream or not. I know I certainly had experienced some rather strange dreams during the night.
It wasn't until I got up and looked out the window to see the collection of tents that were being used by Dave and his team that it all came flooding back to me.
I couldn't help myself, I had this giddy feeling inside of me at the thought of having an older sister. Knowing that I was going to get to see her today was also an exciting thought as well.
Quickly getting dressed in something that I thought was more presentable than my attire from yesterday I went down stairs to the kitchen to get breakfast going.
Once in the kitchen I got the kettle going and was getting the rest of the breakfast things out when I noticed movement out at the tents. Wondering why they would be up so early I went out to see them.
I hadn't made it half way to the tents before I was met by a familiar face, "Good Morning Mrs Weasley" Cassy said very cheerfully to me as she passed tying her hair up.
"Good Morning Cassy." I replied, "What gets you up so early this morning."
"Early? I'm afraid we have all slept in a bit today and are running a little late. Shelly and Mick are a little upset that we have slept in and I think that they are organising a special PT session for us to make up for it." She answered.
"PT?" I asked a little confused, when a voice behind me explained, "Physical Training. Nothing like a small 5 mile run to wake you up and get you thinking straight."
Turning around I saw Shelly walking towards me with a wicked little grin on her face as she looked over to Cassy.
"Good Morning Shelly." I said warmly "please tell me you are not making Dave run 5 miles this morning after what he went through yesterday."
"Good Morning Aunt Molly" Shelly said turning her smile on me and surprising me momentarily.
"Goodness me. That comes as a pleasant surprise" I told her as I gave her an appropriate hug which she readily returned.
"Don't worry about Dave, Aunty. We are under orders to let him sleep, for this morning at least." She said smiling.
"I will organise a test for him later today to see if he can join in normal PT tomorrow morning." Shelly almost purred at the thought of it.
"When will you all be back? As I was about to get breakfast going for you all." I asked her, when suddenly there were several heads poking out of tents enquiring about the offer of breakfast hopefully.
"We should be back in less than an hour. But there is no need to make breakfast for this mob." She said looking back over her shoulder at the suddenly disappointed faces.
"They are more than capable of cooking their own meals." She stated.
"Now don't be silly dear. It is no trouble at all to make breakfast for an extra 12 people. I can't have family and friends starting the day without a proper meal in them, now can I?" I told her. There seemed to be some cheering from the tents behind her when I made this comment. I did manage not to smile at the response I must say.
Giving in to the inevitable Shelly relented but not before her inner drill sergeant made an appearance, "All right you lot if you would like to join the Weasley's for breakfast you have one minute to be ready and we need to be back here inside record time."
"Your time starts NOW." She added while struggling to hold back an evil grin.
"You know I think that they might just break their record today after all." She remarked as they all assembled inside the allotted time.
"We will see you soon." She said as they took off running in formation.
I watched them head off on their morning run with a mixture of gratitude and worry. Gratitude for the work that they had already done and were doing. But also worry for their safety as they were in a dangerous line of work.
As tempting as it was to check on Dave I decided to let him sleep and headed into the kitchen to continue with the breakfast preparations. Entering the kitchen I found Arthur making a pot of tea and looking at me with a question on his face.
"Shelly has taken them for their apparently normal morning run and physical training session."
"Didn't see Dave in the group. Did he go earlier?" he asked.
"No apparently she was under orders to let him sleep." I replied.
"After the day he had yesterday I'd say he has earnt a sleep in."
"He certainly has." I agreed, "I invited Shelly and the others to join us for breakfast when they get back from their training."
"That will make for an interesting breakfast I'm sure." Arthur said while smiling, "I was going to ask you if we should invite them in but seems you beat me to it." He said while planting a kiss on my cheek.
"Isn't it a bit early for that sort of thing?" a voice asked from behind us.
Turning to face the stairs I could see our youngest son looking at us with a slightly apprehensive look about him while two emotions battled. One was the desire for food the other a desire to avoid watching his parents snogging.
"When you're with the woman of your dreams Ron, it's never too early." Arthur advised his son, "something I'm sure you would agree with if Hermione was down here alone with you. Hmm?"
Ron didn't answer but his ears did change colour and he made his way to the table only a little sullenly. The desire for food having won the internal battle.
In short order I had bacon sandwiches on the table and the smell of them quickly drew down several other occupants of the house. Bill, George, Charlie, Harry, Hermione and Ginny were all soon around the kitchen table Monsieur and Madam Delacour had also come down soon after. I could hear the shower running upstairs. I was wondering who it was when Fleur came into the kitchen.
"Gabrielle should hurry up if she wishes to get any breakfast" I told Fleur, "at the rate this lot are eating there will be nothing left when she gets down."
"She will be 'ere shortly" she said just as the shower cut off.
The conversation around the breakfast table quickly shifted to the events of the previous day. "Bill, did the two of you sleep ok after yesterday's events?" Arthur asked.
"I think I was basically asleep before my head hit the pillow. The next time I opened my eyes it was morning, so I must have slept like a log."
"Was very stiff when I got up though like I had been playing Quidditch all day." He remarked.
"How about you Fleur? How are you this morning?" Bill asked his wife
"About ze same." She answered, "I don't zink I even recall falling asleep. I just remember laying down and zen ze sun was shining in zrough ze windows." She offered.
"I can imagine that. I was exhausted just from watching you all." Arthur said still amazed at yesterday's events.
"How about you Julian and Apolline I hope you slept well?" enquired Arthur.
"Oui. We both slept very soundly thank you." Julian replied.
"Glad to hear it." Arthur said happily, "How about Gabrielle?" he ask Ginny and Hermione. As the three girls had been forced to squeeze into Ginny's room last night.
"I think she slept ok last night Dad." Ginny answered with a smirk, "But I did hear her talking in her sleep quite a lot. I couldn't make out what she was saying though."
"It didn't sound like it was a nightmare, but I just got the feeling she was worked up about something."
"Wouldn't you agree Hermione?" Ginny asked with a perfectly straight face, one I had seen on her many times before when she was playing innocent.
Hermione very nearly chocked on her juice and the ensuring coughing fit required Ron to deliver a few heart felt blows to her back to help her recover. "Yes I would Ginny. But I also couldn't understand what she was saying very well. It seemed to be mostly in French though."
Fleur and I seemed to be the only ones who caught the undertones in that exchange and I wouldn't bet against Fleur having a quiet discussion with the both of them and Gabrielle when the occasion presented itself.
Gabrielle arrived in the kitchen soon after and she seemed to be in good spirits.
"Did you sleep well dear?" I asked her.
"Oui" she replied.
"No dreams?" Ginny asked with her unnaturally straight face.
"Non." She answered looking a little confused.
"It's just I thought I heard you talking in your sleep last night. But couldn't quite make out what you were saying. Just wanted to make sure you weren't having any nightmares that's all." She asked with the strain of maintaining the straight face giving her away to Arthur.
"Merci, but zere ez non need to be worried. I don't recall any 'aving any cauchemars." She answered quickly finding herself some juice and a sandwich.
At this point we could hear a set of voices growing louder in the distance, it sounded like a group of people coming up the lane from the village.
Arthur got up and looked out the window.
"Looks like Shelly and the others are back from their morning run." He replied while going back and sitting down.
They were soon in the yard and heading for their tents to wash up before they had a chance to eat.
Far quicker than I thought possible Shelly and Fireball were walking across the yard to the house.
"That was quick." I remarked to Arthur caught off guard, thinking I had more time to make the next round of meals.
Just as the girls were coming in through the door I was trying to shoo everyone away from the breakfast table.
"Please don't chase people away from the breakfast table on our account Aunty Molly." Shelly said, and I could tell the form of address didn't go unnoticed by the others in the room.
"It's no bother dear" I told her still trying to get Ron to move from the table.
"Please Aunty we are all very happy to eat outside, it is a beautiful morning so we were just going to put some tables up and use those." She offered, then looking over at Ron and Charlie who were still enthusiastically attacking their breakfasts she added, "Besides if your boys are anything like ours it isn't usually safe to get between them and their food." She said smiling broadly.
"It's not just the boys that are attached to their food." Bill smirked at Ginny until she smacked him on the back of the head and Fleur elbowed him in the ribs.
"So I see" Shelly answered.
"We were just wondering if you all would like to join us outside, as I think there might be more room for us all and we also picked up some fresh supplies coming back through the village." Fireball invited.
Seeing the sense in having the group of us outside we quickly transferred breakfast from the kitchen table to a set of tables outside with enough room for us all to be seated comfortably.
Fireball and Shelly quickly handled the introductions of the Aurors from Dave's team that we hadn't yet met. They were an interesting mix of Australians and New Zealanders. The most surprising thing for me was that they were more like a large extended family. I had expected them to be more like Arthur's co-workers at the Ministry. But they were obviously a very tightly knit unit of people.
I could only imagine how they would have taken the news of the death of their team leader.
The members of Dave's Team in addition to his sisters and cousin were from the Australian contingent: Michael 'Mick' Winmar he was the teams scout and tracker as well as their liaison with the Australian Aboriginal Magical Community, Arron 'Rowdy' Brennan, Russell 'Guz' Chambers, and Ryan 'Goose' Colbert.
From the New Zealand contingent there was; Jonothan 'Jono' Marshall he was the 'leader' of the NZ contingent as well as the liaison with the New Zealand Maori Magical Community, Isabella 'Izzy' Christian, Oliver 'Olly' Jackson and Abagail 'Abby' Cartwright.
The contingents from Fiji and New Caledonia were not currently with Dave as they formed his dedicated surveillance team. They were currently on a stakeout and we were promised introductions later.
Once the introductions were complete we all sat down to enjoy breakfast complete with the fresh supplies that Shelly and her team had brought up from the local village.
"Ez Dave not joining us?" Gabrielle asked with an almost forced casualness that seemed to have caught Fireball's, Fleur's and Ginny's attention.
"No he isn't" Shelly replied to Gabrielle's quickly masked disappointment.
"I was given orders to let him sleep this morning. As after expending that much energy and having that many bones re-broken and then set correctly he will need all the rest he can get."
"Even with his remarkable healing abilities it will still have taken a lot out of him to deal with all of that."
"Having broken a few of my own bones a time or two I can certainly say it does take it out of you when they are healed." Harry replied almost without thinking.
"Not to forget the time that Lockhart made the bones in your arms disappear." Added Ron.
"Why did he make the bones in your arm vanish?" Shelly asked baffled.
Chuckling Ron answered, "The stupid git thought he was healing Harry's broken arm. But he messed up the incantation and poor Harry suddenly had no bones in his right arm."
"How did such a ding bat get to be a teacher?" Fireball asked confused.
"No one else wanted the job." Harry offered, "Thanks to him I had to spend the night in hospital getting doused with that disgusting 'Skele-Grow' potion every few hours."
"It was one of the worst nights of my life, certainly one of the most uncomfortable." Said Harry with a shudder as he remembered that night.
"Don't you like your ancestral brew then Harry?" Fireball asked him with a lopsided smile that wouldn't have looked out of place on Harry's face.
"What do you mean ancestral brew?" Harry asked her.
"You mean you don't know about your link to it?" Fireball asked now genuinely surprised. Everyone else around the table had now started paying attention to the conversation as the table was now set for breakfast for the combined groups.
"I'm afraid I don't have a huge amount of information on my family. My parents were murdered when I was only 18 months old. After that I was raised by my muggle Aunt and Uncle who absolutely hate anything to do with magic." Harry said, still with a trace of bitterness in his voice at his past.
"Oh, I see. I'm very sorry to hear that." Fireball added with a quick glance at Shelly that strangely seemed like a whole conversation.
Sitting down she fixed Harry with a very direct look that seemed to be measuring him for something. Ginny noticed her attention on Harry and was obviously unsure about what it implied. After her eyes (and Shelly's) had flashed Golden quickly another silent conversation occurred between the two of them. This time a decision seemed to have been reached as Fireball began to speak.
"Skele-Grow has a link to your family Harry as it was created by the 'Original Potter' I suppose you could call him" Fireball explained.
The look on Harry's face was priceless. His jaw almost hit the table. Ginny, Ron and Hermione were equally stunned. The rest of the Weasley's not to forget the Delacour's were also caught out by this comment.
"Are you really sure." Harry asked with intense interest.
"Very sure" Fireball answered. "After my Grandfather was freed he had a raging fury at what had happened to him. But the only thing that could match his fury was his desire to know why. As he never bought the official line of what had happened and why." She explained.
"So he began to research the Potter family, with a hope of learning why they had decided to single him (and by extension his family) out for such treatment. There are quite a few book cases at Grandpa's place dedicated to your ancestors. Fairly interesting reading they are too."
"I don't know what to say. I'm stunned that someone would have such information on my family. But at the same time I'm also grateful that the knowledge still exists somewhere as well." Harry added still coming to terms with this new information.
"Have you seen these books on my family?" Harry asked Fireball.
"Seen them? Yes, I've seen them. Read most of them too. They are a mixture of old newspaper stories, birth and death notices as well as official documents like Marriage records, Birth Certificates, Death certificates. There are also some interviews that have been recorded and even quite a few letters that have been purchased or copied from libraries over the years. Photos and paintings of people are few and far between though." She added.
"That sounds like a lot of work for someone to put in just to work out why something happened." Harry said before quickly noticing the bristling look he got from both Shelly and Fireball.
"Don't get me wrong, what happened to your Grandfather was a truly horrific event. But his reaction with that sort of research isn't normal." Harry explained.
"One thing you will learn about our family Harry is that the word normal isn't applied very often." Shelly smiled while she said this.
"Grandpa Webb was a very unique individual. He believed in being thorough with his research and knowing his enemy." Shelly said looking very directly at Harry.
This last statement caused a bit of concern around the table. When Harry didn't respond past a slight nodding of his head Shelly continued.
"When Grandpa met and eventually married Grandma she tamed most of his 'rough edges' and added an extra belief to the list above. This new entry was to curb his more 'hot headed and impulsive' nature." She said still focused on Harry very intently.
"It was 'Be sure of your target'. It can be interpreted in many different ways, but the upside was Grandpa expanded his research significantly trying not only to identify the members of the family that had targeted him (and who he believed at that time might still come looking for him). But to also learn about them as best as was possible."
"So you could say that Grandma Webb was the prime reason for the more 'human' side of his research. That in turn caused Grandpa to get to know the Potter family better and 'took the edge off' his rage. It also turned up some of the more interesting aspects of the Potter family." She remarked.
"Like the creation of the Skele-Grow potion." Harry said
"Yes, exactly. And the pepper up potion as well. In fact they were created by the same person" she offered.
"W… Who was that exactly?" Harry asked.
"If memory serves me correct it was a Mr Linfred of Stinchcombe (also known by the nickname The Potterer). He was a wizard in the 12th Century, a keen experimenter and potioneer and is credited with inventing many Medical Potions." She replied as though reading from an old school report.
"I always seem to come across people who know more about my family than I do." Harry said still intrigued by this new information but also annoyed by his own lack of knowledge about his own family.
"Be comforted by the fact that you know which family you belong too." Fireball said while devouring her bacon sandwiches while still giving harry a measuring look. "As I can assure you that not knowing where you come from is worse than not knowing much about where you come from"
Harry thought about that for a while before he ended up agreeing with her.
"Was my family history required reading in your family or something?" Harry asked with a shy smile.
"Not exactly" was the answer, "but in the absence of much information on our own family we would often do our school reports on family history about yours instead as we knew much more about that topic." Fireball remarked.
"Some of our Teachers/Professors thought it a little morbid. But most understood it." Fireball said around a mouthful of bacon sandwiches.
"I can see it being a difficult topic to explain at school" Harry offered.
"W… Would it be possible to see these books about my family at all?" Harry asked nervously.
"That's two red jelly beans you owe me Fireball." Shelly laughed at her sister, who was a little miffed at losing their private bet.
Focusing back on Harry she added, "If Dad can convince Grandpa of what you two discussed last night. Then I believe Grandma will be happy to show you the information that she has at her place."
"Thank you" Harry said gratefully.
"I think the thanks will be a two way street Harry if we can locate any records here." Shelly offered.
"Agreed" Harry replied.
"Two Red Jelly Beans? That doesn't sound like much of a bet." George remarked.
"Just what should we have bet then?" Shelly asked with a raised eyebrow.
"A good bet is about 5 – 10 Galleons depending on how sure you are of the result." He replied.
"I see", Shelly replied, then placing her hand on the desk she asked, "Is this enough for a serious bet then?" while she lifted her hand revealing a stack of golden Galleons underneath it.
"How?" George started to ask while looking at the pile of coins.
"Our family have some unique abilities that tend to make others rather nervous. This particular ability makes Goblins very nervous?" Shelly asked now openly smiling as she banished the galleons. Ron let out a groan of longing as the gold disappeared.
George's eyes widened in understanding. "I guess that would cause a good deal of trouble with family bets then wouldn't it."
"Yes it does, once it gets to the point of betting whole rooms full of conjured gold the bets lose all sense of fun." Shelly answered.
"It was Grandma Webb who suggested the use of Jelly beans instead. As food just can't be conjured and Jelly Beans keep better that chocolate. Besides you can enjoy them in ways you can't with gold." She smirked.
Bill lent over to Charlie and commented, "We need to get a supply of Jelly Beans and soon."
"Agreed" Charlie answered chuckling.
"And just what sorts of bets do you two Gentlemen have in mind? Hmm?" Cassy asked with a very direct look at Charlie.
"You never know what opportunity will present itself, so it is good to be prepared. Don't you think?" he answered returning her direct look.
"I think you're pretty well prepared right now. As I'd be happy to bet against your…" here her eyes began to roam over Charlie, "Let's say shirt. That seems like a good place to start." She said smiling.
Charlie wasn't ready for that reply and took a moment to compose himself, while Bill had a good laugh at his brother's predicament. Shelly must have taken pity on him as she just then spoke up, "No making unfair bets with family members Cassy. You should know that rule by now." She smirked as she spoke.
"How do you know I was planning on making an unfair bet with him?" she asked with a perfectly straight face.
"Because I know you. I've known you all my life." She remarked with an evil grin showing.
At this point there was a strange beeping noise coming from Shelly, Fireball and Mick. They all pulled out their Mirror Phones, after checking them quickly they all just looked at each other briefly before Shelly and Fireball excused themselves and headed over to Dave's tent.
Mick however tapped on his Mirror Phone for a few moments before he spoke to us.
"Dave has just woken up." He said, "Shelly and Fireball are going in to check on him. I have just notified the Minister and Chief Williams who I expect will be arriving shortly."
"I'm glad he is awake" I said, "Should I make a tray of breakfast for him and take it in?" I asked.
Chuckling Mick answered, "Dave isn't one to enjoy having people fussing over him. He is probably going to be mortified that he has missed the morning PT session."
"Given also that his jaw was one of the bones that had to be re-broken and set again last night it is probably best that we let the Healers check him out before we offer him anything to eat." He said.
"Makes sense" I answered just as I noticed Shelly come striding out of Dave's tent towards us.
"Dad has just notified me he is ready at home and would like to come over here if he can. He has Andrea with him and wants her to check out Dave thoroughly before he gets himself into any more mischief."
"Could one of you unlock the door for me so I can open it for dad to come though?" She asked.
"Of course, I will go and unlock it now." Arthur replied as he got out of his seat.
Shelly followed him back to the house and they were soon striding over to Dave's tent with Ivan, Sandra and a woman I hadn't yet met. Both Ivan and Sandra waved warmly to us but I could see that their focus was on their son so I motioned for them to go direct to Dave first.
They both seemed grateful for this and continued on their way to the tents without stopping.
I noticed the eyes of Dave's team tracking them all the way to the tents. They all seemed to have slightly concerned looks on their faces.
Arthur re-joined us shortly afterwards.
"Poor Dave seems a little out of sorts at being confronted by a Ministry Healer first thing in the morning. Even if it was one of his sisters" he chuckled.
"'ow ez ee?" Gabrielle asked Arthur with genuine concern.
The whole of Dave's team seemed to be waiting intently for Arthur's reply.
"He seems very stiff, going from the way he was moving when they got him out of bed. The bruises that covered most of his chest yesterday seem to have almost completely disappeared."
"He was complaining good naturedly about Andrea's cold hands as she was examining him. So he seems to be in good spirits as well." He answered.
You could see all of Dave's team visibly relax at the news. The rest of the table also seemed happy with the news as well. Gabrielle seemed to be in good spirits also going from the way she was chatting with Fleur and even Ginny.
Kingsley and Chief Williams turned up shortly after the arrival of Dave's parents. While they came over to say good morning, they also politely refused the offer of breakfast saying that they had already eaten. They seemed to have been up very early going over transcripts of the people who were captured yesterday.
They quickly went over to Dave's tent to join the others.
Kingsley came out a short time later to collect Arthur as they were apparently going to try to talk to Dave's Grandfathers soul as Ivan had promised last night.
Kingsley felt that having someone there who had known Harry for a long time would go a long way towards helping convince Dave's Grandfather that he wasn't aware of the incident and that he had offered to help.
Conversation around the table was light hearted, but you could see everyone sneaking looks at Dave's tent every so often. Looks of apprehension evident on their faces.
A cry of "YOU WHAT…" came from the direction of Dave's tent in a voice that no one recognised before some obviously hasty silencing charms were thrown up to silence the noise.
I quickly glanced over at Harry and found him to be holding hands with Ginny and staring intently at Dave's tent with a slightly nervous look on his face. Ginny was whispering something in Harry's ear in an attempt to keep him calm.
Eventually Sandra came out of the tent and made her way over to us. After exchanging greetings and hugs (I found that I enjoyed hugging my sister) she spoke with Harry.
"They are asking for you in there. Ivan has spoken with his father's soul as you may have heard." She said smiling.
"Ivan has talked him around somewhat and I actually think he is more curious than anything right now. But I would like to offer some advice if I may before you go in." she offered.
"Please do Mrs Webb" he replied.
"No need for the formality Harry. Just Sandra will do." She smiled at him. "Both my husband and my sons have the same approach to forming an opinion on someone. They learnt it from the way his father made his assessments."
"They do it through observing how someone interacts with those around them."
"I don't know if you have noticed that or not. But they tend to be the quiet ones in the room, especially when they are trying to make up their mind about someone. You can kind of even forget that they are even there. Which is a neat trick given their size" she remarked.
"Even Dave?" Bill asked.
"Especially Dave." Sandra replied with a smile, "He is famous for it. There are ministers in a few different governments who employ watchers just to keep track of him at functions so that he can't watch them without being watched himself."
"Does it work?" this time it was Charlie asking.
"Only when he wants them to think it does." She chuckled.
"Why do they do that?" Harry asked his curiosity evident.
"You see they are so often faced with people trying to 'butter them up' for one reason or another that they tend to form their opinions on someone by watching how they treat others. Both those above, below and on the same level as them. Do you take my meaning?" she asked.
"I do" he answered.
"Excellent. To that end I would like you to bring in Molly, Ginny, Charlie, Bill and Fleur with you." She requested.
"Why them?" Harry wanted to know.
"They bring out different aspects of behaviours in you. All of which my father in law needs to see if he is to see who you really are." She answered.
"One final piece of advice Harry. Don't be afraid to give blunt answers. A blunt HONEST answer is always valued with my boys, as well as my girls." She explained (with a quick glance at Charlie). Harry nodded his acknowledgement.
"Please don't take this the wrong way, but why are you being so helpful?" Harry enquired.
Sandra smiled at Harry before answering him, "A perfectly reasonable request." She began.
"For my father-in-law being cast out of his family caused him more pain than he cared to admit. Even more than his being sold into slavery did."
"That pain has travelled down to my husband and to my sons. By 'stacking the deck' in his interactions with you I'm hoping I can get him to let go of his rage, as I believe it will help heal his pain. Then by extension the pain of my husband and son"
"I will do anything within my power to try and reduce that pain in my family. I also much prefer to encourage people with differing views to actually talk to one another. It is far more productive than the alternatives." She said with a strong hint of steel in her voice as she looked Harry in the eyes.
"I couldn't agree with your motives more." Harry answered as he got up to go to Dave's tent. With the rest of us following close behind.