Chapter 2: Back to the burrow.
Chelbell2016;
Selenas's POV:
The next day I am happy that I am going to the Weasley's but upset that I have to leave my dad behind.
"14," he says smiling as I come down the stairs. "You are getting older way too fast."
"Yeah," I say smirking. "Before you know it you will be walking me down the isle."
His mouth drops open and mum laughs really loudly. After a moment I join in and so does he. Then he looks at his watch.
"It's early," he says smirking. "How about Padfoot and Raven take one more trip around the woods. Or should I say race."
I nod excited. "But its not a race unless you can keep up dad."
He turns his head and raises an eyebrow at the challenge.
A few minutes later Padfoot and I were racing with mum getting a birds eye view to make sure no one was cheating. Hermione who had woken up not long after me watched with an amused expression on her face In the end I won.
"UNDEFEATED CHAMPION!" I yell at the top of my voice when I am human again.
Dad and mum laugh. Then dad turns to mum and says.
"What time you guys taking off?" He asks sounding sad at the thought.
"Around 4ish," mum says giving him a sad smile. "We'll be back in a few days."
At exactly 4 we leave to head to the burrow. We floo straight there.
"Selena dear," Mrs. Weasley says as she helps me to my feet. "Happy birthday!"
"Thanks Mrs Weasley," I step aside as mum comes through. Then Hermione.
"Molly," she says hugging her. "Nice to see you. Where is everyone?"
"Getting ready to pick up Harry," Mrs Weasley explains. "They said to him they're coming at 5."
I turn to my mum. "Can I go with?"
She nods and I go running into the kitchen where I see two new faces.
Even though I have never met them I know from the hair colour that these two are the elder Weasley boys: Bill (who is a curse breaker for gringotts in Egypt.) And Charlie (who works with dragons in Romania.)
The one with hair in a ponytail and a fang earring gets to his feet and approaches me.
"Hi you must be Selena," he says shaking my hand. "I'm Bill."
I also shake Charlie's hand and then after finding everyone else we head through the floo to go and get Harry.
"Ouch! Selena go back, go back, there's been some kind of mistake - tell George not to - OUCH! George, no, there's no room, go back quickly and tell Ron -"
We had some how not got through the floo. Instead all of us are trapped inside the fire place unable to get out.
"Maybe Harry can hear us, Dad - maybe he'll be able to let us out -"
There was a loud hammering of fists on the boards as we all try to get the attention of the people on the other side.
"Harry? Harry, can you hear us?"
Not long after we hear a voice speak from the other side.
"Mr. Weasley? Can you hear me?"
The hammering stopped. Somebody said, "Shh!"
"Mr. Weasley, it's Harry...the fireplace has been blocked up. You won't be able to get through there."
"Damn!" said Mr. Weasley's voice. "What on earth did they want to block up the fireplace for?"
"They've got an electric fire," Harry explained.
"Really?" said Mr. Weasley's voice excitedly. "Eclectic, you say? With a plug? Gracious, I must see that...Let's think...Ouch, Ron!"
Ron's voice now joined us.
"What are we doing here? Has something gone wrong?"
"Oh no, Ron," came Fred's voice, very sarcastically. "No, this is exactly where we wanted to end up."
"Yeah, we're having the time of our lives here," said George, whose voice sounded muffled, as though he was squashed against the wall.
"Boys, boys..." said Mr. Weasley vaguely. "I'm trying to think what to do...Yes...only way...Stand back, Harry."
BANG.
The electric fire shot across the room as the boarded-up fireplace burst outward, expelling Mr. Weasley, Fred, George, Ron and I in a cloud of rubble and loose chippings. Aunt Petunia shrieked and fell backward over the coffee table; Uncle Vernon caught her before she hit the floor, and gaped, speechless, at the Weasleys, all of whom had bright red hair, including Fred and George, who were identical to the last freckle. Then there is me. I have a striking resemblance to someone who has been all over the news as a mass murderer.
"That's better," panted Mr. Weasley, brushing dust from his long green robes and straightening his glasses. "Ah - you must be Harry's aunt and uncle!"
He moved toward Uncle Vernon, his hand outstretched, but Harry's Uncle Vernon backed away several paces, dragging his Aunt Petunia.
"Er - yes - sorry about that," said Mr. Weasley, lowering his hand and looking over his shoulder at the blasted fireplace. "It's all my fault. It just didn't occur to me that we wouldn't be able to get out at the other end. I had your fireplace connected to the Floo Network, you see - just for an afternoon, you know, so we could get Harry. Muggle fireplaces aren't supposed to be connected, strictly speaking - but I've got a useful contact at the Floo Regulation Panel and he fixed it for me. I can put it right in a jiffy, though, don't worry. I'll light a fire to send the boys back, and then I can repair your fireplace before I Disapparate."
I was ready to bet that the Dursleys hadn't understood a single word of this. They were still gaping at Mr. Weasley, thunderstruck. Aunt Petunia staggered upright again and hid behind Uncle Vernon.
"Hello, Harry!" said Mr. Weasley brightly. "Got your trunk ready?"
"It's upstairs," said Harry, grinning back.
"We'll get it," said Fred at once. Winking at Harry, he and George left the room. They knew where Harry's bedroom was, having once rescued him from it in the dead of night. Harry suspected that Fred and George were hoping for a glimpse of Dudley; they had heard a lot about him from Harry.
I stare at Harry. He had changed over the summer. He has grown and in my opinion he has become cuter.
But I could not be falling for my god brother could I.
"Well," said Mr. Weasley, swinging his arms slightly, while he tried to find words to break the very nasty silence. "Very - erm - very nice place you've got here."
As the usually spotless living room was now covered in dust and bits of brick, this remark didn't go down too well with the Dursleys. However, they seemed too scared to actually say anything.
Mr. Weasley was looking around. He loved everything to do with Muggles. I could see him itching to go and examine the television and the video recorder.
"They run off eckeltricity, do they?" he said knowledgeably. "Ah yes, I can see the plugs. I collect plugs," he added to Uncle Vernon. "And batteries. Got a very large collection of batteries. My wife thinks I'm mad, but there you are."
Uncle Vernon clearly thought Mr. Weasley was mad too. He moved ever so slightly to the right, screening Aunt Petunia from view, as though he thought Mr. Weasley might suddenly run at them and attack.
Dudley suddenly reappeared in the room. Harry could hear the clunk of his trunk on the stairs, and knew that the sounds had scared Dudley out of the kitchen. Dudley edged along the wall, gazing at Mr. Weasley with terrified eyes, and attempted to conceal himself behind his mother and father.
"Ah, this is your cousin, is it, Harry?" said Mr. Weasley, taking another brave stab at making conversation.
"Yep," said Harry, "that's Dudley."
He and Ron exchanged glances and then quickly looked away from each other; the temptation to burst out laughing was almost overwhelming. Dudley was still clutching his bottom as though afraid it might fall off. Mr. Weasley, however, seemed genuinely concerned at Dudley's peculiar behavior. Indeed, from the tone of his voice when he next spoke, Harry was quite sure that Mr. Weasley thought Dudley was quite as mad as the Dursleys thought he was, except that Mr. Weasley felt sympathy rather than fear.
"Having a good holiday, Dudley?" he said kindly.
Dudley whimpered. Harry saw his hands tighten still harder over his massive backside.
Fred and George came back into the room carrying Harry's school trunk. They glanced around as they entered and spotted Dudley. Their faces cracked into identical evil grins.
"Ah, right," said Mr. Weasley. "Better get cracking then."
He pushed up the sleeves of his robes and took out his wand. Harry saw the Dursleys draw back against the wall as one.
"Incendio!" said Mr. Weasley, pointing his wand at the hole in the wall behind him.
Flames rose at once in the fireplace, crackling merrily as though they had been burning for hours. Mr. Weasley took a small drawstring bag from his pocket, untied it, took a pinch of the powder inside, and threw it onto the flames, which turned emerald green and roared higher than ever.
"Off you go then, Fred," said Mr. Weasley.
"Coming," said Fred. "Oh no - hang on -"
A bag of sweets had spilled out of Fred's pocket and the contents were now rolling in every direction - big, fat toffees in brightly colored wrappers.
Fred scrambled around, cramming them back into his pocket, then gave the Dursleys a cheery wave, stepped forward, and walked right into the fire, saying "the Burrow!" Aunt Petunia gave a little shuddering gasp. There was a whooshing sound, and Fred vanished.
"Right then, George," said Mr. Weasley, "you and the trunk."
Harry helped George carry the trunk forward into the flames and turn it onto its end so that he could hold it better. Then, with a second whoosh, George had cried "the Burrow!" and vanished too.
"Ron, you next," said Mr. Weasley.
"See you," said Ron brightly to the Dursleys. He grinned broadly at Harry, then stepped into the fire, shouted "the Burrow!" and disappeared.
Now Harry Mr. Weasley and I alone remained.
"Well...'bye then," Harry said to the Dursleys.
They didn't say anything at all. Harry moved toward the fire, but just as he reached the edge of the hearth, Mr. Weasley put out a hand and held him back. He was looking at the Dursleys in amazement.
"Harry said good-bye to you," he said. "Didn't you hear him?"
"It doesn't matter," Harry muttered to Mr. Weasley. "Honestly, I don't care."
Mr. Weasley did not remove his hand from Harry's shoulder.
"You aren't going to see your nephew till next summer," he said to Uncle Vernon in mild indignation. "Surely you're going to say good-bye?"
Uncle Vernon's face worked furiously. The idea of being taught consideration by a man who had just blasted away half his living room wall seemed to be causing him intense suffering. But Mr. Weasley's wand was still in his hand, and Uncle Vernon's tiny eyes darted to it once, before he said, very resentfully, "Good-bye, then."
"See you," said Harry, putting one foot forward into the green flames, which felt pleasantly like warm breath. At that moment, however, a horrible gagging sound erupted behind him, and Aunt Petunia started to scream.
II wheele around. Dudley was no longer standing behind his parents. He was kneeling beside the coffee table, and he was gagging and sputtering on a foot-long, purple, slimy thing that was protruding from his mouth. One bewildered second later, I realized that the foot-long thing was Dudley's tongue - and that a brightly colored toffee wrapper lay on the floor before him.
Aunt Petunia hurled herself onto the ground beside Dudley, seized the end of his swollen tongue, and attempted to wrench it out of his mouth; unsurprisingly, Dudley yelled and sputtered worse than ever, trying to fight her off. Uncle Vernon was bellowing and waving his arms around, and Mr. Weasley had to shout to make himself heard.
"Not to worry, I can sort him out!" he yelled, advancing on Dudley with his wand outstretched, but Aunt Petunia screamed worse than ever and threw herself on top of Dudley, shielding him from Mr. Weasley.
"No, really!" said Mr. Weasley desperately. "It's a simple process it was the toffee - my son Fred - real practical joker - but it's only an Engorgement Charm - at least, I think it is - please, I can correct it -"
But far from being reassured, the Dursleys became more panic- stricken; Aunt Petunia was sobbing hysterically, tugging Dudley's tongue as though determined to rip it out; Dudley appeared to be suffocating under the combined pressure of his mother and his tongue; and Uncle Vernon, who had lost control completely, seized a china figure from on top of the sideboard and threw it very hard at Mr. Weasley, who ducked, causing the ornament to shatter in the blasted fireplace.
"Now really!" said Mr. Weasley angrily, brandishing his wand. "I'm trying to help!"
Bellowing like a wounded hippo, Uncle Vernon snatched up another ornament.
"Harry, Selena go! Just go!" Mr. Weasley shouted, his wand on Uncle Vernon. "I'll sort this out!"
Harry and I didn't want to miss the fun, but Uncle Vernon's second ornament narrowly missed his left ear, and on balance we thought it best to leave the situation to Mr. Weasley. We stepped into the fire, looking over our shoulder as Harry said "the Burrow!" Our last fleeting glimpse of the living room was of Mr. Weasley blasting a third ornament out of Uncle Vernon's hand with his wand, Aunt Petunia screaming and lying on top of Dudley, and Dudley's tongue lolling around like a great slimy python. But next moment we had begun to spin very fast, and the Dursleys' living room was whipped out of sight in a rush of emerald-green flames.
chelbell2016:
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