CH 29 Quick Draw Joey, Romeo and Juliet
Early in October the Auror candidates were practicing dueling and getting their wands out as if surprised. The instructors noticed that Joey was by far the fastest in getting his wand out. One of the Muggle born said, "It's almost like one of those westerns where the two cowboys pull guns out of their holsters to fight each other. "Hey, Quick Draw Joey, tell us how you do it?" they asked him.
"Harry, you have to see this!" one of the older Aurors said, rushing into Harry's office from the training room. Harry accompanied the Auror back to training. Everybody was standing around Joey, who had his coat off and his right sleeve rolled up. On his right arm was some sort of holster contraption for a wand.
Harry went over and asked, "How does it work, Joey?"
Joey said, "There is some sort of spring thing in here. One of the house elves helped me with it. I'm no good with anything too mechanical or hard, err I meant difficult, just soft things." He giggled. There were a lot of rolled eyes among the men, and giggles from the girls.
"It is held in place with a spell, and if you silently say the counter spell, or if you are real distracted, the spring will loosen and your wand is in your hand like this."
Harry watched as the wand flew into Joey's hand.
"It takes practice," Joey said, "and someone has to personally fit each one to the person. I think I can teach my mum and some other family members how to do it, though. It would be another product line for The Middy Family, Seamstresses and Tailors."
"What are you?" asked Max. "A seamstress or a tailor?"
Without any apparent embarrassment Joey said, "I'm much better as a seamstress, actually. These suits are a little bit of a stretch. What I am really good at is making custom bras for women who are abundantly blessed in that area." Joey gave another little giggle. He looked at the device on his arm. "I'm really good at support spells, and at making things move the way you want them to move." Joey made the top half of the two handed gesture that men used to indicate a very curvy woman, and no one had the slightest doubt that Joey could fashion bras that moved in a most sexy way.
Joey then said, "This holster has to move with you and be almost part of your skin, just like a good bra."
One of the girls, one not noted for her fashion sense, said, "Could you make one of those for me, Joey?"
"A good bra?" asked Joey, critically looking at her. The room erupted in laughter, but Joey quickly went over to the girl and quietly said some things to her. She had started to cry, but after Joey talked to her, it looked like she was starting to feel a little better.
Over the next month Joey and his family made quick draw wand holsters for much of the Auror department.
Harry noticed that the girl who didn't have much fashion sense had a few new clothes, and some of what she had fit better. It was like nothing had changed and everything had changed in her appearance. She also seemed very appreciative of Joey.
One day all the men were supposed to come dressed as longshoremen. The women were supposed to dress as the wives of longshoremen, office help, or barmaids. Harry wanted his Aurors to be able to pass on the docks, and with all the cameras around they needed to look natural.
Harry snuck into the room as the Auror candidates were assembled. There was a very small man in a well-worn suit, and he said, "Joe here is going to give you your assignments."
Harry was sure the man in the suit was Dennis, but he sure looked the part of someone who worked in the office of one of those firms that supplied longshoremen and other dock workers.
The man next to him had on a union hat with a lot of pins in it. It looked like it had been worn for twenty years. His blond hair puffed out from the hat and fell limply over his face and ears. His clothes looked like they had been through a lot of work, including a couple of holes, one of which had bits of wood sticking to the edges. He had a well-worn clipboard, and started to read off names.
"Max, Dax, I need big blokes for this job. Over here."
Harry was trying to figure out who was giving the orders. He had the commanding voice and mannerisms of a union straw boss. He had a big half smoked cigar as well as a pen in one hand, and he reeked of cigar smoke and just a little beer.
"Philomena," he said. "Yous too thin and a bit too pretty to be a longshoreman. Get dressed like Lilly here. Push out those boobs, show a little cleavage, and go up to one of those big burly men and show them what yous made of. Even if it's not you, it's what you've got to do!"
A rather sturdily built girl stepped up and said, "That's being real fair! All we get to play is tarts?"
The union guy said, "Yous got enough gut," pointing to her stomach, which was not real small, "and guts to pull it off. Yous just got to walk like a girl trying to walk like a guy, and that's natural for you. Keep that chip on your shoulder. You got to sound like I know I'm female but I can take on any of you bastards."
Harry walked around to confront Dennis, but also the union boss, Joey. Joey looked at Harry and said, "You'd never pass, Harry. Too neat."
Disguises and costumes were some of Joey's strong points. He saw details that no one else saw.
Saturday October 20 Harry received a call on his Wizard Mobile. Sidney Stanford said, "Harry, I don't think you need to leave your wife's Quidditch game, but you might want to come over to Hogwarts as soon as the game is over. Tom and Cinnamon Appleleaf and one of their friends were kidnapped. Tom called for help, called for the house elf he knew, and almost immediately Romeo and Juliet were there and rescued them."
"That's fantastic!" Harry said. "You want me to interview them?"
"Yes, and I think we may have a little more clue to what is going on," Sidney said.
Harry was sitting right next to Teddy, and he turned to Teddy and said, "I need go somewhere right after the game, but I will pick you up tonight so you can sleep at our house tonight."
Teddy said, "Teddy go to Daddy Harry and Mommy Ginny's house!"
Harry said, "If you are sleeping at the New Burrow, we will pick you up and you will wake up at Grimmauld Place."
Teddy said, "WANT to go where YOU go! TEDDY'S time with Daddy Harry and Mommy Ginny!"
Harry had to think about that one. He guessed Ginny could watch Teddy. It was going to depend on how long the game lasted.
The game was not a real long one, and was over before dinner. When Ginny got to the family box Harry said, "Tom and Cinnamon and a friend were kidnapped, but they called their house elves and were almost immediately rescued."
"That's fantastic, Harry," Ginny said. Looking at him and reading the scene she said, "Do you need to see them? Should you go to Hogwarts right now?"
Molly said, "We can take Teddy back to the New Burrow so you can go with Harry."
"NO!" said Teddy. "NO! NO! NO! TEDDY'S time with daddy and mummy!"
Ginny gave Harry a superior look and said, "We will take you with us to Hogwarts, Teddy. It will not the first time you will have been there. Mummy Ginny took care of you there when you were a little baby."
"NOT BABY!" Teddy said as he put his thumb in his mouth and grabbed on to Ginny tightly with his other hand. Ginny picked Teddy up and he melted into her.
Harry contacted Sidney, who opened the floo to his private rooms, so the Potters could floo directly into Hogwarts.
One of the house elves was waiting for them when Harry and Ginny, and of course Teddy and Dobedo, showed up at the floo in Sidney's private quarters. She led the group to one of the small private dining rooms just off the main hall.
Tom stood up and said, "Good afternoon, Theodore Lupin."
Teddy extracted himself from Ginny's arms and went over to Tom and Cinnamon.
Tom repeated himself, holding out his hand for Teddy to shake, saying, "Good afternoon, Theodore Lupin."
Teddy said with almost perfect diction, "Good afternoon, Thomas Appleleaf." The two rather formally shook hands.
Cinnamon said, "Good afternoon, Theodore Lupin."
Teddy said, "Good afternoon, Cinna Cinna, HUG."
Cinnamon opened her arms and Teddy rushed into them for a big hug. Teddy said, "Daddy say I not go to Hog wars but is week end and Teddy stay with Mummy and Daddy." Teddy gave Harry a superior smile and went back to hold onto Ginny.
Harry thought that Teddy was going to need a little gentle discipline to keep him in line; Teddy couldn't think he was the boss.
Harry looked around the room. On one side were Cho Chang, who Harry knew was on duty that night, and Dennis Creevey.
Ginny was on the other side of the room, and Ginny and Cho were warily eying each other. Both remembered their last confrontation, one neither was particularly proud of. Both knew the tension they felt was not good and not necessary, but neither quite knew how to end it.
Harry thought that he was going to have to deal with the tension between those two someday, but this wasn't a particularly good time.
Harry asked, "What are you doing here, Dennis? Why were you even at the Ministry on Saturday?"
Dennis said, "I will cover that with you later. You ought to talk to Tom and Cinnamon. It is close to dinner time, and we feel it is important that they go to dinner with everybody else."
"Who captured you?" Harry asked Tom and Cinnamon.
Tom replied, "Two old witches. They walked beside us. One took me; the other took Cinnamon and her friend. We apparated to a place in the woods, where there was a mean looking man waiting for them. I called for help right away. I've tried to think of anything special about the place where we were, but couldn't. I think it's probably here in Scotland, but I couldn't tell you why."
Cinnamon said, "The witches didn't look mean so much as frightened. I'm not sure they wanted to do what they did."
Sidney said, "We will see you at Dinner. I think everyone here will be staying for dinner."
After the Appleleaf children had left Harry said, "There is obviously more to the story."
They all sat down. Sidney said, "We are almost sure the wizard who met the witches was one of the Lestrange brothers. The house elves took us back to the place where they found the children, and both witches were dead. One witch lived alone. Quite old and poor, and I think she probably started doing the work of the Lestrange brothers and their company for the money. The other witch was married. Her husband is convinced that they are now going to kill him. He is absolutely terrified! We have him in protective custody, and he is cooperating.
"Apparently none of the witches and wizards who come to Hogsmeade ever go to the hideout.
"Minerva and I have talked about this incident, and we think that the Famous Harry Potter ought to give a little talk at dinner tonight about the importance of getting to know your dormitory house elf. In all of the houses there are children who are disdainful of their house elf servants."
Dennis asked, "May I leave?"
Harry asked Dennis, "Why are you here? It's Saturday. Why were you even at the Ministry?"
Dennis answered, "Mary Lou and I are working to try to understand how the Ministry, especially the DMLE, keeps records. The answer is not very well. We are helping Hermione. You need to be considered a qualified Auror, at least as far as the records are concerned, to get into some of the files.
"It seems somebody put a rule in place that gives a trainee Auror full access to all the records any certified Auror would have, as long as they had received the Order of Merlin, First Class. I think they did it for you, but I guess I qualify as well."
Dennis left, and Sidney and Cho went over in more detail what they had found out. Cho left as Harry, Ginny and Teddy went to dinner.
Harry, Ginny and Teddy ate at the head table. Minerva went over the kidnapping and rescue at the start of dinner. At the end Harry stood up to add his point of view. He said, "I know some of you find the idea of befriending a house elf a very strange thing. I can tell you from my experience that having a house elf as a friend can be a very good thing. I owe my very life to two house elves, Dobby and Kreacher.
"It's not just about saving your lives, as important as that may be. House elves are very intelligent, hardworking beings that deserve our respect, and friendship.
"Dobedo is not only my guard but a friend. His mate is running the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. They are as good company as any witch and wizard. Ginny and I enjoy regular dinners with them as friends, not as servants or slaves."
Saturday October 27 the Quidditch game was very short. It started as usual at 10:00 AM. By 11:30 the score was 120 to 20 in favor of the Harpies, and the Harpies seeker caught the snitch and the game was over. Harry suggested to Ginny that they try to have lunch and spend the afternoon with Ron and Hermione, and she gladly agreed. Ron thought that they could get away from the Hogsmeade store of WWW. It was not too close to Christmas, and it was not a Hogwarts weekend. By 12:30 they were at Harry and Ginny's house having lunch with Harry, Ginny and Teddy. The house next door was empty, but Ron and Hermione had really not made any progress in remodeling the house.
Harry said, "When Ginny and I were in that situation we had an Interior Decorator to advise us. We told him what kind of furniture we liked and we talked about what type of house we wanted and he drew up plans and helped us get the type of house we wanted. Do you want to meet with him?"
Ron looked at Harry and said "I don't have any idea what type of furniture I like. I grew up in a house where it was hard to make sure you had a real bed. Nothing ever matched."
Hermione said "It would be nice to figure out how to remodel the house. We should have the money. I got a nice raise with my promotion. The Potions text book is selling well worldwide, and should keep on selling at a rate to earn us about 5,000 Galleons a year. I'm not making much money on the grade school curriculum, but I have just started to work with Sidney Stanford on a Defense against the Dark Arts text book. If I help edit enough text books we should not have any trouble affording a very nice house."
Ron said "All the money I earn working at WWW is going into buying into the company, and we really don't miss the money. What a difference from when I was growing up when we had to watch each Knut."
Hermione said, "What we don't have is time."
Harry said "I think my schedule will lighten up in a couple of years. I really missed the summer vacation. When the Harpies win the post season there is no time between the end of the play and the start of training."
Ginny said "We still had a little time around Christmas, but not enough. I think we will have a good year this year, but it is not going to last. Gen, our youngest seeker, turns 30 this year, and she and her boyfriend are getting impatient. I think she is going to quit after this season, and we have lost all the good backup seekers. We have good backup in beaters, and an adequate backup keeper. But I'm not sure how much longer I want to play and how much longer Donna wants to play, and if they lose both of us, they will not have enough strength in chasers."
"Why would you be thinking of quitting, Ginny?" asked Hermione.
"I want to start a family in my mid 20's, not wait until I am in my late 30's like Donna Lionheart. She is finally thinking about having children of her own," said Ginny. "I really like Quidditch, and am always going to be happy I am having this time to play. It's just a fantastic feeling to be playing as well as we are, and to be winning. But I am more like my mother than I thought. When I am home on Sundays I realize that I really like babies and children and want to be a mother."
"I can wait," said Hermione. "I have too much to do. I'm not ready to get tied down nursing a baby and having to stay home."
Ginny looked at Hermione. "Are you ever going to have children?" she asked.
"Maybe after you start a family I will have one," said Hermione. "I sure can not see having more than two. I'm not your mother, Ron," Hermione said looking at Ron. "I've never been around small children. Teddy was the first baby I ever held, the first one I was ever even close to."
Teddy said, "Teddy not a baby. Teddy a big boy."
Ginny said, "Teddy, you are the oldest of all the little children at the New Burrow. Aunt Hermione is just saying that WHEN you were a baby you were the first baby she ever held."
"Not a baby," repeated Teddy.
Ginny said, "We know you are not a baby, Teddy. I'm glad we can bring you with us. Please let Aunt Hermione talk. You are being a big boy listening to us grown up people talk."
Teddy looked a little unsure, but was quiet. He was having a hard time using a fork, and while the conversation was going on Ginny was helping Teddy.
Hermione then said, "My mother and father were both only children, and I never even had a good friend with baby brothers or sisters. I think I am more terrified about being a mother than about almost anything."
Ron looked at Hermione but did not say anything.
Harry wanted to know if Hermione was making any progress with House Elf Rights. Hermione said, "We have issues. It's a lot more complicated than I thought, than anyone thought."
"Why?" asked Harry.
"You are aware of the experiments in apparating in North American" said Hermione. "There have been a lot of experiments showing that a wizard and an elf together can apparate something much further than if they were not working together. What is even more interesting is that the relationship between the wizard and house elf makes a big difference in how far you can apparate and how much you can take with you. Unrelated wizards and house elves have the hardest time, which is not surprising. Free house elves are some better, but not much. Owned house elves working with family members are better yet, but by far the best for both distance and the amount of stuff you can carry with you are house elves in a contractual relationship with individual witches or wizards, and the details of the relationship, the details of the contract, make a difference in how far you can apparate."
Harry asked, "Does the detail of the contract really make that much difference?"
"It sure does", said Hermione. "Wizard contracts, spells made by wizards that in some way join souls together, are very powerful. The contracts between house elves and wizards can be very temporary, but they need to be powerful. It does not hurt if the house elves are owned, but if owned, it really helps if the wizard and house elf make the relationship more powerful through a specific contract."
"Talking about spells that bind souls together, the spells that bind witches and wizards together in marriage are very powerful, and VERY permanent. Molly and Arthur know some really powerful spells. Don't even think about leaving each other, Harry, Ginny. Ron, you are stuck with me forever. That is why Narcissa is stuck being married to Lucius, even though he is in prison probably for the rest of his life. Soul contracts are very powerful; wonderful, if you are in a loving relationship, but terrible if you are in a bad relationship."
Harry asked, "How do witches and wizards get divorced?"
Hermione answered, "They don't."
Ginny asked, "What is divorced?"
Hermione said, "In the Muggle world, divorce is when a man and a woman decide that they no longer want to be married. When a witch or wizard marries a Muggle there can be a divorce, but it is much harder, in many cases impossible, when witches and wizards are soul bonded in marriage.
"I've heard of some much divorced witches and wizards, but somehow they avoid the soul bonding part of the ceremony."
Ginny looked at her confused and said, "How can you decide not to be married. Once your souls are bonded together it is permanent, like having a child. Just because John Lionheart is a very nasty man does not mean that he is not Bill and Tom's father. Narcissa is bonded to Lucius as much as Draco is. Once your souls are bonded together you are not just individual people."
Hermione said, "It used to sort of be that way in the Muggle world, for some people, I guess, but now it seems reasonably easy to marry, and divorce, and marry again."
Ginny was still confused and getting upset. "Aren't there any promises? In our world promises, formal promises like some spells, promises like you give in marriage, mean something. Some spells you can not undo. How can you be sure of your husband or wife, how can they be sure of you, if promises are made to be broken? The whole point of marriage promises and spells is that this is forever, good beyond the grave. It lasts even if one of you is sick. even if someone gets hurt. Like Donna and Bill Lionheart. Like Bill and Fleur."
Ginny looked at Harry in horror and said, "Harry, did you mean it? That even if we are married 100 years? Even if I get sick or hurt or ugly? Forever?"
Harry said, "100 years, 1,000 years, and forever. Even if you get hurt or sick or weigh twice as much as your mother. I promised to love you, and I will, as long as we both are living, and beyond. No matter what. Like Fleur and Bill. Getting hurt, looking different, and getting old, no matter what happens."
Ginny leaned towards Harry, looked right into his eyes, and said, "That's what my mother always said. Marriage is two souls bonded together, FOREVER." She got that fierce Ginny Weasley look in her eyes and said, "Even if you go off trying to save the Wizarding world again and get hurt."
Ron and Hermione did finally agree on how to remodel 13 Grimmauld Place. All the furniture was modern, good but not extremely expensive modern. That is what Hermione wanted, and to Ron furniture was furniture. The kitchen was very similar to the Potters. Down the sub-basement they decided on a large "experiment" room. Ron and George wanted to move some of the WWW developmental work out of the store and into a secure space. There was a door between the Potter and the Weasley sub-basements so Hermione could use the Potions room. It was agreed that there was no good reason to have two such nice potions rooms next door to each other. There was good magical shielding so it was almost impossible for anyone from the outside to know what was going on in either sub-basement. Mabel complained that she could not tell what was going on down there either. It was only years later that they discovered that the Ministry could not tell if underage magic was being done in the basement either; it really was hidden from outside authority. It took all of Harry's skill to make a couple of magical maps that showed the space and who was down there.
There was a dining room in about the same space as the Potters next door, but Hermione saw no need for a big drawing room and a separate living room. The entire space that for the Potters was a Living Room/Library was in the Weasley house a very practical library, with room for an enormous number of books. The big room that in the Potter house was the drawing room had more of the feeling of a family room than a formal living area, and became the room the family used most. Upstairs there was a master bedroom and another room that was going to be able to be used as either a guest room or a nursery. Instead of the huge bathroom in the Potter house there were two bathrooms; Hermione was not about to share her bathroom. Upstairs from that were two bedrooms for at most 2 children, with one shared bathroom. If Hermione had known what was coming, having a girl and then a boy with dramatically different personalities, she may have spent the money on two bathrooms.
The top floor was taken up with a large office and another bathroom. Over the years Ron learned that, if Hermione was reluctant to spend money in some areas, she had a lot less problem spending money on her office, or on books, especially when the textbook royalties started to pour in. When Ron asked why they needed both a library and an office with space for all these books, Hermione gave Ron a withering look, and effectively took that argument off the table. By the time Hermione died as a very old witch it was said that the combined Hermione/Rose library was as large as the Hogwarts library.
The entire project was going to take several months. With luck it would be done by the summer.
