Games Are Afoot Chapter 45
Goodbye
DISCLAIMER: JK Rowling owns it all, I am just playing in her magical playground.
Hermione sat on her bed in Ginny's room clinging to her pillow. She occasionally hiccuped as she stared out the window at nothing in particular. It was rare that she allowed herself such a girly moment, but the events of the past week were catching up with her. She was overly emotional and extremely exhausted. And alone. Very, very alone. It was amazing to her that she could be in a house full of people and still feel so isolated. The Burrow was her home away from home, but that didn't mean it was home. Home. A building and a feeling she may never have again.
She sniffled as a fresh round of tears dripped unattractively down her splotchy face. She could hear shuffling in the hallway and then Mrs. Weasley speaking.
"Just give her a bit. She needs time to deal with everything. Just let her have her moment."
Her voice was stern and after more shuffling, the hallway was once again mercifully silent.
Hermione let her mind wander back. Had it only been a week since the funeral? Harry was at Privet Drive for the last time. They were about to embark on a mission that she wasn't sure how to accomplish. She wasn't going back to school.
At that thought she leaned over on the bed and the sobs took over. She gave into the despair and let her anguish out through her tears. School was such an important part of who she was. She knew helping Harry was the priority and that it was a noble sacrifice, but it didn't make it hurt any less. Who was she if she wasn't the bookworm?
Bookworm. She rolled to her back and fingered the charm on her bracelet. Tears continued to drip unchecked down her cheeks and into her messy hair. Charlie. Charlie said that school or no school she would always be his bookworm. He had been so amazing this week.
After the scare with her parents, he had been so comforting and so helpful. She sniffled again and blew her nose in the hanky that Charlie had given her last night. She kept having to clean it with her wand. When Charlie and Hermione had reentered the kitchen a week ago, they joined the discussion on how best to protect the Grangers. Her Dad had experienced a small emotional break at the thought of how much danger she would be in. He felt it was his duty to protect her and he said that he had never felt so helpless in all his days.
Jack and Royce had been there too. They reassured both of the Grangers that Australia would be the safest place for them. Mrs. Granger was sobbing and said that she just couldn't go that far away because she would constantly be worrying about Hermione. Hermione argued that if they weren't safe, she would constantly be worrying about them. They went round and round until Hermione suddenly got very quiet. Eventually everyone in the room was silent. Charlie watched her and could swear that he could see the cogs in her brain spinning frantically to come up with a solution.
After a small eternity Hermione had spoken. "So as I understand it, we have two major issues where we have reached impasse. The first is that I need to focus on helping Harry—"
"And school." Mrs. Weasley added sternly with Mrs. Granger nodding her agreement.
Hermione rolled her eyes and ignored the comment. Continuing she said, "I can't be worrying all the time about your safety and still be focused helping Harry. And secondly, you can't be so far away and worrying about my safety. Would you agree that those are the two main issues?"
Mrs. Granger nodded.
"Then I think I have a solution."
Her dad narrowed his eyes at her. "Hermione Jean? What exactly do you have in mind? You have that look on your face that makes me nervous."
Hermione smiled at him weakly and whispered, "You just need to forget you have a daughter for a bit."
"Honey," her dad said gently, "not possible."
"Actually," Charlie interjected, "it is."
The Grangers eyes grew wide as their mouths hung open in shock.
"NO! NO!" Mrs. Granger shouted. "I will not agree to such a thing."
"But it solves our problems." Hermione said quietly.
"How could forgetting about you not create more?" Her mother insisted.
By now the other witches and wizards could see that the idea had potential.
"It would only be temporary. Just until things here settle down again." Mr. Weasley commented.
Mr. Granger turned to Royce. "What do you think?"
Royce looked uneasy being the center of attention as everyone waited for his response. "Well, I don't rightly think my opinion should matter much. It seems like this is a family matter."
Mr. Granger cleared his throat. "Royce, I appreciate that you might not like to be involved, but I value your opinion. Most of my magical experience has been with Hermione, Charlie, and you and I care very much what you think."
"Well, Robert, uh…um…" He fingered his collar nervously. "I think that with this here wizards war going on that safety is the most important factor. You want yer daughter to be safe an' she is wantin' you to be safe and well…I think that her solution is reasonable. Jack's family will be nearby ter keep their eyes on yeh and Charlie here would as soon face an angry dragon as let any harm come ter Hermione. I think all of these here people would give their lives ter protect her." He paused and looked kindly to Hermione. "I jest think you ought to be safe. You could write yerselves a letter so that when the time came to remember again, you would know what the plan was." He cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair.
Robert Granger now got very quiet and the cogs in his mind were obviously spinning wildly as he thought about what Royce had said. The room was quiet while he processed.
Eventually, he looked up. He looked at his wife and they held a silent conversation until she ever so slightly nodded her head.
Then he looked at his daughter. "Charlie. Will you take care of our daughter?"
"You know I will."
Arthur cleared his throat. "We all will."
"Then we agree on one condition."
"What condition, Dad?"
"I want Charlie to do it."
Charlie looked stunned. "Me, sir?"
Robert turned his gaze toward Charlie. "Yes. You. Yours is a face I trust. If anything goes wrong, I don't want Hermione beating herself up forever over it. You are a good man and if I can trust you with my daughter, I can trust you with my memories."
"I…I…" Charlie stammered.
"Is Professor Flitwick still with the Order?" Jack asked suddenly.
"Yes, of course." Arthur replied.
"I think Charlie could do with a Charms refresher course."
Charlie looked gratefully toward Jack.
"I will floo him immediately." Arthur said as he rushed toward the hearth.
Hermione sniffled again as the memory faded. Professor Flitwick had come and helped Charlie practice the memory charm and the next day, after an emotional goodbye, Charlie and Jack helped the Grangers prepare for Australia. Hermione was in the room when they performed the charm and it nearly broke her heart when they thought she was just a nice assistant to their travel agent. Charlie hadn't wanted to leave her, but Jack thought that it would be better for the two of them to help the Grangers, now the Wilkins, to get safely portkeyed to their new home. After they were settled, they obliviated the travel memories and then Jack and Charlie were headed to Romania.
So Charlie had left too. They hardly even had time to say goodbye. And now, here she was. Feeling alone and miserable and thoroughly soggy.
The light of the day had faded and Hermione could see the moon rising through the window. She blew her nose one last time and ventured from the room to the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley turned from the stove where she was making supper and pulled her into a motherly hug. They stood there for a few precious moments until Ron burst into the kitchen.
"When's dinner? I'm starved."
The two women chuckled. "Soon. Now get out." Said Mrs. Weasley playfully. She pulled Hermione away from her. "You are a bit peaky. Why don't you go wash your face and by the time you get back the food should be on the table."
"Thank you."
Mrs. Weasley patted her cheek. "You are more than welcome."
Hermione trudged up to the bathroom to pull herself together. She looked into the mirror and was shocked at how pale her skin could look. She pulled out her wand and healed her puffy eyes. She figured her hair was a useless endeavor so she pulled it up into a messy bun and then returned to help set the table.
During dinner, Alastair Moody showed up.
"Pull up a chair." Mr. Weasley invited.
"Don't mind if I do. What with the way things are, this is one of the few tables I can trust." Moody said gruffly as he sat heavily into a creaking chair.
After he had dished up, Arthur asked the question that was on everyone's mind, "To what do we owe the honor of your presence at our table, Alastair?"
Moody grunted and chugged the rest of his pumpkin juice. "We need to spring Potter, and I think we finally have the way to do it. We are just going to need a bit of help."
"Whatever we can do." Arthur assured.
"It's not so much you as some of the youngin's" Moody muttered.
"Who?" Demanded Molly looking furious.
"Only those of age so calm down Molly." Moody growled.
Ginny looked disgusted and clanged her fork down on her plate. Molly shot her a look and she sent one right back.
"I have called a meeting for tomorrow to go over the plan and accept volunteers." Moody stated as he pushed back his chair. "Thanks for the lovely meal, Molly. Arthur. See you tomorrow night.
And as suddenly as he arrived, he was gone.
The group at the table looked at each other. They weren't entirely sure what had just happened but not one of them would miss the meeting the following night.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
Fred and George arrived for the meeting an hour early to conduct some important brother business. They climbed the stairs until they reached the top floor. As quietly as they could they sidled up to the door and slipped an end of the extendible ears underneath.
"What do you think then if you think all my ideas are rubbish?"
"Ronald, Moody will have a plan and it's useless to speculate. We will know soon."
"Half the fun is speculating." They heard Ron mutter under his breath.
George signaled Fred and with a finger count of one two three, they apparated into the room with a loud pop.
Hermione shrieked and Ron swore as he fell off his bed. Fred and George laughed quietly.
"Sh. Do you want mum up here?" Fred hissed through his chuckles.
Ron glared at him so he turned around to discover Hermione with her wand out and very nearly up his nose.
"Do you?" She replied.
Fred pushed her arm down. "Point taken."
George looked to Fred and said, "I suppose you are wondering why we have decided to bless you with our presence."
"Not really." Hermione drawled. "We didn't figure you'd miss Moody at the meeting tonight."
"Yeah, Ginny's in a right state because mum won't let her near the room." Ron added.
"Yes well, that is only part of the reason we are here. If that's all we wanted we could have come for the meeting. As it stands," George pulled out a pocket watch and flamboyantly checked the time, "we are an hour early." Fred nodded and smiled as he saw the curiosity cross their faces.
"Then why are you here?" Ron burst out since he was already irritated at their interruption.
"Well little brother, we have generously come to help you solve one of your little problems."
"Yeah, right." Ron snorted. "When have you lot ever offered to help me with anything that didn't involve me getting hurt or embarrassed?"
"Did you hear that George?" Fred clutched his heart. "Ittle Ronniekins doesn't believe we have his best interests at heart."
"Now that hurts Ron." George added.
"Bloody gits." Ron mumbled. "Get to your point or get out."
"Since you are so impatient...please sit down."
Ron and Hermione sat on his bed while the twins sat on the one Harry usually used when he was at the Burrow. They looked expectantly at each other until Fred finally cleared his throat formally.
"Our dear blessed mother gave us a bloody earful about you two this week." He began.
"And somehow your behavior is all our fault. According to her." George added.
"What are you on about?" Hermione demanded.
"Well, apparently you have decided to follow our illustrious footsteps and not complete your education."
"Which we personally think shows a lot of bollocks on your part little brother."
"Though we were more than slightly stunned that Hermione was a party to this plan."
The room grew quiet as they all sat and stared at each other.
"So," Fred asked, "is it true?"
Ron and Hermione looked at each other for a long moment.
Without looking away from Hermione, Ron answered, "It's true."
Now it was Ron and Hermione's turn to laugh. "You might want to close your mouths before you catch flies boys." Hermione said.
They closed their jaws so sharply that their teeth clinked together. They started to speak and then stopped several times.
"Wow, Hermione. I don't think I have ever seen them speechless today. Wish I had a camera."
She laughed. "It's true and since you obviously didn't expect it to be, what did you come for?"
Fred regained his composure first. "Well, we assumed that Ron just didn't want to go back to school. But you are serious aren't you?"
"Yeah."
"Does this have to do with the rumors in the order that Dumbledore gave Harry some sort of mission to do?"
"Yeah."
"So what is this mysterious mission?"
"We can't tell you...or anyone else."
"Mum's right upset about that fact." George snorted. "Seems right chuffed that her little boy is keeping secrets from her."
"Yeah, well, she'll have to get over it won't she."
"You aren't leaving before the wedding are you?" Fred asked sternly.
"No. And we have to wait for Harry to get here as well. We have some things to prepare first." Hermione said vaguely.
"And where are you off to?"
"Oh honestly! We already told you we weren't telling anyone and that includes you two. So state your business or..." she raised her wand menacingly, "shall I help you vacate the room?"
"Calm down Granger. Don't get your knickers in a twist. It isn't like we were trying to get you on a broom." George laughed with his hands up.
"We have a tidbit of information for you."
Ron looked skeptical. "Yeah, what's that?"
"Our father is sympathetic to your plight."
"Huh?"
"Oh Ronald. They mean your dad is on our side."
"Oh."
"We are actually his emissaries in an effort to assist you without mum totally going off the deep end. I hope you appreciate the magnitude of his gesture."
Ron nodded. For his dad to side against his mum was significant.
"So what does all this mean?" Hermione asked.
"It means, Granger," Fred spoke conspiratorially, "that he has a plan."
George added, "he got the idea after you decided to make your parents safe Hermione."
Hermione looked startled. "What?"
"Very profound." Fred teased.
"If Hermione's parents are in danger from you know who then it stands to reason that ours would be as well."
"I never thought of that." Ron said.
"Yes, well," Fred said, "He figured you hadn't explored that concept yet so he did some thinking for you."
"He thinks that if those of a darker nature discover that you are not at school, they will assume you are with Harry. He figures they eventually will come looking for you here."
"But the wards...."
"Are only as strong as the ministry and you know that since Dumbledore is gone, that is not something to count on."
Hermione interjected, "We are always together. How can you prevent them from assuming it?"
"Dad thinks we ought to have a Ron here at home."
"I am going with Harry." Ron asserted firmly.
"Ron, they didn't say you were going to be here. They said 'a Ron' would be here."
"Very good Granger." The twins said in unison.
Ron merely looked confused.
"So who will be here in his place that won't be missed?" Hermione asked.
Just then an enormous clank on the pipes made them all jump.
"Speak of the devil." George muttered.
"What does the ghoul have to do with anything?" Ron sputtered indignantly. "He looks nothing like me." He pouted and sulked on the bed.
"Don't be petulant Ronald. Hear them out."
"Thanks Granger!" The chins chimed in merrily.
"Get on with it."
"Yes ma'am." They answered dutifully.
"Ron, do you remember the portrait at St. Mungo's that thought you had spattergoit."
"Yes, the barmy witch. Couldn't have been much of a healer if she couldn't even recognize freckles."
"Yes, well, that is what you are going to have. It will be a great reason to miss school."
"But as soon as they come to check it out they will know it isn't me." Ron answered smugly.
"Ah, we have solved that potential problem. Dad wants to transfigure the Ghoul to have red hair and look about your size. He will move him into your room---"
"No way! Have you smelled the bloody bugger? No way is he going to be in my room with me!"
"You won't be there." Fred responded patiently.
"But it'll stink forever." Ron muttered.
"Small price to pay." George commented happily. "No one will want to get too near such a contagious disease. If word gets around St. Mungo's, that daft witch will say she suspected it all along which will give us a further alibi."
The twins sat with there arms folded proudly across their chests looking very pleased with themselves.
"It could work Ron." Hermione finally said.
