The Hunt
Chapter 54
Requiem
Ginny watched as Harry withdrew into himself over the past few days that they had been home. He hadn't talked about anything since they returned concerning their future. Harry seemed rather shy about discussing those issues since discovering that Ginny's soul and part of her mind, the part of her mind that her soul wanted to hold onto the most, the part that anchored herself forever to…, to Harry. Harry had told her how he felt that Hedwig could feel his thoughts, or see what he was thinking, or what he wanted. She even knew when he started to notice that he and Hedwig had seemed to become linked and she knew that Harry had rationalized that it was because he and Hedwig had become closer, since He and Hedwig was now living the way they should. She was his pet, his one true friend that was at his side all of the time, that one friend that he could share his deepest feelings to and would be assured that they would not tell anyone. But, Ginny knew them all. She had heard, seen, and felt everyone of those thoughts Harry had and her heart cried for him every night with Hedwig and for herself each time he blamed himself for a Weasley death and he had hated himself for each and everyone of those deaths. She knew how he felt when he had to face the Weasley's when he had cost so much injury and harm; to the family he loved the most, but he never understood how the Weasley's felt about him.
They had been setting outside of the Burrow on the picnic bench that overlooked the Weasley's small Quidditch practice field. They had been back for three days now and when Molly hadn't had Ginny wrapped up in her arms cooing and crying over her, She was wrapped up in Harry's arms and this time, Ron kept his distance and even nodded in approval, as if they needed his approval or so said the looks on Ginny's face when she would catch Ron looking. Hermione remained sequestered in Mr. and Mrs., Weasley's room. Hermione was doing better much better than what Ginny thought she would feel if she had just lost her child. I would die… She thought to herself. Alyse Heeler had came by as promised and insisted that Hermione be brought to her Muggle Practice, she did pronounce the capital M each time she referred to her Muggle Practice. They had discussed what had happened and Alyse had said that she needed to study up on something called Cell Memory. When she mentioned that word, Cell Memory or Cell Memories, Hermione sort of smiled and nodded her head to herself and she stopped crying. In fact, it was as she, she didn't have the word for it and she looked to Harry for the answer.
Harry's face went deep in thought as he caught what Ginny was trying to say but he knew exactly what made Hermione smile and why she no longer felt the need to suffer a loss. They had felt the connection just as soon as Ms. Heeler mentioned the word, They had Elven blood and they could call upon the memories of all their Elven kin. Hermione had not lost Molly. Molly was with her everyday. Another thought occurred to him too. The Room of Requirement was of Elven Magic and that was why only some people could open it. As he thought on, he realized that only those people he thought he had seen and recognized in the dreams he was having, were only the one's that could summon the Room of Requirement. He was probably wrong about that, but Hermione's change seemed to suggest that and if so, Hermione would be able to visit with Molly and she would be able to bring anyone with her. Neville had shown them that the Room could be made to protect those within and any invited, could be brought in from the outside.Hermione would have seen that in the instant. He thought and then his thoughts changed to how he got here to where he was and the road that had to be traveled and his head turned to stare off across the pitch into nothingness.
Ginny recognized that he had left her once again but she didn't leave right away. Instead, she lifted a hand to his back and rubbed it as if that would soothe his fears. Sometimes it'd bring him back to her and sometimes, as with this time, Harry had gone down that one road again. He would be seeing every person that had died in this fight, he would see them and blame himself for their wanting to follow him and continue to help him along the way, so she rose.
"I'm going inside to see if mum needs any help for tomorrow." Fred and Molly's funerals were the next day. She kissed him on the cheek and walked back into the kitchen of the Burrow.
Harry raised his hand to knock on the door in front of him and then hesitated. He had been standing on the doorstep for nearly twenty minutes in silent argument with what he was doing. At last, making a decision he turned on his heel and began walking back down towards the drive when the door opened.
"Who's there. Who's out there?"
Harry turned to see the speaker and noted that the voice was a bit deeper than he remembered.
Harry? Harry Potter? Blimey, what are you doing back here?
He noticed that the figure that stood in the doorway was much thinner than he last remembered seeing and the person stood a bit taller too. Harry forced a smile to his mouth and raised a hand halfway in greeting as he said, "Dudley, is Aunt Petunia home, or Uncle Vernon?
"No. They're…, they're on holiday." Dudley Dursley replied. "Won't be back for weeks." Dudley still had not moved from the opened door.
Harry noted that he still managed to block the doorway quite successfully. "Well thanks anyway. I'll just be going then." Harry turned again but before he took another step Dudley called out.
"Would you like to come in or something?" The look on his face looked hopeful but Harry could here the hesitation in his voice too. "I mean we could have a cup of tea or something like that?"
"That…, that'll be fine." Harry replied, still uncertain of why he had come back to number four Privet Drive,
Dudley opened the door further and stepped out of the way as Harry entered into the home of his only living relatives. Nothing had changed other than a few new items such as a larger television set. It was one of those types that was very thin and it mounted on the wall just above the electric fireplace. Harry grimaced at the memory of Arthur Weasley blasting a hole into the wall the day he, Ron, and the twins came to collect him to take him to the Quidditch World Cup a life time ago.
"The kitchen's just back here." Dudley directed.
"Yeah, I remember." Harry answered, and he followed Dudley as he marched towards the kitchen door.
Harry sat down at the table and then stood back up. "Listen Dudley, this was a bad idea. I need to get going."
"No Harry, I'm glad you're here. I've been wanting to see you for a long time but…" Dudley trailed off.
Harry knew how his cousin's mind worked and he could see the unused muscle working hard to put words to what he most obviously wanted to say.
"Is it all over then?" The look on Dudley's face was just as somber as Harry felt.
Harry remained silent for a very long time. He was tired. Truly and thoroughly tired and disgusted with himself. He had caused so much hurt and damage to those he loved. Everyone that he ever cared for had suffered loss because of him. He hated himself. His body ached as if every muscle had been wrung through a ringer, his head hurt from the thoughts that he had been thinking for the past three weeks, and his heart ached. He missed Ginny, he hurt for the pain and loss he caused Ron and Hermione, and he couldn't face Mrs. Weasley with yet another loss of one let alone two of her family members because of him.
After the events at Sawtooth Harry disappeared. He felt the need to run away and had been moving about aimlessly not knowing which direction he had been heading. His heart ached for Ron and Hermione's loss and he didn't know how to face them, he didn't know how to face Molly Weasley either. Everywhere he led…, another Weasley died. How could anyone like him, he didn't even like himself anymore. Each loss hit him like a ton of bricks.
The steaming cup of tea being placed in front of him jostled his listlessness and he remembered Dudley's question. "yeah, it's done."
"When they told us that we could come back home, they told us that you had killed that, that wizard…, they said that you were going after someone who, who killed that, that bloke with the long beard. You got him then?"
Dudley spoke slowly and Harry realized that it wasn't because he had to word to put more than two words together, it was more like Dudley was unsure about asking Harry the questions that were on his mind. Harry nodded in reply and cupped his hands around the mug, it was hot.
Several long minutes went by and Harry had not said anything nor Dudley but Dudley was watching his cousin very closely. He could tell that something was terribly wrong with Harry.
"Listen Harry, I never got the chance to thank you properly for saving my life." Dudley remained focused on his own mug of tea as he spoke. "I didn't like you very much when we were younger." He looked up to catch Harry's reaction but Harry had not moved so he continued to speak. "I, I was afraid of you. Mum and dad said that you were…, unnatural …, a freak…, and I believed them. You always wore those ugly clothes, the one's that didn't fit you…,"
"They were your own old clothes." Harry said without looking up.
"Yeah I know that, but I never thought…, Listen Harry…, I'm sorry I treated you the way I did. I know that now after thinking…,"
Harry looked up with a quick look of surprise. He had never expected Dudley to, to understand. Dudley got his first good look at Harry and exclaimed, "You look a right sight. When was the last time you had a bath and a good sleep?"
Harry shrugged his shoulders. He didn't know.
"Do you need a place to stay for awhile then?" Dudley asked tentatively. "A place to rest up some?" A note of concern entered Dudley's voice. He wasn't sure why he was doing this and he was worried about inviting Harry into the house but he needed Harry to be here. He had been wanting to talk to him for some years now and did not know how to reach him.
"I could use a bit of sleep if it's alright." Harry answered and then took his first sip of the tea.
"Still no word of where Harry might have gone to?" Molly Weasley asked Remus Lupin when he entered the kitchen of the Burrow. Remus glanced in the direction of Ginny Weasley who held a hopeful look on her face though her eyes were red and swollen from tears that seemed to never end. A sniff from Molly told him that the two had been consoling each other again
"None yet, I am sorry." The last was directed to Ginny who quickly hid the look of hope that had been on her face. "How is…," He hesitated for a moment before asking, "How is Hermione and Ron holding up?" They had returned to Grimwauld Place immediately after the funerals, which Harry walked out of in the middle of the somber ceremony. Ginny had been holding tightly onto his arm and the two were standing behind Mrs. Weasley who was seated. "He just reached over and took my hands from his arm; turned and left/"
"I just don't understand why he left like he did. One minute he was here and the next…," Molly trailed off her lip quivered and she could feel the tears welling up just at the corner of her eye. She looked much older now and her face held permanent lines of grief and worry. The funerals were quiet and private. She had insisted on a marker for Missy Molly even after Ron explained what had happened to her. Hermione held it in but Molly heard her every night when she herself had not been crying.
Remus took a chair and set himself down and took Molly's hand. "We'll find him Molly. I swear it." Remus looked just a bit too resigned for Molly's sake. "But, what of Hermione?" He was truly worried for her. Harry spent several hours locked up in Ron's old room talking with Hermione and Ron and since then Hermione had not cried. She seemed resigned as if she had just quit. Tonk's was extremely worried.
"Sheshould be in tears Remus, she just lost her child and she does not cry."
"The Grangers were devastated when they heard the news. They stayed right here in the Burrow until That witch Healer pronounced Hermione fit. You know, now that you mention it…, I haven't seen Ron shed a tear either since they've come home. That is out of sorts///." Molly trailed off and tried hard to stifle a sniff.
"Oh Remus, I haven't even offered you a tea!" Molly began to rise.
Remus held out a restraining hand and said, "That's alright Molly I'll get it." As he rose a thought came un-beckoned. They're being awfully cavalier when it comes to Missy Molly. It's almost like, like…," He didn't want to say that they didn't care…, it was as if they knew something that didn't worry them, and something they didn't want to talk about either
"mum, Remus." Ginny began to slowly speak. She felt as if she was betraying Harry in a way by divulging a secret but this one secret needed to be told. "Harry feels that …, he feels responsible for everything.
Remus and Molly both looked at her. They knew that Harry blamed himself.
"You don't understand!" She blurted out when she saw the looks on their faces. They weren't the looks of condescension but they told her that they already knew this also.
"That's silly dear. Harry is family and he knows that we love him and we don't blame him one bit for what we decide to do." Molly said
"What don't we understand about Harry?" Remus asked more cautiously.
"Harry is a Potter. He's not a Weasley. He has no family…, he doesn't know how it works. He's never known." Ginny nearly wailed the last out in a combination of hurt and frustration.
Remus knew immediately what she meant he had felt it but never actually knew it. He did have a family. They were afraid of him, but he knew that they loved him too and they were there when he needed them, but what the Dursley's did to Harry …, Remus felt that nearly all his adult life. Molly's lip trembled as a glimmer of understanding hit her.
"Ohh, Harry." She uttered as a hand went to her face.
The room became quiet and the tea was forgotten. .
Dudley and Harry sat facing one another, neither having spoken in a long time. Dudley's jaw worked a time or two as if preparing to say something but he kept silent and dipped his tea.
"Dudley?" Harry finally broke the silence between them. "Can I ask you something?"
Dudley nodded his head.
"When we…," Harry began slowly. "When we were attacked by those Dementors…,"
Dudley stiffened at the memory of it.
"What did you see?" Harry asked.
Dudley took a deep breath and then drew himself up, before he answered. "I, I saw myself as you. And what you were going through." He said.
"As me?" Harry asked with some great incredulity in his voice.
"Yeah, as you and everything you've done, or have had done to you. My Mum, and me dad, and…, me too…, how we treated you. And…, I saw him." Dudley's face had turned white but his hands remained still. "You, you did say he's finished?" Dudley's face now looked wistful.
Harry nodded and then said, "And, there's no way he can harm another soul either. I gave him to a Dementor."
Dudley's hand went immediately to his mouth. That one memory would be fresh in his mind for the rest of his life. Had it not been for Harry…, Dudley inwardly shuddered at the thought of Harry not being there to rescue the both of them.
"Didn't you say once that you had your own house?" Dudley asked in hopes to change the subject away from Dementors and the like.
"Yeah, but I kinda gave it away to those friends of mine that got married." Harry answered.
Dudley sensed that Harry was not in the mood for talking and so the two of them just sat in the kitchen sipping the tea as darkness crept into number Four Privet Drive.
Ron and Hermione stepped from the sidewalk just across the street from number Twelve Grimmauld Place and crossed it slowly. They were just out for an afternoon stroll and were returning home.
The door creaked open as they stepped inside the bright room which stood in contrast to the dark and grimy looking exterior of their home. The stoic looks that had been plastered on their faces slipped off as did their traveling cloaks, which Ron took Hermione's and hung them on the hooks which were fastened to the wall. Neither of them spoke as Ron followed Hermione up the flight of stairs at the end of the hallway. Hermione trailed a hand along the wall as she began to climb the stairs slowly. Her back was straight if not a bit stiff as she took the stairs one step at a time.
She reached the top of the stairs and stopped at the first bedroom. The door was closed. She laid a hand on its knob, not turning it, just touching it, holding it, counting the times that she heard that very door slam shut, slam open, the giggles that could be heard on the other side of it. She didn't even look down when Crookshanks padded in between her ankles rubbing himself against her legs. She didn't even notice when he sat down waiting patiently for her to open it nor did she feel Ron's hand upon hers as he turned the knob and pushed the door opened. They both stood there looking into the room, neither of them wanting to step into it yet both wanting. That was the only feeling that they held… Wanting. Crookshanks leapt up on the bed inside the room and circled the center of the bed until he found just the right spot, just the right angle, just the right position and then he sat down calmly and worked his paws underneath until he was primly comfortable and stared at them after all it was his and Molly's bedroom
"Crookshanks, get down from there!" Ron's voice was angry and he pulled his wand out to add a little prompting to his yell.
Hermione gently raised her hand to Ron's arm and slowly pulled his arm back down saying softly, "No Ron, its his room too."
Crookshanks had not moved and his purring could be plainly heard.
Hermione crossed the room slowly and deliberately and then knelt beside the bed. The walls were still the same dark Hunter Green with a slight sheen to them and the ceiling was still the same Burgundy Red The walls were bordered along the ceiling with a rich dark Oak that matched the rest of the furniture that was within. The bed, a white canopy bed, was adorned with a pink comforter and pillows that matched. The carpet that lay on the floor was pink as well. They had not yet managed to completely finish the room in its pink décor. Molly said that she liked the way the room looked.
Hermione slowly knelt by the side of the bed and then she laid her head upon the comforter and inhaled deeply. The smell of Molly filled her nostrils with a richness that only a mother would know and she wept long and hard. There were no wails of grief, no shrieks of pain, she just wept. Crookshanks watched as Ron knelt too, next to Hermione, his hands clasped together as if in prayer, and he watched as Ron's shoulders shuddered in silent weeping. Crookshanks kept his vigilance long into the night and the soothing sounds of his purring rose and fell in time as the sobs and weeping trailed off and renewed themselves.
"Incendio."
Dudley flinched as Harry pointed his wand and lit a candle that sat at the middle of the table.
"Handy, that." Dudley murmured as Harry returned his wand back to his pocket.
"Dudley, can I ask you a question?" Harry asked.
Dudley nodded as Harry looked at him.
"What did you see when the Dementors…?" Harry trailed off. He didn't need to say the rest.
Dudley's face drained just for a moment as he recalled that one evening five years earlier. It was as fresh in his mind now as if it had just happened minutes ago. His breath caught as he drew in a deep breath but his voice was steady and calm when he answered.
"I saw myself as you. As a wizard you know, having to live with me mum and dad, being treated as they did you and…" Dudley stopped for a moment and took another deep breath for continuing on. "And, I saw you as me. Spoiled and hating that hating that you had to share what you had with me and then not even sharing, I saw myself as not being wanted," He took another breath as Harry remained quiet and looked down at the very clean table top. "You risked everything to save me didn't you? I mean, you knew you'd be kicked out of that school and you still used…, you still used magic.., for me, and you did that after everything I've ever done."
Harry nodded in agreement with what Dudley was saying; after all he himself didn't know back then if he could legally use magic to save his cousin let alone himself.
"So what changed your mind about magic?" Harry looked up once again.
Dudley's face screwed up as if thinking that much was beginning to hurt but Dudley really had to think about this one and the silence grew between the two of them again. Dudley really wanted to answer this question but the answer eluded his grasp at the moment.
"They are worried about him." Remus was saying as he removed his travel worn cloak.
"But why, Remus? Why would Harry just leave like this again?" Tonks asked him as she finished setting the table for their dinner. She had spent the whole day at the Ministry writing a report on the recent events and she was tired. The worry over Hermione and over Harry was beginning to show on her face as Remus leaned towards her to plant a kiss on her cheek. He frowned at the question. It wasn't that he disliked the question, it was more that he disliked that fuzzy feeling that he should know the answer yet it remained just a wand's tip away from presenting itself in full form. It tugged at him from somewhere just behind his navel but the words, the reasoning, the///
"Ugh! I should know why, I should know just where to go and get him too, but I don't."
"Are you worried about him?" She asked cautiously.
Remus thought about it for just a moment and then answered her. "I should be, but for some reason I'm not."
"Why not? I'm worried for him, molly's worried for him and Ginny, and I know that Hermione and Ron both are probably worried about him too somewhere in the middle of what their going through. I know that everyone is happy about Ginny returning to us from the dead but… You know that's strange…"
"What's strange?" Remus asked as he sat down a the table after washing up while they were talking.
Tonks looked thoughtful for just a moment as she gathered that one train of thought that had just popped into her mind. "Well, Ginny coming back for one, but she doesn't seem worried I think."
"Of course she's worried." Remus snorted.
"No… I think she's anxious."
"Anxious?" Remus asked stopping just short of placing a fork full of food in his mouth.
"I don't know how to explain it." Tonks continued still with that thoughtful look on her face. "It's more like a feeling, or how I look when you go off on your own each month. It's like I know you're coming back but I'm afraid you won't. Or, I know you're all right but I know you're hurt. Grr, it's like you knew no one wanted you but I knew everyone wanted you." Tonks was finding it hard to explain the feeling thinking that the look on Remus's face was the look of "You lost me already."
That was far from the truth. Remus knew that feeling too but from the reverse side of the equation. He really and truly did think that he knew how Harry felt but he also knew that he did have friends and that his friends wanted him. Tonks was wrong about that one feeling. She was thinking back to their little disagreement a few years earlier when she first let him know of how she felt about him and he tried to push her away, He nodded though in agreement to save the argument from happening.
Molly wasted no chance to touch or be near Ginny. Her heart was broken but her baby's return was like a gift from the Heavens. At times she felt at odds with herself. It was wrong of her to be so giddy, so happy, so… She didn't know how to feel. One moment she was dabbing the tears from the corners of her eye's and then the next she was laughing and hugging Ginny, and then the next, she felt that she should be by Hermione's side after all she did know what it was like to lose a child, and then the next, she was holding Ginny as tight a humanly possible not wanting to let her go ever again for fear of losing her once again. And then there was Harry.
She knew why Harry left three years earlier. He was mad, he wanted revenge, he wanted to put to rest those that took his family and…, she smiled as she imagined Harry and Ginny. Molly wasn't stupid nor was she dumb. I might have been born at night but it wasn't last night. She thought to herself as she envisioned the many furtive looks and hidden smiles, the chance encounters that Ginny and Harry "accidentally" found themselves in, and she just knew that the two of them would eventually…, and then Ginny was dead. Killed trying to be at his side, to fight with him, to protect him, and then her thoughts turned to Arthur, and then Charlie, and then Fred, and then… Molly. Little Missy Molly. Fierce and unafraid of anything and willing to protect what was hers to the end. But Ginny was back and the hand went to her cheek to wipe the wetness away.
"Ginny dear?"
Ginny stepped into the kitchen at the sound of her name and glanced at the clock. Molly too glanced at the very same clock. Harry was still traveling.
"Yes mum?"
"I need to go and see Hagrid dear. Will you be alright for a few hours?"
"Mum, I'm not a baby anymore." Ginny complained. She hated being the youngest of the Weasley's. Her face had turned into a mixture of ire and pout as she folded her arms and watched her mother step out from the kitchen doorway and then disappear. She thought that she might have seen her mother's chin quiver as she pulled open the door to leave.
Ginny turned and stamped her foot in frustration. She knew somehow where Harry was and turned to face the wall that separated the kitchen from the scullery. Had she known where she looked she would have known that she was looking towards number four Privet Drive, Little Winging, Surrey.
Harry looked away from Dudley and then looked off into the silence that stood between them after Dudley revealed what he had seen the night the Dementors attacked them. Ginny was just there. He thought.. he didn't know how she could love him anymore. He had caused so much in her family, He had hurt Ron at least once each year they had been together at Hogwarts by letting his friend help him as he went off to save the wizarding world, nearly gotten Ginny killed in their second year and gotten Ron in trouble by stealing the car. Caused Percy to leave the family. Had caused George to get injured, Mister Weasley to get killed, then Ginny, Then Charlie dieing, now, Fred, Missy Molly. Harry just did not understand how they could still say the he was one of their family, that they did not blame him, And Hermione? How many times had he gotten her in hurt or somehow in trouble? He knew that the Dursley's would be saying.
"You saw yourself as me?" Harry turned in the dimness of light from the one lit candle on the counter with a hint of amusement in his voice. He had gone through that mental argument before and didn't want to listen to himself continue to point out the facts. It was best that he just walk away, get a fresh start and leave the Weasley's alone they've paid into his still being alive more than they should have,
"Yeah, I did. Mum and Daddy, they didn't like me anymore and you got all my stuff and all the presents. It was like you were their very own son before and I wasn't. And then mum and Dad, the way they yelled at me, and…." Dudley looked down at this feet for a long moment and then finished what he was saying/ "Harry, I didn't save you. I hated you. I turned and ran."
"That would have been scary." Harry whispered.
"Yeah, it really was." Dudley gave a small shudder tha rippled down his still bery large bulk.
:No." Harry Replied. "The thought of looking like you mate. Scary."
Harry lurched to the side nearly falling out of his chair when Dudley's beefy fist hit him on the shoulder.
"I'm serious you idiot." Dudley have grinned and had half a snarl on his face when Harry righted himself rubbing his shoulder. Dudley still worked out and boxed,
"I know. So was I" Harry was grinning, His melancholy had slipped away. This was the only home that he ever knew and it was never his home. Hogwarts was more his home, but now…, He didn't want to come here but it was the only place he had now that he was alone again. He decided that he was glad he did just show up in the street. He and Dudley found themselves laughing at things they had done to each other and most especially how Harry had done things to Dudley that he had never knew about. Spells were forbidden but the Ministry never said anything about the potions that Hermione had given him.
Dudley stood after another long moment of silence that had fallen between them and took several deep breaths and Harry watched as Dudley's jaw worked as if to form some very difficult words and then his eyebrow's began to slowly climb his forehead as Dudley slowly spoke.
Harry, I – I, never put it in words the last time you left but, Thank you."
Harry heard the capital in Dudley's words.
"Thank you for me mum's and me dad's life. We didn't deserve what you did for us… Saving us an all. There was no reason to. You can stay like I said before. "
Dudley looked at his feet now wanting to look Harry in the eye as he continued.
"Go home Harry. This will never be your home. Mum will see to it. Go back to those friends of yours. They're your real family. But I'd like it if you kept in touch. You decide mate/"
Dudley grinned oddly and then left the kitchen and went to bed.
George sat idly behind his desk. He had been reading the reports Lee Jordan had placed on his desk and realized the he had mechanically turned the last ten sheet of parchment over without even seeing them. Lee watched him out of the corner of his eye. George had been listless ever since he returned to the premises and their company offices. They had taken over the store nextdoor to their very first store in Diagon Alley to serve as the offices. A door connected them to the store next door.
"Lee, It was Fred and mine's wish that if anything were to happen to one of us… You be made a full partner."
Lee nearly hurled himself to his feet at George's comment.
"no George, its not necessary." Lee spluttered. "I mean, you shold be asking your brother mate."
"Ron?" George asked with a light turn to his head. :He's already an Auror. I mean, the jobs his if he wants it."
"Not from what I heard mate." Lee replied. "Kingsley was holding out but the Minister found out that Ron didn't report when he was told to and so the Minister withdrew the offer. And besides I work behind the scenes remember? And, with Ron as the newest full partner…"
"He'd have to work the floors.' Fred began to get excited.
"Run the shops" Lee put in.
"And do the inventories." George was now setting up and rubbing his chin.
"And do all the paperwork." Lee added to the list.
"Yeah, and do all the purchasing. That's an excellent idea Fred…" George suddenly looked stiff as he realized that it wasn't Fred he had been looking at.
"…Would have thought of it first." Lee finished judiciously.
"Yeah he would have."
"Poor Ron, what a dope." Lee sniggered trying to keep the conversation up beat. "And if I heard correctly…" Lee grinned and rubbed his hands together as if concocting the perfect plan which had George looking at him closely. "… If what I hear is true then your gonna need the time to start planning for not one, but two new nieces and or nephews here in a few more months."
George sat stunned. He hadn't known that he had spoken out loud. Where else could Lee have heard that? George wondered but hs mind started leaping way ahead of him with the wiles and the ways of being the perfectly innocent Uncle/
"You know Lee, I knew there was a reason we kept you around." George smiled conspiratorially. He didn't feel so lopsided anymore.
Hermione woke in her own bed and turned to look at Ron. She felt lighter today. She couldn't remember how long they had sat and cried in Molly's bedroom, nor did she remember when they themselves, went to bed but the weight felt lifted. Ron turned in his sleep and she laid a hand upon his brow. The dreams that had come to her lent a greater understanding to what she had lost and why it had to be. The knowledge of it filled her with a pride but what really lifted her was that the knowledge of being able to visit anytime had been cemented. She had lost nothing; Molly had only grown and moved on. She felt as if she had gotten her letter to Hogwarts again for a second time And, she had twins and both of them would share something very special. Molly would only giggle when Hermione asked what that gift would be. And, Ron was there and understood it all. He had been marked as an Elf Friend. That was Molly's special gift to her father. He could now share and speak.
She had one more thing to do and so she slipped out from the bed so as not to waken Ron and crept from the room after gathering up her clothes.
Ginny hurriedly dressed if the darkness of her room. She didn't want to turn any lamps on and then cast the impervious charm of the hinges of her door. It just wouldn't do to wake any one this early in the morning. Careful to step lightly on the third step from the bottom she stole through the kitchen and let herself outside. The only noise she made was the tiny pop that was left behind as she apparated.
The sky was a dreary sort of grey overcast as another pop sounded in the morning's air where Ginny had just disapparated. She looked about her noting the rather old looking play ground. She had never seen it before and yet it was familiar to her. She had heard it described often enough. Just a few blocks down that way, a left, and then a few more blocks and then a right. She didn't need the directions that had been told her. A keen sense that she seemed to always have possessed pointed her into the right direction.
She walked slowly and purposefully into the early morning. Her hair was held loosely behind her head so as not to block her face. She had on her traveling cloak and a few items that she had packed, Her wand was where she could reach it quickly. She had reached the lane, surprised that her feet had carried her so far in such a short time and even more surprised to find out that she had been walking nearly twenty minutes. Her mind was full of things to say and her temper was nearly there.
She stopped in front of a two story house on a quite lane. The folks that lived on this road liked it that way. Quite. She stood there looking at the door and drew a deep breath and then looked at the address once again to make sure that she was where she needed to be. Satisfied she let her breath out slowly and then approached the door and knocked on Number Four Privet Drive. She braced herself for one of those terrible Muggles to answer her knock when the door opened rather slowly.
Harry was nearly knocked off his feet as she threw herself into his arms and held him so tightly that his ribs began to creak. Finally she withdrew and still hold him by his shoulders spoke slowly and plainly. "Harry…. It's time to come home."
Harry tried to respond, to say something but then Ginny's loving face turned. It turned into something hideous something that made him try to step backwards and then the torrent unleashed itself.
"what do you mean by just leaving me? We're together you and I, We're a family and if you hadn't noticed…"
A voice in the back of his mind came unbidden. He knew that voice as it spoke and it wasn't his. "You're letting her get her steam up mate. You've got to head her off early." Harry reached out and pulled her to him and kissed her. Her muffled protests died slowly and her attempts to push him away turned into holding onto him as her knee's began to shake. "when their lips parted Harry had been left breathless and Ginny knowing that she had just been thoroughly kissed.
