After a few hours of conversation, the 4 Weasley's, Hermione and Harry
packed up the blankets and started back up the Burrow. The conversation
turned to Percy's upcoming wedding.
"So, what do you think of Penelope?" Fred asked Harry.
"She seems nice," he replied, unsure of what else to say. Fred seemed satisfied with this though. Ginny and Hermione were talking enthusiastically about the colour co-ordination of the brides-maids dresses to the flower arrangements, and Ron looked like he was going to die of boredom.
"So they're getting dresses that match the rosebuds perfectly?" Hermione asked excitedly. Harry understood the look on intense boredom on Ron's face, but Ron was unable to leave the conversation. He had his arm intertwined with Hermione's, and the blanket was resting between them. George saw the irony of the situation as well, and him and Harry walked behind the threesome, sniggering at Ron's apparent misfortune.
The arrived back at the house to the scent of Mrs Weasley's hot chocolate. She took 6 large mugs out of a cupboard, and ladled the hot liquid into them. She carefully levitated each mug over as she poured. A bowl of marshmallows was on the table for use in the chocolate. Bill and his Mercedes wandered in, both clutching mugs as well. Sitting down at the table, Bill pulled up a chair next to Harry.
"Harry, you must tell me more about this Sirius Black," he whispered confidentially. Unfortunately, the room had fallen silent at that exact time, and everyone heard his question, turning to look at Harry to see his answer.
Harry looked around at all the eyes staring at him, and launched into a brief, cutback version of the Sirius Black story. Only Ron and Hermione knew the full story. It was a special bond between the friends.
Harry thoroughly enjoyed his time at the Weasley's, he always did. But this time, if felt different. He didn't have the burden of protecting Sirius's secret, and he was learning more about his past. He felt truly happy. A small romance had even started between him and Ginny. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny spent all their time together. The boys taught the girls to play Quidditch, and the girls taught the boys to bake. But while the girls got the hang of Quidditch quickly, the boys frankly stunk at cooking!
"Maybe you two had just better stay out of the kitchen. For ever." Ginny suggested. Ron wrinkled his nose as he pulled out his batch of cookies from the oven. The dough was baked to a crisp, and the chocolate chips were burnt. Harry doubled over in laughter at the look of immense disappointment in Ron's face. Until he pulled out his own batch. The batter had spread out to form one giant rectangular cookie, and the mass had risen to almost 10cm high. The girls tried unsuccessfully to hide their laughter.
"Not funny!" the boys mumbled, but the girls couldn't hear them, they were actually crying from laughing so hard.
Mrs Weasley came bustling into the kitchen at that point, she could smell smoke. Seeing the mess that her room had become, she promptly banished Ron and Harry indefinitely from the kitchen.
Every afternoon, a group would take a walk around the land near the Burrow. Harry, Hermione and Ron went everyday of the week, and Ginny joined them all but one day. The other family members occasionally joined the friends, Fred and George were the most common ones.
On the day before Harry was to leave, 2 owls sailed through the open windows at breakfast. A letter fell onto Harry's marmalade toast. He picked it up gingerly, wiping it on a tea towel.
Harry,
Mrs Weasley invited Remus and I to dinner tonight, hope you don't mind, we accepted. She also said we could bring a friend if we wanted, and Remus wanted to bring Anya, so she's coming too. I think you should get to know your godmother better anyway.
See you tonight,
Sirius
Harry read the letter out loud to Hermione and Ron. They looked a little surprised at the news of Anya, but didn't seem to mind.
"It's very strange though. For all he says, he doesn't like her one bit, but Sirius mentions her an awful lot, doesn't he?" Hermione said thoughtfully. Harry nodded his head adamantly in agreement.
The second owl had a message for Fred and George. Upon reading the letter, their faces lit up, and they high-fived.
Ron raised his eyebrows at his brothers, the universal sign for
'what's going on?'
"Well, Harry old chap, we know it's your last day here, and we wanted to make it special," "So we invited a few people around for a friendly game of Quidditch!" Fred and George interrupted each other.
"Who?" Harry, Hermione and Ron asked simultaneously.
"Well, we figured that you and Ron would want to play, and so do Fred and me, and then we remembered that Hermione and Ginny could play as well, so we invited round 8 people" Fred finished casually, carefully looking for his mother's reaction.
"You invited 8 people around here, while I'm busy preparing for a wedding?" Molly Weasley was incredulous. Then she had a re-think.
"Well, I suppose it will keep you out of my hair. Yes, good idea dears!" she kissed the twins on top of their heads.
They beamed up at her, trying to keep in her good books.
At around 10 o'clock, 8 post-Hogwarts students flew in. Harry squinted into the sun, trying to work out who each person was. Suddenly, a whole block of people came into view. Angelina, Katie, Alicia and Lee Jordon were here, along with 3 boys Harry knew vaguely from school. Michael Rivers, Bailey Hampshire and Daniel Ellison were all in Ravenclaw at school, and were all friends of the twins. The last person, however, remained shrouded in the shadows thrown by the sun and trees. Harry squinted harder, and when a cloud covered the sun for a split second, he saw who it was.
"Oliver!" he yelled.
"Harry! Good to see you again!" Oliver Wood came charging over, and gave Harry a resounding slap on the back.
"What are you doing here?" Ron asked
"Well, Fred owled me, and told me the old Gryfinddor team was getting together again, for one last game, and I couldn't resist!" Oliver explained. The old team reminisced briefly, before the game got down to business.
"So, what do you think of Penelope?" Fred asked Harry.
"She seems nice," he replied, unsure of what else to say. Fred seemed satisfied with this though. Ginny and Hermione were talking enthusiastically about the colour co-ordination of the brides-maids dresses to the flower arrangements, and Ron looked like he was going to die of boredom.
"So they're getting dresses that match the rosebuds perfectly?" Hermione asked excitedly. Harry understood the look on intense boredom on Ron's face, but Ron was unable to leave the conversation. He had his arm intertwined with Hermione's, and the blanket was resting between them. George saw the irony of the situation as well, and him and Harry walked behind the threesome, sniggering at Ron's apparent misfortune.
The arrived back at the house to the scent of Mrs Weasley's hot chocolate. She took 6 large mugs out of a cupboard, and ladled the hot liquid into them. She carefully levitated each mug over as she poured. A bowl of marshmallows was on the table for use in the chocolate. Bill and his Mercedes wandered in, both clutching mugs as well. Sitting down at the table, Bill pulled up a chair next to Harry.
"Harry, you must tell me more about this Sirius Black," he whispered confidentially. Unfortunately, the room had fallen silent at that exact time, and everyone heard his question, turning to look at Harry to see his answer.
Harry looked around at all the eyes staring at him, and launched into a brief, cutback version of the Sirius Black story. Only Ron and Hermione knew the full story. It was a special bond between the friends.
Harry thoroughly enjoyed his time at the Weasley's, he always did. But this time, if felt different. He didn't have the burden of protecting Sirius's secret, and he was learning more about his past. He felt truly happy. A small romance had even started between him and Ginny. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny spent all their time together. The boys taught the girls to play Quidditch, and the girls taught the boys to bake. But while the girls got the hang of Quidditch quickly, the boys frankly stunk at cooking!
"Maybe you two had just better stay out of the kitchen. For ever." Ginny suggested. Ron wrinkled his nose as he pulled out his batch of cookies from the oven. The dough was baked to a crisp, and the chocolate chips were burnt. Harry doubled over in laughter at the look of immense disappointment in Ron's face. Until he pulled out his own batch. The batter had spread out to form one giant rectangular cookie, and the mass had risen to almost 10cm high. The girls tried unsuccessfully to hide their laughter.
"Not funny!" the boys mumbled, but the girls couldn't hear them, they were actually crying from laughing so hard.
Mrs Weasley came bustling into the kitchen at that point, she could smell smoke. Seeing the mess that her room had become, she promptly banished Ron and Harry indefinitely from the kitchen.
Every afternoon, a group would take a walk around the land near the Burrow. Harry, Hermione and Ron went everyday of the week, and Ginny joined them all but one day. The other family members occasionally joined the friends, Fred and George were the most common ones.
On the day before Harry was to leave, 2 owls sailed through the open windows at breakfast. A letter fell onto Harry's marmalade toast. He picked it up gingerly, wiping it on a tea towel.
Harry,
Mrs Weasley invited Remus and I to dinner tonight, hope you don't mind, we accepted. She also said we could bring a friend if we wanted, and Remus wanted to bring Anya, so she's coming too. I think you should get to know your godmother better anyway.
See you tonight,
Sirius
Harry read the letter out loud to Hermione and Ron. They looked a little surprised at the news of Anya, but didn't seem to mind.
"It's very strange though. For all he says, he doesn't like her one bit, but Sirius mentions her an awful lot, doesn't he?" Hermione said thoughtfully. Harry nodded his head adamantly in agreement.
The second owl had a message for Fred and George. Upon reading the letter, their faces lit up, and they high-fived.
Ron raised his eyebrows at his brothers, the universal sign for
'what's going on?'
"Well, Harry old chap, we know it's your last day here, and we wanted to make it special," "So we invited a few people around for a friendly game of Quidditch!" Fred and George interrupted each other.
"Who?" Harry, Hermione and Ron asked simultaneously.
"Well, we figured that you and Ron would want to play, and so do Fred and me, and then we remembered that Hermione and Ginny could play as well, so we invited round 8 people" Fred finished casually, carefully looking for his mother's reaction.
"You invited 8 people around here, while I'm busy preparing for a wedding?" Molly Weasley was incredulous. Then she had a re-think.
"Well, I suppose it will keep you out of my hair. Yes, good idea dears!" she kissed the twins on top of their heads.
They beamed up at her, trying to keep in her good books.
At around 10 o'clock, 8 post-Hogwarts students flew in. Harry squinted into the sun, trying to work out who each person was. Suddenly, a whole block of people came into view. Angelina, Katie, Alicia and Lee Jordon were here, along with 3 boys Harry knew vaguely from school. Michael Rivers, Bailey Hampshire and Daniel Ellison were all in Ravenclaw at school, and were all friends of the twins. The last person, however, remained shrouded in the shadows thrown by the sun and trees. Harry squinted harder, and when a cloud covered the sun for a split second, he saw who it was.
"Oliver!" he yelled.
"Harry! Good to see you again!" Oliver Wood came charging over, and gave Harry a resounding slap on the back.
"What are you doing here?" Ron asked
"Well, Fred owled me, and told me the old Gryfinddor team was getting together again, for one last game, and I couldn't resist!" Oliver explained. The old team reminisced briefly, before the game got down to business.