Mr and Mrs Weasley weren't at the Burrow - Ron explained that they were in
Diagon Alley with Ron's younger sister, Ginny, to buy her a pet owl, since
she had been complaining that both Percy and Ron had one (the twins didn't
want any - besides, even if they did, Harry very much doubted that the poor
creature would survive very long in their care) - and Percy was working at
the Ministry harder than ever, even though the death of his former boss, Mr
Crouch, had struck him hard. So Harry, Ron, Charlie and the twins had the
house to themselves all day long. They played Quidditch, several games of
Exploding Snap, and Harry even accepted to taste a Screamer after insistent
pleas from Fred and George - which he regretted immediately, as he let out
a long howl that made him sound like a dog.
Escaping the twins' jokes, Harry and Ron headed up to Ron's room. There, Ron sprawled himself across his bed, heaved a deep sigh, and shut his eyes for a minute. Harry guessed that Ron was getting a little stressed with everything going on at the Burrow, especially the twins playing tricks on him constantly (they had almost managed to knock Ron off his broom while playing Quidditch). Harry just looked out the window for a minute or two, feeling happy for himself, but sorry for Ron, who, Harry suspected, could probably do with a week of holidays at Dumbledore's.
Dumbledore! He had completely forgotten to tell Ron what happened...
"Ron! Hey, Ron!"
Harry shook him vigorously by the shoulder.
"Huh?" Ron started, and lifted his head to look up at Harry. "What is it?"
"Were you sleeping?"
Ron sat up in bed and rested his head on his knees, his gaze vacant.
"No, just dozing off, I suppose..."
"What's the matter?" Harry asked in concern.
Ron sighed. "Oh, nothing, really... Just a bunch of stupid things..."
He suddenly seemed to awake from his lethargic state, and started to talk very fast:
"I mean, this is the worst summer I've ever spent in my entire life: I haven't seen Bill since the end of the school year, and mum and dad won't tell us what he's up to; Percy's been working at the ministry every single day for the past month, so he's never around - then again, that might be the only good thing that's happened to me so far; mum's acting very weird, sending dozens of owls, and always looking worried - she doesn't even scowl at Fred and George anymore, when they're making even more of a mess than usual! And last night was the first time I saw my dad in an entire week: he keeps disappearing all the time and barely even comes home anymore."
When he was done talking, Ron drew in a long breath. It seemed as though he had been in need of sharing all this with someone for weeks, and now that he had, Harry was pleased to see, he looked a bit calmer, and very relieved.
Harry patted him sympathetically on the shoulder and gave him an encouraging sort of smile. Finally, after a few seconds of awkward silence, Ron grinned back and said:
"I'm glad you're here - don't think I could've made it through another three weeks without you. What took you so long? Why didn't you come sooner?"
So Harry explained everything that had happened during the past ten days: Sirius coming to get him at Privet Drive, the goblins in the pub, Dumbledore's - amazing - house, and Harry being sent at the Burrow because Sirius hadn't come back yet. He told Ron about everything, even the biting books and Dumbledore's flowery apron (Ron let out a snort of laughter at this), but carefully avoided mentioning the Book of Seers.
By the time Harry was done with the account of his holidays, Ron's mouth was opened so wide you could have fitted easily a dozen Ton Tongue Toffees inside it - but his face also expressed anxiety.
"So - so, you haven't heard from Sirius since he left?"
"Nope," Harry answered gloomily. "Dumbledore said he'll tell me as soon as he gets some news from him, but even he looked worried."
"And - do you have any idea where he went, or what he's doing?"
Harry shook his head. He suspected that there might be goblins involved, but didn't see how that could help them at all. Now he understood why Ron felt so depressed about his father's and Bill's absence: not knowing where Sirius was made his insides feel unpleasantly empty.
"Maybe we could ask Charlie?" suggested Ron tentatively. "He might know something about Sirius' mission."
Harry doubted it.
"Or we could ask dad," continued Ron. "He works at the Ministry, I'm sure he knows what's going on."
"Ron," interrupted Harry, "up until a few weeks ago your dad didn't even know that Sirius was innocent!"
"Well... no... But you can still talk to him when he comes home - if he comes home..." Ron added dully.
Desirous to change the subject, Harry looked around for something interesting they could talk about and spotted a poster where seven orange blurs kept zooming in and out of view.
"Still supporting the Chudley Cannons, huh?" said Harry with a grin.
"Yeah..." said Ron contemptuously, grimacing at the poster. "Who knows? They might end up winning a match one of these years."
Harry enjoyed watching the team on the poster play Quidditch for a while, before Ron asked:
"Who d'you reckon'll be the new Gryffindor captain, this year?"
"Dunno... We need a new Keeper anyway, so I guess we'll have quite a few changes on the team."
Oliver Wood, former captain and Keeper of the Gryffindor team, had left Hogwarts two years ago.
Harry was eager to begin the Quidditch season at school. He was looking forward to everything: the practices, the games, and especially riding his firebolt, his most prized possession. He was just about to suggest going outside again and flying around a bit more when loud voices and rummaging downstairs told them that Mr and Mrs Weasley and Ginny were back from Diagon Alley.
Harry and Ron went down to the kitchen, and found a harassed looking Mr Weasley, a scolding Mrs Weasley ("Why do you always have to complain about everything, Arthur?"), and a tired, yet very satisfied Ginny, who was holding in her arms -
"A cat?" bellowed Ron. "Are you crazy? I hate cats! You were supposed to buy an owl!"
"Well, mum and dad said I could buy a pet of my choice, right?" replied Ginny in a determined voice, although blushing slightly. "And since Hermione has Crookshanks, and he's adorable, I tho-"
"ADORABLE?! That thing's a monster! It attacks everyone and everything!"
"Yes, quite right, Ron," added Mr Weasley, his voice quivering a little. "I was trying to convince your mother..."
His voice died off as his wife glared fiercely at him.
"Honestly!" she huffed. "What is it with you? If I didn't know any better I'd say you were scared of cats!"
"Well apparently she doesn't know better..." muttered Ron.
Mrs Weasley placed a protective arm around her daughter.
"Ginny made a very good choice. Pickles is sweet as can be!"
"Pickles? You called him Pickles?!" exclaimed Ron while the twins exploded with laughter in a corner of the kitchen. "What kind of a name is that?"
Ginny glared at Ron - a very good (and somewhat frightening) imitation of Mrs Weasley.
Harry looked at the brown and white fur ball recoiled in Ginny's arms, and had to agree with the fact that Pickles was a very odd name for it indeed - Ginny had the knack to give pets names that didn't suit them at all.
Suddenly, Mr Weasley noticed Harry standing by the door and walked toward him, thus putting a temporary ending to the argument.
"Harry! Here already?" he said with a smile. He then asked his wife, "Was it today?"
Mrs Weasley rolled her eyes and didn't bother answering - she went straight to Harry, gave him a hug and said, "Harry! How lovely to have you with us at last! Albus told us you'd be coming pretty soon. How are you, dear?"
Harry freed himself from her grasp before answering that he was doing fine.
"Well!" said Mrs Weasley. "It's been a long day..."
"A very long day..." mumbled Mr Weasley.
Luckily enough, Mrs Weasley didn't hear him, or in any case ignored his comment, because she continued, "Why don't you set up a table outside while I prepare dinner?"
Setting the table turned out to be nothing short of a challenge, as gnomes kept running in between everyone's feet and Fred and George were throwing miscellaneous objects at whoever carried plates or glasses, forcing them to do the most extraordinary acrobatic figures to avoid breaking anything.
During dinner, Harry couldn't help but to feel a bit sorry for Ginny, who was surrounded by the twins and Charlie (who, Harry was beginning to think, liked to joke around just as much as the twins did), and the only girl at the table. Which reminded Harry about Hermione - he hadn't received any letters from her because Dumbledore had told her not to send anything, but surely she had sent something to Ron.
When Harry asked him about this, Ron frowned and said grumpily:
"Yeah, she wrote to me - 'bout a couple of weeks ago. She says she's in Germany, visiting her aunt, but for some reason I don't believe her..."
"Why's that?"
"Well, she never mentioned an aunt, did she? Or German relatives? And I just don't understand why she'd spend a month and a half away from all her friends - us, namely," he said crossly.
"But she is all right?"
Harry wanted to make sure: the last thing he needed right now was another person to worry for.
"Oh yeah, she's fine... Just fine..." answered Ron distractedly.
Harry had a slight suspicion that Hermione might be spending the holidays with Viktor Krum, the Seeker for the Bulgarian Quidditch team, and a student at Durmstrang; he had a bit of a liking for Hermione, and had invited her, at the end of the school year, to stay with him over the summer. Harry found it amusing that this should make Ron upset. Nonetheless, he kept his ideas for himself - he didn't think Ron was in a mood for being teased, tonight.
Percy came home shortly after everyone was done eating, and barely even took any notice of Harry or the rest of his family before going up to his room and locking himself inside.
Mrs Weasley sighed sadly. "The poor dear... He's been working so hard! He must be exhausted. I'll go talk to him..."
The twins seemed very happy indeed about spending a Percy-and-Mrs Weasley- free evening: they went up to their room and five minutes later brought back down a bag full of sparkling white toffees and settled themselves next to the chimney once again - Harry guessed they were going to continue experimenting their Freezing Toffees. Mr Weasley shook his head disapprovingly and sighed, but didn't say anything and went up to bed, beckoning Ginny to do the same. Charlie finally left too, after making sure the toffees had been somewhat improved since the last time they were tested. Harry would have gladly stayed to watch the effects of the Freezing Toffees and have a good laugh, but Ron kept yawning, so they decided to go to bed, leaving the twins to their inventions ("George, you don't reckon we could do the same for hair instead of body parts, do you?").
That night, sleep came more easily for Harry than it had in weeks (part of it was due to the fact that the bed in Ron's room didn't keep on moving and bouncing all the time). Finally, he felt safe, finally, he felt welcomed and loved, and finally, he was with his friends. Not that it hadn't been that way with Dumbledore, but the Weasleys were just - different. They felt like family.
A week went by, and Harry still didn't have any news from Sirius. He started feeling more and more nervous every day, until finally just thinking of Sirius made him feel sick with anxiety. It was a good thing there were so many incidents going on at the Burrow to keep Harry distracted: once, Ron stepped on Pickles, and the fit Ginny had thrown was enough to make anyone fear the skinny, apparently timid and fearful fourteen year old girl. Another time, the Weasleys had woken up to find Fred's and George's skin blue and bright pink, after a most unfortunate misadventure with some kind of new potion they were concocting: they weren't quite sure how it had happened, but were guessing they had put too much Magical Colouring Powder in their mixture, and didn't know how to fix it. They remained in their pitiful state for two entire days.
Mr Weasley had been staying at home pretty often ever since Harry had arrived at the Burrow, which everyone was glad about, especially Mr Weasley himself. Unfortunately, one morning while they were eating breakfast, a figure not unknown to Harry abruptly burst in through the chimney. It was a tall, dark-haired wizard, probably in his mid-forties, who had just travelled by Floo Powder - and, judging by the state of his robes, this wasn't the first time he had done it that morning. He had big bags under his eyes, and when he addressed Mr Weasley, it was in a strained voice:
"Arthur! So sorry to drop in like this..."
"Mr Peasegood!" exclaimed Charlie.
"Arnie! What're you doing here? And travelling by Floo Powder, too..."
Arnie. Arnie Peasegood. Harry recognized the name. And then he remembered: he was a member of the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, whom he had met briefly at the Quidditch World Cup the year before.
"We need help," said Peasegood urgently. "A whole group of Italian tourists tried to apparate into the National Quidditch Museum yesterday evening, but they all splinched themselves - blame that on all these damn curses... A bunch of Muggles spotted the different body parts all over the country, and we're going to need all the help we can get to sort this out - and I'm not even talking about the trouble we're going to have with the Italian Minister of Magic! He's heard what happened, of course, and he'll be arriving this afternoon. I daresay he'll want a word with our Transportation Department."
Mr Weasley immediately got up and started to head for his room.
"I'll be back down in a minute, Arnie."
"I'm coming too," said Charlie, and he followed Mr Weasley up the stairs.
"Excellent!" said Peasegood, as he looked around the kitchen at the other Weasleys and Harry. "Where's Percy?" he then asked Mrs Weasley.
"Working at his office, still..." sighed Mrs Weasley. "I very much doubt he'll be able to come and help you."
"Oh, I wasn't asking for that!" said Peasegood, almost apologetically. "I know you're already going to be short-handed with Arthur and Charlie gone, having to take care of this lot here. It's just - with everything going on, these days - we really need everybody's support. If I didn't know any better, I'd say You-Know-Who himself was back again! I will be glad when we've finally caught these trouble-makers..." he finished with a sigh.
There was an awkward silence. The Weasleys and Harry all knew, of course, that Voldemort was back, but knew better than to say so.
Just then, Mr Weasley and Charlie came back in the kitchen, each one of them carrying a small bag.
"I don't suppose you know how long this will take, Arnie?" asked Mr Weasley as he pocketed his wand.
Peasegood shrugged. "I have no idea. It could take a couple of days, or it could take weeks -" (Mrs Weasley shuddered at this) "which I'm hoping it won't..."
Mr Weasley kissed his troubled wife on the cheek ("You look after yourself, Arthur! You never know what those Muggles can decide to do...") and addressed everyone sitting at the table:
"Now you behave yourselves." His stare lingered on the twins as he said this. "We'll be back as soon as we can."
He grabbed a pinch of Floo Powder from inside the flower pot next to the chimney, threw it in the fire and jumped into it, shortly followed by Peasegood. Charlie waved good-bye to everyone and went in after them.
Escaping the twins' jokes, Harry and Ron headed up to Ron's room. There, Ron sprawled himself across his bed, heaved a deep sigh, and shut his eyes for a minute. Harry guessed that Ron was getting a little stressed with everything going on at the Burrow, especially the twins playing tricks on him constantly (they had almost managed to knock Ron off his broom while playing Quidditch). Harry just looked out the window for a minute or two, feeling happy for himself, but sorry for Ron, who, Harry suspected, could probably do with a week of holidays at Dumbledore's.
Dumbledore! He had completely forgotten to tell Ron what happened...
"Ron! Hey, Ron!"
Harry shook him vigorously by the shoulder.
"Huh?" Ron started, and lifted his head to look up at Harry. "What is it?"
"Were you sleeping?"
Ron sat up in bed and rested his head on his knees, his gaze vacant.
"No, just dozing off, I suppose..."
"What's the matter?" Harry asked in concern.
Ron sighed. "Oh, nothing, really... Just a bunch of stupid things..."
He suddenly seemed to awake from his lethargic state, and started to talk very fast:
"I mean, this is the worst summer I've ever spent in my entire life: I haven't seen Bill since the end of the school year, and mum and dad won't tell us what he's up to; Percy's been working at the ministry every single day for the past month, so he's never around - then again, that might be the only good thing that's happened to me so far; mum's acting very weird, sending dozens of owls, and always looking worried - she doesn't even scowl at Fred and George anymore, when they're making even more of a mess than usual! And last night was the first time I saw my dad in an entire week: he keeps disappearing all the time and barely even comes home anymore."
When he was done talking, Ron drew in a long breath. It seemed as though he had been in need of sharing all this with someone for weeks, and now that he had, Harry was pleased to see, he looked a bit calmer, and very relieved.
Harry patted him sympathetically on the shoulder and gave him an encouraging sort of smile. Finally, after a few seconds of awkward silence, Ron grinned back and said:
"I'm glad you're here - don't think I could've made it through another three weeks without you. What took you so long? Why didn't you come sooner?"
So Harry explained everything that had happened during the past ten days: Sirius coming to get him at Privet Drive, the goblins in the pub, Dumbledore's - amazing - house, and Harry being sent at the Burrow because Sirius hadn't come back yet. He told Ron about everything, even the biting books and Dumbledore's flowery apron (Ron let out a snort of laughter at this), but carefully avoided mentioning the Book of Seers.
By the time Harry was done with the account of his holidays, Ron's mouth was opened so wide you could have fitted easily a dozen Ton Tongue Toffees inside it - but his face also expressed anxiety.
"So - so, you haven't heard from Sirius since he left?"
"Nope," Harry answered gloomily. "Dumbledore said he'll tell me as soon as he gets some news from him, but even he looked worried."
"And - do you have any idea where he went, or what he's doing?"
Harry shook his head. He suspected that there might be goblins involved, but didn't see how that could help them at all. Now he understood why Ron felt so depressed about his father's and Bill's absence: not knowing where Sirius was made his insides feel unpleasantly empty.
"Maybe we could ask Charlie?" suggested Ron tentatively. "He might know something about Sirius' mission."
Harry doubted it.
"Or we could ask dad," continued Ron. "He works at the Ministry, I'm sure he knows what's going on."
"Ron," interrupted Harry, "up until a few weeks ago your dad didn't even know that Sirius was innocent!"
"Well... no... But you can still talk to him when he comes home - if he comes home..." Ron added dully.
Desirous to change the subject, Harry looked around for something interesting they could talk about and spotted a poster where seven orange blurs kept zooming in and out of view.
"Still supporting the Chudley Cannons, huh?" said Harry with a grin.
"Yeah..." said Ron contemptuously, grimacing at the poster. "Who knows? They might end up winning a match one of these years."
Harry enjoyed watching the team on the poster play Quidditch for a while, before Ron asked:
"Who d'you reckon'll be the new Gryffindor captain, this year?"
"Dunno... We need a new Keeper anyway, so I guess we'll have quite a few changes on the team."
Oliver Wood, former captain and Keeper of the Gryffindor team, had left Hogwarts two years ago.
Harry was eager to begin the Quidditch season at school. He was looking forward to everything: the practices, the games, and especially riding his firebolt, his most prized possession. He was just about to suggest going outside again and flying around a bit more when loud voices and rummaging downstairs told them that Mr and Mrs Weasley and Ginny were back from Diagon Alley.
Harry and Ron went down to the kitchen, and found a harassed looking Mr Weasley, a scolding Mrs Weasley ("Why do you always have to complain about everything, Arthur?"), and a tired, yet very satisfied Ginny, who was holding in her arms -
"A cat?" bellowed Ron. "Are you crazy? I hate cats! You were supposed to buy an owl!"
"Well, mum and dad said I could buy a pet of my choice, right?" replied Ginny in a determined voice, although blushing slightly. "And since Hermione has Crookshanks, and he's adorable, I tho-"
"ADORABLE?! That thing's a monster! It attacks everyone and everything!"
"Yes, quite right, Ron," added Mr Weasley, his voice quivering a little. "I was trying to convince your mother..."
His voice died off as his wife glared fiercely at him.
"Honestly!" she huffed. "What is it with you? If I didn't know any better I'd say you were scared of cats!"
"Well apparently she doesn't know better..." muttered Ron.
Mrs Weasley placed a protective arm around her daughter.
"Ginny made a very good choice. Pickles is sweet as can be!"
"Pickles? You called him Pickles?!" exclaimed Ron while the twins exploded with laughter in a corner of the kitchen. "What kind of a name is that?"
Ginny glared at Ron - a very good (and somewhat frightening) imitation of Mrs Weasley.
Harry looked at the brown and white fur ball recoiled in Ginny's arms, and had to agree with the fact that Pickles was a very odd name for it indeed - Ginny had the knack to give pets names that didn't suit them at all.
Suddenly, Mr Weasley noticed Harry standing by the door and walked toward him, thus putting a temporary ending to the argument.
"Harry! Here already?" he said with a smile. He then asked his wife, "Was it today?"
Mrs Weasley rolled her eyes and didn't bother answering - she went straight to Harry, gave him a hug and said, "Harry! How lovely to have you with us at last! Albus told us you'd be coming pretty soon. How are you, dear?"
Harry freed himself from her grasp before answering that he was doing fine.
"Well!" said Mrs Weasley. "It's been a long day..."
"A very long day..." mumbled Mr Weasley.
Luckily enough, Mrs Weasley didn't hear him, or in any case ignored his comment, because she continued, "Why don't you set up a table outside while I prepare dinner?"
Setting the table turned out to be nothing short of a challenge, as gnomes kept running in between everyone's feet and Fred and George were throwing miscellaneous objects at whoever carried plates or glasses, forcing them to do the most extraordinary acrobatic figures to avoid breaking anything.
During dinner, Harry couldn't help but to feel a bit sorry for Ginny, who was surrounded by the twins and Charlie (who, Harry was beginning to think, liked to joke around just as much as the twins did), and the only girl at the table. Which reminded Harry about Hermione - he hadn't received any letters from her because Dumbledore had told her not to send anything, but surely she had sent something to Ron.
When Harry asked him about this, Ron frowned and said grumpily:
"Yeah, she wrote to me - 'bout a couple of weeks ago. She says she's in Germany, visiting her aunt, but for some reason I don't believe her..."
"Why's that?"
"Well, she never mentioned an aunt, did she? Or German relatives? And I just don't understand why she'd spend a month and a half away from all her friends - us, namely," he said crossly.
"But she is all right?"
Harry wanted to make sure: the last thing he needed right now was another person to worry for.
"Oh yeah, she's fine... Just fine..." answered Ron distractedly.
Harry had a slight suspicion that Hermione might be spending the holidays with Viktor Krum, the Seeker for the Bulgarian Quidditch team, and a student at Durmstrang; he had a bit of a liking for Hermione, and had invited her, at the end of the school year, to stay with him over the summer. Harry found it amusing that this should make Ron upset. Nonetheless, he kept his ideas for himself - he didn't think Ron was in a mood for being teased, tonight.
Percy came home shortly after everyone was done eating, and barely even took any notice of Harry or the rest of his family before going up to his room and locking himself inside.
Mrs Weasley sighed sadly. "The poor dear... He's been working so hard! He must be exhausted. I'll go talk to him..."
The twins seemed very happy indeed about spending a Percy-and-Mrs Weasley- free evening: they went up to their room and five minutes later brought back down a bag full of sparkling white toffees and settled themselves next to the chimney once again - Harry guessed they were going to continue experimenting their Freezing Toffees. Mr Weasley shook his head disapprovingly and sighed, but didn't say anything and went up to bed, beckoning Ginny to do the same. Charlie finally left too, after making sure the toffees had been somewhat improved since the last time they were tested. Harry would have gladly stayed to watch the effects of the Freezing Toffees and have a good laugh, but Ron kept yawning, so they decided to go to bed, leaving the twins to their inventions ("George, you don't reckon we could do the same for hair instead of body parts, do you?").
That night, sleep came more easily for Harry than it had in weeks (part of it was due to the fact that the bed in Ron's room didn't keep on moving and bouncing all the time). Finally, he felt safe, finally, he felt welcomed and loved, and finally, he was with his friends. Not that it hadn't been that way with Dumbledore, but the Weasleys were just - different. They felt like family.
A week went by, and Harry still didn't have any news from Sirius. He started feeling more and more nervous every day, until finally just thinking of Sirius made him feel sick with anxiety. It was a good thing there were so many incidents going on at the Burrow to keep Harry distracted: once, Ron stepped on Pickles, and the fit Ginny had thrown was enough to make anyone fear the skinny, apparently timid and fearful fourteen year old girl. Another time, the Weasleys had woken up to find Fred's and George's skin blue and bright pink, after a most unfortunate misadventure with some kind of new potion they were concocting: they weren't quite sure how it had happened, but were guessing they had put too much Magical Colouring Powder in their mixture, and didn't know how to fix it. They remained in their pitiful state for two entire days.
Mr Weasley had been staying at home pretty often ever since Harry had arrived at the Burrow, which everyone was glad about, especially Mr Weasley himself. Unfortunately, one morning while they were eating breakfast, a figure not unknown to Harry abruptly burst in through the chimney. It was a tall, dark-haired wizard, probably in his mid-forties, who had just travelled by Floo Powder - and, judging by the state of his robes, this wasn't the first time he had done it that morning. He had big bags under his eyes, and when he addressed Mr Weasley, it was in a strained voice:
"Arthur! So sorry to drop in like this..."
"Mr Peasegood!" exclaimed Charlie.
"Arnie! What're you doing here? And travelling by Floo Powder, too..."
Arnie. Arnie Peasegood. Harry recognized the name. And then he remembered: he was a member of the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, whom he had met briefly at the Quidditch World Cup the year before.
"We need help," said Peasegood urgently. "A whole group of Italian tourists tried to apparate into the National Quidditch Museum yesterday evening, but they all splinched themselves - blame that on all these damn curses... A bunch of Muggles spotted the different body parts all over the country, and we're going to need all the help we can get to sort this out - and I'm not even talking about the trouble we're going to have with the Italian Minister of Magic! He's heard what happened, of course, and he'll be arriving this afternoon. I daresay he'll want a word with our Transportation Department."
Mr Weasley immediately got up and started to head for his room.
"I'll be back down in a minute, Arnie."
"I'm coming too," said Charlie, and he followed Mr Weasley up the stairs.
"Excellent!" said Peasegood, as he looked around the kitchen at the other Weasleys and Harry. "Where's Percy?" he then asked Mrs Weasley.
"Working at his office, still..." sighed Mrs Weasley. "I very much doubt he'll be able to come and help you."
"Oh, I wasn't asking for that!" said Peasegood, almost apologetically. "I know you're already going to be short-handed with Arthur and Charlie gone, having to take care of this lot here. It's just - with everything going on, these days - we really need everybody's support. If I didn't know any better, I'd say You-Know-Who himself was back again! I will be glad when we've finally caught these trouble-makers..." he finished with a sigh.
There was an awkward silence. The Weasleys and Harry all knew, of course, that Voldemort was back, but knew better than to say so.
Just then, Mr Weasley and Charlie came back in the kitchen, each one of them carrying a small bag.
"I don't suppose you know how long this will take, Arnie?" asked Mr Weasley as he pocketed his wand.
Peasegood shrugged. "I have no idea. It could take a couple of days, or it could take weeks -" (Mrs Weasley shuddered at this) "which I'm hoping it won't..."
Mr Weasley kissed his troubled wife on the cheek ("You look after yourself, Arthur! You never know what those Muggles can decide to do...") and addressed everyone sitting at the table:
"Now you behave yourselves." His stare lingered on the twins as he said this. "We'll be back as soon as we can."
He grabbed a pinch of Floo Powder from inside the flower pot next to the chimney, threw it in the fire and jumped into it, shortly followed by Peasegood. Charlie waved good-bye to everyone and went in after them.