A Harry Situation
By Jill Weber/ Jelsemium
Characters copyrighted by J.K. Rowling and used without permission or intent to make a profit.
Chapter Five: Fight Night
Harry on the Floor
Harry blinked, wondering why he was sprawled out on the floor. Confused minutes later, he remembered that he was at Privet Drive, in Dudley's extra bedroom and he'd been looking out the window…
He felt like something kicked him in the stomach… There was something moving in the bedroom. Something that made a soft rustling noise and emitted a deranged twittering noise. Something small, about the size of a… rat.
Harry shoved himself to a sitting position, automatically reaching for the wand that was in his trunk in the cupboard under the stairs. He glanced frantically around the bedroom, looking for the source of the noise. Then, he looked… up.
Seconds later, he was on his feet, shaking with rage. "PIGWIDGEON, YOU BLASTED IDIOT, THAT HURT!" He rubbed his forehead, feeling a slight stickiness there. He was not surprised when he saw that his fingers had blood on them.
Moments later, Aunt Petunia was pounding on his door. "Potter, what on Earth are you going on about?" she demanded.
Oliver Wood trained reflexes allowed Harry to snag Pigwidgeon from the air and shove him into Hedwig's cage. He'd apologize to her later. He started for the door as Aunt Petunia came in.
"Sorry for the noise," Harry said. "But a wild owl just rammed me."
Petunia frowned at his forehead, but all she said was: "Don't bleed on the carpet."
Harry blinked rather owlishly at her. There was some strange odor… perfume? No, wait, it was gin. He'd never seen his aunt drink alone… but then, if she were alone, he wouldn't be there to see it, would he? He shook his head and decided that that was a bad idea. It not only hurt, but made his thoughts fuzzier than before.
Petunia snorted impatiently, grabbed her nephew by the elbow, and hauled him to the bathroom, muttering about thick-headed idiots all the way. "Can't you stay out of trouble for five minutes?" she snarled as she daubed iodine on the cut and breathed gin fumes into his face.
'Apparently not,' was the response Harry had just enough wit to not say.
"What on Earth do you have in your hair, Potter?"
Automatically, Harry started to reach up to feel his head. "Why? What does it look like?" he asked.
"Don't smear blood in your hair, idiot child," Petunia said. She grabbed his hand and shoved it under the running water. "It looks like bird droppings in your hair," she added, wrinkling her nose.
"Bird…? Oh, for Merlin's sake, if that crazy owl has pooped on my head, I swear Ron's going to be buy me hair potions… shampoo… for a full term!" Harry snarled as he pulled away from his aunt to look anxiously in the mirror. He didn't feel anything but hair, but when he looked, he could clearly see streaks of white in the black thicket that was his … hair?
Petunia smirked when she saw her nephew have a normal reaction, for once. She'd actually wondered if Potter would care if there was… But there wasn't. Those weren't owl pellets in his hair, those white streaks were…
"My hair's going white!" Harry gasped.
Ron in a Snit:
Ginny sat at the kitchen table, drumming her heels against her chair legs and watching Pixie chase errant honey-marshmallow snitches around the room. She wondered if she should just flat out ask Harry if he'd given the twins money. She wondered if she should write to Hermione and ask her to find out… no, that would be dishonest. Besides, she doubted that Hermione would ever break one of Harry's confidences.
Come right down to it, Ginny would lose respect for Hermione if the older girl ever did betray one of Harry's confidences.
After a virtual eternity of thought, soul-searching and two bowls of Qwidditch Qwunchies, Ginny reluctantly concluded there was no way to ask. She thought about casually mentioning the situation, but no. If Harry hadn't given the twins the money, he'd feel terrible about all the fighting. If Harry had given the money to the twins, he might feel worse for having caused the problems… well, at least one problem… well, exacerbated one problem. Never mind, she decided it was time to mail off her missive.
For that, she needed an owl. She wondered if Ron would lend her Pigwidgeon in exchange for doing the dishes tonight. She wandered outside to find out.
She found her brother looking thunderous and almost changed her mind about asking. Gathering up all the Gryffindor courage she could find lying on the floor, she managed. "Ron, may I use Pigwidgeon to send a thank you note to Harry?"
"No," Ron answered curtly. "I've already sent him off to Harry, the stupid prat…." He crumpled up a wad of paper, threw it to the floor and stomped on it.
"Oh," Ginny said. "Who's a prat? Harry or Pigwidgeon?"
"Both," Ron snarled. He kicked the wad of paper into a corner, ignoring Pixie's delighted reaction to this game. "If anybody needs me, I'll be degnoming the garden." Ron stomped out of the house and slammed the door, ignoring his mother's not-so-delighted reaction to that 'game'.
Ginny shook her head. "What's got into him?" she asked the only other occupants of the room, a calico cat and a snowy owl.
She did a double take when she realized to whom she was speaking. "Hedwig!" she cried in delight. "Have a nice trip? Would you like something to eat?" she asked, holding the door to the kitchen open.
Graciously, Hedwig preceded her into the kitchen. Ginny frowned at the crumpled paper that Pixie was chasing around the room. Trust Ron to… wait, Hedwig was here and suddenly Ron was angry at Harry. So, the crumpled paper on the floor was… a letter from Harry? She shouldn't read Ron's mail… on the other hand, she shouldn't leave trash lying on the floor, should she? It's Ron's own fault if he left stuff lying around… besides, better she should pick it up than the twins.
Resolutely, Ginny snatched up the offending, possibly offending, wad off the floor and went into the kitchen. She looked back to see if Pixie would follow. The cat stared at her as if debating the merits of snubbing the witch who'd stolen her toy versus the possibility of getting more food. Stomach won out over pride and she followed her new mistress into the food-domain.
After giving Hedwig some owl treats and Pixie a stray honey-marshmallow snitch to play with, Ginny picked up the wad of paper. She really shouldn't read Ron's mail, she thought as she flattened out the paper. A fraction of her mind noticed that the quality of this parchment was much higher than the note Harry had sent with Pixie. Then she shook herself. What was she doing? This was *RON'S MAIL*
She took one last wistful look at it… and saw her name. They were talking about her? Well, she supposed it stood to reason, she talked about her brothers a lot…
She shouldn't … she couldn't not. She looked. Suddenly she felt like somebody had cast an incendio charm on her. Her skin heated up so fast she felt sure that she was glowing. "Pixie! Look at this!" she hissed, holding the letter down to floor level so that the cat could bat at it. "He said 'Ask Ginny for help, she's as clever as Hermione' Harry Potter thinks that I, Virginia Margaret Weasley, am AS CLEVER AS HERMIONE!" Her cheeks were hurting now, but she couldn't stop beaming. Ron often said that he and Harry reckoned that Hermione was the smartest witch to ever set foot in Hogwarts, and Harry thought that she was as clever as Hermione, and it wasn't empty flattery, either, because he had not intended her to see this letter, and, and…
Hedwig rustled her wings impatiently. Ginny, being abruptly brought back to reality, jumped to her feet. "Oh, yes, I have a letter for Harry," she said, and fastened it to Hedwig's leg before she could lose her nerve.
She watched Hedwig fly off and her stomach gave a nervous lurch. What if Harry thought she was a total idiot? She tried to remember what she'd written and hoped it wouldn't look too stupid.
Then she took another look at the phrase in Harry's letter, wondering if she had enough Gryffindor courage to ask Ron if she could frame it. Then she noticed something Ron obviously had not, so she went to find him.
"Oh, Ronnie-kins," she caroled.
"WHAT?" Ron said, heaving a hefty garden gnome over the wall.
"Trying for a personal best?"
"Go away."
"Can I read your letter from Harry?"
Ron glared at her, then yanked the parchment out of her hand. "Why are you looking at my stuff?" he demanded.
"Why are you throwing your stuff around the living room?" Ginny countered.
Ron grunted and crumpled the parchment up. "This isn't about you?"
"Not even the part where he says that I'm as clever as Hermione?"
Ron glowered. "Where did you see that?"
Ginny grinned. "Right between the part where he called you 'Romeo,' oh brother of mine."
Ron's expression darkened.
Ginny's grin widened and she finished. "And the part where he asked if you wanted to borrow his Firebolt for the summer."
Ron's expression became downright murderous. "He said I should ask your advice before he started in on that 'Romeo' nonsense, like I don't know anything about literature, the stup…" The rest of Ginny's comment sank in, his face paled and he yanked open the letter. "Offered me his Firebolt? Where?"
"The second postscript," Ginny said sweetly, ignoring her slight misstatement. It had been for effect, anyway, she told herself. "You obviously stopped reading way too soon, brother mine."
"Oh, crap." Ron yanked open the letter again.
"That's rather inappropriate, considering what the boy just offered to lend you," Ginny sniffed, though she suspected she knew what Ron's problem was.
"Not nearly as inappropriate as my last letter," Ron said, staring at the bottom of the letter.
Ginny gave him a disgusted look.
Ron cringed at her expression. "Okay, yes, I was out of line. I'm just… I don't know why I decided to start a fight with Harry," Ron moaned. "It's just… everything. Ginny, what am I going to do?"
"I suggest an apology is in order," Ginny sniffed. In spite of her outward show, she'd already begun to feel sorry for Ron. Things were tense around the Burrow and she could understand how even mild teasing could set her brother off. Time to use that 'Hermione level' cleverness some people thought she had.
"Pig's not here… oh, I can use Hedwig," Ron said, brightening slightly. His face fell when Ginny shook her head.
"Blast!"
"Maybe we can use Errol?" Ginny suggested. "He can carry a small note, anyway."
"Right," Ron said and they went inside, only to be informed that Errol was on an errand.
"Hermes, then," Ginny said and they trooped off to find Percy.
Hairy Situation
:
"Lovely," Harry sighed. He ran his fingers through his rebellious locks but the colors didn't change at all.
"Probably a hereditary problem," Petunia said. "I would guess that your father's would be streaked with white by now. Your grandmother's was mostly white when I met her, and she was still fairly young."
Harry looked at her with shock. Petunia wasn't quite sure what had gotten into her. Too much of her Lovely Lemonade, she supposed.
"When did you meet my grandparents?" Harry asked. "I mean…"
"I know what you mean, Potter," Petunia snapped. "I only met your father's mother. I was given to understand that his father had died while he was in Hog… school."
"Oh," Harry digested that in silence as he stared at his reflection.
Petunia looked like she might say something further, then she turned away.
"Do you remember what their names were?" Harry asked.
Petunia shook her head and left.
Harry sighed and ran his fingers through his hair once again. He wondered if he could turn it black again. He should ask Hermione if she knew which would be better, Muggle dye or Wizarding charm? His musings were cut short as he returned to his room and went to Hedwig's cage to get his letter. Harry pulled the note off with some difficulty, since Pig couldn't bring himself to stay still.
Harry wound up with three pieces of letter that he had to fit together like a jigsaw. When he succeeded, he was immediately sorry that he'd bothered.
"YOU STUPID PRAT! I AM NOT ILLITERATE! I DON'T NEED MISS PRISSY PREFECT-TO-BE TO TELL ME WHO ROMEO IS! YOUR JUST BLOODY LUCKY THAT MINORS CANT SEND HOWLERS OR YOUR ROOF WOULD BE CAVING IN NOW, YOU SNOTTY LITTLE PIPSQUEAK! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO TELL ME WHAT I FEEL ABOUT HERMIONE? DON'T WRITE BACK, I DON'T WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!"
Harry looked at the letter in shock for a few moments. Then he flopped down on his bed. Well, he'd wanted to get a reaction out of Ron, and he sure had. He crumpled up the letter and scowled. That was mean… well, maybe he'd deserved … no! He hadn't said anything nasty in his letter! He didn't deserve to be treated like this… not by Ron, anyway.
He'd show that red-head… he'd… what? Repeat the fight from last year? No, thanks, once was way too many times for that sort of stupidity. He didn't want to fight with Ron. Besides, Ron was probably regretting the letter already. No need to start a fight. Maybe he should apologize. Maybe he should make a joke of it. "Dear Ron, I take it you don't want the Firebolt?" No, that was nasty. "Was that a yes or a no on the Firebolt?" He scowled. No, that was too snotty.
Pigwidgeon hooted worriedly and Harry realized he was lying on his back shredding the letter. He decided he needed some tea. He went downstairs. "Aunt Petunia? Do you want me to make you some tea?" he asked.
"No, boy, but make some for yourself if you want."
Whoa, that was almost gracious. Maybe she should drink gin more often. Harry went into the kitchen and fixed his tea.
Then he couldn't drink it.
Looking at the tea in his cup made him think of Trelawney and all the hours he and Ron had spent making up fake death predictions… only Cedric's death hadn't been fake, had it? And Fudge was trying to claim that Voldemort hadn't killed him. Maybe Fudge was trying to make it look like Harry had killed poor Cedric, or that Harry had imagined the whole thing, or that… Harry quashed those thoughts with difficulty. It wouldn't help to think like that.
Harry almost wished he could see the future in soggy tea leaves. He didn't believe in Divination any longer, but he understood why some people wanted to believe. It would be nice to know what was coming. He looked at the shredded letter in his hand. On the other hand, sometimes, ignorance was bliss. He mulled that thought over for a few minutes, then headed back to his room. No point in wasting a perfectly good solution when it was staring him straight in the face.
Ginny and Ron and Percy's Door
"Aw, come on, Perce! This is an emergency! I need to borrow Hermes so I can send a letter to tell Harry to ignore my last letter!"
"Use Errol," Percy said stiffly.
"Mum sent Errol out already," Ginny said.
"Besides, Errol hasn't got any chance at all of catching up to Pig," Ron said. "Hermes might, though."
"I need Hermes… oh, here's Pigwidgeon," Percy interrupted himself with a small sigh of relief.
Pigwidgeon ricocheted off the wall, bounced off Ron's hand as the boy tried to grab him, then dropped neatly into Ginny's hand.
"You should try out for Quidditch," Percy said soberly. "You'd make a great Seeker."
"Thanks, Percy," Ginny said absently as she deftly undid the letter.
"I can't look," Ron moaned, covering his face. "Ginny, you read it."
She took a deep breath, then opened the note and read it. Then she sighed. "You're in luck, listen. - Ron, sorry to bother you, but I need you to redo your last letter. I dropped it in my soup before I could read it. (Yes, laugh now, don't wait for the next time you see me.) Did you get my letter about the Firebolt? – Harry."
Ron let his breath out with a woof. "Thank goodness for small favors." It never crossed his mind that Harry might have lied. After all, Harry was basically honest and Ron wasn't the one who had just been thinking about all the lies he and Harry used to write down for Trelawney. All the relieved redhead thought was that some kindly Fate had stepped in to prevent another fall out between him and one of his best friends.
"Pigwidgeon probably did a swan dive into his soup bowl, but Harry was too polite to say," ventured Percy. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a letter to finish."
"Give Penelope our regards," Ron said, conveniently overlooking his own distaste for being teased.
"As it happens, Ronald Reuel Weasley," Percy said haughtily. "I was writing to Dumbledore. I have a suggestion as to how to better protect the Burrow from intruders. Maybe that will make him reconsider Harry's exile." Percy shut his door in his younger siblings' faces. Then he opened it and winked at them before shutting it again.
"Just when you think he's a total…" Ron couldn't finish his statement because Ginny shoved Harry's note into his mouth.
"Here, you can't eat your words, so eat Harry's," she teased.
Later, she would smack herself for throwing away a precious Harry letter.
Updated Author's Note: I know NOW that Ginny is short for Ginevra, not Virginia. At the time I wrote this, JK hadn't said. I have decided to not update her name, even though I like Ginevra better than Virginia.
QUICK FIX -
Xavien - Whoops, I'm making Ginny's middle name Margaret. I'm assuming that's what Molly is short for. Bonnie Wright plays Ginny in the movies. My bad. We now return you to your regular author's notes…
Author's Notes:
Sorry, I lied, the reason for them being in the attic won't be in this chapter after all. I wanted to be doing at least a chapter a week, and I seem to have fallen behind. Besides, the whole attic business is rather a sharp change in mood from this chapter.
The bit about not bleeding on the floor is from real life. I fell against the coffee table when I was a child. My father had not only made this table, but he had carefully rounded the edges so clumsy children would not injure themselves on it. But I managed to put a gash in my forehead that required stitches. The first thing out of my (otherwise loving) mother's mouth when she saw my injury was: 'Don't bleed on the carpet.' (I still have the scar on my forehead. Alas, it's not a cool looking lightning bolt, though.)
Hikahi - Thanks for the review! Yes, I could have ended the story somewhere else, but to quote my favorite caretaker "God, I miss the screaming!". Hope the history paper went well.
Nightw2 – Thanks for the review! I'm sorry, I'm rather stuck on our Aladdin collaboration. I'll get back on that soon!
katrina - Yep, Hermione is stressing about Harry's problems, and her own. I'm going to have fun with Harry and Hermione's relationship because it's not a romantic one nor a familial one.
lan - *Blushes* Thanks for the compliments! Here is the update and Ron's reaction!
MoNmOn – Thanks for the review!
Imp – Glad you want more of the story! I'll try to be faster at getting you more!
coolone007 – Wow! Glad my writing has helped you! Hope my writing continues to please!
pegoheart144 – Wow, again! Thanks for putting me on your favorites list! I have a definite end for this story in mind. I know where it's going and I know how to get there. It's just a matter of time.
Ozma - Oooo, I love it when you scream, Partner! Cliff-hangers are so much fun when I'm the one hanging them. ** Can't you just see Petunia turning to drink when she has to deal with the unnatural son of her too-perfect sister? ** I can imagine how Harry feels about Cedric's death. I had a much milder dose of that when one of my cats killed a baby bird. It must be horrible to think you caused a person to die. ** Yes, Hermione is the kind of friend that I would want. Somebody who doesn't just worry but tries to find some way to help. ** Thanks! I just thought that Shakespeare's time seemed much more inclined to believe in magic without resorting to witch hunts. ** Harry would reassure the Weasleys about the source of the money if he realized how much stress it's producing.
Pseudonym Sylphmuse – Thanks for the kind words! And double thanks for putting me on your favorites list! ** I figured Ginny for strawberries because I'm crazy for strawberries and I'm a girl. ** It would be interesting for Snape to read an essay about how all boys are prats, since it would probably include him, too!
Miriam – Glad you like the story! It occurs to me that nobody is 100% anything. Harry sees only the nasty side of the Dursleys, but I figure there must be something else, even if it's deeply buried. There will be more of this in later chapters. ** We really don't get into anybody's head but Harry's in canon. I like to try to think from the other character's point of view. I don't think that Harry is clueless about Ginny's crush, though. He noticed all the broken crockery and elbows in the butter dish. He's just trying to spare Ginny's feelings and not notice. ** I figure there has to be some overlap between the Wizarding world and the Muggle world, especially back in the times when people were more ready to believe in the supernatural. Snape wasn't angry at the reference so much as he was angry at Lavender using a 'silly incantation.' And, since he knew the source of the quote, she failed to convince him that she'd just misremembered the proper incantation. ** Hope you like this chapter!
Chary – Thanks! Glad you liked that chapter, hope you like this chapter, too! ** I can sympathize with Petunia a little. I know what it's like to be overshadowed by one's siblings. On the other hand, if my late sister had left a son and I'd been given him to raise, he'd be the most huggled little boy on the planet. ** Harry's interesting to me. He was brought up in such a bad environment, yet he's managed to avoid becoming as embittered as Voldemort had. The fact that he is able to open himself up to friends seems to me to show how much courage he truly has. ** Yes, Hermione has a lot to be worried about. Her parents are Muggles and she's Harry's friend. A potentially fatal combination. (It occurs to me that the only people in more danger than the Muggle parents of a witch might be the Muggle husband of a witch, namely Seamus Finnigan's father.) ** NO COCKROACHES? Dang! Pack my bags! How'd England escape cockroaches? Rowling's familiar with them, else why would she have 'cockroach clusters?' Anyway, when I get around to updating my fourth chapter, you'll see what replaced the cockroaches. ** I can come up with worse cliffhangers, Missy. If you don't want to see them, then I suggest you update "Beloved on this Earth"… soon!
Alla – Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad you came over from Ozma's site to check out my solo stories. I'm glad you find my humor and my take on the Weasleys to be to your taste. I'm trying to come up with a different take on how Harry and Ginny become a couple. ** I'm glad you consider me good enough to put on your favorites list!
Female Fred – Thanks for the compliment! Pixie reminds me of my cats. I suppose if I want her to sleep on a T.V. set, she'll have to visit the Grangers…
