Chapter 13
Dedicated to Jiwon Kang, the best roommate in la monde!
Author's note: Hey guys! I finally have my next chapter up! Yay! I appreciate all the reviews I got for chapter twelve, and have been working very hard to turn out this next one. But I must say, I'm rather disappointed in those of you (everyone) who didn't give me any suggestions for a pop song that Hermione could sing, and I really need one. Really really! So, please continue to read, and tell me if I'm doing anything wrong, and I will attempt to correct any cardinal sins of HP fanfic writing that I've commited. Thank you, and please enjoy!
CurlsofGold: Lol, isn't snow romantic! I love it! I hope you continue to read, and don't worry about Ronniekins and Hermy-own-ninny, they'll work it out! Thank you for the wonderful review!
owl post 1992: Yum, Draco is a hottie, isn't he? I just had to do that. I have a black and white picture on my wall of him leaning on his broomstick in his Slytherin quidditch robes. It's lovely! Thanks for the review!
Hermione Weasley: Yes, I'm going to be working on a lot of development between Ginny and Harry. That couple is very important to me. Anyway, here's the next chapter and I'm going to keep writing for you and I need lots of input, including constructive criticism. Thanks for your loyalty to my story, I really appreciate it. Really, tell me if I need to work an anything. Thank you for the wonderful reviews.
bumpersticker86: Lol, tell me about it! I hate how short these days seem to be! Here's the next chapter for you, I hope you like it! Just like I said above, feel welcome to give me constructive criticism. Sorry for keeping you waiting so long! Thank you for the awesome reviews!
Strwberry_Strudel: Thanks for the review! I know, isn't h/r fluff the bst stuff in the world? Ron and Hermione forever!!!
Disclaimer: Oh shut up Warner Bros. for once in your life! J.K. Rowling owns this and created it with her wonderful imagination, not you. I'll curse you!
Burrowing into the Mystery
A curtain is pulled back, revealing a bright, sunny day outside a welcoming hamlet in northern England. Four young adults are walking toward a very precarious-looking house, a house obviously held together by magic.
Ottery St. Catchpole never looked as welcoming as it did that bright day when Hermione and the others arrived to visit the Burrow. She couldn't wait to see the rest, or, at least, most of the rest of the Weasley. After all, it had been more than four years since she had. Ron looked very cheerful about it, too, and Harry. Harry was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. Draco looked pretty indifferent, but tense, too. Hermione reminded herself that Draco's father, Lucius, and Arthur Weasley had always been enemies. Hermione sighed pleasantly. Ah, zany Mr. Weasley. Sweet Mrs. Weasley, eccentric Percy, and those mischievous twins, Fred and George. Hopefully the oldest brothers, Bill and Charlie, would be there, too, but Hermione doubted it. They were usually off in Romania and Egypt, working.
I wish it was a happier day, though, Hermione thought, imagining how the day would be if Ginny weren't missing. It would be happy, but they probably would all just have a nice time, eating some of Mrs. Weasley's great cooking, say good-bye, and go their separate ways. With that fear in her stomach, Hermione's thoughts strayed to Ron. He had kissed her, for goodness' sake! Was he just trying to get back at me? Or did he really mean it? Oh, dear. Well, if we hadn't had that immature, childish snow fight in the first place, I wouldn't be in this situation. Curse you, Ronald Weasley! She glared at him bitterly. She tried to reason with herself, back and forth, but for once, Hermione couldn't come up with a logical explanation.
When she'd finally pulled herself from this distraction, she noticed that they were standing in front of the Weasleys' door, a few chickens pecking aimlessly around the lawn. Draco looked very disturbed with this vision, and that shadow of regret passed across his face again. Ron and Harry were looking ecstatic, though. Mrs. Weasley opened the door, and quickly put a handkerchief she'd been using to dab her eyes away in her apron pocket. Beaming now, she beckoned them all in.
"Hello, dears," she cooed, hugging and kissing them each in turn (with an extra kiss for she and Harry) and taking their wet, cold things from them to dry and hang in the closet. "I'm so happy you all are alright, I was worried half to death. Oh, Harry dear, I'm so happy that you're alive, we were all so anxious to hear news of you." She went on and on about him, and he grinned modestly, trying to take the subject off himself, but failing completely. Mrs. Weasley graciously avoided talking about Hermione and Malfoy, and was going to say something else, when…
"Harry!" the twins exclaimed, tumbling down the stairs and engulfing him in two identical hugs. Hermione looked over to Ron to see him patiently enduring this, a half-smile on his face. But Hermione felt bad for him. It was his own family, and they weren't even noticing him. They all ran to meet Harry, and Ron was left in the dust once again, as always. He had gotten used to this, but Hermione didn't think it was very fair. She moved over a little, and brushed her arm against his. He looked at her curiously, and she gave him what she hoped to be an encouraging look. He seemed to understand, and brushed back.
Ron threatened to hex the twins if they didn't get off of Harry, and they finally let go of him, giving Ron a hurt look. "What? We were just glad to see our soon-to-be brother-in-law," George said, beaming in that Weasley way. Then they proceeded to greet Hermione politely, cautiously, and the same with Draco.
Mrs.Weasley seemed to have enough of the twins for now, though, and said, "Come on, let's all into the kitchen. We've got to get you warm or you'll all catch something, and we wouldn't want that, would we?" She ushered them into the kitchen, kindly. The twins hurried back upstairs to continue with some sort of work they were doing.
It smelled like a pie was baking at the moment, and Mr. Weasley was sitting at the small, scrubbed, wooden kitchen table, reading the Daily Prophet with a furrowed brow. He looked up when they entered, and looked from Ron to Harry happily, but frowned in confusion at Hermione and Draco. Ron, however, took no notice of this, and went over, patted his dad on the back, and sat down next to him. Hermione decided that they should probably sit down, too, and gave Draco and Harry both a look that clearly said so. Draco nodded, and went to sit down, and once again, Harry looked at her perplexedly. Hermione went and sat down next to Ron, and Harry took the hint, and sat down next to Draco.
Trying to make conversation that wasn't too depressing, Hermione spoke to the older man. "Mr. Weasley, how are you?" she asked, with a smile at him. Arthur looked all but astounded that she was there, and took a while to respond. Finally, he said with some awe, "Erm, Hermione! I'm doing well, very fine. Work has been tedious lately at the Ministry, as I'm sure you know, but doing fine. What brings you to the Burrow? I don't recall, no, I haven't seen you since Hogwarts graduation. You're a very beautiful young woman, Hermione." Mr. Weasley was getting more used to her being here, though, even as he said these last words, and put down his paper to take a sip of tea.
Ron nudged his father with his arm, making him almost spill his drink. Mr.Weasley steadied it with both his hands, and looked at Ron. The two of them exchanged a variety of expressions, until Hermione decidedly cleared her throat. They turned to her with innocent, identical grins on their faces, and succeeded in looking more like the twins than like Arthur and Ron Weasley. Harry and Draco had been watching this from the other side of the table, and now started laughing very hard. Hermione and Ron gave them steely looks that threatened death, and immediately they both quieted.
"Mrs. Weasley, could I have a cup of tea?" Harry asked with a nervous glance at Hermione.
"Yes, me too," Draco added, with a look in Ron's direction.
"Of course, dears," Molly said, having no idea of what they really were trying to do.
"Thank you, Mr. Weasley," Hermione said, trying to stay in good aspects of conversation. Actually, I'm not only here to look for Ginny, the Ministry reassigned us with that after we found Harry, but I wanted to spend time with friends I haven't been able to see for a while."
"That's good," Mr. Weasley said, giving Ron another look. "How are your parents?"
"They're a bit shaken up by all this business, but other than that I'm sure they're doing alright."
Mr. Weasley nodded in understanding, and Hermione had been wondering when he was going to ask them about her parents; he was obsessed with muggles. "Lunch!" Mrs. Weasley called, and walked over to the table, carrying a tray of delicious food. Ron grinned expectantly, and the twins came once again hurtling downstairs to join them.
*~~~*~~~*~~~*
Along with the twins came their ambitious ideas and news about Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. They'd been discussing it for the last hour at least, with several helpings of food and usual Weasley happenings, which weren't all that usual to most families.
"Oh, the Hogsmeade store is doing fantastically; we're making great profit by it. In fact, we were thinking of planting one in London, if it works out, weren't we, George?" Fred was saying, his mouth full of turkey sandwich.
"We were. Advancements have been skyrocketing. If London's store does well, we're going to continue with one in Paris." His mouth was full of corned beef, the sandwiches Ron had decided to avoid. Hermione herself was munching on a BLT, custom-made by Mrs.Weasley. So, since it was the muggle way, Mr. Weasley also insisted on having one.
Harry was thoroughly thrilled with the twins' joke store and was speaking animatedly with them. Ron looked confused about it, but Hermione was ahead of him. She had realized it in fifth year, when suddenly the twins had bought new dress robes for Ron. Fred, George, and Ron had never really been that close. They were always annoying one another and whatnot. It had been very evident. Harry suddenly didn't feel so bad about the money he'd received for the Tournament. Harry had given the money to the twins, on the condition that they would buy dress robes for Ron. It was very kind of him. Hermione had never told Ron this, of course, because Ron would have been very sensitive about it, and gotten upset. They didn't need that. But it certainly seemed that Harry had been funding Fred and George since then, and it had paid off.
"Congratulations, then! That's very good. What new products have you got? Other than Exploding Snape!, that is. I loved it, by the way," Harry was saying.
In about ten minutes, the heavy lunch was finished, and the topic of conversation was quick transforming from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes to quidditch, and who was going to win the World Cup. Hermione's stomach lurched with the thought of Viktor. Tears appeared in her eyes, and Ron looked at her in curiosity. Then in realization, he interrupted the conversation loudly, saying, "Er, I think we should check out Ginny's room now." He gave Hermione an uneasy glance.
"You're right," Harry said, wiping his mouth with his napkin and standing up. "We have a job to do. But it was nice to relax for a little while."
"Mrs. Weasley, your cuisine is delicious. Exquisite. Thank you for the wonderful meal," Draco said, also standing up. Hermione and Ron knew he said it genuinely, but they also knew he didn't want to be on the Weasleys bad side, as he formerly had been. Mrs. Weasley blushed, so that's where they get it from, Hermione thought, and smiled at him warmly.
"Why, thank you dear, that's very sweet of you."
Mr. Weasley looked surprised at Draco for how he was behaving, but still tried to discern what he was really like.
They climbed the stairs, as though they were going up to Ron's bedroom like they used to during summers spent at the Burrow, but stopped about halfway there, at a door with a neat little plaque on it very similar to Ron's indeed, but it said Virginia's Room, and was adorned with little butterflies and flowers. Harry opened the door, and they stepped into the homey little room, looking around. It was neat and tidy, she had all of her books stacked nicely in her bookcase, some of the older ones were How To Charm Your Own Sweetheart, Why Don't Heroes Like Red Hair?, 666 Beauty Tips for the Common Witch, and A Collection of Short Romance Stories. Here and there were stray issues of Witch Weekly also, and then there were some newer books and magazines, such as Quidditch and Quodpot International Gazette, Quidditch Through The Ages, Practical Defense Charms and Enchantments, and How To Become A Quidditch Star. Hermione assumed that these were probably not bought by her brothers for her, after she saw the small grin on Harry's face when he glanced at the bookcase. Her clothes, some old comfortable hand-me-downs and some newer, more flattering robes (again, presumed to be from outside the family) were folded and hung in the closet. There was nothing odd about the room.
However, being a seeker, Harry had a knack for seeing things other people didn't. Or, then again, maybe he just knew a lot more about Ginny than the rest of them. He looked around, observing the room. A stray breeze blew through the slightly open window, and Hermione shivered involuntarily. Ron looked at her with an expression to ask her if she needed anything. Harry saw this, and his eyes lit up. Here we go, he's found something, Hermione thought.
"Ron, did you get Ginny's cloak back from the Ministry after they found it?"
Ron scratched his head. "Well, yeah, of course. It's right there, on the back of the door."
Harry walked over to the door and removed the cloak from its hook. He held it in his hands, looked at it, brought it to his cheek and closed his eyes, and smelled it. A small tear fell from his eye and disappeared into the cloak's heavy fabric. Ron looked away, his face etched with grief and worry. Hermione looked at him with pity, and then gave him a hug and a pat on the back, holding him tenderly in her arms. "We'll find her," she murmured. He trembled at her embrace, seemed almost startled that she would do such a thing. They were both confused. What's going to happen? Hermione suddenly let him go, and hurried to give Harry a hug also. He welcomed it gratefully, with a brotherly arm around her. Draco looked lonely in the corner, watching this, his hands in his pockets. Hermione smiled at him, and pulled back from Harry to give Draco a hug. He hugged her back, as though he was trying to learn how to do so.
With a small laugh, he said, "You're ridiculous, Granger, like the main character in a crappy romance novel." (A/N: Very funny, Draco. Not!) Hermione looked at him steelily, and walked away from him, grumbling about how inconsiderate he'd always been. Ron couldn't help a grin.
Meanwhile, Harry had been staring at the robe again, turning it in his hands, examining it for evidence. A piece of paper fell out of it and glided to the floor. They stared at it, as if expecting something to happen. Hermione picked it up and looked over the old piece of parchment; it was just starting to turn yellow. Obviously, it had been there for a few months. Ron took out his wand and declared, "show yourself," to the paper…nothing happened. He tried more than a dozen other spells with no effect.
"That doesn't seem to be working," Draco said pointedly.
"Thank you, I didn't notice. It was at least worth a try," Ron replied defensively.
"Boys." Hermione muttered, rolling her eyes. She took Ginny's revealer from the desk drawer and decided to try her luck. She rubbed at the paper furiously, but still it remained blank. Ron gave an indignant snort, and Draco sneered derisively. Hermione scowled, shoved the parchment into Harry's hand, and stepped back, crossing her arms over her chest stubbornly.
Harry looked at the paper for a moment, looked around Ginny's room, and his eyes lit up again. Is it just me, or is he either genius or clueless? He took a quill, dipped it in the inkwell, and wrote on the paper.
Ginny?
They waited in anticipation for something to happen. And it did. Slowly, the ink faded from the parchment, and was replaced with an answer.
Who is this? It replied, the writing was hurried and tense, flying onto the page. They could now talk to Ginny.
It's me, Harry!
I knew you would find it!
Ginny, are you alright? Where are you?
I'm okay. I'm in a tiny room, a sort of cell, and a mean old man brings me my food every day. There are no windows, Harry. I want to get out of here.
Harry gave them a half anxious, half excited look, and turned back to the writing.
I need you to tell me everything you remember, Gin. Can you do that?
I think so, just wait a moment.
They waited, glaring intensely at the seemingly insignificant scrap of paper.
~Evyfleur
