Author's Notes: Sorry for the lack of updates, folks…first I was on vacation, then there was that whole massive power outage thing, and then my parents refused to let me on the computer because they believed the enormous power outage that affected the entire eastern seaboard was single-handedly caused by me and all the power I waste on the computer, and my hair dryer. Well, if your hair poofed out so much that you looked like someone from Degrassi High or a similar 80's show when you didn't blow dry it, you'd knock out fifty million people's power by drying to blow dry it straight, too.
Newest member to the F.U. (Fangirls United…hehehe…thanks to Jedi Tess for the idea): spidermonkeesrkewl. And you're kewl, too.
Also, thanks to skywisej for pointing out a minor canonical problem. I'm going to make up an explanation when that problem arises. ^_^
Saturday, 15 July
11:03 a.m.
I've just snuck up to my bedroom for a second to write in here because, well, I found out what happened with Percy.
I woke up this morning rather late (which, of course, comes from writing in this stupid journal until two in the morning) and was surprised to find myself in a bare, grungy-looking bedroom, lying on a hard bed with no pillow, instead of in my cozy, if not horribly pink bedroom at home, lying on my nice, comfortable bed with a pillow. I panicked for a brief moment, not entirely sure of where I was in my half-awake stupor, but then I heard Mrs. Weasley two floors above me yelling at the twins to get their lazy selves out of bed, and everything came flooding back. I dressed quickly and, with directions from the twins, who had gotten their lazy selves out of bed, went down to the kitchen for breakfast.
The kitchen wasn't quite what I had expected after being told that it was the only room in the house which had been properly cleaned. I can't wait to see the condition of the rest of the rooms if this is what a 'clean' one looks like. Not that I'm complaining, but…it's this enormous room with very grimy, rough stone walls, much like in the dungeons at Hogwarts, with a very long, wooden table in the middle of the room. There's a place for cooking, of course, and a little cupboard off in the corner that I was told to stay away from, because it's where Kreacher the house-elf lives. The poor thing…everyone speaks about him so negatively! He must be so lonely, after living in a house like this for ten years all by himself, taking orders from that portrait of Sirius's mother…Sirius told me all about it at breakfast, but he seemed to find it amusing. Honestly, Sirius can be quite pig-headed at times.
I kept looking around for Kreacher all morning, hoping to meet him, but Sirius said that last he had seen him, Kreacher was upstairs trying to lure Buckbeak, whom Sirius is keeping in his mother's bedroom, out the window. I should like to go visit Buckbeak…but perhaps I'll wait until Sirius goes up there next…you know, because Buckbeak might not remember me…
Ron and Ginny were already down in the kitchen, as was Mrs. Weasley, Professor Lupin, Sirius, and Mundungus Fletcher, the man whom the twins had referred to last night as 'Dung'. I think that it's quite an offensive and rather disgusting nickname, but I have a feeling that Mundungus doesn't mind. He didn't say much to me, other than a grunt when we were introduced, and he smells suspiciously of alcohol.
Bill and Mr. Weasley were nowhere to be seen; I assume they were at work. Tonks, however, stumbled into the kitchen about halfway through breakfast, yawning wildly.
"Last time I take the night shift," she announced, plopping down at the table and looking longingly at the cup of coffee Lupin had made for himself. "Hey Remus, would you mind?"
"Not at all," replied Professor Lupin, conjuring up another mug of coffee with a flick of his wand. Tonks gratefully accepted it, muttering something about never having mastered kitchen-y type spells.
"Late night at the Ministry?" Sirius asked Tonks conversationally while Fred and George went over to quietly speak to Mundungus.
"Nah, guard duty," Tonks replied between gulps of coffee.
At this, the twins stopped talking, Ron and I perked up, and Ginny accidentally put her elbow in her porridge. "Eh, what's that, Tonks?" asked George excitedly.
Lupin gave Tonks a look, and she hurriedly insisted, "Nothing."
But the five of us (that is, the twins, Ron, Ginny and I) all exchanged meaningful looks, confident that a valuable piece of information had just slipped. Tonks refused to say more about this mysterious 'guard duty', however. Thankfully, Mrs. Weasley had not overheard the entire exchange, as she had been busy trying to coax a curious Crookshanks away from Kreacher's little bedroom.
The rest of breakfast passed uneventfully, except for when I started bombarding Tonks with questions about her Metamorphmagus gifts again. She actually did a little demonstration for us, which was fascinating…all she does is screw up her face and concentrate, and she can change her hair colour, eye colour, the shape of her nose – she started doing all these different bizarre noses, it was really funny – even her entire appearance, if she concentrates hard enough. I really wish you could learn how to become a Metamorphmagus; it'd be a really useful talent. I wonder if they're like Animagi, and they have to register…I should look it up…
Anyway, back to Percy…we had just finished breakfast, and Ginny and I were helping Mrs. Weasley clean up. Sirius had left to feed Buckbeak, but Professor Lupin was still at the table, reading the Daily Prophet and occasionally shaking his head. The three boys, as well as Mundungus, had gone off to probably do something that Mrs. Weasley would not approve of. We finished doing the dishes and wiping down the table, and then Ginny excused herself and Mrs. Weasley went off to find Kreacher to make sure that he wasn't getting into any trouble. Lupin was still at the table, however, and I lingered in the kitchen after Ginny and her mum had left.
I cleared my throat and sat back down at the table, across from Lupin. "Erm – Professor Lupin?"
He lowered the paper and gave me a smile. "I'm not your teacher anymore, Hermione. You can call me Remus now."
But I felt strange doing that, so I decided not to call him anything at all, if I can help it.
"Um…well…I was just wondering…what did you tell my parents?" I asked curiously.
Lupin put down the Prophet. "Well, we told them that the Weasley's were going on holiday, and that Ron really wanted you to come."
"And they were okay with that?" I said dubiously. I mean, my parents are really good about vacations with the Weasley's and staying at Hogwarts during breaks to be with Harry and all that, but them allowing me to go away for the rest of the summer on such short notice still seemed odd.
Lupin sighed. "Well, no. But then we…explained about Ron's brother, and told them that he was having a bit of a rough time because of it. We said it would be good for him if he had one of his friends around. They seemed to soften up a bit after that."
I felt extremely confused. "Ron's brother?" I thought that perhaps the twins were giving him a hard time or something.
"Ah," said Lupin uncomfortably, "Ron hasn't…told you about Percy?"
"What about Percy?" I demanded.
Lupin shook his head. "It's really not my place…"
"Is he all right?" I asked in alarm.
"Yes, he's fine…well, to our knowledge."
Seeing that I wasn't going to get any other answers from Lupin, I asked tentatively, "Ron isn't really…having a rough time because of it though, is he?"
"Well, I believe the whole family is having a rough time of it," Lupin said grimly. "Like I said, though, it's not my place. Perhaps you'd better talk to Ron about it."
Which I did.
"Ron!" I called when I found him heading up the stairs to the bedrooms. He turned around expectantly, and I noticed that the twins and Mundungus were with him.
"Can I talk to you for a second?" I asked.
"Yeah," Ron said. The twins and Mundungus did not budge.
"Er…in private?" I muttered.
Fred and George snickered loudly, and Ron's ears turned red. "C'mon, in here," he muttered, jogging up a few more steps and nodding towards the bedroom that he and Bill share, when Bill stays at Headquarters. This only made the twins snicker even louder. I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at them or do something similarly childish, and followed Ron into his room.
"Ron," I said carefully, once he had shut the door, "where's Percy?"
Ron's face immediately darkened. I wish now that I had gone about it more…delicately. But I had no idea.
"Oh," said Ron darkly, "that."
"What happened?" I asked softly.
"Oh, he just became an idiotic git, that's all," Ron spat, plopping down on his bed. "He had a row with Dad, just before we came here and I sent you that letter. He was promoted."
"Promoted?" I said in surprise. "But…after Mr. Crouch…"
"Well, you know what Fudge's game is, don't you?" Ron said in an uncharacteristically bitter and nasty tone. "He knows Dad's good friends with Dumbledore, and Dumbledore's as good as dirt to the Ministry now, 'cause of all the trouble he's causing telling the truth about You-Know-Who. Fudge just wants Percy on his side. Either that, or he wanted a spy in the family."
"Percy didn't – "
"Oh yes, he did. He's now Junior Assistant to the – " he used an adjective that was quite rude, but not necessarily undeserved, to describe Fudge, " – Minister for Magic. And when we weren't exactly pleased with Percy, and tried to tell him that that censored Fudge just wanted to use him, he got into a blazing row with Dad, packed up, and left, the censored."
I'm in complete shock. I mean, I knew that Percy is extremely ambitious, and that climbing the ladder in the Ministry means a lot to him…but to walk out on his own family…
I've always gotten along quite well with Percy, possibly better than even Ron, and although he could sometimes be…well, somewhat pompous…I would have never imagined that he would do this. And how could he be so blind?! Ron said that Percy completely supports the Minister, and that he thinks that everything about You-Know-Who being back is rubbish, just like Fudge. But the most surprising part is that Percy - who always looked up to and respected, even adored, Dumbledore - snubbed Dumbledore just like everyone else at the Ministry. Percy was rude to Dumbledore. And he said loads of terrible things to Mr. Weasley…I don't even want to write it out…I can't believe Percy's been taking the word of the Daily Prophet over Harry's…
"Don't mention anything about him near Mum, though," Ron warned. "She'll start crying again…"
Poor Mrs. Weasley.
11:57 p.m.
I'm completely and utterly exhausted…and yet I'm writing in my journal. Have I completely lost my mind and/or common sense?
So after the disturbing revelation about Percy (I spoke to Ginny and the twins about him later as well…Ginny seemed hurt more than anything else, but the twins used some angry choice words to describe Percy, and their vocabulary is even more colourful than Ron's) we had some lunch, and then all trooped up to Ron and Bill's room, arms laden with mops and brooms and every other cleaning device known to Muggles, and some cleaning devices that I'm sure are not known to Muggles (Mr. Scrub's All-Purpose Dust Remover, for instance, which sucks up all the dust in a place). Sirius joined us too, but he seemed less than enthusiastic about the job, and spent all his time trying to pry screaming portraits and photographs of his relatives off the shelves and the walls. He left one blank portrait, however, vaguely saying something about it not being a big deal.
Ron and I got stuck cleaning out the closet, and it was extremely difficult work because we could only use one hand at a time, as our other hands were busy pinching our noses. The smell in that closet was awful, and we later discovered that this was because there were several dead Puffskeins in there. This did not seem to bother Ron as much as one live Scrantula had.
"Well?" I whispered to Ron in a nasally voice, pinching my nose even harder as I threw another dead Puffskein into a bag in disgust.
"Well what?" Ron said in exasperation, sneezing as a cloud of dust rose from the box he had just brushed off. He reached for Mr. Scub's. "You'll have to stop assuming that I can read your mind, and be more specific when you ask me questions," he said irritably.
"Well, are you okay about Percy?" I asked quietly, unperturbed by his tone.
Ron stopped what he was doing and stared at me. "Well I'm obviously not okay with it…"
"That's not what I meant."
He turned a bit red and shoved his head into the closet again. "Yeah," came his muffled voice, "I'm fine. I mean, my own brother practically disowned our family, but it's only going to make it easier to live with him when he finds out that he's horribly mistaken and comes humbly crawling back to us," he said with false cheerfulness.
I smiled at him when he emerged from the closet again. "Good. That's the right attitude," I said approvingly. Ron blushed again and shrugged, smiling a bit.
"Do you think I can borrow Pig later?" I asked as we set about working again, trying to wipe inches of dust off the closet floor. "I need to write to my parents and everything. Leaving out the parts about Headquarters, of course," I said loudly, so that Mrs. Weasley would hear me. Just so she knows that I won't break my promise to Dumbledore.
"Sure," was Ron's reply. But then he suddenly got a very odd look on his face. "But uh…remember Pig's just a runt…he's not really up to long journeys, if you know what I mean…you know, like…to other countries or anything…"
What a complete prat. Ron somehow always manages to ruin any moments in which I start to think that maybe he's not so bad, after all. I will write to Viktor if I want to. What's his problem, anyhow? He must be worried that I'll go off to Bulgaria and marry Viktor, and then he'll have no one to copy his homework from.
However, I said none of this, only made a dignified, "Hrmph," sound and moved on to the task of pulling out very dark old robes from the closet. "I'll write to whomever I want to, thank you very much."
"And first I'd ask Dad about owling strange people, too. Dumbledore might not like that," he retorted. "But you can't tonight, because he said something about having guard duty again…whatever that's about…what d'you reckon?" he asked, lowering his voice and casting a look backwards to see if his mum was listening.
I forgot my annoyance with him for a second. "Perhaps they're guarding Headquarters?" I suggested as Fred and George swept towards us, pretending to help us with the musty old robes.
"Nah, the place is Unplottable, and Sirius's dad put all kinds of spells on here to hide it," George said, shaking his head.
"Maybe they're guarding – " but Fred quickly broke off, as Mrs. Weasley walked over to see if we had made any progress. When she turned her back to Fred, however, I noticed that he swiftly pocketed one of the dead Puffskeins. Which is absolutely disgusting. I don't even want to know what he's going to do with it.
And that was when the door opened, and a tiny old house-elf wearing the filthiest and shabbiest loincloth I've ever seen sidled into the room, enormous eyes darting about fearfully.
"Oh!" I exclaimed, and everyone turned around to stare at him. He immediately flattened himself to the floor before Sirius.
"Oh, go away, Kreacher," Sirius scowled, "there's nothing worthwhile in here."
"Oh no, Master, Kreacher is only coming to help," said the house-elf in a wheezy voice. He then muttered something else under his breath, but I couldn't make it out.
"Hello, Kreacher! I'm Hermione Granger, it's nice to meet you," I said brightly, standing up and looking at him pityingly. He's frightfully old and feeble, and his eyes kept darting about as if afraid that someone was going to hurt him. He stared at me, shaking with fear, I presume, and then muttered something fervently…I don't know, he may have used the 'M' word, but that's not his fault at all…and then he dashed from the room.
But the way he looked at me, as if frightened that all wizards and witches are out to hurt him! If I find out that Sirius has laid a finger on him, I am going to be so incredibly angry! I can't believe that Sirius, of all people, has a house-elf! After all he's been through in Azkaban, you'd think that he would know something about imprisonment! And I can't believe that he allows poor Kreacher to wear that filthy rag and doesn't bother replacing it! And that he makes him bow down to him like that!
Sirius kept talking about Kreacher in such a nasty way after that…the poor thing is just misunderstood. He probably doesn't mean half the things he says…he can't help it if Sirius's parents shaped him to be that way! Everyone else keeps saying that Kreacher's strange and mad and whatnot…but they're just ignorant. I'm sure that he'll warm up to us eventually, if we treat him right.
Oh, and I did write to Mum and Dad, just to let them know that I'm all right and that I'm enjoying myself (well, it's not entirely a lie…it's nice to be back with wizards and witches, and to be with Ron – even though he's a prat – and Ginny). I've also written to Viktor, just to spite Ron…except I left out that whole part about how I'm spending the rest of my summer with Ron.
I have to write to Harry soon, as well. But I haven't the faintest clue what to say to him. Hi Harry, Ron and I are together in an undisclosed location, and we can't tell you anything about anything because we were sworn to secrecy. Hope you have a nice summer.?
Poor Harry.