CHAPTER II Ron's Mystery Cousin
The journey to number 12 Grimmauld place was uneventful, although it took almost double the time to get there because Kingsley Shacklebolt, who was driving the Ministry's car has to take a circuitous route to ensure that no one was following them. Kingsley, a tall, handsome black man is an Auror from the Ministry of Magic, and a valuable member of the Order of the Phoenix. As an extra measure of security, they stopped one block away from Grimmauld Place and walked the remaining distance to the park near the Headquarters. Tonks and Moody, who were with Shacklebolt scouted the area first before giving the okay signal to the three.
A lot has been changed since the last time Harry was here. As his green eyes sweep the room, he could feel the tears swelling in his eyes, and his chest suddenly constricted, making it hard for him to breathe. The last time he was here, Sirius was alive, sulky and reckless maybe, but alive nonetheless. Harry cleared his throat, determined not to think thoughts and memories that might only depressed him further.
"Oh my dear Harry! You made it! Come here, give us a hug!" Plump Mrs. Molly Weasley ran to him with arms open wide and gathered him in a tight embrace. "That's it, put a smile on your face, no need to be sad now, the family's all here." Mrs. Weasley faltered a bit, "well, most of the family, and we will prepare a special dinner for you."
Harry warmed up a bit. Mrs. Weasley was as good as a mother to her, she has treated her very well, as if her sixth son. Harry has always marveled at Mrs. and Mr. Weasley's capacity to care and give affection to him and Hermione as if they were their own children, when they already have seven - Bill, a Gringotts curse-breaker; Charlie, who's based in Romania working on dragons; Percy, an official in the Ministry of Magic; twins Fred and George, who were not able to finish their seventh and final year and Hogwarts but are now successful businessmen and 'mischief maker'; Ron, Harry's best friend and a celebrated Quidditch Keeper and Ginny, the only girl of the brood, who's starting to come out of her shell and have proved to have special talents of her own.
Although at the moment, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley has yet to reconcile with Percy, who moved out of their house because of harsh disagreements regarding Voldemort and his parents' (and siblings') involvement in the Order.
"You lot better go upstairs and rest a bit. We will be having a feast later, to welcome you all back and of, course, our special guest." Mrs. Weasley beamed at the three of them.
"Is she already here, Mum? The mysterious relative of ours?" asked Ron. The Weasleys went ahead of Ron while he stayed a while at the Burrow.
"Well, yes, she is already here. She's upstairs, resting after a long travel, so don't you make a racket up there, okay? She needs to regain her strength."
Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged curious looks as they gathered their trunks and other things which Shacklebolt, Tonks and Moody brought from the car. As soon as they were out of earshot, they began firing questions at each other.
"Who is your mysterious relative, Ron?" Hermione inquired. "Where did she come from? Have you not really met her?"
"Well, let me see.about the only foreign land I've been to was Egypt, and the only other redhead we saw was the old man selling maps, so nope, I don't think I've met any cousin from another continent," said Ron thoughtfully.
They have reached the room where they stayed the previous summer. Harry cannot help but dread the possible state of the room after months of being occupant-less, knowing that the Black's house-elf Kreacher, will not be bothered to clean any part of the house. Of course, after Sirius' death and the elf's significance in the events that led to it, Kreacher very wisely left the house to serve Narcissa Black-Malfoy and her family.
But as they pushed open the door, Harry and Ron were surprised to see a brighter, cleaner room which smells of fresh somewhat lemony scent. They caught Ginny Weasley as she was patting the bed near the window, smoothing the crisp bed sheet. She looked up at the sound of the door opening, and flashed a smile.
"Hey you two, welcome back! Like it?" the youngest and only female Weasley sibling said quite proudly. "I thought it would be nice to re- arrange the room a bit, and some light paint would cheer it up."
"Blimey, this sure is a nice surprise." Said Ron. He sat down the other bed, leaving Harry the other one near the window.
"Yeah Gin, I liked it. Thanks!" Harry grinned at a blushing Ginny while Ron was eyeing them quite hopefully. "So how was your summer?"
Ginny sat down Harry's bed. "Oh, just fine. Spent the first two weeks doing homework - " both Harry and Ron displayed expressions of disbelief and Ginny rolled her eyes "-so that I will be free for the rest of the summer! Would you believe, Snape gave us five-foot long essay on the importance of Occlumency! He's not even the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, right?"
"Hey, Gin, have you met Mum's cousin? Mum says she is already here." Ron asked suddenly.
Ginny smiled a tiny smile. "Er, yes, saw her already. She arrived early this morning. She even helped me re-did the house. She's got taste, huh? Ooh, that reminds me, we've still got a session.wonder if Hermione would like to join us?" said Ginny more to herself. She suddenly stood up and started for the door.
"We want to join too!" Ron shouted to his sister's retreating back.
"Oh no you can't!" said Ginny as she opened the door and went out.
"And why not?"
"Because you're a guy!" Ginny yelled.
Ron and Harry exchanged confused looks and simultaneously plopped down the bed to rest. Five minutes later, Ron's snores were the only sound heard in the newly decorated room.
AFTER TWO hours of sleep, they were awaken by Mrs. Weasley who informed them that dinner will be ready in half an hour, so they better prepare themselves. Harry and Ron panicked slightly as they realized they have not unpacked yet. After a hasty shower, they get dressed, wearing the first clothes they found in their trunk. Ron had to go back and change after he realized he wore his pajama top.
Five minutes late in the designated time, Harry and Ron started for the kitchen, but was told by Tonks to proceed to the dining room instead.
When Harry entered the room, he saw most of the members of the Order of the Phoenix. Moody, Shacklebolt, Mundungus Fletcher, Emmeline Valance, Dedalus Diggle and even Professor Minerva McGonagall was there. Professor Albus Dumbledore, the Hogwarts Headmaster was missing, as well as Remus Lupin, one of Harry's father's closest friend was nowhere to be seen too. Perhaps they are away for a mission, Harry thought.
Harry was not at all surprised to see the several fiery red heads. He knew them by heart, the Weasley family that has cared for him since his first year at Hogwarts. He saw the familiar faces of Arthur and Molly Weasley, Bill, Charlie, the twins Fred and George, and Ginny who smiled at him. Sitting beside Ginny, another female redhead was smiling at him, bright green eyes twinkling with warmth and sincerity.
Harry's heart seemed to stop beating for about ten seconds as he stared at the young woman with the same, familiar red hair. It couldn't be.how could it be possible.? Harry asked himself, totally confused and disoriented.
"Ron, Harry, you're five minutes late. You almost missed the introduction of our special guest." Mrs. Weasley affectionately admonished the two. "Arthur, will you do the honor?"
"Ehem.everyone, I'm very honored to introduce our lovely niece from the United States, Jean Grey." Arthur Weasley flushed slightly.
There was a hearty applause in the room, while the young woman who was introduced as Jean Grey stood up to acknowledge the recognition. She was tall, around five feet six inches, with a slender body which was garbed in a slim black pants and a green blouse. Fred and George let out a few catcalls and ignored their mother's sharp look at them.
"Thank you so much for the warm welcome! I'm very happy to be here, and to help in any way I can. I hope to get to know more each and everyone of you, as we will be working side by side against Voldermort." There was a collective gasp around her which made her falter a bit. "Whoops, I'm sorry, I forgot I wasn't supposed to do that." and the smile came back immediately to her lovely face.
"We like you to know Jean that we appreciate your coming here despite of your own obligations in Bayville." said Professor McGonagall as Jean sat down. Mr. Weasley proceeded to introduce the members of the Order, who all greeted her amicably.
"And of course, this is Harry Potter, who's on his way to becoming a powerful wizard himself." said Mr. Weasley as he introduced his own sons and daughter, and Hermione and Harry. Harry felt his face flushed at the compliment. He looked at Jean Grey and unexpectedly felt himself wanting her approval. Jean smiled at him. There was something familiar about her smile.
"Yes, I've heard a lot about you from - " Ginny choked in her Butterbeer, " - from everybody else. It's nice to have met you finally, and like I said, I hope to get to know you better."
Ron could not contain himself any longer. "But what are you going to helping the Order with? Are you a witch too, then? 'Cause I always thought your family is Muggle --- " Ron's interrogation was cut by Mrs. Weasley's stern "Ron!"
"Sorry."
"Oh, its okay. You're actually right Ron. Your mom's second cousin, Ulysses Weasley, is my grandfather who worked as an accountant in the US. Grandpa has red hair, like all the Weasleys, but didn't pass that on to her daughter, my mother. Mom and my father, John Grey are both non-magic people, as well as my sister Sara. By the law of Genetics, I was the one who inherited the famous Weasley red hair. I'm a Muggle too, but, well, let's just say I've got my own brand of magic." Jean Grey smiled furtively.
"What kind of magic could it be?" Hermione asked, her brows knitted thoughtfully.
"I'm a mutant. I possess an X-gene in my body, which triggers certain functions in my body that gives me abilities and powers that a normal human being does not have." said Jean.
Comprehension dawned on Hermione, and her facial expression showed this. "Homo superior. You're a Homo superior, possessing abilities above that of the human species!" she said. "But what abilities do you have?"
"Yes, Jean, what powers do you have? Dumbledore did not gave us any details about you, only that your abilities will be valuable to the Order." Moody spoke up, his magical eyeball rolling in its socket.
"Well, I can do this - " she suddenly floated up in the air, crossing her legs Indian style and stretched her hands towards George's goblet of Butterbeer. The goblet flew out George's hands towards Jean as if she was attracting it with an invisible magnet, "with my telekinesis, or the ability to move objects with my mind."
Harry realized that his mouth was open, but as he looked around, he saw that he was not alone. It was definitely a different kind of magic. He looked back at Jean who was drinking from George's goblet and as she met his own green eyes, she smiled.
"Yes, Harry, this is definitely a different kind of magic," said Jean as she descended back to her chair. "And as you've realized, I can also read minds."
"Read minds? As in telepathy?" asked Ginny.
Jean nodded. "Uh-huh. I'm a telepath and a telekinetic. Professor Dumbledore have not yet told me the details of my task with Order too, Mr. Moody, but he told me that my ability to read minds and shield them from external penetration is needed by some of the member of the Order."
Ron, Hermione and Ginny all turned to look at Harry who pretended he did not notice their shift of attention to him. He remembered his dreams about Sirius and the guilt he's been feeling all came back in rush. Despite the efforts of his friends and of Dumbledore to convince him that it was not his fault that Sirius died, Harry still feel responsible for the death of his godfather. Because he was too hardheaded, and chose to nurse his anger at Snape, he was refused of any more Occlumency lessons by the Potions master. Dumbledore have asked Snape to teach Harry the art of blocking one's mind when the Headmaster suspected that Voldemort will try to gain entrance to Harry's mind. Voldemort succeeded in implanting a disturbing vision to Harry, which led him and his friends to the Ministry of Magic last June where he met, for the sixth time, the dark Lord himself.
Even if she can teach me how to block my mind, its too late. It won't bring Sirius back. Harry looked up and saw Jean looking at him with a sympathetic expression.
* I know it won't, but I believe you still have a long way to go before you could really vanquished Voldemort, and I would like to help you prepare. * Harry shivered a little when he heard the voice in his head. He smiled at Jean. As she smiled once again at him, his heart suddenly gave a tug as he remembered whose smile resembled Jean's, a smile that he can only relive through a photo album given by a friend four years ago.
The journey to number 12 Grimmauld place was uneventful, although it took almost double the time to get there because Kingsley Shacklebolt, who was driving the Ministry's car has to take a circuitous route to ensure that no one was following them. Kingsley, a tall, handsome black man is an Auror from the Ministry of Magic, and a valuable member of the Order of the Phoenix. As an extra measure of security, they stopped one block away from Grimmauld Place and walked the remaining distance to the park near the Headquarters. Tonks and Moody, who were with Shacklebolt scouted the area first before giving the okay signal to the three.
A lot has been changed since the last time Harry was here. As his green eyes sweep the room, he could feel the tears swelling in his eyes, and his chest suddenly constricted, making it hard for him to breathe. The last time he was here, Sirius was alive, sulky and reckless maybe, but alive nonetheless. Harry cleared his throat, determined not to think thoughts and memories that might only depressed him further.
"Oh my dear Harry! You made it! Come here, give us a hug!" Plump Mrs. Molly Weasley ran to him with arms open wide and gathered him in a tight embrace. "That's it, put a smile on your face, no need to be sad now, the family's all here." Mrs. Weasley faltered a bit, "well, most of the family, and we will prepare a special dinner for you."
Harry warmed up a bit. Mrs. Weasley was as good as a mother to her, she has treated her very well, as if her sixth son. Harry has always marveled at Mrs. and Mr. Weasley's capacity to care and give affection to him and Hermione as if they were their own children, when they already have seven - Bill, a Gringotts curse-breaker; Charlie, who's based in Romania working on dragons; Percy, an official in the Ministry of Magic; twins Fred and George, who were not able to finish their seventh and final year and Hogwarts but are now successful businessmen and 'mischief maker'; Ron, Harry's best friend and a celebrated Quidditch Keeper and Ginny, the only girl of the brood, who's starting to come out of her shell and have proved to have special talents of her own.
Although at the moment, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley has yet to reconcile with Percy, who moved out of their house because of harsh disagreements regarding Voldemort and his parents' (and siblings') involvement in the Order.
"You lot better go upstairs and rest a bit. We will be having a feast later, to welcome you all back and of, course, our special guest." Mrs. Weasley beamed at the three of them.
"Is she already here, Mum? The mysterious relative of ours?" asked Ron. The Weasleys went ahead of Ron while he stayed a while at the Burrow.
"Well, yes, she is already here. She's upstairs, resting after a long travel, so don't you make a racket up there, okay? She needs to regain her strength."
Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged curious looks as they gathered their trunks and other things which Shacklebolt, Tonks and Moody brought from the car. As soon as they were out of earshot, they began firing questions at each other.
"Who is your mysterious relative, Ron?" Hermione inquired. "Where did she come from? Have you not really met her?"
"Well, let me see.about the only foreign land I've been to was Egypt, and the only other redhead we saw was the old man selling maps, so nope, I don't think I've met any cousin from another continent," said Ron thoughtfully.
They have reached the room where they stayed the previous summer. Harry cannot help but dread the possible state of the room after months of being occupant-less, knowing that the Black's house-elf Kreacher, will not be bothered to clean any part of the house. Of course, after Sirius' death and the elf's significance in the events that led to it, Kreacher very wisely left the house to serve Narcissa Black-Malfoy and her family.
But as they pushed open the door, Harry and Ron were surprised to see a brighter, cleaner room which smells of fresh somewhat lemony scent. They caught Ginny Weasley as she was patting the bed near the window, smoothing the crisp bed sheet. She looked up at the sound of the door opening, and flashed a smile.
"Hey you two, welcome back! Like it?" the youngest and only female Weasley sibling said quite proudly. "I thought it would be nice to re- arrange the room a bit, and some light paint would cheer it up."
"Blimey, this sure is a nice surprise." Said Ron. He sat down the other bed, leaving Harry the other one near the window.
"Yeah Gin, I liked it. Thanks!" Harry grinned at a blushing Ginny while Ron was eyeing them quite hopefully. "So how was your summer?"
Ginny sat down Harry's bed. "Oh, just fine. Spent the first two weeks doing homework - " both Harry and Ron displayed expressions of disbelief and Ginny rolled her eyes "-so that I will be free for the rest of the summer! Would you believe, Snape gave us five-foot long essay on the importance of Occlumency! He's not even the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, right?"
"Hey, Gin, have you met Mum's cousin? Mum says she is already here." Ron asked suddenly.
Ginny smiled a tiny smile. "Er, yes, saw her already. She arrived early this morning. She even helped me re-did the house. She's got taste, huh? Ooh, that reminds me, we've still got a session.wonder if Hermione would like to join us?" said Ginny more to herself. She suddenly stood up and started for the door.
"We want to join too!" Ron shouted to his sister's retreating back.
"Oh no you can't!" said Ginny as she opened the door and went out.
"And why not?"
"Because you're a guy!" Ginny yelled.
Ron and Harry exchanged confused looks and simultaneously plopped down the bed to rest. Five minutes later, Ron's snores were the only sound heard in the newly decorated room.
AFTER TWO hours of sleep, they were awaken by Mrs. Weasley who informed them that dinner will be ready in half an hour, so they better prepare themselves. Harry and Ron panicked slightly as they realized they have not unpacked yet. After a hasty shower, they get dressed, wearing the first clothes they found in their trunk. Ron had to go back and change after he realized he wore his pajama top.
Five minutes late in the designated time, Harry and Ron started for the kitchen, but was told by Tonks to proceed to the dining room instead.
When Harry entered the room, he saw most of the members of the Order of the Phoenix. Moody, Shacklebolt, Mundungus Fletcher, Emmeline Valance, Dedalus Diggle and even Professor Minerva McGonagall was there. Professor Albus Dumbledore, the Hogwarts Headmaster was missing, as well as Remus Lupin, one of Harry's father's closest friend was nowhere to be seen too. Perhaps they are away for a mission, Harry thought.
Harry was not at all surprised to see the several fiery red heads. He knew them by heart, the Weasley family that has cared for him since his first year at Hogwarts. He saw the familiar faces of Arthur and Molly Weasley, Bill, Charlie, the twins Fred and George, and Ginny who smiled at him. Sitting beside Ginny, another female redhead was smiling at him, bright green eyes twinkling with warmth and sincerity.
Harry's heart seemed to stop beating for about ten seconds as he stared at the young woman with the same, familiar red hair. It couldn't be.how could it be possible.? Harry asked himself, totally confused and disoriented.
"Ron, Harry, you're five minutes late. You almost missed the introduction of our special guest." Mrs. Weasley affectionately admonished the two. "Arthur, will you do the honor?"
"Ehem.everyone, I'm very honored to introduce our lovely niece from the United States, Jean Grey." Arthur Weasley flushed slightly.
There was a hearty applause in the room, while the young woman who was introduced as Jean Grey stood up to acknowledge the recognition. She was tall, around five feet six inches, with a slender body which was garbed in a slim black pants and a green blouse. Fred and George let out a few catcalls and ignored their mother's sharp look at them.
"Thank you so much for the warm welcome! I'm very happy to be here, and to help in any way I can. I hope to get to know more each and everyone of you, as we will be working side by side against Voldermort." There was a collective gasp around her which made her falter a bit. "Whoops, I'm sorry, I forgot I wasn't supposed to do that." and the smile came back immediately to her lovely face.
"We like you to know Jean that we appreciate your coming here despite of your own obligations in Bayville." said Professor McGonagall as Jean sat down. Mr. Weasley proceeded to introduce the members of the Order, who all greeted her amicably.
"And of course, this is Harry Potter, who's on his way to becoming a powerful wizard himself." said Mr. Weasley as he introduced his own sons and daughter, and Hermione and Harry. Harry felt his face flushed at the compliment. He looked at Jean Grey and unexpectedly felt himself wanting her approval. Jean smiled at him. There was something familiar about her smile.
"Yes, I've heard a lot about you from - " Ginny choked in her Butterbeer, " - from everybody else. It's nice to have met you finally, and like I said, I hope to get to know you better."
Ron could not contain himself any longer. "But what are you going to helping the Order with? Are you a witch too, then? 'Cause I always thought your family is Muggle --- " Ron's interrogation was cut by Mrs. Weasley's stern "Ron!"
"Sorry."
"Oh, its okay. You're actually right Ron. Your mom's second cousin, Ulysses Weasley, is my grandfather who worked as an accountant in the US. Grandpa has red hair, like all the Weasleys, but didn't pass that on to her daughter, my mother. Mom and my father, John Grey are both non-magic people, as well as my sister Sara. By the law of Genetics, I was the one who inherited the famous Weasley red hair. I'm a Muggle too, but, well, let's just say I've got my own brand of magic." Jean Grey smiled furtively.
"What kind of magic could it be?" Hermione asked, her brows knitted thoughtfully.
"I'm a mutant. I possess an X-gene in my body, which triggers certain functions in my body that gives me abilities and powers that a normal human being does not have." said Jean.
Comprehension dawned on Hermione, and her facial expression showed this. "Homo superior. You're a Homo superior, possessing abilities above that of the human species!" she said. "But what abilities do you have?"
"Yes, Jean, what powers do you have? Dumbledore did not gave us any details about you, only that your abilities will be valuable to the Order." Moody spoke up, his magical eyeball rolling in its socket.
"Well, I can do this - " she suddenly floated up in the air, crossing her legs Indian style and stretched her hands towards George's goblet of Butterbeer. The goblet flew out George's hands towards Jean as if she was attracting it with an invisible magnet, "with my telekinesis, or the ability to move objects with my mind."
Harry realized that his mouth was open, but as he looked around, he saw that he was not alone. It was definitely a different kind of magic. He looked back at Jean who was drinking from George's goblet and as she met his own green eyes, she smiled.
"Yes, Harry, this is definitely a different kind of magic," said Jean as she descended back to her chair. "And as you've realized, I can also read minds."
"Read minds? As in telepathy?" asked Ginny.
Jean nodded. "Uh-huh. I'm a telepath and a telekinetic. Professor Dumbledore have not yet told me the details of my task with Order too, Mr. Moody, but he told me that my ability to read minds and shield them from external penetration is needed by some of the member of the Order."
Ron, Hermione and Ginny all turned to look at Harry who pretended he did not notice their shift of attention to him. He remembered his dreams about Sirius and the guilt he's been feeling all came back in rush. Despite the efforts of his friends and of Dumbledore to convince him that it was not his fault that Sirius died, Harry still feel responsible for the death of his godfather. Because he was too hardheaded, and chose to nurse his anger at Snape, he was refused of any more Occlumency lessons by the Potions master. Dumbledore have asked Snape to teach Harry the art of blocking one's mind when the Headmaster suspected that Voldemort will try to gain entrance to Harry's mind. Voldemort succeeded in implanting a disturbing vision to Harry, which led him and his friends to the Ministry of Magic last June where he met, for the sixth time, the dark Lord himself.
Even if she can teach me how to block my mind, its too late. It won't bring Sirius back. Harry looked up and saw Jean looking at him with a sympathetic expression.
* I know it won't, but I believe you still have a long way to go before you could really vanquished Voldemort, and I would like to help you prepare. * Harry shivered a little when he heard the voice in his head. He smiled at Jean. As she smiled once again at him, his heart suddenly gave a tug as he remembered whose smile resembled Jean's, a smile that he can only relive through a photo album given by a friend four years ago.