Clank! Clank clank clank!
"Is it just me," yelled Ron as the old Bentley rounded a corner, "or do you really hate trashcans?!"
Clank! Clank!
"Do you really hate trashcans!?"
"Yes!" bellowed Sirius as he deliberately ran down another trashcan. "I hate trashcan's. Do you have a problem with it?"
Ron shook his head and held up his hands.
"No, no. Kill all the trashcans you want. Trashcans are evil. So evil that they are conspiring to take over the world!"
Sirius looked at the younger man beside him and point out, "Now that's going a little far, isn't it? Running over trashcans is one thing but evil trashcan's attempting to take over the world? Sounds like something some crazed American horror novelist on crack would think up."
Ron looked at him in disbelief and said, "You take the fun out of everything."
"I prefer to think I put the fun in everything," quipped Sirius. He suddenly sat up and said, "There's the house."
Ron leaned forward, peering through the windshield. He saw a red blue streak out of the garage and stated, "One of them's on a motorcycle."
"Just one?"
"Yep. And there's a Mercedes. They're going separate places."
"Whoever's in the Mercedes if heading our way," said Sirius.
"And whoever it is," said Ron, "we'll follow them. That car will be easier to follow than that motorcycle."
"Mmm."
As the Mercedes passed, Ron exclaimed, "Its Ginny! Turn around!"
"We're tailing her, you idiot," snapped Sirius. "Not running her down."
"That's my sister!"
"Who's obsessed?"
Ron's mouth opened then closed with an audible snap. Sirius nodded absently at the sound and remarked, "I thought so."
"Just shut up and turn around," growled Ron.
Sirius chuckled and slowed down, turned around in a driveway, then began to follow the black Mercedes. They followed the car all the way to a rundown area of London, never getting anymore than two cars closer to it. It wasn't a bad area that they ended up in…but it wasn't a good one either.
The Mercedes pulled up next to a building with a crooked sign that read 'Deadman's Garage'. Sirius pulled the Bentley over on the opposite side of the street and cut the engine, smirking when he saw the name of the place.
"Lovely name, don't you think?"
Ron snorted in response and watched as Ginny got out of the Mercedes and stood on the sidewalk beside the car, reaching back in the open window after a moment to blow the horn. As the two Aurors watched, a man with dirty blond hair wearing a pair of worn overalls with on strap broken and a grease-stained plaid shirt under it walked out, rubbing his hands on a rag almost as stained as his shirt. When he saw Ginny, he smiled broadly, revealing surprisingly white teeth. Striding over to her, he held out a fairly clean hand, his other stuffing the rag in a pocket of the overalls.
Ginny smiled as the man approached, holding out her hand and putting it in his.
"Hello, Dorien."
"'Lo, Ginny, me luv," replied the man in his brisk, jovial Irish brogue. "And whot brings you to me fine establishment?" His pale green eyes suddenly landed upon the Mercedes and a low moan issued forth from his mouth. "Oh, you did'na do more harm ta dis lovely car, did you las?"
"Unfortunately," admitted Ginny, a grumble in her tone and a glare in her eyes.
"Taillight again?" said Dorien as he walked to the back of the car. "Great scott, lass, what'd ye do ter tha ba' window?"
Ginny smiled gently and said, "You know I can't tell you that, Dorien."
"Whot has 'Arry goh you into dis time?"
"Are you implying that I can't get into trouble all on my own?"
Dorien stood and looked at the woman standing on the sidewalk, her hands on her hips and eyes flashing darkly but with humor. He smiled apologetically and said, "Of course na, luv. Ah know you c'n get into trouble all on your own."
"You keep calling me 'luv' and Harry might get jealous," pointed at Ginny jokingly, wagging a finger at the man.
"Now Ah know 'Arry would'na go tha."
"And why not?"
"Cause Ah," said Dorien with a wide grin as he jabbed his thumb at his chest, "am tha only garage owner in all o' London who won't ask questions."
"You ask me," pointed out Ginny.
"Only 'cause Ah'm 'opelessly smitten with you, luv," quipped Dorien, crouching by the shattered taillight.
"You let Harry hear that and he'll deck you," said Ginny seriously. "Best garage owner or not."
Dorien smiled, his eyes on the taillight, and said, "But 'e know tha you'd never leave 'im fer anoder man." He looked up at her then and added, "Ah can 'ave dis done by tomorrow afternoon. Tha taillight'll be a breeze but tha ba' window…a li'le more tricky."
Ginny smiled at the Irishman and said, "Just get it done, Dorien. I'll come get it tomorrow."
"You goh it, luv."
Dorien have her a charming smile and Ginny returned it, tossing the Mercedes' keys to him. When he caught them, she was already walking down the sidewalk.
"Where's she going now?" pondered Sirius as he watched Ginny, his eyes unwittingly trailing up and down her lean figure. He mentally slapped himself for it.
"Wherever it is, I'm following her," declared Ron, reaching for the door handle.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" exclaimed Sirius, grabbing the younger man's arm. "Waitaminute. We can't just follow her. We have to think."
"I am thinking!" snapped Ron, blue eyes flashing. "I'm thinking of my sister!"
"Now that's just it," said Sirius. He jabbed his finger at the younger man's chest and snarled, "She's not an innocent little girl anymore. For four years or less she's been with Harry and Merlin knows what he's taught her. We know what he's capable of."
"Let me go," growled Ron.
Sirius scowled. "Not until you calm down and look at this again. You still see your younger sister in Ginny. Well, guess what? She's twenty-bloody-two and could probably kill the two of us if we took her on."
"Yeah, without wands."
"And probably without them, too." Sirius looked coldly at Ron as a look of surprise came across the younger man's face. "Yeah, that's what I said."
"You must be joking," breathed Ron.
"Do I look like I'm joking?"
Ron looked at the older man's face for a long moment, stared into the blue eyes still haunted by Azkaban for a half-second, then turned away.
"No."
"Good. 'Cause I'm not. And, besides, we can't use wands in broad daylight. Too many Muggle's and who knows how we'd explain a possible hole in a building."
"Why would we put a hole in a building? Ow! What was that for?"
Sirius slapped the back of Ron's head again and replied, "For being an idiot. C'mon."
"We're going after her?" exclaimed Ron as he watched Sirius get out of the car.
"No, we're going to sit in the car until we rot. C'mon, moron."
"Moron?" Ron scrambled out of the car, ears red as his hair, and ran across the road to catch up with Sirius, who was walking casually down the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets. As soon as he caught up, he held out his hands and said blankly, "Moron?"
Sirius nodded in confirmation and Ron wrinkled his nose, but said nothing. The two of them followed the crop of short red hair that was Ginny for two blocks until she turned into a rundown little café. As Ron started to follow her, Sirius held out a leather clad arm to stop him, shaking his head.
"Not yet," he said.
"Why don't we just go in there?" asked Ron, gesturing at the door. His eyes were watching his sister through the front glass as she got a cup of something from the rat-faced fellow at the counter then went to sit at a dark table situated in a corner. "We don't have to tell her we're Aurors or anything."
"And if she asks what we're doing here?" Sirius arched an eyebrow at the younger man quizzically.
Ron shrugged and grinned lopsidedly as he replied, "Tell her we were looking for Harry, spotted her, and thought that she might know where he was."
The dark-haired man looked at him for a moment then laughed and cuffed Ron on the shoulder.
"There you go! Good thinking, Ron."
"Thanks. I guess I'll go in and say 'hi'."
"I'll be right behind you," said Sirius, looking up and down the street to see if Harry was possibly anywhere nearby. Meanwhile, Ron strode inside, ignoring the glare he got from the fellow behind the counter and walked over to Ginny, who had one hand on her Styrofoam cup and the other trailing down a column in a newspaper.
Ron touched the back of the only other chair at the table and asked, "Is this seat taken?"
"No," replied Ginny, not looking up. Then she seemed to freeze. Brown eyes lifted to look into blue and a smile spread across the young woman's face.
"Ron!" she exclaimed, gesturing at the seat. "Sit down, sit down! What are you doing here in London?"
"I could ask you the same thing," said Ron as he sat down, glancing out of the corner of his eye to see what Sirius was doing. The dark-haired man was still standing outside, leaning against a lamppost.
Ginny simply smiled and quipped, "My reasons for being here are my own."
"Well, I'd like to know."
"You mean the whole family would like to know why I left," said Ginny tightly, her eyes flashing.
Ron let out a growl and clenched his hand into a fist where it sat on his knee. "Look, Gin," he said, "we – I – just want to know why you left."
"Why?" said Ginny. "You want to know why I left, Ron? Because of the lot of you."
"Us?"
"Yeah, you. Every single one of you. After Dad died, everyone was telling me to comfort Mum, as though it were my job. And the rest of you just went out and played Quidditch!"
"Well, you hurt Mum even more by leaving!"
"What else was I supposed to do? I tried to talk to you. But no…no one would listen. Just patted me on the head and told me to go look after Mum. I never saw you or Fred or Percy looking after Mum. No, you had your own lives. Let's leave poor little Ginny to look after Mum. She's a girl, she can do more." Ginny spat on the floor in anger then continued, "Well, guess what, Ron? I couldn't do more. The lot of you acted like it hadn't hurt me to lose Dad too. Well, it did. It hurt like fucking hell and I hated all of you for putting me in the position that you did."
"Then why are you talking to me?" asked Ron.
Ginny snorted and picked up her paper, opening it to the second page. "I stopped hating you two years ago, Ron," came the reply through the thin paper.
"Glad to hear it."
His only response was a snort and a turning of the page. Ron sat there for a long moment before he turned in his chair and looked out the front window at Sirius.
"Tell him to come in," came Ginny's voice.
"What?" said Ron in surprise, turning to look at her.
Ginny lowered the paper so Ron could see her face. She nodded towards the front window and said, "Go tell Sirius to come in. If he's looking to talk to Harry, he'll be here soon. I don't know how happy he'll be to see him…but that's Harry's matter not mine." She shrugged and lifted the paper again.
Ron blinked for a few moments then rose and walked outside. He tapped Sirius on the shoulder, saying, "C'mon in," when he got the man's attention. The two of them went back in and walked over to Ginny's table. Ron returned to his seat as Sirius pulled up another chair and peered at the newspaper.
"Ginny?"
The newspaper came down at the young woman smiled at the man. "Hello, Sirius," she said, laying the paper flat. "I assume you two really didn't come here looking for me, but for Harry?"
Ron's eyes went wide but Sirius retained his calm composure. He leaned one elbow on the table and stretched his other arm out, taking the rim on her cup in two fingers and tilting it towards him.
"Coffee?"
"Yes," said Ginny, taking the cup back and sitting it on top of a black and white picture of a completely demolished police car. "Now answer my question, Sirius."
Clear blue eyes met brown coolly and Sirius leaned back in his chair, his eyes keeping contact. "I don't know what you're talking about…"
"Bullshit," snapped Ginny harshly, causing Ron to jump. She stabbed a finger at Sirius and said, "I was around a good many Aurors after Dad took office and I know how they walk. You've got the posture of an Auror, Sirius. Ron has yet to pull it off."
"Hey!" said Ron.
"Shut up," said Ginny, her eyes focused on Sirius. She frowned at him and continued, "And if the two of you are after Harry, I'll tell the both of you right now that we haven't gone near the wizarding world in four years."
"What about the two Harry spent on his own?" asked Sirius, arching an eyebrow.
"He was in America."
"Doing what?"
"Now, now," said Ginny, "you know I can't tell you that."
"Why not?" asked Ron.
"Because we're not interrogating her," replied Sirius. "And we can't take her in unless we have proof that she and Harry have been messing with things they shouldn't."
"I can still mess with the wizarding world, as you so eloquently put it," snapped Ginny. "No one snapped my wand."
"Where is it?" asked Sirius.
"For what? So you can snap it now? I haven't used magic in almost four years, Sirius."
"Still…"
"Fuck no."
"Ginny!" exclaimed Ron.
"Oh, please, Ron," cried Ginny. "Mum got onto the twins for worse language than that. Especially when they hexed Percy so he could only say every word in that category for a week every time he opened his mouth."
"That was funny."
"That wasn't my point."
"Oh."
There was a momentary silence then Sirius put his hands behind his head, leaned back in his chair, and eyed Ginny lazily. After a moment he said, "So…when will Harry get here?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," replied Ginny. She moved her coffee cup and started to pick up her paper again then paused and said, "And as I said earlier, I don't think he's going to be too happy see you two."
"And why not?" asked Sirius.
"That's Harry's business, not mine," came the reply. "Now if you'd mind letting me read…"
Ron looked at Sirius, who had closed his eyes and appeared to be dozing in his chair. The redheaded young man heaved a sigh and looked out the front window, wondering when this hellish day would be over.
A/N: The trashcan sequence is courtesy K. A. Applegate's Animorphs series. Her obsession before Harry Potter. And now they are never to be read again. Oh the humanity! *faints* *blinks and looks at Saerry* Are they always like this? Yes. Oh, and everyone! Meet my new muse. She just suddenly popped into being one day. Hi, I'm Amelie. She's the romance muse. Whereas WE are the insanity muses. Speak for yourselves. OI! HEY! And this is normal? Normal as it gets, Mel. Oh, dear…
