Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter...only the plot...blah blah blah...
A/N: Sorry for the extra long wait...I just had to write something...I was getting mad at myself...please review....and tell me how you want the reunion of James, Lily and Sirius to happen with Harry...(of course they're getting back together...that's what the story's about!! LOL)
Recap:
Harry was mindlessly walking up the stairs, until he heard his name.
"Harry! Harry, over here!"
Remember how they're at Jeannie's house
Chapter 8:
Awkward Decisions
Harry spun on his heels to face the source of the voice. Sure enough, it was
Hermione calling. She was sitting on the staircase, obviously waiting, beside
Ron. She rushed over to Harry and squeezed him around the neck, almost choking
Harry. Ron casually walked over to Harry and Hermione.
"We got your letter, Harry," Hermione cried, "I feel so guilty!! Dumbledore
said we shouldn't contact you!! Be did the best we could to talk, Harry, we
disobeyed Dumbledore, just to talk to you! Can you ever forgive us?"
"Uhhh..." Harry was speechless, how do you
respond to a crying teenage girl, wrapped around your neck?
"I'm really sorry, mate, it's the best we could do, with those letters,"
Ron muttered, but looking at the desperate Harry.
"Yes, well, I just want some answers first!" Harry said hotly, as Hermione
dried her eyes and walked back to Ron's side.
"We really don't know much, Harry," Hermione sniffled, "Just like last
year; the adults try to keep us from every conversation."
"And it's harder now that we're not staying in Sirius' hou...I
mean the Headquarters," Ron explained.
"Come on, let's not talk about this!" Hermione avoided, "Let's go see the
others!"
"Others?" Harry asked stupidly.
"Ginny, Fred and George!" Hermione said.
"Oh..."
"Yes, Fred and George are visiting for the weekend. They closed down the
shop to study for the NEWTS! Dumbledore was kind enough to let them take it,
saying it was Umbridge's fault for letting them quit
school. Nice man, he is!" Ron said, as they walked outside to the sunny yard.
"Good for them," Hermione interrupted.
"Fred and George wanted to join the Order, but Mum didn't let them. She
said, they won't join, even if they are of age! She also said that it was
they're punishment for not finishing school," Ron finished.
"That's not all bad," Harry said, "Quitting school turned out the best for
them!"
"Don't get any ideas, Harry!" Hermione warned.
"Anyways..." Ron continued, "The Joke shop has been going great for them,
we'll check it out when we go to Diagon Alley, I
still haven't seen it yet! They've been rolling in quite a bit of gold this
summer!"
A there was a noisy blast somewhere off in the distance, a few birds few
out of the sky near the bushes.
"Oh...not again," Hermione whined.
"What?" Harry asked.
"I think we've found them," Ron concluded.
"What? Found who?" Harry asked again.
"Come on, they're over near the bushes this time. Better hiding spot
really," Ron said, and jogging behind the bushes at the far end of the field.
Hermione and Harry ran behind Ron into the bush clearing.
"HARRY!!" Ginny squealed, "So glad you woke up, finally!!"
"Hullo Harry!" One of the twins called to him.
"How's life?" The other twin asked. Stupid question.
"Fine," Harry lied. How could like be good? I mean...Sirius...
"George!" Ginny hissed, elbowing George hard in the ribs.
"It was just a question!" George hissed back, rubbing his chest.
"Anyways..." The other twin, Fred said, "We're working on our latest
invention!"
"It's called the Weasley's Wizarding
Wumpbombs, ingenious!" Said George.
"What does it do?" Harry asked cautiously, as Hermione rolled her eyes.
"It's a prank trap!" Ginny said excitedly.
"What?" Harry questioned.
"Well, when people buy our product," Fred began.
"They can use it on their worst enemies," Said George.
"Or people they just want to prank," Finished Fred.
"Well what does it do?" Harry asked again.
"When someone steps into the bomb's radius," Said George.
"The bomb explodes," Fred said excitedly.
"Isn't that dangerous?" Harry asked.
"Ummm...no!"
Fred explained.
"The victim just gets sent 50 feet into the air, at the impact of the
bomb," Ginny said simply.
"They don't really get hurt, just spooked!" Fred assured, but Harry didn't
feel the least bit better.
"Okay, well, I'll remember to stay on your good side so you don't have to
use bomb on me!" Harry smiled, cautiously.
"Don't joke about this, Harry! This is serious! I should be telling your
mother about this!!"
"You can't scare us this time, Hermy!" Fred
laughed.
"We're of age, Hermione! There's nothing our mother can do about it!"
George said.
"I beg to differ," A woman's voice said behind the group. It was Mrs. Weasley, and despite George and Fred's remark, their faces
dropped.
"Hullo, Mum," Ginny laughed.
"Harry, dear! So glad you arrived safely," Mrs. Weasley
gleamed, hugging Harry and almost squeezing the boy to death. Then her eyes
fell on the twins, "You two. I need to have a word with you both. Alone. Come along."
Mrs. Weasley beckoned them with her finger and
walking them back to the house, leaving Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Harry
snickering amongst themselves. Once Mrs. Weasley and the twins were inside, Ginny ran off, saying
she had to catch up on her summer homework.
"So...when did you guys get here?" Harry asked.
"Our family packed up our things within a week of the end of term, 'cause Dad was fired...Mum said it was more safer here.
Jeannie's been really kind," Ron described as they sat themselves on the ground
beside a small pond.
Trying to change the subject of Ron's misfortune Hermione spoke, "Well...I
came here just a few days ago, Ron invited me. And Ron's right, Jeannie has
been a marvelous hostess."
"Who is this Jeannie?" Harry asked.
"You met Jeannie," Hermione explained, "She's the blonde woman...who owns
the house."
"Yes, yes, I know that. But who IS she? Like...is she part of the Order?"
"Yes of course she is!" Hermione insisted.
"She went to Hogwarts, and she was one of Lupin's
very close friends there...if you know what I mean," Ron smiled. Hermione
sighed and rolled her eyes. "They used to date? At Hogwarts?"
Harry said, almost in awe.
"Ya, apparently..." Ron said, "Fred and George's extendable ears still come
in handy!"
"But that means...Jeannie knew my parents," Harry said, most definitely in
awe.
"What? How? They're dea-" Ron started to say
stupidly.
"Ron!" Hermione hissed.
"Sorry," Ron muttered, his ears turning a slight shade of pink.
"We all know that Lupin was best friends with my Mum and Dad! If Jeannie
dated him...then Jeannie must have met my parents, they all went to the same
school!" Harry said, finding a new respect for Jeannie.
"Interesting...never thought of it that way," Hermione considered.
"Yes...but you said something about the extendable ears? Did you hear
anything new?" Harry asked, eager to know more about the Order. Hermione and
Ron exchanged looks, both grinning broadly.
"We did hear some stuff about Jeannie and Professor Lupin," Hermione
smiled, "and then the adults switched the subject to some of the Order's
current news...but we didn't hear anything worthwhile or important because Mrs.
Weasley noticed the extendable ears. That wasn't a
pretty site..."
"Nope. Not pretty at all," Ron agreed.
"What did you hear about Lupin and Jeannie?" Harry said, surprisingly
interested.
"About 2 nights ago, Lupin arrived here," Hermione said, "When Ron, Fred,
George and Ginny went to greet him, we over heard Jeannie greeting him."
"It was a very awkward moment," Ron added.
"Don't interrupt!" Hermione scolded, "Anyways, they started to talk about
the usual boring things, how's life, the weather and the Order. I don't really
remember all that clearly, but somehow they started to talk about some
woman...can't recall her name...and her daughter."
"You could feel the tension when Lupin asked about this woman," Ron said,
trying to contribute to the story. Hermione glared at Ron, before continuing.
"Lupin felt that they should talk about this topic in private, in case
someone overheard them," Hermione said, "We all really wanted to know who this
woman and her daughter is...all except me, of course. So, Fred and George used
the Extendable ears to listen through the door."
"After some bickering, Hermione gave in and decided to listen," Ron quickly
interrupted.
"What did you hear," Harry asked excitedly.
"Well. They started to talk about how they used to court and how this woman
somehow interfered after...well, after you got that scar..." Hermione said
awkwardly, pointing to Harry's forehead.
"But then Mum came along and we had to hide the extendable ear from her!"
Ron added in before Hermione could continue.
"SHUT UP, RON! I'm trying to explain!" Hermione said, annoyed, Ron's ears
turning pink, "As I was saying...once Mrs. Weasley
left, we went back to listening. We must have missed an important part of their
conversation, because they finished off my talking about a child or baby girl
and then they went back to talking about the Order and when Jeannie joined."
"Whoa...who is this mysterious woman and kid?" Harry questioned.
"I have no idea!" Ron said, desperately, "But it sure sounds like the
reason Jeannie and Lupin broke up was because of this woman and kid."
"Maybe he cheated on Jeannie," Hermione suggested, but laughed afterwards.
"Maybe...and then they had the kid," Ron said, out of all seriousness.
"What? No, way! Lupin? He doesn't seem one to do
something like that...I've always pictured him as faithful guy...or not even
dating anyone at all!" Harry shuttered.
"But seriously," Ron continued, thinking he was on to something, "What if
Professor Lupin fathered this woman's baby?"
"RONALD! That's just getting silly, what would make you think that?"
Hermione argued, but a stirring hatred rose up inside Harry towards this mystery
woman, "We all know Lupin would never do that, what's the point in talking
about it?"
"It is kind of ridiculous," Ron added, but still thinking he was
right...for once.
"Of course it is...bloody hell; I can't believe we actually thought of
that..." Hermione shuttered.
Ron shrugged, but was still deep in thought about what he just talked
about. Hermione and Harry exchanged looks...Hermione rolled her eyes. Ron
caught a glance of what they were doing behind his back and glared at both of
them, then he suggested that they should go inside before it gets too dark
outside.
Almost everyone was already gathered in the dining room, while Mrs. Weasley and Jeannie cooked dinner together. At one end of
the table, Fred and George and Ginny were gathered together; Ginny laughing at
a joke Fred and George cracked. At the opposite end of the table Lupin, Mr. Weasley, Mad- Eye Moody (Kingsley Shaklebolt
had left earlier that day) and a new guest; Tonks
were huddled together talking quietly. The adults looked up when Harry, Ron and
Hermione entered the room. Tonks got out of her seat
to greet Harry; this time Tonks had spiked green
hair, bright blue eyes and a pug nose.
"Hey! How was your summer so far?" Tonks smiled.
"Umm...OK, I guess," Harry said awkwardly.
"Hang in there, it'll get better," Tonks
whispered in Harry's ear as she hugged him. Harry had no clue of what Tonks meant by what she said...Tonks
walked back to her seat and with a wiggle of her nose, her hair turned to long
wavy white-blonde hair. Harry sat down between Ron and Hermione, trying to
listen intently to a new joke the twins were trying out...but Harry couldn't
keep his mind off of what Tonks had told him.
'What does she mean...? 'It'll get better?'...what will get better?! What's
wrong with me?' Harry thought to himself, but deep inside himself, he knew the
answer, 'Sirius.'
Just at that moment, Mrs. Weasley and Jeannie
came bustling in the room with plates and pots full of delicious food. The
table was filled with food at chatting people, then Tonks brought up a question that has hanging in the back of
Harry's mind for the last couple of hours.
"Molly, tell me again how long you'll be staying here?" Tonks
asked Mrs. Weasley.
"Actually, we plan to leave very soon. You know the...important secret meeting...we all have to attend at the Headquarters?"
"Yes, of course!" Tonks replied Mrs. Weasley.
"Well, I can't possibly leave the children here for the next week while
Arthur and I are at the meeting, so we plan to stay at the Headquarters until
school starts again! Dumbledore made sure there was a section of the house for
the children to stay while we're there," Mrs. Weasley
thankfully said.
"But what about...Harry...do you think he will be able to stand being at
Sirius' old house?" Tonks cautiously asked.
Mrs. Weasley paused for a moment before speaking,
"I never thought of that...I'll speak to him after dinner."
Dinner finished quickly after, Mrs. Weasley and Tonks cleared the table (Tonks
breaking a few dishes on the way) and Harry, with the rest of the kids, were sent up to bed. Harry brushed and got ready for bed
with Ron and made his way to his room, but Mrs. Weasley
was waiting for him in front of his door.
"Mr. Weasley?" Harry asked, cautious.
"Yes, Harry, I just wanted to ask you something. Please, let's talk
inside," Mr. Weasley said, motioning to the bedroom
door. Harry awkwardly walked into his bedroom and sat down on the bed, though
Mr. Weasley kept standing.
"We have to ask you something...but if you feel uncomfortable, you don't
have to agree!" Mr. Weasley began, making Harry's
insides twist uncomfortably, "You see, all the Order members must go to a very
important meeting at the end of the week and we can't leave you kids by
yourself! All the adults who could look after you are Order members and have to
be at that weekend meeting. But this meeting is being held at the
Headquarters..."
Harry's insides, which were already twisted, gave a sudden lurch.
"If you don't want to, It's okay...we'll just have to make other
arrangements..." Mr. Weasley added quietly, seeing
Harry's facial expression. Harry held his breath, guilt creeping up on him like
a lion catches its prey.
"Its fine...don't worry about it," Harry said, realizing the consequences,
only after he agreed to go to his dead godfather's house.
A/N: OK...I'm dreadfully sorry for the long wait...I'll truly try to update
faster, now that I actually have a plan for this story! Yaya
for me! And with that whole thing with Jeannie and Remus...I can hear the
typing of those flames this very moment... I didn't know how else the subject
would be brought up...so please ONLY nice reviews and constructive criticism
and ideas for what you want to see in this story!
Anyways...until next time,
Orligrl
