"Hi Ginny. What's going on?" Esme asked, tongue between her teeth in concentration. She had a smallish cauldron levitating over a contained yellow-white fire; she spilled out a single star of anise from a glass tube and tossed it into the cauldron. The mixture sizzled for a few seconds and a triumphant grin spread itself over Esme's face.
"Looking for someone who isn't moping about Percy or practicing their defense skills. What are you making?" Ginny replied, sliding into the room and closing the door gently behind her. She mosied over to the cauldron and peeked inside. The mixture was a vibrant red color, bubbling furiously and emitting soft whisps of smoke and the heavy perfume of... star anise, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and ginger. "That smells heavenly," Ginny melted, flopping down onto Esme's bed.
Esme gave Ginny a brief look of confusion as she stretched out on the patchwork quilt, as comfortable as if they had known each other for years, but turned her attention backed to her potion. "It's a doctored Dreamless Sleep potion for Ron- tailor made to his specifications. That lovely smell you are smelling is my chai tea," Esme answered, pulling a large green mug from under the chair. "Keep it near the fire so it stays warm," she added, offering the cup to Ginny. She raised herself up from her lounging position to take a sip. She licked her lips and handed it back to Esme.
"Yum," Ginny said, returning to her position. Esme nodded. "Too bad for Ron though: this potion isn't going to taste nearly as good. Unless he has a passion for liquorice and slugs, that is," Esme shrugged, taking a ladle and scooping out some of the liquid, letting it plop depressingly back into the cauldron.
Ginny couldn't help but laugh. "Well, he's had some experience with slugs. I'm sure he won't mind too badly." After a moment, she propped her head on her hands. "It's awfully nice of you to help Ron," she said.
"Ron's a good guy. He seems to have a head on his shoulders... for a Gryffindor, that is," Esme smirked, tongue in cheek. She gave the mixture another stir with the ladle, tapped it on the side of the iron and rested it across the mouth of the cauldron before taking a seat down on the bed, cup in hand.
"Gryffindor? What would you know about that?" Ginny asked, a disbelieving look on her face despite the smile. Esme looked up at the high ceiling, a pensive look on her face. "Gryffindor boys are impulsive and instinctual and the Gryffindor women are opinionated and overbearing. Not that that's a bad thing," Esme shrugged snootily and took a sip of her tea. Ginny's eyes narrowed.
"But there are problems in every house. The Slytherin girls are cheap and whiny and the boys are cruel and obnoxious. Hufflepuff boys are pompous and naive and the girls are flighty and indecisive. Ravenclaw boys are arrogant and dull while the girls are distant and self-involved. Do you know that no other school in the world sorts students using such prescribed personality types? Every other school sorts at random or based on skills assessment," Esme explained, and Ginny gave her the look of those surprised with new information.
"I always assumed that the other schools basically worked the same way. And as to the comment about Gryffindors, I think I say 'Hey!'" Ginny exclaimed and Esme laughed. "Oh, don't be so offended. Like I said, it's not really a bad thing. Every flaw has it's benefits if you think about it. I mean, personally, if I wasn't self-involved and distant, a lot more people would be under protective custody in the US. And if you weren't overbearing and opinionated, you brothers would never respect you."
"You went to Hogwarts? You were in Ravenclaw?" Ginny inquired, pulling the cup from Esme and taking a sip. Esme nodded. "Oh yes. That stupid hat wanted to put me in Slytherin, but I totally shut him down on that avenue. No way in hell was I going to be in that house," she replied darkly. "So I ended up in Ravenclaw, which I guess makes sense. It didn't really matter in the end: I was only there till Winter holidays. I always though that it was because I took some crap for being the daughter of the most hated teacher in school and Dad wanted to get me away from that, but now that Percy's in the picture, I imagine Dad had a conversation with your mother about keeping us in different schools. So my dad bought a house in San Francisco and got me in at NA Prep," Esme explained.
Ginny bit her lip and maneuvered her way from the subject of Percy. "So what was NA Prep like, if it was so different from Hogwarts?" Esme took a deep breath.
"Well... NA Prep is based for the whole of North America for one thing. Canadian, Mexican and America students attend one of two campuses: one is on an island off the coast of Washington and the other is in Massachusetts. Not that you know where either of these places are, but when you first attend, there are some language barriers because some speak English, some speak Spanish and some speak French. But whatever. There are six houses at the schools, but you're sorted randomly so it doesn't really carry any connotations with it."
"Another thing is Muggle Studies. Here it's an optional class, but because the population of the three countries are so huge and the chance of you being the only wizard in a 100 mile radius isn't totally uncommon, all the students need to be well versed on how to blend in. You take it all seven years of school AND during your fifth year, you have to spend 2 months at a muggle school."
Ginny gawked. "Really! What's it like!?" she asked bubbly, sitting up on the bed. "It was fun. It's great because you get to see all the stuff you don't in class. Like, going to movies with friends, or keeping up on a tv show so you can talk about it at school, or calling each other on the phone when you're bored. I mean, the people aren't so different: teachers are teachers and students are students, but everything else is... different."
Ginny's smiled with a faraway look. "That is brilliant," she said a bit reverentially, and the two sat there for a moment, just thinking.
"People underestimate you, don't they Ginny?" Esme said suddenly. Ginny chuckled to herself. "I'm a year younger than Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville, and the only girl in the family. I've gotten used to it," Ginny laughed. But when she stopped, she realized that Esme wasn't laughing. She was peering inquisitively at her, trying to search her for something.
"Not very many people would have done what you did for Percy. After all he said, the way he treated you guys... it was really..." Esme seemed lost for words, and intensely focused on the patterning on the quilt. Ginny sighed and Esme looked up. "Why did you come in here?" Esme asked, looking up at Ginny.
Ginny frowned and sought out an answer. "Hermione is so preoccupied with training for her great female samurai mission against evil. Talking to Harry lately is like walking across a floor that you could fall through at any moment. And my family is so wrapped up in Percy... everyone is just so wrapped up in the war, and it's all the time! I mean, I understand that there is a war and that all of us are involved in one way or another, but it's so stressful to have this hanging over every bloody conversation," she spat furiously. "I thought... but the conversation always manages to come around to Percy, or fighting, or something, even with you," Ginny added, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at the door.
Esme bit her lip. "I only brought it up... I've never had any siblings. I mean, my dad is generally a bastard- I'm an adult, I can admit that. But I always kind of hoped that he would meet someone and I'd get a brother or sister. I only brought it up because Percy's really lucky to have you and Ron and..." Esme stood up and stalked around the posters of the bed. "We had a moment, you know. I hate the fact that I keep having to come back to the past; I hate the fact that my father treats me as if I'm going to shatter and Dumbledore looks at me like I'm going to go on a murderous rampage; believe me, we are completely on the same page. And it was lovely to finally talk to someone about something unimportant, and interesting," Esme grumbled, collapsing on the bed. She frowned at Ginny. "It was a sister-ish moment. And as incredibly inarticulate as it ended up, I was trying to find a way to thank you for it, cause it's exactly what I needed because if I have to explain to one more person all the fun intricacies of my past, I'm locking the door to my room and not coming out!"
Esme picked at the stitches in the quilt. "I feel dumb," Esme sighed, smacked her forehead and fell back onto the bed. "And embarrassed. Let's chalk it up to Esmerelda's lack of people skills," she said to the ceiling.
Ginny swung into Esme's line of sight wearing a small grin. "You just need to stop thinking so much and just say what's on your mind. That's a Gryffindor thing, though," Ginny remarked. Esme rolled her eyes, but smiled just the same. A beeping sound echoed through the bedroom and Esme got to her feet to check on the potion.
"So, you and Percy, huh?" Ginny said, a wide smile behind Esme's back. Esme pointed at the fire with her wand and it burst into a rain of white glitter that vanished as it hit the floor. She pulled out another glass vial from the holder balanced on a stool next to the cauldron and pulled three leaves from the stash. She crunched them in her hand and dropped them in.
"It rather obvious, Esme, don't try to deny it," she egged on, laying on her stomach and kicking her legs in the air. Esme put the vial back in the holder and turned to meet Ginny's smirking eyes. She grabbed the poster and swung back and forth on it. "I'm not known for opening up to people, mostly because I'm not allowed, but mostly because... well, I don't relate well to people all the time. But... I don't know. It's nice to have someone that knows, and understands, you know? And Percy's a good guy, even if he doesn't believe it. I do. But it doesn't really matter... it'd never work out," Esme sighed and swung herself on to bed.
"Why?" Ginny inquired. Esme's eyes darkened and her lips formed a hard line. "Complicated reasons that involve things we are trying to not discuss." Esme's tone halted that road of discussion, but she didn't let the conversation die. "Isn't Bill supposed to be coming today?" she asked, but she never got an answer. A loud shriek sounded up the staircase followed by the incessant drivel of Mrs. Black's portrait. "Harry! Ron! Neville! OWL RESULTS ARE HERE!" Hermione's voice echoed through the house. A wide grin appeared on Ginny's face. "This is going to be entertaining..."
When Esme and Ginny arrived in the kitchen, Hermione was hopping from foot to foot, her eyes trained on the golden seal keeping her results shut. Harry had yet to arrive, but Ron was sitting at the counter staring at his letter as if trying to get some read on it. "Oh, just open it you two. I know it can't be as bad as you think Hermione and Ron, I think if you stare at that letter any longer you'll go cross-eyed," Ginny said after plopping down next to Ron. Ron nudged her and Ginny nearly toppled off her stool.
Neville broke through the swinging door from the hall and picked his letter up off the table. Quickly, he slid a finger under the seal and unfolded the parchment. He perused the lines. "Huh," he said a bit surprisedly, his eyebrows raised. Neville looked up and caught Hermione and Ron staring at him, rather slack-jawed. "How did you two do?" Neville asked and both Hermione and Ron's eyes panned down to their unopened letters.
"Er... how did you do, Neville?" Hermione stammered, her finger tracing the seal symbol absentmindedly. He tossed the letter onto the counter and Ginny, Hermione and Ron pounced on it.
Longbottom, Neville Francis
07/31/81
ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVELS (OWL) RESULTS
Muggle Studies: A
Magical Creatures: E
Charms: A
Transfiguration: A
Defense Against the Dark Arts: E
Potions: P
Astronomy: A
History of Magic: E
Herbology: O
"At least now I'm permanently rid of Severus Snape... er, no offense Esme," Neville backtracked and Esme laughed heartily, raising a hand to say no offense had been taken.
"Yeah, but it looks like you're stuck with Binns. How did you swing an E in History of Magic?" Ron said and Neville gave him a genuinely unknowing shrug. Hermione nervously patted Neville on the shoulder. Ron turned to her and scowled. "Oh, for Merlin's sake Hermione, stop hopping around and open the bloody thing!"
Which she did. A few seconds were taken up by reading, but they ended abruptly as she erupted into shrieks. She danced around the table, and tossed her letter onto the counter to be examined by the gallery.
Granger, Hermione Jane
09/10/81
ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVELS (OWL) RESULTS
Arithmacy: O
Magical Creatures: O
Charms: O
Transfiguration: O
Defense Against the Dark Arts: E
Potions: O
Astronomy: E
History of Magic: E
Herbology: E
Ancient Runes: E
"Nice work, Hermione. Wow!" Esme leaned over and said. Now eyes were focused on Ron, who was looking dismally at his letter. He slid a finger under his seal and flipped open the letter.
Weasley, Ronald Bilius
03/01/81
ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVELS (OWL) RESULTS
Divination: P
Magical Creatures: E
Charms: E
Transfiguration: E
Defense Against the Dark Arts: O
Potions: E
Astronomy: E
History of Magic: P
Herbology: A
Hermione looked at Ron's letter and paled. Ron's eyes scanned upwards, the grin on his face vanishing. "I didn't mean it... I'm sure it's a mistake, Hermione, really," he choked out. Hermione's face twisted into a strangled smile and she backed off. "No, no, Ron. Congratulations on your Defense grade, really," she recovered nicely, a genuine smile on her face.
"No more divination, no more history and Snape won't let me into Potions without an O. Perfect," Ron sighed. Ginny took the letter and jumped up from her seat. "Mum will want to see this," Ginny teased and danced off through the door to the hallway.
"Well... this could have been worse," Harry said from the kitchen table, one leg squared over the other. Hermione, Neville and Ron gave each other a confused look. "When did you get in here?" Neville asked, but Harry waived it off with a small smile on his face, stood up and tossed his into the pile.
Potter, Harry James
07/31/81
ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVELS (OWL) RESULTS
Divination: P
Magical Creatures: E
Charms: E
Transfiguration: E
Defense Against the Dark Arts: O
Potions: E
Astronomy: A
History of Magic: D
Herbology: A
"So Harry, what you think we should sign up for next year since History, Divination and Potions are out?" Ron asked cheerfully before a small wooden box appeared out of nowhere and thunked him on the head.
"It hit you in the head?" Percy asked, turning the wooden box in his hands. Esme had called Percy down when she saw that both of their names were engraved in green ink on the top. Ron nodded, a bag of ice pressed to the top of his head. "I just can't believe it got through all the wards that cover this house," Esme wondered, rubbing the back of her neck.
"What is it?" Harry asked. Percy lifted the top of the box and set it on the counter. Inside was a large brass ring and what was easily recognizable as a time turner. "It's a portkey and a device called a time-turner. It allows you to travel backwards in time," Percy explained as Hermione and Harry shot each other knowing looks. "So. We'll see you lot later," Percy added, nudging Esme towards the dining room.
The moment the door swung to close behind them, the two of them walked in through the hallway door. Esme's pale skin was ghostlike as she floated somberly past the four of them and swept past the four of them, completely in her own world. She pulled out a large jug of Ogden's Old from a high cabinet and nicked a large glass before sweeping back out of the room. Percy looked quite opposite: his face was flushed an angry magenta and heat seemed to be wafting off of his body as he steamed through the kitchen. But he too said nothing as he nicked himself a cup and stormed out of the room. Ron looked at his three friends and followed Percy out.
"Percy. Percy!" Ron called, chasing him down with his longer legs before Percy started to climb the staircase. Percy shrugged Ron's attempt to catch his wrist and took off upstairs. It didn't dissuade Ron, and he took off up the stairs after him. "Percy, come on!" Ron grumbled, stopping Percy at the second floor landing.
"RON!" Percy roared, spinning on his heels. Ron took a step back. When Ron said nothing in reply, Percy was at a loss: his hands trembled, fingers clenching and unclenching into fists, his body thrumming like an engine in park. He took a deep, shaky breath. "Ron, I admire your initiative and your concern, but I really, really don't want to hash everything out at the moment, alright?" Percy said as calm as he could manage, which admittedly wasn't very. His avoiding eyes finally caught Ron's, and a shiver spiraled down Ron's spinal cord.
Ron's eyes widened as an impulse of intuition followed the shiver, and he stumbled back against the stairs, clasping the railing to steady himself. Ron shook his head slowly, trying either to clear the feeling from his skull or make sense of it- or both. But Percy took the opportunity to clomp skywards to the third floor. Ron stumbled to his feet and took off down the second floor corridor, swinging open the door to his parent's room.
"Oh Ron! An O in Defense! Five E's! Excellent, excellent work, son!" Molly congratulated shrilly, blind-siding Ron with a massive hug. Ron choked as the breath was squeezed out of him, but he waited until she had sufficient squeezed the stuffing out of him before shrugging her off.
"They're going to take him, Mum. Percy... and Esme. They're taking them back," Ron spat out, taking in a few deep breaths. Ginny's face molded into one of shock, but Molly's formed one of absolute ferocity. She stormed out of the room, Ron and Ginny chasing after her as she nearly flew down the staircase to the parlor. Her wand raised and the pot of green powder flew to her hands. She tossed a handful into the fire.
"Severus! SEVERUS! Answer your fire immediately!" Molly screamed, jutting her head into the green magical fire within the fireplace. After no response, she pulled her head out and raised her wand. Scathing orange light shot out of it. "SEVERUS!" she shouted once again and the three of them jumped as a door slammed.
"Hellfire, Mum! What's with all the racket?" George called from the staircase. Molly turned her attention away from the fire for a moment to storm to the staircase. "George, get your father here now!" she shouted and refocused herself back at the fireplace. She wound her wand back up, but was interrupted by the unmistakable mug of Severus Snape floating eerily in the green fire.
"You hit me with that spell again woman, and you'll spend the next week believing you're a chicken," Severus said, loathing dripping from his words. The orange light died at the tip of her wand as she rolled her eyes. "Get Albus and get your arse over here now, you twit! The Institute's trying to take back our kids."
Author's Notes: I've noticed as of late my writing has been extremely fluffy- including this chapter. Well, gentle readers, savor it while you can, cause it's not going to last for much longer. Things are definitely about to get worse.
A-Chan: I'm trying out the reformatting in this chapter, so I hope you're still reading so you can tell me what you think. You are my 50'th reviewer! YAY!!!!!!!
Drangedcritic: I do not see this sort of thing everyday! Honestly! In reading the 5th book, I was really disappointed in Percy's behavior and I tried to reason out why he may have said and done the things he did. With JKR putting to rest the idea that maybe Percy was under Imperius or something else, I tried to seek out a plausible explanation for his actions: fear. And then... it just grew. I hope that it doesn't deter you from reading further, however :)
Schizo13: yay! Vampires! I wish I had some drawing skillz so that I could show Daddy and Daughter vampire... it would be hilarious!
DB: I'm glad you liked the video- frankly, I think that if I were in Arthur's place, I'd want to hear the story coming from the person I trust the most: me. As for Percy as Superman... thanks :
Thanks to americanrage on the lj for letting me hijack her OWL scores. You are a godsend!
For all the rest of you out there reading, thanks and see you in 16!