Harry showered quickly. Tonks had promised to be back within the hour with a Portkey, and Harry knew that there were a couple of things to take care of before Neville arrived. Hopefully Luna wouldn't be far behind him. He knew that the Ravenclaw had said she wouldn't arrive until the end of the week, but knowing Luna, she could waltz in today, a dreamy look on her face, claiming she'd thought it was Friday.
Harry had roused Hermione on his way to the shower, and then told her she could use his shower after he was done. He had a shared ensuite with the room that had been Sirius', and by the time he was done and Hermione was ready to shower, the main bath was going to be busy with the number of others in the house.
Harry turned off the hot water and grabbed a towel, drying off quickly before stepping out and wiping the steam from the mirror. There he saw his reflection, blurred as it was without his glasses. He picked them up from the vanity and put them on, everything coming into sudden focus.
He had grown over the past year. He would never be as muscular as Ron, but he was tall, and his shoulders had broadened. He knew he needed new robes, and he'd been wearing jeans and t-shirts which were all becoming rather snug. When their Hogwarts letters came, he would have to go shopping. He wondered if Tonks and Remus would accompany him shopping in muggle London. He needed some jeans and shirts as well as robes.
There was a knock on the door, and Harry, after wrapping the towel around his waist, opened it quickly, a billow of steam escaping as he did. Hermione stood in the doorway, wearing blue pyjamas sporting little yellow happy faces. They were of some fuzzy material, and with her hair in disarray and sleep still in her eyes, she looked to be about six years old.
"Done?" she asked, yawning hugely.
"Yes, sorry, I meant to be dressed by the time you got in here."
"Yeah, yeah, admiring yourself in the mirror too long, hmmm?" she smiled at him.
"Something like that," he shook his head at her. "There's a lock on the door if it makes you feel more comfortable."
She turned surprised eyes on him. "Don't be silly. I trust you, Harry."
"Well..." he shrugged.
"Have you got shampoo? I left mine in the other bath, and someone's in there now."
"Yes, help yourself."
"Thanks, Harry."
Harry dressed quickly once he heard the shower running, and laid his towel neatly over the back of a chair. Glancing around the room, he went and made the bed the muggle way. Molly had enough work to do, she didn't need to be cleaning up after him. Which was something else he needed to take care of today.
He was rummaging in the desk drawer for a quill and a piece of parchment when there was another knock on the door.
"Come in," he called.
"Harry?" Ron stuck his head around the door. "Coming down?"
"Yes... I just..."
"Harry, can I borrow your razor...? Oh, good morning, Ron," Hermione had opened the bathroom door enough to stick her head around.
"There are disposable ones in the bottom drawer, Mione," Harry said absently, still looking for a bit of parchment to make his list, and coming up with nothing. "Help yourself."
"Thanks," she smiled, closing the door again.
Harry straightened, giving up on the parchment and thinking he was more likely to find some in the den, anyhow, moved towards the door.
Ron was standing in the doorway, looking stunned.
"Ron?"
"Harry... umm..."
"What?"
Ron gazed at him for a moment, then swallowed and took a deep breath.
"Nothing," he mumbled, turning and moving off down the hallway, followed closely by Harry.
Tonks arrived just as Harry and Ron sat down to breakfast in the kitchen. She was grinning and plopped down in a chair across from Harry.
"Got it?"
"Got it," she confirmed.
"Got what?" Ron asked as his mother placed a plate of eggs and toast in front of him.
"A Portkey," Harry explained. "To get Hermione's parents back here."
"Is Hermione coming?" Tonks asked.
"When I woke her up, she said she wanted to if she was ready when you got here..."
Harry hadn't noticed Ron pushing his plate away at this. But Tonks did. She pulled the rejected breakfast towards her and started eating hungrily.
"Hey!" Ron said.
"What?'' Tonks said through a mouthful of toast. "You weren't going to eat it!"
Ron, shaking his head, sipped his tea.
Hermione entered the kitchen at that moment, excitement written all over her face.
"Good morning, Tonks!" she smiled as she sat down next to Harry and pulled the tea pot and a cup towards her. She smiled brilliantly at Harry and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. "You're lovely, Harry. Thank you so much!"
Harry grinned and continued to eat his breakfast. Ron let out his breath in a quick rush and pushed away his tea.
"Not feeling well, Ron?" Harry asked, concerned at the way his friend was acting.
"No, fine, Harry," he said quietly. "Thanks."
"You ready, then, love?" Tonks stood.
"Ready when you are," Hermione stood.
"Be careful," Harry said to them both.
"Don't fuss, Harry," Hermione said, squeezing his shoulder. "We'll be back before you know it."
"Mione," Harry said. "Wand out, and be careful, please."
Tonks laid her hand on the Hermione's arm and Hermione stuck her tongue out at him as she Disapparated.
"Witch," Harry laughed.
"You really care about her, don't you?" Ron asked in a soft voice.
"Of course I do," Harry smiled.
"You two really relate to each other," Ron commented.
"What do you mean?" Harry looked at him.
"I mean, you were both brought up in muggle homes... you share that... I don't know, you're... "
"Yeah, I guess we do have a lot in common," Harry mused. He'd never really thought about it before.
"Yeah," Ron agreed, sighing. "So, what's on for today, then?"
"I need to..." Harry paused for a moment, thinking. "Neville is coming today... and Hermione's parents... Mrs. Weasley? Can we talk?"
"Of course, love. What is it?" Ron's mother came to the table, wiping her hands on a tea towel. "Pour me a cup of that tea, would you, love?"
Ron poured for his mother as she sat down, then pushed the cup toward her.
"Mrs. Weasley, I think we're going to have a few more people staying here over the next few days. Neville Longbottom, and Hermione's parents, and at some point, Luna Lovegood is going to show up..."
"That's fine, Harry. There's plenty of room."
"Yes, but it's going to make more work for you."
"I don't mind, love, really. In no time at all, you lot will be back at school, and I'll have no one to take care of. I don't mind."
"Well, I was wondering, I know that Kreacher didn't do much, but... how would you feel about having a house elf?"
"A house elf, love?" Molly laughed. "I don't know how I'd feel about that, as I've never had one!"
"Hermione would have kittens, Harry!" Ron laughed. "You've got to be joking!"
"No. I was thinking that perhaps Dobby might come here and..."
"Harry Potter called for Dobby?" the high-pitched voice said from across the room.
Harry turned to see his short friend standing in the middle of the kitchen.
"Dobby?"
"You called for Dobby, Harry Potter?"
"Well... I.. not really, but... I'm glad to see you."
"Dobby thought you might be needing him," Dobby nodded. "Where shall I begin?"
"Dobby... I thought you were working at Hogwarts?"
"Yes, but Harry Potter needs Dobby now," the house elf shrugged. "Dobby has just been waiting for Harry Potter to summon him. That wicked house elf that was here wasn't worthy of the name house elf. He didn't even keep the Master's secrets! Dobby shall keep Harry Potter's secrets."
Despite his feelings for Kreacher, Harry thought this statement was rather rich, coming from Dobby. But then, Dobby was rather... different... than most house elves.
"But what about your work at the school?"
"Dobby would rather work for Harry Potter, sir."
"Oh... well... you wouldn't really be working for me, Dobby, but this house probably could use you. Mrs. Weasley would be in charge."
"Of course, Harry Potter, sir. Mrs. Wheezy is in charge. Dobby certainly is not." Dobby turned to Mrs. Weasley and gave her a wide grin. "Where shall Dobby start, Missus?"
"Oh... well... I suppose upstairs, Dobby. We need to freshen the empty rooms, and the tidying of the bedrooms..." Molly actually looked rather overwhelmed at the thought of having a house elf around to help.
Dobby immediately Disapparated, leaving three stunned humans sitting at the table.
"Well, that was easy enough," Harry commented.
"Yeah, but I still don't envy you when Hermione finds out," Ron said ruefully.
By the time Neville arrived, unsurprisingly with Luna close behind, the three upper floors of the house had been cleaned from top to bottom. Dobby was now busy cleaning out kitchen cupboards, and some of the things he was finding appeared to be horrifying the house elf as much as they would have his human charges.
"Harry Potter, sir, Dobby would like to ask..." Dobby's voice came echoing through from a deep cabinet which he was currently in the back of.
"Yes, Dobby?"
"Why Harry Potter did not insist on giving clothes to that wicked, wicked house elf? Terrible, terrible mess!"
"Yes, I know, Dobby. Unfortunately, Kreacher knew things that we were afraid he would tell to others."
"Master's secrets?"
"Yes, Dobby."
"Wicked, wicked house elf!" Dobby muttered as he continued cleaning out the dark corners.
Neville and Ron smirked while Harry sighed. Luna smiled dreamily as Mrs. Weasley began preparations for lunch.
And at that moment, the painting of Mrs. Black began to scream.
The three boys jumped to their feet, wands out and ran for the front hall, to find a cringing Tonks and Hermione and a horrified Mr. and Mrs. Granger.
"Quiet!" Harry yelled, pointing his wand at the portrait of Sirius' mother.
"Filth! Muggle-born trash! Take your filthy blood and leave my home, this instant! Curses on you, curses of my descendants! May your blood..."
"Silence!" Harry strode up to stand directly in front of the painting, his wand pointed at the old woman's head. "This is no longer your home! Get that through your head. You may have found a way to keep us from removing your portrait from that wall, but so help me, if you do not stop this infernal racket, I will remove the damned wall! Do you understand me?"
With a haughty look, the woman in the portrait folded her hands demurely in her lap and turned away, her nose in the air.
Harry took a deep breath and turned to the Grangers.
"I apologise. This particular... ancestor... was a follower of the Dark... and she has some rather medieval ideas about the purity of wizard blood which I assure you, no one else in this house shares."
"Harry," Mr. Granger held out his hand to shake, while glancing nervously at the portrait. "Thank you for the invitation. We've rather missed Hermione this summer."
"It's safer for her here, Mr. Granger. I hope you understand that?"
"Yes, well... I would like to speak to you later, privately, about what is going on, if I could?"
"Of course, sir," Harry nodded.
At that moment, Molly bustled into the hall, looking askance at the silent portrait on the wall. "Oh, Laura, Michael... its so nice to see you! Come in, come in, we have your room all ready..."
"Bloody hell, Harry," Ron said in an undertone as Hermione and their guests followed Molly up the stairs. "The old bat actually listened to you!"
"She'd better listen to me," Harry turned narrowed eyes towards the portrait, whom he knew was listening, even if she seemed to be ignoring them. "Because the next time she pulls something like that, I may be tossing a bucket of bleach over her."
Tonks had excused herself to go and get some sleep, and Harry was rather confused as she trotted up the stairs towards the bedrooms. She was followed by the others, Ron to show Neville to his room, and Luna following to find Ginny.
He wandered into the kitchen and sat down at the kitchen table, trying to figure out exactly why Tonks would be staying here. When Molly appeared to make tea for the Grangers, Harry took a deep breath, and spoke.
"Umm, Mrs. Weasley..."
"Yes, love?"
"I... I have a question, but it's rather awkward..."
"What is it, love?" she came and sat down at the table, looking closely at him.
"Umm... Tonks... is she staying here?"
"Well, occasionally, yes, she does," Harry was even more intrigued when Mrs. Weasley's cheeks went pink and she broke eye contact.
"I had no idea... do we have enough rooms?"
"Yes, dear," she confirmed quickly. "Of course we do."
"But... You and Mr. Weasley have a room, and Ron, and I, and the girls, and now Mr. and Mrs. Granger... and there is Sirius' room, and I know that Bill and Charlie share a room on the top floor, and then there is Remus' room up there..." Harry counted. "Where is she staying? The attic?"
"No, love..." Molly sighed. "Harry, when Tonks stays, she shares with Remus."
Harry looked shocked, then felt the burning color in his cheeks. "Oh."
"Are you okay with that?" she asked gently.
"I... of course. This is Remus' home... I just... I had no idea that they..."
"Well, I don't really think anyone outside the Order does know, love. I think they'd like to keep it that way."
"Oh, I see," Harry said. "Sorry, I'm just..."
"Harry..." Mrs. Weasley looked uncomfortable, but determined. "Harry, has your uncle... has he spoken to you of such things...?"
"Uncle Vernon?" Harry squeaked. "Good Lord, no!"
"Well... perhaps Remus..." Molly colored. "Harry, I don't wish to embarrass you, and you know you can ask me anything, anything at all, but perhaps, if no one has spoken to you, perhaps it's time someone did. If you'd like, I could have a word with Arthur..."
Harry was horrified. Speaking to Arthur Weasley about sex? No, thank you very, very much. That was an experience that he simply did not wish to have. Especially considering who the young witch was who had been occupying most of his thoughts lately!
"No... no, that's okay, Mrs. Weasley. Thanks... I... I think I've got it covered."
"Well, you might think you do, love..."
"Leave him alone, Mum," Ron said flatly from the door. "Harry knows all about sex."
Harry and Mrs Weasley turned startled eyes to the very grumpy looking redhead in the doorway.
"You..." Molly turned her eyes back to Harry, then flushed again with comprehension. "Oh, I see, well... like I said, Harry... should you have any questions... Arthur, I'm sure, would be happy to... yes, well."
Standing, she hurried about making tea for the new arrivals.
"Why did you go and say that?" Harry hissed quietly. "Now she's going to go and think that I've..."
"Well, haven't you?" Ron asked, not meeting Harry's eyes.
Harry couldn't quite believe he was having this conversation with Ron. Ron knew how he felt about Ginny. He couldn't possibly think that...
Or maybe he could. Ginny was rather... well, she was very popular, from what Harry could tell. Perhaps Ron wasn't quite as blind as he had thought he was, and had simply assumed that Ginny had taken things further than even Harry suspected her of. Then, knowing how Harry felt about her...
"Have you?"
"This isn't about me," Ron shrugged. "But as a matter of fact, no. I haven't."
"So what makes you think I have?"
"Well, all evidence points to..."
"Thanks, Ron. Thanks very much!" Harry was furious, and he wasn't even sure why. Angrily, he strode through the door and on towards his room. He felt a great need to be alone right now.
Harry had been steaming in his room for over half an hour when there was a soft knock on his door.
"Yes?" Harry called, not moving from where he had thrown himself on the bed.
"Harry?" Hermione opened the door. "A word?"
"Of course, Mione... come in," he sat up, indicating the spot at the end of his bed for her to come and sit.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, of course."
"It's just... Ron is in rather a bad mood, and he's angry with me for some reason, and you're up here... and I wondered if I'd done something to upset the two of you..."
"No," Harry said. "It's not you he's angry with, Mione, it's me."
"What? Why?" she brought her legs up under her, pulling a pillow over to lean on.
"He... well, it's rather embarrassing, actually," Harry colored.
"Oh... well, if you don't want to say, it's fine..."
"No. He walked in on Mrs. Weasley asking me if I wanted to have 'the talk' with Arthur..."
Hermione began to giggle, covering her mouth with her hands, but tears coming to her eyes with the effort to hold in her mirth. "Oh, you are joking?"
"No. But it gets... worse."
"Worse?"
"He... he told Molly to not bother, because I knew all about... sex."
"What?" Hermione sat up. "Really?"
"He... I think he thinks that Ginny and I..."
"What?" Hermione was shocked. "And...?"
"Well, he found out how I feel about her... and he seemed to be okay with it, but you know how Ginny is..." Harry blushed. "At school. I'm wondering if he thinks that things have... progressed."
"With Ginny?"
"Apparently. I don't know whether to feel angry at him for thinking that I would... or that she... or upset because... well, I just don't know how I feel right now, but I was pretty angry with him before. I came up here to cool down."
"I can see why!" Hermione looked very, very upset. "And you ought to be ashamed of yourself!"
"What? Me?"
"Yes, you! Do you really think that of Ginny?"
"I don't... well, I never thought that she had... but she's always hanging about in broom closets with Ernie MacMillian and the like..."
"What?" Hermione was horrified.
"I saw her..." Harry flushed, but he didn't quite know if it was from embarrassment or remembered anger. "Last spring... coming out of a broom closet on the third floor with Ernie MacMillian... her blouse was... askew."
"Askew?" Hermione looked at him like he'd grown three heads. "Look, Harry, I don't know what you think you saw, but I can assure you..."
"It wasn't the first time I've seen her... with someone, Mione," Harry said quietly. "I... well, she's different than... I think Ron might be a bit blind when it comes to... ah, hell."
"Just say it, Harry," Hermione said dangerously.
"I think that Ron might be deluding himself when it comes to Ginny's... level of experience, or lack thereof. At least, I've seen differently than Ron apparently believes. Or rather, what I thought he believed up until the conversation we had downstairs."
"Harry, I don't know what you think you know, but I can assure you, that Ginny is not... like that. I am quite sure that any time that you've seen her in... questionable circumstances, that there is a very good explanation."
Harry looked at her for a moment, then nodded. "I'm sure you're right, Mione. I hope you are. I... well, you know how I feel. I just..."
"I know, Harry. Do you want me to speak to Ginny?"
"No!" He shook his head. "No, of course not. I know she doesn't... well, she's past that, right? I wouldn't... please, don't."
Hermione watched him closely for a moment, then nodded. "I was wondering... my dad is kind of wanting to talk to you, and he's downstairs right now... and things are reasonably quiet. I was thinking..."
"Of course," Harry stood, straightening his clothes. "I'll go tell him that we're facing war, and you're probably going to be on the front lines, because no one would try to keep you from being in the thick of it, and we're probably all going to..."
"Harry!" she squealed, horrified. "Don't you dare!"
"Well, what do you want me to say?" he grinned mischievously.
"That I'm as safe as I'd be anywhere, and that they should concern themselves with keeping themselves safe, for a start!"
Harry sobered, looking down at her. "Hermione, would you feel better if they stayed here?"
"Of course I would, Harry. But I doubt that they will."
"Well, I can suggest it, at any rate," Harry said.
"Thank you, Harry," she said softly, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly. "Even if they choose not to, that means so very much to me. Thank you."
"Mione, your family is welcome here. Any time. This is your home, too, so far as I'm concerned. You and Ron and the others being here are what make staying here bearable."
"Well, now that Kreacher is gone, I'm sure it will get easier."
"Umm... yes," Harry swallowed nervously as he followed Hermione out into the hallway and towards the stairs. "Actually, Mione, I wanted to mention to you..."
"Harry Potter, sir... Dobby will be putting the young Miss Lovegood in with Miss Hermione and Miss Wheezy, if that is acceptable? And Mr. Neville will be sharing with Mr. Ron?"
"Umm..."
"Dobby?" Hermione peered at him. "What on earth are you doing here?"
"Dobby comes to serve Harry Potter sir, Miss Hermione. Dobby is very honored to be Harry Potter's house elf."
"Oh, really?" Hermione turned to Harry, who was flushing wildly. "And I hope that Harry Potter sir has discussed remuneration with you, Dobby?"
"Oh, Dobby doesn't need paying from Harry Potter, Miss Hermione. Dobby is happy to serve Harry Potter."
"Yes. Well, Harry Potter sir and Miss Hermione will be having words about it. Are your quarters acceptable, Dobby?" she asked, her narrowed eyes never leaving Harry's worried face.
"Oh, yes, Miss Hermione. When Dobby gets stink of that wicked, wicked house elf Kreacher out, theys will be just fine!"
"Hmm," Hermione nodded, then turned and headed down the stairs. Harry was reminded, rather disturbingly, of Professor McGonagall.
"Thanks, Dobby," he said flatly.
"Very good, Harry Potter sir."
And Harry sullenly followed Hermione down the stairs, contemplating how things could possibly get much worse.