Chapter 16
Poppy was waiting for the teens when they arrived home. The war may have been going at a frantic pace at the moment, but the four teens were going to sit it out for a day. As before, they gravitated to Harry's sofa, and sat together comforting each other. They were quite intimate together, but it wasn't sexual. They just held each other, making skin-to-skin contact. The Grangers and Poppy smiled at the sight and left them alone for a while.
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Charlie and Bill had looked through the rubble along with three of the Aurors and some of the Order members. Like the Grangers, they found the occasional item lying here or there in the grass – an unbroken plate, a book, or a kitchen knife or fork. Bill was unable to find what he was looking for. He tried spell work. "Accio Family clock." Nothing happened. Charlie tried, "Accio family clock pieces." Dozens of pieces came flying towards his outstretched wand. They tried repairing the clock, but it was too far gone. Carefully, they wrapped up each of the face hands in an envelope. After an hour or so, they had collected what there was to collect, and placed the items in a trunk. They apparated to Harry's car park, and went into the house.
An hour later Molly and Arthur were released from St. Mungo's and apparated to Harry's home. The twenty or so people who were there took turns hugging Arthur and Molly. Amos Diggory stopped by with his condolences, and offered to handle the memorial service arrangements. Dumbledore had made the same offer minutes before.
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Amelia received a very distressing report. Odd Lovegood, Luna's father had apparently committed suicide early in the morning. She dispatched several Aurors and Author's workmate Perkins over to the Quibbler office to investigate. She routed the notification to the other department heads.
Reflecting, she felt a different stress in this war then the last. Vanishing witches and wizards marked the last war. This war was marked with wizard-to-wizard battles. Of the three that have taken place, arguably the light side had won two. She realized that Harry Potter did not share such an attitude over losing his Godfather or Arthur Weasley losing a son last night. Her analytical side calculated the score at 31 Death Eaters killed or captured against 15 lost on the light side since late June.
There would be no investigation into the fire at the Malfoy Manor. She didn't know how the fire started, and didn't want to know. In her mind the Malfoys had lived a very wrongful life, and their collective actions had caught up with them. She listed the official cause of the fire as accidental. There was no sign of magic having been used to destroy the home. As such, she signed the case as closed.
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Poppy sat in the library with the four teens sitting together on the sofa. The door was closed. She explained the wizarding memorial service tradition to the four. None of them had attended a wizarding memorial service before. She told them that it was very appropriate to grieve over the loss of two such fine people. She suggested that it was also appropriate to remember the happy moments that they had shared together. Harry was glad that he had purchased a wizarding camera and had taken pictures of their day at the beach. Poppy offered to get them processed, and get each of them sets or prints.
Poppy asked if they would mind if she came by again the next day. She was very easy to talk with, and had helped Harry earlier in the summer. They gladly agreed.
After Poppy left, Harry said to the others, "We know who did this. As my wizard's pledge to your brother, that witch will not be free by the time school starts. Let the Ministry worry about Flint, Montague and Nott. We will bring her down. I'd be happy to carve "I won't murder innocent witches and wizards" into her face with a blood quill.
He continued, "After she's gone, I'll find Bellatrix. After she's gone, I'll find Riddle. I've got too much to live for to let those witches and that monster ruin things for me any more. From what Pomfrey told us, the memorial service will be tomorrow or Wednesday. That leaves us two and a half weeks to find her before term starts. Hermione, will you help me?"
Wiping the tears from her face, she nodded.
"Susan?"
The loyal Hufflepuff replied, "I'll do anything that you ask."
"Ginny?"
The pissed off redhead replied, "She's toast. Where do we start?"
Harry replied, "The hardest thing will be to find her. I see several possibilities. She might be at Riddle Manor in Little Hangleton, or Fudge may have hidden her. She may have been staying at Malfoy manor. It's too dangerous to go to Little Hangleton. I suggest that we watch Fudge's home. Could we find out if he has a vacation cottage someplace?
Hermione replied, "There is a wizarding hall of records in the ministry. I think we can access the public records without needing special permission or having to tell anyone what we were looking for. If anyone asks, we can say that we are interested in purchasing a property."
Harry replied, "Perfect. Ginny, what can we do to help your parents?"
"They need a place to stay. Maybe we can shift the rooms around a bit. Hermione, could you room with me?"
Hermione and Susan giggled. "Ginny, have you even slept in your bed yet? Susan can take my room. I'll "room" with you. That will have your parents as far from Harry's room as possible."
Susan said, "I'll move my things and tell them. They'll need some clothing to wear."
"Hermione said, "My Mum and Dad will either go shopping with or for them. Winky could measure them up, and would pick out a few things for them at Madam Malkin's."
Ginny said, "Let's go get them."
Harry said, "I'll do it."
POP, POP. Dobby and Winky appeared. Dobby asked, "Harry Potter called sir. How can we help you?"
Harry asked that Dobby go and ask Molly and Arthur if they would come in, then get Dan and Emma. He asked that Winky bring some butterbeers.
Molly and Arthur came in a minute later. Harry asked, "Mrs. Weasley, first, we want to tell you how sorry we are about Ron and Luna, but second, I was wondering if we could possibly ask a favor of you both?"
Always the nurturing type, Molly fell for Harry's lead in immediately. She replied, "Of course dear. How can we help you?"
Harry replied, "I was wondering if you possibly could stay here for a while. We are feeling really bad, and would feel much better if you two were here. Would that be possible?"
Arthur replied, "Thank you Harry. Thank you very much."
Harry said, "There's one other thing, if it wouldn't be too much to ask?"
Molly said, "What is it dear?"
Harry said, "Well Winky is going to Madam Malkin's to get us some more formal robes, and I was hoping that she could get a few thing for you both while she was there?"
Molly went over and Hugged Harry. Ginny went up to her dad, and gave him a huge hug. Meanwhile, Hermione had quietly asked her parents if they would do some shopping for Ginny's parents. A minute later the teens had gone into the kitchen. Winky was measuring Arthur and Molly. Harry gave Emma 5,000 Sterling and thanked her for taking such good care of Ginny's parents. Winky came by a minute later with an extra copy of sizes, and the three Grangers were off to Harrods.
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Dumbledore went to visit the twins. The sign on the jokeshop said, Closed until Further Notice. Dumbledore cast a spell and a silvery owl flew from his wand, through the shop door and up the stairs. A moment later, Angelina and Alicia opened the door. "Good afternoon, Professor. Please come in."
"Good afternoon, Miss Spinnet and Miss Johnson. I was wondering if I might have a word with Fred and George."
"Please Professor. They seem to think that the fire was somehow their fault. We'll wait down here. Please talk some sense into them."
Dumbledore thanked the girls and climbed the stairway up to the living area. Fred and George were both pissed, each having consumed the better part of a bottle of Ogden's. Dumbledore flicked his wand and the two bottles flew back to the shelf. Another tiny flick of his wand, and the twins sobered up. "Good afternoon, George and Fred. May I sit down?"
George looked up out of his ending stupor and said, "Hello Professor. Which of our family should we get killed this time?"
Dumbledore knew that they felt the need to shoulder the blame for their brother's death. He told them, "I would be inclined to agree that there was a correlation between Saturdays events and the tragedy at your family home last night. I would be very inclined to see a direct connection, except for one thing."
Fred asked, "What's that Professor?"
"Director Bones did a forced memory extraction of Death Eater Thomas Borgin before he died to preserve much of the official record regarding the case."
Fred was waiting for the hammer to drop that he was directly responsible for Ron's death.
Dumbledore continued, "The memory showed them planning the attack over the course of a week. Your parent's home was probably targeted at the same time that the Granger home was selected. The only thing that delayed it was the capture of Draco Malfoy. Fred, George, it was a tragedy that Ron was entertaining Luna at the time of the attack. It was a tragedy that your parents lost so much. Please take the time to properly remember your brother Ron, but don't carry the blame for what happened. You did not choose to murder anyone. Does any of that make sense?"
Gred and Forge looked at each other for a moment, seeming in their own version of a mind link. Finally the both replied, "Yes Professor. Thank you."
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he spoke. "Now, you have two spirited young ladies downstairs who are probably wondering where you've gone off to. I suggest that the four of you go and visit your parents at Mr. Potter's home."
George said, "Thanks for coming to look in on us Professor. Thank you very much. We'll see you later."
"Thank you both. I will take my leave now." With that, the old wizard walked down the stairs and received warm hugs from two lovely women. Suddenly his day seemed a bit brighter.
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They agreed to lay the three of them to rest together. Luna's mother had been cremated, and did not have a marker. There was plenty of room in the Weasley family plot. For sake of security, they elected not to place a notice in the Prophet. Each person made a list of some people that they would want notified. Hermione took the individual lists and created a master list. Professor Flitwick charmed 360 copies, and volunteered Filch to tie the notices to the school owls. The Services would be the next day at three. There was floo service nearby, so the logistics would be easier for the students who would not be able to apparate. Harry had to remind himself that Apparation was normally taught at the end of the sixth year and a person needed to be seventeen to get an unrestricted permit.
Harry reflected for a moment about wizarding homes. Few had electric, all had gas, either natural or LP. In the case of the burrow, since it was so far out of town, Harry surmised that they'd had a large LP tank by the house. He supposed that was the cause of the explosion in the fire. Had they died of smoke inhalation, or had bubble-headed charms on, and been desperately trying to break through the magical barriers? Did the Weasleys have an emergency portkey on the fireplace mantle? He thought probably not as portkeys were tariffed and an expensive way to travel. The Weasleys had live too long as a poor family to have changed their habits much in a few weeks. An idea was forming in his head, but he'd have to think about it a bit more.
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Fudge read the morning paper and was shocked. It was out of characters for the Death Eaters to torch a home of a non-combatant with anyone in it. He knew that Umbridge had planned the raid on the Weasley home just as she had planned the raid in the Grainger girl's home. In both cases, she assured him that no one would get hurt. In both cases, she'd been completely wrong. He wondered if anyone would find out that he'd been letting her stay in his holiday cottage in Yorkshire? Why had he let himself get as close to the Death Eaters as he had? Deep down, he knew that Lucius had never really changed his spots after the first war. A little money here, some campaign support there, an offer to quietly clean up the occasional embarrassing tryst with young boys who suddenly developed morals, and within a year or so, he'd been hooked.
Fudge had never wanted to become involved with a murder. Beneath it all he liked Arthur even with all of his quirks. He never wanted any of his boys hurt. Fudge may have personally agreed with most of the conservatives regarding the pure blood issue, but murdering a popular pure blood family member and torching a poor man's home wouldn't win their side any supporters. Fudge decided that he needed to do something and decided to risk it.
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The old Auror sniffed the glass then poured his own beer, before sitting down. Having looked around the room to be certain that they weren't unduly being watched, Moody asked, "How can I help you Dumbledore?"
Dumbledore smiled at his paranoid old friend and replied, "As always. I'm looking for a qualified Defense Instructor."
Any trace of a smile that may have been on Moody's face vanished. "My last experience at Hogwarts was more confining than I'd expected. Would it be possible to split the job with someone? I've earned a bit of time off."
"I'd thought of asking Harry if he would be a Teacher's Assistant for the first and second year students. In reality he would have full responsibility for those two years. That would leave the job at about three days a week. Could that possibly work?"
Moody looked at his old friend and smiled. "OK. Let me know what he says. If he teaches, I'll teach. I don't think I would live in the castle if that would be all right?"
"That wouldn't be a problem. I will talk with Harry tomorrow. Good night Alastor."
"Yea. Good night, Dumbledore."
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At five the next morning Harry awoke. Carefully disentangling himself from Ginny, he took a quick shower and went upstairs to work out. No one else was upstairs. He lifted weights for a few minutes then decided to work on his morphing. Harry willed himself to grow four inches. He willed himself to darken his skin. Next he willed himself to have a shaved head. The concentration required to hold all three changes was immense. He wondered if he could lift weights while holding the changes and did arm exercises for ten minutes. Exhausted, he concentrated on his true appearance and changed back.
He went back down to his room to take another quick shower and get dressed for the day. He was nearly done with his shower when Ginny had come into the large shower stall with him. "Can I help you scrub your back Mr. Potter?" she asked him with an innocent smile on her face?"
"Only if I can help you with yours," he smiled back.
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Finally it was time to leave. The memorial service for Ron, Odd, and Luna had been sad. There was no case of celebrating an older witches or wizard long and fruitful life. It was a parent burying a child. Dumbledore, Diggory, Flitwick, McGonagall and several others had come up to speak. Finally Harry and Hermione went up together and talked about the meaning of true friendship. They didn't talk long, each desperately hoping that their voices wouldn't break, but Harry'd hoped that it had been enough.
Harry had been overwhelmed at the number of people who'd come. All the current Gryffindors and hundreds of alumni had come, some with small children of their own. He recognized a dozen of the Ravenclaws and their parents, as well as every player from the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw Quidditch team. Many of the Ministry workers came as well as everyone that Harry knew of from the Order.
Bill and Fleur had come up to every person there and personally thanked him or her for coming. Molly had stood still as in a daze, with Arthur constantly at her side. With Harry's permission, Poppy had made hundreds of copies of the picture that Harry had taken of Ron and Luna at the beach to give out as a happy remembrance.
There was a bittersweet moment as they looked up and saw the members of the Chudley Cannons fly over in a missing-man formation. Harry knew that Ron would have given anything to have met them.
At the luncheon, Katie Bell had gone up to Harry asking about Quidditch in the fall. Harry told her that he wouldn't be playing, and suggested that she plan now on holding try-outs for every position as well as reserves with a bias toward third or fourth year students. Katie didn't question Harry about not playing, assuming that his lifetime ban was still in effect. Harry had said that he'd help her with the try-outs after she'd asked him.
Harry apparated back to the graveside. Touching the newly carved marble headstone, Harry said, "I'll take care of your sister Ron. I do love her a lot. I'll keep an eye on the twins and watch out for your parents. I'll take care of Hermione too. I'll put an end to Umbridge, Lestrange, Riddle and the other Death Eaters, I promise you."
Harry hadn't noticed Dumbledore standing silently a few feet behind him.
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