Chapter 6
"Finally!" sighs Fred and he gets up.
"I began to think they'd forgotten about us!" George rises too.
"Did you have to go upstairs too?" I ask them and I see they look angry.
"Yeah! I guess she thinks we are in our rooms, but we had to meet you, so we couldn't just sit there," he says simply.
"Darn meetings! We're still not allowed to join the order..."
"Don't ask why! We're as good as adults now! I really don't understand!" Still muttering angrily they go downstairs and I follow.
"Remember to keep quiet in the hall!" Ginny says to me.
"Keep quiet? Why?"
"Oh, of course! Nobody told you, did they? Well, just be sure not to make too much noise, I'll explain later, ok?" With a nod she indicates that we are almost in the hall now. Keep quiet? Why? Does somebody sleep there? I didn't notice anything just now...
We enter the kitchen where Ron's mother is waiting for us.. She looks nervous and anxious.
"Ah, there you are! Nika, I don't think I introduced myself, did I? I'm Molly, Molly Weasley."
"Nice to meet you Mrs. Weasley." I smile.
"Nice to meet you too, Nika, dear. But now I want to know... I guess you've told her some things, what did you tell her?" She looks at the others.
"Well, a lot," says Hermione.
"Does she know... what we are?"
"I know that you are wizards, yes." And I smile again. "And they told me about Voldemort"
Mrs Weasley starts. I'm confused, what do I have to call him? Do I have to say his name or not? Everybody seems to avoid it but I see Harry is smiling slightly and Hermione looks a bit amused too. The rest though had gasped for breath when they heard Voldemort's name.
"And... what err... did they tell you anything else? Something about tonight?" She tries to continue.
"Yeah, that man I saw was an ehm, Death-... something... a follower of that wizard."
"How d'you know?" she says sharply, but she isn't talking to me. She looks at the others and, I notice, especially at the twins.
"Well, that is obvious," says Fred.
"Yeah, who could it have been? And by the way, you wouldn't react like this when it wasn't a Death Eater." George grins. Mrs Weasley looks a bit out of countenance but recovers quickly.
"Yeah, well, we talk about that later..."
"What happened to Professor Lupin?" Harry says. He sounds impatient and anxious, as though he wanted to ask this for ages and wondered why nobody else asked this. Mrs. Weasley hesitates.
"Is that the man who saved me?"
"Yes," says Harry, and to Mrs. Weasley: "But where is he? Where is Sirius?" Then he sees her face and urgently he asks "What happened? Where are the others?!"
She sighs.
"Ok... after you went upstairs and when I finally managed to convince these two over here that they had to go upstairs too, we went after the rest to see what happened. There we found Professor Moody, Tonks, Bill, Charlie and Sirius around Remus, who had been lying on the floor. We don't know exactly what happened to him. He wasn't stunned but he seemed really far away. Tonks and Moody brought him to St Mungo's..."
"No!" Shrieks Harry and everybody's eyes show terror.
"He... he will be better, won't he?" Hermione asks in a small voice but Mrs. Weasly doesn't answer.
"Won't he?!" Ginny repeats and Mrs Weasley looks tired and nervous.
"I don't know Ginny, I really don't know..." and I see tears in the corners of her eyes. I notice everybody is really upset with this news but I'm not getting the half of it. A painful silence had fallen around us and pressed on our shoulders. It seems rude and improper to break it but everybody looks so upset... I must know what happened.
"Ehm, what...?" Everyone starts and looks at me. My voice dies away. "Sorry," I say hastily "Sorry, I didn't mean to... I wouldn't... I mean..."
"It's ok Nika, I bet you've got lots of questions, just ask us, it's ok." And Mrs. Weasley sniffs and smiles.
"Ehm, ok..." I say, hesitating. "Well, you... you said they brought that man to a... a place... what place?"
"They brought him to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. It's a hospital where they'll try to make him better, but it's only for magical injuries."
"Oh, ok..." And the silence returns. I feel that I have to keep talking but I've got so many questions that I can't formulate them properly. "Ehrm... There were lots of people here, they didn't all go to that hospital did they?"
"No, only Tonks and Moody, the rest is trying to make contact with Professor Dumbledore."
"Professor... Oh! That is that man who was some kind of keeper! The performer of the spell to hide this house, wasn't he?"
Suddenly the expression on Mrs. Weasley's face changes. First she had looked sad and tired, but also kind and worried. Now her face is closed but you can still see in her eyes that she didn't like the words I just said. Her eyes say she is scared but also a bit... angry.
"Did you tell her that?! What does she know about the order?"
"Not much," Hermione hurries to say. "We told her how this house is hidden, because she asked us about that paper she had read, but we didn't know whether we were allowed to tell her much about the order."
Mrs. Weasley sighs, relieved. "Ok, sorry, I was afraid that... I'm not sure either how much we can tell her, we have to wait for Dumbledore to arrive. I'm sure he wants to talk to you, Nika, and ask you a few questions."
I don't know if that is good news or not. He seems a really important and powerful wizard and I don't think he will be too nice. I guess he is a serious man, who doesn't really know what smiling is.
"But what are we standing here? Let us sit down. All we can do for now is wait until Dumbledore arrives. I'll get some drinks and you can ask us what you want." She smiles at me and turned around to a cupboard. We walk towards the table and sit down around it.
I sigh; I notice how tired I am. It seems that this day had lasted at least a whole month. It's unbelievable what happened to me since this afternoon. I want to go home. My aunt... my aunt! Oh, she must be so worried! I really have to call her! I look around. The others are talking to each other. Mrs Weasley sets an amount of bottles on the table and sits down too. Nowhere I see something that could be a telephone.
"Mrs. Weasley?"
"Yes, Nika?"
"Can I call my aunt? I think she will be very worried by now."
"Err... call your aunt? I don't know... what do you mean?"
"Well... call her! You know, with a telephone!"
"Oh... is that something all Muggles have?" she asks curiously.
I'm totally perplexed. "You... I... I mean... don't you have a telephone?!"
"Well, I don't know, but what can you do with it?"
"You don't know what a telephone is?"
"Why, no... what is it? What does it do?"
Still bewildered I stare at her, not realising she asked me something.
"With a telephone you can dial a number," answers Hermione, "Each telephone has his own number. When Nika dials the number of the telephone of her aunt, that one begins to ring. Her aunt can take up the receiver and speak into it and Nika will hear her. Nika can speak into her receiver and that way you can communicate with each other."
"Didn't Arthur try that too?" she asks Ron with a frowned forehead.
"Eh, yeah... We tried to talk to Harry a few years ago. But it didn't work too well," he says sheepishly.
"Why? What went wrong?" I ask him.
"Well... I guess I talked a bit too hard..." says Ron. Hermione snorts and Harry grins.
"A bit too hard," says Hermione sarcastically, "What Harry told me about it, you shouted so hard they heard it three streets further! Harry's uncle was half deaf when he hang up."
"But, you could speak to Harry couldn't you? It's not very nice for the person on the other side, but in principle it doesn't matter how hard you speak."
"Well, my uncle didn't really appreciate it, so I never spoke to Ron..."
"Oh..." I'm still a bit perplexed that they didn't know what a telephone is but then I realise...
"But... but if you don't know what a telephone is... you certainly don't have one, right?"
"Eh, no, indeed, we don't have an err... tephelone..."
"A telephone Mrs. Weasley," corrects Hermione.
"Yeah, yeah, that's what I mean." Hermione sighs.
"But... but then I can't call my aunt! Then they won't know where I am!"
"I'm sorry Nika," Mrs Weasley says and I see pity in her eyes.
"But... I have to tell them where I am! They will search for me! They maybe even call the police! I want to go home!" And I feel that my eyes fill with tears again. Quickly I look at the table. I don't want them to see my weakness.
"I understand Nika." says Mrs Weasley kindly, "But you have to stay here a little time for a few reasons. First, it's not safe anymore outside, and you'll have to wait until the danger is over. Second, I'm sure professor Dumbledore wants to talk to you and ask you a few questions. What happened tonight will have far more consequences than you can imagine. Not only for you, for us or for the secrecy of this house, but it might even have consequences for the whole magical and Muggle world." I look up at this news and I see Mrs. Weasley is smiling sadly and grimly.
"Why? Why would this night have such consequences?"
"You-Know-Who is a terrible man, Nika. He wants power, he kills people just for... just for the fun of it. Not only wizards but also muggles. He hates muggles and he disgusts at muggleborns, -those are wizards with muggle parents-. He wants a world with only pure-bloods, that means no mixing up with muggles, and he kills everyone who stands in his way or who refuses to join him." Sadly she shakes her head,
"When this place is not a secret anymore he can kill us with no problem at all and that can mean there will be nothing between him and being the most powerful wizard in the world."
I stare at her, blankly, such men don't exist, they can't exist, they just can't! How can this evening have such consequences?! Where the hell do I come in? And it is impossible for me to go home... I see Mrs Weasley's mouth is moving but the sounds don't reach my mind. And that man I saw was only one of his followers! What are my aunt and uncle doing now? Calling the police? Oh, please, let they search for me, let they find me! But they can't... they can't see this house! I let my head rest in my hands. Let them all go away! I want to be alone... I want to sleep... I want to stop thinking about this...
"... Nika... Nika... Nika!..." Slowly I look up, my sight is blurred and I notice something cold rolling down my neck.
"Where are you with your thoughts, dear, did you hear what I..." Then she sees my face.
"Oh, poor girl! Come here." She pulls me towards her and for the second time that evening I feel I'm being hugged. More tears begin to slide down over my cheeks and I shut my eyes tightly until my whole face is screwed up.
"This must be terrible for you, poor girl. Did you hear what I said?"
"What? About Voldemort?" I try to speak but what comes out is barely more than a whisper. In spite of that I notice she heard me; a shiver goes through her arms, which are still clenching me. She sighs.
"No, Nika, not about You-Know-Who, I asked if you were thirsty, if you wanted something to drink." I don't answer, and it feels like she isn't expecting me to. We sit there for a while. Everybody is silent, probably watching me, but I don't care, I lean on Mrs. Weasley's shoulders, and she embraces me. I lose track of time but suddenly I hear the door to the kitchen go open and quick we let each other go. I wipe away my last tears, try to disguise my feelings with a fake smile and look up.
Four people had just entered the kitchen and curious I look at them. I see the handsome man with the long black hair and grey eyes but I also see another man with long red hair. He seems a bit rough and has a strange kind of earring. I look at the next one and see again a shock of red hair. He has a face with quite some scars and arms with a lot of muscles. The last one is the man who spoke to me first, and who is probably the oldest one. They go and sit around the big table too.
"Professor Dumbledore will be here as soon as possible," says the older man, and Mrs Weasley nods.
"I'll get some more drinks." She stands up and returns with a new store of bottles. Everybody takes one and this time I take one too. Carefully I take a gulp. Surprised I notice that it tastes very nice and quick I take another one.
Minutes pass in silence, leaving everybody lost in their own thoughts. Then, finally, we hear some noise in the hall and the door opens. In the opening stands a man with long silver-grey hair and beard. He wears half-moon spectacles. He looks serious but not exactly how I pictured him. His gaze wanders around and then rests on me. He begins to walk towards me and Mrs. Weasley pushes me in my back.
"Stand up!" she hisses, and quick I do what I'm told. A bit intimidated I follow him with my eyes. Although he still looks very serious I see he smiles slightly and notice a sparkling light in his eyes.
"You must be Nika, I'm Professor Dumbledore."