The Aftermath

Chapter Eight
A Typical Summer Morning?

Harry stood there a few moments longer. Long enough to hear the shower start in the bathroom. Wondering whether he did something wrong, Harry left Liz's room to go back to the guest rooms and talk to the others as well as invite them on the tour. Following the map Harry found his way back to the guest rooms where he found the occupants in a panic.

"What was that?" Ron asked apparently unaware of his severe case of bed head.

Ginny appeared rubbing her eyes, "Some stupid joke of an alarm! Six o' clock in the morning on a vacation morning mind you!"

"You guys heard that too?" asked Hermione yawning. "Was it that loud?"

"It was in every single stupid room," Fred said, appearing out of the other end of the curved hallway.

"All over the house more like," said George.

Ron turned and saw Harry. "Mornin' Harry. You're dressed?"

"You didn't wake us all up did you?" Hermione asked reproachfully.

"No, it wasn't me," Harry said, putting his hands up. "I don't know how to work that thing. Only she knows how, and maybe her parents, as she does live here . . . or owns this place."

"Who?" Ginny, who looked half asleep, said.

"What do you mean Harry?" Ron said scratching his head and yawning.

"Harry?" George started.

"Where?" Fred said looking around.

Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron. "If you hadn't been so interested in your pudding at dinner last night, you would have heard your mum and dad talking about being awake to welcome Elizabeth because she would be arriving three in the morning."

"I can't help being hungry, or being interested in pudding!" Ron said.

Hermione turned to Harry. "That is her name right?"

"Yeah," Harry answered her. "But don't you know everything else?"

"I didn't have the opportunity to ask Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to elaborate," Hermione said.

"Well, yeah, her full name's Elizabeth Cain," Harry said and before he could go any further Ginny jerked awake and said,

"Elizabeth Cain? The one who goes to Hogwarts? And is in Gryffindor and is practically the most popular girl in my year?" she said in an increasing volume.

"Wait, her?" Hermione said looking surprised.

"Wait, who?" Ron inquired.

"Look, Harry's here!" Fred said.

"Hiya Harry!" George said.

Then everybody looked at Harry.

"There's not much to say really," he said shifting from side to side. "I got up to do some exploring and I was going over to the east wing when I accidentally turned all the lights off – " at this point the lights turned off. "Quit it!" Harry said exasperatedly. "Lights on!" was the angry order and he then continued in full light saying, "Then I stumbled into a room and it happened to be her bedroom – "

Ron started to chuckle. "You were in her bedroom, mate?" At this point Fred and George (who were finally up to speed) started to bust out laughing as well. "Moving a bit fast there aren't you? I mean, you hadn't even met her!"

"Hey," Harry said. "How do you know that I haven't met her before? Because I did. She just moved into my neighborhood." Harry could tell they were about to ask question, so he quickly said, "But that doesn't matter. In any case, this meeting was an accident. She got the lights back on and explained a few things like the fact I was using the map wrong. She showed me her office thing and in there she had this computer like thing and used it to play the song which she said she accidentally played throughout the house."

"A computer?" Hermione asked dumbfounded.

Fred, George, and Ron looked stumped. "What the bloody hell is a com poo ter?" Ron asked.

"It's a Muggle electronic device that allows them to write, but not by hand, play games, send messages, do research, store data, play music, and other such things," Hermione explained. "I have a few at home and I must say that I rather miss them when we have to do our essays. But how does it work?" she asked Harry. "There isn't electricity around here is there? And how did she play it through the house without using speakers? Is the speaker system in the walls or something?" Most of this made no sense to the other three, but even though Harry understood the questions, he wasn't able to answer them.

"She explained a few things to me, but I didn't think to ask any of those questions," Harry told Hermione. "But you can ask her yourself because she invited all of us on a tour of the entire house."

"Forget it mate, this place is too big," cried George.

Fred shook his head, "You can make the tour without us, because we've got stuff to do!"

"Yeah, reckon we should probably leave for work soon. I told you we shouldn't have made opening hour at eight!" George said and then Disapparated along with Fred.

"So, Harry, what do you think of her?" Ginny asked.

"She's cool, but don't you know her?" Harry said to her. "I thought she was in your year?"

Ginny shrugged. "She is, but I don't really knows her all that well. I sit next to her in Potions and that's always fun, but I'm just one of her casual friends. We say hi to each other whenever we see one another, but other than that, nothing really. She's still popular because she's rich and pretty, but she doesn't have many close friends."

Harry was slightly taken aback by this information. "Why?"

"Well, most of the people I talk to think it's because she's conceited."

"No, that doesn't seem right," Harry said frowning. "There's another thing I don't get – why didn't I recognize her when I saw her at first? She had to tell me that she went to Hogwarts."

"Well, she wasn't at Hogwarts last year, or at least not the last half of the year," Ginny said.

"Why?"

"People said something about her going abroad, but really, I don't know."

Hermione appeared again after having ducked into her room holding her map. "You said she told you that there's another way to read this thing?"

Harry laughed. "There are quite a few of them!" He then proceeded in showing her various functions of the map.

They, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were in Harry's room for about fifteen minutes when they heard a knock on the door. Harry jumped up to answer it and found Liz standing there, hands behind her back and beaming. Again, he scarcely recognized her. Her red streaks were gone and her hair was now a dark almost black brown once more, up in a bun with a few curled strands escaping the clutch of the decorative pins that crossed each other in an x to keep the bun up. She was wearing a gray and navy blue layered tee shirt and a pair of white cargo pants.

"Hello all!" she said brightly, peering into the room, waving at the others standing behind Harry. "Everybody ready for breakfast? Mrs. Weasley, she's your mum isn't she?" she directed at Ginny and Ron, " – she's making pancakes! And it smells wonderful! We can go to the main dining hall now if you like."

"Sure," Harry said. The rest nodded.

"Good morning, Bethy, dear," Mrs. Weasley said when they entered the dining room with Liz in the lead. "How are you feeling? I expect you're tired, as we brought you here rather late last night," she said clicking her tongue.

"I'm quite all right," Liz said laughing. "Besides, I've always found midnight flights invigorating."

Tonks, who was there looking bleary eyed, laughed quietly and returned to her doze.

Two flights to and from Little Whinging would do that to a person, Harry thought to himself and at the same time wondering why they had taken two flights instead of one.

"What about you Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked him. "Sleep well?" There was something in her voice that hinted that she was concerned with something other than the amount of sleep he had. He had a sneaking suspicion she was worried whether his sleep, or rather dreams had been disturbed in any way.

"Er . . . yeah, fine," he said. "I got up really early this morning though. A little too excited about this place. It's great by the way." Harry stole a glance from Liz, who was eyeing the nearly finished pancakes with particular interest.

"I'm very glad you think so," Mrs. Weasley said happily.

"Mrs. Weasley?" Liz said.

"Yes, dear?"

"Why did we have to take two flights?" Liz said. "You could've taken me and Harry at the same time.

"Oh, we had to settle things with your uncle first," Mrs. Weasley said. "You were asleep when we were talking, so you wouldn't remember it."

"Oh, that makes sense. I suppose you waited until my birthday party was over?"

"Yes, although I wish we could have arrived earlier because we got some presents for you."

"Really?"

"Yes, we put them in your room."

"Awesome! Thank you!"

Breakfast was a cheery affair. Mad Eye Moody dropped in as did Kingsley and a few other witches and wizards Harry hardly recognized. Tonks left shortly but not before making the company laugh at least five times. Soon, all of the adults had gone about their business, most of them headed for the other side of London and to the Ministry.

Harry finished his breakfast quickly and sat at the table reading the Daily Prophet. He read an article about the trial about to be held for the Death Eaters found in June.

"I'm still hungry," Ron said. "Mum didn't leave anymore pancakes!"

"Ron!" Hermione and Ginny both scolded.

"You must have had at least six!"

"Isn't that enough?"

Ron rolled his eyes. "Did you see those things? They were only what, three inches in diameter?"

"Try five."

Their squabble was interrupted by the clanking of pans and bowls. Harry looked up from the newspaper to see Liz at the stove.

"I can make a few more if you like," she said cheerily getting out a matching mixing bowl and spoon. "To tell you the truth, I'm still rather hungry myself."

It turned out that the matching bowl and spoon made a self-stirring mixing set. All Liz had to do was poor stuff in. The spatula also flipped the pancakes of its own accord. In no time, there was another platter of pancakes on the table, and all partook of them.

"Is everything in this house like that?" Harry asked her.

She looked thoughtful for a moment. "You know what? I reckon it pretty much is!" and she sounded as surprised as the rest of them looked. "Would you guys like the tour? It may take a while."

And so, after they helped clean up the kitchen, the five of them went off to explore the mansion.