Chapter sixteen

It was Mr. Weasley's turn to shout, but he only gave one brief cry of alarm before reaching for his wand. A look of relief passed over his face, and he said, "Oh, it's only a silencing charm. Nothing to worry about, Molly."

She glared at him; clearly, she was worried about it.

"I think I might let it wear off on its own," he continued mildly. "It will give you some time to cool off and realise exactly what you were saying, and to whom."

"Right, Mum," agreed Bill. "I was about to do it myself. What was the problem?"

Mrs. Weasley suddenly deflated and collapsed into a chair, passing a hand over her face. She pointed her own wand at herself and mouthed some words, then cleared her throat experimentally.

"I'm so sorry for overreacting, dear," said Molly repentantly. "I'd had such hopes for you and Bill. You two seemed to hit it off, and I suppose I let my imagination run away with me. You'd been at the point of marriage by pudding."

"And I'd supposed you'd named the children before we reached the family room," said Nell rather sarcastically.

"Well, I was thinking what nice names Anne and Elisabeth were --"

Nell snorted. "It's all right, Molly," she said reassuringly. "I was trying not to seem too cosy with Bill -- I was afraid that's what you were doing."

"Nice of you," said Bill. Nell shared a quick smile with him.

Molly winced. "Yes, well, of course I hadn't any right to shout at you like that, no matter what I was thinking. It certainly wasn't my place, and I am sorry to upset you. I don't mind what Muggles do, really. Your life is your own."

Nell was left unsatisfied -- more Muggle/wizard distinctions! -- by this explanation, but she felt she rather had to take the sentiment in the spirit it was intended, and assured Molly once more that there were no hard feelings on her side. "I don't mind being shouted at, really, but what about Harry? Poor dear, he was so upset."

Molly looked even more chagrined. "Oh, no! I should probably go apologise to him as well, poor thing."

"Er, Molly? Perhaps it would be better if I spoke to him first. Reassure him that he's not in trouble -- well, not too much trouble -- for shouting at you like that."

Molly nodded her agreement. "I did deserve it, dear, but you can't let him go about silencing everyone who deserves to be."

"No one would ever talk again," said Nell flippantly.

Mr. Weasley grinned and opened his mouth to speak, but Mrs. Weasley cut him off. "It's awfully late, dear. We'd better be off to bed."

"You go ahead," said Nell. "I'll just run up and talk to Harry for a bit. I'm in Ginny's room, right?"

Mrs. Weasley nodded, and the elder Weasleys trooped off to bed. Bill grinned at her and went to the fireplace. He took a flowerpot off the mantle and grabbed a good pinch of some powder.

"What on earth is that?" asked Nell, momentarily distracted from her mission.

"Floo powder," he said casually. Seeing her look of confusion, he added, "It's a way to travel through a series of connected fireplaces. Watch!"

He tossed the powder into the fire, turning it green. He shouted, "Diagon Alley!" and stepped into the flame -- and vanished.

Nell raised her eyebrows, impressed, then turned back to her task.

When she'd reached Ron's room, she tapped lightly on the door. "Harry? Are you there? We need to talk." She tried to turn the doorknob, but the room was locked.

There was a bit of hurried whispering, and then Ron called out, "He's asleep!"

"Then who were you just talking to?" Nell retorted.

"Er, no one?" Ron asked.

"All right, Harry, have it your way," she said exasperatedly. "But we will have to talk about this tomorrow, I promise you that!"

With this unsatisfying promise, Nell retired for the night.

The next morning, breakfast was rather awkward. Nell and the elder Weasleys had risen before any of the children. Nell, not being a morning person, was rather grumpy and less inclined to be gracious than she had the previous night. She stayed quiet over her cup of tea, and the Weasleys followed her lead.

There is no telling how long they would have remained in silence but for the hasty arrival of Ron in the kitchen.

"Mum! Dad! Nell!" the boy shouted. "I can't find Harry, and his knapsack's gone missing!"

Mrs. Weasley gasped, and her hand went up to her throat. Nell felt the blood rush from her head and she swayed dizzily.

Only Mr. Weasley stayed completely calm. "Well, it isn't as it he could have gotten far. He couldn't have been gone long and -- Ron? Did you check the brooms?"

Ron shook his head and dashed from the room, hurrying out to the shed. When he returned a moment later, his eyes were wide. "He took my Shooting Star!" he said indignantly. "Wanker!"

Mrs. Weasley made a choking sound and Nell deliberately didn't look at her. That new addition to Ron's vocabulary had been courtesy of the Marauders.

"Oh dear," said Mr. Weasley in a rather choked voice. "Language, Ron."

"How are we to find Harry?" asked Nell, a bit panicky.

"He'll turn up," said Mr. Weasley confidently. "Those brooms never seem to wander far," he added, winking at Nell.

This was apparently supposed to reassure her; it did not. "What do you mean by that?" she asked sharply. "Aren't you even going to help me look for him?"

"The broom is enchanted to only go out for a couple of miles at most," he explained. "After that, it starts to circle around. He'll be back here inside an hour."

"But what if he gets off the broom, or started out walking?" retorted Nell. "If we wait, then he's got an hour's head start and a broom!"

He nodded, furrowing his brow. "By all means, let us search."

She hesitated. "Can you tell me where he's likely to have gone? I'd rather like to speak to him alone before he comes back."

"Certainly, certainly," said Mr. Weasley. "If he's afoot, the back path leads to the orchard and the front walk straight to Ottery St. Catchpole."

"Thank you," said Nell. "I'll just take a quick dekko through the orchard. Are there any good hiding spots?" she asked Ron.

"Er," he said, screwing up his face in concentration, "None Harry would know about yet. The orchard's kind of overgrown -- lots of bushes. He might be there. But I bet he's off flying around on my broom," he added, scowling.

Sure enough, when Nell stepped outside and cast a quick eye over the sky, the first thing she saw was a tiny figure that, squinting, she guessed to be Harry and his knapsack. He didn't seem to be in a big hurry to depart, performing lazy spirals and loops.

"Harry!" she shouted, waving her arms. "Harry!"

He spotted her after a moment, and his flight slowed. He seemed reluctant to return to the ground, and he led Nell quite a distance away from the Burrow before he dismounted.

When he was firmly on the ground, Nell swept him up into a tight hug. Once more, he seemed shocked at receiving a hug instead of a scolding after a round of accidental magic.

"Are you okay?" demanded Nell, holding him at arm's length. "How long have you been flying?"

"Not too long," he said. "I just wanted a quick morning ride."

"So you took your knapsack?" said Nell, cocking her head to the side.

He blushed. "Er, yeah?"

"Harry," she said, sighing, "we should probably talk about what happened last night. Not just the shouting and magic, but what we said before."

"Oh, that you're gay?" asked Harry. "Anna up at my school has two mums. Is it --" he hesitated, "Does it mean that you have to give me up, the way Mrs. Weasley reacted?"

"No!" exclaimed Nell. "Harry, you're mine, no matter what. And if they try, we'll run away together!"

He smiled wanly. But she continued. "Harry, you can't do magic on people whenever they make you angry. It isn't fair, and it's dangerous. You have to learn to control yourself."

"So people are allowed to just yell at you all they want?" he asked, upset.

"Well, yes," she said cautiously. "It's up to that person to stop yelling. I'm not saying I'm not grateful, mind," she grinned. He smiled back, appearing relieved that she'd stopped lecturing.

"Want to watch me fly a bit more?" he asked, taking up the broom.

"Maybe later today? We should go inside -- people are worried about you. And your friend Ron is worried about his broom!"

Harry looked a bit concerned. "Do you think he minds that I took his broom?"

"I certainly think he was worried that you'd taken it forever. You should probably apologise, yes," said Nell firmly.

He nodded and hung his head.

When they returned to the house, Dumbledore was sitting in the kitchen, calmly drinking a cup of tea.

As soon as they'd entered, before anyone else could say anything, Molly stood up and walked to them. "I'm sorry for shouting at Nell, Harry," Molly said, stooping slightly to look him in the eyes. "I hope you can forgive me for being so rude."

"Er, it's okay, I guess," said Harry, squirming. "Why were you so upset? What does it matter if Nell's gay?"

It was Mrs. Weasley's turn to squirm. "Well, I'm worried about how she's going to be able to protect you, dear. Not only is she a Muggle, but she won't have a man around the house."

"She'll have me!" said Harry indignantly. "It's us against the world, Nell says. And if you're shouting at her," he said, eyes narrowing, "then I need to protect her from you."

Molly patted his shoulder. "You don't need to protect anyone, Harry. Everything's fine. We sorted out our difficulties after you left."

He looked skeptical, but didn't challenge her. Nell suspected it was only through politeness that he didn't squirm out from under Molly's hand. It was a shame, this bad start, she reflected. Molly was so eager to do right by Harry, and she'd have to work doubly hard to regain his trust now.

"Well," said Dumbledore, looking at them, "How are we this morning?"

"Oh, we're fine," said Nell lightly. "As long as there's no more newspaper articles about us!"

Looking at the others' carefully blank expressions, her heart sank. "There aren't, are there?"

"They've guessed your location," said Dumbledore heavily. "I'm afraid I'll have to move you both as soon as possible."

"Why can't we speak to them?" asked Nell. "I mean, won't they leave us alone once they have their story?"

"That is a possibility," replied Dumbledore, "If you are both willing to tell it. However, we must make sure that your next location remains secret -- reporters are not the only wizards who wish to seek out young Harry."

"Ah," said Nell, "I'd nearly forgotten. Evil insane wizard minions."

Caught off guard, Mr. Weasley chuckled. Nell grinned.