Chapter 2: At the Burrow
The boys arrived at the Burrow, apparating into what they thought was the kitchen but what now looked like a children's toy factory gone mad. Half-chicken-half-wands lay strewn about all over the floor; fuzzy balls of colored fur were bouncing randomly around the room; pots were boiling on the stove, bubbles were floating about the room, several dozen miniature wizard figurines were chattering on the table. It was noisy and busy, but this noise and racket seems even out of the ordinary for a Weasley household. Harry looked around in amusement and wonder. Glancing at the ceiling he noticed several talking balloons attached to strings, trying to get away from one another. He squinted as he tried to discern the sloshing sounds one of them was making. He took his wand and poked one of the balloons gently –
SLPOSH!
Ron jumped away from the wet body next to him, shocked. Harry stood there, drenched from head to toe, his eyes closed and facial expression saying, 'I shoulda known better'. Ron started to laugh just as he heard the sounds of his older brothers galumphing down the stairs. They skidded into the kitchen, and at the sight of Harry doubled up in laughter. Harry was now picking a small goldfish out of his hair.
"Sorry Harry! Those are our temporarily named "Fish in a Balloon". We haven't quite decided what to do with those yet."
"Well I think Harry has found a practical use for them – quick, late-morning shower. It can't hurt – I bet you even smell pretty now, don't ya Harry?"
Harry smiled. "Yeah, I do smell a distinctly fruity smell - ", he sniffed the air and then licked a droplet of water from his lip. "Mmmm! Strawberry!" He laughed and magicked himself dry.
Ron shook his head in amusement and said, "Since when did Mum allow you to work here?"
"Ever since Katie kicked me outta her place." George grimaced slightly, but recovered. "No, seriously, after our store suffered that unfortunate fire - " (Ron and Harry exchanged looks), " – and after we almost destroyed Katie's back porch, Katie said she didn't want any more dangerous stunts around her or Elizabeth and that we could take our tricks elsewhere, so - "
Harry frowned. He felt so outta the loop. He'd been away from the Burrow for so long, he didn't even know who Elizabeth was. "Do you have a child all of a sudden George?"
George looked confused. "What? Oh, no. Elizabeth is Katie's 4 year old niece. She's been living with us since her sister and brother-in-law were killed." His eyes had a trace of sadness that had found its place there only recently. "Anyway, Mum said until the store and lab are fixed, we could work here." He imitated his mother's voice and shaking finger, "This is only temporary you understand me? Temporary! No more than a month! And if I come home finding anything blown up or burnt to the ground, I'll kick you out to live with the gnomes!" They all laughed, imagining the twins burrowing holes in the ground with the nasty little creatures.
Just then a voice rang down the stairs. "Who's there? Helloooooo? Are you coming back?" Ginny too came hurrying down the stairs and when she emerged into the kitchen, dust-covered and wearing ratty old muggle clothes, Harry's stomach lurched. They both had changed dramatically during those last two years of school, and the War. She'd grown more confident, out-spoken, but also more casual and friendly. She'd outgrown her infatuated schoolgirl days so that any feelings for Harry had either become merely platonic or just very well masked. Harry had become quieter, less willing to talk about the ongoing events with anyone, until that night by the fire when he'd found comfort in her eyes and smile…
"Harry, just know that I'm here for you. Whenever you need to talk. Or just sit. Or wrestle."
His
head snapped up and he looked at her face. Her lips were smiling a
little, but her eyes were twinkling – not with a dare or challenge
as they often did, but with a promise…
Even after their brief relationship, Ginny had always remained close to Harry, despite his warnings of being too close. He had broken up with her during his 6th year to protect her, but as Ginny would often tell him, she didn't need protecting. Why they hadn't gotten back together after it was all over was still a mystery to Harry, and whenever he saw her, his stomach still flipflopped like it did at Hogwarts.
Ginny had definitely inherited the Weasley sense of humor as well as the Weasley charm, ambition and indeed the Weasley looks. Harry noted that even wearing old, torn up jeans and a stained button up shirt, she still managed to look pretty. No, beautiful. No, radiant... No, -
"Well you finally got here!" She put her hands on her hips emulating her mother's classic stance. "Well hurry up. Come upstairs with me."
Ron and Harry followed Ginny up the winding and uneven stairs to the room where the ghoul with chains lived. The attic was full of boxes and bags and suitcases and more boxes, full to the brim with family history. Toys from their youth, old family photo albums, boxes of love letters between Arthur and Molly, Ginny's old books, Ron's old comics, Percy's old glasses, Charlie's old plush dragon doll…Harry concluded that Mrs. Weasley was a packrat and he smiled to himself imagining his aunt Petunia's face had she walked in on what she would be sure to call a pile of 'old, useless junk'. But Harry liked the feeling. There was so much history in this room. I I bet Ginny is having a ball going through it all, /I he thought almost enviously.
"I've been up here for two solid days just going through box after box. Mum's been asking that someone clean up this place for years. So I finally decided that no one else would do it, and I have the time, so why not! It's been loads of fun. Look at this."
She handed Ron a small chestnut colored jewelry box that in the top left corner had "M. L. R." engraved. Ron ran his finger over the engraving, muttering, "Molly Louise Richards…"
"Look inside." Ginny undid the lock and lifted open the top. There wasn't much inside the dusty box but a few folded pieces of parchment and a small picture. Ron picked up the black and white picture and laughed. It was of his father, long before he lost his hair, and his mum, long before she'd had 7 children. They were standing in the snow by an ice-covered lake and Arthur had a pile of snow in his face. Molly was laughing and he wiped away the snow, a wicked twinkle in his eye that reminded Ron of his prankster brothers. Molly was now practically on the ground laughing and Arthur strode over to her, dumping a pile of snow on her head. Ron put the photo back in the box. "Who knew they had cameras back then."
Ginny snorted, taking the box back from him, and handed a small black book to him. He opened it and inside found Bill's messy scrawl. It was a diary of sorts, from when he was still in Hogwarts. Ron read aloud:
"I can't believe it! She won't even look my way. Why is she playing so damn hard-to-get? All the other girls practically fall over my feet, but no, not Miss-I'm-the-Ravenclaw-captain-therefore-I'm-better-than-you. Goddammit. That look she gave me…I know she wants me. She just won't admit it.. Well I'll show her!"
Ron laughed. "Is he talking about Maggie? Maggie Fletcher?"
"I assume so. She's the only girl, other than Fleur that's ever given him a run for his money." She took the book from Ron. "I figured we'd save this for the next time we had a big family dinner. It could be fun to pull a Gred & Forge and quote freely from his 'little black book'."
They laughed and sat down on the floor. Ginny handed them object after object, surprised that they remained so rapt. But the boys found it interesting, especially Harry who clung to dearly to anything family related. He envied big, strong families like the Weasleys. He saw them as a worn but beautiful homemade quilt constructed of the most precious pieces of silk and satin; his family, whom for so long he only considered to be Sirius and Remus, was like a ragged quilt of rags and random pieces of cloth sewn together by sadness, tragedy, mystery and magic. This was the reason that Harry loved being with the Weasleys – they considered him part of the family and he finally felt like part of it.
Laughing at the older Weasleys and remembering their years at Hogwarts, they spent the next 2 hours going through the stuff Ginny had set aside including some boxes she had yet to venture into.
"Man, I bet Percy would be so upset if he knew we had this. I can't believe your mum caught him doing this!" Harry was practically rolling on the floor in tears at the sight of Percy wearing Mrs. Weasley's nightdress and lipstick all over his face.
Ginny reached into the box next to her, then suddenly turned to Ron and asked, "How long has it been since you've seen Hermione?"
He froze. He wasn't expecting that. He continued to thumb through the book he was looking at while he thought, and then answered, "Um…I think it's been…well last Christmas, so what's that? 9 months or so?" His face had suddenly flushed and Harry was looking at him with a curious expression.
Ginny pulled out an old red notebook with an ink stain on the front and held it caringly in her hands. "Well, then maybe its time you called her up."
Ron looked up at his sister suspiciously. "Why?"
She handed him the book. "I just think it would be a good idea." She stood up and brushed her jeans off. "Anyway, I'm hungry. I'm going downstairs. Harry, can I get you anything?"
Harry stood up too. "No, I'll come with you and get it myself." They walked to the door of the attic. Ginny glanced back at Ron who had opened the notebook and seemed not to notice the pair of them leaving. She sighed, hoping that that book might knock some sense into her brother, and followed Harry downstairs.
