July 7, 1995, 12 Grimmauld Place
Cleaning the pantry last night-ugh. There was just one word to describe it.
Disgusting.
Dis-bloody-gust-ing!
There was a dead rat in one of the old bags of-well, I don't really know what was originally in the bag. It was all green and blue, and Mum threw it out, and forbade Fred and George to go anywhere near the rubbish bin. They've been stealing some of the junk to aid in their new inventions.
It took us at least two hours to clean out the pantry, and by that time, we were all tired. But Mum sent Hermione and Ron upstairs, but she kept me, since I had to help with dinner because I went up on the fourth floor when I wasn't supposed to.
Mum and I were cooking for at least twenty people, and I kept asking her why we were having so many guests for dinner. She said that the Order members were coming for another meeting tonight, and that it was polite to offer them a meal for all the hard work they've been doing. But she shut up after she told me about the hard work.
At dinner last night, I finally got the chance to talk to Tonks. Hermione and I sat across from her at the table, and she entertained us between mouthfuls by changing her appearance. First it was her hair, then her eyes, then her nose, then she started changing her entire face at once! We were laughing so hard at this pig-like face that Mum told us to quiet down. I don't think I've ever seen Hermione's face get so red. I thought only Weasleys could blush that hard!
After dinner, Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, and I huddled around the kitchen door with the Extendable Ears, trying to hear what was going on in the meeting. And what we heard wasn't exactly pleasing, at least to Ron it wasn't…
Bill intercepted one of the letters that Harry sent Ron, and he read the entire thing out loud to the entire Order. Harry wants to know what's been going on with You-Know-Who, where everyone is, and when he's going to be able to get out of uncle's house. After the letter was read, everyone started whispering, until Professor Lupin stood up and silenced everyone.
Professor Lupin said that Dumbledore wants Harry to stay at his uncle's house for a while, until the heat from the Triwizard Tournament dies down a bit. He seems to think that it's safer for Harry to be in the Muggle world, due to You-Know-Who's return. There was an uproar that this. One old wizard stood up and said that it would be safer if Harry stayed with his own kind. That way, he'd be surrounded by witches and wizards who would protect him if any danger was about.
We didn't get the chance to hear anything else, because we heard footsteps coming towards the door. We all scattered as quickly as possible.
Now, on to what happened today…
Mum found out Percy's new address from one of the Order members who's stationed in London. She went down to talk to him first thing this morning, but as soon as he opened the door and saw her face, he slammed it shut and refused to speak to her. Mum came back as a puddle of tears, and Dad just stared off into space. I don't think he really understands that his son is truly gone. Professor Lupin stepped in and took her upstairs to try and calm her down.
The next time I see Percy, I'm going to wring his guts out dry.
Hermione and I were assigned to the cleaning of the front hall. It's disgusting, and it's even worse than the pantry was! We found two live puffskeins huddled in the corner by the front door, and Hermione screamed so loud that three Order members came flying out of the kitchen and to our aid. One of them was Kingsley Shacklebolt, an Auror, and he probably told Tonks about our little predicament.
Fred, George, Sirius, and Professor Lupin were trying to get Mrs. Black's picture down from the wall in the living room. I heard her screaming all afternoon. George told me that there's a Permanent Sticking Charm on the back of the canvas, and there's no real way to get it down. Sirius looked pretty upset, and Fred told me that he hated his mother with all of his being.
Mum and Ron were scouting out Ron, Fred, and George's bedroom for spiders. Once or twice, Ron came flying down the stairs, shouting about spiders that were coming to get him. Mum dragged him back up into the room. She's determined to get Ron over his immense fear of spiders before term starts. I bet you ten Galleons that he'll go back to school still afraid of s-p-I-d-e-r-s.
After we finished scrubbing the front hall, Hermione and I went upstairs to our bedroom, only to find Ron, lying on Hermione's bed, whimpering. When he saw us, he jumped right up, blushing. He said that our room was the only spider-free place in the entire house. He mumbled his apologies, but I noticed that he was really only talking to Hermione. I brought this fact up later to her, and she turned deep red, and then she turned around and started reading her History of Magic textbook.
Dinner was no real spectacle. I'm just glad I didn't have to cook for fifteen or twenty people again. Sirius and Professor Lupin were arguing over where Harry should stay for the remainder of the summer. Sirius wants Harry here, in Grimmauld Place, and Professor Lupin says that he is much safer in the Muggle world, at least for now.
Tonks entertained us again while she ate. This time, Mum didn't notice our laughter, because she had started crying over Percy again, and her eyes were pressed into Dad's shoulder. I saw Fred and George whispering together. Maybe they're plotting some gory murder plan for Percy.
It's just after nine now. Hermione's gotten another letter from Harry. She wouldn't let me read it though, and now she's giving me the silent treatment because she said I was too "nosy". At the same time, I'm actually a little jealous that she gets letters from Harry, and I don't. But I don't really care about that!
If only that was really the truth…
But, on a brighter note, Michael sent me a reply to my last letter. He said that next week, his family is going to France, and he wants to know what my favorite precious stone is. Michael's uncle in Paris makes custom necklaces and bracelets, and Michael wants to get me one. So there, Hermione! I bet you neither Ron or Harry would get you custom-made jewelry from France!
I don't really know why, but I'm compelled to tell Michael that I'm rather fond of emeralds…
Oh. Hermione wants to know if she can borrow my Sleakeazy's Hair Gel. Of course she can! After all, she used up nearly half of my bottle for the Yule Ball, and didn't even apologize for wasting my hair products! Oh, well, her hair needs the gel more than mine does, that's for sure…
But why she wants to use it at nine at night is beyond me…
My, my. I think I have the answer to my question. Hermione's just left the room. She's probably off to say goodnight to Ron. God, it takes all of my will-power not to just throw those two in a closet, without their wands, and demand that they admit their feelings to each other and snog already!
Ah! Fred and George have just Apparated into the room. They're laughing and saying that they want to give little Ronny some "alone time" with our dearest Mione. Hmm. I haven't heard any shouting yet, so maybe they really are…but I mustn't get my hopes up too high!
I'm going to chase Fred and George out of my room in a few minutes so I can get changed into my pajamas and get to sleep. Mum mentioned something about cleaning Buckbeak's room tomorrow, and that's going to take a lot of energy.
Goodnight. Maybe I'll wake up tomorrow morning and Ron and Hermione will finally be together. If only in my dreams…
-Ginny
Ah. This chapter is slightly longer than the rest are, so I'm getting the hang of longer chapters.
But before I go any further, I'd like to thank, once again, my fantastic reviewers: Kelso the Great, uasoccerbear08, Jazipan, Mingingbent, Morei Sky, and AHRTCCKD. I'm SO sorry if I missed anyone, but my Hotmail account has got hAyWiRe and I cant get to my review alerts, so I'm relying on the reviews directly from my story. Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed! You guys are great!
:Breaking News:
I will be going on vacation on July 15, and I will be returning on July 17. But don't worry! I'll still be updating! My plan is to upload the entries for the 15th, 16th, and 17th with the entry for the 14th, so you guys get FOUR NEW CHAPTERS on the SAME DAY! Isn't that great! So sorry if those chapters are on the crappy side. Writing four entries in the same day isn't exactly a piece of cake.
So…how did you like this chapter? I must admit, I've put more into this chapter than I have for a while. Tell me how I did!
Please, please, PLEASE, REVIEW! Thanks!
-Rox
