Harry Potter and the Secret Squib!
Chapter Five: The Mysterious Mr. and Mrs. Granger
One by one the passengers got out of the car and set foot onto the old and dirty street road. Harry, Ron and Hermione were lead up Grimmauld Place in single file by Mr. Weasley and Lupin (while Moody and Tonks covered them from behind). After a few more seconds of walking they stopped in front of two old and boarded up mansion like houses.
"Here we are; number eleven and number thirteen" said Mr. Weasley looking happily around the row of dilapidated houses.
"I take it you all remember what to do, yes?" said Lupin handing an old looking piece of parchment to Harry.
Harry looked down at the parchment and he instantly knew what it was; it was the key to seeing number twelve, all he had to do was memorise the writing on the parchment and then he would be able to see the house.
"The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, London... Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place..." Harry thought to himself. Then, suddenly, just like the previous year, number twelve seemed to inflate, and push number eleven and number thirteen aside.
Harry was so happy to see the black bettered door; twisted serpent shaped silver knocker, grimy windows and dirty walls of number twelve again, that he couldn't help but have a grin spreading from cheek to cheek.
"It's good to be back..." he said quietly to himself.
"Trust me mate, it won't went you get back in here, mum's gonna' freak when she sees you, she's be up all morning doing the decorations!" said Ron who had clearly overheard Harry.
As Harry walked through the broken old door he was amazed by what he saw. Everywhere in sight was covered by streamers and balloons, even the mouldy old curtains covering the portrait of Sirius' mother had balloons tied to it and streamers hanging down off it. As Harry continued to look around he saw that some of the old and peeling wallpaper from the year before had been torn down and replaced with fresh coat of paint. In front of Harry hung two huge banners, the one on the left read "Welcome back Harry!" and the one on the right read "Happy Sixteenth Birthday Harry!"
Under the banners stood a group of people; the rest of the Weasley's (minus Percy), Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mundungus Fletcher and a man and woman Harry had never seen before – he just assumed they must be part of the Order and he'd ask Ron their names later.
Before Harry could even word together a sentence he was pulled into an air tight hug by Mrs. Weasley.
"Oh Harry dear, I'm so glad you're safe, it's good to see again in one piece..."
"Core, thanks mum! What are we? Chopped frog's liver?" said Ron dully
"Oh Ronald shut up!" replied Mrs. Weasley sternly "Dear I do hope the Muggles have been fair with you this year; I asked your aunt if she would be nicer this time"
"Yeah, they were alright." lied Harry
"That's good. Well, don't just stand there, sit down, relax, you must have had quiet a surprise yesterday. I'll be back in a few minutes, I just have to go check your cake dear" Mrs. Weasley said as she left the room
Suddenly a loud popping sound filled the room.
"Okay Harry, your stuff is up in your room, feel free to go and unpack when ever" said Mr. Weasley as Harry sat down
Two more loud popping sounds then filled the room – it was Moody and Lupin
"Where's Tonks?" Ginny asked
"Last I looked she was admiring Harry's Firebolt again" laughed Lupin
"It's a pleasure to see you again Harry" said Kingsley Shacklebolt who had walked over to where Harry was sitting
"Yeah, it's good to see you again too Mr. Shacklebolt..."
"Please Harry, call me Kingsley" Kingsley said modestly
Harry looked around the room to see what everyone was doing; Mr. Weasley was talking excitedly to the two strangers, Kingsley was talking to Tonks, Moody and Lupin, Hermione was reading the days Daily Prophet with Ginny, Charlie was showing Bill, Fred and George pictures of his favourite dragons, and Ron was polishing his Cleansweep Seven (again).
"So, where's Kreacher these days then?" said Harry trying to spark a conversation
"Oh, that little rat bag" said Ron "He probably crawled into his little hole and died -"
"Ron! That's not funny!" interrupted Hermione sharply "It's not his fault he's the way he is"
"Oh Hermione! You're not carrying on with Spew again are you?" Groaned Ron
"It's S.P.E.W Ronald, and oh course I am! The house elves need to be rewarded for their hard work!" argued Hermione
"And they are! They get to stay at Hogwarts don't they? Or isn't it good enough for them!"
"Yes but well... Dobby gets paid! And they took all my hats last year didn't they, so that must mean that some of them want freedom doesn't it..."
"Well... actually Hermione... Dobby took all those hats... the other house elves got insulted because they thought you were trying to free them... so Dobby had to clean the Common Room himself each night" Harry said nervously "He kept taking all the hats so they wouldn't get even more insulted... sorry... I forgot to tell you... what with... Sirius..."
"See Hermione! I told you they didn't want to be freed! Why didn't you ever list -"
"Ron shut up!" shouted Hermione "Harry, I'm sorry I made you think about... you know..."
After a few seconds silence Mrs. Weasley came bursting through the Kitchen door
"Breakfast is ready!"
Everyone walked into the dinning room. Harry was completely mesmerised by what he saw, magical and muggle food filled the twelve foot table completely, Eggs, Bacon, Sausages, Omlets, Toast, Beans and loads of different magical food's Harry didn't know the name of, there was even Blouibaisse! The table cloth underneath all the plates and cutlery was completely covered, and you could only see it hanging down from the sides.
"Well don't just stand there everyone, Dig in!" said Mrs. Weasley motherly.
Everyone sat down and began eating immediately.
"Whoa mum!" said Ron as he filled his plate with bacon, eggs, toast and sausages "Why can't you make this much food all the time?"
Harry laughed.
"Ron if you eat this much all the time, you'd end up looking like my aunt after I blew her up!"
"Ahh yes Harry, I seem to recall Mudnungus telling me about that one, he couldn't stop laughing at her as she flew away" laughed Kingsley
"Haha! I remember that! Best larf' I've 'ad ina long time! Cheers 'Arry!" said Mundungus while raising his glass to Harry
"Molly you really shouldn't have gone to so much trouble, we don't really need all this food" said Lupin kindly
"Yeah we do!" shouted Ron while tearing at a piece of Bacon
"Now now Remus, eat as much as you can, you'll need your strength, there's a full moon in a few days" answered Mrs. Weasley
After several more minutes of eating Ron began to ask a question
"Ob Yah... 'harlie, Ib wab wanberin ifb-"
"Ron! Swallow your food first!" Shouted Mrs. Weasley over the table
Ron swallowed his bacon down in one big gulp.
"Charlie, I was wondering if you'd want to play Harry. He's a really good Seeker! It'd be a brilliant thing to watch, you two going after a Snitch!"
"Yeah, alright, it'll be a laugh, I'll love to play against the youngest seeker for a century!" replied Charlie happily
Harry laughed. "I may have been the youngest, but you're Hogwarts' best!"
"Oh Harry... you flatterer" laughed Charlie while putting on a female voice
"Oh yeah, that reminds me!" shouted George "Do'ya want to come down to the shop in a few days? I mean, if it weren't for you we wouldn't have it – err – itch, I mean – if it weren't for you we wouldn't have the new itching sweet..."
George quickly looked away from Mrs. Weasley and went back to his food.
"George, dear, would you like to say that again... if it wasn't for Harry you wouldn't have what exactly?" said Mrs. Weasley in a harshly-sweet kind of tone.
"No mother, dear, I wouldn't like to say that again..."
George turned around and nodded to Fred. They both piled as much food on their plates as possible and turned back to face Mrs. Weasley.
"Sorry mum! Gotta' dash... Happy Birthday Harry!"
A load popping sound once again filled the room; Fred and George had disapperated.
"The day those two learned to apperate was the day all hell broke loose!" said Mrs Weasley "They'll be back later though, they're going to want lunch!"
Harry turned to Ron five minutes later and started whispering to him.
"Psst! Ron! Who are those people? The ones sitting with Hermione?"
"Oh yeah, I guess we forgot to tell you; they're her parents!"
"Really?! They look completely different from when we saw them in Diagon Alley that time! Are they nice?"
"Yeah, Dad loves them, been asking them about their jobs all day – he thinks being a Dentwist is brutal!"
Harry laughed.
"Why didn't she introduce me to them?"
"Dunno' mate, she didn't introduce them to me either – mum did!"
"I can't believe I didn't guess, do you think Hermione is embarrassed of them?"
"Probably, we are in an old and run down pure blood house, with a psychotic talking portrait and a eccentric old house elf, and not forgetting the Ministry wanted Hippogriff up stairs – I'm surprised they're talking as much as they are!"
"I'll try and corner Hermione later and ask her about them..."
When everyone had finished their breakfast they went to sit back down in the living room. Mr. Weasley was once again chatting to the Grangers happily by the fire place; Mrs. Weasley was doing the washing up with Ginny in the kitchen. Tonks, Moody, Kingsley, Lupin and Mudnungus were practising protection charms by the window, and Harry, Ron, Hermione, Bill and Charlie were discussing their Quidditch plans in the middle of the room.
"Yeah, but Ron, if we want to play a little match, we're going to need more people. Bill can shoot at you by himself but it'd get kinda' boring. I'll be up against Harry, and if we can find Fred and George, they can practise with me and Harry... but I'd say we need one more player as a chaser... Hermione... do you want to play?
"No no no! I can barely ride a broom, let alone play on one! I'll be fine watching!" answered Hermione
"Well... then who -"
"I'll play!" interrupted Ginny from the kitchen
"Well it's sorted then!" said Bill
"Yeah... but when are you going to play? You can't play now!" said Hermione
Ron looked stunned.
"Why can't we?!"
"Because everyone has come round to wish Harry a happy birthday, you can't expect him to just get up and leave!" argued Hermione
"Oh yeah..."said Ron dismally
"Well, how about tomorrow then?" reasoned Harry
"Yeah, alright then, tomorrow it is!" replied Ron
Ron stood up from his chair and went to speak to his mum in the kitchen
"Hey, Hermione, can I speak to you in private for a minute?" asked Harry
"Yeah... sure..."
Harry and Hermione walked over to the other side of the room.
"Hermione... I was wondering... why didn't you introduce me to your par -"
"Oi... Harry! Mum said we can give you your presents now!" interrupted Ron
Harry smiled.
"I'll answer your question later Harry, yeah? Let's go see what you got!" said Hermione happily
"Hey! C'mon you two! We're waiting over here!" laughed Ron