Chapter 5
By Archie Leach
Disclaimer: The characters are Rowling's. Zack and the plot are mine. No money is being made.
The pounding grew louder…and louder…and LOUDER!
"Please stop it!" Zack groaned and put his hands to his face. He opened his eyes to little slits and looked around the room between his fingers. Where am I? The surroundings didn't look the least bit familiar. In fact, the room looked as unfamiliar as a room could look. For one thing, the posters on the wall kept moving…well, more accurately, the people in the pictures kept moving. I am so fucked up. He squeezed his eyes shut then slowly opened them again. That didn't help. Zack started trying to piece together how he had come to be here, wherever here was. He remembered the wizard hospital, cleaning his apartment, and meeting the Weasleys. The rest was a blur. He moved his right hand and he felt something like yarn. He grabbed it and picked it up- it was a Raggedy Ann doll. Oh shit…whose room am I in? Even with a pounding head, he could tell that this was a boy's room. There was some sort of bat in one corner and an old-fashioned broomstick in the other. He saw a rickety desk on which rested several large hardbound books, quill pens, and what looked like an inkbottle.
"Mrrrooowww." Zack heard just before Russell jumped onto the bed.
"Ooommpphhh…Oh, hi girl, it sure is good to see you." Zack scratched her head and listened to Russell purr. "Funny, I don't remember your purring being so loud."
"I see you finally decided to wake up," a loud, shrill voice "screamed" from the other side of his bedroom door.
"Please…no shouting." Zack grabbed his head and moaned as the door opened and Molly Weasley strode into the room. Russell beat a hasty retreat off the bed and out the now open door. Zack noticed he was wearing the same clothes he had on yesterday. "Where am I?"
"You are at our house. Specifically, in my son Bill's room. The shower is down the hall to the left. Here's a towel…your toiletries are already in there," Molly said crisply looking around the room.
"What happened?"
"You drank more Old Ogden's than was good for you," she scolded.
Old Ogden's? "Oh now I remember, I think. We were at some house…for some reason. I drank some Scotch, very good Scotch, as I recall. Was that what did this to me? I can normally hold my liquor."
"Don't you know that you shouldn't drink anything older than you are?"
"I may have heard that somewhere. But how could I know it was that old?"
"You should have asked." Moms… they're all the same.
"Is there some water to drink?"
"I have something better. Accio mug." Molly said with her wand outstretched. A mug floated into her hand from outside the room.
"Cool. When will I learn that?"
"Not until your 4th year…oh, don't look so sad," she said, her voice softening. "You have a lot of catching up to do. Now drink this." She handed him the mug and brushed his hair from his eyes.
"It smells terrible." Zack felt his stomach roil.
"Don't be such a baby. It's a potion to cure your hangover. My own special recipe," she said proudly.
Zack held his nose and drank the potion. At least it's not as bad as Robitussin. Within seconds he felt remarkably better. "Wow, this stuff is great!" Zack got up and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
Molly's face and neck turned red. She giggled and smiled at him, "You're incorrigible. Breakfast will be ready when you've cleaned up." She quickly left the room, still blushing furiously.
Zack checked his bags; saw they were empty and found they had been unpacked and put into a pair of rickety wooden dressers. He grabbed his underwear, some white socks, and picked out a pair of jean shorts and red t-shirt. As he was getting his clothes together he had the feeling he was being watched. He looked up to see an attractive woman wink at him from a poster on the wall. Startled, he dropped his clothes, but after a moment gave a tentative wave. The woman waved back. What the hell? He thought about calling Molly but decided against it. What am I a child? He eased closer to the poster and reached out his hand to touch it. It's only paper. The woman in the poster gave him the shame sign. Oookay. Obviously the poster was "magicked" in some way. He walked back over to his clothes and picked them up from the floor. Straightening up, he noticed a lava lamp on a table. But it was no standard lava lamp - the lava didn't just go up and down, it went sideways, diagonally, and even formed shapes like a pyramid, and a sphinx. Cool. He also noticed it wasn't even plugged in. Magic is some powerful stuff.
He took off his clothes and headed for the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist. As he walked down the hall he noticed that the floor didn't seem level. In fact, the walls seemed warped as well. More magic…I hope. The bathroom looked fairly normal…except there were no hot and cold handles for the sink or the shower. He looked all around but couldn't find how to make the faucets work. Standing by the sink he said aloud, "Where's the damn water?" And no sooner had he finished the word water than water came out of the faucet in from of him. Aha! He put his hand under the water and noticed it was slightly cold. "Now how do I make it stop?" Once again the flow of water seemed to react to his words. Hey, I'm getting the hang of this. He walked over to the shower and decided to try his luck.
"Water," he commanded. The water came out of a Muggle showerhead on the wall. It was a little chilly but he could stand it. He started to soap up and the water became colder.
"Damn, this is getting cold!" he exclaimed. As soon as he said "cold" the water turned frigid.
"Son of a bitch! Where's the hot water?" Once again as soon as he said "hot" the water became very hot. "Ahhh, fuck!" He jumped out the shower, his skin stinging from the wild temperature changes of the spray. Let me think a minute, what did I say? He went over the last few moments in his head and decided to try it again. He looked at the showerhead and said, "Warm." As soon as he said it warm water began coming out. Feeling rather proud of himself, he finished getting cleaned up and went down to breakfast.
He entered the kitchen and saw the dishes being cleaned by an animate brush. Magic again…either that or I'll soon be celebrating an unbirthday party with a tardy white rabbit and a person in a big hat. He sat down to a good old-fashioned English breakfast: eggs, bangers, toast, apple butter, and hot tea… all in all, a respectable repast. While eating he glanced around at the surroundings and caught sight of a most interesting clock. It didn't show the time of day; instead it showed places – home, school, work, and other. It looked as if a unique "hand" represented each of the Weasleys. He felt kind of sad looking at it because all of the children were shown as "other," while Mr. Weasley was shown "at work" and Molly was at home. He remembered Dumbledore telling him that the Weasley's had raised seven children and now they had all apparently moved away.
Zack heard Molly come into the room from behind him. "Ah, you found your breakfast. I thought there might be leftovers, but I see you managed to finish it all."
"I was really famished…for some reason. Thanks for making it for me. It was really delicious." Zack answered.
"My pleasure, dear. And it's no wonder you finished it all, seeing as how you slept through dinner last night, as well as – the other thing." She had an armful of clean laundry and proceeded to fold it as they talked.
"The other thing?"
"You drank too much and then you…" Molly hesitated and pointed outside.
"Ahh yes, no need to elaborate. I get the picture." Zack said vaguely remembering his close encounter with some bushes yesterday. "I'm sorry to put you to all this trouble. How did you manage to get me up to bed anyway?"
"That was easy, dear. Arthur levitated you up there."
Of course, how silly of me to ask. "Where are we anyway?"
"At our house…we call it the Burrow."
"No…I mean where in England? We are in England?"
"Yes of course we are in England, Ottery St. Catchpole, to be exact." She explained, seeing Zack's blank look. "It's a small town along the River Otter in Devon, near Exeter. There are several other wizarding families nearby. Maybe we can introduce you around sometime."
"That would be great…speaking of wizarding what should I be doing with the next two weeks? Dumbledore was not exactly detailed in his description of my… function during my stay here."
"What would you like to do?" Molly asked, smiling at Zack and shaking out a bed sheet.
"I don't know for sure. But I do know that I want to earn my keep." He thought of something, "Maybe I could just follow you around today and help you, or at least not get in your way. In turn, you could answer my questions."
"I hope you won't get too bored, but I'd be happy to have an extra hand around the house."
For the next several hours, Zack followed Molly around while she cleaned the house. That is to say, she directed the house to clean itself. The broom swept, the mop mopped, the feather duster dusted, etc. Molly was an amazing bundle of energy, never sitting still for more than a moment or two. Before he knew it, it was time for lunch. They sat down to vegetable soup and a salami and cheese sandwich, which were both quite tasty. After lunch, Molly couldn't resist showing Zack some pictures of her kids. Some was an understatement, there were at least a dozen photo books and she started Zack with book one, entirely devoted to her oldest son Bill. Some of the people in the pictures moved and seemed to react to being looked at. It must be the same technology – magic - that the poster upstairs has.
"How do the people move in the pictures? It's a little unnerving," Zack asked, taking a bite of a second salami and cheese sandwich he had "sneaked."
"Arthur would be better to ask than me – he has a great fondness for gadgets. You can ask him when he gets home. Ohhh, isn't that the cutest little rear end!" Molly exclaimed showing Zack picture number 100 of Bill as an infant.
"I don't consider myself an expert in baby's behinds, so I'll take your word for it." Molly kept smiling at him and returned to the album, reacting with adoration at almost every picture.
"How many children do you have anyway?"
"We have seven – six boys and a girl."
"Oh that's right. Albus mentioned that you had raised seven wizards. What are there names?"
"Well, Bill of course, he's the oldest. Then Charlie, Percy, the twins Fred and George…those two were quite a handful - always creating trouble. But truth be told, sometimes I thought their creations were quite clever." She seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. "Oh, where was I? The twins – right, then came Ron, and last my only daughter, Ginny."
"How did you manage raising a brood that size?"
"It wasn't easy I tell you. The number of howlers I had to send…especially to Fred and George." She wiped some sweat from her brow. "It's a little warm in here, isn't it?"
Howlers? "Maybe a little. I take it you don't have air conditioning?"
"No, but I was in a Muggle bank once that had it…it felt wonderful. But we do have a few spells to help us through the hot days of summer. "Coolio," she said, pointing her wand at a nearby window. The window opened and he felt a nice cool breeze come from it.
"Now that is a spell I want to learn! That would save a fortune in cooling bills."
Pleased at his reaction, Molly went back to the photo albums. After Bill came Charlie, Zack heard all him, how he was married now to an American Muggle doctor from California and he was in Romania studying and caring for dragons, etc… A similar routine for Percy and the twins followed, but things got a bit interesting when Ron came into the picture because he was good friends with Hermione and some kid name Harry Potter when they attended Hogwarts.
"You see, there they are again - the three of them. One could hardly find one without the other two during their years at Hogwarts - Ron, Harry and Hermione. And dear me, the adventures they had…my heavens." Molly shook her head and took a drink of lemonade. She looked a little sad.
"What's the matter?" Zack asked.
"Oh nothing, really. It's just a shame they aren't such good friends anymore. But I always hope they'll patch things up."
I bet I know what happened…they grew up and friends tried to become more than friends. I wonder if I could help. Nah. I better just stay out of it.
"Zack?" Molly asked.
"Oh sorry, my mind was just wandering. What did you say?"
"Here is the last picture we have of all three together – graduation from Hogwarts. You see how happy they are…what a shame." She talked about Ron's job as assistant manager of the Chudley Cannons, a local Quidditch team. Zack asked what Quidditch was but Molly confessed to having only marginal knowledge about it and suggested he speak to Arthur. She pulled out the last book, mostly group pictures with a few of Ginny sprinkled about. The last child in a large family always gets the short end of the stick when it comes to parental attention. He did notice that she was rather pretty by the time she left Hogwarts. He saw that she liked to show off her legs, which he had to admit were shapely.
"Where's Ginny now?"
"She works in publishing I think." Molly said evasively and got up to put the dishes in the sink. She pointed her wand mumbled something and the brush in sink started cleaning the dishes.
Now that's strange, she couldn't relate enough details about the rest of the family.
"I'm going to go and catch a nap if you don't mind," Zack said yawning and stretching his arms.
"Of course dear, you should get your rest. If you need anything just holler."
"Thanks. And thanks for showing me the pictures. You have a real nice family."
Molly blushed, picked up a basket of laundry on the floor and turned to go out the back door.
Zack went up the stairs and felt his weariness descend on him with each step. I wonder if the potion is wearing off. Upon reaching the room he walked over to a pitcher that had been placed on the desk along with a glass. He poured some of the contents in the glass, seeing it was water he drank it down in one go. He then quickly drank two more glasses in rapid succession and watched as the pitcher refilled itself after each pour. Cool. He lay down on the bed and was asleep in seconds.
Three men arrayed in armor, all with standards bearing a multi-hued cross, sit in rapt conversation around a campfire.
"The Chamber becomes unsealed in less than one month – we must redouble our efforts to ensure the relic is kept safe." The knight that spoke had jet-black hair with a few streaks of white and a bushy moustache.
"Why the concern, Alasdair? All has been quiet since the Dark One was killed." The second knight appeared younger, had long auburn hair and was clean-shaven.
"The Dark One had more followers than most know about, Rapha. My father once said, 'If there is quiet where there should be noise, find a corner to keep your back against.'" He turned to the third knight, an older man with gray hair and a full beard. "Why so quiet, Bleddyn?"
"We've had such discussions dozens of times before. I wait for the 8th of September."
Zack woke feeling good. He couldn't remember the last time that happened. He got out of bed, stretched, and looked out the window. For some reason he was thinking about his impending birthday. On September 8th, I'll be 33 years old. Ah, what the hell, age is just a number. While he thought that consciously, underneath he wasn't so sure. He squinted at the afternoon sky; it was still early enough to do a bit of reading. He looked over the titles of the books, most seemed pretty dry. The Goblin Wars looked interesting but since he had no idea what goblins were he decided against that. He spied Hogwarts: A History, all dust covered and beat up, looking like it had been sitting in the same spot for 100 years. I might as well find out about where I'm going. He sat down and started to read. He was fascinated by how it all began and by the personalities of the four founders: Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, Salazar Slytherin, and Godric Gryffindor. They sure seem to like alliterative names. A different house for each founder sounded like an interesting concept. Having never taken part in the fraternity/sorority lifestyle in college he wasn't sure what the impact would be on the students. I wonder what house I'll be sorted into, Ravenclaw, probably. Over the many years covered in the book, he never came across an instance of anyone near his age being admitted as a first year, so he wasn't sure how the students or teachers would handle him. There were only a handful of instances where someone older than 11 was admitted and the oldest of those rare exceptions was 15—and that kid had been frozen in some kind of ice spell for four years. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.
The castle itself sounded like a fun place to explore, and he looked forward to seeing the enchanted ceiling in the main hall and the real live ghosts…so to speak. Of course not everything looked like fun: for example, the moving staircases seemed a bit unnecessary, and the floor plan was so confusing he knew he'd get lost several times before figuring it out.
"Zack, dinner!" Molly's voice echoed into the room.
"Okay, I'm coming." Zack yelled, getting up and trying unsuccessfully to smooth out his "bed hair." Oh well, I'm not trying to impress anyone. Heading downstairs he smelled the delicious aroma of beef, potatoes, and vegetables and his stomach gave an audible groan. He turned the corner and saw four places set at the table.
"Are we expecting company?" Zack asked looking around.
"Yes, I invited Hermione Granger over for dinner." Zack assessed his appearance, slovenly at best. "After seeing the pictures today I thought it'd be nice to see her again, especially since Arthur told me you and she had developed a kind of friendship." Now how could he know that? Molly was smiling, getting a pie out of the oven, apple if his nose was accurate.
"I'm just going to go and get cleaned up a little," Zack said pointing up the stairs.
"Don't be silly dear, they're already here I just heard them."
"Hello, we're here! What smells so good?" Zack heard Arthur's voice inquire as he opened the door with Hermione in tow.
Hermione was dressed in a knee length jean skirt, a white T-shirt, a light linen coat and black flats. She looked a little reticent at being here, but she was trying hard to smile. Knowing a little more about her history with the Weasleys, and especially Ron Weasley, he believed he understood her reticence. But she did look quite fetching, Zack thought.
"Hi, Zack. You look…well rested," she said with a mischievous grin, looking at his hair.
So much for not worrying about my bed hair. "It's good to see you too," Zack said, trying to sneakily smooth his stubborn hair again. She chuckled and Zack shifted his gaze to Arthur. "Hi Arthur, how was work?"
"Pretty busy, it always is in August with Hogwarts session starting the 1st of September. But this year is busier than usual, what with trying to smooth over some ruffled feathers." I wonder what that could be about. Arthur hadn't seen Zack and Hermione move over to sit at the table. However, he did notice Molly frowning at him and he quickly hung up his robe and hat and then joined them at the table.
"Okay no business talk at the table before dinner," he said glancing back at Molly and sitting down.
"This looks delicious Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said, putting a napkin on her lap.
"I agree, and it smells divine," Zack added, winking at Molly.
She waved her hand at them. "Oh, stop it you two. Now dig in, there's plenty for everyone." She sat down and spooned some peas onto her plate. He could tell she used to cook for a large family, the table groaned under the weight of all of the food. That was the table groaning, wasn't it? Dinner was roast beef with gravy, Yorkshire pudding, boiled potatoes, peas and carrots, home made bread, and apple pie fresh from the oven. Zack knew he'd gain 20 pounds if he stayed here any significant length of time. There wasn't much in the way of conversation during most of dinner. However, there were many shy smiles and furtive glances.
Zack helped himself to a third helping of everything and decided to try and break the ice. "How are your preparations coming Hermione, I mean with getting ready for Hogwarts?"
She nervously took a drink of water and wiped her mouth with her napkin, carefully placing it back in her lap. "I've been tremendously busy. There's a new potions textbook this year, so I've been preparing two lesson courses for the first-years, while still preparing lessons from the old text book for the second through seventh-years."
"Why two lesson courses for the first-years?" Arthur asked while reaching for the potatoes.
Hermione looked over at Arthur and visibly relaxed. "I feel it's not fair for the first-years to miss out on the lessons from the old text book just because we're switching to a new one."
Zack, knowing he was one of those first-years, decided to ask a question. "Doesn't that mean there will be double the work?"
"Yes, I guess you could look at it that way, but I look at it as twice the opportunity. No class before has been lucky enough to study from two potions textbooks. I, for one, would've been thrilled to be given this chance."
Oh my stars, she's a know-it-all—a beautiful and charming know-it-all to be sure, but a know-it-all just the same. I better try some damage control. "So it is your intention to teach from two textbooks for all classes from now on. I mean, would it be fair for next year's first-years to only have one textbook? And what about next term when the current first-years are second-years?" Hermione squirmed in her seat. "Are you just going to drop the old textbook after the first year?"
"Well, I guess I hadn't thought of that." She looked uncomfortably at Zack for a moment and then realized something. "This wouldn't be motivated by the fact that you are going to be a first-year this term AND are trying to avoid work would it?" She looked quite pleased with herself.
Uh oh, I've been found out. "I admit that my concerns may not be completely selfless," he smiled at her and she looked back at him incredulously, "but it does seem to be a little unfair to the average students. Maybe you could offer it as extra credit for the top students to study from both textbooks?"
She didn't respond right away and thought it over. "I hate to admit it but your idea is not without merit."
He gave her his best smile and she shook her head at him. Zack looked over and noticed the Weasleys watching them intently with beatific looks on their faces. Molly's eyes were even a little bright. Oh great, they're trying to fix us up.
"We really missed seeing you these last couple of years Hermione," Molly squeaked and wiped her eyes with a napkin.
Arthur gently patted Molly's shoulder and then turned to Hermione whose face had flushed. "It really is nice to see you again at the Burrow."
Hermione, overcome with emotion, hid her face, and ran outside. Zack followed quickly after her and had to step over Russell who was coming in from the outside carrying a rat. Yummy. He shook his head and followed Hermione out the door.
"Hermione, what is it?" Zack asked, reaching tentatively and touching her shoulder. She quickly turned towards him and hugged him hard, crying softly into his shoulder. He held her gently stroking her hair for a few moments waiting for her to calm down. A minute or so later she broke contact and slowly wiped away tears with the back of her hand. She looked embarrassed and stood back from Zack at arms length.
"I'm sorry about that. I don't know what happened. It's just that the Weasleys have always been so kind to me and I love them almost like a second set of parents. You must think I'm some sort fruitcake or something." She looked at Zack and laughed.
"A fruitcake is exactly what I was thinking! I was standing here holding you thinking…I'm holding a fruitcake in my arms." Zack said exaggeratedly and watched Hermione break into a set of giggles. He decided he wouldn't tell her that he knew something about the problem, feeling it was probably best to let her tell him when she was ready.
"You are so bad," she said finally and looked him directly in the eyes.
And you are so beautiful. "Are you okay to go back inside then? I am ready for some of that pie."
"Where can you possibly be putting it all?" Hermione asked looking at his athletic frame.
"I've got a hollow leg," he said shaking his right leg. Hermione just rolled her eyes. Grabbing his arm, they went back inside.
The Weasleys looked very worried and Molly rushed towards them as they came back inside. "I'm so sorry, Hermione," she said in a rush.
Hermione just hugged her. "It's okay Mrs. Weasley. I'm the one who's sorry. I don't know what came over me."
Molly smiled, and patted her arm. "So you're okay then?" Hermione nodded and they went back to the table.
They finished dinner and Zack sat back as Hermione and the Weasleys talked for over an hour about times and adventures past. It was great to see them having such a good time catching up. While he didn't understand much of what they talked about—not having been there when these events occurred—he was still astounded at the nonchalant way they talked about horrible accidents and near death experiences. Finally, they wrapped it up and agreed to try and see it each other more often.
"Hermione, would you like to come to the family reunion we're having next week?" Molly asked, holding Arthur's hand.
Hermione looked down, took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "I really appreciate the offer, but I think I will beg off this time."
Molly reacted as if she expected that answer but was disappointed just the same. "Maybe next time then or even Christmas," she suggested suddenly.
"We'll see," Hermione said and turned to go. "Thank you so much for dinner. It was wonderful and I really enjoyed seeing and talking with both of you again. I promise not to stay away so long again. And Mr. Weasley," Arthur's ears perked up, "my dad told me the next time I saw you that he has a very interesting plug for you to add to your collection."
"Oh, really! When can I have it?" He saw the agitated look from his wife and added, "I mean…when do you think I will see…I mean, Molly and I will get to see your parents again?" It seemed to Zack that the man was constantly tiptoeing his way through verbal minefields.
"I'll let them know we had dinner - they'll be so pleased - and then I'll send you an owl-post, okay?" They nodded their assent and she turned to leave.
Zack took her by the arm gently and escorted her outside. The sun was setting and the sky shone with hues of purple. She looked up at him, smiled and said. "It was nice to see you again. It looks like the Weasleys are treating you right."
"I have no complaints, except that I will likely need to run more than a few miles to take off the pounds I'm sure to be gaining." The last vestiges of sun were reflected in her deep brown eyes and in her tawny hair. She wasn't looking away from his gaze. Why not? He gently brushed her hair from in front of her face and leaned down toward her. She looked nervous but didn't pull away and he kissed her lightly on the lips. Then, feeling her response, he moved in for a deeper, more sensual kiss. He embraced her and she haltingly put her arms around him as well. He had never felt this way kissing a woman before, but it didn't last long as Hermione gently broke the kiss and nudged him away.
"Zack, we can't," she said shyly and backed away a step.
"It's the bed head isn't it?" he said trying to smooth it down again.
She looked confused and then smiled. "No…that's not it - you are so funny sometimes. No, I'm going to be your teacher at Hogwarts in less than two weeks and this wouldn't be right," she said uncertainly.
"But I'm not your standard student," he protested.
"That's an understatement. Nevertheless, we can't pursue anything but friendship right now. I like you very much…I do. I hope you understand." She cast her eyes downward and to Zack she looked like she expected be yelled at.
In that instant, Zack knew that Hermione had not likely been in very many adult relationships, and the ones she had been in did not end well. Even though he was frustrated, he decided he couldn't let her know that. "Hermione, look at me." She slowly raised her eyes to meet his, surprised at what she saw. "I like you too. If friends are all that we can be, then friends it is." He stuck out his hand to her.
She looked immensely relieved and ignoring Zack's outstretched hand gave him a quick hug. "You are unlike any person I've every met Zack Flood. I can't believe you're not disappointed." But the look on her face was not just grateful…could she also be disappointed?
"I didn't say I wasn't disappointed. But you have rules you have to obey and as a doctor I can understand that. But I don't have to be happy about it." Even though this does suck.
She shifted around tiredly on her feet and Zack noticed that she looked worn out. Well, of course you moron, look at the day she's had! "Some doctor I am. You must be exhausted and here I am just going on and on."
"I admit I am practically out on my feet."
"You go on home and get some sleep. How is it that you're getting home anyway?" Zack asked looking around. "A Portkey?"
"Heaven's no, I'm apparating home."
"Appa…what?"
"Apparating. It's when you use magic to transport yourself from one place to another. Of course it helps if you know the place you are apparating to intimately otherwise you might get splinched." She must have seen the confusion on Zack's face because she continued. "Splinched is being caught between two places at once. I've been told it is… quite uncomfortable."
Zack winced at her description. "To say the least." He brightened and asked, "When will I learn how to apparate?"
"Not until your sixth or seventh year, depending on how advanced you are. Now I really must be going, Crookshanks will be wondering where I've gone off to."
"Crookshanks? A cat perhaps?" Zack guessed.
"Yes, he is my cat." She looked impressed. "Maybe you'll get to meet him sometime."
"I look forward to it. Take care now and I'll see you at Hogwarts on September 1st."
"You watch yourself too. When all of the Weasleys are here at once I shudder to think what could happen." She smiled mischievously at him, took her wand out, muttered something, and disappeared.
I'm doomed.
Zack awoke the next morning determined to put that kiss out of his mind. It seemed like he dreamt about it all night. What is wrong with me, I've been with dozens of women before. It must be magically related somehow. Zack cleaned up and as he was eating breakfast, Molly told him she was going shopping and would be back in a few hours. He decided this provided the perfect opportunity for exploring the rest of the house. He also wondered where his cat had been keeping herself.
"Russell? Where are you girl?" Zack looked around but no cat could be found. He thought maybe he should be worried because Russell was an indoor cat at the flat, but just shrugged it off and went looking into the other rooms. She had a rat in her mouth last night afterall.
Charlie's room contained many figurines of dragons many that moved and breathed little jets of fire. Zack got a little singed and had to run cold water over the wound for a few minutes. The dragon that got him seemed pleased. I guess his work with dragons isn't just a job. Percy's room was immaculate and incredibly boring, but he did find a copy of The Standard Book of Spells in there and decided to borrow it. The twin's room "looked" safe enough but something told him to be careful snooping in here. He didn't see anything too interesting but as he was turning to leave he saw a crack in the ceiling above the door right next to a beam. The crack did not look natural and he decided to take a closer look. He grabbed a chair and stood on it, but couldn't quite see into the crevice. Damn, these guys must have been pretty tall because I'm not short. He decided to grab a couple of big books to stand on but the first one, entitled The Flying Book, grew wings and flew around the room for a few minutes. Very funny, guys. He finally had enough books to boost him high enough. Unfortunately it was too dark and he didn't think sticking his hand in would be very smart. He also decided a candle was not worth the risk either, standing precariously on several books AND in a wooden house.
"I'll be back," he said in a bad Terminator impression to no one and laughed at himself. Ron's room was the highest room just below the attic. Nothing too exciting in here but he did find a very used wand held together with some kind of tape and a great deal of Chudley Cannons paraphernalia. He took a closer look and found some pictures of Harry and Ron, but they looked altered somehow. He guessed that Hermione had been cut out of some of them. Young love sucks. All of the sudden he heard something. It sounded like some things being thrown about in the attic. There was banging and a kind of guttural voice as well.
"Who's there?" He asked with more bravery than he felt. The noises grew louder and he heard a definite "meow" and then a weak plea for help from the attic. What the hell? Zack walked into the hallway and heard Russell's insistent low meow, the one Zack called the "don't fuck with me" meow. He also heard some whimpers. Looking around he spied a narrow door tucked in a corner. He guessed this was the door to the attic. Already slightly ajar, he opened it slowly and saw a narrow set of unstable looking steps going up. This must be the place. He saw some movement at the top of the stairs and recognized Russell's pacing form.
"Hey girl, watcha got there?" Russell mewed a hello but continued to keep her eyes on something ahead of her. Zack walked up the short flight of stairs and saw a hideous creature crouching behind an old spinning wheel. It looked bucktoothed and slimy.
"Don't let it hurt me, sir. I hate cats. They scare me something awful."
"Who or what are you?"
"I'm the Weasley's ghoul sir."
"A ghoul did you say? Why are you here?"
"I haunt their attic. Our union specifies which ghoul haunts which house and for how long."
"You have a union? For hauntings?" Zack couldn't believe his ears.
"O' course. Can't have ghouls fightin' o'er the best spots can we? My first haunt was a barn and I really hated it. The family had a dozen cats and they never left me alone. So next haunt they gave me a nice attic in a house with no cats…at least, until now. Although I remember a real big orange cat a few years ago that stayed here for a couple of days…really awful."
Zack was quite amused at the fact that he was talking in an attic with a ghoul that was afraid of cats. "We won't be staying long, just a week or so more."
"That's a relief, cause this cat hardly leaves me alone."
"Russell wouldn't hurt you, would you girl?" The look on Russell's face suggested Zack shouldn't bet on it.
"You see, that beast has it in for me."
"Don't worry, I'll take her when I go. One other thing, since your job is to haunt, aren't you supposed to be scary? I don't find holding a conversation all that frightening."
"Strictly speakin' we're not supposed to speak to anybody. Just noises and maybe a moan or two. So's I'd appreciate it if you didn't report me to the union."
"Don't worry your secret is safe with me." Like I'd know where to go to report it anyway. "Let's go Russell." He picked up the none-to-pleased cat and went back downstairs.
"Thanks, mister."
Bizarre. Zack let Russell go after a short scratching session and she flew off down the stairs. My cat - the "ghoul tamer".
He went to Ginny's room last and knew immediately this was the "girl's room." For one thing, it was fashionable. Painted walls and ceiling, designer curtains, a handmade bedspread, etc… Ginny had built up a significant number of male admirers, if the dozen or so pictures of now scowling men were any indication. He guessed that Ginny had a crush on Ron's friend Harry at some point, as there was a kind of shrine to him in one corner of her dressing table. Harry didn't really fit in with the other boys she had pictures of, so Zack figured it was a probably a younger-sister crush on older brother's friend thing. The pictures of Ginny in here showed even more leg than the ones he saw earlier. If you got it flaunt it. He heard a door close downstairs so he left the room and went into the hallway.
"Molly…is that you?" Zack called down the stairs.
"Yes, dear. Oh, bother!" He heard her exclaim.
Zack bounded down the rest of the steps. "What is it? Are you okay?" Zack asked worriedly as he entered the kitchen.
"Get away cat! Would you look at this?" She held up a set of long wooden knitting needles that looked chewed on. "This is the second set since you arrived." She shot a look at Russell, who bounded away through an open window.
"I'm sorry Molly. Let me buy you a replacement set."
"That's okay. I have some extra pairs."
"Even so, I insist. Of course, I have no idea where to buy them. Maybe my mother would know."
"I don't think so dear, these are magic knitting needles." Of course they are, everything else in the house is. "If you insist, there is a shop in Diagon Alley we can go to when we go to buy your wizarding supplies."
"Diagon Alley?" Zack asked.
"Oh my, I sometimes wonder where my head is. It's the main shopping area for wizarding supplies in all of Britain. We should go there tomorrow and get your schoolbooks and supplies. The earlier you have them the more you'll be ready come September 1st."
"Okay, I would like at least some time to see what I'm in for. Maybe I could even practice a bit?" Zack was feeling very nervous for some reason. I need a drink.
"Of course, dear. I'll help you with some of the more basic spells if you like."
"I need all the help I can get." Zack then went upstairs and spent the rest of the day reviewing The Standard Book of Spells, practicing his pronunciations, and feeling clueless. This had better not be some elaborate practical joke set up by Barney and Mick. Knowing them he was probably being filmed this very moment for posterity. I got your posterity…
My thanks to Crow, Juliane and Lillith for their proofreading help.
My thanks also to everyone who has reviewed.