Mabuhay!
I've decided that the initial chapter was really more of a prologue so I've adjusted the chapter numbering accordingly. Sorry for the confusion, but this is officially the second chapter. This is incredibly long (one which surprises even myself), so I guess I better not keep you waiting any longer. Better get to it, then… oh, and enjoy!
Happy birthday, Ron! (March 1st)
Two : Whereabouts
The wizarding community of St. Ottery Catchpole had never been the same… not ever since that blaring news featured in The Daily Prophet had come up with sensationalizing yet another inexplicable event…
Ministry and St. Mungo's Baffled: Harry Potter's Confidant Gone Missing!
Death Eater Involvement Suspected!
Yes, it had unfortunately been that morning's headline and it alarmed the readers to no end, not that it needed any more troubling news, mind you. Alas, the paper highlighted the disappearance of Ronald Bilius Weasley, best mate of the famous Harry Potter, and so merited frenzied responses in mails and public remarks from all over the country.
Minister Fudge was utterly peeved by the news because yet another controversy has marred the reputation of his Office in addition to the Department of Mysteries incident. In reaction to this predicament, the Minister had kept his responses to the standard bare minimum of "No comment." For its part, the Medical Board of St. Mungo's has strictly instructed all hospital divisions to keep the matter under wraps.
This silence, however, did not prove to be a hindrance to the free press as the days rolled by. The papers kept on doling out theories that some conspiracy expert or other had come up with. The longer the government kept quiet about the issue, the more credible the ideas that the Prophet published with each release, no matter how off they really were.
Hogwarts was not, in any way, oblivious to the world outside and so, on the day after the news had broken out all over the nation, the issue roused the restless students who were gradually gathering at the Great Hall for breakfast that fine, sunny morning… particularly the student body belonging to Gryffindor House.
"What the-" Dean managed to snag a copy of the morning news first when the daily owls arrived.
"Dean, what is it?" asked Seamus. "Did the Tornados lose the last match? I told you they had it com-"
"-that's not it, you twit. Take a look at this," the other retorted in a huff, handing him the paper.
As Seamus began to skim through the front page, his eyes practically bulged out of their sockets trying to absorb the article contents. He caught the attention of Jordan Lee and some of the other Gryffindors. One by one they stood up and gathered around the pair, taking turns scanning the front page paper.
"Oh good, the morning owls are here," a particular bushy-haired girl said cheerfully as she entered the Hall followed by one upset raven-haired boy.
"What's good with the morning, might I ask?" Harry replied testily.
"Harry, let's not go through that again… can't you brighten up a bit? It's a brand new day!"
"I can't believe he hasn't come back yet. Ron's still in the hospital, you know! I can't imagine how you do it, Hermione, not fussing even a bit over him. Do you really even worry about him at all?" He soon realized he said it rather more harshly than he intended, and he looked up at Hermione to find her dumbstruck, mouth wide open.
"You…" Hermione recovered but still initially unable to say much more because of the lump forming in her throat. As she swallowed that down, she finally found the words to answer him with. "He's… Ron's my best mate too, you know! You know that I… I'm too worried about him to even care about anything else!"
"Sorry, Hermione… that didn't quite come out the way I wanted it to. I was just wondering how you manage to keep it all together, you know? A cool head such as yours is something I could probably never ever follow…" Harry slowly tilted his head up to look up at her.
"Hermione, you know I didn't mean to… Forgive me?"
"It's alright… I guess I was just overcome with all these emotions at once too quickly it even surprised me. Let's just try to make the most out of this new day, alright?" Hermione said sympathetically.
"What have you got there, Lee? Anything new?" Harry asked, changing the subject and determined to enjoy his time as Hermione suggested. The older Gryffindor quickly hid the paper behind him while the rest of the crowd all stood at attention, much like the way they did when the Inquisitorial Squad was present.
"What is it? Don't tell me Umbridge is still around?" Hermione joked (surprisingly so, might I add) in a considerably cheery tone.
Jordan slowly backed away behind Dean, Seamus and the rest, but the silence was getting unsettling for Hermione and Harry.
"Dean? Seamus? Boys… this is getting kind of disturbing… What is it?" Hermione was now increasingly fretful with each passing moment.
"This is getting ridiculous," Harry finally declared impatiently. He made his way rudely past Dean and towards Lee in the back. "Come on, I want to see that. You don't want to get on my rather bad side today, Lee…"
"Harry… It's nothing, really…" Jordan tried to give a convincing smile but ended up flashing a nervous grin instead.
"Now why does that not convince us?" Hermione shot back as she too strode over to them.
"Now Hermione, I don't think that you'd… It'd all be too much of a shock…"
Tempers were evidently flaring as the two gave the cowering crowd menacing stares, daring them to keep them out of the know any longer.
"My my, better watch your temper, mudblood." They all looked around and it was, needless to say, the notorious Draco Malfoy, flanked by none other than Crabbe and Goyle. "Then again, I think I know how you feel, seeing as your weasel of a friend has left you… What? Hah! It seems that the mudblood and the school's zero of a hero haven't even found out yet!"
"Sod off, Malfoy," Seamus rebuffed him. As the three Slytherins left laughing, the Gryffindors turned their heads to look back at Harry and Hermione but turned pale as they saw the indescribable expressions on their faces.
"What are they talking about! Give me that!" Harry cried exasperatedly and finally grabbed the paper away. Hermione, on the other hand, felt such uneasiness that the sobs threatened to come back with a vengeance. She felt her knees shaking terribly and decided to sit down rather roughly on a nearby bench at the Gryffindor table.
"No, no, it can't be… Harry and I personally brought him to St. Mungo's just a few days ago. He can't possibly be gone! Harry, it can't be true… please tell me it's a lie…" Hermione looked up at him, trying to search his face for a sign that everything was alright, that Malfoy was just being an utter prat and lied, that the three of them would all be in each other's company soon enough.
But Harry did not find anything on the front page article to dispel Hermione's fears; in fact, his hands shook nervously horrified by what Ron could have possibly been facing right then. Hermione's tears finally welled from her eyes when she witnessed Harry tremble.
Ginny had been there the whole time but had her turn at the paper when she could no longer bear the tension at that point. When she had gotten halfway through the article, she began to cry too. Harry was simply rooted at the spot while Ginny, wallowing in sorrow, sat beside Hermione and hugged each other tightly. Groups of Slytherins were chatting away nonchalantly about the news, but Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws knew better and some of them made their way to Harry and Hermione to comfort them, albeit they did not even have the chance to get to know the redhead beyond his name.
"What is this?" asked Professor McGonagall as she entered the Hall from the main door, genuinely confused with the commotion that peaceful morning. Professors Dumbledore, Flitwick, Sprout and Sinistra, on the other hand, were already at their seats in front. "What has gotten into you all?"
"Oh, professor," Hermione came crying, tearing herself away from Ginny for a moment and rushing towards her mentor. "It's about Ronald Weasley, professor… He's… he's…"
"What is it dear?"
"He's gone, Ma'am," came Harry's reply. "And the Ministry and St. Mungo's keeping quiet about it. They're hiding something and they aren't telling anyone."
"What? Is this true? Where did you get this news?"
"It's in the paper, professor," Dean helped sympathetically, holding the paper up to her.
The transfiguration professor took the daily from him and instantly recognized the headline. She only skimmed through the first few lines before setting Hermione aside to Harry and making her way to the professors' table.
"Have you read this morning's news, Albus?"
"No, Minerva. Has Rita gone back to writing for the paperagain, something controversial at that, perhaps?"
"No, it has nothing to do with that woman. It's just… It's about one of our students…"
"Hmm?" The sage wizard took the newspaper from her hands and read through the article.
"There is justice in this world, after all," Snape said airily as he entered the hall from the professors' entrance, seeing his fellow professors reading the Prophet. "I finally have one horrible student off my hands."
"Severus! Well I never…" Professor McGonagall replied, fuming. Ron was not the perfect student a professor would ask for, but he was a Gryffindor becoming his own nonetheless. "Do you have anything to do with this?"
"Are you insinuating that I had something to do with his disappearance?"
The ensuing argument gradually caught the attention of the students in the hall, and it did not take a while for many of them to side with one professor or the other; Snape had the Slytherins but, as expected, the rest were siding with McGonagall.
"Minerva, Severus," Dumbledore interrupted, wanting to put this unprofessional bantering to a halt, "I believe that breakfast is no time for us to dispute over the matter. I'm sure the Ministry is doing their best to look into it."
"Ha! Doing their best to look into it?" Everyone turned around and found that the voice had come from none other than Harry Potter. "Do you honestly believe that the Ministry has all the time and manpower in the world to look into another case?"
"Hold your tongue, Mr. Potter," reprimanded Professor McGonagall, but he continued as though she had not even spoken at all.
"O pray tell us all, headmaster; how do you think would the Ministry handle his case when they have just confirmed Voldemort's return and imminent rise to power?" Gasps of horror filled the hall at the confirmation. "Me and Hermione and so many others know that Ron's worth it, but do you think they do?"
"Harry," Hermione pleaded, "this is not the time to-"
"Not the time to do what, Hermione!" Harry cut her off in a sharply softer tone as he faced her. "The world out there's filled with Death Eaters, Voldemort is planning his next move, and Ron's gone missing right under the noses of the mediwizards at St. Mungo's! Is now not the time to be furious about it? You and I are his best mates, Hermione; wouldn't you feel angry about it?"
"Well, of course I would! But don't you think you're overreacting a bit? Voldemort's cover had just been blown a few days ago! Do you think they would risk roaming around and simply grab Ron hostage?" Hermione finished with such calmness and logic that surprised her given the circumstances.
Harry stopped for a moment to think about it. What she said did make a lot of sense, and she was right… she was always right… but her words did not dispel the anxieties raging inside his head. "Well," he answered much more calmly this time, "you're as brilliant as usual… But Hermione, for our best mate's sake, I hope you're right… I just hope you're right…"
The last few days of the term at Hogwarts marked enthusiasm for the majority of its student populace. The residents of each house began packing their stuff, looking forward to the rewards of the upcoming summer vacation. Three certain Gryffindors, however, didn't have it in them to even think about the opportunities of the break in the absence of a particular redheaded boy.
The last evening of the school year had arrived and everyone was enjoying the Year-End Feast down at the Great Hall… everyone, except Harry, Hermione, and Ginny. Everyone had stowed their luggage at the entrance hall, but the three decided to wait in the common room for the meantime and go down together when it was time to actually leave the school grounds. After nearly an hour, it was the time to depart had finally come.
"I suppose we need to get going, then," Ginny said nonchalantly from her seat by the fireplace.
"Yeah," came Harry's weak reply. He stood up and Ginny followed suit. Hermione, still staring blankly into the glowing embers of the hearth, stayed unmoved from the couch.
"Hermione, come on. We really need to leave," Ginny said sympathetically, tugging Hermione softly by the hand. She only nodded in response and slowly made her way towards her luggage.
"Mobilicorpus!" Hermione charmed their entire luggage down towards the portrait hole and did not bother to wait for Harry and Ginny.
As the three reached the entrance hall, they managed to see their Headmaster and the entire faculty ushering the last of the students out of the school.
"Farewell Headmaster Dumbledore, professors," Hermione greeted dispassionately, turning her head towards them all. "We'll see you all again after the break."
"Hogwarts will be waiting here for you so just enjoy your summer, alright?" Dumbledore replied warmly.
Ginny, for her part, smiled to her Headmaster and Head of House. Harry, on the other hand, did not seem to be generous with his best wishes and simply gazed at the open entrance. At this gesture, Professor Dumbledore only let out a tired sigh, McGonagall shared a sympathetic look, and Hagrid felt outright cheerlessness.
The three students then passed the door and boarded the carriages. They spent their journey back to Hogsmeade in complete silence. As they reached the station, they stepped out of the carriage and made their way to the Hogwarts Express. Ginny went ahead to look for a private cabin while the two stayed for a while to have a much-needed breath of relief.
Hermione looked around but, after a few moments, was surprised to find none other than…
"Professor Lupin?"
"Oh, hello there Hermione! Who do you have th-"
"Oh… it was just you," came Harry's words, deflated and disgusted with the arrival of their momentary companion.
"Hello, Harry," Lupin greeted in a rather sad tone. By Harry's reaction, he guessed that everyone at school must have already heard of the news.
A few moments of eerie silence followed but the professor decided it too irresponsible to admit his own fault, so he spoke up once more.
"Harry, I came here hoping to meet you and personally tell you that-"
"Too late," Harry interrupted, sighing so deeply. "Ron is gone, the trio is broken, Gryffindor House is one student short, and the professors are all sympathetic… excluding Snape, of course."
"Harry, Hermione, I know I promised… I'm sorry."
"'Sorry' is not going to bring him back so save it… I don't want to hear anything from you."
Hermione sighed in disbelief while Lupin flinched in remorse.
"Hermione," he tried once more, "you know I couldn't have possibly seen it coming, do you?"
"Well… just what do you mean by that, professor?"
"That afternoon, I was sitting in his room, reading through my book. He had been staring outside the window for a long time until he asked if I could bring him some food."
"Well isn't that bloody convenient to say," Harry said irritably.
"Believe it or not, he suffered fits of shock every few hours of so… It could've been caused by the brains at the Department of Mysteries, but even the mediwizards don't know. Please understand, Harry, I know I promised you I'd look after him, but I'm just no seer to predict what had happened next." The three fell silent, not really knowing what to say or do next. The train, however, was blaring its whistle for departure while Ginny was waving for them to board.
"Professor," Hermione hurried, about to bid Lupin farewell, "we just don't know what to make out of all this right now, no matter how much sense your story makes. We simply…"
"We don't need any of this right now," Harry said in a much calmer tone this time. "Hermione, let's go before we get left behind." Hermione only nodded her reply and bid their former professor farewell. Lupin exhaled in defeat as he submitted to the fact that Harry did not have it in him to begin trusting so many people again just yet.
Platform 9 ¾ was tight with wizard security all over the place the next morning. With the Ministry's recent confirmation of Lord Voldemort's return, aurors were stationed at every crowded place in the United Kingdom. Since students of Hogwarts were coming home for the summer, they had tripled their usual sentry forces at the railroad station.
As Ginny, Hermione and Harry got off the train, they were immediately tugged away from the crowd by three aurors. Harry was, for the most part, not surprised by this rough measure; the Ministry, he thought, was not about to let the public know that they weren't protecting the only person who could save them from the wrath of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named once and for all.
"There you are, Potter!"
"Moody?" Harry asked in surprise as he turned to see the man who had a clink with his every step. "I should have known."
"'CONSTANT VIGILANCE!', I've always told those fools at the Ministry, but they just would not listen!" growled the auror. "And now look at what happened… St. Mungo's should have known better, too."
Harry and Hermione only nodded in response. Ginny, still a bit intimidated by their former Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, only shied away and hid behind them.
"Are you the youngest Weasley sibling?" Moody asked her, but she could only squeak affirmatively. "I just want to say… I'm sorry that your brother's not around… I'm not good at these things but I just want to let you know that the Order's working round-the-clock to find him."
"You mean… my mum and dad know about what happened too?"
"You bet they do… Molly was in a wreck the moment Arthur had come home and told her about it."
Ginny gulped a big lump down her throat. Their mother certainly wasn't the person who took news of one of her children's loss too well… Ginny could just remember how much she had smothered her with hugs and kisses when she got home from Hogwarts the year the Chamber of Secrets had been opened once more.
"Let me handle your luggage," Moody offered simply. Then, turning to the wizard escorts, he ordered, "you know where to bring them, so go ahead."
The aurors stood by each of the three students and swung one arm over their shoulders. They twirled around and vanished into nothing, side-along apparating each of the children away from the platform. Moody then took to the luggage, transfiguring them into small pieces of rock, before he stowed them inside his overcoat and followed suit.
"Oh… we're going back…" Ginny muttered as she still felt the tightening of her lungs during the transport. A few moments later, she was finally able to breath deeply again as the tugging in her navel stopped, before continuing somewhat in surprise, "…to the Burrow?"
"What are we doing here?" asked an equally confused Harry as they arrived in the living room of the very cozy home. "I thought it was safer back at Grimmauld Place?"
"Don't be silly, Harry dear. That place is going to be the death of us seeing as it's horribly lonesome." It was Mrs. Weasley, apparently hurt by his comment. "Unless you would prefer to stay there, of course?"
"Good day, Mrs. Weasley," Harry and Hermione greeted simultaneously, followed by a "Hello mum!" coming from Ginny.
"I didn't mean that, Mrs. Weasley," Harry answered apologetically. "I just thought that, with all the trouble the Order's been having, we would've all regrouped there."
"It's alright. It was about time you three had come, by the way. I was getting worried when you would ever arrive. Alastor was never late when it comes to these things-"
"-never am, and never will." It was Moody, having only apparated into the room. "Really, Molly, those tripled forces just aggravated the crowding at the station. Thank Merlin I've managed to find these three a few minutes just after the train arrived-"
"-and not a moment too soon, either. Any longer, and all of your lunches would have gotten cold." Moody only snarled at her softly for scolded him when he could not have helped it. Hermione and Harry, who were simply witnessing this very short argument, merely chuckled at the thought.
"Thank you Mrs. Weasley," Harry intervened, "though I think that Professor Dumbledore had something to do with this arrangement, hadn't he?"
"Why, that's right dear. I'm not sure what convinced him to send you here rather than your… inhospitable relatives, but I'm glad that you're here to spend your vacation with us… and Hermione too! Oh, I'm pleased to have so many guests this summer!"
The aurors, Moody included, all bid their leave from the Burrow, saying something about needing to have some paperwork done back at the Ministry, and disapparated with a pop within seconds. Mrs. Weasley, on the other hand, shoved her guests into the dining room where Fred and George were busy placing the dishes on the table… or rather, levitating them over the table. She then headed for the kitchen.
"Fred, George!" Ginny cried all too cheerfully.
"Well, it's our dear sister! How have you been?" Fred asked warmly. "That bloated-excuse-for-a-Ministry-official did not terrorize you and our pals here after we left, I expect?"
"Hello there, Harry, Hermione," George joined in, turning to the two.
"Uhm," Ginny replied, "you could say that she's… taken a leave of absence."
"Good riddance," Harry added. Hermione scolded him about it but everyone just laughed. She joined in on the laughter as well.
"Boy, I just miss moments like this: us laughing our heads off, not having a care in the world, just enjoying ourselves…" Harry trailed off, his thoughts turning back to his best mate, Ron. The atmosphere suddenly became heavy with thoughts of the missing redhead.
"I don't suppose you've already read about our dear Ronniekins now, have you?" George ventured rather warily.
"Of course we have, you prat," Ginny responded with a matching thwack to George's head. "I can't believe we didn't hear it from you sooner than the Prophet. I'm family you know, and Harry and Hermione practically are, too."
"That hurt, Ginny," George said with a mocking hurt in his voice. "We would have told you sooner about it if we didn't think that it would have affected you so much like mum was."
"Yeah," Fred added, "if you only saw the look on mum's face when dad broke the news to her, I'm sure you would also refuse to tell it to anyone else."
Then, George and Fred motioned for the three to come closer and huddled together before they continued.
"Well, the day dad told mum, she wept for hours!" Fred cried. "The only time she stopped was to cook for meals-"
"-and even then," George continued, "her cooking was a bit off than usual… Merlin, were they salty!"
"We tried to comfort her each time,"
"but we could not even stop her sobbing."
"We tried cracking jokes, playing tricks,"
"setting of Fizzing Whizbees, and even setting Ginny's clothes on fire!"
"You did what!" Ginny cried.
"Not to worry Gin, dad managed to fix those."
"That is not the point, you gits," she fumed.
"Well, to cut to the chase," Fred carried on, ignoring Ginny, "we tried everything."
"Mum stopped crying just two days back,"
"but ever since, she's been working like crazy!"
"Degnoming the garden, doing the laundry,"
"washing the dishes, cleaning the rooms,"
"Well, that's what mothers do, Fred, George," Hermione cut in.
"But at this rate, Hermione, we'd end up losing our mum! She's working herself to death!"
"Insufferable prats as we may be, we always worry for her… She's really scaring the hell out of us both!"
"Dad's tried, but mum only breaks down into more tears whenever they talk about it."
"Dad never was the lady's man now was he, Fred?"
"No I don't think so, George."
"I don't know what it means to live with parents, but should you really be talking about your father like that?" Harry asked exasperatedly. Just as the twins were about to make a witty remark, however, Ginny hit the twins on the head with a book. They were about to mock her with an "ouch" but kept their mouth shut as she threatened to hit them again, only harder.
"Me and George think mum's feeling mentally glad that the two of you are around to spend the summer," Fred started again.
"So," his twin added, "we think it would be best if no one would try talking about Ron for the mean time… not unless she was the one to start it, of course."
They all nodded in agreement and began to spread out around the table. They ended their conversation just in time too as Mrs. Weasley entered the room again with a tray of casserole on her hands.
"Gather around the table, you lot," she cheerfully called out. "Harry, Hermione, I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate your spending the summer here with us."
"What did we tell you, Harry?" George whispered to Harry aside as they sat down. "She's gone nuts."
"Ginny, I hope your fourth year did not prove to be difficult? I hope you don't give up on your studies, not like these two who simply couldn't face the pressures of wizarding education…"
The twins flinched. No matter how much the twins have tried to convince their mother that graduation at Hogwarts was surprisingly early that year, she knew better. After all, how thick did they really think their mum was?
"But mum," Fred defended rather pathetically, "we did feel that our education was simply becoming too… restricting of our creative talents."
"That's right," George chimed in, "and we didn't think that receiving our not-so-many N.E.W.T.s would help, either. We might as well bet our galleons where we could at least have more than a sickle's chance of succeeding."
"By quitting school altogether and at your final year at that? Are you mad! No one at the Ministry would bother hiring-"
"Mum," George began consolingly, "who ever said about working for the Ministry?"
"Yeah mum," Fred agreed, "we don't think that they'd be in any particular mood for our jokes and tricks, being knee-deep in cases about You-Know-Who and all."
"We'll see about that," she finished threateningly, and the twins were silenced immediately.
"Hermione dear," she said, turning to the other side of the table and startling the bushy-haired girl, "have you told your parents about this arrangement? We do not want to worry them, dear, just because we have some… temporary trouble."
Hermione, thinking that she might broach an unwanted topic of conversation, carefully answered, "They've written to me before we left Hogwarts, telling me that they wanted to take some few weeks away… I was thinking of writing you, actually, to ask if you could accommodate me for the summer… I hope it's no trouble."
"Oh no dear, it's no trouble at all… you are most welcome to stay here anytime… you are practically family!" She beamed at Hermione, making her blush without really knowing why.
The rest of the midday meal was finished without further incident. After the lunch, Mrs. Weasley insisted on doing all the dishes herself and left the rest to spend their time chatting under the shade of the tall trees out in the front yard.
"I think I now understand better what you meant, Fred, George… about you mother, I mean," Hermione mumbled.
"Yeah," Harry added, "I thought I was going to suffocate from all the tension in the air back there."
"I guess there's nothing we can do at this point," Ginny admitted. "By the way, how are Bill and Charlie taking it? A lot better, I hope?"
"We really don't know," Fred piped in. "Either they've been purposely avoiding our new tricks since then or they've just been loaded with work… You know those two,"
"Uh-uh," nodded George. "Bill's probably sent on another curse-breaking assignment again in Egypt, and Charlie's most likely has his hands full with the restless dragons in Romania lately."
"But ever since that issue of the Prophet came out, we've been receiving an awful lot of mails by owl…"
"We try to see whether we have some order forms coming in,"
"but either the people aren't enthralled with our excellent products – which we highly doubt – or mum intercepts and burns them."
"Can you blame her?" Hermione asked reprovingly. "After sending you to school for years and spending a lot for your supplies, you show your appreciation for her by simply choosing to give up your education and sending all her effort's worth down the drain."
"Gee, Hermione, you sure know how to lighten up our spirits," Fred said mockingly. "It's not like we haven't consider that, you know."
"If anything," George retorted, "we are trying to double up our efforts so we could pay mum back for all the things she did for us – even more. You do believe us, don't you Ginny?"
"I don't know…" Ginny teased.
"Oh come on Gin, not you too?" the twins worried, seriously this time.
"Fred, George," Harry quipped, "it's just that we could not imagine you being this… serious. You weren't even this earnest when we were resisting Umbridge or when you were betting against Bagman."
"Well we now certainly are," Fred answered with all the conviction he could muster.
"Don't get yourselves in a twist, boys," Hermione said, albeit giggling about their sudden seriousness. "Alright, alright. We just hope you manage to succeed in whatever you have in mind… I don't think your mother could manage another one of those heartbreaks…"
"First was Percy," Ginny added more thoughtfully, "then Ron… well, I think Hermione's onto something here… You twins might be next, being the ones born in between…"
"Yes mum," George teased, "but I don't think that birth order has anything to do with it,"
"so if you don't mind," his twin jibed, "we would rather end this discussion and talk about something else."
The three laughed their hearts out at the twins' expense, who, in turn, tried their hardest to hide their blushing. The twins kept on telling the three to sod off but only managed to make them chuckle all the more.
The remainder of the afternoon was spent on jokes and exchanges of spells and hexes. Much of the worry (and embarrassment) was forgotten that day, until, of course, sounds of pops and cracks echoed in succession from inside the Burrow.
"The others are finally here!" Ginny squealed as she tried fending off Fred who was incessantly tickling her senseless on the grass.
"Well let's get back inside, then," Hermione urged. "After all, I bet your mother would come out yelling any moment now that everyone's here."
True to Hermione's intuitions, Mrs. Weasley came running outside and began shoving everyone inside, even slapping the twins on their backs with her wand. After all the fuss, everyone – but more like the Weasleys – seemed to be having such an emotional moment… Ginny was off hugging Mr. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie in turns of around three minutes each. Mrs. Weasley went hugging and pecking her husband on the cheek and embracing her two sons. Hermione, for her part, was off greeting the rest of the family.
"Come now, everyone," Mrs. Weasley told them all so happily, "supper's already been set and I think you lot are already starving from all your work… or play… or whatever…" She gave them all a tender smile.
"Wicked! What's for dinner mum?" Bill immediately asked.
"I hope it's my favourite!" Charlie brightened up. "It's been quite a while since I've had a decent meal, really."
"Yours?" Fred and George chimed in together. "What about ours?"
"You selfish lot," Ginny spoke up, "what about me? Mum always cooks your favourites, but never mine!"
And the silliest squabble in the history of Weasley arguments ensued. Hermione and Harry began chuckling and eventually laughed so hard that they had to practically get down on the couch so they wouldn't tumble onto the floor.
"That's enough!" Surprisingly, the voice came from an unusually livid Mr. Weasley. The quarrelling siblings all stopped dead in their tracks. "Your mother's been so thoughtful enough to have supper for all of us here, and all you could do is argue!"
"Arthur, dear…" Mrs. Weasley nervously began. Mr. Weasley then smiled at her.
"I suppose you have cooked all of our favourites, then dear?"
"Of course." She shyly smiled in return.
"See?" Mr. Weasley retorted to his children. "Well, last one at the dinner table gets no dessert!" He then childishly rushed into the dining room.
During the next few seconds everyone was still in the living room. Apparently, the siblings were still shocked by their father's rather peculiar behaviour. Then again, he wasn't really your average wizard father. Confused, they altogether stopped and headed for supper. Hermione and Harry already recovered from their fits of laughter but could not help continue chuckling at the silliness of it all.
Everyone had been sharing a peaceful and relatively jovial atmosphere over dinner, sharing stories about work and school. Bill recounted his current assignment and told that he was enjoying a very short break from his curse-breaking. Charlie was saying that he just wanted to get away from the stresses of the work for the mean time and went to great lengths convincing his mother that he did not plan to retire soon; he was having too much fun with dragons. Fred and George, still up to their antics, were openly discussing their options with Harry about finally establishing their first joke shop in Diagon Alley, much to the distress of Mrs. Weasley. Ginny was off sharing her gossips with a rather uninterested Hermione who was just nodding her head absentmindedly.
Much of the main course had been finished – making way for a very excited George – before another cracking sound resounded through the halls of the Burrow.
"Mr. Weasley? Mrs. Weasley? Are you in here?"
It was such a familiar voice. When everyone heard it, they suddenly grew silent and turned their heads toward the hallway. Bill leaned back on his chair rather stiffly. Charlie put his cutlery down on the table. The twins wore such sour looks on their faces. Ginny stood up, grasped her wand and aimed it at the doorway. Arthur simply closed his eyes while Molly slowly began to cry but was not about to shed tears just yet. Harry, for his part, clenched his fists as his rage was building, and Hermione stood up as she made her way to the backyard via the kitchen door, rushing not to let the tears that threatened to fall any second.
"Honestly, is anyone even in he-"
Unfortunately for Percy, he was met with a rather nasty dose of the Bat-Bogey Hex before he could even step into the dining room.
"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley snapped. "That is certainly no way to treat your br-"
"That is alright, Mrs. Weasley," Percy answered as he tried so hard to control his temper. Mrs. Weasley, still agitated by Percy not being at much better terms with everyone else in the family, now began to weep. Percy, however, was surprised to find everyone all gathered together considering that there was really nothing special that day… or at least, nothing that he could remember anyway. "I should have known. I'm sorry; I didn't realize that you were having people come over. I apologize for intruding, but the Minister wished me to inform you about this as soon as possible. Would you mind if I wait in the living room?"
"Go," Arthur said rather authoritatively. "We'll just clean up here. And no tricks from the lot of you," he shot to his other restless children.
Having been disrupted by this really unexpected surprise, everyone had risen up from the table, the dessert left to melt away, neglected. Charlie attended to clearing the table of everything while Bill moved to support their still upset mother along to the living room. Arthur had requested Harry to go off and look for Hermione but gave up after a few times as Harry was still irate with the Percy's visit. The weary father then gave up and directed Ginny and the twins to retreat to their bedrooms. The three had raised endless shouts in protest, but their father had his say in the end as he eventually settled the matter with a very scary "NO!"
The three made their way up the flight of stairs and Arthur saw them off. When they had disappeared behind the bend nearing the second floor, he headed for the living room. Mischievous as the three are, however, they headed for the twins' room, grabbed the Extendable Ears and headed down the stairs, cautious not to catch the attention of their wary targets should they decide to move back to the kitchens.
"What is this news about, Percy?" they heard their father say.
"I was rather wary of being the one to say this, but the Minister had his utmost trust in me and-"
"Again with your self-importance, Percy?" asked Charlie who had joined his parents minutes earlier. "Drop that air of arrogance, you pompous git! We're at the Burrow, at home, for Merlin's sake!"
"Boys," Molly said apprehensively, "can't we have a decent conversation with family, just once, without all the hostility?" Charlie just backed away and leaned against the wall.
"As I was about to say," Percy resumed, "the Ministry has gathered some new information which I'm sure you lot would be glad to hear."
"Just tell us already!" Bill asked impatiently.
"Minister Fudge has leads to Ron's whereabouts… though I'd have to say that we can't fully confirm where yet."
The air was filled with silence as Percy dropped the bomb but apparently all the other occupants were in a state of shock to even react.
"Why didn't you say so at the dinner table?" asked the still irate Charlie.
"Do you think I could have managed with Ginevra having hexed my nose?"
There was giggling from outside the living room but not one soul really cared to notice.
"So?"
"'So?' what?"
"What have they found out, you git!"
"I refuse to tell anyone in this household if someone as impertinent as you treats me so harshly."
"Why you…"
Charlie was making his way towards Percy, balling his hands into fists with such fury. Bill, still trying his best to keep his cool, stood in the way and held Charlie by both arms, making him flail his limbs around to be freed from his bigger brother's grip.
"Geroff me, Bill! He apparently does not even care if we find Ron, and that's why he's withholding all the information from us! He's keeping Ron from us! He's using Ron as if he were some trump card in a game! This is just plain torture, can't you all see!"
"Ch-Charlie, c-c-calm d-dow-down," Molly said in between sobs. She then turned to Percy and began to plead to him. "P-P-Per-Percy… p-p-please te-tell us… he's a member of this family… and more so, he-he's your brother…"
Percy stood silently for a good thirty seconds before sighing resignedly.
"Ron's no longer with us…"
…
…
…
Molly's shriek of horror echoed throughout the Burrow and was followed by terrible sobbing.
"What the hell do you mean by that!" Fred, George and Ginny all yelled in unison as they entered the living room. They, along with Bill and Charlie now, slowly came up to Percy in an attempt to find out all the bloody hell they wanted to know.
"What?" Percy asked, pretty confused.
"What do you mean 'He's no longer with us'? You mean they found his body somewhere!" George cried in frustration.
"What? What are you say- Ooooh… Is this what all that crying was about? Merlin, no! When I said that Ron was no longer with us, I meant that he was no longer with us in the country!"
"Percy, before you get the entire household so bloody worked up, think up your sentences more carefully next time, won't you! Mum has worked up a heart attack, you git!"
"Sorry," Percy said to no one in particular but looked at her mum most apologetically. She nodded, smiling as she understood what he meant.
"Has the Minister informed Dumbledore about this yet?" asked an equally relieved Arthur.
"No. The Minister was busy with attending to increasing our ranks, so he instructed me to tell the members of the Order about it. I know that you and Mr. Fudge are still working towards being on better terms with each other, so I hope you don't hold it against him; I am just doing my job, after all."
"I'll go alert the rest of the members of the Order, then. I suspect they may be more than willing to join us in the search. Molly, would you mind if I went off to Grimmauld Place for a short while? This is about Ron, after all…"
Molly gave her husband a weak nod but followed it up with the most cheerful smile she could muster, supporting him with all her heart.
"Why don't I join you, dad?" Bill asked.
"Yeah, me too." Charlie joined in.
"Hey, you wouldn't just go off-"
"-and keep all the fun to yourselves, now would you?" Fred and George both cheerily added, not in any mood to stick around.
"Alright, I suppose it's alright to bring the four of you… but only if your mother approves, of course."
They all turned their heads and looked at her for approval, begging her so badly with pouts that would've put Ginny's cries to shame. Molly was touched by their concern and bid them all with, "Alright… and take care, you lot…"
"Hey, then let me join you!" Ginny squeaked as she realized she was being left behind yet again.
"Ginny…" Arthur began.
"Ginny dear," Molly interrupted, "you wouldn't leave your mum here all alone by herself now, would you?"
Ginny was torn between irritation and sympathy but only nodded her head in compliance as she took her seat on the couch beside her mother.
"Planning on letting Hermione in on this news?" The voice belonged, they all turned to see, to Harry who was leaning against the corridor wall across the living room.
"Oh… how long have you been standing there?" asked Percy.
"Long enough to have vented off my anger towards you," he spat in return. "So? About Hermione?"
"Harry dear," Molly called out to him lovingly, "in as much as we would like to see our dear Ron back, I don't think we should be getting too many people's hopes up, Hermione included."
Harry could feel how painful it was having hearing the first news about Ron so soon but not telling his other best friend about it. He knew she would be infuriated once she found out, but Harry could not help but agree with Mrs. Weasley… she had so much trouble on her hands at the moment, after all.
"I can see that, Mrs. Weasley, but I honestly don't think she would be too pleased to find that we all hid this from her. She has as much a right as any one of us, you know."
They all lowered their heads, not really knowing what to do about it. However, they all knew it was for the best.
"Come now," Arthur spoke up, "Ron won't be home anytime soon if we keep on dallying here. Let's go."
The four older boys nodded and, without further ado, disapparated from the Burrow.
"Molly, Ginevra, Harry," Percy greeted, nodded his leave to each one in turn and turned around to disapparate as well.
Harry lingered longer, standing in the living room while deep in thought. When Ginny patted him softly on the arm, he remembered that he needed to find Hermione so he gave Ginny a grateful smile and headed outside through the kitchen.
It was really dark by then. Harry had quite some difficulty looking for Hermione as he had to avoid bushes and rocks of all sorts. He was some thirty feet away from the Burrow when he finally spotted a flicker of light from somewhere by the pond nearby. Harry narrowed his eyes to try and see the lone figure in the distance and, true enough, it was Hermione, staring at the sky and holding out her lit wand.
"Please leave me alone, Harry," she pleaded without even turning to look at him.
"You've been out a pretty long while already, Hermione. You're going to catch a cold out here."
"I'm in no hurry to get back inside. You're free to freeze along with me, if you wish."
Harry laughed, surprised by this girl's very witty invitation.
"Very well… I'm staying. I can't leave you to freeze here when Ron's practically away for the moment," Harry ventured teasingly, waiting for Hermione's reaction. He chose to sit down on one smooth rock beside her.
"What? Was that what that was all about?"
"Hermione, you're not being very helpful with your 'whats' and 'thats', you know…"
"Harry, you know what I mean. What did Percy have to say about… Ron?" She blushed.
Harry paused for a moment, observing Hermione and deciding just how much or even what to tell her for that matter.
"Well?"
Harry could not lie to her; she deserved to know everything, just like him. After all, he could not last the months to come without a best friend to share his troubles with
"Hermione, everyone decided it would be best if you didn't find out, but I know you're worth telling… Ron's your best mate too, after all."
"What? Is he…"
"I just told you that he's just practically away, Hermione. What do you think that means?"
"No you didn't Harry. And, by the way everyone was acting back there, I just expected the worst. You know how it is, don't you? Don't tell me you didn't feel something wrong was coming next…"
"Oh, I think I have an idea…" Harry mused to himself, recalling a certain misunderstanding just a bit earlier.
"So? Honestly Harry, how long are you going to keep me in the dark?"
"Okay, okay… Well… the Ministry has received news about Ron-"
"-and!"
"Blimey, Hermione! Who's telling the news here?"
"Sorry."
"Alright. Well, they have news about Ron, but unfortunately… he's rather… out-of-town as of the moment, so to speak."
"What do you mean?"
"Your brain not working properly today, is it?"
"Very funny, Harry. I'll let you know that I already have practically fifty different rescue plans in mind at present."
"As expected. Leave it to Hermione Granger to have built plans even in such a state of distress."
"Just answer the question, Harry," she pleaded, eyes wet for full effect.
"Well, the Ministry has discovered that Ron's no longer in England… or in the United Kingdom, even."
"Where could he be, then? France? Bulgaria? Egypt?"
"Egypt?"
"He's been there with his family before, remember?"
"Oh yeah… right. But I reckon Ron's not the kind of bloke to go off vacationing in the Middle East by himself, with the heat and hostile Muggles and all…"
"I suppose you're right. Has Dumbledore heard about this yet?"
"No. Mr. Weasley and the other boys went off to meet with the members of the Order."
"I hope they mobilize and find him soon… Things aren't the same here without him …"
"I know, Hermione… I know…"
They gazed into the pond in front of them, marvelling at the beauty of the reflection the bright moon was making, really radiant and round. Hermione noticed that there was a tiny speck that formed in the middle of the reflection and was growing larger and larger while being less and less round by the minute. She looked up and nudged Harry to do the same. They squinted their eyes and saw…
"An owl?" Harry wondered curiously.
"It's headed for the Burrow, Harry. It might be more news about Ron! We better head back, come on!"
They arose from their places and began to rush back towards the Weasleys' abode. As they raced past the back door, however, the owl had already made itself comfortable on the end table in the living room. Ginny handed it a few food pellets before it departed for its return flight.
"We… saw… the… owl…"
"Just… had… to… rush back…"
"Calm down, Harry, Hermione. Mum took the letter and just went to grab her wand in the kitchen."
The three of them sat on the couch. Harry was still panting from the sprint while Hermione had already calmed down. Harry was about to stand up again when Mrs. Weasley entered the room with an opened letter in hand.
"Mum, no fair! We're supposed to read that together!"
"Pipe down, Ginny… I just can't help it…"
"Well, who's it from?"
"Haven't got to that part yet, dear. Oh, Harry, Hermione, I hope you didn't catch a cold out there," Mrs. Weasley asked worryingly without tearing her eyes from the parchment.
"We ran back the second we spotted that owl, Mrs. Weasley," Harry replied.
"We just had to find out whether it was more news about Ron," Hermione added.
Mrs. Weasley eyed Harry admonishingly but figured out that she would find out on her own anyway. She then returned to reading the letter in her hands.
"Well, I'm nearing the end of the letter, so if you just let me…" Mrs. Weasley stopped in mid-sentence.
"What is it mum?"
"It's… It's…"
"It's what, Mrs. Weasley?" asked a worried Harry.
"Please don't tell me…" Hermione began to worry.
"It's… It's… It's from…"
A/N: Cliffie! Hurrah! Now that I've updated, I'm here to await your reviews! Please do review at this point because I'm no expert in writing British English… I've just taken a liking to their lingo lately, so I'm still experimenting whether it's working quite well. I hope the twenty-two pages' worth of an update was worth your while!
In other news, the part with all the Weasleys was quite fun to do, considering that I had to avoid using 'Mr. Weasley' to refer to Arthur as I realized that practically only two of them in the family weren't a 'Mr. Weasley'.
I've said this once before (in my other stories) and I'll say it again (most unfortunately): I'm bogged down with college work, so I'm having a hard time updating on even a tri-weekly basis. Please bear with me.
Liked it? Hated it? Review my work, and I'll give you all a digital biscuit (or cookie, whichever you prefer).