Ok I know I didn't have an intro last chapter but I am kinda new at this so don't blame me! Hope you like this chap so here goes…
Wait! I almost forgot the disclaimer again so this one is for last chap too:
Disclaimer: J.K Rowling is brilliant and I am not so it's impossible for me to have come up with any of these characters not that I wouldn't have liked to! Oh and Belle is mine so nah!
"So when is Harry arriving?" Hermione asked after they had eaten their fill of breakfast.
"He's coming with Lupin in a few days," Ron answered whilst judging wether or not it would be a good idea to eat yet another mince pie. In the end he chose to attempt it and stuffed one in his mouth. Bad idea! Ron started running out the door, paused for a moment to say, "Back in a minute!" then rushed to the bathroom. Fred and George laughed and Hermione soon joined in.
"Fred, before you were saying that business was even better than before – what did you mean?" Hermione asked cautiously.
"He didn't mean anything!" George hastily answered for him. Hermione wasn't fooled. They were hiding something and she intended to find out what!
"Yes he did! Tell me please."
A resigned look crossed George's face and he said, "You won't stop until you find out will you?" Hermione shook her head. "Well the reason we didn't want to tell you was that it may upset you!"
Hermione still looked determined to know so George sighed and continued. "After Dumbledore…well…you know… there was a massive rush for people to protect their families and since the Ministry was already using our products, they started stocking up."
"But how did you keep up with demands?"
"Well…" George looked pointedly away from Hermione, "we had to employ some workers to help us!"
"What kind of workers?" Hermione asked suspiciously.
Very quietly George answered, "House Elves."
"HOUSE ELVES!" Hermione exploded. "But what about S.P.E.W? Did you ever think about that?"
"We never joined S.P.E.W two years ago and we don't intend to now!" Fred answered.
"But…well do you pay these workers?"
"THEY ARE HOUSE ELVES! They don't want to be paid! It upsets them!"
Before Hermione could argue, Ron ran back into the room and cried, "Harry's here!"
"What? But I thought you said he wasn't coming for a few days!" Hermione said, pushing her chair back. She rushed back out the door with Ron, leaving Fred and George at the table.
"Saved by the bell!" Fred whispered before he and George ran to join the others. Harry was standing in the kitchen with Lupin. He was already in deep conversation with Ron and Hermione. Ginny was standing a few metres off watching the spectacle.
"So why are you here so early?" Hermione asked.
"Lupin thought it would be better to have a few days rest before the wedding." Harry replied. Harry spotted Ginny and excused himself. They greeted each other then moved outside. Ron and Hermione stayed behind and sat down.
After a short silence, Ron asked, "What do you thing they're talking about?"
"I don't know, but I bet here's a reason we weren't invited," she replied with a knowing smile. Ron seemed to understand and the silence continued. After a few minutes Hermione said, "Ron, you know before when I was crying?"
"Yeah…"
"And how you came and held me?"
"Yeah," Ron replied slightly embarrassed.
"Well… thanks."
"Welcome," Ron blushed.
Again, there was silence until Harry and Ginny walked back in. They were standing over a metre apart and both looked rather gloomy. When they saw Ron and Hermione the tension seemed to lift and they started talking animatedly.
…o…O…o…
The rest of the day was spent playing Wizard's Chess and a new game from Fred and George's shop called 'Ailments' which was a very clever card game. You chose a card and whatever illness was on it, you instantly caught. Then you had to fix it within one minute or else you were stuck with the illness for the rest of the day! Ron now had a terrible case of chicken pox which wouldn't go away. Every time he tried to scratch them, they multiplied.
…o…O…o…
After dinner Ginny and Hermione went upstairs.
"So what did he say?" Hermione asked as soon as they'd reached Ginny's room.
"What did who say?" Ginny replied with false innocence.
"HARRY!"
"When?"
"What do you mean when? You've barely spoken to him since this morning!"
Ginny sighed, just like George had earlier, and then replied, "He just repeated what he'd already said!"
"Well he's just trying to protect you – he really loves you, you know!"
"I know," Ginny said "But I don't want him to protect me! I can protect myself!"
"Do you still love him?" Hermione asked even though she already knew the answer.
"Yes, of course I do! But what's the point if we can never be together?"
"Once Harry has killed Voldemort, then you can!"
"You mean if he kills Voldemort! What if he can't? What if he dies? I couldn't bear that!"
Hermione went to her trunk and pulled out the envelope of spells. "That's why I made this! It's all the useful spells and potions in my magic book! I made these for Harry and Ron!"
Ginny took the envelope and started reading the spells.
"But Hermione don't we need more advanced spells now?"
"I know but this is all I have! Do you still have all of Fred and George's old books?"
"I think so, but they didn't take potions! Percy did though and so did Bill! I'll ask mum!" Ginny ran out of the room and came back a few minutes later carry a pile of textbooks. Hermione, always the book lover, looked utterly gleeful. She started leafing through a book that looked as if it had been made a century ago. She wasn't going to say anything in case it had been second hand but Ginny saw what she was holding and explained: "That was actually my grandfather's when he was at school! It's probably over a hundred years old!"
Hermione looked at the book with new interest. She started flipping through the pages and writing things down like before.
"Can I help?" Ginny asked. Hermione nodded so Ginny grabbed another book and copied Hermione. They worked like this for about an hour, only stopping to compare spells and point out interesting potions. Ginny moved onto another book but Hermione was still immersed in hers.
"Ginny! Look at this!" Hermione said as her eyes fell on a particular spell. Ginny read over Hermione's shoulder.
"'Rictalus Portalus!" she began. "A useful spell for any occasion, simply recite the incantation and the spell will look into thy deepest heart and transport thou to the place where needed most.' This is perfect! If we teach it to Harry and Ron, maybe we can keep them out of trouble!"
"Yes! We can send help to them and they can escape when things are desperate!" Hermione agreed.
"Well, let's try it out shall we?" Ginny asked excitedly.
"Wait! What if we are most needed in a different country? How can we get back?"
"I don't care! Either come with me, Hermione, or I'll go by myself!"
Hermione grabbed hold of Ginny's arm and they slowly recited, "Rictalus Portus."
A giant wind spiral come out of nowhere and sucked the girls up. They screamed and tried to break free but the spiral held its ground. Ginny desperately grabbed for a handhold. Instead, she pulled the book into the vortex with them. The girls huddled together in the middle and closed their eyes. After what seemed like forever, the wind died down. They were sitting in the middle of a strange room. It contained a large, ancient looking, desk, a matching wardrobe and a small wooden bed. There was one window that faced a brick wall, presumably another house. The only door was padlocked from the inside.
"Where are we?" Ginny asked.
"The place where we are needed most!" Hermione replied in awe. She walked over to the window and tried to open it. No matter how hard she pulled, it wouldn't budge.
Ginny opened the wardrobe and began pulling out an assortment of clothing. Dresses, shirts, skirts, shoes – the wardrobe was filled with beautiful clothes. It looked strange in contrast to the simple furniture.
"Look at this!" Ginny cried as she pulled out a small cardboard box. Hermione came up and peered over Ginny's shoulder. Inside the box was a single tissue and sitting atop it was a beautiful doll.
"How lovely!" Hermione cried and she reached into the box to pull it out. As her fingers grasped the doll, it screamed. It was a death-curdling scream that caused the hairs on Hermione's neck to stand on edge.
"Don't touch me!" the doll screeched.
A soaring heat burnt into Hermione's hand and she dropped the doll with a yelp. Big welts appeared all over her palm. The doll was centimetres from the ground when it suddenly stopped in midair. It hovered like that for a few moments then landed gracefully on the wooden floor. Ginny ignored Hermione's groans and knelt down to inspect the doll. On closer inspection she could see two, almost invisible, wings sprouting from the doll's shoulders.
"What are you?" she asked dumbstruck.
"She's a fairy!" Hermione answered whilst conjuring up water in which to bathe her hand. "It's obvious! 'All fairies have a built-in defence system that stops thieves. They are incredibly warm blooded and will burn all who touch them'," she quoted straight out of a textbook.
Ginny turned back to the fairy and whispered, "So, what's your name?"
The fairy, outraged, flew up to Ginny's face and started punching her nose! It didn't really hurt but Ginny was so startled that she screamed and fell backwards. The fairy quickly clamped Ginny's lips together to muffle her.
"Shhh!" she cried and waited until Ginny had stopped struggling before releasing her.
"Why? Who's here?" Hermione asked.
The fairy looked at Hermione suspiciously before answering, "My master!"
"Your master?" Ginny whispered.
"Yes! And if you scream he will come!"
"Well it's not my fault!" Ginny started indignantly. "Why did you have to attack me like that before?"
"You asked her name!" Hermione replied as if that explained everything.
"So…"
"If you find out a fairies name you CONTROL them! Honestly it's as if no-one but me has ever read Magical Beings of the 14th – 20th Centuries!"
Ginny rolled her eyes at Hermione then apologised to the fairy.
"It's alright," she replied. "If you must call me something then call me Belle!"
"Belle… it suits you."
"Really? You think? It took me ages to come up with a name that I like!" Belle babbled before suddenly asking, "How did you get here?"
"We… well, it's this spell that takes you to the place where you are needed most…and for some reason it brought us here!" Hermione answered looking around the room with new interest. What can be so special about this place? she thought.
"Oh. Well I don't know why, I'm fine! You should go…"
"What about your master?" Hermione interrupted. "Perhaps she is the reason we came here?"
"NO! He's fine too! Now I really think you should go now before... JUST GO!" Belle frantically began tugging their dresses toward the door.
"Nice try Cicialina! But they aren't going anywhere!" a man's voice boomed from the doorway. Hermione and Ginny turned in surprise. A tall, handsome young man stood there with a smirk on this face. "Nice to see you again Hermione!"
Da Da Dummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
Suspense!
Who could it be?
Yay I finished the second chapter! I'm sorry that I didn't have an end note in the last chap but I forgot. Anyway I hope you liked it and now it's your job to press that little button down there that says SUBMIT REVIEW!
Go ahead, I know you want to!