The Sign
Chapter 8
Seamus
June 3
"Welcome to my humble shack." Harry greeted Seamus the next morning.
Seamus stepped out of the fireplace and took a good look around. "Humble shack? Right."
Kreature came out of his cupboard to see what was going on. "May Kreature serve refreshments, Master?"
"Uh, not now, Kreature. But this is Seamus Finnigan. He's going to see if he can help fix the house up. Let him have whatever he needs."
"Very well, Master." The old elf closed himself into his cupboard again.
"Wow, a house and a house elf? A step up!" Seamus looked jealous.
"Yeah, Black family, remember." Ron reminded him.
Seamus ignored him and brought out his hammer again. "Show me the attic. I'd like to start at the top."
They all trooped up. The water stains moving down the slanted ceiling showed them that the war with water was being lost. Seamus poked, prodded, used his wand and cast a spell that caused the layers of plaster to become visible, like an x-ray. He noticed the small door to the roof deck and went out. Before anyone could follow, he slammed it shut. When he returned, he just shook his head and muttered something about Loofah sponge. He headed back down to the floor beneath.
Floor by floor, room by room, Seamus repeated the process. He took notes, and used his wand to see inside walls, floors, ceilings, and pipes. On the ground floor, he was told about the portrait. He motioned everyone to cover their ears then he pounded the walls around the cursed portrait. The curtain snapped open and Mrs. Black started her vitriol. With a wave of Harry's wand and a loud shout, the curtain was shut again as they ran back down into the kitchen.
"Well?" Harry asked.
"Well?" Seamus echoed.
"What can be done?" Harry asked.
"Depends."
"Seamus!" Hermione cried impatiently.
"Ok, ok. Here's what. Ya got a roof that feels like a bath sponge, dry rot in every wall, cracked and rotted plaster, floor boards are all warped, plumbing is shot, these main kitchen beams are splintering, and that portrait is a vile insult to all magic kind. Did I miss anything?" He smiled big and rocked on his feet.
"I think you touched on most of it, now what can be done?" Harry laughed.
"There are several options. I can get it all done quite quickly,but it'd going to cost." Seamus said.
"How quickly?" Harry asked, he didn't care about cost, not now anyways.
"The actual construction will take about a week. The big problem is that my special team is up at Hogwarts and might be there until Mid-August. I can try to get them down for this, but well…"
"Mid-August?" Harry's shoulders slumped in disappointment. "Gin? Have you any other ideas?"
She looked around the room. "Is the place livable for now? Can we stay here until August?"
"Sure. I can put a few charms on the roof to firm it up for a few months, maybe brace a few beams. First of all, chuck that portrait." Seamus was thrilled to give some good news.
"Let's do it then." Harry decided. "Let's put a patch on it for now, and then maybe after school starts, we can move back out to do the proper fix-up."
"Can we really do this?" Ginny smiled brightly.
"Looks like it!" Harry then thought of details. "Seamus, what has to happen for this to work? What's it going to cost?"
Seamus did a few more notations in his notepad, "For a temporary fix, and mind you, it's only temporary, this is the cost. I'm sorry, but because most of my men are at the school, I can't give a discount."
Harry read the total, "That's all? I expected a lot more."
"Remember, this is just a bandage. It won't last much longer than October. That's when you will be facing some real costs. Look here." Seamus showed Harry a much larger number, "This is just a preliminary total. It will probably be more after a thorough inspection."
Ginny nearly lost her legs when she saw the cost. It was more than two years of her father's salary. "Harry, can we… It's so much!" She asked faintly.
"Don't worry, it's fine. Seamus, How long for all this?" Harry held tight to Ginny's hand.
Seamus thought for a moment. "The soonest I can start is the 8th, that's next Monday. I can have it done no later than Friday, the 12th. Will that do ya?"
Harry looked at the others, who all nodded, "Let's do it!" That means it will be ready just two days before the Betrothal.
"Great. I'll send the contract in a few hours. Let's do some minor work on the Kitchen, the ground floor dining room, and first floor. They seem to be in the best condition. I can probably do something about the second floor also. Those top two floors are not in good enough shape at all. Also, the ground and first floor bathrooms are working, the others are a little dodgy."
"That gives us a kitchen, dining room, Sitting room, one small bedroom with two baths." Harry was counting and trying to figure out what was what. "That gives us almost enough rooms."
"Well, I have an idea on that also. I'm assuming that…uh you'll be…um…" Seamus didn't know how to put things nicely.
"That bedrooms will be shared?" Hermione put in. "Yes, we're having a double betrothal next week. It would be safe to say the bedrooms will be shared." She smiled at his uneasiness.
"Well, sorry. I didn't want to… Congratulations! Anyway, do you need a dining room?"
"No. We'd never use it." Ginny said, remembering how huge that dining room was.
"That room is in the best condition. I suggest, having that room as the sitting room, turn that drawing room into the master room and fix the other bedroom. You would get two decent sized bedrooms and a bathroom."
"Harry, I like that idea." Ginny agreed.
Ron and Hermione looked excited, "Sounds cool." Ron agreed.
"Since Ginny approves, then that's what we'll do, if it can be done in time." Harry put his arm around Ginny's waist. "What do we do next?"
"That's easy, read the papers I'll be sending you." Seamus was taking more notes. "Yes, this will work. Get things ready by Sunday the 7th and we can move you in by Friday, the 12th."
"Anything else?" Hermione had been making notes in her ever-present notebook.
"I can't think of anything right now. But I'll check on you later and see where things are. But I need to get back to work. Send an owl if you have any other questions." With that, Seamus ran out the front door.
Ginny sat still at the table, re-reading the estimates. She knew, she even saw, the size of Harry's fortune. But these numbers were still beyond her understanding. What is she getting herself into?
After an hour of talking and looking around the house again, Kreature found Harry and handed him a thick envelope. An owl had brought it to the back-garden door.
"Come on, I could use something to drink while I read this." Harry and the others went back down to the kitchen where he spread papers all over the table. He looked confused at the different computer generated, stapled stacks. "Hermione, can you make any sense out of these? I don't know where to start." Kreature handed him a glass of pumpkin juice.
She hmphed, much like when the guys would ask for homework help. "Slide them over." She said, resigned. She made notes in her notebook and re-read sections. "Okay, I think I have it. This is the short-term contract and this one is the long term, or complete re-construction contract. You just need to sign them and return. This pile here is advertisements for supplies and lists of stores we might find helpful. This last is a list of what we need to do in the next couple of days and then what to do to get ready for August. Where do you want to start?" She looked over at Harry.
"Um. What's the easiest?" He signed as Hermione pushed the contracts to him. He wondered how Seamus got his hand on a computer without it messing up. Hermione pointed out all the places he needed to sign and initial. She had made notes and tried to explain what each page meant. Harry lost patience and said he would just trust everything was in order.
"Now what?" He hoped he could move on to something more fun. Paperwork was not what he enjoyed.
"We're supposed to write up what we want done. But…I…honestly, Harry, I'm not sure what we can ask for." Hermione looked frustrated.
"Are you worried about the cost?" Harry asked her and the others. At their nods, he continued. "Look, you three. It's going to cost a lot, but we can afford it." He frowned at Ron's grimace. "You've done without for all your life, Gin, you will never have to do without again. As of next Sunday, everything I have will belong to you. I want you to think on that." He looked over her shoulder towards the other two, "And you lot? I'm going to say this once. I have money. OKAY? I'm going to spend it on this house. I might even spend it on you. I'm going to buy furniture for us all and you will accept it. Unless, of course, you want to still use sleeping bags?"
He noticed Ron's face close off in pride. "Ron. This will be a family house, just as the Burrow is."
Ron though on it for a minute. "Right. Okay. I just don't like taking it from my mate."
"But how much did your family give me? Huh? Stability, comfort, food?"
"But that's what we do. We couldn't let you go without." Ron tried to work it out in his mind.
"Exactly. It's my turn now." Harry stood firm.
Ron realized he wasn't going to win, "Yeah, Alright."
Harry grinned at his best friend, "Now, back to where we were. How are we going to figure out what we want done?"
Hermione thought hard, her brow creased slightly. "I think the best way is to draft out and measure every room. Does anyone have a tape-measure?"
The guys looked at each other in a way that reminded Hermione of them seven years ago.
Harry shook his head and knocked on Kreature's door. "Kreature? May we talk to you?"
There was a pop and the old elf stood before him. "May I serve you, Master?"
"We need to measure and draw each room of the house, to know how we want to change things. Can you do it?
Kreature stared at Harry for nearly a full minute before hanging his head, "Master. Kreature cannot do this."
"You can't?" Harry was disappointed.
Kreature continued to stand with his head hung low. Hermione noticed him, "Harry?" She pointed to the elf, "Ask him more."
"Kreature. Is there something else you could tell me?"
Kreature melted in relief, "Yes Master, there is. Kreature cannot do as Master asks. Kreature knows how it can be done."
"Kreature, please tell us what your idea is. Tell us your opinion." Hermione asked carefully.
The elf nodded, "Master. I must get help. We will get the job done."
Harry smiled big. "Very good. How long?"
"May Kreature speak freely?"
"Always." Harry affirmed.
"Kreature will ask friends. Kreature will let Master Harry know by morning." Kreature bowed low and with a nod from Harry, he disappeared.
Harry shook his head with a small grin. "I keep forgetting."
"What do you keep forgetting?" Ginny asked, her mind still on the figures on the papers.
"House elves cannot give opinions or ideas without permission." Hermione interrupted.
"How inconsiderate." Ron said off hand, as he looked through the brochures. The pride in Hermione's eyes would have shocked him if he had looked up.