Chapter 6
Ginny rested her head against the wall in the back room of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, hoping that Harry had not seen her duck through the curtains away from him. He was nothing if not persistent, but Ginny was getting tired of telling him that she wasn't interested in him as more than just an acquaintance. In all honesty, she didn't even want to be his friend, really. That might sound petty, but he was just so...annoying.
He'd seen her coming out of Quality Quidditch Supplies and had trailed her all the way down Diagon Alley, talking to her the entire time. She'd blocked him out after the first time he'd suggested that since they were both free for the evening-his assumption-that they should grab dinner together. He hadn't even listened when she'd told him she was seeing someone. She wasn't, of course, but it sounded better than "get away from me, you giant prat!" yelled at the top of her lungs.
The backroom of the shop was crowded, with boxes piled ceiling high, teetering as she walked between the rows. The faint scent of smoke permeated everything and she was careful not to let her robes touch anything, lest she set off an explosion, or create a tidal wave of jokes to bury her in.
"No customers behind the curtain!"
She smiled at hearing George's voice, and changed direction through the maze to find him.
He was perched on a stool, hunched over a cauldron, stirring slowly, and starring hypnotically ahead.
"But I'm your best customer."
He smiled lazily and Ginny wondered what he was brewing. She lifted on her toes to look into the cauldron, but only got a faceful of hazy pink steam.
"Careful," George muttered. "Never know that that might do to you."
"Is it some sort of love potion?"
But George just pulled a face. "Nah. Just more Wonder Witch products. They all have the same base potion, then we just add the specialized ingredients."
She shrugged a shoulder and poked at the varying substances lying on the counter next to the cauldron.
"You were hoping for something more salacious, weren't you? Love potion, hmm? Got ideas about a certain green-eyed-"
"Git," Ginny growled. "More like an anti-love potion."
George laughed. "Not much call for it, but I'll see what I can do for you."
She sighed and rolled her head from side to side, trying to loosen up the stiff muscles. They'd been testing a new batch of brooms this week and the results were not good. Ginny'd been thrown several times because the twig configuration was off.
"Any word from…."
"Not yet," George said with a sigh.
"You really think this bloke is going to help?"
"He always has before."
"Yeah, but…" Ginny shook her head. She just wasn't sure about the whole situation. "It seems so...mysterious."
"He'll come through," George said firmly. "I have faith."
"How does he usually contact you? Owl?"
"Nah, it's always different. Sometimes he just leaves stuff for us her in the shop, mostly when we've asked for potions ingredients. The time with Bagman he left a note with Gringotts for us. Then another time this House Elf showed up with some cryptic message. Fred and I had to follow the clues, running all over England to find what we needed. I'm sure he was laughing his- Well, he was probably amused watching us run all over."
Ginny thought about that and couldn't help but laugh. "What if it's someone we know?" she speculated. "Wouldn't that be something? We think we know who this person is, but it turns out that they have this whole other secret life, where they're some sort of spy, or something."
George scoffed as he sped up stirring. The potion in the cauldron bubbled and fizzed, sending white smoke that sparkled into the air.
"Hand me that other cauldron, will you?" George said. "This one needs to sit overnight, then we can portion it out.
Once they'd gotten the potion settled into a corner with a cooling charm set on it, Ginny leaned against the workbench.
"You read too many of Mum's old stories," George said. "Nobody could lead a separate life the way that this bloke does."
She scowled at him. "How do you know? Maybe he just does this stuff for you and Forge."
"I guess it's possible," George said, "but I kind of get the impression that he's rather connected.
"A sort of vigilante, you mean?"
"Maybe." He thought about it before shrugging. "Whoever he is, whatever he does, he gets the job done."
They were quiet while George cleaned up the supplies he'd had out.
"Where is Fred?"
"Out."
She took that to mean that he was out with his girlfriend. Ginny wasn't sure why he didn't bring her around more often, other than... Well, there was the Ron thing.
George gave her a knowing look. "He's not very subtle about it, is he?"
"Poor Ron."
"Yeah, well, he'd better figure it out or get over it," George said. "She's going to stick around, this one."
"Fred's going to be the first one of us married," Ginny said with a smirk. "Didn't see that one coming."
"Nobody did."
The fireplace flared and they both turned to see Fred's face floating in the flames. "Meet at the treehouse in thirty minutes." He didn't wait for a response, but disappeared and the flames died down.
"Well...I suppose that means…."
"Likely."
"Let me just tell Verity that we're leaving."
Ginny followed him out of the back room, her mind spinning. What would the information be? How would it be delivered?
She stepped outside the shop, her heart racing. Unfortunately, Harry was still lingering outside, hovering near the entrance to the shop.
"Ginny!"
Damn. It was too late to turn herself invisible.
"Er, hi Harry." She glanced back over her shoulder, wishing that George would hurry up. But he was still talking with Verity. Mooning over her, more like, Ginny thought darkly.
"So, did you change your mind about grabbing dinner? I can tell you all about the important things I'm doing with the Aurors-"
"Remember I told you that I'm seeing someone, Harry?"
He looked perplexed. "Err… Who? Is it someone I know?"
Ginny cast her mind around, trying to think of anyone. Names of famous Quidditch players trailed through her mind, but she couldn't settle on any of them that seemed plausible. She could have met someone testing brooms…
"Neville!" She burst out the name at seeing him exit the Leaky Cauldron. He glanced up at her, forehead wrinkled, pointing at himself.
"Neville?" Harry asked.
Ginny, realizing that she was stuck now, and that she'd dragged poor Neville into her lie, could only nod. "Yes, Neville. Of course, Neville."
She hurried over to him, wrapping her arm through his. "Play along, please?"
"Er, sure, Ginny." Neville's cheeks flushed and he tried to give her a smile.
Harry approached, still looking completely lost. "Neville?"
"Yes, Harry," Ginny said.
"How long...how long have you been dating?"
Neville made a choking sound and Ginny clutched at him tighter. "I know we said we'd keep it quiet, love, but I just couldn't help myself. I hope you can forgive me."
"Er…"
Harry scowled down at the ground and Ginny felt a tiny bit guilty. She'd never really considered that his feelings might be truly genuine. It had always seemed that Harry was interested in her mostly because she was around and available.
"Well, I hope you're happy, Ginny. You too, Neville."
"T-thanks?" Neville's face was completely flushed and he stammered out something that Ginny couldn't make out.
"We are."
George approached the group and greeted them all with curious eyes. "Harry. Neville."
"We've just told him our secret, George," Ginny explained. "How Neville and I have been dating for some time now. We've kept it secret because...well…"
"Oh, yeah. That." George nodded. "Known for yonks. Not good at keeping it quiet, were you old Neville?" He clapped Neville on the back and Neville took a step forward to brace himself. He gave a nervous laugh.
"Yeah. Not a secret at all, really."
Ginny laughed nervously. "Well, we'd better get going George. So good to see you, Sweetie." She reached up and pecked Neville on the cheek, praying he would forgive her one day. "I'll floo you later and we can...talk."
Neville's eyes went wide and he swayed just a little. "Talk. Alright."
George shook both Neville and Harry's hands and then tugged Ginny away. "See you later!"
Ginny leaned into him as they walked to the apparition point. "Poor Neville. He'll never forgive me."
"I think you just gave him the thrill of a lifetime, Gin." George laughed and shook his head.
"I need to talk to him, explain the situation."
"No need. Just keep dating him. He'll be fine. He always fancied you."
Ginny smiled and shook her head. "Come off-"
"It's true. Ron said most of the boys at Hogwarts did."
She sighed. Why couldn't she find one that turned her head?
"I'll owl Neville tonight, after we talk with Fred. Hopefully, he'll understand."
George wasn't sure what to expect when they arrived at the treehouse. Fred and Ron arrived after he and Ginny, and looked just as perplexed as they did.
"Well?" Fred asked.
"What do you mean well?" Ginny said. "You called us here."
Fred scowled. "No. You called me here. Sent your owl."
"I got a message at the Ministry," Ron said, "from George."
"Ginny and I saw you in the floo, Fred."
They all stared at each other before the truth dawned on George. "Clever," he murmured. "That's a new approach."
"I don't get it." Ron scratched his head. "You think…"
"It's him," Fred said. "Has to be."
"Why all the cloak and dagger?" Ginny looked somewhat amused at their situation, but George could tell she was still nervous about this bloke. And, he supposed, he couldn't blame her. She hadn't seen his work before. Fred and George had once spent an entire night trying to come up with a name for this Mystery Man, but had had no success. Nothing encompassed all that they imagined he was like a good name should. They'd been referring to him as "our bloke" ever since, even though it was inadequate, also. Whatever he called himself, he was dead useful.
"Trademark move," Fred said. "That's his thing."
They trailed off and silence settled in the small room.
"So...Ginny's dating Neville now."
Ginny slugged George's arm as Fred laughed and Ron tilted his head to side.
"Neville?"
"There's nothing wrong with Neville," Ginny screeched.
"Personally, I think Neville's a fine choice," said Fred. "A fine, upstanding young man."
"Neville?"
"Oh, you!" Ginny slugged George again and they all began to laugh.
A throat clearing startled them.
"I can come back, if you'd rather."
He was standing in their secret hiding place, wearing a dark cloak that covered his the majority of his face in shadow. George could just make out the edge of his lips and his chin.
"Merlin!" Ron said. "You could have been killed!" George noticed that Ron had pulled his wand and had it leveled at the stranger.
"By you?"
George and Fred both snorted. Ginny had pulled closer to George's side, away from the dark figure, but she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from him.
Ron growled in frustration and didn't lower his wand. "How do we know you're not here to harm us?"
"If I did, you'd already be dead," Bloke pointed out.
"Were you able to find Percy?" Fred asked.
Bloke and Ron continued to stare at each other before Ginny cleared her throat. "Ron, probably best not to point that at him."
Ron's eyes narrowed and he lowered his arm, but kept a tight grip on his wand. Bloke seemed amused. The corners of his lips turned upward slightly and he turned to address Fred.
"I found him."
"Thank Merlin," Ginny breathed. Her hand had been wrapped around George's arm, but he pried her fingers away, trying to restore feeling there.
"Where?"
"What was he doing?"
"Is he okay?"
Bloke remained still, eerily so, as they peppered him with questions. Finally, he raised his hand and they stilled as quickly as if he'd cast a spell.
"He's safe. He asked me to tell you that, and that he'll be home when he can."
Ginny huffed and scowled, but George noticed her eyes darting to Bloke often, sizing him up. For his part, Bloke's whole body turned toward her. George couldn't see his eyes, but he'd bet that they were focused on Ginny exclusively.
"This is Ginny," George said, "our little sister. And Ron."
"The Auror," Bloke said. "Yes."
George had never considered that Bloke might have done his research about them. He'd always just assumed that they were clients and nothing more.
"Won't you tell us more about Percy?" Ginny pleaded. "We...we need to tell our parents something."
Bloke grimaced and chewed at his lip. "I wish I could, but I can't."
"Won't, you mean," grumbled Ron.
Bloke turned to consider him. "They're two different things. I was precise with my words."
Ron looked like he might argue, but Fred pinched his side.
"Thank you," Ginny said. "It's at least something. Our parents, well...they worry so much. Our family is so spread out, and with the war… Well, you can imagine how they worry about all seven of us."
George coughed to keep in a laugh. "Laying it on a bit thick," he mumbled to her.
Something she'd said must have stuck, though, as Bloke's posture slumped slightly.
"You have to understand the position I'm in," he said. "I can't always reveal everything I know. Sometimes due to my own safety, but sometimes it's the safety of others on the line."
Ginny took half a step forward. "I understand."
George and Fred exchanged a look. Bloke had never been like this with them before. They'd seen him once, even spoken for a moment or two. But this time he seemed completely engaged and...human. It was rather disconcerting, to be honest. Was their little sister charming him?
Bloke's hand twitched at his side and he shuffled. "I need to go. I wish there was more. But...Percy is safe, that's all you need to know now."
"Thank you."
He disappeared just as quietly as he'd come, leaving them all staring at the empty spot in the treehouse.
"What was that?" Ron whispered.
"That was...him."