Chapter 6 – The Death of Arthur Weasley
An: I do not own Harry Potter. Very sorry for the long wait between this chapter and the last. There was a lot I needed to fix with this chapter to get it to flow the way I wanted it. Hopefully 7 should be out next week Friday.
The atmosphere in the dining room was tense and uncomfortable causing Luna to feel as if there were a hundred dementors sucking her happiness away. A pit of dread had developed in her stomach and unhappy memories flashed unbidden through her mind. Feelings of guilt and betrayal predominated and Luna struggled to keep the tears from leaking down her face.
Ron did have a right to an explanation about Arthur but she couldn't discuss what had happened. It was her fault he was dead and she couldn't look Ron and Ginny in the eye and explain that she had set the events in motion that caused Hermione to do the unthinkable. It had been her foolish mistake.
"Oh wow, would you look at the time," Dean exclaimed as he had sensed the sudden coldness that descended upon the room. He definitely didn't want to be in the room for this conversation. He knew the story already and he knew firsthand how unstable Luna could become when Arthur was mentioned.
"The time?" Seamus questioned, it still felt rather early to him and he had a few funny stories about Hermione that he had been dying to share with Harry and Ron. After all, nobody but Harry and Ron would understand the pain she put him through on a daily basis.
"Yes the time!" Neville echoed as he sprung to his feet and looked at the clock on the far end of the room. He too felt that his presence wasn't required and he was still recovering from the nasty hex he had accidentally received the last time Arthur had been mentioned.
"Yes, it's time to go," Dean reiterated as he grabbed Seamus by the collar and forced him to stand. Neville grabbed Seamus's arm and together they both forced the clueless wizard out of the room.
Draco was staring at the exit to the dining room, he desperately wanted to make a run for it but with Hermione at Westbrook that left Luna with no emotional support and Hermione would severely kick his ass if he left Luna hanging. It was such a pity too. He had finally gotten his hair to return to its usual sexiness after Luna's previous meltdown and he wasn't looking forward to having a repeat of last time.
"But why would she have to kill him if he was dying?" Ginny asked. It made absolutely no sense to her, if her father was dying why not let him die naturally. She couldn't imagine her father asking Hermione to end his life. She thought that would be cowardly and her father was a brave man.
Draco groaned he needed to head off this conversation before it got out of control. He was already beginning to sense a flare in Luna's magic. Her emotions were already tumbling out of control.
"Ginny," Draco said cautiously. "It's late and that is a very long and painful topic for some us." At that point he subtly inclined his head towards the blonde witch who had long tear trails running down her cheeks. "I would like to suggest that we discuss the topic tomorrow."
"Tomorrow! I want answers now." Ron demanded as he slammed his fist down on the table in front of him.
Out of the corner of his eye, Draco saw Luna flinch. It caused a sudden flare of anger within him. "Look Ron, you will get your answers but not today. Luna doesn't have the energy to revisit that part of her past at the moment."
"What does Luna have to do with the death of my father?" Ron snapped angrily.
"I think Draco might be right," Ginny said as she watched her old friend with concern. The tears were coming full force now and Luna seemed to be barely holding back her sobs as she stared at a fixed point on the table.
Ron wanted to push the issue but Harry sided with Ginny as well, "Tomorrow Ron. We've had a long day and we've learned a lot today. Taking the night to absorb the information wouldn't hurt."
"Wow this is a first. The Great Harry Potter and I actually agree on something. Dobby," Draco bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"Yes Master Draco?" Dobby answered as he appeared on the table in front of Draco.
"Show our guests to their rooms," Draco said as he rose from his seat. He placed his hand gently on Luna's shoulder and she seemed to startle out of whatever trance she was in. He whispered something softly to her that the others couldn't hear. She closed her eyes and rested her head against Draco's arm.
Dobby cleared his throat garnering Draco's attention.
"What Dobby," Draco snapped. He needed to get Luna to her room.
"Master's girlfriend is waiting in his bedroom sir," Dobby said with an evil twinkle in his eye.
Draco groaned, "I don't have the strength to deal with Natalie now. Can you get rid of her?"
Dobby's eyes widened in a panic, "No, she would hurt me."
Draco nodded. It was true that his girlfriend would hex Dobby if he tried to order her to do something.
"I will leave you to attend to solely to the guests then as I will be busy with Natalie for the rest of the night," Draco said.
Luna rose from her seat. She leaned heavily on Draco and he escorted her out of the room.
"Dobby is at your service Master Potter," Dobby said as he bowed dramatically in front of them.
"Dobby please, just call me Harry. I am no one's master," Harry told the old house elf.
"Does Hermione allow you to call her mistress?" Ron asked curiously.
"All the time," Dobby replied.
"I thought she was working to free house elves," Ginny commented.
"She did. We have our own charter by which we operate now. We choose to work where we want," Dobby told them.
"You choose to work here?" Ron asked incredulously.
"This is Dobby's home," the elf replied innocently.
Ginny shook her head in disbelief. How could anyone other than a Malfoy call this place home? Realising that they weren't going to get anywhere with this conversation she suggested that they see their rooms.
Dobby enthusiastically lead the way out of the dining room through another series of turns till they came to a large staircase. In Ginny's opinion it was quite creepy. The handrail on either side of the staircase was a large serpent with a head that reminded her eerily of the basilisk from her first year. She did however note, that the tail of the snake was similar to the rattlesnakes they saw when they travelled through the US.
At the top of the staircase was a large circular landing that had two seemingly straight corridors on opposite sides. The wall in front of them was filled with sleeping portraits of witches and wizards they assumed were past Malfoys.
Ron peered down the seemingly straight corridor.
"You should know that the corridor is charmed to appear straight. There are intersecting corridors and one can get lost up here," the portrait of Narcissa Malfoy said.
"Like a giant maze," Ginny repeated in admiration as she looked down the corridor with awe in her eyes.
"Ginny," Ron warned, during their travels Ginny had grown to love mazes and he knew, at the earliest possible time, Ginny would try to figure this one out. Harry on the other hand was very hesitant when it came towards mazes as it was an eerie reminder of the Tri-Wizard Tournament.
"Do we have to learn some complicated route to get to our rooms?" Harry asked.
"It appears my son is continuing with the trend of letting the riff raff stay here. Lucius is going to have a field day with this one. It's such a pity we are all locked into one portrait. I would love to hear what he has to say," Narcissa commented.
Dobby's face lit up with a huge smile "Dobby thinks that Harry Potter should stay next to Miss Hermione's room."
"Hermione lives here?" Harry blurted out surprised.
"No Miss Hermione only stays occasionally but still Dobby keeps Miss Hermione's room just the way she likes it," Dobby said flashing Harry a smile only Dobby could pull off.
"Oh," Harry replied as all hope that he could talk to Hermione tonight faded.
"Where will I stay Dobby?" Ginny inquired curiously.
"Miss Ginerva will be staying in the room next to Master Draco's," he explained. "Dobby thinks you will like that room the best."
"Ginny, call be Ginny." she corrected as she always preferred the nick name to her full name.
"What about me?" Ron asked
"Harry Potter's friend will be staying downstairs," Dobby said.
"Downstairs, why is Ron staying downstairs?" Harry asked slightly alarmed that they would be splitting up in unfamiliar territory.
"Miss Hermione said she observed you're still very much in love with food and Miss Hermione said to put you next to the kitchen so you won't get lost on your way there," Dobby explained proudly.
Ginny laughed, Hermione still seemed to know Ron very well. He had picked up a huge habit of midnight snacking during their travels and he particularly loved America where there were many food places that were open 24/7.
"Glad to see Hermione still thinks of me," Ron mumbled sourly.
Harry tapped Ron on the back. "At least she thinks of you, mate."
With a sharp crack another house elf appeared in front of Ron.
"I am Mindy sir. Please follow me. Your room has been set up," the tiny elf squeaked.
Ron shrugged, said his good nights to everyone and followed the house elf downstairs.
"Would Harry Potter like to go into his room?" Dobby asked anxiously.
"Dobby, please just call me Harry," Harry tried again.
"But," Dobby tried to protest.
"No buts Dobby. It's Harry. Anything else will just be an insult to me," Harry stated firmly.
"Dobby would never dream of insulting the Great Harry Pot…."
"Dobby," Harry said warningly.
"Yes Master Harry," Dobby said uncertainly.
Realising he would never get Dobby to just call him Harry, he accepted the name. Dobby then lead them to their rooms taking care to point out doors that should be avoided. Harry's room was first. He bid good night to Ginny and Dobby.
Ginny continued to follow Dobby. As the house elf promised her door was exactly four doors down from Harry.
"What is a Weasley doing in this house?" a voice she hadn't heard in years hissed.
Ginny turned around to face the portrait of Lucius Malfoy.
The house elf ignored the voice. "Don't mind him Miss. They've been trying to figure out a way to move that portrait from there but it appears the original Lord Malfoy used a strange type of dark magic to permanently fix that portrait there. It's the only portrait in the house that the other male Malfoy's are allowed to jump into."
"I'll do my best to ignore them," Ginny said turning back to her door.
Dobby soon disappeared leaving Ginny to her own devices. Her room was beautifully decorated and the large king sized bed looked very inviting. Dobby must have remembered that she was in Gryffindor because he chose a red and gold colour scheme for the room. It was quite nice but Ginny wasn't that fond of the colours. It brought back too many memories of Hogwarts.
She pulled a small trunk from her robes and placed it on the floor, she waved her wand in a series of movements and the trunk enlarged and the cover magically flew open to reveal all of her belongings. She summoned her nightgown as she had accumulated quite a bit of clothes over the years and Harry had advised her that it was always easier to 'accio' things out of the trunk than to dig through it. She assumed the bathroom was through the door on her left and she decided on a quick shower before bed.
Harry closed his eyes and begged sleep to take him, but it wouldn't happen as he seemed to be haunted by Hermione's tired face. His mind was racing and wouldn't allow him to escape reality just yet. He knew he desperately needed to talk to her, to apologize but that wouldn't happen tonight and he needed to rest. Frustrated with his insomnia, he opened his eyes and retrieved his glasses from the bed side table where he had tossed them earlier to survey the dark room. He could see the outline of furniture and he wandlessly lit the candles in the room to get a better look.
Dobby definitely knew his taste as the room was just to his liking. He looked at the wall and found pictures from his days at Hogwarts. There were pictures from 1st year straight up to the night before he defeated Voldemort.
"Dobby," Harry called hoping that the elf wasn't asleep.
"Yes Harry Potter sir," Dobby said enthusiastically appearing in the room out of thin air.
Harry frowned at him. "What did I say Dobby."
"Mister Harry," Dobby said hesitantly.
"That's better," Harry said as he gave the elf a small smile.
He returned his gaze back to the moving pictures on the wall. There was one muggle picture that was taken the night they stayed at Hermione's house when they were searching for the horcruxes. Harry wasn't too happy when the picture was taken as Draco was with them and Harry didn't trust him at all. Luna was also in the picture as she was on the run from the Ministry because of articles that her father had published in the Quibbler.
"Why are these pictures here?" Harry asked the elf.
"Miss Hermione put them here; she wanted you to feel at home." Dobby said.
"Oh," a guilty Harry mumbled as he hung his head in shame.
"Miss Hermione will be happy again now that you're back." Dobby said cheerfully.
Harry's head snapped up, he found it hard to believe that Hermione's happiness had anything to do with him. Her greeting wasn't as he had imagined in his head. She didn't run to him and hug him like she always did. She didn't throw a thousand questions at him about his journey but most importantly of all she didn't she kiss him on his cheek like she had started doing during the search for the Horcruxes.
"Dobby is there any way I can speak to her tonight?" Harry asked hopefully.
"No," Dobby stated simply.
Harry bowed his head in disappointment.
"Dobby did I make a mistake when I left?" Harry asked
"Harry Potter did what he needed to do." Dobby replied wisely.
Harry didn't even bother to correct Dobby this time and he absently walked back to bed.
"Would Harry Po," Dobby paused here and started again. "Would Mister Harry like some Dreamless Sleep Potion?" He asked softly
"Yes Dobby that would be great," Harry said as he sat on the edge of his bed. He hadn't needed that potion in a very long time and it was quite sad that he needed it on his first night back.
A potion vile appeared on the bedside table and Harry drank it in one gulp. He lay back on the bed and stared at the picture in the centre which Draco had taken during their search for Hufflepuff's cup. It was of him and Hermione in a park somewhere. Hermione was seated on a swing and Harry was pushing her from behind. With each rise of the swing towards the camera Hermione had a brilliant smile. He looked at the way the wind raced through her hair as he ignored her pleas for him not to swing her too high. She was truly the only person that made him happy during those times. She always made him feel like he could take on the world and that whatever Voldemort threw at him, he could handle. Why was he such a fool to leave her behind?
It was with that very thought that Harry drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
Ron opened his eyes to the smell of breakfast lofting into his room. He briefly wondered where he was before the events of the previous day came flooding into his mind causing a painful sadness to suddenly fill him. His father had died and he would never be able to tell him how much he admired and respected him. He had always wanted his father to be proud of him and he wanted to tell him of all the adventures he had experienced, but now that wasn't possible. He felt the need for revenge but how could he kill Hermione. She had been his best friend and the reason that all of them were alive today. Seeking revenge from her would be wrong.
His entire family seemed fine with the death of their father. How could they not be angry with Hermione? He had wanted answers last night but they had denied him that. He was going to make damn sure he got them today.
Sunlight was pouring in through the window revealing the bright orange walls and orange bedspread. Ron realised his room must be on the east side of the manor and that he overslept as the sun appeared to be pretty high in the sky.
Mindy had created a door from Ron's bedroom straight into the kitchen and he had taken advantage of it last night for a bedtime snack. He was about to make himself a double-layered ham sandwich when she appeared out of nowhere and started putting together a meal for him. After a little while, he was able to explain to the tiny elf that all he wanted was a quick sandwich and the elf finally conceded and made him his sandwich.
He had tried to ask the elf several questions but each time the elf would annoyingly refer him to Master Draco. He eventually got Mindy to talk about herself. He found out that she had been recruited to the Manor to take care of Malfoy when he was an infant. She boasted at how she had helped raise Master Draco and what a wonderful person he had turned out to be. Ron had to try very hard to hold back the snide comment that threatened to erupt from his mouth.
Ron jumped out of bed and headed straight to the bathroom. After a quick shower and shave, Ron was dressed and ready for breakfast. He entered the kitchen to find Ginny seated at the table talking casually with Luna. Ginny and Luna both had plates full of ham, sausage, scrambled eggs and two slices of buttered toast.
"Morning," Ginny said cheerfully.
"What are you so happy about?" Ron asked grouchily as he took the seat next to his sister.
"Luna's been filling me in on all the gossip I missed while we were gone." Ginny said.
Luna smiled warmly at Ron.
"What would Wheezy like for breakfast?" Dobby asked as he appeared on the table in front of Ron.
Ron cringed at Dobby's name for him. Would he ever learn to call him Ron or Master Ron?
"He'll have what I'm having," Ginny said answering for Ron.
"I can choose for myself," Ron said defensively.
"Trust me, I'm saving you a lot of time and effort. It took me an hour and a half to get my breakfast. Dobby wanted to make all sorts of grand dishes that I had never even heard of." Ginny said as she raised a fork of full scrambled eggs to her mouth.
"Ok Dobby, get me what she has?" Ron said, he couldn't wait an hour and a half for breakfast, his tummy was grumbling now. A plate of food soon appeared in front of Ron and he wasted no time in getting started.
"Where is Harry?" Ron asked Ginny with his mouth full of sausage.
"According to Dobby and I quote" Ginny said throwing her hands in the air to form quotation marks, "Master Harry is sleepy, leave Master Harry sleep." Ginny said with a voice very similar to Dobby's. "Or at least it went something like that."
"Ginny don't make fun of Dobby," Luna reprimanded her friend lightly.
A loud argument could be heard on the other side of the door and Ron vaguely recognized one of the voices as Seamus's. The other he would know anywhere.
"Seamus it was quite obvious, how could you not understand?" Hermione asked exasperatedly.
"Hermione, not everyone is a super genius like you!" Seamus replied angrily.
"Oh for crying out loud, it was common sense," Hermione replied as she took a seat next to Luna leaving Seamus to take the last available seat next to Ron around the circular table.
"What seems to be the problem today?" Luna asked as she looked between Seamus and Hermione with a wry smile. Her tone conveyed that this was a regular occurrence.
Hermione was about to open her mouth to explain when Draco waltzed into the kitchen.
"Finnigan, how much of a dunder head can you be?" Draco spat out at him.
"See, he agrees with me," Hermione said in a superior tone to Seamus.
"Malfoy always agrees with you. You can argue the sky is purple and Malfoy would agree with you," Seamus replied angrily.
Luna was about to put in her two cents but Seamus cut her off.
"And don't you start Luna. I don't want to hear about what the Quibbler has discovered recently," Seamus said as Draco magically expanded the table to sit between Hermione and Luna.
Food appeared on the table and Hermione, Seamus and Draco started helping themselves.
"Thanks Dobby," Hermione said with an appreciative smile while loading her plate with scalloped potatoes.
"Lunch?" Ron questioned as he looked at the clock on the wall revealing that it was 11:30am. "Isn't it a bit early for Lunch?"
"Ron, I've been up since 4am this morning, it is definitely lunch time!" Hermione said as she continued to help herself to some stew chicken. "And I never thought I would hear you complaining that it was too early for lunch. Guess time really does change people."
Seamus happily helped himself to huge portions of corned beef while occasionally stopping to glare in Hermione's direction.
"Why do all Gryffindor males eat as if they have never seen food?" Draco asked as he looked between Seamus and Ron.
Seamus and Ron both glared at Draco across the table and Harry chose this moment to sleepily walk into the kitchen guided by Kreacher, who worked occasionally at the Manor when help was needed. The dreamless sleep potion Dobby had given him must have been extra strong because it usually only lasted a few hours but this time he was out for a good eight hours. His body was happy for the rest but his mind was still in turmoil. He saw Hermione at the table and tried to calm his raging emotions. A space was made next to Ron and Ginny for him and Harry eagerly joined them. Ginny ordered for Harry and he too was soon indulging in breakfast.
"It's lunch already," Harry asked as he observed Hermione's plate.
Hermione snorted and Harry figured he had just blown a very good opportunity to talk to her but was surprised when she looked up at him and appeared to be contemplating what to say.
"I brought Hedwig's cage for you. Dobby will put it in your room for you though I must warn you Hedwig hasn't been in it for over six years," Hermione said softly.
"Thank you for taking care of her for me," Harry said sincerely.
"She was a bit moody at times but I enjoyed her company," Hermione said as she chewed her bottom lip.
"You can keep her if you want," Harry offered sensing Hermione was a bit sad about returning Hedwig.
"No she's yours, I'm sure she'll warm up to you soon," Hermione responded. "Besides, Crookshanks is happy to have the house to himself again."
"How is Crookshanks?" Harry asked as he remembered Hermione's orange fur ball.
"He's good," she replied happily. Harry thought it was starting to feel like old times again.
"Hermione, why did you have to kill my father?" Ron asked bluntly interrupting Harry and Hermione's conversation.
"Didn't you discuss that last night?" Seamus asked as he lifted his head from his food and was met with a death glare from Ron. "I guess not," He commented before he returned his gaze back to his food.
The coldness that they experienced in the ballroom descended again on the kitchen and Hermione squeezed Luna's hand.
"He asked me to kill him Ron," She said as she swallowed the lump that had suddenly blocked her throat. Mr. Weasley was the first person she had ever killed and it was the hardest thing she had ever had to do in her life.
"Yes I heard that before but I want to know why?" Ron said irritably. He couldn't picture his father ever asking someone to kill him. He wasn't the suicidal type.
"He was infected, Ronald. If he had died naturally, it would have meant the death of every human being on earth," Luna said softly as a layer of moisture could be seen in her eyes. She had spent the entire night trapped in the nightmare of her memories. She was never a Gryffindor with courage to face them but she needed to because she genuinely wanted Ron to know the truth. He deserved to know his father was brave man.
"Infected with what?" Ron demanded.
"A magical virus," Luna said squeezing Hermione's and Draco's hands for support.
"A virus?" Ron questioned
"Your father was infected with a magically altered version of the Ebola virus that once fully incubated in its host, would become an airborne contagion that would be unstoppable," Draco said with a slight hint of sadness in his voice. Mr. Weasley had shown Draco what it was like to really have a father and he taught him the value of love. Draco was quite surprised to discover that he missed him greatly after he was gone.
"Why would someone want to alter the Ebola virus?" Harry asked as he couldn't comprehend what they were saying.
"His name was Nicholas Prince, a distant cousin to Severus. He had chosen to hide in the muggle world during the war. He had become an animal activist and hated the way muggles treated animals. When the war finished and he returned to the wizarding world, he found that he hated the way the wizards treated animals as well. I first met him on a trip to Estonia to classify a new magical species of Flobberworm that had been found there," Luna reminisced lost in those happy memories of when she thought she was in love.
"We became…..close and I shared with him the stories that my father had told me. He was as intrigued as I had been and he joined me on some of my expeditions. It was I that took him to Africa, where he first learned about the virus. He had been infected with it while we were searching deep in the jungles for the African Skrewt. Fortunately, the local magical community had discovered a cure for it and after fighting the virus for a week he recovered physically but his mind wasn't the same after that," Luna said sadly as she clung to Hermione for support.
"He was bonkers!" Seamus interjected at that point only to receive a hard punch on the arm from his Auror partner.
"He told me he wanted to research a cure for muggles and I set him up with a lab," Luna revealed.
"You couldn't have known," Hermione said, "I didn't even realise what he was doing until it was too late."
"To cut to the chase," Seamus interrupted, "Nick was crazy and he wanted all humans magical and muggle dead!"
Hermione ignored Seamus and continued with her explanation, "He magically altered the virus so the wizard cure wouldn't work. He also added a new symptom. The Prince Virus presented with pustules on the skin like a pox disease but these pustules were supposed to pop after a few days and release the airborne version of the virus. The first few versions weren't that virulent but the last version had wiped out an entire town and any emergency response crew that didn't wear hazmat suits. By the time I figured out what was going on it was too late. He had already infected Arthur and over a hundred other hosts with the virus and like all other villains felt the need to confess to whoever would listen. Apparently, he felt that humans had destroyed the planet and caused all manner of creature harm because of our destructive tendencies and as result determined we were the scourge of the earth and needed to be removed. He left us no choice but to destroy all the hosts of the virus before it spread out of control."
Harry and Ginny sat in shock and Ron thought this sounded like a bad joke.
"It's no joke Ron," Hermione admonished.
"How did you know what I was thinking?" Ron said defensively.
Hermione shrugged. "It was written all over your face. We used to be rather good friends Ron, or in seven years, have you forgotten what our friendship was like?"
Ron was about to retort when Harry kicked him under the table. That last thing he wanted was a fight with Hermione.
Hermione's cell phone began to ring and Harry recognized the tone as Fur Elise.
"Hi," Hermione said as she answered the phone.
Harry puzzled over how her cell phone worked in a magical house. After a while he saw Hermione's face light up in a big smile. She still had the same radiant smile that he remembered from Hogwarts.
"Sure we can make it. Ok I'll let him know, bye." Hermione said.
"What did you get us into?" Draco said with narrowed eyes.
"Just another one of my mom's parties. She says she's found the perfect girl for you Draco." Hermione said sweetly as she winked her eye at him.
Draco groaned, "Not another blind date. I don't know who is worse, your mom or Molly."
Luna giggled as her sour mood had magically vanished again. "Any date for us?"
"As a matter of fact Luna, we get to go single!" Hermione boasted happily.
"That's not fair. I'm calling your mom now," Draco said as he pulled out his own phone.
"Hello, Mrs .. ah yes, sure. Ok. Yeah, we'll be there on time. Ok. Yes I'll do it. Ok bye." Draco said as he dismally put down the phone "Why don't you ever stop me when I try to call your mom."
"Cause it's fun watching you get into trouble?" Hermione teased playfully.
Draco glared at her.
"So spit it out. What does she want you to do?" Seamus asked.
"You're going to have to get an invite to find out!" Draco said as he turned away from the auror and faced Ginny instead.
"So Ginerva, got any boyfriends?" Draco asked casually.
"Ginny," She hissed at him.
"Leave my sister alone ferret face!" Ron exclaimed.
Before their fight could escalate Neville arrived. "Who's up for some cleaning?" he asked in a cheery voice as he came through the door.
"Cleaning what?" Ron asked.
"The Manor," Neville said innocently as he waved his hands about his surroundings.
"Oh hell no! I ain't cleaning anything Malfoy related!" Ron insisted.
Draco smiled evilly at Ron. The wizard wasn't going to know what hit him.