Harry Potter and the Last Heir
Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter series or any of its characters...so don't sue me. I ain't got nuttin'. :)
Chapter 3: The Burrow
The car ride to the Burrow was unexpectedly quick, especially since Harry spent most of the trip dozing off in the back seat. But when the car hit the ground with a loud "thud" Harry was wide awake, wand in hand. Ron looked back and laughed at Harry.
"Harry, we've just landed, that's all." Harry laughed nervously.
"Right." He responded as he put his wand away, then got out of the car. Mr. Weasley grabbed Harry's trunk from out of the trunk and headed towards the house, while Harry grabbed Hedwig's cage which sat next to him. Ron walked in the door ahead of Harry, thus blocking his view. Then Harry was greeted with a hug and two kisses, one on each cheek from...Fleur! Indeed, Fleur was standing in front of Harry, a giant smile on her beautiful, French face.
"O, 'Arry, it iz soo good to zee you!" She finally released Harry.
"It's good to see you too, Fleur." He patted her on the arm as he passed by her.
"Harry!" Harry was once again greeted by a rather large, unexpected hug, this time from Mrs. Weasley. "Harry honey, you look so thin. Have you been eating well?" Harry smiled.
"Well, it hasn't been your cooking Mrs. Weasley, so it couldn't have been that good." Mrs. Weasley blushed at Harry's compliment as he moved futher into the house. He met greetings from Fred and George, who were taking a vacation from their shop in order to help out with Bill and Fleur's wedding, Bill himself, who looked a little frazzled, Charlie, who too was in town for the wedding, and finally, Ginny.
"Hello Harry." Ginny said sweetly as he finally made his way to her.
"Hi Ginny." Harry couldn't help but smiling while looking at her angelic face. "How've you been?" He asked her.
"Pretty good, actually." She chuckled. "Mum and Bill have been throwin' fits about the wedding. They're determined to make everything perfect."
"How's Fleur taking it?"
"Oh, she's fine. She's always smiling and laughing, like everything will work it's self out in the end. It's a bit soothing, I must admit, her calmness, especially when everyone else in this house is a complete mess." She made her way to a couch and sat down. Harry followed her, setting Hedwig's cage on the floor next to him.
"A complete mess? Is it because of the wedding?" Harry inquired.
"Well, you could say that, but it's not the only reason: Dad's been swamped with work for the Ministry since Dumbledore's death last year; Mum and Bill, well, you know about Mum and Bill; Percy keeps popping up out of no where, which sends Mom into little fits of tears; Fred and George are always a mess, they brought a new line of products to try out. They said that they were favors for the wedding. We had to hold back Mum, so that she wouldn't attack them with the broom; And Ron, well, Ron's been acting really weird lately. I mean, I swear he sends out letters atleast twice a day, and when an owl comes he's the first one to check who the letters are for."
"Who do you think they're from?" Harry asked, now deeply engrossed into what Ginny had to say.
"Not sure, but I think they're from Hermione." Ginny said simply as she scratched Hedwig through her cage.
"Hermione?" Harry asked, confused. "But Ron and Hermione always talk. Why would he be so interested in talking to her all of a sudden?"
"Beats me." Ginny said as she stood. "If you ask me I say they're both nuts." Harry chuckled as Ginny began to walk away.
"Hey, Ginny." Harry pulled her back. "Look, about...us-" Ginny cut him off.
"Harry, I understand, really, I do."
"But-"
"Harry, please. It's already painful enough as it is. Trying to justify it even further is only gonna make the pain worse."
"But-" Ginny moved out of Harry's reach and walked off. He sighed.
"Harry, there you are, I've been looking all over for you." Ron said as he walked closer to Harry.
"Oh, sorry Ron. I was just talking to Ginny."
"Ah, I see." Ron said as if he understood, but of course, he didn't. "Well, Mum says breakfast is ready, if your hungry." Harry, who had yet again another disturbed meal decided that it was best that he eat, so Harry followed Ron to the kitchen where he sat down at the table next to Charlie.
"I'm off to work Dear." Mr. Weasley said to Mrs. Weasley as he gave her a peck on the cheek.
"So soon Arthur? But you've barely had any breakfast." She picked up a plate of food and tried handing it to her husband, who rejected it.
"You know the Ministry Molly. Besides, I'll be back before you know it." And with that, he left. Mrs. Weasley sighed as she put the plate of food down on the table and continued serving the remaining tenants.
"Mum, didn't Remus say something about a meeting today?" Charlie asked his mother as he ate. Mrs. Weasley stopped dead in her tracks and looked quickly at Harry, Ron, and Ginny, then scolded her son.
"I don't know what you're talking about Charlie." She responded sharply.
"But, Mum, you-" Charlie tried to respond, but Mrs. Weasley ignored him, changing the subject.
"Lovely weather we're having, wouldn't you say kids? Perfect weather for a wedding." She sort of giggled to herself and walked back to the counter.
"I'll say." Fred and George said in unison, a smirk on their faces.
"You know, I've just realized something. Where's Hermione? I'm suprised she wasn't here before me." Harry addressed the group. Ron looked up quickly, a blush on his freckled face.
"She-Well, she-You see, she had to-" Ron tried to explain, his words going everywhere.
"She had to go visit some family member today, or something, but she should be here some time later." Ginny filled in.
"Hey, that's what I said." Ron said, defensively. Ginny chuckled.
"No, it's not." She corrected him. Ron blushed deeper as Harry and the others began laughing. It didn't take long for Harry and the others to finish their breakfast, even with two or three servings. Ron and Harry grabbed their brooms and made their way outside to do a little practice quidditch. After a few hours of playing in the garden, the mud soaked boys decided it was time for them to go in.
"I expect Mum's got lunch going by now." Ron said as they walked through the back door. "Or atleast, I hope so. I'm hungry." He rubbed his growling stomach as Harry laughed at him and his own stomach that sounded very similar to Ron's.
As they entered the house they noticed hush conversation coming from the kitchen. The boys quietly put down their brooms and headed towards the kitchen, trying not to make any noise. The voices, from what they could hear, sounded like Remus Lupin, Mrs. Weasley, Nymphadora Tonks, and Bill and Charlie Weasley. The conversation was a bit muffled because of the door, but the boys could still make out the words.
"You're kidding me!" Mrs. Weasley said, sounding appalled. "I've known Albus Dumbledore for many a years, and I know for certain that he would never, EVER request this. Do you know how dangerous it could be?"
"I know it sounds maybe a little extreme, Molly, but you have to understand, we're desperate right now. We need all the help we can get." Remus tried to plead with her.
"Molly, it's our only option. Think of the children, Molly." Tonks said with her usual short, spiky, bright pink hair.
"Molly, I assure you, as a member of the Order you will be continuely updated on what goes on. Believe me, we want your input, and respect your opnion, but-," Remus sighed, "This was Albus' last request." He produced a piece of parchment, from what Ron and Harry could see through the crack in the door. "Minerva found it on his desk addressed to her the night of, well, when he died." Mrs. Weasley picked up the piece of parchment and read it. Her eyes flew across the paper then filled with tears. She set the parchment down.
"Has she read it?" She asked, trying hard to keep herself from crying.
"Yes, she has. She allowed us to keep the letter, even after we insisted that she be the one to hold on to it." Remus told her as he put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"She told us she'd keep a good watch on your children, Harry, and Hermione." Tonks said, trying to cheer Mrs. Weasley up.
"It's not that," Mrs. Weasley began, "But it's her I feel sorry for." She sniffed. "Albus was all she had left."
"I know." Remus said simply as he removed his hand from Mrs. Weasley's shoulder.
"It's okay though Mum, she's a tough gal. I hear she worked for the Ministry." Charlie said. "Trained Auror's, or something like that."
"Aurors?" Bill questioned.
"Yeah, but it's all kept very hush, hush down there at the Ministry, you know?" Charlie said as he continued. "So, that's really all I've heard."
"Has anyone told Harry yet?" Mrs. Weasley asked Remus.
"No, not yet. We thought it best to tell you and Arthur first before we talk to any of the others." He answered her.
"He'll want to know about it. You know Harry, Remus."
"Yes, I do. He will, Molly, it's just a matter of time. In the mean time, while we're here, is there anything Tonks and I can do to help prepare for the wedding?" Remus said, sounding rather chipper. Harry and Ron could hear footsteps approaching the door, so they grabbed their brooms and ran upstairs to Ron's Bedroom where Harry's trunk and Hedwig's now empty birdcage was waiting for him.
"Who do you reckon she is?" Ron asked as soon as they were sure no one had followed them upstairs.
"Beats me." Harry said as he plopped down on the bed placed in there for him. "They might have been just talking about McGonagall you know. Her and Dumbledore always seemed pretty close."
"Yeah, I guess. But I'd never picture McGonagall as the type of girl who would train Aurors." Ron said as he took a seat on his own bed.
"Maybe. You never know. It may be a little hard to believe Ron, but McGonagall was once a young lady too."
"You're right Harry, that is hard to believe." Harry laughed, but Ron sounded serious. Harry thought about the idea for a moment as he layed down on the bed. Minerva McGonagall, his transfiguration professor at Hogwarts, and now, the current Headmistress, could she really be a former trainer for Aurors? The idea seemed a bit radical to Harry, but not completely unplausible. He knew that if she had, she could be a great mentor to Harry, helping him with becoming an Auror, but, more importantly, defeating Voldemort. Harry's thought pattern was soon interuppted by the sound of footsteps rushing up the stairs and to the door. There was a slight knock and then the door burst open. Standing in the doorway was none other than Hermione Granger, Harry's other best friend.
"Harry!" Hermione said as she ran over to Harry and gave him a hug.
"Hermione, I saw you just yesterday." Harry mumbled through the death lock of Hermione's embrace.
"Oh, right." And with that, she released Harry. "Ronald." She said slowly as she nodded to Ron, who blushed.
"Hermione." He responded back. Harry didn't have much time to question Hermione and Ron's sudden odd behavior towards on another, because just then the group recieved another visitor, Remus Lupin.
"Harry, there you are. It's good to see you - Ah, Hermione, Ron, it's good to see you two as well." He smiled at the group. "Molly wanted me to tell you that lunch is ready. She said you were looking particularly pale this morning at breakfast Harry and she wanted to keep that from happening again, so she made sure i went on a special expedition just to find you. Luckily enough I find these two also. Well, shall we?" Remus escorted the group of friends downstairs to eat one of Mrs. Weasley's delicious home cooked meals, while the thought of the conversation from the kitchen from earlier, and the Auror trainer had been left in Ron's room, collecting dust.
Ah, the end of chapter 3. Er, I guess it started getting into the story more, but before you start running with ideas, you might want to stop. It's probably not what you think (see description for this story). Anyway, I hope this was longer and more satisfying than the first two chapters. More to come soon! Tell me what you think:)