Chapter 9 – Concerns of the Pure-Blooded

Lupin's words were hanging in the air and starting to gather dust by the time Mrs Weasley spoke.

"Well, you both look like you could use a drink."

She pulled a bottle of elf wine and two glasses out of a cupboard, then poured Lupin and Tonks a healthy measure each. Both nodding their thanks, they gazed feverishly through the liquid as the family attempted to muster the power of speech.

"What has he managed to tell you so far?" ventured Bill.

Lupin put his arm round Tonks as they exchanged glances.

"Nothing that we can use just yet," Lupin replied, "But we must be understanding about all this. From what we can tell, he seems to have been through quite an ordeal."

The Weasleys were pensively nodding as one at this. It was hard to know what to say. With the exception of Fleur, everyone in the room had purchased their wands from Mr Ollivander's shop in Diagon Alley. He was the most respected wand-maker in England, and one who remembered each and every one of his customers.

Harry was wondering why Ollivander, of all people, had been abducted. The only conclusion he could draw was that it was something to do with the fact that Voldemort's wand had a phoenix feather core from the same phoenix as Harry's. When Voldemort had once attempted to curse Harry, the two wands had acted against each other, much to the Dark Lord's shock and dismay. But although Ollivander knew this about the wands, what would he be able to do about it? What use would he have been to Voldemort?

"We left him resting in McGonagall's study," said Tonks, who was looking just as fatigued as Lupin, "He's under a sleeping draught, and I'm just hoping that it does the trick."

There was something about their faces that suggested an unwillingness to go into any further detail. To break the tension, Fred nudged George gestured subtly in Harry's direction.

"Oh yeah," muttered George, "Harry, do you fancy coming upstairs for moment?"

"Just a few new products to run by you," added Fred.

"Market research – "

"Quality control – "

"Wanted to hear what you think," George finished

Harry was a little taken aback as to why they had brought this up, but decided to go along with it.

"Err, sure. Why not."

"Excellent," said George.

"Right this way," Fred ushered him.

As they trooped upstairs, Ginny made to go after them but was held back by Ron, who had immediately followed her train of thought.

"Just leave them to it, Gin. It's something they have to get out of their systems," he said.

"But it's none of their business!" she quietly hissed back at him.

"That's a matter of opinion," Ron returned, "You knew it would happen, so better sooner than later."

Ginny dropped back into her chair with a very sulky expression.

"They've got ten minutes before I go up there and start knocking their door down!"

As the party of three stood on the landing, Fred tapped his wand twice on the door handle, muttering a short incantation under his breath, and then opened the door.

"Just a precaution," he smiled.

Harry followed them inside. Fred and George's bedroom was cluttered around the edges with new stock for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, the joke shop they had opened in Diagon Alley. Harry would have considered it more than his health was worth to investigate these boxes without supervision, considering the twins' reputation.

"Excuse the mess," said George, "Have a seat."

Harry sat in a small armchair, wondering why it was so oddly positioned in the middle of the room. The twins paced slowly and ominously around him. This made Harry somewhat uncomfortable, especially when they stopped, sat down on the bed opposite him, and appeared to study him through half-closed eyes.

"So," began Harry brightly, "what kind of new products are these?"

Fred slowly rose to his feet with a smile, and did another lap around Harry's chair, patting him on the shoulder.

"All in good time, Harry, all in good time," he murmured.

This made Harry decidedly edgy.

"What's this about?"

Fred returned to join his brother, and George finally decided to shed some light on the situation.

"We didn't say anything in front of mum, because all she could do was get all soppy and sentimental…" he began.

"…but we have questions,"

"…that need answers."

Harry was never sure how serious to take them when they spoke like this, but this was obviously something that mattered greatly to them.

"Okay then," he replied, "Ask away."

Fred leaned forward towards him with steepled fingers. Harry couldn't help but think of police interrogations he had seen on television. This should be interesting, he thought.

"What's going on with you and Ginny?" he asked quietly.

Harry had to take a moment to consider this. He knew how he would describe it to Ginny herself, maybe even Hermione or Ron, but for some reason this was different.

"We're in love," he settled on, "That's about the only way I can put it."

Both twins looked at him with deep-seated suspicion.

"Love?" said Fred slowly.

Harry nodded.

"Harry, she was in tears most of the time…"

"…when she wasn't coming downstairs to collect a few crusts of bread"

"…She wouldn't talk to anyone"

"…and we almost thought she was thinking about suicide"

"…You can't tell us that's perfectly normal behaviour for someone who's in love."

Harry could see the logic in this, given that the twins didn't have the facts in their possession.

"Look, the truth is that there were certain obstacles we had to get past" he said, trying to remain as vague as possible, "but we had a long talk about it, and worked things out."

They were unconvinced, and Harry knew it.

"Just like that?" uttered George incredulously.

"It sounds to us like she was set up for a fall before…"

"…so are you just raising the stakes now?"

"…getting her hopes up so you can see them dashed apart on the rocks again?"

This line of questioning was genuinely starting to annoy Harry, who was trying to restrain himself as they continued.

"I realise we've played our fair share of jokes on her, that's what brothers do," said Fred, trying to drive the point home.

"…but this is serious Harry. You can't do this to our little sister, just because you're treated like a member of the family," added George with genuine fervour.

"Not quite, we haven't played enough jokes on him yet," put in Fred, correcting his brother.

Harry was already sick of this. He considered Fred and George to be great friends of his, and wouldn't even want to raise his voice at them if he could help it, but at the same time, these kinds of accusations could not go unchallenged.

"Look, if you two have any Veritaserum, feel free to pour a whole vat of it down my throat, and you'll still get the same answer!" Harry cut in, getting a full head of steam,

"I love Ginny, and I never want to see her hurt again!"

Even the twins were slightly thrown by this.

"Steady on there Harry," said George, "She's our sister, and she's been through hell. Did you think we wouldn't be just a little concerned about all this?"

"We're just reacting the way any brothers would," Fred added, "I mean, Dean and Michael may have been a couple of numbskulls, but at least they weren't targets for every dark wizard in the country. You must see what we're getting at."

Harry saw exactly what they were getting at, and he couldn't condemn them for it by any means.

"Fred, do you think I hadn't thought about all this? And do you think that she hasn't?" Harry looked questioningly at the pair of them, "She's a very capable witch, and one of the bravest I ever saw. Nobody is really safe from harm now, and all we're doing is taking the happiness that's there for us. Besides, if something happens to her, you can have the pleasure of killing me yourselves, because I don't think I could carry on anyway."

The twins looked at each other, slowly considering these words of Harry's, then both nodded.

"Sounds like a fair enough deal," George concurred.

"Fine by us, if you think you'll both be happy together," said Fred.

George then held up his hand for silence and looked over to the bedroom door, which Harry noticed was glowing a dull blue around the edges.

"Oh, and Ginny" called George, drawing his wand, "you have until the count of three to get those extendable ears away from the door, before something very nasty happens – and don't think I won't do it!"

After a frantic scurrying outside, there came a knock.

"Open up!" yelled Ginny.

George rolled his eyes.

"Good manners cost nothing, young lady. One little word is all – "

"NOW!"

He fearfully hastened across the room and opened the door. Ginny could inspire the same terror as her mother when she felt the cause was just. George met her stare with some apprehension as her eyes burned with annoyance.

"Listen here you two, I will NOT have you interrogating Harry!"

Fred began to protest.

"It's okay Ginny, we got what we wanted. No harm done, so butt out."

Ginny seethed at this.

"It wasn't your place to be grilling him to begin with!"

And with that she lunged forward, grabbed Harry, and locked him into a fiercely lustful kiss before Fred and George could express a word of their disbelief. Both Harry and Ginny had become oblivious to the twins' presence by the time Fred opened his mouth again.

"Oi! We might be men of the world, but could you two take that outside?"

The two of them grinned as they finally separated, and shuffled back out on to the landing. As they headed once again for the kitchen, they found themselves confronted by Lupin. Despite his tiredness, it was plain that he was happy to see Harry and Ginny together.

"Is everything alright?" asked Harry.

"I've just had an owl from Professor McGonagall" said Lupin wearily, "Apparently, Ollivander, in his fitful sleep, was muttering something incoherent about you."

Harry looked at him uneasily, wondering what kind of question would be the right one to ask. Ginny was beginning to tighten her grip on Harry's hand.

"Harry, the Order have decided that you will be making an unscheduled trip to Hogwarts. I'm to escort you there in a few hours time" he yawned, "As for you Ginny, I believe we should talk about a certain delicate matter that was discussed last week."

"It's okay Lupin, Harry knows all about it. I showed him last night."

This came as something of a shock, especially after the terms of absolute secrecy under which Lupin and Moody had assisted Ginny in obtaining her prophecy.

"Is that so?" said Lupin, raising his eyebrow, "Well, that being the case, I will need the two of you to tell me everything. I must know every last detail of what you heard. But for now, Molly, being the determined creature that she is, has insisted that I get some sleep before we make our journey."

They watched him head for the spare room in a silence that was shattered by the sound of laughter and a horse neighing from the twins' bedroom. As they turned around, sure enough, a small brown horse walked clumsily out on to the landing. It spluttered a few times, shook itself, then reared up on its hind legs and finally shrank back into the form of George, who immediately began laughing along with his brother.

"What do you think?" he asked, "They haven't got a name yet – maybe 'Animagus Toffees' or something."

Ginny was glad of this distraction. She still knew that there was a very real danger about that prophecy, but at the same time, she didn't want to burden Harry with her fears just yet. Something told her that he would soon have more than enough to worry about.