Chapter Ten
Ginny was relieved to see that Sirius had cheered up by the next morning.
In fact, as she entered the kitchen, she realized that he was whistling a happy tune.
"I'm leaving!" Sirius brightly said.
"Good morning to you, too," Ginny jokingly replied, "What do you mean you're leaving?"
"Dumbledore wants me to come to his office," Sirius said, "He wants me to share my memory of seeing Harry last month. But more importantly…I get to leave the house!"
His happiness was contagious.
Ginny sat down and helped herself to a piece of toast.
The door opened and Dumbledore entered.
The elderly wizard surveyed the room before softly saying, "Are you ready, Sirius?"
"Am I ever!"
"Then let's be on our way."
"Juniper," Sirius jokingly added, "You're the head of the house, when I'm gone."
Ginny snorted and said, "Be careful."
"I will be."
He and Dumbledore turned on the spot and disappeared.
Ginny was just finishing up her breakfast when her mother and brothers came downstairs.
"Where's Sirius?" Ron asked, "Doesn't he live down here?"
He snickered at his own joke.
"With Dumbledore," Ginny declared.
"Why?"
"He wants to collect Sirius' memories," Ginny explained, "He must have a Pensieve."
"He does," Fred agreed.
"We saw it a few years ago," George added.
"It's in the corner of his office," Fred concluded.
"So," Mrs. Weasley slowly said, "Sirius will be gone for a while?"
Ginny nodded and took her last bite of toast.
"Perfect," Mrs. Weasley cried, "I can finally get started on that room."
Ginny's head shot up and she curiously asked, "What room?"
"The one across from his bedroom," Mrs. Weasley explained, "Every time that I've tried to touch it, he's made a huge fuss. But it needs to be cleaned!"
Ginny blinked.
She was too tired to put two-and-two together.
In fact, it wasn't until her mother and brothers had gathered their cleaning supplies and were beginning to make their way upstairs that Ginny finally understood. She leapt up and raced up to the main corridor. She pulled back a tapestry and raced through the door. She stumbled out onto the fourth floor landing, just as her mother and brothers were ascending the stairs.
"G…Ginny?" Mrs. Weasley stammered, "What…how did you…?"
"You can't enter this room!" Ginny breathlessly said.
Her mother merely gaped at her.
At long last, she cried, "Don't be ridiculous, Ginny!"
Ginny stepped in front of the closed door and quietly said, "You can't go in."
"Why not?" Fred curiously asked.
"What's in there?" George wondered.
"What are you hiding?" Mrs. Weasley demanded.
"I'm not hiding anything," Ginny sighed, "You just…you can't enter."
"Oh, budge up, Ginny!" Ron groaned, "'Sooner we clean it, 'sooner we'll be done!"
"No!"
She realized that her eldest brothers were both gazing at the sign.
"'Do not enter without the express permission of Regulus Arcturus Black,'" George read.
They glanced at each other.
"Did Regulus give you permission?" Ginny haughtily asked.
Fred snorted and pointed out, "We don't even know who Regulus is."
"Then, I guess that's a 'no'."
The twins shrugged and headed back downstairs.
"Boys, get back here!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed.
"Regulus didn't give us permission," Fred pointed out.
There was a faint smirk on his face.
His brother was mirroring it.
"I don't care," Mrs. Weasley grumbled, "It's filthy…it needs to be cleaned…"
"You're not entering!" Ginny firmly said.
Her mother glared at her but Ginny stood her ground.
"Ginny," Mrs. Weasley exasperatedly said, "I've had just about enough of you…"
She turned to the twins and added, "We'll Apparate inside. Ron can get started on the bathroom on the second floor."
The twins snickered and Ron scowled.
Ginny paled.
They couldn't enter!
Sirius would be crushed.
Her eyes widened as she thought of something.
It was bloody mental…
But it could work…
And so, Ginny took a deep breath and shouted, "KREACHER!"
The house-elf appeared, looking just as surprised as everyone else.
"How did the filthy blood-traitor's daughter—?" Kreacher wheezed.
"Sirius made me the Head of the House before he left," Ginny quickly said, "That means that you have to obey me. Right?"
The house-elf immediately started hissing and cursing.
Ginny took that as an affirmative.
"Listen," Ginny cried, "I'm ordering you to stop anybody from entering this room. Can you do that?"
Kreacher's eyes widened and he hissed, "Is somebody trying to enter my Master Regulus' room?"
Ginny jerked her head towards her startled family.
The house-elf swelled with rage and shouted a long string of profanities.
In the end, he snapped his fingers.
Ginny watched as a silver light seeped through the cracks of the door.
"Did that do it?" Ginny asked.
"Aye," Kreacher muttered, "The blood traitors won't ever get into that room."
Ginny sighed with relief.
Fred and George looked thoroughly amused.
Ron looked nonchalant.
Her mother looked furious.
Mrs. Weasley drew herself up and twisted.
Ginny took a sharp breath but her mother remained standing in the same spot.
Ginny's mouth curved into a smirk.
She stepped to the side and sat against the wall. She spent the rest of the day watching as her mother tried and failed to enter the room. Mrs. Weasley tried Apparating multiple times. She tried hexing the door and hexing the wall. She even went to the room below and tried hexing the ceiling. She made a Portkey but it merely sat there. She ordered Ginny to open it up until her face was as red as her hair. Ginny merely smirked.
Ginny eventually asked Kreacher to bring her a plate of sandwiches and some pumpkin juice. The house elf obeyed and she happily ate.
Hermione came up and lectured her for having Kreacher do such a task. She then pleaded with Ginny to open up the room, as she was getting a headache from Mrs. Weasley's screams.
Yet when Ginny replied that Kreacher was just as determined to keep the room closed as she was, Hermione reconsidered.
Mrs. Weasley then sent her next troop.
Ron came up and nicked one of the sandwiches before continuing to ask her what was so special about the room. She ignored him until he shrugged and went back downstairs.
Fred and George came up at one point. Instead of asking her to open the room, however, they were more interested in asking Kreacher how he had managed to shut it. Their eyes sparkled as Kreacher explained that elves have magic that wizards and witches do not.
Ginny only left her post to use the bathroom.
She even stayed when the rest of her family had gone to bed.
She drew her knees to her chest and her ear found her shoulder.
She was just beginning to doze off when she heard someone say, "Juniper?"
Ginny immediately sprung to her feat.
"What are you doing here?" Sirius curiously asked, ascending the stairs.
Ginny explained everything.
"You…went through all of that trouble for me?" Sirius eventually whispered.
"You've gone through more than enough trouble for me," Ginny pointed out.
Sirius beamed and Ginny added, "You can be the Head of the House again, though."
"Much obliged," Sirius replied, "Blimey, I…I can't believe that you did that."
He hesitated before saying, "It's silly…really…the reason why I won't let anyone in…"
He glanced at Kreacher and jerked his head.
The house elf opened the door.
Ginny braced herself and saw…
A bedroom.
She didn't see anything out of the ordinary, other than a bit of dust on the items.
"I just don't want anyone to remove his things," Sirius mumbled, "I know that they're just material items but…if they're gone…it'll just be a reminder that…you know…"
Ginny nodded.
"I suppose it sounds a bit mental, eh?"
Ginny shrugged and said, "The world's mental."