Chapter Thirteen
"Percy!" Ginny gasped.
Mrs. Weasley's eyes immediately filled with tears.
Ron reached over and gripped her arm.
Percy remained silent and stone-faced.
Mr. Weasley sadly regarded his son for a moment before turning his attention to Fudge and saying, "Minister! To what do we owe this honor?"
"Ah," Fudge slowly said, "We were just…"
He looked a bit put out; as though he had been looking forward to revealing that the Weasleys weren't there.
"Well, come in!" Mr. Weasley offered.
The dejected man entered.
The other workers followed, including a very reluctant Percy.
Fred and George glared at him.
Ginny found that she couldn't bring herself to do the same.
"You're all here," Fudge noted.
"Of course," Mr. Weasley cried, "Why wouldn't we be?"
"This isn't your normal address," Fudge pointed out.
"That's true," Mr. Weasley replied, "But we had a run in with a stray dog, you see, and decided that it was best if we moved in with my aunt. For safety reasons."
"That still doesn't explain why you're here, Minister," Fred callously spoke up.
"Yeah," George agreed, "Why are you here?"
"Well," Fudge meekly said, "Well…we were just…stopping by to invite you and your family to…err…the Ministry ball!"
"Sounds revolting," Fred and George muttered.
"Boys," Mr. Weasley hissed.
"The ball is in two weeks," Fudge continued, "I know that you will want to come and show your support for the Ministry."
For a moment, everyone uncomfortably squirmed.
Mr. Weasley looked like he had been punched in the stomach.
"Of course we would!" Ginny spoke up, "It would be an honor, Minister."
"Glad to hear it," Fudge boomed, "Well…seeing as how that's taken care of…I suppose that we should be on our way."
He abruptly turned and walked out the door.
The other workers followed suit.
Percy hesitated before following them.
"Percy!" Mrs. Weasley frantically cried, "Percy wait!"
"I'm sorry, Mother," Percy coolly said.
"Come with us!" Mrs. Weasley bawled, "PLEASE, PERCY! COME WITH US!"
Percy paused in the doorway and sharply said, "Come with you? But aren't you staying here with Great Aunt Muriel?"
And in her frantic state, Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, "We're staying at—"
"MUM, SHUT UP!" Ginny shrieked.
Fred and George charged forward and slammed the door in their brother's face.
They heard a popping noise on the other side.
He was gone.
Mrs. Weasley was torn between sobbing and glaring at three of her children.
"Come on," Mr. Weasley quietly said, "Let's go."
The group huddled together, though Mrs. Weasley was very reluctant to do so.
One horrible sensation later, Ginny found herself lying on the cold floor.
She groaned and dazedly scrambled to her feet.
Sirius raced over and hugged her, happily saying, "You're alright!"
"Am I?" Ginny muttered.
Sirius pulled back and gave her a sympathetic look.
She realized that Moody was standing in the foyer, along with another man and woman.
"This is Kingsley Shacklebolt," Sirius quickly said, "And this is Nymphadora—"
"Oh, don't call me that!"
"—Tonks," Sirius smugly finished, "Andromeda's daughter."
Ginny nodded, remembering the family tree.
Tonks was Sirius' second cousin.
"Wotcher, Ginny," Tonks cried, "Sirius has told us all about you."
"Nice save," Kingsley boomed, "Getting your family to go to your great aunt's."
"Thanks," Ginny brightly said.
"What's wrong, Molly?" Kingsley added.
Mrs. Weasley was still sobbing.
"Percy had a chance to come with us," Mr. Weasley quietly explained, "Only—"
"Only Ginny interrupted me before I had a chance to tell him where we were!" Mrs. Weasley interjected, "Thanks to her, he'll never be able to find us!"
Ginny swallowed and snapped, "I was keeping you from revealing the hideout in front of the bloody Minister for Magic! Or do you even care? Seeing as how you wrote it the address on a piece of parchment and stuck it out in plain view at the Burrow!?"
"You did what?" Moody barked.
Ginny suddenly realized why many people referred to him as "Mad".
Moody looked downright furious.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Weasley matched his fury.
"He's my son!" Mrs. Weasley spat, "I'd do anything to get him back!"
"Anything, eh?"
"What are you implying, Mad-Eye?" Mr. Weasley coolly asked.
He had stepped forward so that he was at his wife's right-hand side.
Sirius stepped up next to Moody's right-hand side and asked, "What's Molly implying?"
"I'm just saying," Mrs. Weasley evenly said, "That I would do anything to keep my family together."
"Even if it means tearing them apart?"
They turned towards Ginny.
She had stepped forward so that she was at Sirius' right-hand side.
Sirius smiled at the gesture.
"You stay out of this, Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley angrily snapped, "You've done enough damage for one day!"
Ginny's eyes stung.
Sirius put a hand on Ginny's shoulder and barked, "Yeah, yell at your kid, Molly. That'll keep the old family together."
Mrs. Weasley glowered.
When she spoke, it was with a forced calmness, "Kids…upstairs…now."
Fred, George, Ron, and Hermione immediately ran past Ginny.
Ginny hastily followed them with Sirius in tow.
"Sirius," Moody amusedly cried, "Where are you going?"
"Kid at heart, Mad-Eye," Sirius called back, "Kid at heart!"
He glanced over his shoulder and darkly said, "Besides, I've spent too much of my life dealing with an angry mother in this household. I don't fancy doing it again."
He, Ginny, and the twins entered the drawing room and quickly bowed to the hippogriff. Buckbeak dipped his head. Ginny collapsed against his feathers and let out a huge sigh.
"That was fun," Fred and George brightly said.
"Nice one, Sirius," Fred added.
"You too, Ginny," George complimented.
Sirius and Ginny smiled.
Ginny's smile deepened into a smirk as she said, "I suppose I shouldn't tell Mum that I left my books at the Burrow?"
The four cracked up.
"By the way, Sirius," Ginny yawned, "Thanks for the crazy ride."
"Funny," Sirius wryly retorted, "I was going to say the same to you."
Author's Note: This is the second or third time that Sirius has compared Molly to Walburga. I won't give too much away but this is going to be extremely important later on.