Hermione was nothing like she was in the books. She was still annoyingly smart and had some airs and graces, but she was brilliant. The books portrayed her as stiff and not really one for breaking the rules, but she found it funny that we had gotten drunk last night. She along with the twins (who needed some persuading) promised to keep it to themselves.
Free of Mrs Weasley for the day, we were able just to relax and talk. I stayed in my pyjamas until after twelve. It was such a good feeling to do that again.
I decided that I should bring up the topic of Harry. Just by me being here might change everything. What if someone else takes guard on Harry, interferes and he's kissed by the dementors?
"When's Harry coming?" I asked them.
Tonks rolled her eyes and shrugged. "I don't know. I really don't see the point of forcing him to live with the muggles. It more fun, and safer, here."
"Amen," Sirius said, raising his glass. "It's his birthday tomorrow as well. He should be with us." They all murmured in agreement and went into a rant about how unfair it was. I had planted the seed, so let's just hope it grew.
Unfortunately, it didn't, and when Mrs Weasley arrived she told us all to forget the whole thing and trust Dumbledore's judgement.
After making Ginny and I get changed, we were made to clean again. And guess who I was stuck with...
Fred looked as fed up as I did when we found out we would be cleaning the first floor bathroom together. I was glad it was being cleaned; I was just not so crazy about the Fred part.
He still hated me from the death eater prank, and I still hated him for calling me a death eater. We made an interesting pair.
As we scrubbed the scum off the sink, I tried to make idle conversation. For all I knew, I could be here for the rest of my life, and I didn't really want to be feuding. I was half way through describing the time Sirius fell down the stairs when he interrupted abruptly.
"You're so pervading," he said scathingly.
"What?" it was a really random thing to say, and I didn't understand where it fit in to my stairs story.
"It means that you're everywhere," he said, pompously.
"I know what it means." I really didn't like some uneducated prankster giving me a vocabulary lesson, especially when it didn't make sense. I stared at him until he elaborated.
"You always but your nose in. Like one day, we arrive here, and you're just shoved on us. I can't get a minute without you being there or listening."
So it was the eavesdropping he was upset about. He was a fine one to talk. He and George were making extendable ears every second Mrs Weasley wasn't looking. I could hear them whispering about it every night. Not that i was listening or anything. I suddenly decided that two could play at this stupid vocab game.
"You're so pedantic. You come across so hard and rebellious, but you're a goody too shoes really."
"I know what it meant." but I could tell he didn't. One nil to me. I smiled at him triumphantly and moved over to the shower. I grabbed the sponge and began to scrub the scum off the shower with my back to him.
"You're too precocious. You go along like you know everything and in reality your just puny and prestigious."
I glared at him angrily. "What is your problem? You're so pessimistic. Every time I look you've got a face on you for something or other. And for some reason, you've got all these preconceived ideas about me. You pre-empt every effort I make. What did I ever do to you?"
He was silent. I guess I had won that round. Four P words, he had three. Boo-yah!
We worked in silence for a few more minutes before he spoke up again.
"How did you get to stay here anyway?"
"I petitioned and protested because I'm so persuasive." He stared at me ludicrously.
"Enough with the P Puns" I grinned at the irony. It was silent for moment, so I had to immaturely break it.
"Prat..." I muttered.
"Pompous Princess..." I could see a small smile playing at his lips. This wasn't a joke, this was war.
"Pussy psychopath," I muttered harshly.
Fred jump up and span around. "Ha," he called. "That's an S"
"silent P" I said sweetly.
"Dammit!" He shouted. I laughed harshly.
I knew I was being a complete evil bitch, but this is what he does to me. He's lucky to still be standing. If I could do any real magic, he would have been hexed a long time ago.
We sat in silence after that, and it seemed to get the job done a lot quicker. Mrs Weasley had brought some towels from home for us, so I neatly place them on the shelf before walking out. Fred took out his wand cast a quick spell to make the room spell nice before stashing it back into his pocket.
"Don't tell my mom," he muttered. I nodded curtly. Even though Fred and George were of age, she didn't want them to use magic to clean. It apparently taught us all lessons about how hard it was to be a muggle. I smirked at the irony.
:-:
"Sirius, Remus, Mrs Weasley," Tonks shouted, running into the kitchen the next day. It was dinner time and Tonks was unusually late. Mr Weasley followed closely behind, he face pale with worry. "It's Harry!"
Everyone stood up immediately and took out their wands. I looked around the table and saw I was the only person still sitting down. I pulled out my unused wand and stood up next to Ginny.
"What's wrong, is he ok?" Sirius asked, running over to her.
Tonks shrugged. "I don't really know what's going on." she admitted. "But he was attacked by dementors."
Mrs Weasley gasped loudly while everyone else started questioning her.
Mr Weasley shushed them and continued.
"He used the patronus charm and fought them off." on this news, Lupin grinned around the room proudly. "But he used underage magic, and they've expelled him."
There was half a second before havoc broke loose.
"What?" Sirius shouted walking toward the door. Lupin grabbed his collar and pulled him back.
"But there were dementors. Do they expect him just to die?"
"The way the ministry and the prophets behaving... Yes."
The Weasley kids were all having a little spat among themselves about how the dementors got there.
"It was You-Know-Who," Ron said. The twins shook their heads.
"No, they were looking for Sirius. They thought he might be with Harry." George said. "The ministry control the Dementors."
"maybe it was them," I butted in. They all stared at me confused, including the adults. "They may want to finish him off. Or" I said dramatically jumping up like I just had a good idea. "Maybe they did it to expel him and make him look like a lying idiot. They'll deny there ever was Dementors which will make Harry look attention seeking, which will create more hate."
They all stared at me in shock.
"That makes sense!" Sirius exclaimed trying to leave again.
Fortunately, Remus still had a good hold on him. Sirius began to mumble how the ministry were 'a bunch of bastards' while Hermione tried to reason.
"Your idea makes sense," she said to me kindly. "But would the ministry really do all that just to get Harry expelled and humiliated?"
Sirius was nodding furiously while the others took it into account.
Ron and Ginny didn't really seem to care and took to pestering their dad about the incident.
George suddenly pointed his wand at me. Fred stared at him confused but mirrored his movement.
"Why are you blaming the ministry? She's protecting You-Know-Who!"
I rolled my eyes. "Really, we're back to that?" I said boredly.
Mrs Weasley reprimanded them and said that the next person to accuse me of being a death eater would be forced to clean the house elf heads. I suddenly felt motherly warmth towards Mrs Weasley. I smiled at her warmly and she returned it before returning to worrying about Harry.
"I've sent him an owl," Mr Weasley said. "Telling him to remain with the muggles. Dumbledore's gone to the ministry to sort it out. I think it will be best if Sirius sent him a note too, he listens to you."
Sirius ran upstairs to fetch Pig and send Harry a message, he was still muttering about 'those bastards from the ministry.' We all sat in a thoughtful silence.
Sirius returned within two minutes, and within fifteen a beautiful white owl flew down the chimney. Hedwig.
She flew over to Hermione and held out her leg. Hermione took off three pieces of parchment before Hedwig flew over to the sink and began pecking at a bowl of water.
"There's one for each of us," Hermione announced, passing one to Sirius and Ron. "I've just been attacked by dementors." she read. "And I might be expelled from Hogwarts. I want to know what's going on and when I'm going to get out of here."
Harry had written the same to each of them, something that annoyed Hermione.
"He seems mad," she stated.
"Of course he is," Sirius said, sitting down on the chair next to me. "Imagine if you were forced to live with those awful muggles, while your friends were all together and then you were attacked by dementors and expelled from Hogwarts."
Hermione looked taken back and said no more.
"I think we should go rescue him," George grinned. "Dad, where's the car?" Mrs Weasley hit him on the back of the head.
"We'll have none of those stupid comments. Poor Harry's in danger." she said, almost in tears. Mr Weasley put a comforting arm around his wife.
"We need to get him sometime though," Tonks said. "He can't stay there forever."
"But not tonight. We need word off Dumbledore and the ministry will be keeping an eye on him," Remus said. "It's not a simple case of walking in and apperating him here. It's going to be much more complicated than that."
On cue, green flames erupted from the fire place and Dumbledore stepped out followed closely by Mad Eye.
"I've managed to get Harry a hearing for the 12th. The minister was obstinate that he be expelled, however I reasoned with him," his eyes twinkled mischievously. "I've called an emergency Order meeting in light of events. If you would please make your way to the parlour."
The kids began to follow them upstairs, however we were stopped by Mrs Weasley.
"And where do you think you're going?" she asked sternly.
"To the meeting. This isn't just some random death eater rade, this is Harry," Ginny said. We all murmured in agreement.
"Just let them come Molly," Sirius said, squeezing past us. He winked as I shot him a thankful grin.
"The order is for people of age," She announced. "That have left school." she added, as Fred and George went to interrupt. She stormed up the stairs and slammed the door, leaving the six of us alone in the empty kitchen.
"Well George, I have an idea," Fred said, making his way up the stairs. We followed, intrigued.
"I think I follow. Is it something to break the ear-y tension?" George asked. We had reached the parlour now, but we carried on climbing stairs.
"Why of course George. You four wait 'ear." Fred said to me, Hermione, Ginny and Ron.
The two of them ran upstairs laughing loudly while my companions stared at them confused. It was obvious what they were doing. Well obvious to me anyway. They were getting the extendable ears so we could listen in on the meeting. I didn't really like the pair, but they were incredibly smart, and did come in handy.
They returned a minute later with the contraption. On one end there was a normal sized ear, and on the other was a very large deformed one. The two were joined together by a piece of thick string.
"You four beautiful people are the first to test... The Extendable Ear!" Fred announced.
Ginny, Ron and Hermione stared at them confused while I took it off them and inspected it.
"So we can hear what's going on in the meeting?" they nodded. "This is ingenious."
They grinned proudly. "Care to test it dear Alyssa?" George asked. He seemed to want a make an effort after my praise, that and their mother's threat.
I carefully lowered the smaller down while we held the larger one. Small cracking came from the ear, like an untuned radio, before it finally started to work.
"It's unsafe for him there." Sirius said. "He should be here with us, where we can keep an eye on him." We all stared at the twins amazed.
"This is bloody brilliant," Ron grinned.
"Well I think most of us agree that Harry should come here," Tonks said. "But we'll need to arrange a group to get him. Like a guard."
"We'll have to fly," Mad Eyes gruff voice said. "Constant Vigilance! We have to be careful."
It was silent for a moment before Dumbledore spoke.
"You'll go in three days. Alastor, Remus, Nymphadora," she huffed loudly at the use of her name. "Kingsley." there was a lot of mumbles and protests about who should retrieve Harry, but after a few minutes Dumbledore had decided.
"What about me?" Sirius asked.
"You are still in hiding," Dumbledore said. "It is not just for your safety, but for Harry's. I expect that you should find an acceptable excuse to rid the Muggles for a few hours, Remus, Nymphadora." it was silent, so I guess they were nodding or something. "Well, I guess that is all and..."
George quickly withdrew the ear and raced upstairs with it. There was a lot of rustling before the door to the parlour opened.
"Hide!" Fred whispered, running into mine, Ginny's and Hermione's room. We followed, not wanting to face the wrath of Mrs. Weasley.
I was ashamed to see that our room was a mess. It hadn't really been cleaned properly since our sleep over with Tonks, and when Hermione joined us a few days ago, it became even more cramped. Clothes littered the floor and a strange musty/perfume smell hung in the air.
"God," Ron commented, looking around. "This is worse than my room."
"There are three of us!" Ginny protested. "What do you expect?"
Mrs. Weasley stormed through the door and stared at us suspiciously.
"What are you all doing up here?"
I quickly plopped down on to the bed and lay down. "Chilling," I answered simply. Fred sat down next to me and mirrored my movement.
"Where's George?" She asked, walking out the door and heading for his room.
"Nowhere," Fred hopped up and tried to back her way. "He's just chilling."
I grinned at his choice of words. Mrs Weasley, sensing something was up, nudged past Fred and went upstairs.
"All our products are up there," He whispered frantically.
"I think he's having a shower Mrs. Weasley," I said nonchalantly. Being calm was the key to lying, something I thought they would know.
"He didn't want you to stop him as he would probably be late for dinner and it would go to waste." She huffed loudly. "He should have just said, it'll go cold now. Well at least he's clean for once. I always said..." she trailed off as she went downstairs.
Fred sighed heavily with relief. "Thanks," he said awkwardly. "Last summer she destroyed our entire stash. We've only just managed to recreate them all." I smiled at him curtly.
"Shouldn't we warn George?" Ron asked, heading upstairs. We nodded and followed him.
I hadn't really spent much time on this floor. It was alot cleaner and less shabby than ours, however the carpet that ran along the floor was worn and moth eaten.
Fred waltzed into his room as we stood awkwardly by the door. It was even messier than ours.
The floor could not be seen due to the amount of clothes, sweet wrappers and books that covered it. I had a feeling they weren't educational.
I stepped in but then slipped slightly. I looked down and saw a pair of blue boxer shorts wrapped around my foot.
"Eww gross!" I hopped up and down on one leg, trying to flick them off. Fred took them off sheepishly and shoved them under the bed, his ears turning pink.
"George," Ginny said, carefully sitting down on a bed, trying to avoid the garbage. "Mom tried to come up here, so we said you were taking a shower before dinner."
He groaned. "You know how she get if you miss one of her meals."
I spotted a glass of water on the side and suddenly thought of a vengeful idea.
I picked up the glass and poured it over Georges head.
"It looks more authentic now," I giggled while the others laughed loudly. I smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry, but we're now quits for the death eater comment. Truce?" I offered my hand to him. He shook it awkwardly. Fred seemed reluctant, but he too shook my hand. Things weren't actually too bad.
:-:
I was surprised to see that I was one of the first up the next morning. When I came down, only Tonks and Remus were in the kitchen, discussing plans to transport Harry quietly.
"What shall we do about the muggles?" Tonks asked, not noticing that I was standing behind her.
"Send them to a lawn competition," I suggested. She jumped up and spun around.
"Oh. I didn't realise you were there." she held her hand to her heart and tried to calm down while Remus and I laughed.
Once she had recovered, she put the piece of paper they were working on in to her bag.
"We're not supposed to talk about it in front of 'the young ones,'" she air quoted. I pouted sadly.
"Me and Hermione are muggles, we can help you out. And Fred and George are pranksters so they can make it funny," I reasoned.
Remus shook his head. "Don't let Mad Eye here you say that. This whole thing is really serious."
I settled down on one of the chairs and grabbed a bowl of porridge. I doused it in sugar before eating it. I liked porridge, but it was really bland without some sort of sweetener.
"Any news on Harry?" I asked them.
"Not since last night," Remus said. "We've been keeping Hedwig here. It's pointless making her fly to Harry to fly back here again. Besides, after what happened, she's more likely to be intercepted."
"Who Hedwig?" Ron asked sitting down at the table. "When's Harry coming Hermione's in bits. She's really worried."
"The day after tomorrow. But we need to sort a lot of things out. Eg. How to get rid of his aunt and uncle." Tonks said, pulling the parchment out of her bag. She seemed to realise that Ron might be able to help them. He had, after all, met Harry's family and heard a lot about them. Little did they know I knew more about them than anyone; Excluding Harry, of course.
"I said, a lawn competition. From what I've heard they're really snooty and desperate to show off to their neighbours." I informed them.
"It's a good idea, but would they fall for it. It seems a bit farfetched," Tonks said, but she scribbled it on her piece of paper anyway. I grinned at her and gave my 'psychic look', something I had perfected over the past few weeks. It basically consisted of raising my eye brows and smiling slyly, but they fell for it every time.
Tonks circled my point on the paper and began to create a mind map.
"How would we do it then?"
"You would need to send them a letter,"
"By muggle post," Remus added.
"About how they have been shortlisted for Britain's Best Lawn and Garden competition," I continued. "Then give a date and location and they'll definitely go."
"We'll have to make it look make it look authentic though," Remus said. "If it's wrong than the whole plan will fail."
"You can use a comperluter!" Ron said, finally speaking up. They stared at him confused.
"A computer?" I offered. He nodded quickly.
"Hermione said that her dad had just brought one. She was trying to explain them to me, but with little luck." He said.
Remus looked confused and looked down thoughtfully. He was really hot when he was thinking. I noticed Tonks staring at him a little too intently, so I nudged her.
"Could you get one?" I asked her.
"No they're really expensive. I could get a typewriter though."
She left for her parents' house and returned half an hour later with a very old and dusty typewriter. I had only even seen one once when I was very little. My mom used to have one for work, but as I couldn't really remember it, I was in awe as everyone else.
We spent the morning 'helping the order' (our excuse to Mrs Weasley as to why we weren't cleaning) write the letter.
It started off quite simple and easy, until we turned it into a game of who could make up the most stupid excuse.
"Why not write it to Dudley and say he's one a modelling competition?" Ginny suggested. They all giggled knowing how ugly and vile he really was.
"Sexy Ass of the year 1995," I announced, my hands moving like a banner. They all laughed.
"Say they're going to meet the queen or something and then..." but Hermione was cut off by Mrs Weasley coming in.
Unsurprisingly, we were sent out and told to clean the oven. But I didn't care. In just a few days, I would meet Harry Potter.
I know I said Harry was going to make an appearance, but this is eight pages and is getting too long. But I PROMISE he'll feature a lot in the next one. If there is any mistakes, I'm sorry, spell check isn't working. Just point them out if you find any, and I'll edit it.
Thanks so much for the reviews and for reading ;)