Chapter 22:
And just where have you three been?
"Now, if you two would be so kind as to unlock this door, without setting off the alarm, please." Tom whispered to Fred and George, as he cast a furtive look up and down the alley. "The museum is open but the work shop is closed for the holidays, so we're really in luck as far as not being seen."
Following Fred and George into the hallway, Tom eased the door shut and then motioned the twins to follow him.
"How do you know your way around in here?" Fred asked, nearly stumbling in the dark corridor.
"Father of one of my mates works here and I know this place as well as I know my own house. We've got to be really quiet going upstairs, or they'll hear us walking around," Tom cautioned.
"Fix that easy enough," replied George, casting a silencing spell. "I wouldn't stomp around, mind, but I think we can relax a bit, now."
Tom turned and grinned at the brothers, then signaled them to follow him, as they started up a steep flight of stairs. Entering the upper hallway, the trio made their way to a doors marked 'Head Storage'. Fred and George cast a questioning look at each other, shrugged and followed Tom into the room, where they skidded to a halt.
"Bloody Hell!" gasped George and Fred in tandem.
They stood, dumbfounded, facing a room lined with tall shelves, which held what appeared to be heads . . . human heads; eyes open, staring soundlessly.
"They're not real, are they?" Fred managed to ask in a squeaky voice.
"They bloody well better not be real!" gasped George.
"Or we're 'Apparating' out of here," said Fred.
"without you, Tom!" George added.
"Don't be daft! This is Madam Tussaud's Wax Museum . . . they're WAX! Pretty life-like though, huh." Tom stood grinning at the discomforted twins, but then motioned them forward to inspect the room's contents. "Now, we'll look through the old heads that haven't been touched in years, for one that resembles Albus . . . and remember, try to envision the head with his long hair and beard; it doesn't have to be a perfect likeness, just close enough to fool someone who gets a quick glance. Add his robes, hair and hat, we should be able to use just about anybody's head."
However, that was easier said than done and it was a full twenty minutes before they found a head they could all agree was the closest resemblance to the Headmaster.
"Right, now use the 'Shrinking Charm' on this one and also duplicate one to replace it and fill that empty space on the shelf," instructed Tom. Fred held the head up and pointed his wand at it, while George chose another head from down the aisle and made its twin appear in the open spot on the shelf. "Right, pop 'Albus' in here," Tom added, as he held out an empty mint tin, into which Fred deposited the shrunken wax head. "Now we're off to my old school, to 'borrow' a body."
"Wicked."
"Excellent."
X X X
"Mr. Weasley is doing splendidly, Mrs. Weasley, and he will be released into your care on Friday morning, barring any unforeseen complication," Healer Pye informed Molly, as he finished doing a diagnostic sweep of his wand over the patient lying, propped up, on the bed. Arthur smiled at his wife.
"Thank you so much for all you've done for Arthur, Healer Pye. I realize using the Muggle 'stitches' was an honest attempt at an alternative solution to the bleeding," replied Molly, taking Arthur's hand and patting it. "But you won't be volunteering as Healer Pye's 'guinea pig' anytime in the near future, will you dear?"
"I should bloody well hope not! If you'll pardon the pun . . . get it? . . . bloody, stitches?!" Arthur laughed at his own joke, as Molly and Healer Pye looked at each other and rolled their eyes.
"Oh, he's feeling MUCH better, I can tell," muttered Molly, as Healer Pye headed toward the door of the clinic.
Molly pulled over a chair and settled herself on the seat, but didn't look at Arthur. Rather, she sat there, staring at the wall and wringing her hands. Arthur wrinkled his brow and then decided to find out exactly what was going on with his bride of twenty-seven years . . . he'd lived with her long enough to read her body language; she knew something she was dying to tell him, but wasn't quite sure how to bring the subject up casually.
"Okay, Molly Wobbles, out with it! What's the big news and/or secret that's almost bursting from your lips? " he asked, making her jump a bit and smile sheepishly at him.
"I can't . . . I promised . . . but it's . . . you won't believe . . . change everything . . . . save Fred's life. . . " Molly was sputtering and trying her hardest not to give away the 'surprise'.
"FRED"S LIFE!" Arthur gasped. "Molly Prewett Weasley, you tell me what it is right this minute or I'll get out of this bed and go to Grimmauld Place and find out for myself!"
"NO! . . No, you can't!" Molly jumped up and then collapsed back onto the chair, rocking with laughter, which only intensified when Arthur sat up straight and then hastily adjusted the shoulder of his hospital gown, when it slipped off his shoulder. That set off another burst of giggles, which Molly was trying valiantly to suppress, without much success. But after a minute and a quelling look from her husband, she straightened herself and then took a deep breath.
"Right. Well, first off, Arthur, I must have your solemn oath that you will not attempt to get out of that bed, leave this hospital to go to Grimmauld Place or do anything but listen to me OR I won't tell you one word about what's been going on this past week, twice." Molly folded her hands and waited for Arthur to make his decision. He could tell by the set of her jaw that she wouldn't speak a word of the "secret" if he didn't agree.
"I promise to not try and leave St. Mungo's before I'm released Friday and I will listen to your story and try not to interrupt . . . too much . . . with too many questions . . . if I can help it . . . is that sufficient, dear?" he smiled at her, as he piled up his pillows and settled back to enjoy her tale.
"It will do for now. I can always throw a 'Body Bind' on you, until you see sense, sweetheart," she replied, smiling at him innocently. Arthur knew better; no one was faster with a 'Body Bind' hex than his Molly.
X X X
"Dobby?"
'Pop'
"Yes, Master Draco? You be wanting Dobby, sir?"
"Yes, actually, I was wondering if you could take me to Grimmauld Place for a short visit . . . I'm bored with nobody to talk to, knowing the rest are all together, doing something and having fun."
"Certainly Dobby can take you, but everyone has gone to The Burrow today."
"Really? Well, I suppose that would be alright, too. I've always wondered what the Weasley homestead really looks like. Fine, The Burrow it is." Draco held out his hand expectantly.
"You must tell Missy Cissa where you is going, or Dobby cannot do it. It be Harry Potter's and Mr. Dan's orders to Dobby, as they wants you and Missy Cissa to be safe," replied the House Elf, taking a step backward.
"Really? Well, couldn't hurt, I suppose. I'll go tell Mother and then we'll just pop off, eh?"
"Is Master home?" Dobby asked tentatively.
"No, he's gone to Diagon Alley, to Gringott's, so you can come with me without worrying about being seen," replied Draco, grabbing his jacket, as he headed toward his mother's sitting room, Dobby padding dutifully behind. Sticking his head in the door, Draco saw his mother sitting in the window seat, reading a book.
"Mother?"
"Draco! Come in, darling. What . . . oh, Dobby . . . what are you doing here? Anything wrong?" Narcissa asked, having spotted the House Elf trot in the door behind her son.
"Nothing's wrong, Mother; I called Dobby to come. I'm bored out of my skull and no-one's around to visit . . . well, I could visit Gregory, but he's got a cold, and Vincent's off with his family somewhere. Just for a hour or two . . . please?" Draco gave his best 'puppy dog' look and waited.
Narcissa shook her head. "That won't work on me, and you know it, young man. Alright, I don't suppose it would hurt, as your father should be out for a good while. But if Dobby shows up, don't ask questions, just come home with him, straight away, do you understand?"
"Certainly, Mother. Wouldn't want to get caught out and ruin all the plans that are being set into place, now, would I?" Draco replied, bending to plant a kiss on his mother's cheek. Shrugging on his jacket and he walked over to Dobby who took his offered hand.
"Too right! Well, off with you, I'm just getting to the good part of this book and I don't want any more interruptions! Scat!" Narcissa shooed the two of them away and lifted her book from her lap.
'Pop'
X X X
'Pop"
"Dobby! Draco! What's brings you two here?" Harry smiled at the tall blond and his favorite House Elf. "We weren't expecting you until Friday."
The others looked up from watching Ron and Rupert's intense game of Wizard's Chess, surprise written on all of their faces.
"Going stir-crazy at the Manor, so I called Dobby, told Mother what I was going to do and," he shrugged his shoulders, "here I am." He slowly turned around, taking in the interior of The Burrow and then walked through the living room, around the stairs, casting a glance up the multiple leveled staircase, to wind up back in the kitchen. He noticed Ginny watching him warily and smiled at her. "Don't worry, Ginny, I think your home is . . . fascinating, but what I like best is . . . it looks like a family actually lives here . . . the Manor is more of a museum . . . a shrine to Malfoy family pride . . . I hate it."
"It can't be that bad, Draco," Emma responded. "I've been in a few manor houses and they can be quite cozy, despite the size and number of rooms."
"Maybe if Muggles live there, but not at our place; stone cold, nothing personal except portraits of the family . . . it's . . . it's . . . "
"Lonely?" Emma finished, as she walked up and hooked her arm through Draco's, pulling him to the living room sofa, to sit next to her. "I'm not a big chess fan, so why don't we sit and chat until one of them finally wins; they're playing two out of three . . . this could take a while."
"Mind if we join you two?" asked Ginny, as Luna, Harry, Dan and she wandered in and took their seats in the easy chairs scattered around the room.
"So, what have you lot been up to, then?" Draco inquired, very conscious of the pretty Muggle sitting next to him. She resembled Gra . . . Hermione so much, he was still unsettled by the fact she wasn't a witch . . . he was actually sitting and talking to a Muggle! But he was brought back to the present as Harry laughed and answered him.
"You missed a great pick-up game of Quidditch, mate. If you'd been here, you might have even picked up a few tips," teased Harry.
"Ha, as if you could teach me anything, Pot . . . Harry," retorted Draco.
"Actually, it would have been Sirius who would have shown you a thing or two," said Dan. "By the way, anyone seen Remus and Sirius lately?"
As if on cue, the two friends came in the back door of the Burrow, shook off their coats and hung them on the coat rack before turning their attention to the chess game taking place at the kitchen table.
"Who's winning?" Remus stood looking at the board, tilting his head as he considered the pattern of the pieces left in the game.
"Ron won the first game. We're doing two out of three, and I'm ahead . . . Bishop takes rook." Rupert picked up his bishop and clicked Ron's rook off the board. He couldn't get them to move magically, as they refused to listen to the commands of a Muggle, but the rook picked itself up and walked over to the storage box, to tumble in and come to rest against one of pawns. The bishop lifted his chin and looked around, approvingly, at his new location on the board.
"Where's everyone else . . . oh, in here . . . well, hello Draco, dropped in for a visit, eh? Old mausoleum a bit . . . quiet for you?" Sirius sat on the arm of the sofa and ruffled Draco's hair.
"Gerroff! And yes, I was going slightly stir crazy with no place to go; Gregory's sick and Vincent's away, so I decided to pop in for a hour or two to make sure you all weren't up to some mischief . . . without me," he added, with a smirk.
"Well, we're glad you're here, no matter the reason, Draco," Emma patted him on his thigh. "How is your mother?"
"She's fine," Draco managed to gasp. "Deep in a book when I left." He turned quickly to Hermione. "I knew you reminded me of someone, Hermione . . . Mother always has a book in her hand or on the table next to her . . . that's the one thing I gave you credit for, being a Muggle; that you loved reading as much as she does."
"How nice of you to admit that, Draco. I also know you use the library at school as much as I do. I've seen you sitting at that one corner table many a time, nose to the page . . . it was the one thing I had to give you credit for, too," laughed Hermione. "The rest of your old Slytherin attitude, I could have done without, but, then I don't expect you to become a Gryffindor, either."
"Speaking of Slytherin, anyone seen Tom . . . or the twins recently?" Remus inquired, as he joined the crowd.
"They might be up in the twins room . . . but it is awfully quiet, now that you mention it," Dan walked over to the stairs and cocked his head, listening. "I don't hear anything, but they might have placed a "Silencing Charm" or something, eh?"
"Which worries me even more," Emma replied, then stood and headed for the stairs. "I'll go check . . . I'll know if Tom's trying to hide something."
"Oh, it's good to not be Tom. If Emma starts in on you, you're a goner . . . remember that Draco, it could save your neck," smiled Dan, as he sat back down.
"Right, filed away," nodded Draco.
Emma came down the stairs and leaned over the railing. "They're not there. Did they go back out to Mr. Weasley's workshop, do you suppose?" she asked, to no one in particular.
"Probably, the twins are just as mad about Muggle stuff as Dad, maybe worse, as they would love to adapt things and then sell them," replied Ginny, shaking her head. "They'll come in for dinner. Tell you the truth; it's quieter in here, even with all of us, then it is with just the twins, Ron, Mum, Dad and me! Let's leave them out there!"
"CHECK!" Ron yelled, which drew Sirius and Remus back into the kitchen.
"Oh, dear, it sounds like Ron's going to win this one, too," Hermione sighed. "There'll be nothing but talk about Wizards Chess and the great "Battle of the Rons" for days!"
"MATE!" Rupert shouted!
"Oh, another game . . . tie-breaker," Luna said, as she stood to go check how the game had been won.
"Anyone for poker?" Dan asked.
X X X
"And that's where we stand, as of this moment, Arthur, dear." Molly leaned back in her chair and pushed her hair back out of her face. She's been talking, more or less continually, for two hours, recounting every minute of what had transpired at Grimmauld Place during the week, what was going to happen in the future and about the meeting on Friday. She'd even told him about why she'd laughed when he threatened to get up and go to Grimmauld Place.
Arthur sat there, properly gob-smacked, but with a thoughtful look on his face. Then he turned to Molly and took a deep breath. "I think it's better I do know what's been happening, so as to save time on Friday, dear. I just hope I get to see the movies at some point before our young visitors have to take it all away with them."
"I'm sure if you have any questions, dear, they will be happy to supply you with a good answer, as they seem to know everything about our world," added Molly.
"I might make a list . . . no, better not, can't have someone seeing anything about this, can we?"
"No, that wouldn't do at all, Arthur. Oh, my, is that the time . . . I'd better go and get dinner started!" Molly jumped up, but then froze in her tracks. "Oh, wait, Winky will be doing that . . . that's an odd sensation; knowing I don't have to rush around so much anymore," Molly mused.
"I like the idea of you having a House Elf, if it means we get to spend more time together, old girl," smiled Arthur, as he reached out to grab Molly's hand and pull her over to the bed, so as to put his arms around her.
"Arthur Weasley! Behave yourself! You're in a hospital bed!"
"Room for you, too, Molly Wobbles," was the reply, as he gave a tug and tumbled her onto the mattress beside him.
X X X
The fireplace at The Burrow blazed up, and Fred, George and Tom emerged, to come face to face with Remus and Sirius, arms crossed, frowns on their faces.
"Oops, busted," muttered Tom, casting a glance at the twins.
"And just where have you three been?" Remus looked at each of them in turn.
"Well, Tom had an idea," Fred started.
"Which was brilliant," George continued.
"Thanks guys," Tom beamed and then the smile slid from his face as Sirius turned his gaze on him.
"We just popped out to pick up a couple of things," Fred picked up the story.
"You'll see when we get it put together," George nodded.
"We just dropped all the stuff off at Grimmauld Place and then, well, here we are, no one saw us, Bob's your uncle, we're done!" concluded Tom.
Remus pointed a finger at the twins, back and forth between the two. "It's a good thing Molly's not back yet, or you'd be in big trouble."
"They're still in big trouble," Sirius growled. "What if you'd been seen?"
"We weren't!" Fred objected.
"Or recognized?" Remus kept going.
"In 1995, I'm 5 years old; even my own mother wouldn't know me!" Tom protested. "Besides which, we didn't walk around, we just got in and got out . . . .no contact with anybody!"
"Relax, you two, we're done and back," George finished.
Silence hung in the kitchen for a minute or two, then Sirius shrugged and Remus shook his head.
"Where is everybody, anyway?" Tom looked around.
"Upstairs, after the 'Great Ron Chess Match', Winky kicked the lot of them out so she could get dinner started, isn't that right, Winky?" Remus turned to the diminutive creature fussing over the dinner preparations at the work counter.
"Yes, Mister Sirius and Winky is needing all of you to be getting out of the kitchen also!"
"As you wish, Winky, as you wish,' replied Remus, ushering the others into the living room. "Now, you will tell us what it is you've been up to this afternoon . . . all of it!"
X X X
"Narcissa! NARCISSA!" Lucius raised his voice, as he laid his cane on the hall table and began to remove his traveling cloak.
Narcissa leaned over the balcony. "Hello, Lucius. Did your meeting go well?"
"The usual business, boring but necessary. However, I did run into Cornelius Fudge and we've been invited to an impromptu dinner he's throwing tonight. So change into that blue/grey gown I like so much and put on the matching jewelry set . . . there will be lots of Ministry people there."
"Certainly, dear. I'll be ready in no time. I'll just leave Draco a note."
"Leave him a note? Isn't he here? I want him to come with us; he needs to start attending these kinds of affairs, make connections, be introduced to the right people. Where is he?" Lucius asked, as he removed his gloves.
"He went to visit Gregory, who's a little under the weather. You know, to cheer him up a bit. I'll Floo him to come home."
"I'll do that while you get changed, my dear. I need to speak to Gaylord on another matter, anyway."
"Fine, darling, I'll just go change then." Turning, Narcissa hurried down the hall and the instant she closed her bedroom door she hissed, "Dobby!"
'Pop'
"Yes, Missy Cissa?"
Getting down on her knees she grasped the House Elf's hands. "Listen very carefully, Dobby. Go and get Draco, but don't bring him here. Take him to Gregory Goyle's house, directly to Gregory's bedroom. Tell him his father is going to 'Floo Call' for him to come home. You must make sure that Gregory says Draco's been there visiting for the last couple of hours. Don't be seen and tell Draco to be careful!"
"Yes, Missy Cissa!"
'Pop'
X X X
"Well, it really doesn't matter who won, because when we go back, I won't remember the whole match, will I?" Rupert laughed.
The kids were sprawled on the landings and stairs of the upper reaches of The Burrow, relaxing before dinner.
'Pop'
Dobby appeared in the middle of the landing, got his bearings and reached out for Draco's hand. Draco grasped it and just had time to say "Bye!"
'Pop'
"What the bloody hell?"