Chapter 33
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of JK Rowling's fabulous characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOTgive permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.
Grimmauld Place was looking almost unrecognisable as Dobby had rid the house of what seemed like several tonnes of dust and grime, cleaned and torn down the old dark heavy curtains full of doxies and other infestations, and stripped back the dark and peeling wall coverings and removed all the snake motifs. He hadn't managed to get the painting of Sirius' mother off the wall until the day Harry turned up with a sledge hammer and threatened to smash the portrait to bits if she was responsible for the sticking charm. He banished the curtains that Sirius or the order had installed over the painting.
"You can't do that you and your filthy mudblood aren't members of the house of Black,"
"I'm Sirius' heir, so I'm the head of the house of Black and Hermione is my wife the current Lady Black and I demand you show her respect. Now you have 3 choices. Either you tell us how to get your portrait off the wall and I remove the frame and spell you to sleep so no harm comes to you while you're stored somewhere that your ugly opinions don't poison my home, you swear an oath that you cannot cancel the charms preventing your removal and behave politely to everyone while I research how to get you off the wall without harming you and as a last resort if Hermione can't find a better solution, I will cut out the wall around you and spell you to sleep or option 3, you refuse the oath and I will spell you so you cannot leave this portrait, cast a permanent silencing charm, and either cut you off the wall or smash you off it without any care whether your portrait is damaged and store you in an empty room where you will have to hope someone rescues you before you go even more batshit insane than you are already or you keep on being the harridan you've been since the day we met and I will destroy the portrait.
Kreacher popped into the hallway and tried to intervene but Harry ordered him to stop. "Kreacher, I am removing this portrait from the wall. This will be my home and this xenophobic, bigoted witch in my foyer representing my family and abusing my wife and myself is intolerable. If you can remove the sticking charm, I order you to remove the portrait from any part of the house used by witches, wizards or my in-laws. If you remove the portrait, you can keep it if you keep it out of my sight but you are never again to accept or follow any order that Walburga Black or any other portrait gives you. You do not work for portraits, you work for me and if you cannot accept that you're welcome to join your family on the wall but be aware they're going to either be moved up to the attic or buried respectfully. I will not have house elf heads on my wall in public, making me look like I abuse my elves.
Kreature disappeared from in front of him and when he went to look his head was on the wall with his ancestors smirking down at Harry.
Harry looked at him trying to hide his dread at the thought of what Hermione would say if she saw them. Then returned to the front hall.
"Last chance Walburga, if you know the counter for the sticking charm used or the password to release it speak up now," Harry said swinging the sledge hammer over his shoulder prepared to make the first strike.
Walburga screamed abuse at him and Harry used his annoyance at her to fuel his blows. The top right corner of the frame shattered followed by the top left corner and the rest of the frame, revealing the edge of the canvas. Harry then used the crow bar to attempt to pull it off the wall.
"Useless Halfblood isn't as smart as he thinks he is," Walburga sneered as the canvas stuck fast.
"Ugly blobs of paint is celebrating too soon," Harry said pulling out his potions knife and slashing the canvas from the underframe that it was stretched over.
Walburga shrieked as if she was a real person being slashed by a knife but Harry didn't hesitate. "I gave you a choice, you can release the sticking charm and I'll stop cutting," he reminded her as he cut all the way around and rolled up the still shrieking portrait. "Shut up or I will throw you in the fire."
The portrait stopped screaming.
"Okay then, do you want the house elves to suffer the same treatment or are you willing to tell me how to get them off the wall without hurting them?" Harry asked.
Walburga remained silent and Harry started taking the crowbar to the wood that secured Kreature's head, silently praying that Hermione would not decide to come over to see what he was doing until he'd finished and managed to get them off and clear away the debris.
Evidently Walburga must have had some compassion because she yelled out the release password on the sticking charm and the heads all fell off the wall before Harry had to harm them. He cast a diagnostic charm and realized that the portrait had negated the permanent stasis charms as well as the sticking charm so he shrunk them and the portrait and wrapped them up in an old copy of the daily prophet and carried them outside. He was at a loss what to do with them, he couldn't bury them without risking the statute of secrecy if they were found, he didn't trust that he could cast a permanent enough preservation charm to store them in the attic or transfigure them permanently to dispose of them that way. He couldn't even bury them in the tiny patch of garden behind the house if the house was ever going to be sold in the muggle world.
In the end he asked Dobby what was traditionally done with deceased house elves by families who weren't insane enough to stick them on the walls, and Dobby transfigured them into firewood and stacked them beside the stove before going inside to fix up the walls.
Harry looked at him in horror.
"They be's useful that ways," Dobby said as if it explained everything, and Harry supposed that it did, in a way his human sensibilities found cruel. It was an elf's deepest ambition to be of use to their master, it was why they served, why Dobby tried to help him in such unconventional ways if he didn't provide him with work to do for him. In a way the state of the house had been a Merlin sent opportunity to give his elf the work he needed to be happy and sane. He just hoped that Hermione never learned what had happened to the house elf heads.
"Please don't tell Hermione that you transfigured their heads into wood for the stove. She'd never forgive either of us for not giving them a respectful burial but I would never be able to sell the house if we decided to in future with them buried in the garden," Harry asked Dobby.
"Best make it an order or I'lls will has to tell Mistress Mione if she askes, and I don't want to be getting you in troubles with Mistress Mione" Dobby said anxiously.
Harry nodded and gave the order and wandered back into the entryway and found both walls in pristine condition waiting for Harry and Hermione to choose paint colours. Hermione had collected a heap of swatches from the paint shop for them to consider which Harry felt a little guilty for since Dobby had covered the walls in a magical paint that they could change the colours of at whim so they wouldn't be buying muggle paint. Dobby had also stripped back the dark varnish on all the wooden doors and skirtings as well as pulling up the old threadbare or rotting carpets and refinishing the floorboards in a beautiful warm light colour.
The house looked much more open and spacious, if a little empty, unfinished and lacking in personality. Harry still wasn't sure that he'd ever like the house but it was the only one he had, so he'd give Hermione the chance to try to make it feel like a home before he stripped all the wards and sold it.
-o0o-
As Ron stood alone, waiting for his bride to walk down the aisle, he regretted not sticking to his own desires to have Harry stand with him as his best man. He could have used the steady support of his best make friend, and having the 'savour' standing beside him would have drawn attention away from him. Ron didn't stop to think how ironic that idea was since he'd always been jealous that he didn't get the attention his best friend was constantly subjected to and now he was the centre of attention he found himself wishing that Harry was there to take it away from him. Instead, he stood there alone facing the curious, and to his mind judgemental, stares of Eloise's friends and extended family.
Looking towards his family's side of the gathering only drove home how much things had changed and his brothers sat there with their wives, Bill with Fleur holding baby Victorie, Percy with his already heavily pregnant wife Audrey, Fred and Maude who none of them knew very well yet, George and Alicia who seemed fairly happy though Alicia was also upset about having to put her training on hold while she was pregnant, and then Ginny sitting on her own scowling at the whole idea of marriage since she couldn't marry the boy of her dreams. Charlie wasn't there, he'd floo called Ron the week before and explained, as a British wizard the only reason the new marriage law hadn't affected him was that he hadn't been in the country since before it was introduced. If he attended the wedding he would have to be matched and married himself within the next few months and he wasn't willing to leave his dragons for a ministry chosen wife. Ron understood, though he'd like to see him. He'd sent a great gift though, matching dragonhide boots and gloves for him and Eloise.
Behind the Weasleys were his parents' friends, mostly members of the order of the Phoenix. Remus was there on his own, as a werewolf he wasn't allowed to marry in the eyes of the ministry and therefore wasn't affected by the law, nobody wanted to increase the Were population. Sitting as far from him as she could without joining the Midgen side of the assembly, a visibly pregnant Tonks had also turned up alone. Her hair was a dull grey, matching her eyes and clothing, even her skin looked pale and washed out. Hagrid took up half a row of seats on his own, Ron wondered for a moment whether he'd had to marry or whether Rita Skeeter had unwittingly done him a favour by outing him as a half giant, Flitwick and McGonagall were also present, though he'd heard rumours that McGonagall had married, though surely she was too old to need to have a baby, she was there with the Hogwarts staff today, her husband if he existed hadn't accompanied her. Kingsley sat there with his wife, they looked content, Emmeline Vance was sitting next to a wizard Ron had never met before. Ron wondered if any of the ministry matches were truly happy. Or were they all just trying to make the best of things until the law changed and they could divorce.
At least he and Eloise had been able to pick which marriage ceremony was used, in spite of strong pressure from his mother to choose more traditional and more binding vows. This way, there was still a way out, if the law was changed soon their marriage could be ended without any magical or financial penalties. Ron was still counting on the law being changed before he and Eloise had to have a baby, it seemed totally impossible to him that he could be old enough to become a father.
He smiled when he saw Eloise coming towards him, she looked just as nervous as he was but at least this was a traditional marriage ceremony. There was no chance that their magic would refuse to bond them like the ritual he tried with Hermione. It didn't matter how compatible they were or whether he truly meant the vows he was making. All that he had to do was remember to say his vows correctly and put the ring on her finger when the celebrant told him to. He was kind of glad that it was Eloise he was marrying, she was a good sort and they had a lot in common. There was nobody else he'd rather be married to, but he still didn't feel ready to be married at all, and even now standing up in front of everybody with Eloise walking towards him, prepared to vow to love honour and cherish each other didn't feel quite real. He felt like he was preparing to recite something he'd been forced to learn. He had a moment of doubt as he saw Harry and Hermione sitting in the back of the church. It felt wrong not to have them up here with him facing this together as they'd faced every other danger and major challenge and important event in their lives, but more than that he couldn't imagine his relationship with Eloise ever becoming anything like the love and trust Harry and Hermione had together, and he had to admit that he wanted that. He wanted the easy comfort and support they gave each other, the unhesitating faith that they both would always act in each other's best interests, the way they seemed to know each other even better than he knew himself.
Eloise arrived next to him, slipping her hand into his and he turned and tried to smile at her. She looked really pretty. He could feel her hand tremble as he held it but her voice when she recited her vows sounded steadier than his and she didn't hesitate. He tried not to either, there was no going back on this now. Ready or not, he had to marry Eloise today or spend 6 months in Azkaban followed by being rematched and he doubted he would be lucky enough to get someone as decent as Eloise a second time.
Eloise had been nothing but nice to him, he liked her, they were friends, better friends than he was with anyone else except Harry and Hermione, but now they were married, suddenly it didn't seem enough.
Ron was glad that Eloise kept close to his side after the ceremony as they moved around the room introducing each other to relatives and family friends, accepting awkward congratulations and making small talk. It seemed to Ron as if she was using him as a barrier to keep her relatives polite as much as she was offering him support and he tried to be as supportive as he could be. They both breathed a sigh of relief as they reached the end and were able to join their friends and just be themselves for a moment. Hermione hugged them both while Harry slapped him on the back and smiled at Eloise. Neither of them said congratulations or wished them well, though Ron knew that of course they wanted them both to be happy. Instead, Hermione congratulated Eloise on how lovely she looked and the decorations while Harry and Ron talked about Quidditch, letting the newlyweds have a much-needed break from the seriousness of the occasion.
Harry, Hermione, Neville and Elsie sat with Seamus, Parvati, Dean and Leanne at dinner. The meal was excellent and the eight of them were able to relax and talk as if they were back at school. Elsie was getting to know them all a little better and was able to confidently talk to them without feeling self-conscious. The girls were interested in Elsie's visit to Longbottom manor and how her studies were going. Seamus and Dean both shuddered at the thought of studying all summer, they wished her well but didn't want to hear about it. Parvati also told them about the letter she'd received from Lavender that week, from where they were honeymooning in Italy.
Ginny, sitting on a table with her brothers and their wives, wasn't enjoying her dinner, the food was excellent but she was used to excellent food so it was nothing special, she'd deliberately been seated so they were well away from the table Harry and Hermione were on and with her back to them as well, so she couldn't even watch them. She had been lectured by her mother every day for the last week on the importance of not causing a scene. Fred and George had sat down with her and had an unusually serious conversation about the ritual that Harry and Hermione had used to bond. She understood that Harry would ever be hers but it still hurt to see how happy he looked to be with Hermione. She acknowledged that it hurt more that he didn't even seem to regret not being married to her instead. Her brother Bill had told her bluntly that that was not love. Love wasn't selfish like that and if she loved Harry she would be glad his marriage was happy and not be trying to think of ways to ruin it for him and this selfish way of thinking was preventing her from getting over it and making her unhappy for no purpose.
After the meal there was dancing. Ron and Eloise looked horribly awkward for the first half of their bridal waltz before they both burst out laughing and just danced the way they wanted to. Then everyone joined them on the floor, Harry and Hermione looked quite good together, and looked to be enjoying themselves which surprised Ginny because she 'knew' Harry didn't like to dance. He surprised her by asking his other friends to dance as well. He danced with Neville's mousy little bride and they laughed and chatted through their clumsy dance while Hermione danced expertly with Neville, then he danced with Parvati, Katie and Alicia before the music picked up the pace and they all started dancing as a group. She noticed that Hannah Abbot and Susan Bones had joined the edges of the group and were made welcome. She wondered if they'd accept her joining in but didn't have the courage to risk being turned away.
Ginny sighed, a year ago she would have been part of that group, dancing with Dean, flirting with Harry, laughing and teasing Ron about his new bride and upcoming wedding night. Even before she started dating Dean, she would have been sitting with them, she'd always got along better with Harry and his friends than she did her own year level. Now she felt cut off from them. They'd all sided with Harry when their relationship broke up. A rational part of her brain suggested that that was reasonable. They were Harry's roommates and best female friend before they were hers and she had also rejected Dean when he tried to ask her to try the ritual with him as well. She hadn't realised until after breaking up with Harry that it would be permanent or that she was also giving up most of her friends who had rallied around Harry and Hermione, supporting the newly married couple. She knew that, in their opinion, she'd been the one to break up with Harry rather than marry him in those horrible rituals, and then once they were starting to get over that she was spending all of her spare time outside of the common room dating a boy in Ravenclaw and hanging around with his friends, only to have all of them drop her acquaintance when he married someone else. They'd forgiven Ron for failing to marry Hermione but they hadn't forgiven her. She deliberately ignored the fact that they hadn't spent time with her because of the way she continually acted like a jilted bride whenever Harry was around instead of trying to get over it and reforge her friendships the way Ron had.
She'd enjoyed the drama of being the wounded party and the support of her classmates and her mother but she was lonely, her Gryffindor classmates hadn't been invited in spite of the fact that Eloise was in her year level, and she'd never bothered to get to know the Hufflepuff girls. Ginny was bored sitting at the table with her brothers and their wives, it seemed everyone her age was paired up except for her. Nobody had come to ask her to dance except one of her young cousins and he must have been about twelve and trampled all over her feet. Harry and Hermione had been surrounded by friends all night while she sat trying to make conversation with her relatives attempting to steer the conversation away from her own marriage the following year, and the fact that she still had no idea who the groom would be.
Remus had spoken to Ron and Eloise and to Harry and Hermione briefly before he'd ducked out early straight after the desserts. Tonks hadn't stayed much longer.
"That's odd, I thought that Remus told me he'd married Tonks when we got married?" Harry said to Hermione.
"Yeah he said that, I don't know what's going on. Maybe their marriage wasn't recognised by the ministry because of his lycanthropy?" Hermione suggested. "Is there anyone who would know?"
"The Weasley's would know, Kingsley probably does too since he works with Tonks," Harry suggested.
"Let's ask Kingsley, I don't want to be the reason Molly looses her mind at Ron's wedding," Hermione said.
"Tonks lost her job when the ministry found out that she married a werewolf. Remus felt responsible, and then they found out about the baby and Remus is afraid to be around it. He's moved out and is trying to convince Tonks to divorce him," Kingsley said.
Harry wished he knew of a way to help the two of them. They obviously still had feelings for each other even though they couldn't openly admit it. Hermione wondered who Tonks whether Tonks had divorced Remus and if she had been forced to remarry if she was already pregnant. How successful could a marriage like that be, would her new husband be aware that she was in love with the father of her child, were Tonks and Remus avoiding each other as much in private as they were in public. They both seemed miserable. Would spending time with each other make things better or worse for them?
Once they managed to put Remus and Tonks out of their minds, Harry and Hermione had a great time at the wedding. Ron had laughingly told them that Ginny and his Mum had been warned that Ginny wouldn't get a wedding at all if they threw a fit and ruined his wedding. Harry and Hermione thought it was a bit harsh but it certainly seemed to be effective. Ginny sulking at her table all night was a bit of a downer but neither of them wanted to go over there and encourage her bad behaviour.
Neville and Elsie also enjoyed the relatively low key wedding, they were confident dancing with each other now and enjoyed hanging out in the larger group of friends. Elsie believed that they were still mostly trying to make her feel included for Neville's sake but at least everyone was friendly.
-o0o-
Daniel looked unimpressed as he parked the car outside Grimmauld Place. 'A bit run down and in need of gentrification' was a gross understatement in his opinion. Still Hermione was right that they weren't far from the trendy suburbs and there was a decent sized shared garden space across the road in need of a severe overhaul. Some of the big old houses did have some charm, with their leadlight windows or would have if they were tidied up a bit even though most of them looked to have been converted to small flats or even bedsits from the number of letter boxes visible through the doorways that were open.
Emma was surprised not to be walking into a bit of a building site from the description of the work Hermione had spoken of going on. The entry way and the rooms visible off it looked finished though unfurnished and Emma had to admit the woodwork looked beautiful but she didn't like the drab almost white colour of the walls.
"How much of the house is yours?" Daniel asked not seeing additional letter slots or signs of division. He supposed that it could have been divided so that the other occupants entered through the rear, or perhaps they had been removed during the renovation and not replaced yet.
"All of it, two levels and an attic above this and the kitchen, laundry and storage areas down stairs," Harry replied.
"And how much did you have to renovate?" Emma asked wide eyed. That was a huge house even if the rooms on the other side of the hall were narrow. It was difficult to tell in row houses like this where one finished and the next began.
"All of it," Harry said laughing. "Nothing had really been done since Sirius' mother died in the 80's and probably not for several decades before that. She was very traditional in her tastes and opinions."
"Is it wired for electricity?" Emma asked noticing what looked like antique gas lights, and old fashioned electrical light switches.
"No not really. Dobby's installed switches so non-magical people can work the lights and to hide the magical lighting from muggles, but this has been a magical house since it was built, it's never had connections to the electrical grid, gas mains, or muggle water and sewage either, it all runs on magic," Harry replied.
"You're not going to be able to sell it without getting it wired, why didn't you do it before you repaired the walls?" Daniel asked.
"There's no connection to the power grid and according to the city the house doesn't exist, so there are no council rates or fees and no amenities," Hermione said. "We're planning to get a small generator and have a nonmagical den with a TV and stereo in the back sitting room.
"A generator will be noisy and a lot of work," Daniel warned them.
"Generators are very simple carbon motors they can be spelled to run magically, shielded to mask the smell of petrol and silenced without any issues, and it's possible to enchant the fuel tank to fill itself from a nearby source, or to use runes to transfigure petrol from water," Harry replied.
"Would that work with a car?" Daniel asked astonished.
"Perhaps an older car, I wouldn't want to risk getting the makeup wrong in a high performance or modern engine," Harry replied.
"This is the sitting room, it's also the fireplace that's connected to the floo for arrivals and departures," Hermione showed them.
"No plans to turn it into a library?" Emma asked teasingly, surprised by the total lack of bookshelves.
"There's a library on the other side of the hall," Hermione replied blushing as Harry laughed.
"I'm surprised you didn't show us that first," Daniel teased.
"It's still a work in progress. Dobby has refinished the shelves but the books are still all packed up and waiting for us to sort them before being re-shelved. It's come up very well but I think Hermione finds it too distressing to be in there without the books," Harry replied laughing.
Daniel laughed
"This was the room that we're going to install electricity and turn into the snug. The doors are new," The room had beautiful lead light French doors leading out to a large garden that was totally out of place in the neighbourhood. The room itself was dark and dingy with dark paint though like the rest of the house it was perfectly clean.
"The garden is huge," Emma stated in shock.
"It's actually tiny, the back wall is less than three meters from the house. It's been expanded with wizard space," Harry replied, laughing.
"Are the rooms expanded too?" Daniel asked curiously.
"Not on this level. The master bedroom and bath on the third floor have been," Hermione said.
"We're going to have to get Dobby to spell it so muggles can't see the past the terrace, unless they know the rest is there," Hermione said worried.
"I'm sure he can do that," Harry replied.
"What's is wrong with the garden? Dobby can fix," the small elf said anxiously, popping in and startling the Grangers.
"Nothing is wrong with the garden Dobby, it looks lovely. You must have worked very hard to make it look so good. But we're probably going to have muggle guests and tradesmen in to wire this room for electricity and they will know that we don't have enough land for a garden like this. Is it possible to charm it so only wizards or people like the Grangers who already know about the expansion charms can see past the terrace area and it looks like the back wall or fence is there. It won't hurt if they can see the trees over the wall but the neighbouring backyard needs to look about the same size or smaller to muggles as well so the house will need to look closer than it does now?" Hermione said hurriedly.
"Dobby can do but wills not lasts more than a year. Be better to gets a ward if you wants it to lasts. Goblins wills do better than elf magic," Dobby replied pulling at his ears at having to admit he couldn't do something he was asked to.
Harry caught his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Don't do that Dobby. Remember that Hermione and I never want you to punish yourself. It's not your fault that Hermione and I didn't know we should ask the goblins to do that for us. We already planned to hire a warding team to redo the wards, so we can add this one in with no extra effort. Thank you for telling us the best way to do what we need."
"Please don't hurt yourself Dobby. You've done such an amazing job of renovating the house. Harry and I are very pleased with your work," Hermione added.
"What's going on?" Emma asked.
"Dobby was abused by his previous owners, they couldn't be bothered to actually punish him themselves or perhaps they took perverted pleasure in making him hurt himself because they'd order him to abuse himself for any slightest failure to follow orders. Dobby knows we would never hurt him, but we need to remind him sometimes not to fall back into bad habits like punishing himself for things he thinks he hasn't done perfectly," Hermione explained.
"Dobby wills remember better," Dobby said anxiously.
"As long as you don't hurt yourself you're remembering well enough," Harry tried to reassured him. "We're proud of how well you are doing and we want you to come to us if you need help knowing not to hurt yourself."
Emma smiled at how much Harry clearly cared for the little green elf, then sighed as she realized that caring probably partly came from a background of similar experiences with his relatives.
They looked through the rest of the rooms on this floor, peeping into the library even though Hermione insisted there was nothing worth seeing in there before heading down into the surprisingly well lit kitchen.
"I don't think that I'd like a kitchen underground," Emma commented. She loved her own light airy kitchen and thought that even the best lit underground kitchens she'd seen looked more efficient than warm and welcoming.
"Thankfully with magical windows you'd never know you were underground and we can change the view like a picture," Harry said laughing.
Daniel and Emma expected something that looked like a TV screen with a picture of a garden but they were completely unprepared for the sunlight pouring into the kitchen from what looked entirely indistinguishable from a real window, except for the fact it was too late in the day for sunlight from that angle and the view outside showed a large castle on a hill instead of the dingy city street above them.
"That's Hogwarts," Hermione said pleased to be able to show them the castle.
"Can you get closer?" Emma asked.
"Sure. Harry said manipulating the image to give them a virtual tour of the outside of the castle and then turning the view around and moving towards the village. "This is Hogsmeade, the only totally magical village in Scotland."
After exhausting the ability for the magical window to show them around Hogsmeade, Emma looked around the kitchen noting that it was a large cheerful room devoid of any of the appliances she would expect to see in a kitchen other than a very old fashioned looking wood stove. Strangely for all the spaciousness of the kitchen there wasn't actually room set aside for a refrigerator or freezer.
"Where do you plan to put the fridge?" she asked confused.
Hermione opened the cabinet nearest the stove, revealing what looked like a pantry with plain wooden shelves full of food that belonged in the fridge or freezer. "It's a stasis cupboard. Everything in it comes out in exactly the same condition as it went in," she explained getting out the hot soup, and chilled sandwiches and cream scones Harry had made earlier, while Harry set the table for the four of them.
"That's convenient, how long does food keep?" Emma asked.
"I've never seen anything go off in one of these cupboards," Hermione said.
"Me neither but very little gets left in the Weasley cupboard long enough to even think about going off," Harry said laughing. "Dobby told me that the chocolate cake we had the other day was made by Mrs Weasley two years ago."
"That's why there wasn't more of it. She must have hidden it well," Hermione laughed.
"You ate a cake that was two years old?" Daniel asked surprised.
"We ate pieces of a chocolate cream sponge from a cake that was cut two years ago and it still tasted like it was baked that morning," Hermione confirmed.
"So all that's left is to furnish the house, was any of the old furniture salvageable?" Daniel asked.
"It was mostly hideous Victorian style. It was in decent condition and we managed to get quite a bit of money for it at an antique dealer but there wasn't much we wanted to keep," Harry replied. "So new furniture and curtains and a paint colour but I guess that should be last"
"But all the walls look freshly painted, shouldn't you have waited?" Daniel asked.
"It's magical paint. It's designed to be spelled exactly the colour we want it to be. Guaranteed colour fast for at least thirty changes or fifty years, we just need to agree on a colour or we'll waste all the changes arguing," Harry replied.
"I'll hit you up to buy me some next time Emma decides to redecorate," Daniel said whistling.
"Sure," Harry agreed.
"You'll only be able to use it indoors at home. You won't be able to risk having your staff at the clinic or the neighbours noticing the walls changing colour without seeing workmen paint them or noticing the smell of fresh paint is lacking," Hermione reminded him.
"What sort of colour are you thinking?" Emma asked.
"I don't really know enough about decorating. I really like how light the rooms look with almost white paint but it still doesn't feel warm and welcoming. It also looks grubby so something that looks clean. I would say a cleaner white but it still didn't feel right," Harry said sighing. "Hermione said we should choose furniture and curtains first since the paint will be the easiest thing to change to match."
"You're right, do you have any idea what style of furniture you would like?" Emma asked amused.
"Comfy stuff," Harry said making them all laugh.
"We were planning on looking around the shops next week now we're ready for furniture but Harry's right. We're going to pick couches that are comfortable to sit or lie on before we worry about how they look. Dobby can spell them to not get dirty or wear out so we don't need to worry about how serviceable something is," Hermione said. "There were a couple of things at the antique shop I liked if we can find chairs and tables that we like that will go with them, or at least won't look totally wrong together. I don't want the house to look like something out of a magazine, I want it to feel like a family home."
They looked through the upstairs and the attic. Harry had gone through and cast illusions on the room that Dean and Leanne had been using to hide the door and protect their privacy and Daniel had to admit he was relieved that the only room with a bed in it was the toddler size bed in Dobby's room. Dobby had spelled all of his walls different bright and clashing colours, making the elder Grangers actually shudder, but the little elf was thrilled with his room and he had 29 colour changes to go when he got tired of it so Harry and Hermione didn't criticize.
A/N: Thank you to all those who reviewed followed or favourited this story for your support.
