Chapter 56: Ron’s Admirer
“Morning, Harry “ Happy Easter!”
Ron picked up a green box from the end of Harry’s bed and tossed it at Harry as he sat up in his bed.
“You too,” Harry said sleepily as he opened the box to reveal a large chocolate egg. “Who’s this from?”
“Mum, of course,” Ron said, yawning. “Should go downstairs, I smell breakfast…”
Harry watched Ron leave the room, and collapsed back into his bed with a large sigh. The day before had been very distressing, with Krum’s death, Hermione’s emotional outburst, and seeing Mrs. Weasley again for the first time since the Christmas holidays. If it hadn’t been for Fleur and Bill’s engagement to discuss and celebrate, Harry didn’t think anyone could have gone to sleep happily last night. Harry thought of Sirius for a few moments, and looked at his watch not for the time, but for the image of the great black dog behind the dial. Harry found himself doing this often; others must have thought he was very time-conscious “ and possibly strange, as he usually smiled fondly at his watch, too.
But this time, he did not smile fondly at the dog, he looked sadly at it. He wished more than anything that Sirius was back, now. He had so much to tell him, about his Legilemency, about Katie, Tom Riddle; he could imagine Sirius joking with Lupin about Professor Alchemina.
“I really miss you, Sirius,” Harry whispered to the watch. “I’d give anything to see you’re face again…”
To Harry’s immense surprise, the dog behind the dial transformed into Sirius who winked at him before turning his attention to the moving second hand.
That’s never happened before, Harry thought.
Harry watched Sirius’s eyes moving, he was grinning.
But then, I suppose, I’ve never talked to my watch before either.
Harry sighed sadly again “ a few days ago, finding out that he could change the image on his watch dial from a dog to Sirius’ face would have been a welcome discovery, but now it just made him even more depressed.
Deciding that he didn’t want to worry Mrs. Weasley, and that the smells from the kitchen below were far to enticing to ignore for any longer, anyway, Harry pulled himself out of bed and headed downstairs with his chocolate egg.
“Good morning, Harry!” Mrs. Weasley said, immediately placing a plate stacked with toast, rashers, sausages, pudding, and eggs in front of him. “Happy Easter, dear… did you get the egg put at the end of you bed?”
“Yeah, Mrs. Weasley “ thanks…”
“You’ll all want to eat quickly,” Mrs. Weasley said to the boys, which included Neville, who had gotten up before either Ron or Harry. “And go upstairs and get dressed… we have company today.”
“What?” Ron asked “Who?”
“Fleur’s cousin is visiting this week. She’s the maid of honor at the wedding, but she’s still at Beauxbaton’s so she hasn’t had a chance to help Fleur plan the wedding “ Easter Break is her only chance before the summer, so she’ll be staying with us for a week.”
“So Beauxbaton’s has Easter off, too?” Harry asked.
“Oh yes, most wizarding schools have taken a page from Dumbledore’s book, and decided it would be for the best. I’ve heard Durmstrang hasn’t though “ which I think is awful, especially since Viktor Krum used to be a student there… you’d think…” Mrs. Weasley trailed off at the look on Harry and Ron’s faces.
“Sorry, dears “ you probably don’t want to think about that right now, I suppose?”
“No. Not really, Mum…” Ron said. Mrs. Weasley smiled sympathetically at him, and left the three boys alone at the kitchen table.
“You know Harry,” Ron said quietly, “I was thinking “ why do you reckon Hermione was so upset over Krum? I mean “ she always said they were only friends…”
“Yeah, Ron “ still, they were friends. It must have hit her pretty hard. And I don’t think she was all that upset over Krum, anyway “ I think it was just everything… she cracked.”
“I just feel so bad,” Ron said. “I wish I could be with her right now…”
Harry just nodded, and Neville shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
“It was really scary,” Neville whispered. “I think it really affected everyone who heard her…”
Ron and Harry looked at him.
“What do you mean, Neville?” Harry asked.
“I mean, it kind of made everyone realize, how bad all this is. I mean “ you’ve all been affected by so many deaths recently, but a lot of kids at Hogwarts haven’t… it was almost a good thing. I mean “ you should have seen the Slytherins, especially… Crabbe and Goyle just stared at her, but Pansy Parkinson and some others looked really upset.”
“Good,” Ron said standing up to go back upstairs. “Maybe between Malfoy’s expulsion and Hermione’s breakdown, some Slytherins might actually start catching on to what this is all really about…”
“You never know “ maybe the school can be united, after all,” Harry said, and the three of them went upstairs to get dressed for their visitor.
---
“Fred, George “ these are brilliant!” Harry said as he caught a small golden Easter egg that was flying around the room.
“Thanks, Harry,” George said. “We thought that we’d let you be the first to try our new Snitch Easter Eggs…”
“As a thanks for catching all those Snitches while we were on the team together…”
It was about ten o’clock, and everyone at the Burrow was in the sitting room eating chocolate waiting for Fleur’s cousin to arrive. Apparently she didn’t want to travel by Floo Powder and she was a year too young to Apparate, so Fleur and Bill had gone to Ottery St. Catchpole “ the village the Weasleys lived near “ where she would be arriving by Portkey from France. Finally, at about eleven o’clock, Bill and Fleur arrived back . Bill entered carrying several bags, no doubt the girl’s belongings, and was followed shortly by Fleur and her cousin.
She was very beautiful, she looked very much like Fleur “ but she had dark hair and eyes. Harry assumed that she did not have the Veela blood. Fleur immediately introduced them all.
“Everyone, this eez Charlotte. Charlotte, this eez Mrs. Weasley, Bill’s mother,” Fleur said as her cousin shook hands with Mrs. Weasley. “These are his brothers: Fred, George, Percy, Charlie, Ron “ his sister, Ginny “ Neville Longbottom, he is Ron’s friend from ‘ogwarts… and this eez ‘arry Potter, another friend of the Weasleys…”
Charlotte did a double-take upon hearing Harry’s name, but she immediately turned her attention back to Ron, who she flashed a gorgeous smile at.
“Umm… nice to meet you, Charlotte,” Ron said uncomfortably as they shook hands. As she shook the hands of all the others, she continued throwing glances back to Ron.
“You are 'Arry Potter?” she asked Harry, when she got to him. “Ze one who conquered ‘E-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?”
“Yeah “ that’s me…” Harry said, now used to this question. Though, unlike most people he met, Charlotte didn’t keep looking to his scar or stay excited at meeting him' she instead, turned her attention, again, back to Ron.
“Fleur tells me you’re ze Quidditch Captain at school…” Charlotte said to him adoringly.
Hermione is not going to like this, Harry thought.
---
That day, Charlotte spent the whole time talking to Ron; when Ron had managed to get away from Charlotte, she was asking the others questions about him.
“Does ‘e ‘ave a girlfriend?” she asked Harry.
“Yeah, actually. Her name is Hermione…” Harry took pleasure in telling her this.
“Eez it a serious relationship?” Charlotte asked.
“Yes “ they’ve been together for about…” Harry counted, “ Seven months…Actually the three of us have been best friends since we were eleven. I don’t think I could ever imagine Ron with anyone else…”
Charlotte raised her eyebrow at him.
“Well, I suppose that eez your opinion “ but I find ‘zat relationships which spring from childhood friendships are nothing more ‘zan an illusion…”
Harry stared incredulously at her, as she stood up and left him, Charlie and the twins in the kitchen.
“She’s mental…” Harry said.
“Can’t understand why anyone would be so mental about Ron…” Fred said.
“Yeah, Harry “ I thought you were the ladies man,” said George.
“Well, it’s a good thing it’s not me she fancies, because that wouldn’t sit too well with Katie,” Harry said.
“Oh, and I suppose it’ll be alright with Hermione…” Charlie said.
“No, of course not. But I’m a little more scared of what Katie would do to her…”
“Well, I personally can’t wait to see what Hermione will do to her…” Fred said.
“Harry dear,” Mrs. Weasley said softly as she entered the kitchen. “Charlie, Bill and I have to go to Grimmauld Place tomorrow on Order business, and I’d really appreciate it if you came with us.”
Harry tensed up at the name of the Order Headquarters. He hadn’t thought about Grimmauld Place since summer, and he didn’t want to.
“Why do you want me to come?” Harry asked moodily.
“Harry “ I know you don’t like it there…”
“Don’t like it? I hate it. Sirius hated it, and he was forced to spend the last year of his life there “ it was his prison. It was worse than Azkaban for him!”
“Harry, I understand how you feel “ but it belongs to you…”
“I don’t care “ give it to the Malfoys…”
“You know we can’t do that, Harry…”
“Well, I don’t want it!” he said, slamming his teacup down on the table.
After Sirius’s death, Dumbledore had informed Harry that as Sirius’s godson, he had inherited the title to the house. Harry had signed papers accepting the ownership, but only because the Order still needed it for the Headquarters. Other than that, Harry wanted nothing to do with the house that Sirius had spent all his entire life hating.
Harry looked down at his watch, Sirius was still there, grinning up at him and watching the second-hand, highly amused. Harry sighed painfully; it was horribly ironic to see Sirius’s happy face at that particular moment
“Change back to Padfoot,” he said quietly. Sirius winked at him, and transformed back into a dog.
“Harry, will you just think about coming? Please, it’s very important to all of us…” Mrs. Weasley said pleadingly.
“Ron and I want to go see Hermione and Katie tomorrow.” Harry said.
Mrs. Weasley sighed.
“Alright “ you can go. But Harry, please think about it. I really need you to come to Headquarters sometime this week… just think about it, please?”
Harry didn’t say anything. He remained silent, his arms crossed, looking anywhere but at Mrs. Weasley. There was no way he was going to go to Grimmauld Place, not for anything or anyone.