Mrs. Longbottom looked around the room at everyone’s expectant faces. “A lot of things happened, Neville,” she said wearily, answering Neville’s question. “Can this wait until tomorrow? I’m very tired.”
“Of course, Gran,” Neville said, helping his grandmother up out of the chair. “Come upstairs. You can sleep…” Neville’s voice trailed off. He looked questioningly at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. “Would-would it be alright if we stayed the night?” he asked hopefully.
“Oh, of course, Neville dear,” Mrs. Weasley said, jumping up and going over towards the stairs. Neville guided his grandmother as they followed Mrs. Weasley up the stairs. Everyone else could vaguely hear Mrs. Weasley saying, “You both can sleep in Fred and George’s room if you’d like. They can go back to their apartment above the shop.”
Then Ron realized that he should probably go and get them. They’d been gone a while, and there was no use now for what they were doing. He had just gotten up when there was a commotion upstairs. Everyone in the living room glanced up at the ceiling. Then they heard Mrs. Weasley’s shrill voice saying frantically, “Where in heaven’s name have you been? I thought you were up here!” Ron sat back down. He seemed to be the only one to know what was going on.
None of them however went up to actually see. It was a few minutes before Harry, Fred, and George, followed by Mrs. Weasley, walked down the stairs and into the living room. The boys seemed thoroughly confused.
Once they were down the stairs, Mrs. Weasley rounded on the three. “Where were you?” she demanded.
“At the shop,” George said. “We were getting things to help find, well, Mrs. Longbottom, but I guess we won’t need them after all.” He shrugged.
Mrs. Weasley shook her head. “Well this certainly has been an interesting day,” she said.
“To put it lightly,” Tonks added smiling.
“Well, I suggest we all go to bed,” Mrs. Weasley said. She narrowed her eyes at the room, as if daring them to contradict her.
“Alright. Well I guess we’d better get going,” Lupin said, and Tonks, Kingsley, and Mad-Eye stood up to leave also. “Tell us what she says,” he added quietly with a glance at Mrs. Longbottom, speaking to Mr. Weasley.
“Wotcher Harry,” Tonks whispered in Harry’s ear, and he smiled. She winked, and the four Disapparated.
It was then that Charlie and Bill remembered that Sirius too was now in the room. They had been distracted by Mrs. Longbottom’s appearance. After all, they hadn’t even known she was missing in the first place. “What-he-what? No,” Charlie stuttered. Bill just stood looking at Sirius, his mouth slightly open and his eyes wide.
“Hello Charlie, Bill,” Sirius said, striding over and shaking both their hands. “Congratulations. I hear you’re getting married,” he added to Bill. Then Sirius yawned quite exaggeratedly and stretched his arms. “I think I’ll go to bed now. Oh yeah, and I didn’t get anything done.” He glanced at Ginny, shrugged, and walked towards the door. “I think I fancy sleeping beneath the stars tonight,” he said. He opened the door, went outside, and closed it again.
Everyone walked over to the kitchen window and looked out. A big, black dog was lying near the garden. “I don’t believe it,” Bill mumbled, looking a bit dumbstruck.
“But-how?” Charlie asked.
“Time for bed,” Mrs. Weasley said, ushering everyone towards the stairs. “All will be explained tomorrow,” she added. Everyone had no choice but to go upstairs to bed, except for Fred and George who Disapparated with two loud ‘cracks’.
* * *
Ginny set her possession down on her bedside table, promising herself she’d give it to Sirius the next day. She was very tired, very tired indeed…
* * *
The next day, everyone ate breakfast very quickly, eagerly awaiting Mrs. Longbottom’s account of what had happened. Right on cue, Fred and George also showed up. Since it was a Saturday they didn’t have work, because with them being the bosses, Fred and George had decided they didn’t want to work on Saturdays. So, they didn’t, and that was the end of that.
When everyone was seated in the living room, everyone being Ella, Hermione, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Sirius, Mrs. Weasley, Fred, George, Bill, Charlie, Mr. Weasley, Neville, and Mrs. Longbottom, Mrs. Longbottom began her account. Or, she was going to, but she noticed something that simply had to go first. “Aren’t you Sirius Black?” she questioned Sirius.
Sirius looked a bit surprised at the bluntness of this question, but then he replied, “Yes I am in fact.”
Mrs. Longbottom’s eyebrows furrowed. “I was fully expecting you to say ‘no’, young man. You’re dead. Or you’re supposed to be dead. You don’t look very dead to me,” she added matter-of-factly, giving Sirius the one-up.
Sirius laughed. “You are correct in assuming that I am by no means dead,” he said.
“Hmm,” Mrs. Longbottom said, eyeing Sirius curiously.
“Well, please go on with you’re story. Mine can wait,” Sirius said. “I’m writing it down anyways.”
Mrs. Longbottom waved the matter away, and then began, “Well, I was home alone. I don’t know where you were Neville, or I knew and don’t remember.” Everyone looked over at Neville.
Neville blushed, and looked up at the ceiling as if asking God to spare him from this terrible plight. “I was at Abbey’s house. The girl next door.”
Ron whistled. “Good for you, mate,” he said, clapping Neville on the back.
Neville threw a hurtful look at Ron and rubbed the spot on his back where Ron had hit him. “She’s six. We were having a tea party. She asked me to because for some reason she-she seems to have taken a liking to me.” Neville blushed. His round face rather resembled a ripe tomato.
Ron laughed, and Harry struggled to hold a laugh back. Before Ron could say anything, Mrs. Longbottom came to Neville’s rescue and went on, “Well, that doesn’t matter. Back to my story.” (She seemed to be enjoying this, if only a little bit.) All eyes went back to her, and she smiled satisfied. “Anyways, being by myself was getting rather dull, so I decided to go to the market. We needed fresh greens anyway. While I was there, a man in a cloak said that he knew me from somewhere. I didn’t recognize him, but people do change over the years, and I am losing a bit of memory with old age and what-not. So, he offered to buy me a cup of coffee and chat about where I’ve been all the years since he’s seen me, and how could I turn that down?”
Everyone groaned. How could you not turn down an offer like that these days? Not smart, not smart at all. Mrs. Longbottom carried on, “The man took me to a small place, but it was dark and not at all like normal coffee shops, but I didn’t question it. We sat down, but then he got up again to go get the coffee. When he came back, I drank the coffee, and I was out cold almost before he started talking. And when I woke up, I had no idea where I was. Another dark room, but different, and with many voices. Mostly men’s, but there were, I believe, two women also.
“I didn’t say anything, just listened. The men were discussing things, and one of the women was too, but the other didn’t say much. The people were saying…. terrible things. Harry, your name came up also.” Everyone turned to look at Harry, who had a very bewildered and slightly frightened expression on his face. “Terrible things,” Mrs. Longbottom repeated with a shudder. “Dying people, imperiused people, it was all just so… gruesome.” Everyone looked back at Mrs. Longbottom.
“Well anyways, all of the people decided to go into some other room, except for one who was left to watch me. He still thought I was asleep or unconscious or whatever I had been before. Not the brightest chap in the world, didn’t even look over at me once to see if I was awake yet or not. I got away easily. I just Disapparated.”
“How did you know I was here, Gran?” Neville asked.
“Well, I went home first and you weren’t there, and I didn’t have any clue as how to get to either Harry or Hermione’s houses, but I had a vague idea of where this was.” Mrs. Longbottom waved a hand around to show that she meant ‘this’ to be the Burrow, obviously.
“Did you have any idea of who any of the people in the room were?” Mr. Weasley asked.
Mrs. Longbottom frowned slightly. “No, I’m sorry I don’t. But of course, I was a bit woozy at the time, and my vision wasn’t at its height of seeing ability. Nevertheless, I feel that these people were up to trouble, based on what they were saying.” Mrs. Longbottom nodded curtly, emphasizing her point.
Harry was pretty sure he knew who these people had been. Death Eaters. There was no other explanation. Who else would say ‘terrible things’? Who else would mention his name? Who else would capture Mrs. Longbottom? But, why did they capture Mrs. Longbottom?
“We’ll be upstairs,” Hermione said, getting up and looking intently at Harry and Ron. The two boys both got up and followed, and then Ella walked after them too. The four went up to Ron’s room, and shut the door behind them.
“That was weird,” Ron said immediately. “It’s Death Eaters, isn’t it?” he added solemnly.
“Well, there’s almost no doubt about that,” Hermione said matter-of-factly. “I mean, who else would be? But why would they take Mrs. Longbottom of all people?” she added, glancing out the window as if the answer were written across the sky.
“That’s what I was thinking,” Harry said.
“Maybe…” Ella started, but her voice trailed off. She stood in the middle of the room for a moment thinking, and then she turned to Harry. “Harry, do you know Mrs. Longbottom well?” she asked.
Harry was a bit surprised at this question. Why would it matter if he knew her well or not? “I don’t know. I know her, and she’s a nice enough lady and all, but I don’t know if you could say I know her well or-“
“I think they must’ve taken her to question her about you,” Ella said suddenly. She let this sink in for a moment before going on. “I mean, it’s not like Death Eaters would take someone you know really well or anything, like Ron or Hermione. It would be too obvious. They would take someone who knows quite a lot about you, but that wouldn’t be obvious that, well, you know, they took them. I’m sure Neville’s told his grandmother all about you. You’re the boy who lived, famous among all wizard kind! Who wouldn’t tell their grandmothers about you?” Ella asked, and then she blushed. “Sorry, that’s a bit extreme. But Neville likes you Harry. You’re his friend, aren’t you?”
“Well, yeah,” Harry said. “Sure.”
“Okay then. So the Death Eaters would’ve taken her to get information about you, but you wouldn’t have known right away about it.” Ella smiled. “Make sense?”
“Uh, yeah I guess,” Harry said. And he knew Ella was probably right. Come to think of it, it made perfect sense. It would all fit. He just didn’t like it.
“I wish Death Eaters were stupider,” Ron said. “It would make things a lot easier.” Ella laughed, Hermione rolled her eyes, and Harry was still lost in thought.
* * *
Later that day, things were settling down. Mrs. Longbottom and Neville had gone back to their house. Bill, Charlie, Harry, and Ron were outside playing Quidditch, and Mrs. Weasley was in the kitchen cleaning. Mr. Weasley had gone to help with a keyhole that had tried to bite a Muggle lady’s finger off, and Fred and George had gone to work. Hermione and Ella had gone shopping. Sirius was outside, writing his story. And Ginny thought it would be the perfect time to give him the ‘other thing’.
Ginny walked outside to where Sirius was sitting a little back from his desk, devouring a meatball sub and watching the Quidditch mini-match off in the distance. She glanced at his desk and saw three pages full of skinny, very neat, Quick-Quotes writing. “Hello Ginny,” Sirius said with a mouth full of meatball. “Nice day, isn’t it? Perfect for Quidditch.” He smiled off into the distance, and then glared over at the house. “I was going to play, but Molly ‘thought it wise’ that I write the account instead.” Sirius rolled his eyes. “Mothers,” he grumbled.
“Tell me about it,” Ginny said. “Well, I came out to give you-remember I had something else last night that I was going to give you?”
“Oh yeah, the special paper!” Sirius said sarcastically. “Just kidding. Yes, I remember.”
“Well, here,” she said, dropping a small box onto his lap. Sirius laid the half-eaten meatball sub onto his desk, and was about to open the box when… “Hey, I was going to eat that still!” Sirius yelled, for exactly six birds had swooped down immediately and had each taken a share of the meatball sub. They all flew off with macho amounts of meatball subs filling their small beaks. “Fine! Take it!” Sirius yelled after the birds, and Ginny laughed. “I’ll just make another one,” Sirius said. “Humph.”
“Oh, Sirius,” Ginny said laughing.
“Okay, I’ll open the box now,” Sirius said. “Drum role please.” Ginny just stood there. “Fine, be that way,” Sirius said, and he opened the box dramatically, taking much more time than was needed to pop a small lid off of a small box. Inside laid a small object that looked rather like a calculator. Sirius picked up the gadget and examined it in the light, and then he turned to Ginny. “What exactly is this?” he asked her.
“It’s sort of like an Invisibility Cloak, only it’s not a cloak, and it can hold a whole bunch of people. It could be really useful I’m sure.” Ginny frowned. “I found it in Fred and George’s room, and I asked them about it one day when they came over after work. They said they hadn’t worked all the kinks out, and it was taking too long, so they gave up on it. But I thought maybe… maybe I could do something about it. I haven’t really though.” Ginny sighed. “I’m not like Fred and George. I can’t invent or fix things very well. That’s why I gave it to you. I thought you might be good at that kind of thing.” Ginny paused, gazing at Sirius a moment before adding, “Besides, you would need to be invisible more than I would be. I’m not the one who’s supposed to be dead.” Ginny smirked.
Sirius looked from the invisibility-calculator to Ginny, and laughed. “Maybe we could work together on it,” he said. “But first, how do you work it, if it worked that is?”
Ginny bit her lower lip. “I remember Fred told me that you have to press in the number of people needing to be invisible, and then press that purplish button.” Ginny pointed to a large purple button below the numbers zero through nine. “Then the thing will detect the closest people of that number and make them invisible. So if both of us wanted to be invisible, you would type in ‘2’, press the purple button, and it would find the two closest people. So we’d have to be close together, I guess.”
“Does it have a name?” Sirius asked.
“No,” Ginny replied shrugging. “Fred and George never gave it one because it never got finished.”
Sirius turned the thing over, and then turned it back face up. “What’s wrong with it?” he asked Ginny.
Ginny smiled. “It turns you green.”
* * *
A few days later, Bill and Fleur’s wedding went very smoothly, and everyone had a lot of fun. Of course, Harry secretly believed that Ginny looked far better in the golden bridesmaid dress than Gabrielle did, but he didn’t voice this aloud. They both looked ‘stunning’ as they kept being told by various people they had never met before. And of course, Fleur looked very pretty too, as Harry kept being reminded of by Ron.
Before everyone knew it, the day ended, and it was time for Fleur and Bill to go on their honeymoon in France. With many goodbyes, the couple Disapparated with Bill’s one bag and Fleur’s close to fifty purses, suitcases, handbags, makeup bags, ect. In a few days, Charlie would be going back to Romania, and Fred and George would resume work in London.
Time was going by very fast, and Harry, Hermione, and Ron decided it was time to start making plans about going to Godric’s Hollow. They soon came to the decision that they would be leaving on July fifteenth, one month from that day. They would pack lightly, and they would have to stay in a lowly hotel since they couldn’t afford to spend much money on room and board. (And besides, Harry was really the only one with money in the first place.) And of course, there was still the task of breaking the news that they wouldn’t be going back to school to Mr. and Mrs. Granger and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. And, they had to decide what Ella would do while they were gone. They certainly couldn’t bring her with, even Hermione agreed with that. She would have to stay with either the Grangers or the Weasleys, but Ella would probably put up a fight and want to come with. So even though the trio did get some things accomplished, there was still much to be done.
Meanwhile, Sirius and Ginny were using their code to make plans of their own. While Sirius was still working on his story, Ginny had the task of listening in on Harry, Hermione, and Ron’s conversations with the Extendable Ears. Actually, Ginny was now very skilled with the Extendable Ears, and she had made it so that she could even get through doors that Hermione had sealed. Ginny got much-needed information about what the three were planning, and she messaged it all to Sirius via ‘Magical Me’ by Lockhart. Soon, Sirius and Ginny had it all planned out perfectly, more perfectly in fact than the other three did.
It seemed that time was going faster and faster each day. Harry was getting more apprehensive about going to Godric’s Hollow, but his real worry was telling the Weasleys, especially Mrs. Weasley. Harry was afraid that she wouldn’t let Ron go, and she might even try to stop Harry from going. Of course, Sirius might have some say in that, but then Sirius might want to come with, and the whole thing could get more complicated by the second. And what would she say when they told her they wouldn’t be going back to Hogwarts? That may turn out to be an even bigger issue.
Eventually, Harry, Ron, and Hermione came to the decision that they must tell the parents. It was now June twenty-ninth, and the time was drawing ever closer when they would be leaving. Hermione decided she would tell her parents first, and she would also ask them if Ella could stay with them for the time being. Of course they would say yes, Hermione had calmly explained to Ron and Harry, but it was still polite to ask. And that was that.
The next morning after breakfast, Hermione told Mrs. Weasley that she needed new robes from Madame Malkins, and she Disapparated. The boys waited for a few hours, playing wizards chess (Ron won two games, but Harry finally managed to win the last one). But when Hermione arrived back at the Burrow, they weren’t all that happy to see her.
Hermione said that her parents were fine with everything for the most part. They had indeed agreed to take Ella, and they were perfectly fine with Hermione going to Godric’s Hollow since she would not be alone, but they were rather apprehensive about her not going back to school. Eventually though, Hermione had explained to them that the wizard world was on the brink of war, and school wouldn’t be any safer than other places with Dumbledore gone. And besides, with only one year left, how much more could she learn anyway as far as education goes? So, in the end, the Grangers would support Hermione with her decisions, and they were okay with it all.
But now the task at hand was to tell the Weasleys, and this was the reason that neither Harry nor Ron was happy to see Hermione. The three had agreed that it would be both Harry and Ron’s job to tell them since Hermione had to tell her parents. And since the Grangers were now fully informed, the time had come… Well, maybe one more day. Harry and Ron both begged Hermione to allow them one more day until they had to tell the Weasley family, particularly Mrs. Weasley, and Hermione agreed on just one more day. One- more- day…
* * *
The next morning, Harry and Ron were awoken by the sound of shouting coming from downstairs. They sat up groggily, glanced at each other, and both got up and stretched. “Sounds like Mum and Ginny,” Ron muttered, craning his head at the doorway. “Big surprise,” he added sarcastically. “Let’s go see what Ginny’s done,” he said happily, and they walked out the door towards the stairs.
When they got down to the last step, the two poked their heads around the corner and saw that it was Mrs. Weasley and Ginny, like Ron had thought. “C’mon,” Ron said to Harry, and he stepped down the last step. Harry stepped down after him, and the yelling immediately stopped. “Ask them then,” Ginny said bitterly, and she folded her arms stubbornly.
Mrs. Weasley turned to the two boys, who had both stopped after Ginny told Mrs. Weasley to ask them something. “Your book lists are here, boys,” Mrs. Weasley said, as if she had not just been yelling at Ginny and all was as it should be. She handed them each an envelope. “Oh yes Harry, I almost forgot, you were made Quidditch captain again. But I’m sure you were expecting-“
“Mum,” Ron interrupted Mrs. Weasley. He glanced at Harry apprehensively and asked his mother, “What exactly were you and Ginny yelling about?”
“Nothing. You don’t need to worry about it,” Mrs. Weasley said with a weary smile, but Ron was not satisfied with that answer. Neither was Harry for that matter, but he didn’t say anything. Ron glanced at Ginny, who was smiling sheepishly. This was a sign that whatever they were yelling about was not ‘nothing’.
“Fine, Ginny, you tell me,” Ron said, folding his arms gruffly.
Ginny looked from her mother, to Harry, to Ron and said, “I just told her you weren’t going back to school, but she seemed to think it was rubbish.” Both Ron and Harry’s eyes widened, and they glanced at each other. Then they both looked at Mrs. Weasley, who was staring blankly at her daughter while clearing crumbs off the kitchen table with her wand.
“Mum?” Ron said. He glanced at Harry and paused, then apparently decided to just tell Mrs. Weasley. They were going to have to tell her anyway. “Oh, what’s the use…Ginny’s right. We aren’t going back to school.” Ron closed his eyes tightly, afraid of the blow that was coming, but then nothing happened. After opening his eyes, he found that Mrs. Weasley’s face seemed to be fighting with her emotions. She frowned, then looked mad, then looked extremely sad.
Ron took this opportunity to add that not only would he, Hermione, and Harry not be returning to Hogwarts, they would also be going to Godric’s Hollow in about two weeks time. Harry didn’t feel that that had been the perfect moment to tell Mrs. Weasley that, but it was too late now. That seemed to be the last straw, and Ron and Mrs. Weasley began to yell at each other much as Ginny and Mrs. Weasley had done earlier. They argued for a good ten minutes, in which time Harry and Ginny watched the argument with amusement playing on their faces. But, in the back of his mind, Harry was rather guilty that he hadn’t done anything whatsoever to help Ron tell Mrs. Weasley what they were doing. He could at least tell her that it was his fault in the first place, and Ron and Hermione were just being good friends by coming with him.
A few times, Harry opened his mouth to say something, but Ron and Mrs. Weasley just kept yelling. Eventually, Harry gave up and just stopped trying.
After a while, Mrs. Weasley sat down at the kitchen table and put her head in her hands. “I’m a man now Mum, I’m seventeen, and I can make my own decisions,” Ron said to her.
Mrs. Weasley looked up at him with sadness in her eyes. “You are still my son, and I am perfectly capable of forbidding you to make certain decisions.” Ron opened his mouth to argue the point, but Mrs. Weasley put a hand up to stop him. “Just go upstairs for a while. I need some time to think.”
Ron glanced at Harry, cocked his head in the direction of the stairwell, and the two went upstairs to Ron’s room and shut the door. Ron walked over and flopped on the bed. “Well, that went well,” Harry said sarcastically.
Ron crossed his arms and frowned at Harry. “What were you playing at? You could’ve backed me up. You didn’t even say anything.”
“Sorry mate, but you seemed to be handling it well enough on your own,” Harry said shrugging. He thought briefly about telling Ron that he had actually tried to say something a few times but couldn’t get a word in edgewise, but Ron, being the person that he is, probably wouldn’t believe him.
“Oh yeah, just great,” Ron said sarcastically, and he threw his pillow at Harry. This was practically an invitation for Harry to throw it back, and this soon turned into a raucous pillow fight. An hour later, when Hermione and Ella walked into the room, it was to find two slap-happy boys and a room full of feathers.
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A/N~ I hope everyone liked the chapter. I’m not sure that it was actually worth the wait, but I’ll try to get the next couple of chapters up very quickly to make up for it. Please review! ~
Unforgotten by pottersperfectprincess
Chapter Notes: A/N ~Sorry this took so, so long everyone. It got rejected first of all, and I just had a lot going on. Now that it’s summer, I can definitely make up for it because I have much more time on my hands. Well, I hope this chapter was worth the wait. Enjoy! ~
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