Ginny looked out the kitchen window for the twentieth time wondering what could be taking them so long. Shouldn’t they have been back by now? How long does it take to complete apparition tests, anyhow?
“Ginny, watch what your doing! You’re going to spill that all over the place!” her mother scolded from behind.
Ginny looked down at what she was doing and realized that the teapot she was filling with water was starting to overflow. Ginny quickly pulled back, from the faucet and set the pot down onto the counter, as she mumbled something that sounded like “sorry mum,” under her breath.
“What has gotten in to you? You haven’t been yourself at all this summer. Is there something wrong?”
Ginny sighed, as she turned away from the window, “No mum, nothing’s wrong. I’ve just got things on my mind, that’s all. If you don’t need my help anymore, I think I’ll go up to my room now.”
“No, everything is almost done. Run along dear. I’ll call you when we get ready to eat.”
“Don’t bother, I’m not that hungry, besides I still have loads of homework to do,” without looking back, Ginny pounced up the stairs.
Mrs. Weasley turned around; to finish the salad she was making and shook her head, “teenagers.”
She was interrupted moments later by three loud pops coming from just outside the front door.
“Molly, we’re here!” boomed the voice of her husband, as the front door opened.
Molly quickly dropped what she was doing, and rushed forward. She passed her husband and son and embraced the dark haired youth behind them. “Harry!” she exclaimed. “It’s good to see you. My! Have they been feeding you at all? You’re look so thin and pale. Come in here and get something to eat right away young man!”
“Yes, Mrs. Weasley.” The youth muttered, from the woman’s still enclosed arms.
“Harry, you’re of age now call me Molly or mum if you like.”
“Thanks Mol-Molly,” Harry said, timidly, as the matronly woman finally released him. Harry didn’t feel comfortable calling here mum, even though she had been the closest think to a mother he had ever had. He told himself that if he began calling her “mum” that he may grow even more attached than he already was. This would not do at all, not after all the other losses… Harry quickly changed the subject. “Where is everybody?”
Mrs. Weasley, who was somewhat disheartened by his choice not to call her mum, pushed it aside and answered him, “Well, Ginny’s upstairs. (Harry visibly flinched, but no one seemed to notice). “The twins are at the shop. Bill and Fleur are out, doing some last minute shopping for the wedding and Hermione should be along shor… oh here she comes now.”
Harry turned around, to see Hermione, opening the front door, and pulling her possessions behind her. “Here let me get those for you,” Mr. Weasley said, as he took her things. Then, along with Harry’s belongings, he whisked them up to their perspective bedrooms.
As soon as she saw Harry, Hermione stepped forward, rushed up and gave him a big hug. She then turned to Ron and started to give him one as well, when she stopped short. She hesitated a moment. Then gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and mumbled a barley audible, “hello.” Ron just blushed, and looked down at his feet. Harry shook his head. Mrs. Weasley didn’t seem to notice, as she engulfed Hermione in one of her famous hugs. She then insisted that they all sit down and eat before they wasted away from hunger.
Harry couldn’t argue with this. He had not eaten much this summer at the Dursley’s. Ron was already halfway in his seat, grabbing a piece of bread and shoveling it in his mouth. He then proceeded to reach for what looked like a bowl of potato salad and spooned a large amount of it onto the plate in front of him. Harry sat down beside him and Hermione took the seat across from Harry. Hermione shook her head, in disgust at Ron’s table manners.
Mr. Weasley soon joined them, at the head of the table. While Mrs. Weasley hovered around, the table making sure everyone was taking enough food, especially Harry.
“So, did you two go to the Ministry today to take your Apparition tests? Ron wrote to say you where going to.” Hermione asked Harry.
Harry shook his head, as he planted a large chicken leg onto his plate, “Yeah, we both passed too.” Harry heard a mumble from his side that sounded like “finally” but couldn’t tell for sure.
“Ron, how many times do I have to tell you not to talk with your mouth full?” Mrs. Weasley scolded him.
Ron just stuck another piece of bread in his mouth. Hermione ignored Ron all together and continued the conversation, “That’s great Harry! Though I knew you wouldn’t have any problems passing the test, unlike some people.” Ron seemed oblivious to this comment and continued to eat.
The rest of the meal continued with the three catching up. on what had happened over the summer, while Mr. and Mrs. Weasley politely listened in and added they’re own remarks here and there. After three large helpings of everything on the table and dessert, Harry decided he had satisfied his hunger and Mrs. Weasley. He politely excused himself, got up from the table, and walked up the stairs to the bedroom he shared with Ron. He had hoped Ron and Hermione would take the hint and follow. Hermione did, but she had to prompt Ron to follow.
Moments later, all three where gathered in Ron’s room. Harry sat on his bed, while Hermione and Ron sat next to each other on Ron’s bed. Harry smiled at them and wondered if they would finally wise up and start dating. He pushed that aside and then got right down to business, “So…”
“So what?” Ron asked.
“What’s been happening the last few weeks? Have you heard anything from the Order, on who’s replacing Dumbledore? Have there been any new movements from Voldemort? What about Snape and Malfoy? The Daily Prophet hasn’t been very forthcoming on any new information. Believe me, I checked. What about the locket? Any ideas on who R.A.B could be?” Harry blurted out.
“Whoa, take a breath Harry and no, no, no, and maybe.” Hermione replied from across the room.
“Maybe? What does that mean?” Harry questioned.
Hermione sighed; she had hoped to have more information by now. “Well, I visited the hall of records at the Ministry last week, to see if I could come up with anything. Let me tell you, it’s not easy looking up a person with only initials to go on. Actually it’s down right impossible. Do you know how many wizards where born in the last hundred years with names that begin with ‘R’? Evidentially it’s a popular letter.”
“But Hermione, I thought you said…” Ron interrupted.
Hermione glared at him, “I wasn’t finished Ron. I was about to say it’s down right impossible, unless you have a little help.”
“What kind of help?” Harry interjected impatiently. He didn’t want to have to endure their bickering.
“Well, we know several things based on that note you found in the locket. First, our mystery person more than likely was a Death Eater, because of the way he addressed the note. Two, he had a child or house elf with him, because you needed two to get the locket. Remember, Dumbledore said that the boat would only hold one full grown wizard. Three, the person is more than likely dead by now. We know this from his own confession that he was dying or would die soon. Four, Voldemort must have known him rather well, because he expected Voldemort to know who wrote the note with only initials as a signature. Five, whoever stole the locket, obviously knew more than he should, in reference to Horcruxes. How he came by this information is, of course unknown. So where does that leave us?”
Ron looked at Hermione, like she had three heads. If she was expecting him to come up with an answer, she was wrong. “Confused?”
“And we’re no where closer to figuring out who our mystery person is,” Harry added.
Hermione threw up her hands in disgust, “Really you two are hopeless sometimes. We actually know an awful lot. I just explained it to you.”
“Would you just get to the point already, Hermione?” Ron whined.
“Fine, I think that R.A.B. is, or was a Death Eater. The evidence in the note is overwhelming, to support this theory. I also think that this person is more than likely already dead. So, this narrows down our search considerably.”
Harry leaned forward, expectantly, “So, you know who it is?”
“No.”
Harry and Ron both groaned. Ron threw up his arms and flopped back on the bed, bouncing into Hermione as he did so.
“Well, that’s not a lot of bloody help!”
Hermione slapped Ron, and continued, “No, not immediate help, but it is a start. At least we know what we are looking for. I’m sure if we keep at it, the pieces will fall into place.”
Harry got up from his bed, and walked over to the window, looking out over the Weasley’s yard. “That’s the problem, Hermione. Time, is something we don’t have a lot of.”
“I know that. So maybe we should focus on the other Horcruxes, until we can get something more substantial with the locket.”
“Yeah I guess so, but we really don’t know much about the other Horcruxes either. I do think however, that the best way to find these other Horcruxes will be to revisit significant places that mean something to Voldemort.”
“How do you figure?” Hermione asked curiously.
“I don’t know. I guess it was something Dumbledore told me, during one of our sessions.” Harry turned around and looked at his two friends, “I also had something else I wanted to talk to you both about. While I was at the Dursley’s I did a lot of studying on defense spells and dueling. I think we should practice at doing nonverbal spells better as well.”
“What are you suggesting, Harry?”
“I’m suggesting that we need to do some serious training, if we are going to face Death Eaters and eventually Voldemort, especially since we won’t be returning to Hogwarts this year.”
Ron sat back up excitedly, on the bed, “That sounds good to me.”
“Yeah, I think we all could use some more training in that area. When do we start?” asked Hermione eagerly.
“As soon as possible, I know the wedding is in a few days, so we’ll start after that.”
“Hey mate, are we still planning on going to Godric’s Hollow?” asked Ron.
“Yeah, as soon as the wedding is over, it will be the first thing we do. Then, we will start up a training schedule.”
“What did you have in mind for training and where?” asked Hermione, switching back to the original topic.
Harry went into details of what he had in mind, and the afternoon quickly passed by. After several hours of discussing they’re plans, a soft knock sounded on the door and a voice came from the other side, “Ron, mum wants you three downstairs right away.”
Ron walked over to his door and jerked it open. Harry sat up as he saw who it was. “Why?” Ron demanded. “We’re busy!”
Ginny rolled her eyes, “Ron, you’re so dense sometimes. I take that back. You’re dense all the time. Remember what mum told you at breakfast this morning?”
Ron slapped himself in the head, “Oye! I forgot. Alright, we’ll be down in a minute.”
Ginny turned around and left, saying as she went, “Just hurry up!”
“What was that all about?” Harry asked, as he sat back onto the edge of his bed.
“Oh, nothing we’d better go though. I’m sure whatever mum wants it’s important,” said Ron, as he smiled.
Hermione guessed what was going on, got up from the bed and joined Ron at the door, “We’ll go ahead, Harry. Give us a minute and come on down.” Hermione then took Ron’s hand and led him down the stairs.
Harry just shrugged his shoulders and, leaned back onto his pillow, with his hands behind his head. After a few moments, he sighed and got up from the bed. He walked over to the only mirror in the room, and tried to flatten his unruly hair. After a few moments without success, he decided it was a hopeless battle and headed for the door. “I guess I should go down and see what’s going on.” Harry thought to himself.
As he stepped out into the hall, he thought it strange that he didn’t hear any noise coming from downstairs. You would think that he would be able to hear someone talking or dishes clattering, as it was nearly dinner time. Harry thought this odd, and took out his wand. He always carried with him these days, just to be safe. You could never be too careful with a murdering lunatic after you.
Harry crept down the stairs slowly and watchful for anything suspicious. He managed to get to the last landing without any problems, but as Harry stepped down onto the next step a loud squeak pierced the silence and making Harry wince inwardly. “Great,” he thought, “Just announce your presence to the whole house.”
Harry gingerly, took the last few steps to the bottom of the staircase and got the shock of his life. A bellow of multiple voices rang out in unison, “Surprise, Happy birthday, Harry!”
Harry looked into the room and saw a sea of heads and bodies packed into the tiny space all looking at him. He didn’t know what to say.
“Constant Vigilance, aye Potter,” growled a voice from the back.
Harry was jolted back into reality and looked down, remembering that he had taken his wand out earlier. He suddenly felt pretty foolish pointing his wand at them and quickly put it a way. He then took a closer look at the room and was dumbfounded at what he saw. The kitchen table was overflowing with food fit for a Hogwarts feast and a large cake taller than he was, took the spot in the middle of the table. Decorations adorned the whole house, but what caught Harry’s attention was a large banner, a bit lop-sided, hanging in mid-air which read “Happy Birthday Harry” in bright red and gold letters. It would do flips and curls around the kitchen every so often and then come back to its starting spot, singing Happy Birthday in an off key tune. He still couldn’t get use to the fact that people loved him so much, that they would go out of their way to do stuff life this for him. A tear unknown to him, silently fell down his cheek.
“So, how does it feel to be legal,” someone asked, breaking the silence.
Harry smiled and shrugged, “I don’t know, but it sure is nice to be able to do magic outside of Hogwarts and not get into trouble.”
Everyone laughed at this and Mrs. Weasley pulled him toward the kitchen table, sitting him down in front of the towering cake. She handed him a plate and pushed a bowl of rice pudding toward him. “Well dig in, it’s been hours since you’ve eaten anything, and make sure you get plenty of cake. I made it from scratch you know. Do you know how hard it is to make a seventeen layer cake? Ginny helped as well. She really is a wonder in the kitchen, but enough of that. Dig in.”
The next hour was filled with light hearted chatter and delicious food, as everyone enjoyed a wonderful evening with their friends and family. When it was time to cut the cake, Mrs. Weasley helped hand out the pieces as Harry cut them. When everyone finally got a piece, he sat down to enjoy his own large piece. Once into his second helping, he took a moment to glance around the kitchen. All the Weasley’s where there, minus Percy. Fleur, Tonks, Shacklebolt, Mad-Eye Moody, and Hagrid but there was one person he expected to see, but didn’t. “Where’s Remus?” he asked no one in particular.
The room suddenly got quiet. Harry looked around, confused at their silence. “What? What happened?” he asked again, tentatively.
Mr. Weasley answered grimly, “Sorry Harry, I guess we forgot to mention it to you earlier. Remus has been missing for over two weeks now.”
“What! Why didn’t anyone say anything! Especially you two!” he glared at Ron and Hermione.
Hermione shrugged and said, “I honestly didn’t know.” Then she too looked at Ron.
Ron gulped, “Sorry, Harry, I guess I forgot.”
“Forgot,” Harry said very quietly. “How could you forget something like that? I asked you earlier if anything had happened, and you said no.”
“Actually, Harry, I said no,” Hermione piped up. “Ron really didn’t say much of anything.” She glared at him again.
Ron slowly slid down his seat, until his head was almost level with table. “Sorry,” he whispered.
“So, what happened?” Harry asked, ignoring Ron.
This time, it was Mad-Eye who spoke up. He cleared his throat and began, “Dumbledore had Remus working a little undercover project last year.”
“Yeah, I already know. He was supposed to keep an eye on Greyback and the other werewolves,” Harry interrupted.
Mad-Eye and some of the others around the table looked a bit taken back. “How did you about that?” Mad-Eye growled, suspiciously.
“Remus told me last Christmas.” Harry answered back.
“Well, Remus decided on his own, to continue what he started last year, even after Dumbledore’s death. Some of us thought he should wait until things had settled down a little bit more, and for the Order to choose a new leader before going back in, but he insisted. He said that now that Dumbledore was gone, it was important now more than ever to keep a close eye on things. That was over three weeks ago. We haven’t heard from him since.”
Harry winced at the mention of Dumbledore’s death. Even though he had come to terms with his teacher and friend’s demise, it still hurt to think about it. Harry also began to be concerned for Remus. He offered hopefully, “Maybe he’s just busy and hasn’t found the time to check in, or maybe he’s in a position that if he makes contact, he’ll blow his cover.”
It was Mr. Weasley who answered Harry this time, “We thought about that and you may be right, at least that’s what we hope is going on.” Avoiding looking in Tonks direction, he continued, “After he failed to check in at the allotted time we started to worry and tried to send a few order members to look around tentatively to find out what was going. So far we haven’t come up with anything.”
Tonks had been very quiet during this whole exchange, but silent tears were beginning to stream down her cheeks. Mrs. Weasley saw this, and jumped up from the table, walked over to Harry, and shoved another piece of cake towards him, trying to steer the conversation in a different direction. “Arthur, I’m sure Remus is fine. He can take care of himself. He’ll contact us when he can. Here, Harry, have another piece of cake. You’ve only had two so far.” She turned to go back to her seat, but before getting there. She silently slipped Tonks a tissue and patted her on the shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.
Harry took the hint and decided to change the subject, despite the fact that he was far from getting the answers he wanted. “What about Snape and Draco? Has anyone heard about their whereabouts?”
Before anyone could answer Harry’s question, Mrs. Weasley interrupted him, “Really, Harry, must we talk about talk about such things. It’s your birthday. We should be celebrating, not talking about the war.”
“Molly, please don’t take this the wrong way, but it is my birthday and I would like to know what is going on.”
She was taken back by Harry’s remark and was about to reply, when her husband gently touched her arm. She looked at her husband, who shook his head in silence. She pursed her lips in a scowl, but remained silent.
An uncomfortable quiet hung in the air, but Mad-Eye broke it, by answering Harry’s question. “No, Harry. No one has seen or heard from either of them, since their disappearance from Hogwarts, but that’s not a surprise. Snape was our only real contact with the Death Eaters. We do have other sources. I hate to say it, but none are as reliable and informative as he was.”
“I wonder what those two are up too.” Harry growled under his breath.
Mad-Eye must have heard him, “Don’t know. Wherever they are, they’re probably up to no good.”
Harry just sat there, playing with his cake, no longer interested in eating it. He couldn’t help but feel rage slowly boiling up inside of him. He had been so close to catching them, but he had let both of them get away. Well, not next time. He was determined not to fail next time he met them.
Mrs. Weasley stood up, “Ok, let’s open your presents now. Shall we?”
Harry reluctantly agreed. He could use a little cheering up right know. So, he followed everyone into the living room and placed himself in front of a large stack of gifts. He spent the next half hour opening each gift and making sure to thank each person in turn. By the time he was done, he had received several useful books in defense spells and Quidditch maneuvers. He was also richer in an assortment of cloths and candy. This was definitely the best birthday he’d ever had.
After all the gifts had been opened, the rest of the evening was spent quietly by the fire, enjoying everyone’s company. All too soon, the clock on the mantle struck quarter to midnight. Not realizing how late it had gotten, everyone began to excuse themselves and depart.
Hermione and Ron were on the sofa, engrossed in their fifth game of chess. Harry decided to leave them to their game and headed up the stairs. As he walked up to his room, he found himself reflecting on the events of the day. He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he wasn’t watching where he was going, and ran straight into someone. Both Harry and the person tumbled onto the second story landing with a loud crash. Harry found himself sprawled in a heap on top of a warm body. A familiar scent of flowers came to his nose and made him feel warm and content.
“Will you watch where you’re going? And get off me!” a heated voice yelled from beneath him.
Harry looked down, and took notice to who he had run into. It was Ginny. He couldn’t help but notice how close he was to her, and how he was sprawled on top of her. He immediately blushed from head to toe and mumbled “Sorry.” He then hurriedly picked himself up and ran the rest of the way up the stairs to his room. He slammed the door and leaned up against it breathing heavily.
He listened as Ginny got up, went to her own room, and closed the door. It was several minutes before Harry could move. When he finally did, he went and sat down on his bed. He rested his elbows on his knees, and ran a shaky hand through his hair. That was close. He had almost done what? Kiss her, held her in his arms, and told her he was sorry for breaking up with her. No, he couldn’t do any of that. He had a mission to complete. He had a prophecy to fulfill.
Harry lay down on his bed, closed his eyes and sighed, “Maybe, just maybe after all this craziness was over. Maybe then they could finally be together.” After what seemed like hours of gazing at the ceiling above, he managed to nod of to sleep dreaming of Ginny and the possibilities.
The Broken Soul by silverfox
Chapter Notes: Hello, I hope you are enjoying the story so far. The next few chapters will be addressing some key issues. After that things will be picking up quite a bit. Enjoy.