Harry Potter and the Dawn of a New Age

Chapter 2: At the Burrow

By fbline

In the next instant, Harry and Mr. Weasley appeared in the hearth of the Burrow. Dusting himself off, Harry entered into the kitchen where he was greeted by three more of the Weasley clan.

"Harry, dear, how are you? My word, you look as if you haven't eaten in weeks. I don't suppose much food gets past that uncle and cousin of yours. Sit down, dear. I'm just now getting things rounded up for dinner. I've got the trout all dressed, so I just need to get them cooking. Here, you can start on your salad while you're waiting. Ron, get Harry a butterbeer. Ginny, get him some silverware. Sit down, Harry. No, have this chair, it's got arms. Eat up now, dear."

Harry smiled. He had only been at the Burrow for a matter of minutes and he was already being fed. It felt good to know some things never changed. Once he had polished off his salad and a few of Mrs. Weasley's delicious rolls, he let out a contented sigh and realized that Ron and Ginny had been studying him the entire time.

"I really am ok, you know. My relatives all treated me like I was invisibility cloak on the whole time. It was a lot better than being their slave like before. Anyway, what's been going on here? What's the latest on Vol...I mean, you-know-who?"

Ron did a slight cringe at the mere part of Voldemort's name that was mentioned. He then shook his head and let out an exasperated sigh.

"No idea, mate. Like I've told you in my letters, nobody tells us anything. We can't even use the old extendable ears anymore. May Eye caught on to us and said into one of them what he'd do to whoever was on the other end. Needless to say, we had to bin the lot of them. Fred and George are working on something better, but for now we're completely in the dark. We do know that the Order is still using Grimmauld Place, because we've heard dad saying to mum that he'll meet mum there after work. Dad is hardly ever home anymore. It's been hard on mum, I can tell you."

Ginny nodded.

"She's done a fair bit of crying lately. She puts up a brave face to the rest of us, but you never could keep a secret here around here. Ron and I try to help out as much as we can, but we just feel so helpless most of the time. And then, to top it all off, I get an owl from Dean asking me why I don't want to spend more time with him. What a great prat he turned out to be. He knows dad works for the Ministry, and that Voldemort is back, and all he can do is bitch about me not wanting to spend every minute with him. He's just so...clingy. I'm fifteen for god's sake; we aren't joined at the hip. So, I told him to take a flying leap at himself. So, it's really been a great summer here at the Burrow."

Harry couldn't help but chuckle. It didn't help that Ron was smiling at the news that Ginny had dumped Dean. Harry knew that Ron wouldn't be truly happy until he and Ginny were together.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Ginny. Still, you're absolutely right. If he's on another page than you are, it's best to let him go. Look at the fiasco I had with Cho last year, talk about a nightmare. I was probably doing the exact same things Dean was doing with you. I guess us males gat a bit...over protective at times, possessive, maybe. I'm sure he didn't mean to hurt you, he just got messed up somewhere along the way. Have you heard any more from him since you broke up with him?"

Ginny gave a half smile.

"Well, funny you should mention Cho, actually. After I broke up with Dean, he decided to get off his butt and do something. He enrolled in a Quidditch summer camp in Cardiff and you'll never guess who else was there."

Harry gave his own half smile.

"Cho?"

Ginny nodded.

"Got it in one. Cho had been dumped by Michael, so the two of them rebounded into each other. I would imagine she was quite willing to give him the attention that I wasn't. Attention to getting into each other's pants, I'd wager."

Ron's face whipped around to glare at his sister.

"Ginny! Don't say stuff like that!"

Ginny's eyes narrowed at her brother.

"Well, what would you call it?"

"Uh, well, I'd call it 'creating misconduct'."

Ginny shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"If people didn't call it something other than that nobody would do it."

Harry laughed. He had missed all of this. He felt another slight pang of jealousy towards Ron. He would give every last galleon he had to belong to a family like his. It made his own situation seem even more pitiful than it already was which, Harry thought, was really saying something. He then cleared his throat in order to interrupt the now quickly escalating argument between the two of them.

"So, you don't have any idea what you-know-who is up to? Has your dad mentioned anything going on at all at the Ministry?"

Ron shook his head.

"Nope, nothing. Of course, dad is still getting adjusted to his new job I expect."

Harry paused in his sip of butterbeer.

"What new job?"

Ron went slightly pink.

"Oops, I don't think we were supposed to say anything about that yet."

Ginny rolled her eyes again.

"Come on, Ron, what does it matter? Besides, what is Harry going to do, put an advert in the Daily Prophet? Dad got a promotion at work to take the position of Head of International Magical Cooperation."

Harry's mouth opened in shock.

"Head of International Magical Cooperation? Wasn't that Crouch's old job?"

Ginny nodded.

"Sure was. After it was revealed to everyone how Fudge had been such an idiot about the whole you-know-who thing, the wizard council stepped in and made some big changes. One of them was that dad would get Crouch's old job. The board decided that, since dad had been one of the few that had been saying that you-know-who was alive the whole time that he should be in a higher office. Dumbledore himself swore him in. Fudge was in a right state over it. That's why there hasn't been any notice of it. The board is really coming down on Fudge, and he's not handling it very well. Not only that, but his Chief Secretary quit as well."

Harry looked confused.

"Who was his Chief Secretary?"

Ron smiled.

"Percy. Fudge tried to pin his mistakes on bad information that Percy had given him. You should have seen dad, I thought his face would catch fire. Well, Percy said that he'd had enough of him and turned in his cards."

Harry's mouth opened again in shock.

He quit the Ministry? Wow, what is he doing now that he's out of a job?"

"Ah, but he's not! Once dad got Crouch's job, his first order of business was hiring Percy as his assistant. He's back to his old self again now. He'll bore you to death, but at least he's part of the family again. Dad and mum are happy, of course. I don't know, though. Dad's new job means more money, but he's never home now. I think I liked it better when we were poor. At least we were all together."

Ginny nodded.

"I agree, but it is good to have Percy back. I missed hearing about the fascinating variety of cauldrons you could find throughout Europe. I feel bad for dad; he has to deal with him all day. I wish he and Penelope would get married and get their own place. The walls are really thin around this place."

Harry laughed. He had hoped that Percy would reconcile with his family eventually. The idea of overhearing him and Penelope was a frightening thought. And speaking of young love, Harry was reminded of someone else that a certain other Weasley was enamored with.

"So, has anyone heard any more from Hermione?"

Ron went a bit flush and stared intently at the kitchen table.

"Not lately. The last owl I got from her said she'd be here today at some point. She was with her parents in France again this summer. I don't know what she thinks is so great about it over there. I mean, they don't even speak proper English. And if the boys there are anything like those wankers from Beauxbatons, well, I hope Hermione is careful. Those French boys only want one thing, you know."

Ginny shot Harry a look and rolled her eyes. They both then turned quickly away from Ron to hide their smiles. It reminded Harry of when Hermione had told Ron about Ginny dating Michael Corner. Harry couldn't help but think that, this time, Ron wasn't disappointed that it wasn't Harry that was involved, but himself. Ron meanwhile was still muttering things under his breath about "frogs," "cheese," and "the protection of virtue."

It was the mention of "protection" that caused Harry to have yet another flashback to that night in the Department of Mysteries. In his head he heard his own voice saying, "Please, don't let her be dead. It's all my fault if she's dead." The sight of Hermione's still body on the cold stone floor caused him to close his eyes and put a hand over his now sweating forehead. Ron suddenly noticed something was wrong and gave up in his tirade against the French.

"Harry, what's wrong? Is it your scar? Has it got something to do with...him?"

Harry shook his head before taking a large gulp of butterbeer. The warming sensation of the beverage helped him feel a little better.

"No, it's not that. I was thinking of something else. I have trouble sometimes with memories coming back to haunt me. I guess Hermione was right; I really should have taken Occlumency more seriously, even if I did have to learn it from that total git, Snape. I think I'll ask Dumbledore about it when we get back to school. If it would help me stop having nightmares all the time, it would definitely come in handy. I remember that I'm supposed to think of something happy, but I don't know what would be a strong enough memory to focus on."

Ron nodded.

"Me neither. I guess I could think of getting my prefect badge, or winning the Quidditch cup last year. Let's see, what makes me the happiest...?"

"What about Hermione?" Ginny asked.

Ron choked on his butterbeer and had to be slapped on the back by both Harry and Ginny. When he finally got settled down enough he once again glared at his sister.

"What do you mean by that? Why should I feel any differently about Hermione than anyone else? Besides, we're talking about Harry, not me."

Ginny flashed an innocent smile and took a sip form her own butterbeer.

"That's what I meant, dear brother. Harry could think of his close friend, Hermione. Gee, Ron, I didn't mean to hit a nerve. I'm not one of the people spreading rumors, so don't take it out on me."

Ron's face went as red as a tomato. Harry knew that Ginny was winding him up on purpose, but he was enjoying himself too much to do anything to stop it. Ron eventually regained the ability to form coherent speech.

"What rumors? Who is talking about me and Hermione? What are you talking about, Ginny?"

Ginny continued to give an innocent smile that Fred and George would have been proud of.

"Well, you know how us girls are, we just can't stop talking about you hot boys. They all want to talk to me because they know I'm your sister and a friend of Harry's. Some of them think that you must be dating Hermione, and some think that she's dating Harry. Don't worry, I set them all straight. I just tell them that they're being ridiculous. I mean come on, you and Hermione? As if! As your sister, I feel morally obligated to tell them how incredibly wrong they are. Now with Harry, well, how should I know? They do spend an awful lot of time together. And we never did find out what she had to do to get him out of Buckbeak's room last Christmas. Maybe Rita was right the whole time. And, you know, smart girls always go for the hero type."

Without a word to either of them, Ron then jumped up out of his chair and headed outside. Harry knew that he must have been extremely upset, since going further away from food was something he very rarely did.

"Ginny, that wasn't very nice of you."

Ginny instantly dropped the innocent smile and let a devilish grin grace her face.

"Hey, he gets what he deserves. I'm just paying him back for how he treated me back in my first year."

"What did he do?"

"Don't you remember my all consuming crush on you? Ron was positively evil to me. You never had him sing "I'm just wild about Harry" to you, did you? Well, it's pay back time. Anyway, why do you care? You don't have a crush on Hermione too, do you?"

"No, of course not. At least, I don't think I do. I don't know my emotions all seem to be hyped up lately. Wait; is it true that the girls in school all think Hermione is dating one of us?"

"Not all of them, but a fair few. It isn't quite the even split anymore, though. It was even at the start of last year, but by the end of it, you were the front runner."

"Why me? Ron spends as much time with her as I do."

"Yes, that's true, but you also have to think about all that happened last year. You were the one who got detention for sticking up for Hermione to Umbridge. You and she were the two that spoke up at the DA meeting. And of course there was the whole Cho thing."

"What Cho thing?"

"Well, after your date on Valentine's Day, Cho made it a point to tell every female in the school that would listen what a two timer you were, and what a slut Hermione was. She never said anything to me directly, of course, but as you know, Luna is also a Ravenclaw, and she hears a lot more than people think. Most of the people in the DA didn't pay any attention to her, but a lot of others did. Cho did a great job of playing the victim."

Harry shook his head in exasperation. How could Cho have done something like this? No wonder she didn't want to talk to him at Diagon Alley.

"I had no idea, Ginny. I don't really care what people think of me, I'm used to being thought badly of, but it's really unfair to Hermione. I don't like the idea of her being thought of in that way."

Ginny gave Harry an authentic sympathetic smile.

"Don't worry about it, Harry. A lot of the Ravenclaw girls aren't worth worrying about. All they care about is getting an O on their next test. As for Hermione, a lot of the girls there didn't like her to begin with."

"Why?"

"Because, she's a Gryffindor, and she's the top of the school. Do you know how embarrassing it is for the top spot to go to someone not a Ravenclaw? They're supposed to be the ones at the top of the scale. So, if they can believe that Hermione is a slut, then they feel better about themselves. I remember overhearing some of the girls in the loo last year saying that the only reason you were dating her was to help you with your schoolwork. They said that someone as plain as Hermione would have to be giving it up to keep someone like you. I guess they were complementing you, in a backhanded sort of way."

"Yeah, well, I don't care much for them. Maybe Slytherin isn't the worst house after all. I feel bad for Luna. It's a shame she's not in Gryffindor with us."

Ginny's devilish grin returned.

"Ah, I wondered when you'd bring her up. Been thinking about a certain doe eyed girl of late have we?"

Harry's face reddened slightly.

"Well, uh, you know, she was a big help last year. She's really...cool."

"Cool? Harry, playing Quidditch is cool. Acing a test is cool. Luna is a human being, a highly intelligent, caring, attractive and sensitive human being, who is a very good friend of mine. Do you consider Ron cool? Gee, I wonder if you write him song lyrics in his letters. I'll just go and ask him."

Ginny made to get up from the kitchen table but Harry quickly jumped up and stood in front of her.

"Wait! Ok, you win, Luna is all the things you mentioned, and I do really like her. But how did you know about me sending her song lyrics in our letters?"

"You're not the only person in her world you know. I was friends with her before you were. Besides, some things are just between us girls. Like when she asked me early this year if there was anything between you and Hermione, for instance."

Harry's eyes widened in what could have been surprise of fear, he had no idea that even Luna would think such a thing.

"She did? What did you tell her?"

Ginny's smile turned into one of triumph. She had succeeded in getting both Ron and Harry wound up. It was now a full day for her.

"I told her that you were both just good friends. Of course, there are such things as FTF, but I told her that I didn't think you were."

"What's FTF?"

Instead of a reply, Ginny merely laughed and went upstairs to her room. Once out of the kitchen, Ron came back and sat down again at the table. He was still a bit flush, but not nearly as much as he was when he had left.

"Sorry about that. I forgot that mum wanted me to de-gnome the garden before the party tomorrow."

Harry nodded. He remembered being a part of a de-gnoming before and knew that it would be an ideal way to relieve stress to send a few of them flying off into the distance.

"So, are Fred and George coming?"

"Speak of angels and hear the wings flap," said a voice from the front porch. Through the door came Fred and George Weasley. Laden down with bags full of what appeared to be items from their joke shop.

"Hiya, Harry. George and I just got away from work. We must have gone through two dozen talking toilet seats today, not to mention all the owl order business we've got. I don't know how old man Zonko keeps up with it all by himself," Fred said as he and George settled heavily into the two chairs across from Ron and Harry,

"Hey guys, glad to hear the shop is doing well. What's that you've got in the bag?"

Fred and George both put their fingers to their lips and quickly hid their bags under their cloaks.

"Keep it down, will you? Mum won't let us bring anything into the house. Here, George, take these up to Ron's room for now."

George took both bags in his arms and quickly slipped up the stairs. He had barely disappeared above the railing when Mrs. Weasley came back into the room carrying a basket of rolls.

"Here are some more rolls, Harry dear. Ah, Fred, there you are. Where's George? He isn't trying to slip something dangerous and almost certainly illegal into the house, is he?"

Mrs. Weasley's intense stare fell upon Fred as he quickly looked down at the floor. In order to avoid answering, he then shoved an entire roll into his mouth and chewed. He pointed to his mouth in an effort to tell his mother that he couldn't talk with his mouth so full. Mrs. Weasley gave a deep sigh and returned to the kitchen. Harry and Ron both laughed. Once sure that his mother was out of earshot, Fred swallowed and continued talking.

"Right, well, George and I brought a few things for you and Ron to take back to school with you this year. Since we won't be around, it will be up to the two of you to carry on the tradition. Try to get Lee involved as well; he'll likely be going through withdrawal without us. Anyway, we can spare the merchandise now, since we're taking in galleons hand over fist. We'll either have to expand our current shop, or get a bigger place in Hogsmeade. We're almost neck and neck with Zonko's now. Blimey, I could use a holiday."

Ron frowned at his brother.

"A holiday? You should just be happy you could take one. How about dad? If anyone needs one, it's him. What's the use in having more money if you don't have any time to use it? At least when we were poor we were together."

Harry felt terrible for his best friend. He had come to look at the Weasley family as his own, so anything that affected them affected him as well. It reminded him painfully of the fact that true horror of Voldemort touched many more lives than just his own. He decided to change to subject in an effort to lighten the mood.

"So, Fred, how is the business world treating you?"

Fred smiled.

"Oh, you know, can't complain. When George and I did our daring day light escape from Umbridge last year, we flew straight to our shop in Diagon Alley. It used to be a take-away tandori place, so the first couple days were spent airing the place out. After that, mum came to the shop and told us we both had to go back to school. We told her we wouldn't, so she got mad and left. Well, George and I did our best to clean up, but domestic chores were never our strong suit. So, after begging her to help us, we finally convinced her to help us. We opened up shortly after that and it's been going gang busters since we opened the doors. Our waterproof fireworks are flying off the shelves, and we've sold enough nose bleed nougat to make the whole of England anemic. It's a great job, but there's a lot more work involved than we thought there would be. Its hard work having fun all the time, you know."

"What are your future plans for the shop?" Harry asked.

"Well, like I said, we'll have to get a bigger place soon. When we started off, we didn't have much money, so we had to take what we could get. Now that we've got a few coins in the till, we've been looking into getting a place in Hogsmeade. The rent is a little higher there, but it's a lot closer to Hogwarts. Anyway, that's all the business side of things, and that's George's line of country. I'm the idea man. I come up with the concept, and George sees to it that it gets on the shelves. So far it's getting on like a house on fire. Even mum had to admit that we're doing well. She said we'd be bigger than Zonko's in no time. Of course, she may be slightly biased; we are her favorite twin sons."

Harry laughed. He knew that Mrs. Weasley often got upset at Fred and George, but that, deep down, she loved them as much as any of her other children. He couldn't help but wonder what had caused her to change her mind about the shop, though. Just how had the twins convinced her to help them?

"Fred, how did you talk your mum into helping you? I thought she was set on the two of you going back to school."

"Well, we came to a sort of compromise, you see. She told us that she wouldn't help us unless we finished school, so we agreed to meet her half way."

Harry looked confused.

"What do you mean, 'half way'?"

"George and I completed a correspondence course to get our GWENs."

"Who's Gwen?"

"Not who, what. A GWEN is something you can get via correspondence without actually being in school. Its initials stand for General Wizarding Educational Notes. Although I preferred the title I gave it. George Weasley, Educated Nimrod."

"Here now, I resemble that remark!" George responded as he came back down the stairs and sat next to his twin brother. "So, when do we eat? I've been starving myself for two days in anticipation. I tell you, since moving out of the Burrow, I think I've lost ten pounds."

Harry gave a start of surprise.

"What? You mean you aren't living at the Burrow anymore? Why?"

George grabbed a roll and tucked into it like a lion would a downed animal on a nature program.

"We have a place over the shop now. Mind you, once we get some actual paid help, we won't have to live there anymore, but at the moment it's pretty much just us. Ron and Lee have been helping over the summer, but they'll be heading back to school. We've got a help wanted ad we're going to put in the Prophet, and Lee said he'd put up a notice at Hogwarts for some of the seventh years to look at. Anyway, enough shop talk, my stomach feels like my throat has been cut. Oh, do I smell fish? I may cry I'm so happy."

Mrs. Weasley came back into the kitchen sitting area with a very large wooden bowl full of assorted greens and vegetables. A lazy Susan floated along next to her topped with various salad dressings and salad plates and forks. Once everyone had a bowl in front of them, Fred frowned slightly.

"Salad? This isn't food, this is what food eats! Mum, we can all smell the trout, why not bring them out? I'm starting to get delirious from hunger. I look over at Ron, and all I can see is a roast beef. No, wait, that's how he always looks. My mistake."

Ron's eyes flashed and he took a swipe at his brother. Fred made an exaggerated movement as Ron's hand connected with his arm and proceeded to roll on the floor.

"Ouch! Help, my ickle brother Ronnie has hit me! In my weakened state brought on by hunger I may not survive. Tell mum I loved her."

Harry, Ginny and George all laughed. On the contrary, Ron and Mrs. Weasley looked down on Fred with a frown on their faces.

"Oh, get up you great prat," Ron said.

Fred returned to his chair and took a stab at his salad.

"Geesh, what's up with you, Ron? Wait, I know what it is. I should have guessed, really. My favorite younger brother is getting close to manhood, aren't you? Pretty soon your voice will be changing, hair will start growing on your face, and you'll have new and tingly feelings towards girls. Is that it, Ron? Are you getting new and tingly feelings for someone? Maybe, oh, I don't know, Hermione?"

Ron's face went blast furnace red.

"I do NOT have tingly feelings for Hermione!"

Fred adopted the same devilish grin he had seen Ginny use earlier. He was amazed how similar they looked at the moment.

"Don't you? Why not? I do. She's turned into quite the looker. She's too young for me of course, but she'd be right up your street I would think. How about you, Harry, any new and tingly feelings towards our Miss Granger?"

Harry paused with his butterbeer halfway to his lips. All eyes in the room were on him, and he knew that no answer would keep him out of trouble. His mind raced to think of something that would at least sound tactful.

"Uh, well, you know, Hermione is...well she's...right there."

Everyone else spun around to see the girl in question walk through the front door. Seeing everyone staring intently at her, she stopped in mid-stride and turned her own gaze around at them all wondering why they were all staring at her. Before she could ask, Mrs. Weasley came back in the room carrying a huge platter of perfectly grilled trout.

"Hermione, how good to see you," Mrs. Weasley beamed. "You're right on time, dear. Sit down here next to Harry and I'll get you a plate. Harry, dear, are you ok? You look a bit flush."

Harry nodded mutely and did his best not to look at Hermione as she sat down. He looked over to see that Ron had looked up to give Hermione a smile before meeting Harry's eyes. He wasn't sure, but he thought that there was a definite coldness in the look he received from his best friend. He would need to have a talk with him about it, but now was definitely not the time. He made a mental note to talk to him either tonight, or sometime tomorrow. The thought of tomorrow reminded him that it would be his birthday. Making a quick look to his left, he immediately met the gaze of Hermione who gave him a little smile before returning to her meal. All in all, Harry thought, he would most likely have a very eventful birthday for a change.