Wanted: Someone Who Cares

Wanted: Someone Who Cares

Chapter 2

Lost - And Waiting to Be Found

The next day, Wednesday, all the children were up at 5:00 AM, eagerly anticipating the trip into London that day. They waited patiently for their parents to get up, but their patience only lasted an hour. They bounded into Arthur and Molly's room and jumped onto their bed, awaking their sleeping parents.

"Let's go let's go let's go let's go let's go!" said George, shaking his groggy mother's shoulder, which was already moving from Ron and Ginny jumping on the bed.

"Come on!" said Fred, as he pulled his father out of bed, with Percy pushing from behind. The twins and Percy got their parents downstairs (with Ron and Ginny behind them cheering) and had just shoved a flowerpot into Mr. Weasley's hands when he realized what was going on.

"What the devil! Kids, your mother and I aren't even dressed yet. Your brothers won't be arriving for another few hours, and I bet you want some breakfast, don't you?"

"We're not hungry," said Ron, speaking for everyone.

"We want to see Bill and Charlie again!" chirped Ginny.

"Well, you're going to need food before you do that, little lady," said Mr. Weasley, picking up Ginny and placing her on his hip. "Ginny, honey," he said, raking his fingers through her hair stubbornly. "Your hair's all stiff. Did you brush it?" Ginny nodded.

"And I washed it too. All by myself." There was a cough from her brothers and she quickly added, "with Fred and George's help anyway."

"Fred, George, what did you use to clean your sister's hair?" asked the now suspicious Mr. Weasley.

"Honestly Dad, we just used what was on the counter in the bathroom. Smell Ginny's hair Dad, it's minty fresh, just like the bottle said!" said Fred innocently. "You know," he added causally, " the small bottle of stuff Mum cleans her teeth with." Percy grabbed his brother's arm.

"You mean, you used TOOTHPASTE to wash Ginny's hair?" he said in disbelief.

"Yeah, that stuff. Why, were we not supposed to?" said George, for once in a state of sincere puzzlement. Mr. Weasley (and Percy for that matter) both looked like they would explode with furry, so Mrs. Weasley quickly ushered Ron out of the room and brought Ginny upstairs to wash her filthy hair. On the way, she counseled the young girl to make sure she wouldn't get lost.

"Now remember, it's Platform 9 ¾."

"Platform 9 and 3 forters."

"No Ginny, 9 ¾"

"9 and 3 forters."

"NINE AND THREE QUARTERS!"

"NINE AND THREE QUARTERS!"

"Excellent darling!"

"When are we going to Platform 9 and 3 forters Mummy?"

Mrs. Weasley sighed as she entered the bathroom. "Soon dear, soon."

***

After breakfast had been eaten and the purple stains taken off the wall (from Percy's attempt to do magic with his father's wand), the Weasley family gathered around the kitchen fireplace. Mr. Weasley took the flowerpot, which had been shoved into his hands earlier that day and offered it to his family. The twins ran at it and collided.

"George! You went first last time!"

"Did not! It was you!"

"Did to!"

"Did not!"

"Did to!"

"Did not!"

"Did to!"

"Did not!"

"Did-"

"BOYS!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked, and made her entire family jump. "George, you can go first this time, because Fred stole Percy's glasses yesterday." George smirked, blew a raspberry in Fred's face, and grabbed a handful of dirt from the flowerpot. Fred, who was struggling in Percy's arms not to punch George after the raspberry, whined to his mother.

"But it was his idea to take them anyway! And besides," he said as George stepped into the fireplace, "he's taken them more times than I have!" Percy looked down at his little brother.

"You keep track?" he said with a tone of disgust. Fred grinned proudly, and said something, but whatever it was, Percy didn't know, for at that moment, all anyone could hear was George shouting "PLATFORM 9 ¾!" at the top of his lungs and a whirling roar as the boy was engulfed in green flames. Any other person watching this might have been horrified, and then puzzled at why the Weasley family didn't seem shocked and stunned.

"Ah, Floo Powder traveling, there's none other like it. All right Fred, you next," said Mrs. Weasley, ushering the boy into the fireplace. She offered the flowerpot to him and he took some powder, and scowled at her. "Now now Fred, no use acting like that. There you go, come on now, nice and loudly," said his mother, backing away.

&lduo;I always knew you liked George bestest," said Fred in a final remark sort of way. Before his mother could say anything about it though, he had shouted "PLATFORM 9 ¾!" and dropped his handful of dirt, disappearing in the same apparently harmless flames as his twin. Mrs. Weasley shook her head and sighed.

"Those two," she muttered, then turned to her husband. "You better go along now, before they hurt themselves fighting or doing something dangerous. I'll take care of Percy and Ginny and Ron," she added, shooing her husband off. Mr. Weasley sighed (why did HE always have to go after the twins?) and disappeared in a pop - literally.

"I can't wait till I can apparate," said Percy

“Me neither,” said Ginny

"Well, I'll be able to do it before you, 'cause I'm older than you are!" countered Percy in an obnoxious voice that would get him shut into broom cupboards in the future.

"Go on Percy, you next," said Mrs. Weasley, trying to prevent an argument as Mr. Weasley was doing at that same moment, though miles and miles away and with two different children. Percy gladly took a large handful of dirt and repeated the routine his younger brothers had done in the fireplace. Ron shortly followed, and Mrs. Weasley gave a sigh of relief as she went last, saying Platform 9 ¾. Before she popped off like her husband, her eye caught a photo on the mantle. It was a few years old, and of all the Weasley family. Mr. Weasley was in the back, with an ugly old brown hat on his head that Mrs. Weasley particularly hated to cover up his rapidly growing bald spot. His arm was around a quite plump Mrs. Weasley, still large from her pregnancy with Ginny, who was the small baby in her arms. She chuckled at the small tuff of Weasley red hair that her daughter had in the picture; at the top of her head and sticking straight up like a tortured Muggle baby doll. Only Ron's arm was visible in this picture; he was incredibly shy at the time, and had been hiding behind his mother. Fred and George however, she recalled, had fought to be in the front of the picture, which was why George had a black eye. Percy was standing behind his twin brothers, trying to look dignified and important (but ended up looking completely nerdy, for in one of the twins squabbles, his glasses had been broken and there was no time for them to be properly magically fixed, so they were held together with tape). Two other red hair boys were in the picture, one about 12 and the other only slightly younger, were also in the picture, the older one gives a noogie to the younger one and the younger one's hand blurred as he reached up to smack him. Molly Weasley sighed. "It's going to be hard," she said in a low voice, to no one in particular. With a loud pop that no one other than herself heard, she vanished, and the Weasley house was empty.

***

OK, now, what should I do? Should I continue (making this an EXTREMLY long chapter), or should I stop? Well, if I stop, then the title doesn't make much sense, does it? OK, I'll continue, but I must one you - I'm going to leave you with one heck of a cliffhanger, and you're not going to like me for it. Enjoy!

***

Mrs. Weasley reappeared in a small, hot room. She touched up her hair in the mirror on the wall on her right, and looked around. The reason the room was so hot was due to the fact that a large, 17^th century looking fireplace was in the room, and there was a roaring fire in it. Mrs. Weasley turned back to the mirror, fluffed her curly red hair one more time, and was just about to make for the door when she heard a voice, scaring her half to death.

"Did I say it right Mummy? Are we there yet?"

Mrs. Weasley looked into the mirror and saw Ginny sitting on a large crate. She was covered head to toe in soot, and her hair - well, her hair looked cleaner when there was toothpaste in it that morning. Mrs. Weasley slowly lowered her hand from her breast, and breathed deeply for a few minutes, trying to slow down her quick beating heart. She finally calmed down, and turned to face her daughter. "Yes dear, you did it perfectly. Where are Percy and Ron honey?"

"Outside over there. Percy and Ron was here when I got here, but then Percy said he wanted to go outside. Ron came too, but they told me to stay here and wait for you Mummy." Said the wide-eyed child. Mrs. Weasley wrinkled her nose.

"Ginny dear, why didn't you brush your teeth before we left like Mummy asked?"

"I did Mummy, honest! I was mad at Percy and Ron, so I sat down to wait for you, and I was thirsty, so I got a drink from over there. It's Butterbeer Mummy!" Mrs. Weasley walked over to the cabinet where Ginny claimed to have gotten her Butterbeer.

"Ginny, you've never even tasted Butterbeer. How do you know that was truly Butterbeer?"

"'Cause Charlie said it was delicious, and warm, and it filled every part of me with warmth. Even the bottle was warm," said Ginny. Mrs. Weasley opened the cabinet. It was filled with bottles of different liquids, and covered with so many cobwebs and so much dust that she was sure everything in the storage cabinet had well passed its expiration date. One bottle of amber liquid, however, was free of cobwebs and dust. Mrs. Weasley took it out and showed it to her daughter.

"Honey, is this what you drank?" she asked. Ginny nodded. Mrs. Weasley uncorked the bottle and sniffed, the re-corked it immediately. She knew exactly what it was. How could she not, having spent nearly half of her life with toddlers. (A/N- I'll leave it up to your imaginations to guess now.) Even in her childhood, she was the oldest, the second oldest cousin/sibling being 12 years younger. She was always the baby-sitter, she remembered. "Maid Molly" the kids at school had called her when they found out. Maid Molly always had to watch the other children. Maid Molly always had to stay home. Everything was always Maid Molly's job. She shook herself from her memories and put the bottle away. She quickly took out a bottle of blue liquid, a handy potion she had always kept with her, ever since she first had to watch over her cousin Helen. "Drink this dear, it's even better than Butterbeer," she said. Ginny drained the bottle in one gulp, and, without knowing it, rid her body of the "Butterbeer". "Come on now, let's go meet your brothers," said Mrs. Weasley, as she took Ginny's hand and led her out the door.

***

Outside, the two females squinted in the bright light and looked for family. Mrs. Weasley spotted her husband, and pulled Ginny over to him. She had to pull of course, for the child was so dazzled by the train station they were at, she was walking extremely slowly. Mrs. Weasley gave her husband a peck on the cheek when she reached him, and looked around her. Ron, who was sitting on the ground with his right arm over his head, so his fingers where next to his left ear, and Percy, who was holding a struggling George in his arms, were gazing around with a similar reaction as Ginny. However, George was more concerned with escaping Percy and getting to Fred, who was in his father's arms. Fred was apparently having the same thoughts, for he was wiggling around like an overly excited flobberworm. Their wishes to escape and make physical contact however were forgotten, when an immensely large scarlet train pulled into the station. Ron snapped his arm down and jumped up.

"They're here!" he shouted. "They're here they're here they're here they're here they're here!" He was jumping up and down as he said this. Ginny joined him and soon all the Weasley children, even (surprisingly) Percy were jumping up and down, faces flushed red, shouting "They're here they're here!" This, of course, drew many people's attention, and the Weasley parents found themselves getting generally two kinds of looks: the kind that says Aw, how sweet, and the kind that says Gee, I'm glad I'm not you. The doors of the many cars of the train opened, and an older student stepped out of each car, and held the door open as many children streamed out, searching for parents, siblings, and other relations they had left behind. Coincidentally, the Weasley family seemed to know the red hair boy holding the door of the car in front of them; and he seemed to know them, for the children all screamed "BILL!" and ran in for a hug. The boy, Bill, let go of the door to hug his siblings, and it swung back, hitting the unprepared red hair boy, who was coming off the train, in the face. He forced the door back with his palm, slamming it into the side of the train (no doubt chipping the glossy red paint) and stepped off, scowling. He turned to Bill, rubbing his nose.

"Bloody Hell Bill, can't you wait till we get home before you beat - " he said, but stopped. Ron, Ginny, Fred and George were staring at him in awe; they never had known their dear older brother Charlie to say "Bloody Hell" before. Bill, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were glaring at Charlie, for swearing in front of the younger children. Charlie blushed deep, deep red, but all was forgotten a few seconds later when Ginny tore herself from Bill and said "Charlie!" in a sweet, admiring voice and hugged him tight. The gang of admirers left Bill and moved onto Charlie, who began rubbing his brothers on the head and lifting Ginny up into the air with his strong arms. Ginny cried with happiness, and the crowd of Weasley kids returned to their parents. Mr. Weasley hugged Bill, and Bill and Charlie each bent down to kiss their mother on the cheek.

"Welcome back you two," said Mrs. Weasley, beaming as she looked at her two oldest sons. "And just look at you. My, you have grown so much," she said proudly. "Bill, your 17 already. And just think, next year will be your last at Hogwarts." She turned to Charlie. "My, my, my, Charlie, look at you. Healthier than the finest hippogriff in the world." Her expression suddenly changed to one of curiosity. "Charlie, dear," she said, "what's that?" She pointed to a bright red mark just below his ear.

"What are you talking about Mum, I don't have anything," he said, slightly fast, and hiked up Ginny, who was sliding down his waist. Her red hair conveniently covered the red mark and blended in with his own hair. As his mother turned to talk to a friend of hers (one of Bill's friend's parents), Bill whispered "Nice move little bro, but in the future you'll have to be quicker."

"Shut up!" Charlie hissed worriedly. Bill smiled a 'You know I could get you into trouble if I wanted to' sort of smile, and Charlie would have smacked him, had it not been that several "hot" witches were nearby (he wanted to look cool, of course) and for the fact that he was still holding Ginny, and it was very uncool to drop your 4 year-old sister. Mrs. Weasley finished up her conversation, and at about the same time, an old wizard dropped Bill and Charlie's trunks by their feet. Bill grinned and gave a mock sigh.

"It's not such a drag sometimes, being a Prefect you know," he said. Percy was hanging on his every word, but Charlie was considering putting Ginny down just so he could slap Bill. He set Ginny down and was just about to leave a painful mark on his older brother's face, when his mother interrupted his actions.

"Kids, your father and I have to use the toilet, we'll be right back. Bill," said Mrs. Weasley, "You're in charge. Watch them, OK?"

"Yes Mum," said Bill, and the two parents walked off. When they turned the corner, Mrs. Weasley started to look back, but Mr. Weasley stopped her.

"Molly," he said in a reprimanding voice. She nodded, and they kept on walking.

***

"Hey, uh, Bill, where have Mum and Dad gone off to?" asked Charlie.

"To use the toilet," answered Bill shortly. He glanced at the clock. His parents had been gone for a little over half an hour. Must be a long line, he thought. A really, really long line. He turned away from the clock and glanced at his brothers and sister. Charlie was showing Fred, George, Ron, and every now and then, Ginny, and book of Quidditch plays he had made up for the next year. Percy was sitting on Bill's trunk, slightly separated from the group, supporting his head with his hand and looking extremely bored. Bill glanced at the clock again. It was nearly 3, and he was getting hungry. However, he thought it would be best if they just waited here. Maybe they're getting food for us, he thought, and sat down next to Percy, where they began talking about Transfiguration.

Half an hour later, Bill was worried. Ginny, complaining of needing to use the bathroom, had dragged all six of them to the bathrooms with her, where she stayed in there for 15 minutes, only after Charlie had gone in and found her all alone, playing with the toilets and nearly making them overflow. However, the way to the bathroom was complicated to find, and the way back was even worse, because his parents hadn't been at the bathroom. So there they were, walking down endless passageways, Bill gaining speed after every turn. What if they were at the platform and couldn't find them? Finally, to his relief, they emerged at the familiar looking platform, but his relief vanished when Bill saw the only thing on the platform were his and Charlie's trunks at the opposite end. He was just about to sink into one of his "deep thinking" modes, when he heard Ron cry, "I'm hungry." He turned around, and saw Fred and Ginny rubbing their stomachs, and George was leaning against the wall. Even Charlie looked famished. "I have a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans in my trunk for all of you," he said. "But you have to race each other to get them. GO!" he said, and everyone, including Charlie, took off. "Hey, Charlie, come back," shouted Bill. Charlie stopped.

"Ah, Bill, come on. I'm hungry," Charlie whined.

"Charlie," said Bill. Charlie looked up. Something wasn't right; Bill's tone of voice; the look on his face. Something was wrong. He walked over.

"Bill," he said in a soft voice, "What's the matter." Bill said nothing. "Come on Bill. Something's up."

"Charlie," he said. "I think we're lost."

"No way, this is the platform, we're fine."

"No," said Bill. "No, I think that we're lost - from Mum and Dad."