The War of Shades

Chapter 45 Meet the Parents

Spring Break was the first week of April. The four weeks preceding it passed remarkably well for Harry. Not that things were any better around Hogwarts - quite the contrary. He often felt like the character in old muggle movies who walks through a construction site or other busy area while all sorts of disasters and near disasters are happening, but they don't quite touch him. And he also still felt Voldemort prodding and pushing within his mind; but responding to that had become habitual.

Nonetheless, Harry was far less perturbed by all that was going on because Ginny was helping him both with solving the problem and with keeping a healthy perspective. When Harry would start to lose patience with people who got involved in fights, she would remind him that they just weren't in control.

"You wouldn't get angry with a baby for its messes and tantrums, would you? It's just doing what it has to - it's not being bad."

This would bring Harry around, along with an affectionate squeeze or stroking his back.

This argument was impressed on Harry particularly in the last week of March when Melony and Dobby's baby was born. Hermione and Madam Pomfrey assisted the goblin healer who came to help with the delivery. When Harry first saw it a couple of hours later, it took his breath away. It had to be the ugliest thing he had ever seen: scrawny, pea-soup-green, with spongy-looking nodules all over, it had huge bulging eyeballs that retracted into the skull on the rare occasions it blinked (and this would cause its throat to swell like a tree toad's), and its skin was both raspy and slimy like a sick cat's tongue. But Dobby and Melony were thrilled, so Harry assumed this was the way it was supposed to be.

Even at this age, Dobby and Melony's goblet was squalling like a dozen car alarms going off at once, and its parents were so proud that it was working on strong lungs and a good scratchy goblin voice. Harry and Ginny couldn't talk over the screaming, so when they were ready to leave they motioned for Dobby to come out into the hall with them.

"Dobby, I'm so happy for you and Melony," said Harry.

"Yes, but I missed whether it was a boy or a girl," said Ginny.

"We hasn't decided yet, Miss Weasley," said Dobby.

"What?" asked Harry. "You decide it?"

"Well, we can let it just develop and the temperature of the castle will determine it, or if we wants to choose, we can keep the baby warmer for a girl or cooler for a boy."

"Oh," said Harry, having a bit of trouble comprehending that. "Well, the baby seems so healthy."

"HEALTHY!?" yelled Dobby at Harry. "Healthy!? That's a word humans use when they can't say anything nice. Oh, I've heard it, alright. A young lady is three hundred pounds with a face like a troll, and people say 'oh, she looks so healthy!' It's something to say instead of the truth! Well, who needs you, Harry Potter!? If you hates goblets you shouldn't have come around! Good day!!"

Then Dobby walked back into their quarters and slammed the door. Harry stared with his mouth open.

Ginny squeezed his hand. "It's the curse, Harry, not him. You know he would never say those things on his own. Remember what he was like other times, like when he roomed with you two summers ago."

Harry took a deep breath and let it out, then hugged Ginny.

"It's worse than the fact that he was short-tempered. Up until now, the curse hasn't made people treat me that way, and usually not even act that way around me. I had hoped that if nothing else worked, I could take direct command of the students and the curse would be suppressed while we defended ourselves. That was one of the big hazards that Voldemort feared as well. But the curse is apparently growing stronger, and we can't even count on my presence to suppress it. We're vulnerable, Ginny, very, very vulnerable. We've got to find a way to put an end to this spell, Ginny. It's up to us."

"I know, sweety. We will."

Training went very well in March. Harry had redoubled energy and enthusiasm now that he had someone special in his life. Every DA session brought new breakthroughs in spellcasting and defensive techniques. Harry pushed hard, but everyone understood it was so they would be prepared for the looming battle. Harry's happiness, even amid the gathering clouds, carried through to all those around him. By the end of the month, nearly all the fifth years and higher had tested their patronuses and almost half the third and fourth years had as well. If only they could work together, they would be an awesome defensive force, but Harry accepted that until he and Ginny could come up with a solution, the students were going to be squabbling. At least he would see to it that individually they were as prepared as the time available would allow.

Finally, March came to an end and it was time for Harry and Ginny to visit Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Ginny had passed her Apparation test, with both inanimate objects and creatures, as was expected with someone who took to a broom as well as she did. They stayed until after the Friday evening Patronus session, then picked up their bags and got far enough away from the castle for apparation. The charms on the castle itself prevented sorcerer apparition within and in its immediate surroundings, of course, but after a moderate distance, the grounds were free of the enchantment.

"Ready?" asked Harry, holding Ginny's hand.

"Ready," she replied, giving his hand a squeeze. "Are you sure you're okay - you seem a little nervous?"

"I am," he answered. "It was one thing to be around them when I was just a friend of the family, but I am a bit nervous meeting them as 'Ginny's boyfriend.'"

Ginny laughed. "You needn't be nervous, you silly. You know they love you already."

"Perhaps that's it. I don't even doubt they would continue to love me even if something came between you and me, but things would certainly be very strained."

Ginny let go of her trunk and turned to him and held him close.

"I don't want to hear of anything coming between us. You promise me that if there's ever anything about us that's on your mind, you'll talk it over with me as soon as possible, and I'll do the same with you. And I'll promise to do my best not to go into any sort of emotional tantrums over anything you tell me. We can work anything out if we keep our wits about us, okay?"

"Okay, I promise," said Harry, "I'll let no rifts grow between us." He bent down a bit and kissed her. "Time to go."

They let go of each other so that slight differences in timing wouldn't cause them to splinch each other. They counted to three and apparated to the sidewalk in front of the Black home at Grimmauld Place, for the time being the Acting Minister of Magic's residence.

Harry looked up at the façade, got a grim look on his face, and shuddered. Ginny took his hand and squeezed it again. "Problem, Harry?"

"I'm remembering being here two years ago. That was such a dark time. No one but my friends and the Order believed me, I wasn't really focused on what I had to do, and I was still not really able to deal with Voldemort's return."

"And of course, this house brings back memories of the living Sirius."

Harry nodded. "Him, and the mistakes I made that led to his death."

"Then it's time you sorted those feelings out - with people who love you."

Harry turned to her. "I know the way your parents love me, and I love them, too. But," he hesitated, then took a deep breath, "I love you in a much different way, Ginny."

She gave a small gasp, and then smiled. "Do you, sweety? I love you, too. I am so glad I put aside the silliness."

"We both needed to be sure how we felt. It's alright. Now, let's go on in before they come drag us in."

They were surprised not to see aurors or other security around as they approached the door, but then, this house was protected by a Fidelius Charm with Dumbledore as secret-keeper. They knocked and within seconds the door flew open. They were set upon by Mrs. Weasley, who smothered them both in hugs and kisses. It took some getting used to seeing Molly Weasley in wrap-around mirrored sunglasses. Harry noticed as Ginny was struggling to survive the onslaught how similar mother and daughter were: though Ginny was lean and muscular, partly from youth and not having borne children, and partly from the athletics and training which were such a large part of her life, Harry could see the great similarity in proportion, frame and face. That was just fine by Harry, as he regarded Mrs. Weasley so fondly, and had a healthy envy for Mr. Weasley's family life.

"Come in, come in" she bubbled, "No problem getting here, I guess."

"How could there be, Mum?" said Ginny, as if her mother were daft. "We apparated."

"Did Harry take you or - you passed your exam, didn't you, Ginny?"

Ginny grinned. "You already knew about my biggest surprise; I had to save something."

"That's wonderful, dear. I guess that practice with Harry this summer paid off."

Ginny blushed. "I, erm, wasn't paying too much attention to the lessons, Mum. I was too busy being mad at Harry for receiving other girls' attention."

"Oh, goodness, Ginny, with all the work you children have been doing, I sometimes forget that you're still a teenager, particularly emotionally. How could you expect that Harry would not receive attention?"

"I didn't say I was rational, I said I was mad, ..."

"... and emotion does not know reason," interrupted Mr. Weasley, hugging his only daughter warmly, "as I have often warned you, Pumpkin. It's so good to see you, Ginny. I've missed you awfully."

When Arthur Weasley finally let go of Ginny, he turned to Harry, who extended his hand. Arthur smiled and shook his head and gave Harry a bear hug instead. "All my boys get hugs, not handshakes."

Harry hugged him back, so grateful to be welcomed as one of the Weasleys' own, and they exchanged solid enough thumps on their backs to make it a proper guys' hug.

"Welcome, Harry, it's so good to have you here."

"Well, it's great to see you and Mrs. Weasley. Being here in this house is not so good, but it's the folks inside that make the home."

"Exactly, Harry," said Mrs. Weasley, "and with the time I've had around here, I've been able to lift much of the morbid air that hung round the place. Let me show you the changes."

"Tell me first," said Harry nervously, "you haven't touched the library, have you?"

"Not the books or the shelves, but it's no longer decorated in body parts and portraits of dark sorcerers. Don't worry, Dumbledore told us from the beginning to keep the books, and he told us just recently that you would want to spend time with them. I've even taken that as a motivation to label all the books that are booby-trapped with enchantments so that you'll know how to safely use them. Now come along to see the place and then we'll have tea."

"Or maybe something a bit more soothing," said Mr. Weasley, with a wink.

Much more so than two years earlier, the place had been transformed. The dark and often grim tapestries and paintings had been eliminated, sometimes by removing the face of the wall. While exposed wood was left alone, with a new coat of varnish or other sealant where needed, the painted surfaces were made much lighter. Likewise for the rugs, which were laid over resurfaced wood floors. The curtains were much lighter, and as Harry discovered during the subsequent days, allowed ample light to seep through - so much so that Harry suspected that they had been enchanted to amplify the prevailing exterior light. If this were so, then this was the sort of enchantment this house could well do with, Harry decided. The only rooms that seemed to have changed little were the library, which was nearly all paneled in English Oak, and the kitchen, which had always had a hominess that belied the evil air the rest of the house bore. Buckbeak, he was told, had recovered from his injuries, and had been taken out to The Burrow, once Arthur had pushed through a pardon, and Winky was taking care of him, where he was doing a wonderful job keeping the garden gnomes at bay.

The biggest surprise for Harry was when they came across Kreacher. Visibly older and more gnarled, as if the destruction of the things that made this the house he had known so long were so much destruction of him as well. The brightening of the house's aspect, however, seemed to have had the opposite effect on Kreacher. Harry first saw him huddled in a corner near the boiler, the area of the house which maintained the unfriendliness he had preferred.

When Kreacher saw them, he hissed like a feral beast, "So my mistress's house is again invaded by one of the young blood traitors and the half-breed. Oh, these are bad days indeed."

Harry was so taken aback at the sight, like one would be finding a rat in one's pantry, that he hadn't a chance to register his emotions before Mr. Weasley replied.

"You'll speak civilly to your master, unless you want punishment."

"What?" asked Harry, looking at Ginny, who shrugged.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Harry, it hadn't been explained to you yet because of the terms of Sirius's will. All Sirius's property had been left to you, including the house. You are to come into actual possession when you turn 21; until then, Dumbledore and I are trustees, with the house particularly to be held for Order business until the War is over. Dumbledore suggested that the best use of the House for the present was as our London residence, since we would be likely targets of attack since I became acting Minister of Magic. Oh, and Sirius set aside a special fund, instructing Molly to use it to make this a fit habitation for decent sorcerers."

"So, I am to become HIS master?" said Harry, nodding toward Kreacher.

"Actually, you already are, although, as trustee over the house, my orders must be obeyed as well. I must warn you, though, Harry, as we learned a couple years ago, it is important to word what you say as clearly and beyond interpretation as possible. He takes great pains to be as contrary as possible. Think through anything you say to him carefully."

Harry was appalled to think that he was now Kreacher's master. Harry didn't want to own a house elf, and if he must, this would be the last one he would have wanted. Looking at this surly, half-crazed old elf brought back all of Kreacher's awful behavior from 2 years earlier and most especially the treachery which resulted in the death of Sirius Black: his own master and Harry's godfather. Anger surged within Harry. Ginny must have felt the tension, or maybe she just understood how Harry would feel at this moment, for she reached over, found his hand, and gave it a squeeze. Still, it would have been easy for Harry to simply kill Kreacher right then and there and he was fairly certain there would have been no legal consequences. But he could not bring himself to do so. Instead he addressed Kreacher.

"Kreacher, do you recognize me as your master?"

Kreacher hissed like a cornered raccoon, but then lowered his head and acknowledged him. "Yes, master."

"And you will do as I instruct you?"

"Yes, Master," he said as he smiled cunningly, which put Harry to caution.

"Until I tell you otherwise, you are not to refer to anyone as blood traitor, mudblood, or halfblood or words of similar intent. You will treat me, all the Weasleys, and any of our guests with courtesy. Before entering any room in this house, you will knock sufficiently to attract attention but not so loudly as to be a nuisance and you will wait for permission to be granted before entering. If the door is open, you may look inside and if it is unoccupied you may enter to perform the duties of maintaining this house. This house shall be maintained so as to be pleasing to the Weasleys and myself. If any person enters a room you are already in, you will make your presence known by saying courteously 'Welcome, sir' to men or boys, and 'Welcome, maam' to women, and Welcome, Miss,' to girls. Are those instructions understood?"

Kreacher glowered at Harry, but replied, "Yes, sir."

"Oh, and you are not to leave the premises except as explicitly instructed by Mr. or Mrs. Weasley, myself or Professor Dumbledore, and you are then only to go places that you have been explicitly told to go. You will not go to any place outside this house that has not been specifically told to you to go to. Understand?"

"Yes, ... Master."

"Mr. Weasley, do you think those will do for now?" asked Harry.

Arthur nodded. "Yes, very good, Harry. You would be surprised, though. With sufficiently precise directions he can still be useful. We carefully instructed him on sanding down and resurfacing the floors and you saw what a nice job he did."

Molly agreed. "He still worships the house, even if he only grudgingly accepts our presence. So you've seen it all now. I hope you approve of the changes we've made so far to your house."

"'MY house.' Let's let that idea sink in a while. I'm not too comfortable yet with that concept. But I do wholeheartedly endorse its present use."

"Good, Harry," said Arthur, clapping and rubbing his hands together, "then let's all see about a late beverage in the kitchen."

Ginny put on a posh accent. "That would be just grand, Pa-pa."

Harry echoed her tone. "Oh, yes, Minister, that would be simply smashing. We would be ever at your service."

"Oh, my," laughed Mrs. Weasley, "seeing you two happy enough to be playful is the best tonic I've had in a long time."