Thicker Than Water: Year Six

Chapter 16 - New Year's Rattle

The day after Christmas, Harry bid farewell to Remus' family. He and Remus returned briefly to the Manor to pack all of Harry's belongings for his stay at the Weasleys until the end of the winter vacation.

Returning to the Weasleys was awkward for Harry. Although Ron had written to his family that Harry was alright and that he had seen him, they knew little of the details, and were still unaware of how he had spent the first term at Hogwarts.

Remus and Harry arrived by portkey to the yard in front of the Burrow before dinner, as the winter air settled into a damp, chilly dusk. Remus led the way up to the front door, and rapped smartly. They had to knock again a couple of times before they were heard, and the door opened.

Mr. Weasley stepped out in a pool of light, pulling his new Christmas Weasley-jumper a little bit tighter to ward off the cold. "Remus, great, you're finally here! And where's Harry?" His voice had lowered to a whisper as he looked out into the dark of the yard.

Harry stepped out from behind Remus and moved towards the lit doorway in front of Mr. Weasley. He said quietly, "Hello, sir. It's nice to be back."

Mr. Weasley took one look at the neatly coifed black boy and stumbled backwards, his mouth hanging open. Not having been warned and obviously shocked by Harry's appearance, he spluttered, "Uh... Harry? Oh my goodness - I wouldn't have known you! How you've changed!"

"It happens to all young men at his age, I'm sure you know," said Remus cheekily. Mr. Weasley stared for another moment before cracking an amused grin that Harry had seen before on the faces of all the Weasley boys. He reached over to clap Harry on the back, and drew him in to the Burrow.

No sooner had they stepped into the front hall then Mrs. Weasley rushed out, hollering to the house's occupants that Harry had arrived. She skidded to a halt in front of her company, and her voice ground to an abrupt halt. She, too, stared at Harry before tears welled up in her eyes and she clapped her hand to her mouth.

"Oh my, dear Harry, what have they done to you?" Next thing he knew, Harry was trapped in a crushing embrace with Mrs. Weasley sobbing onto his shoulder.

"I'm okay, really Mrs. Weasley, it's still me; I'm fine..." he protested, as Mr. Weasley gently pulled his wife away, and began to repeat Harry's reassurances. It was with relief that Harry saw the other Weasleys converging on the hall. Ron and Ginny were standing off at one side smiling sympathetically, while Fred and George bounded down the stairs. Their eyes widened when they saw him, and they let out simultaneous exclamations, "Oi! Harry! Is that you?" and "Wicked face, Harry!"

He smiled at their greetings, and the whole noisy party moved into the living room, Remus at the rear with Mr. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley started to bombard him with questions about where he had been and how he came to look like... her voice broke at that, and her eyes got misty again. Harry settled down on the sofa and told them all about his cosmetic transformation at the hands of the ingenious Tonks, and how he was able to spend a term at school completely undetected, even by his classmates. He neglected to mention that Ron had been the one most fooled by his disguise, and unaware of his presence throughout most of the term.

Focused on the story, Mrs. Weasley had forgotten about supper and was rudely reminded by the smell of burning potatoes. As she hurried frantically back to her pots, Bill and Fleur stepped in through the fireplace, accompanied by what looked like a shrivelled old crone in a dark cloak. Though Fleur had not seen Harry or his disguise since the explosion, she walked straight up to him and planted kisses on both his cheeks. "Harry! Bill told me, I'm so glad you're okay! I thought you were killed in the summer, but it's nice to see you alive and looking so well!"

She sniffed dramatically, and stepped aside, waving a hand at the old woman. "This is my grandmother, Yvellan. Grandmaman, les Weasleys, la famille de Bill."

The old woman gave a small cackle and turned to smile at everyone, pulling her hood back off her head. As she made eye contact, years seemed to melt from her features and she became lovelier than the Lady Galadriel in her youth. Then she retreated into her stooped and wrinkled skin, regaining the features of her age again. Harry felt a hand clamped onto his arm, as Ron panted breathlessly into his ears, "I love her! I think I need a cold shower!" Harry himself felt his heart thudding in his chest as he tried to clear his head after the encounter with her Veela beauty. All the Weasleys, in fact, were a bit breathless, with the exception of Ginny who rolled her eyes and muttered, "Boys!"

Remus was leaning on the sofa looking unaffected, but smiling humorously at the responses of the other men in the room. Harry decided he would have to ask Remus later why he hadn't succumbed to the Veela charm. The noise level rose as everybody started to talk, and Fleur waddled towards the nearest seat, her large, rounded belly looking as though it was going to tip her over.

Bill walked up to Harry and Remus, and the older man asked, "How are you getting along with your grandmother-in-law?"

Bill shook his head and let out a long breath. He said, "At least she helps Fleur a lot, and that's made her easier to live with lately. Otherwise, it has been miserable! One moment there's this intrusive old woman poking around in the kitchen cupboards, the next, she's a magnificent Veela whom I'm ready to leave Fleur for. That first week, I forgot she was sleeping on the sofa and walked out to the loo only in my nightclothes. She gave me this look... I didn't think I could walk another step after that! She wasn't with us four days before I started hunting for a two-bedroom flat - I couldn't find a thing but, thank Merlin, Fred and George gave up their apartment for me and took something smaller for themselves!"

Harry gave an embarrassed grin at Bill's predicament, and Remus laughed out loud. "I must say, that was a sporting thing that Fred and George did for you!"

"Sporting?! Hardly! I'm still coming across hidden jinxes..."

"I'm sure Fleur loves that!" Remus said with a big smile. Bill shook his head and answered, "Those rascals have figured out gender specificity - they don't dare mess with Fleur, but it hasn't stopped them from setting up a house full of fun for me!"

Remus left the Weasleys before it was time to eat. He told Harry quietly that he planned to pack up some of his belongings at the Manor and head back to Sinéal's that evening. "But I'll be around at the Manor next time you come in for your make-up. Speaking of which, Tonks will be dropping by here before you return to school, to do your touch-up. I hope you have a good week here with your friends, Harry; and thanks for coming to spend Christmas with me!"

"Thanks for having me. I'm glad you and Sinéal have worked things out. I hope you and Sean manage to, also," Harry said. Remus smiled at him and pulled him into a half-embrace before leaving.

Dinner was a festive event. Fred and George had positioned themselves near Harry so they could fill him in on the success of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, and hint at the return he would get on his investment. Harry brushed off any suggestion of a financial interest in their store, and told them to keep making people laugh.

"Oh, we plan to," whispered George conspiratorially. "Just watch the custard pudding, that should be worth a chuckle or two!" Harry smiled in anticipation, making a note just to accept the biscuits instead.

Since he hadn't joined them for Christmas, Harry was invited after dinner to open his Christmas gifts; he, in turn, had two large bags full of presents for the various members of the Weasley family. For Fleur, he also had a soft, knitted baby blanket in blues, yellows and greens that had once belonged to Liam; Sinéal had given him it to him when he had wondered aloud whether to bring Fleur a gift or not.

They sat up late, drinking butterbeer and recounting some of Fred and George's better holiday antics for Harry and Remus. Harry looked around at the large Weasley family, basking in their affection and laughter. Instead of becoming melancholy at the thought of all he had missed growing up with the Dursleys, Harry thought of how lucky he was to be included in their festive gathering. It was much more animated than the evenings spent with Remus, Sinéal and their sons, but the warmth of both families was undeniable. Their respective acceptances of him had made the winter holiday a special one, despite the losses of his so-called "real" family over the last seven months.

Harry's gaze lingered on Ron, and he hoped the discomfort of the first-term's enmity had faded. Ron looked up and caught his look, and gave Harry a small nod, his smile flattening into a fretful grimace. Harry - at peace in the jumble of the Burrow living room - replied with a happy smile, and Ron returned it with a look of relief on his face.

Bill and Fleur finally got up and declared that it was time for them to leave; Fleur's eyes were ringed with the exhaustion of late pregnancy. Grandmaman Yvellan, who had been tucked onto the sofa between Ginny and Mrs. Weasley for everyone else's safety, was pulled to her feet and handed her cloak.

Before following her granddaughter to the fireplace, the old Veela stepped up to Harry and put her hand on his cheek. He felt himself flush with a sudden warmth and desire to sweep the woman off her feet and carry her outside. His eyes refocused when her quavering voice broke the spell, as she began speaking rapidly in French. Fleur turned to her and replied, and the old woman spoke again.

Addressing Harry, Fleur said, "My grandmother likes you. She says to tell you that you have a very special bloodline, and are akin to my baby - whatever that means. I think she must be tired out by all the excitement, but she is right - you are a special young man! I'm so glad to see you again."

Harry shuddered at the translation of the old Veela's words, and he looked past Fleur at Bill. Bill's eyes had gone wide in alarm; he gave a subtle shake of his head, warning Harry not to say anything. Meanwhile, Fleur kissed Harry on both cheeks before turning to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to express her gratitude.

Ron moved up behind Harry and bent to whisper in his ear, "D'you think maybe I stand a chance of two kisses from Fleur?" to which Harry snorted back quietly, "Not unless you grow your hair long and get an earring... besides, what about Hermione?"

Ron chewed his lip contemplatively for a moment then asked, "Do you really think Hermione would like me with long hair and an earring?" They both burst into quiet guffaws, and Harry was grateful that he finally had his friend back.

Grabbing his bags from the hall, Harry followed Ron up the many flights to his top-floor bedroom. He noticed that the vivid orange of the Chudley Canons posters was marred by various pictures tacked on top of them. Two photos - closest to Ron's bed - were of Hermione: one of her on vacation, and one wearing school robes in front of the Great Hall at Hogwarts. Besides those, there were a few posters of the hottest contemporary wizarding music band, Warlocks' Wisdom, the members of the all-witches group standing in very fetching poses at various recognisable wizarding sites. Harry eyed a poster with eyebrows raised, as one witch bent teasingly lower to give Harry a glimpse into her dark canyon of cleavage. Ron gave Harry a knowing smirk, "That one always helps if you want to have good dreams..."

In spite of the flirtatious posters, Harry wasn't able to sleep though Ron had dropped off the minute his head hit the pillow. His thoughts went back to Fleur's Veela grandmother; he kept going over the words Fleur claimed she had spoken. Could the old woman sense the traces of the blood transfusion Bill had given him in July, after the Dursley's house was blown up? Did receiving blood from Bill hold him in some sort of debt, and what did that have to do with Fleur's baby?

Harry suddenly sat bolt upright, remembering the sphinx's last riddle that had baffled and upset Bill. He gasped for breath, wondering if the baby's blood was somehow involved in strengthening his own.

Not wanting to waken Ron, Harry refrained from getting up and pacing the room. It took him a long time to ward off his feeling of panic, and he resolved to ask Bill about the two distinct prophetic statements that both seemed to centre on him. Questions chased each other around Harry's mind, until he finally slipped into a fitful sleep.

*

The following few days passed in the blink of an eye. The Burrow was its usual bustle with people always coming and going. Harry occasionally found himself longing for the privacy of the Manor, or the quieter domesticity of Sinéal's house. Ginny's friend Kenslie, a freckled brown-haired girl in Gryffindor fifth year, came to stay for the last few days of the holidays. Harry thought she was nice enough, but was sorry when everybody had to resort to calling him Leo again.

Percy also came by one morning for breakfast, much to Mrs. Weasley's delight. He had been working for a few months to repair his relationship with his parents. He didn't stay long at the Burrow, though; the tense silence from the rest of the family was less than welcoming of Percy, and made for an awkward meal. Harry kept his distance, partially out of disgust with his behaviour towards Harry last year. He also knew that Percy wasn't in on the secret of his identity and didn't want to say anything that might alert the clever wizard.

When her middle son left, Mrs. Weasley scolded her other children. She told them she at least expected them to make an effort with Percy. "For all his follies, he is still your brother, after all!"

"What is Percy doing now that Fudge is out of office?" Harry inquired politely, trying to draw attention away from Ron's and Ginny's scowls.

"Unfortunately, he's been demoted. There were a few voices that called for him to be thrown out of the Ministry altogether. Luckily for Percy, though, Arthur managed to pull a few strings, and get him a junior position in the Department for Magical Games. Ludo Bagman's head of that department; he's a good friend of Arthur's and he'll give Percy a fair chance to move up through the ranks over time. He's a good lad, Percy, I'm so glad he's finally come around and decided to make peace with his family! And I know he's ever so grateful Arthur was able to patch things up for him so he could keep working at the Ministry," said Mrs. Weasley emotionally.

"Ever so grateful, my foot!" muttered Ron quietly to Harry. Ginny turned away to hide a smile at what was obviously a family joke. Thinking back to Percy's previous bosses - the meticulous Bartemius Crouch and the high-ranking Cornelius Fudge - Harry had to admit that Percy had been aptly rewarded for his previous ruthlessly ambitious behaviour. Not only did Percy have to work with Ludo Bagman - the complete opposite of his revered Ministry idols - but he had needed his father's assistance to get there.

New Year's Eve rolled around, with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley bustling busily as they prepared to attend a cocktail party at the Diggorys' house. Mrs. Weasley grumbled under her breath, "...though why we have to go is beyond me! He's become so arrogant! And his wife..."

"Why are you going to the Diggorys' if you don't like them?" asked Ginny.

Mr. Weasley answered impatiently from the next room, as much to his wife as to Ginny, "We have to go, especially now that Amos has become the Minister of Magic. We've known them for years, they live in the neighbourhood, and it would be odd if we didn't make an appearance. All of the Ministry Department Heads will be there - and Amos isn't so bad, Molly. You shouldn't mind everything he says! Don't forget what he's been through over the past couple of years."

Mrs. Weasley looked contrite at the reminder of Cedric's death, and finished putting on her jewellery in silence. In no time, they were out the door, Mrs. Weasley calling behind her, "Now, don't get into any trouble. The twins should be here soon, and Bill said he might drop by later..."

After they left, Ron and Harry sat down to a game of chess. Harry was getting to be a good player, but was still no match for his friend. As Ron was trouncing him for the second game in a row, a green flame flared in the fireplace and George stepped out, followed closely by Fred.

"Mum and Dad gone out already?" George asked, not looking at all disappointed when Ron nodded. He began emptying his backpack, arranging a row of bottles on the coffee table.

"Let me guess, those aren't butterbeer, are they?" asked Ron, raising an eyebrow. Fred snorted at the insult and replied, "Hardly, little brother! We're here for some fun!"

Hearing the extra voices, Ginny came down with Kenslie, who looked nervously over at the drinks. Fred winked at her and said, "Just a few refreshments!" He emptied his bag, which held packages of spicy dragon-crisps, chocolate frogs, and a bag of Wanda's assorted edibles. Ron put away his chess set, and they were all soon strewn about the living room munching on the treats.

"What is that?" asked Ginny, as George twisted the cap off a bottle.

"Firewhiskey," he smiled deviously, passing the bottle around. Everyone took a sip, Ginny and Harry both spluttering and coughing, Kenslie hardly letting a taste pass her lips, Ron actually spitting out his first mouthful before taking another. Fred and George laughed hysterically at their reactions after the first tasting, and kept passing the bottle around. In minutes, half the bottle was gone and Harry was getting used to belting down a mouthful.

The fireplace flared again and Bill stepped out. He gave them all an easy smile, which disappeared off his face as he noticed the Firewhiskey.

"What on earth are you doing?! Fred, George, you know better than to serve this!" Bill turned a stern look on them and confiscated the bottle for himself. The Weasley twins glared at him and snapped, "Haven't you got anywhere better to celebrate the New Year?"

"Fleur's not up to going out, and I didn't want to go partying without her," answered Bill as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a clear, unlabelled bottle filled with a pink liquid. He placed it on the table, muttering, "Underage drinking in this house, really! What would Mum say? Here's some lemonade for you youngsters instead."

Fred and George were still fuming and protesting but Ginny looked sweetly up at Bill and said, with a gleam in her eye, "Thank you so much, dearest big brother, for having our best interests in mind!"

She picked up the bottle of lemonade and took a long swallow. "Ah, delicious!" she said, wiping her mouth daintily and passing the bottle to Kenslie.

The slight girl took a drink and began to cough; with a puzzled look on her face, she passed the bottle to Fred. He looked closely from her to the bottle, and took a gulp. He then spit out the pink liquid with the same spectacular finesse as Ron after his first taste of Firewhiskey.

"Give me that!" George grabbed the bottle as Fred turned to Bill with an impressed look.

"Just what kind of lemonade is that, anyway?"

"Little home brew," said Bill drily, a grin on his face. George passed it to Harry saying, "Give that one a try, Leo!"

About an hour later, Harry was feeling very warm and happy. Ron's face was flushed a permanent pink, and Kenslie had gone quite giggly. Bill was nursing a second bottle of Firewhiskey and the twins, having polished off a couple bottles of lemonade between them, were getting less and less coordinated with the tricks they were showing off.

In an unguarded moment, Harry suddenly felt a wand on him. He looked up groggily at Bill who muttered quietly so only he could hear, "Legilimens!"

Harry - who had become quite good at occlumency - was having a hard time on focusing the block. Surrendering to his tipsy mind's urge to float away, he thought of the smoky-runes that Luna had conjured up over them as they lay on grass at Hogwart's in the autumn. He let his mind hover in the air with the shadows of the runes, until Bill put down his wand and gave him a strange look.

"What on earth was that all about?" he asked. Harry just snickered and looked at him. Bill seemed pleased and said, "Well, drunk or not, you certainly didn't give anything away! Good show."

Needing to visit the loo, Harry stumbled up the first flight of stairs. He came out feeling somewhat unfocussed, and bumped into Ginny on the dark landing. She was startled, and gasped, "Oh! Harry!"

They tried to skirt around each other, both tipsy and moving unsteadily. Before he knew what had happened, Ginny was standing much too close, her face an inch or two away from his. A warmth spread through his body that had nothing - and everything - to do with all the alcohol he had drunk. Ginny started to lean in, and Harry felt a pulsing in nether-regions and a flush of excitement. His hand flew to the pendant around his neck, the ice cube glowing a deep red as a vision of Luna came into his head.

Pushing Ginny away as he stumbled back two paces, Harry mumbled, "I don't think this is a good idea!"

Harry staggered back down the stairs. He was woozy from all the drinking and uncomfortable after his sudden response to Ginny. He certainly liked her a lot, but not like that! And a little voice in his mind also whispered, and she isn't Luna...

Hoping a glass of water would cool him down and help mitigate the effects of the alcohol, Harry walked along the hall to the kitchen, keeping one hand on the wall for support. He just stepped inside when he heard panting. Pressed against the kitchen counter were Fred and Kenslie, engaged in an enthusiastic snog and then some. "Sorry!" mumbled Harry backing out quickly, but they didn't seem to have heard him.

Falling back into a chair in the living room, Harry wondered if too much drink always made people so lusty. Embarrassed by the Ginny incident, he tried to put it out of his mind and turned his attention to the remaining Weasleys. Ron and George were trying to play some strange game that involved magically levitating a bottle towards the other person, but keeping it away from themselves. They were quite drunk and uncoordinated, however; liquid kept sloshing out of the bottle and, more often than not, it ended up in front of Ron who then had to take a drink. Bill sat low in his chair, his lanky legs stretched out in front of him, watching the game in amusement.

A sudden noise - which could have been mistaken for simply a creak in an old house, which the Burrow was - made Harry sit up sharply. Blurred visions of the explosion at the Dursleys, remembering the sound of appartition that had woken him that night caused Harry to look up in a panic, as he pushed himself to his feet. Bill noticed his expression immediately and jumped up surprisingly quickly. "Harry, what...?"

But Harry had begun to walk as quickly as he was able to the front door. Behind him, he heard Bill call out, "Fred! Ginny!"

Bill extinguished the living room lights and cut Harry off before he reached the door. Wands out, they both stood on either side of the door as Bill opened it cautiously. They heard a sudden movement on the left side of the yard and Bill shot a stunner in the direction of the noise. A spell hit the front door in response, blackening a large circle where it hit the wood.

Not knowing who was out there and whether or not it was one person, Bill and Harry kept still just inside the door. Harry poked his wand out and sent a ball of light hurtling out towards their attacker; whoever it was moved quickly and they just got to see the side of a tall man as he leapt out of view into the darkness. Another curse flew at them, hitting the house just beside the door. Bill suddenly pushed Harry back inside, as he himself leapt out to confront the assailant. Harry fell onto the floor and, sobering as the attack was, wondered whether he could even aim straight if he went outside to add his wand to the battle.

A sudden inspiration hit: Harry had read in detail how to create a portkey when he had last been at the Manor for a cosmetic touch-up. He had read the section twice, despite Remus' insistence that he wouldn't teach him how to make a portkey. Though he hadn't thought of it again over the Christmas holidays, Harry calmly tried to remember the incantation and wand movement. Seizing the nearest object to him, he screwed his eyes shut and concentrated on a location. The first one that came into his mind was the Fountain of the Magical Brethren in the foyer of the Ministry of Magic. He pictured it with Voldemort encased in water where Dumbledore had trapped him, last June.

Focusing on what the fountain had looked like before it was destroyed in that battle, Harry pointed his wand, said the spell and the object in his hand glowed momentarily. He grabbed it, pulled himself up and stepped outdoors. Bill was in front of the house, fighting with what appeared to be a hooded Death Eater, who was standing closer to the gate. Harry threw the portkey with surprising accuracy, and it landed a foot or two from the attacker. Bill suddenly howled in pain, and the other man took the opportunity to reach for the boot that had just landed beside him. As he was reaching for it, two beams of light shot out from either side of the house. One of them hit the man, who collapsed as his legs turned to jelly. When he fell to the ground, his hand touched the boot. The portkey activated and, in a wink, he was gone.

Harry stood stunned for a moment and, without thinking, ran over to Bill. "Are you okay?" he called. Bill, whose wand arm was hanging at his side with his left-hand clamped over his forearm, shouted back, "Get in the house!"

From the sides of the house, Ron and George appeared, and all four went indoors quickly. Ginny was standing at the bottom of the stairs, a blank look of horror on her face. Fred emerged from the kitchen, supporting a sobbing and inconsolable Kenslie. Bill said loudly to Ginny, "Get me some bandages or towels!"

She snapped out of her momentary catatonia, and brushed past Fred and Kenslie towards the kitchen. Bill went into the living room and made sure all the blinds and curtains were well closed before rekindling the lamps. When Ginny returned with a tea towel and her mother's first aid basket, he pulled up his robe sleeve to reveal a nasty black and green burn running the length of his forearm. With George's assistance, Bill quickly dressed the wound, applying copious amount of a white fire-off ointment.

"Maybe you should go notify the Ministry..." began Fred, but Bill cut him off with an impatient snarl.

"I'm not going anywhere and leaving you here alone! What if he comes back, with his Death Eater friends in tow?!"

Fred started to insist that they were perfectly capable of defending themselves but one look from Bill shut him up. Bill paced the room several times while the others settled themselves, sitting or standing, around the living room. Striding to the fireplace, Bill threw a pinch of floo-powder from the mantle in and tried to make contact with several members of the Order. Everybody must have been out to parties or on special New Year's missions, though, and he was unable to contact anyone. He resumed his pacing.

About ten minutes later, the front door burst open and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came in with great agitation. Mr. Weasley was examining the burn on the front door, as Mrs. Weasley cried out, "Oh, I just knew something happened here! Was anyone hurt? Are you all okay?!"

Mr. Weasley had just closed the door and stepped in with a look of great concern on his face. Bill quickly related what had happened, with the others filling in the details. Leo had been the first to hear a noise (he glanced over at the tear-faced Kenslie who fortunately hadn't heard him start to say Harry's name). They got to the door and only saw one attacker outside. Bill had gone out and George and Ron, after coming up with a hurried plan, had sneaked out the back and come around to the sides of the house. They both sent the Death Eater a jelly-leg curse just after Bill had been burned.

Mrs. Weasley started at that, but Bill waved her off and said, "I don't exactly understand what happened next. When he fell to the ground, he grabbed at an object and disappeared."

Harry interrupted, "I made a portkey and threw it at him. That's what he touched. I guess it worked."

Everybody turned and stared at him, some with their mouths open. Mr. Weasley gave a slight cough and asked, "Have you made portkeys before?"

Harry shook his head, and all eyes further widened in amazement.

"I read about it when I was at the... I mean, in a book," he explained, kicking himself for almost mentioning the Manor, which he knew would lead to no end of questions, most of which Kenslie shouldn't even hear asked.

"Portkeys aren't very easy to make, Ha--I mean, Leo!" said a flabbergasted Mr. Weasley, as Bill asked, "Where did you send him?"

Harry shrugged and replied, "I'm not really sure, I wasn't thinking too clearly. I sent him to the foyer at the Ministry - at least, that's what I was thinking of when I programmed the portkey. You know that fountain..."

Mr. Weasley nodded. Harry turned his head remembering that there were bottles strewn all over the living room and thinking of the fit Mrs. Weasley would have when she noticed. He was surprised to see that all the bottles had magically disappeared, and hoped they would interpret his comment about not thinking too clearly as the adrenaline of the moment.

Mr. Weasley told them that there had been a similar attack at the Diggorys cocktail-party, and that at least two or three Death Eaters had been there. All of them got away, and a security wizard stationed in front of the house had been seriously injured. After the explanation, Mr. Weasley took Bill aside. Mrs. Weasley sank into a chair and covered her face with her hands as Ginny unsteadily volunteered to make her mother some tea. Ron sidled over to Harry and muttered to him, "Maybe you should help Ginny in the kitchen, she doesn't look too good!"

"Why don't you help her?" asked Harry quietly, still embarrassed by what had happened upstairs, though at this point he wasn't really sure what that was.

"Because I don't think I can walk straight!" whispered Ron from the side of his mouth.

Harry stifled a laugh, and went to the kitchen. Ginny avoided looking at him, and Harry carried the tray out to Mrs. Weasley. Mr. Weasley announced he was going out to make contact with other Order members, and he left via the fireplace.

Kenslie looked like she was ready to pass out and Ginny, too, was unsteady on her feet. Mrs. Weasley noticed and said, "Why you poor things! Exhausted, after all the excitement tonight! But we're home now, and you can all go up to bed... I'm sure nothing else is going to happen."

Ron, Ginny and Kenslie all looked grateful for the excuse, and hurried out up to the bedrooms before Mrs. Weasley put two and two together and figured out they had been drinking. Harry decided to stay downstairs and wait to hear what Mr. Weasley found out; the fight with the Death Eater and the cold outdoor air had sobered him somewhat, and he didn't want to go to sleep yet. Fred helped the others up the stairs, as an excuse to make sure Kenslie was all right. He clomped back down a minute later, and came ashen-faced into the living room.

"Harry! When you made that portkey, WHAT did you use?!"

"I just grabbed something near the door. I think it was a boot," Harry replied.

"That was my new dragon-hide boot you threw him! I paid a fortune for those!" yelled Fred.

Harry said apologetically, "Well, maybe it's still at the Ministry of Magic."

George had broken into loud guffaws, and even Bill had to turn to hide a smile. Fred railed on uselessly, then stomped back upstairs to his old room, to find some other footwear to wear home.

Only a short period passed before Mr. Weasley returned with news. "It appears that the Death Eaters were out en masse tonight. There haven't been any deaths reported, and only some minor property damage, a fire or two that were got under control before anybody was seriously hurt. It looks more like they were out to spook people. There's been no more Death Eater activity in the last hour, and it seems like they've done their mischief for the night. Molly, I'm going to go back for a bit and help sort things out. I shouldn't be home too late."

Bill assessed what his father had said, and told the rest that he too would be leaving. "I'd like to check up on Fleur. Diagon Alley is usually pretty safe, with all the wizards around and the relative exposure, but still..."

He kissed his mother, gave Harry a pat on his shoulder, and left. Fred and George offered to sit up with Mrs. Weasley until their dad returned. Harry, relieved that the attacks had been nothing more than fear mongering and that nobody had been killed, excused himself and went up to bed.

He wondered if Luna knew anything about the attacks, and fingered the pendants on the chain around his neck. His was a light grey with anxiety and exhaustion, while her snowflake gleamed like marble, white with ever-moving veins of green and purple. He figured that meant she was dreaming, and went to bed hoping that all her dreams were good that night.