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Author: Grandma Kate Story: Ginny's Third Year at Hogwarts Rating: Everyone Setting: Pre-OotP Status: Completed Reviews: 8 Words: 38,332
The Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling. I’m just borrowing the characters for a while. This is for pleasure only, no profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended. Bold Face Type indicates a direct quote from Chapter Six, The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, or Chapter Seven, The Ministry of Magic, or Chapter Nine, The Woes of Mrs Weasley, in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling. Even though the next morning was Sunday, Molly made the children get up early to eat breakfast and start cleaning the filthy drawing room. The Doxie infestation was worse than Molly had thought. The carpet exhaled little clouds of dust every time someone put their foot on it and the long moss-green velvet curtains were buzzing as though swarming with invisible bees. Molly helped the six children tie tea towels around their faces and gave them spray bottles of Doxycide. Before she could instruct them on how to proceed, Sirius came into the drawing room and peeked through the keyhole of the shaking writing desk. He agreed that Mad-Eye Moody should probably check to be sure it was just a Boggart before they tried to remove it. He went to quiet his mother’s portrait when it started shrieking because someone rang the doorbell. Molly looked up Doxies in Gilderoy Lockhart’s Guide to Household Pests and read aloud the passage that said that Doxies bite, but that the spray should paralyze them. Then they could just throw them into one of the buckets. Ridding the curtains of Doxies took all morning. Molly was pleased that Fred and George seemed enthusiastic about spraying them but she could not figure out why they would be interested in the little bowl of Doxie eggs that Crookshanks was sniffing. Getting rid of Doxies was hard work and they were all tired when they finished. Molly told them that they would start to work on the dusty cupboards after lunch. Suddenly, the doorbell rang and the portrait of Mrs Black began screeching. Molly told the children to stay where they were and rest. She said she would bring them some sandwiches after she took care of whoever was at the door. She went down the staircase, past the screaming portrait, and opened the door to find Mundungus standing outside the door with a stack of cauldrons. ‘WE ARE NOT RUNNING A HIDEOUT FOR STOLEN GOODS!’ she shouted at him. ‘YOU ARE COMPLETELY IRRESPONSIBLE. AS IF WE HAVEN’T GOT ENOUGH TO WORRY ABOUT WITHOUT YOU DRAGGING STOLEN CAULDRONS INTO THE HOUSE —‘ The portrait’s invective paused while Molly was yelling at Mundungus but started up again full volume when she paused. Sirius arrived on the scene and closed the curtains on his mother’s picture. He motioned for Molly and Mundungus to go down the steps to the kitchen to finish their argument. Molly kept berating Mundungus about his behavior while she made lunch for the children. She climbed up the stone steps, across the hall, and up the staircase with her wand held high in front of her, balancing a huge tray loaded with sandwiches and cake on its tip. She was very red in the face and still looked angry. Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all tucked into the food and the flask of pumpkin juice. Molly noticed that Harry and Sirius were looking at the tapestry covering the wall that said — The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black ‘Toujours Pur’. She called out to them. ‘Hurry up, you two, or there won’t be any food left.’ Harry and Sirius joined the Weasleys and Hermione eating lunch and then they began taking objects out of the dusty cupboards with glass doors. They sorted them into items that seemed harmless and those that obviously contained Dark Magic. Sirius was bitten by a snuffbox and a strange instrument scuttled up Harry’s leg. Ginny snapped shut a sinister sounding music box when everyone began to feel curiously weak and sleepy. They found a heavy locket that none of them could open. Molly noticed that Kreacher, the house-elf, seemed to be watching them with great interest but she had to go down to the kitchen to prepare dinner and could not be sure that he was not taking anything dangerous. Molly did all the shopping and cooking for anyone who showed up for dinner or a meeting, as well as supervising the children cleaning the drawing room. Finally the only undesirable things left in it were the tapestry of the Black Family Tree which resisted all their attempts to remove it from the wall, and the rattling writing desk; Moody had not dropped by headquarters yet, so they could not be sure what was inside it. Molly fell into bed exhausted every night. She was working harder than she ever had and looked back fondly on the days at the Burrow when she had time and energy enough to exercise. If she could have communicated with Corrine, she would have told her that removing Doxies required stamina far greater than their dueling practice ever had. Arthur sometimes had to be away from home all night on Order or Ministry business but Molly found that she was so tired at night that she slept until her talking alarm clock told her to ‘Get up and get back to work.’ Molly told the children to start on the dining room on the ground floor when they finished the drawing room. There were huge spiders in it. Ron began going off to make tea and not returning for more than an hour. Sometimes some of the members of the Order came and helped them with their cleaning. Tonks joined them for a memorable afternoon in which they found a murderous old ghoul lurking in an upstairs toilet, and Lupin, who was staying in the house with Sirius but who left for long periods to do mysterious work for the Order helped them repair a grandfather clock that had developed an unpleasant habit of shooting heavy bolts at passersby. Mundungus redeemed himself slightly in Molly’s eyes by rescuing Ron from an ancient set of purple robes that had tried to strangle him when he removed them from their wardrobe. Tuesday was Ginny’s fourteenth birthday. Fred and George put up a banner with fourteen candles that lit one by one. Sirius, Harry, and Hermione joined the Weasleys for a family dinner. There were packages at Ginny’s place. ‘Why don’t you open your presents before we eat, dear’ said Molly, smiling at her daughter fondly. Ginny opened the presents from Charlie and Bill first. Charlie sent her some very smart dragon skin shoes with an unsigned note that read — Happy Birthday! It’s hard to believe that you are turning fourteen. I had these shoes made from the skin of a Welch Green because I know green is your favorite color. Love from someone who loves you. Bill had asked his co-worker Fleur to help him pick out a green sweater and skirt that were the same color as the shoes from Charlie. Molly and Arthur gave her a warm nightgown with matching robe and slippers that Molly had bought at the after Christmas sales. She had presence of mind to pack them in with Arthur’s and her clothes when they left the Burrow. Fred and George had Bill buy her two quills with green feathers that were just alike from them. Ron and Harry gave her some colored parchment they had left over from last year while Sirius gave her a little snow globe that she had admired when they were cleaning. Hermione handed Ginny her last present, obviously a book. ‘My parents took me to Flourish and Blotts just before Professor Dumbledore told them I had to go into hiding,’ she said. Ginny squealed as she unwrapped a romance novel titled — The Queen of Fluff. ‘It’s the new Kathleen Pen! She was a Hufflepuff, you know.’ Hermione nodded. The picture on the cover showed a very pretty dark-haired witch in purple robes using her wand to defend a curly haired boy from a dastardly looking man holding a Muggle hockey stick. Molly looked at the cover and smiled. ‘She does have a vivid imagination. Now let’s have your favorite dinner.’ When they were finishing the birthday cake, Molly spoke quietly to Harry. ‘Your hearing before the Wizengamot is at 9 AM, so I’ve ironed your best clothes for tomorrow morning, Harry, and I want you to wash your hair tonight too. A good first impression can work wonders.’ Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny all stopped talking and looked over at him… ‘How am I getting there?’ he asked… ‘Arthur’s taking you to work with him,’ said Molly gently. She then shooed the children upstairs. After the kitchen was clean, she and Arthur also went up to bed. Molly was very concerned about what would happen at Harry’s hearing but Arthur said that he thought that all charges would be dropped because Harry had acted in self-defense and to protect his cousin from being kissed by the Dementors. He cuddled Molly and said, ‘It wasn’t as though Dudley and the rest of the Dursleys had not known that Harry was a wizard.’ Molly nodded and hoped for the best. Molly and Arthur rose early the next morning, Molly put on her quilted purple dressing gown, tiptoed into the room where Ron and Harry slept, and laid out his freshly laundered jeans and T-shirt at the foot of his bed. Then she went down to the kitchen. Sirius, Lupin, and Tonks were already sitting at the table. She sat down besides Tonks while Arthur sat next to Sirius. ‘You’re sure you don’t want me to come along?’ asked Sirius. Lupin looked at him in astonishment. ‘You’d be sent back to Azkaban!’ When Harry came in to the kitchen, Molly got up and began making breakfast. ‘What do you want, Harry?’ she called. ‘Porridge? Muffins? Kippers? Bacon and eggs? Toast?’ ‘Just—just toast, thanks,’ said Harry… Molly placed a couple of pieces of toast and marmalade in front of him. She sat down next to him and started fussing with his T-shirt, tucking in the label, and smoothing out creases across the shoulder. Everyone at the table began to give Harry advice. Lupin reminded him. ‘Even underage wizards are allowed to use magic in life-threatening situations.’ Molly thought Harry’s hair could use some more combing so she went and got a comb and ran some water on it out of her wand. She began to comb Harry’s hair, right at the kitchen table. ‘Doesn’t it ever lie flat?’ she said desperately. Arthur took pity on Harry who was obviously uncomfortable about being fussed over and decided that they had better go early. Everyone wished Harry well and gave him advice. He smiled weakly. Molly hugged him. ‘We’ve all got our fingers crossed,’ she said. After Arthur and Harry left for the Ministry. Lupin went upstairs to try to get some sleep and Tonks left to go home and do the same. Molly, Sirius, and the children did a little cleaning but their minds were on what was happening at the Ministry. Molly told Sirius that one thing she regretted leaving behind at the Burrow was her kitchen radio. She told him that she had friends who worked at the Wizarding Wireless Network, Kate Wallace and Nic Meath. She wished she had been able to let them know what had happened to her and her family. She sighed and said there was no way of finding out what had been happening on her favorite programs. He said that he had never seen a radio at Grimmauld Place but that maybe Lupin or Tonks could find one for her. Molly, Sirius, and the five children were all in the kitchen making lunch when Harry and Arthur returned. The smiles on their faces told them that Harry had been exonerated. ‘I knew it!’ yelled Ron, punching the air. ‘You always get away with stuff!’ ‘They were bound to clear you,’ said Hermione… ‘There was no case against you, none at all...’ Molly was wiping her face on her apron and Fred, George, and Ginny were doing a kind of war dance to a chant that went ‘He got off, he got off, he got off —‘ ‘That’s enough, settle down!’ shouted Arthur, though he was smiling. ‘Listen, Sirius, Lucius Malfoy was at the Ministry —‘ ‘What?’ said Sirius sharply. ‘He got off, he got off, he’ got off —‘ ‘Be quiet, you three! Yes, we saw him talking to Fudge on level nine, then they went up to Fudge’s office together. Dumbledore ought to know.’ ‘Absolutely,’ said Sirius. ‘We’ll tell him, don’t worry.’ ‘Well, I’d better get going, there’s a vomiting toilet in Bethnal Green waiting for me. Molly, I’ll be late, I’m covering for Tonks, but Kingsley might be dropping in for dinner —‘ ‘He got off, he got off, he got off —‘ ‘That’s enough — Fred — George — Ginny!’ said Molly as Arthur left the kitchen. Over the next ten days, Molly kept the children busy cleaning empty bedrooms and doing their summer assignments. She was especially vigilant that they not have too much time to just sit around and talk. One Sunday evening, when Harry, Hermione and Ron were working in the same bedroom, she came in. ‘Still not finished?’ she said, poking her head into the cupboard. ‘I thought you might be here to tell us to have a break!’ said Ron bitterly. ‘D’you know how much mold we’ve got rid of since we arrived here?’ ‘You were so keen to help the Order,’ said Molly. ‘You can do your bit by making headquarters fit to live in.’ She paused, got a funny look on her face, and said in a choked voice, ‘I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have snapped at you. At least you are still here with your family… and not off by yourself like Percy… All alone on his birthday.’ Molly sobbed and left the room. Molly decided that she must have been working too hard to be in such a state about Percy being estranged from his family on his birthday. She didn’t want Arthur to know she was still hoping that their third son would see the error of his ways and come back home. As it was now, he didn’t even know where his family was. Molly cried herself to sleep. Arthur was on duty at the Ministry again. ***** The usual time for getting their school owls came and went. Yet another week went by while the children’s routine continued. Though members of the Order of the Phoenix came and went regularly, sometime staying for meals, sometimes only for a few minutes whispered conversation. Molly made sure that Harry and the others were kept well out of earshot (whether Extendable or normal) and nobody, not even Sirius, seemed to feel that Harry needed to know anything more than he had heard on the night of his arrival. Behind closed doors, Molly and Arthur discussed the problem that Professor Dumbledore was having finding someone to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. The start of school would have to be delayed until he could find someone. Molly decided that she had better get everyone’s robes ready anyway and began to launder and iron them. She knew that she would also have to find time go to Diagon Alley to get books and supplies when it was finally determined when Hogwarts would open. Arthur came home the night of August 30th with the news that Minister Fudge had pushed through a decree authorizing him to appoint teachers if Professor Dumbledore could not find anyone suitable. It was called Educational Decree 22 and Molly had a very bad feeling as soon as she heard about it The next morning, the last day before the Hogwarts Express should take the children to school, Hogwarts owls arrived with envelopes for all of the children. Ginny took them and distributed them while Molly ironed the last of the freshly laundered robes. When she was finished, Molly climbed the stairs with the stack for Ron and Harry and went into their room. All six children were together. ‘Ginny said the booklists had come at last,’ she said, glancing around at all the envelopes as she made her way over to the bed and started sorting the robes into two piles. ‘If you give them to me I’ll take them over to Diagon Alley this afternoon and get your books while you’re packing. Ron, I’ll have to get you more pajamas, these are at least six inches too short, I can’t believe how fast you’re growing… what color would you like?’ ‘Get him red and gold to match his badge,’ said George, smirking. ‘Match his what?’ said Molly absently… ‘His badge,’ said Fred, with the air of getting the worst over quickly. ‘His lovely shiny new prefect’s badge.’ Fred’s words took a moment to penetrate Molly’s preoccupation about pajamas. ‘He… but… Ron, you’re not…?’ Ron held up his badge… ‘I don’t believe it! I don’t believe it! Oh, Ron, how wonderful! A prefect! That’s everyone in the family!’ ‘What are Fred and I, next-door neighbors?’ said George indignantly, as his mother pushed him aside and flung her arms around her youngest son. ‘Wait until your father hears! Ron, I’m so proud of you!’ Molly began kissing Ron and asking him what he wanted to celebrate his honor. ‘Mum,’ said Ron hopefully, ‘can I have a new broom?’ Molly’s face fell slightly; broomsticks were expensive. ‘Not a really good one!’ Ron hastened to add. ‘Just—just a new one for a change…’ Molly hesitated, then smiled. ‘Of course you can… Well, I’d better get going if I’ve got a broom to buy too. I’ll see you all later… Little Ronnie, a prefect… Oh, I’m all of a dither!’ She gave Ron yet another kiss on the cheek, sniffed loudly, and bustled from the room. He ran down the stairs and caught her before she left and whispered that he would really like the Cleansweep if she could manage it. It took Molly the rest of the afternoon to buy all the books and potion supplies, as well as a new medium priced broom for her new prefect. She returned from Diagon Alley around six-o’clock laden with books and carrying a long package wrapped in thick brown paper that Ron took from her with a moan of longing. ‘Never mind unwrapping it now, people are arriving for dinner and I want you all downstairs,’ she said and hurried down the stone steps to the kitchen. She smiled as she heard Ron ripping the paper. She looked up at the scarlet banner over the table laden with food that said — Congratulations Ron and Hermione —New Prefects ‘I thought we’d have a little party, not a sit-down dinner,’ she told Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny as they entered the room. ‘Your father and Bill are on their way, Ron, I’ve sent them both owls and they’re thrilled.’ she added, beaming. Fred rolled his eyes. Sirius, Lupin, Tonks, and Kingsley Shacklebolt were already there and Mad-Eye Moody stumped in… ‘Oh Alastor, I am glad you’re here.’ said Molly brightly, as Mad-Eye shrugged off his traveling cloak. ‘We’ve been wanting to ask you for ages — could you have a look at the writing desk in the drawing room and tell us what’s inside it? We haven’t wanted to open it just in case it’s something really nasty.’ ‘No problem, Molly…’ Moody’s electric-blue eye swiveled upward and stared fixedly through the ceiling of the kitchen. ‘Drawing room…’ he growled, as the pupil contracted. ‘Desk in the corner? Yeah, I see it…Yeah, it’s a Boggart… Want me to go up and get rid of it, Molly?’ ‘No, no, I’ll do it myself later,’ beamed Molly. ‘You have your drink. We’re having a bit of a celebration, actually…’ Arthur called for a toast to the new prefects and everyone enjoyed themselves eating and drinking. Ron talked about his new Cleansweep to anyone who would listen. Molly asked Arthur to be sure that the children got to bed at a reasonable hour as she told him she was going to take care of the Boggart, and climbed up the stone steps to the entry hall. She tiptoed across the hall and climbed the stairs to the drawing room. She could see the writing desk clearly in the moonlit room. She walked over to it, pointed her wand at the lock, and said, ‘Alohomora!’ The lock clicked open and a dark shadow flew by Molly. She looked down and was horrified to see Ginny lying on the carpet, lifeless, with dull staring eyes. Molly tried to think how the dead body of her daughter could be anything but tragic. She attempted to cast the counter spell, ‘Riddikulus’, but it did not change Ginny’s dead body into anything funny. Instead, with a crack, Charlie’s body, covered with burns, replaced Ginny’s. Molly repeated, ‘Riddikulus’ between sobs as she backed away from the desk and the body of her son who was far away in Romania. Molly cowered against the dark wall, her wand in her hand, her whole body shaking with sobs. She pointed her wand at Charlie’s body and sobbed the counter spell. There was a ‘crack’, and now, sprawled on the dusty old carpet in a patch of moonlight, clearly dead, was Ron. Molly continued so sob as she heard the door open. ‘Mrs Weasley?’ Harry croaked. ‘R-r-riddilulus!’ she sobbed, pointing her shaking wand at Ron’s body. Crack. Ron’s body turned into Bill’s, spread-eagled on his back. His eyes were open and empty. Molly sobbed harder than ever. ‘R-riddikulus!’ she sobbed again. Arthur’s body replaced Bill’s, his glasses askew, a trickle of blood running down his face. ‘No!’ Molly moaned. ‘No… riddikulus! Riddikulus! RIDDIKULUS!’ Crack. Dead twins. Crack. Dead Percy. Crack. Dead Harry. ‘Mrs Weasley, just get out of here!’ shouted Harry, staring down at his own dead body on the floor. ‘Let someone else —‘ ‘What’s going on?’ Lupin had come running into the room, closely followed by Sirius, with Moody stumping along behind them. Lupin looked from Molly to the dead Harry on the floor and seemed to understand in an instant. Pulling out his own wand he said, very firmly and clearly, ‘Riddikulus!’ Harry’s body vanished. A silvery orb hung in the air over the spot where it had lain. Lupin waved his wand once more and the orb vanished in a puff of smoke. ‘Oh—oh—oh!’ gulped Molly, and she broke into a storm of crying, her face in her hands. ‘Molly,’ said Lupin bleakly, walking over to her, ‘Molly, don’t…’ Next second she was sobbing her heart out on Lupin’s shoulder. ‘Molly, it was just a Boggart,’ he said soothingly, patting her on the head. ‘Just a stupid Boggart…’ ‘I see them d-dead all the time!’ Molly moaned into his shoulder. ‘All the t-t-time! I d-d-dream about it… D-d-don’t tell Arthur,’ Molly was gulping now, mopping her eyes frantically with her cuffs. ‘I d-d-don’t want him to know… Being silly…’ Lupin handed her a handkerchief and she blew her nose. ‘Harry, I’m so sorry, what must you think of me?’ she asked shakily. ‘Not even able to get rid of a Boggart…’ ‘Don’t be stupid,’ said Harry, trying to smile. ‘I’m just s-s-so worried,’ she said, tears spilling out of her eyes again. ‘Half the f-f-family’s in the Order, It’ll b-b-be a miracle if we all come through this… and P-P-Percy’s not talking to us… What if something d-d-dreadful happens and we had never m-m-made up? And what’s going to happen if Arthur and I get killed, who’s g-g-going to look after Ron and Ginny?’ Molly was near to collapsing… Lupin and Sirius assured her that everything was going to be all right but Molly kept her own counsel about whether she believed them as she tried to pull herself together. ‘Come along now, Harry,’ she said. ‘ It’s time for you to be in bed. The Hogwarts Express will be right on time tomorrow. At least we don’t have far to go this year.’ She and Harry left the drawing room, hand in hand. Molly gave Harry a slight hug at the door to the room he and Ron were sleeping in and said quietly, “No sense in worrying anyone about a silly mother with too active an imagination.’ Harry just nodded, but Molly knew from the expression in his eyes that he would always remember her greatest fear — having her entire family slain. Then he must have remembered that she had seen his body as well because before he went into the room he shared with Ron, he hugged her back tightly, as though she were his mother.
Kathleen Pen is another of the delightful characters who inhabit St Margarets’ universe. She gave me permission to allude to her. Thanks are due to my husband, dear Oatmeal, the faithful reviewers, and my friends at Live Journal; but especially to my beta, Trelawney 2213. Her encouragement and careful editing make my stories much more readable. As the Governor of the state in which I live, once said, “I’ll be back.”
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