Chapter 3: A Deep Sigh of Relief
Harry awoke in the centre of the Weasley kitchen, his things were by his side as above him was Mrs Weasley dabbing his head with a damp cloth. Harry turned his head slightly to see Ron and Mr Weasley watching him carefully. He tried to sit-up but was held down by Mrs Weasley. "Now Harry dear, don't get up you've had a nasty fall," she said as she continued to dab his head.
"Wha… what happened?" he asked as he tried to remember himself, the images of that cloaked wizard directing his wand at him stuck in his head but after that it was blank.
"You slipped as you flooed into our fireplace and banged your head on the table as you fell," she softly said to Harry. "You've been out for an hour or so."
"Where's everyone else? Where's Remus? Did he make it back?" he frantically asked, his mind with thoughts of how it was too late and how the cloaked wizard had slain all those remaining.
Mrs Weasley took a hold of Harry's hand, "now don't you worry dear, they made it back just fine, they're out patrolling at the moment."
Harry let out a deep sigh of relief and then slowly pushed himself into a seated position. Mrs Weasley tried to keep him on his back, but he shrugged her off, he wasn't going to be kept down by a simple bump on the noggin. He rolled over onto his side and gingerly got to his feet as Mrs Weasley continued to tend to him as if he was one of her son's, well he was considered one.
Harry shook of the after-effects and made his way towards Ron and Mr Weasley. "You are a clumsy one, aren't you Harry?" asked Mr Weasley Jokingly, his voice seemingly too jovial for what had previously transpired. "We'll have that bandaged up in no time; you'll never know you had a great big lump."
Harry let out a small smile as he tried to hide his embarrassment, Ron didn't waste anytime in walking over to him and punching him on the arm in the typical teenage sign of respect. "A bump won't stop you will it Harry? You would've got whoever it was that came after us, wouldn't you?" Ron said with a big cheesy smile etched across his face. Harry just nodded in agreement, the upbeat attitude seemed out of place, as if they'd been told to act as if it never actually happened.
"You'll love where your staying Harry, it's great, Mum sorted out the room and everything, it took her two swipes with the wand and it was sorted," Ron exclaimed with a childish glee and enthusiasm, Harry again nodded, he was still trying to figure out exactly who it was that had tried the killing curse on him and how they'd got in to the house. It was a complete mystery to Harry, he had no logical explanation, and nothing came to mind.
"Right Ron, you better help Harry sort his things out, he'll need help after that ghastly fall," she said to Ron as if it was an order and she was a drill sergeant.
"Yes sir," replied Ron sarcastically, Mrs Weasley immediately reacted with a look as if Ron had just shot her with a BB gun, Mr Weasley however looked as if he'd explode with laughter, but somehow managed to stay quiet as Mrs Weasley turned to face him. He turned to the boys and waved them off.
Both Ron and Harry picked up Harry's things and began the slow arduous walk up the stairs with what seemed like they had 5 tonnes in tow. "What happened Harry?" whispered Ron, his voice now lost of the glee and enthusiasm from earlier but one of concern and curiosity. "The moment Dad came through he told us to act as if it was a nothing, as if it never happened."
Harry was quiet for a moment as he tried to pick the right words to say to Ron, some how he knew that whatever he said wouldn't quench Ron's thirst for knowledge. "I don't know Ron, all I remember was seeing that Wizard and…"
"And what?" butted in Ron, his eyes trained in on Harry with hawk-like precision.
"I woke-up, I don't remember falling and banging my head, I don't remember anything else, really," Harry said disappointedly, he too wanted to know the answers, and yet it was all a blur.
The boys dragged the stuff up the final few steps and into Ron's room, which now had two beds set-out, an extra set of drawers and another wardrobe in the corner. Ron dropped Harry's trunk on the bed and flopped onto his own, his fall had the grace of an Olympic Diver but his landing had that of a stockcar crash. Harry put Hedwig's empty Cage next to the trunk and sat himself down without quite the fervour or Ron.
"Ron, how did everyone look when they transported back?" asked Harry, his want for information, any information overwhelming any urge to fall back to sleep and continue the slumber he was in the midst of when it all happened.
"Well, they looked kind of ok, I mean everyone had bruises or cuts and things, but they looked fine," Ron said coldly, his voice slowing down as he ran the images of everyone jumping from out of the fireplace. "Moody looked really angry, he was fuming, you could see his ears blowing out steam almost."
"No surprises there then, how did Professor Lupin look?" Harry moved his head slightly forward as he awaited Ron's response, he knew that Remus was fine, but somehow he just wanted Ron to say it, so it put his mind to rest.
"Well, I didn't catch him really, he jumped out of the fire, tended to you for a moment and was off, he didn't say anything to anyone or anything," said Ron as he rolled over on his bed and turned to see a Chocolate Frog sat by his bed. "Wait a minute; I don't remember putting a Chocolate Frog by my bed?"
Ron picked up the Frog, waited for a second and then began ruthlessly unwrapping it, his lips wetting at the prospect of the creamy chocolate. Harry watched him and let out a tiny smile. For a split-second Ron was a picture, his eyes deep in concentration and his fingers tearing away at the wrapper like it was Christmas Day. "Ron, I'm going to go back to sleep," uttered Harry monotonously, Ron acknowledged it for a moment before continuing his assault on the Chocolate Frog.
Harry was quick to clear his bed of his things, he put Hedwig's cage on top of the extra drawers and slid the trunk onto the floor and left it there. Harry turned back to his bed and lowered his head onto the soft, comfortable pillow and closed his eyes. It didn't take long for Harry to fall asleep; in fact it was almost instantaneous.
***
It was mid-afternoon when Harry finally woke up; he'd slept right through breakfast and lunch. No-one thought to wake him up as they all felt unanimously that he needed the sleep and that after the feast the day before, he wouldn't be that hungry anyway.
Harry rubbed his eyes as he sat up, he had never changed out of his pyjamas when he'd transported to the Burrow in the early hours and so was still wearing them when he woke. He wiped his eyes fully of the gunk that resided in them every time someone woke-up and stretched his arms. "Good sleep?" came a voice from the bed adjacent. Harry turned with a startle to see Remus sat on the bed looking slightly worse for wear but otherwise ok.
"Err yes," was Harry's groggy reply, he was never a good person to talk to when he woke-up; he couldn't think straight nor speak straight most days.
"Well, you haven't missed much, we skipped breakfast today and lunch was a downbeat affair, Mad-Eye was making his feelings known about what happened," Remus said assuredly.
"What did happen yesterday Remus?" Harry instinctively asked, he'd been itching to know since he'd awoken from his fall and hadn't been able to speak to anyone about it other than Ron. "Who was that wizard who tried to curse me?"
Remus paused for a second before responding, he was picking his words very carefully, and somehow Harry wasn't going to find out everything. "You were very lucky Harry, if you had thrown the floo powder down a moment later, you might not be sat with us," Remus took another moment of pause; he wanted to make sure he didn't slip-up in what he said. "We have no clue as to who the Wizard is, before we could apprehend him he had apparated out."
"So he was only after me?" Harry asked quickly.
"Yes, it seems so, Arthur and Mad-Eye had tried to battle with him but he'd managed to hold them off with stunning spells, he obviously had no want to kill anyone but you Harry," Remus said with a sad tinge to his voice. Harry didn't seem too upset about the revelation; he'd grown used to being singled out especially after Dumbledore had told him about the Prophecy.
"But how did he enter the house? Hasn't it got every single protection curse known to wizards?"
"We don't know, we don't know much about how he found the house and how he entered, but don't worry yourself about such things, you're safe here for the time being," Remus said as he approached Harry and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Now Harry, get changed and when you get downstairs we'll have something for you to eat and we'll talk about this again some other time."
***
Harry walked into the kitchen to find a large cheese sandwich in the middle of the table, he strolled over and picked up the plate and felt his tummy grumble as he gazed at the gorgeous looking sandwich. He took a large bite and walked into the lounge to see Mr and Mrs Weasley sat on one sofa, Ron sat reading a Chocolate Frog card in one armchair and Ginny sat in the other writing into what looks like a pink diary.
Harry smirked at Ginny as he walked over and sat on the seat next to Ron, he'd remembered the damage a diary could do from the incident in the Chamber of Secrets years ago and was astonished that Ginny had the courage to write in another. Ron looked at Harry for a moment and then turned back to his card which was of the Serial Goblin-Killer Yardley Platt, Ron was engrossed in the card, his eyes gazing at the picture of Yardley Platt looking around and then holding up one of his Goblin trophies.
"Harry, I was wondering, I've picked up this muggle invention and I haven't a clue what it is and what it does, could you help me figure it out?" said Mr Weasley amicably from across the room.
"Yea sure, where is it?" replied Harry, his interests piqued at the prospect of showing Mr Weasley a thing or two about what muggle things do and what they're capable of doing.
"Be careful Harry, you never know what could happen, it might blow-up in your face, dad's been tampering with it," Ron joked, his eyes finally away from the Chocolate frog card.
"This way Harry," said Mr Weasley as he directed Harry into the hallway and down some steps into a basement den type room. The room was simply jam-packed full of muggle things, the walls had posters, pictures, notes and whatnot. The centre of the room had two old armchairs and a multitude of things from wastepaper bins to Frisbee's to a set of weights.
Mr Weasley walked over to the corner and pulled a dusty old television over and put it down between the two armchairs. "Right Harry, take a seat and help me figure this one out." Harry smiled as he knew that he'd have no problems whatsoever in helping Mr Weasley with this one.
Harry sat himself down and took the same position as Mr Weasley, with his head leaning towards the TV and his hands in a sort of contemplative position under his chin. "So Harry, what is it?" asked Mr Weasley with a childish exuberance and enthusiasm permeating through his voice.
Harry leaned back into his seat and purposely acted as if he was in deep thought about it. "Well Mr Weasley, it's a…" he said trying to put on his best University Professor type voice.
"Yes, yes," Mr Weasley replied anxiously.
"It's a Television," Harry said without a single deviation in tone or volume.
"Right, that's great," Mr Weasley exclaimed excitedly. "So what does it do exactly?"
"Well it shows moving pictures, you switch it on and you can watch movies and TV programmes," said Harry.
Mr Weasley just stared at him as if he'd been speaking gobble-de-gook, "Right, ok, good, brilliant, so how do we switch it on?"
Harry chuckled and then looked at the plug behind the TV and saw the makeshift power supply on the wall. Obviously in Mr Weasley's love for all things muggle, he'd tried to make a power supply so that he could see a lot of the artefacts in action. "Does the power supply work Mr Weasley?" asked Harry.
"Oh yes, we enchanted it so that it works just like it wound in a muggle household," Mr Weasley retorted his excitement building further as he began fidgeting with his fingers.
Harry picked up the plug and pushed it into the power supply and stepped back suddenly as to avoid any explosions of electric shocks catching him. After a moment he stopped blocking his face and walked over to the TV and closed his eyes and he pushed on the dusty power button.
Officers quickly descended on Privet Drive late last night as… The channels changed over as Mr Weasley unwittingly changed it to Channel 3 and instead of the news was greeted with some random programme about Builders. Harry stepped back suddenly, he just realised that it was privet drive that the BBC newscaster had mentioned. Was it the same thing that had happened at 12 Grimmauld place, was it a Wizard or Wizards that were trying to find him and kill him.
It made him feel queasy inside, he'd never realised they would try to attack Privet Drive and he didn't know it even was them it could be anything. "Brilliant thing, this Television, should've found out about it earlier, the boys will love this," Mr Weasley muttered, his voice not being directed at anyone really but just as a general statement.
Harry sat himself back down in the armchair and closed his eyes. Mr Weasley turned to face him and slapped his hand on his knee. "Cheer up Harry; I'm sure it's nothing, probably just a bunglary or something."
Harry smiled weakly at Mr Weasley and regained his vertical base once more. "I think I'm going to go see Ron, Mr Weasley that is if you don't need anything else?" He asked.
"No, no, I'm fine, thank you very much Harry, your help was very valuable indeed," replied a distracted Mr Weasley as he turned back to the Television and began flicking channels, his eyes opening in wide-eyed amazement as channels which comprised entirely of white noise.
Harry made his way slowly towards the lounge again, his leg's dragging themselves along as he went up a short flight of steps and turned back into the lounge. "Oh Harry dear, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost," exclaimed Mrs Weasley as she peered at Harry from above her knitting equipment which she must've got whilst Harry was in the Den with Mr Weasley.
"I'm fine, Mrs Weasley," Harry replied gingerly.
"Don't be silly Harry, you sit yourself down and I'll sort you out a nice hot cup of tea, that'll make you as right as rain," said Mrs Weasley as Harry sat himself down and didn't try to talk her out of it. He saw no point; she would not accept anything but a yes anyway.
Mrs Weasley barrelled her way into the kitchen as Ron, put his Chocolate Frog card down and stared over at Harry. "It got you didn't it? It must've blown up or something, they're always doing that, it's a right death-trap down there," laughed Ron.
"Yea," was Harry's rather unenthusiastic reply.
"Don't worry, Mum's cups of tea always do the trick, you'll be buzzing around like a Quidditch player in no time," was Ron's comforting counter.
Mrs Weasley was back in a flash with a huge mug of tea, which seemed almost as big as Harry. She brought it over and slowly gave it to Harry, "careful now dear, it's very hot," she warned Harry.
Harry nodded and slowly lowered it onto the arm of the chair and held it tightly with his left hand. He blew softly on the tea, a traditional method of cooling it down enough so that he could gently sip the tea. Harry blew for about a minute or two and then took a small sip; he licked his lips after the sip and quickly took another, the tea acting as a refreshing way of calming Harry down and stopping the thoughts about what happened at Privet Drive last night.
"Brilliant stuff is Mum's tea, it works every time," announced Ron like he was recommending it in an advertisement.
"Yea, I feel a lot better, thanks a lot Mrs Weasley," said Harry.
"Think nothing of it dear, I'm always happy to get you a cup of tea, or a sandwich or anything," she beamed.
Harry grinned at Mrs Weasley and continued sipping his tea, every drop made his cheeks regain its former vibrant colour. Harry's mood lightened also as he began to giggle to Ron's sudden outbreak of humming.
"What are you humming Ron?" he asked, his grin reaching from ear to ear.
Ron stopped with a startle, "I err, wasn't humming, was I?"
Harry let out a huge roar of laughter as Ron went from a nice pale skin colour to bright red. The mug almost went flying as Harry continued to laugh, only managed to stop it when he suddenly realised he had this gorgeous cup of tea in the grasp of his left hand. "You nearly made me spill my tea," he said in a mockingly angry voice.
Ron then burst out with laughter too, his eyes streaming with tears as his stomach-wrenching laugh filled the room.
Mrs Weasley tried to act mature about it all but she too was laughing; albeit not vocally but her expression said it
all.