An: Thanks for the reviews. I'm curious has anyone seen the show the Naked Chef? The guy on that reminds me a lot of Ron!!!!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Chapter 3 - Malfoy Manor
Ginny and Harry made the mistake of offering to help Arianne prepare the kids for dinner since Bill was working late and decided to floo straight to the Manor. Harry unsuccessfully tried to convince the two boys in front of him to have a bath. He had a large bump on the back of his head that he had earned from slipping on a bar of soap while chasing the boys around the bathroom. He had a sneaking suspicion that the boys had something to do with that.
After he recovered from his fall he realised that the Thomas had opened the bathroom door and both boys ran outside. He chased them down the corridor and skidded on some water which had mysteriously appeared out of thin air. He landed on his butt and went sliding, spread-eagle style, into a table leg, which resulted in some serious pain to a very sensitive area of his body. He hoped it wouldn't affect his ability of have children later on in life.
Ginny wasn't making out any better with Nathalie. She did obey her when it came to taking a bath but she refused to wear what was on the bed for her. She kicked up a huge fuss and also refused to let Ginny comb her long flowing hair. Her attitude vaguely reminded Ginny of Fleur and she wondered where the older witch was? Wasn't it her job to see about her children?
Harry, being on his last nerve, casted a full body bind on each of the little devils and bathe them himself. He then levitated them to their bedroom and charmed the clothes on to the kids. Before he released the hex, he told the two boys to behave or else they would have far worse than that. Ginny arrived at the door and admonished Harry for using magic on the kids.
"But Gin, they wouldn't listen! What was I supposed to do, try and reason with the sprogs?" Harry asked exasperatedly.
"That's exactly what you should have done. Look at Nathalie here, all dressed up and looking pretty. I reasoned with her!" Ginny explained to a now embarrassed Harry. What Ginny neglected to mention, was that she told Nathalie, either she wore the dress or she would have a polka dot face for the rest of her life.
"I actually wanted children but after this experience maybe I'm better off without them." Harry said as he sat down on the edge of Thomas's bed. This room brought back many memories. It was Ron's old room and Harry remembered the many times that he had stayed there.
Flashback
"Ron you're not coming with me." Harry stated dangerously.
"Mate, you just defeated Voldemort five months ago. I'm not going to go let you wonder around the world by yourself." R on said
"That's right I defeated Voldemort! I can take care of myself without you."Harry replied angrily.
"Harry, you are in no state to take care of yourself. You get angry easily and you keep having accidents!" Ron pointed out to Harry calmly.
"I'll be fine" Harry said defiantly.
"I wouldn't be a good friend if I let you do this alone. You said you wanted us to live our lives now. Well I want to live my life with my best mate in it. You already decided that Hermione was better off with her parents. If you are not going to take her at least let me accompany you. If you get homesick, you at least have me" Ron pleaded.
"No Ron." Harry said firmly before he left their room to go down to breakfast.
Harry remembered he and Ron had that same fight all month long before he finally caved. Now, seven years later, he was happy that Ron came along. It made wherever he went feel a little bit like home though there was always something missing.
-*-
Ginny and Harry came downstairs to find Ron comfortably seated on the sofa snacking on a treacle tart that he had found in the kitchen. Arianne came down shortly afterwards with the three children in tow.
"Thank you so much for helping me. I haven't been able to get any time to myself since Jonathan was born." Arianne said gratefully. She had dressed up in yellow robes that looked absolutely gorgeous on her.
"I bought these six months ago and I'm finally getting a chance to wear them. I guess I should thank you for coming back." Arianne continued to ramble on.
"Arianne, can we go now?" Thomas asked impatiently.
"Of course." She said as she turned to Ron. "There's a special connection between here and the Manor. Just say Manor and you'll go straight through."
She handed Floo powder to Nathalie, then to Thomas before she picked up Jonathan and grabbed a handful for herself. Green flames emerged from the fireplace and one by one they soon disappeared.
"You guys ever wonder why Fleur hasn't shown up or why no one has talked about Dad?" Ron asked suddenly.
"Yes, I've been wondering that same thing but Dad's probably working hard at the Ministry. You know how he is." Ginny said logically.
"It just feels different. It doesn't feel like it used to." Ron said.
They both nodded. The Burrow didn't have that warm friendly feeling that it used to have.
"Let's get a move on it. We won't find any answers standing around here." Harry stated as he grabbed a handful of floo powder and disappeared in green flames.
Having spent seven years travelling the world as a Muggle, Harry had never mastered floo landings and as he had during his first years at Hogwarts, he landed very ungraceful on the cold marble floor. He slowly started to get up but was then abruptly thrust back on to the ground by Ginny who landed on top of him. She scrambled off of him in time to avoid Ron coming through the fireplace. However, Harry wasn't fast enough and his face was thrust once again into the floor.
"Thanks for the soft landing mate." Ron said cheerfully and he got up.
Harry scowled at Ron as he stood and started brushing off the soot that he was now covered with.
"Young man, be careful where you brush that!" A high-pitched shrill voice said. "I don't want to get soot all over my new robe."
Harry turned his attention towards a tall thin woman with long straight black hair and cold black eyes, who was standing in the doorway. She was dressed in black robes that contrasted with her very pale skin and Harry wondered how on earth she could tell if she got soot on her jet black robes. She approached them in long determined strides which caused her robes to billow behind her in a very Snape like manor.
"Come along, you are the last to arrive." The woman said as she turned around and walked through the doorway she was standing in.
"Ok, that was very freaky. She reminded me of Snape." Ginny said as a chill went down her back at the thought of him.
Harry took the brief opportunity to scan the room. They appeared to be in a large off white circular room, with many oval exits. The room was bare with the exception of a chair that was positioned in the middle of the room. This was quite the opposite to the grand picture Draco had always painted of Malfoy Manor. Harry had been expecting to see lavish decorations, gold ornings, paintings of previous Malfoys, expensive furniture and a few house elves slaving away to make sure everything was perfect. He never expected anything this bare.
"Mate, which door did she go through?" Ron asked as he scratched the side of his head. The room had many doors and it was quite tricky to figure out which door she went through if you weren't paying attention since besides the fireplace everything else looked the same. Fortunately, Harry had marked his bearings by the fireplace and knew she went through the fifth door on the right.
"This way," Harry indicated as he set off towards the door but paused a few feet away. "There's a ward up."
"Yeah, I can feel it" Ginny said as she walked up next to Harry.
"Is it dangerous?" Ron asked. He had never been good at detecting and disabling wards. That had always been Harry's field.
"Not sure. Never felt anything like it." Harry replied as he scanned the ward.
Harry tentatively stepped forward and looked through the exit to the next room which appeared to be as bland as this one. He stopped an inch from the ward and felt it pull him forward. That was strange since most wards were to keep people out not pull them in. Once the urge became too strong, he stepped through the ward.
He felt a very strong disorienting feeling at first followed by a sharp pain. He felt as if he was being turned inside out. He landed flat on the floor and a bucket was promptly place in front of him. He wasted no time in filling the bucket with the contents of his stomach. Harry felt a brief nudge to move over and realised the he had been joined by Ginny. Another nudge later and Ron joined them around the bucket. As the nauseous feeling subsided, Harry realised there were two voices talking over them, a male and a female voice. He felt a dread in the pit of his stomach as he recognized the male voice. It belonged to a man he thought had died during the war.
"It looks like Potter is finally recovering." Snape sneered.
The woman from earlier looked down at him.
"You'll get used to it eventually." She said as she glanced over at Ginny and Ron.
"Well get off the floor boy. We don't have all day." Snape stated impatiently.
"Don't be so harsh Professor," came a dreamy voice from the doorway.
Harry's attention was immediately drawn to it. It was the first time he realised that the room he was in was much different to what he saw through the doorway. This room was decorated grandly with many pictures and expensive decorations. There were mouldings around the windows and plush sofas. On the floor was a very expensive Moroccan rug which depicted a grand castle in the dessert.
A tall thin woman was moving towards him. She had dirty blonde hair and large blue eyes. Harry vaguely thought she looked familiar. What stuck Harry as odd was that she was wearing muggle clothing, a simple black jeans and a blue cardigan with the letter L on it. It was only when he saw her bracelet made of bottle corks did he realise who it was.
"Luna?" Ginny said as she was trying to stand.
"Hello Ginny." Luna said as she warmly embraced Ginny.
"They're ready, Professor." Luna said addressing the woman next to Snape.
"Let's get along then." She said as she thrust a potion into Harry's hand and ordered him to drink it.
Harry looked down at the murky brown liquid with lumps of green stuff floating in it. He immediately felt like using the bucket again.
"It's best to drink it and not stare." Luna advised serenely as she watched the woman give Ginny and Ron, who were still on the floor, potions as well.
"Is this safe?" Ginny asked uncertainly as she eyed a particularly large lump in her potion.
"Yes, though it has been know to occasionally affect a mugwy." Luna replied.
"Why do we have to take it?" Ron asked horrified.
"The Manor is an ancient house and much magic flows through it. This potion will prevent the Manor from causing you any harm." Luna explained.
Ginny was the first to give it try. Luna had been a good friend and she never led her wrong. She put the vile to her lips and had to suppress the gab reflex as the most horrible tasting potion slid down her throat. She could feel those green blobs as they moved down her oesophagus.
"Yuck, that has to be the worse potion ever developed." Ginny exclaimed, as she looked around frantically for something to get that yucky taste out of her mouth.
Luna handed her a chocolate frog, which she promptly grabbed and shoved down her throat. Luna revealed two more frogs as she patiently waited for Ron and Harry to swallow theirs.
"We don't have all day." The woman exclaimed impatiently.
"Go on ahead, Professor, take Ginny, I'll wait on these two." Luna said calmly.
"Come along Ginerva, you have a lot of catching up to do!" the woman said as both she and Snape left with their robes billowing behind them in a similar manner.
"That was even freakier than before." Ron commented.
"I think it's endearing." Luna said as she watched them with a longing in her eye. She wanted something similar to what they had.
"Endearing?" Ginny questioned.
Luna nodded. "You better follow them or you might get lost in the manor." Luna said as she gave Ginny a slight nudge forward. She reluctantly followed her former potions professor through the manor.
Luna levelled her gaze at Harry. "Don't expect her to be happy to see you."
"Huh?" Ron said as he stood up and straightened his robes.
"I see in seven years you haven't matured much Ronald." Luna said as she turned her gaze to the tall redhead.
"What! You barely know me and you accuse me of not maturing." Ron said outraged that Luna could insult him like that.
"Drink your potion." Luna instructed as she decided to have a seat. She suspected Ron might be a while.
"I refuse to drink this brown guck." Ron said as he held the potion away from him.
"Harry, are you going to drink yours?" Luna asked studying Harry with her large blue eyes.
Harry felt strangely comforted by Luna's presence but he knew someone had to go follow Ginny since she left by herself with Snape! Harry lifted the vile to his mouth and downed it in one go.
"Awful doesn't even begin to describe that." Harry said eagerly grabbed the chocolate frog that Luna had offered him earlier.
"Ronald, your turn." Luna said giving him another piercing gaze.
Ron crossed the arms in front of his chest in defiance.
"Oh honestly Ron, it's just a potion. Drink the damn thing!" huffed a girl with brown wavy hair.
Their attention was drawn to a tall thin witch with beautiful brown eyes who stood at the doorway. Harry instantly recognized her but his throat suddenly went dry and everything he had rehearsed to say to her, was stuck and refused to come out. She was wearing a short black skirt that stopped mid thigh and a red cardigan with a gold letter H on it. He watched as she headed to the warded door. She hadn't so much as glanced at him since he realised that she was there.
"Where are you going?" Luna inquired with a concerned look on her face.
"One of the wards at Westbrook was tripped. I'm going to pop across to fix it." Hermione replied
"Be careful." Luna replied
"As always!" Hermione said as she threw Luna a smile before she walked through the ward.
Harry watched as she walked gracefully through the ward without faltering. She sat down in the chair and then disappeared. He was about to ask a question about that chair when Luna held her hand up to stop him.
"Drink up Ron, your brothers are anxious to see you!" Luna said a bit impatiently.
Harry looked sharply at Ron and he got the message. He held the vile up and imagined he was doing a tequila shot. In one shot it was all gone.
"Follow me" Luna said as she got up from the sofa and headed out the door.
Ron was making all sorts of odd looking faces as he dealt with the after effects of the potion which Luna seemed to be ignoring.
"Aren't you going to give him his chocolate frog?" Harry asked concerned for his best mate.
"What chocolate frog?" Luna asked as she took the extra frog and bit the head off and in a few moments there was no frog left.
Harry had to suppress the chuckle that threatened to escape his mouth as Ron looked aghast at Luna's actions.
"This way," Luna said as she made another turn in the maze of corridors they had been walking through. Harry got the feeling that she was deliberately leading them around to confuse them.
"You know your way through here well." Harry commented as he studied the different halls they walked through.
"I should. I live here." Luna responded with a wry smile.
"Are you and Draco married?" Harry inquired disgustedly.
"No, we're just friends and you're going to have to learn to like Draco." Luna told them point blank.
"Why don't you live with your dad anymore?" Harry inquired curiously.
"Well ever since Moll" Luna stopped talking mid sentence. She wasn't supposed to tell them what she was about to say. They would find out soon anyway.
"Here we are." Luna said as she stopped in front of two grand white double doors that stretched from the ceiling to the floor. The doors were trimmed with gold and had a complicated pattern running down the surface. Two gold door handles protruded from the door.
"And where is this? Harry inquired.
"The dinning hall," Luna explained.
"What are we waiting for?" Ron said angrily from behind Luna. He still had that awful taste in his mouth, though it was gradually receding.
"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Luna asked.
"You make it sound like it is some life changing event." Harry said
"Oh it is, it definitely is." Luna replied as she reached forward and opened both doors.
The room was very crowded and the first person to greet them was Remus Lupin who pulled Harry into a tight embrace. They were soon surrounded by a mass of red heads, all enthusiastically welcoming them back. They laughed and joked and twins looked for wedding rings and then warned them about the marriage list. Bill told Harry that he didn't have to marry Ginny to be part of the family. He would always have a place with them regardless of what he did.
Mrs. Weasley called for order and asked everyone to take a seat at the table. She sent a house elf to call Tonks and the children to eat. Harry observed that there was a smaller table set up at the side that he assumed was for the children. Mrs. Weasley ushered them to chairs and sat them down next to each other at one end of the table. Harry was in between Ron and Ginny and Mrs. Weasley sat the end of that side.
Ron looked around the room for his father but didn't see him. He saw Lupin, Snape, the woman from earlier, Arianne, Katie, Alicia, Penelope, Sam, his brothers, Luna and Draco all seated round the table but not his father. At the head of the table where his father should have been sat an old man with grey hair that Ron vaguely recognized.
"Where is dad?" Ron asked his mother.
An uncomfortable silence settled on the room as all eyes turned towards Mrs. Weasley.
"Ron, your father isn't with us any longer." Mrs Weasley said softly to her youngest son.
"What do you mean he isn't with us?" Ron asked angrily
"He's gone on to the next great adventure." Molly said with a tear in her eye.
"Ron," Bill said as he came up behind Ron and placed his hand on his shoulder.
"What?" Ron asked feeling the sense of panic building within him.
"He died three years ago." Bill said as comfortingly as he could.
Ron felt like the world had been pulled out from under him. His father was dead. This was not possible. His father was a healthy, vibrant man when he left. The war had been over for six months and everyone was safe. How could he be dead?
"No, no, no, that can't be right." Ron said in disbelief.
Ron broke down completely and he felt the arms of his brother hugging him.
Harry was the first to speak. "How?"
"He had to be killed." Charlie said sadly.
"Who did it?" Ron asked murderously forgetting that Charlie's words implied that there was more to the situation than what Ron comprehended.
"Hermione," Mrs. Weasley answered with a sob.
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