April 7, 2001
"Harry, over here!"
Harry Potter turned around to see a pretty girl with long, brown hair waving at him from the kitchen window of the Weasley household. He grinned widely and the girl returned his smile with a brilliant one of her own.
"Oi, Hermione, playing housewife again?" Harry yelled from across the garden. Hermione Granger stuck her tongue out at him and Harry laughed as he jogged into the kitchen. Inside, she was washing the dishes in Muggle fashion, her wand tucked behind her ear and poking out of that large mass of brown hair.
Harry crept up to her and immediately started tickling her sides. She shrieked and struggled to escape. Harry let go and laughed heartily as she chased him around the kitchen, suds flying through the air in her wake.
"Harry James Potter! How dare you lower yourself to such juvenile tactics," Hermione yelled as she ran into the living room, hot on the heels of Harry. Harry only laughed again in response as he stopped and turned quickly, surprising Hermione. With little effort, he picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder. She pounded her fists uselessly against his back as he carried her over to the kitchen and plopped her down in front of the sink again.
"Go back to work," Harry said as sternly as he could. She glared at him and turned around to the sink. He chuckled softly behind her back until he was abruptly sprayed by a stream of water. He stood there as Hermione held her wand and sprayed water until he looked like a drowned dog.
She smiled smugly at him before returning to her work.
"Juvenile tactics, eh," Harry said as he dried himself off.
"Why are you doing it the Muggle way?" he leaned against the counter and watched her do the dishes.
"Old habits die hard, I suppose. Back home, I always did it the Muggle way. It's a lot more satisfying," she responded.
"Only you would find the completion of dishes satisfying."
"No, it's the completion of a task that satisfies me. I'd rather not do the dishes," she smirked.
They bantered witlessly on for a couple more minutes before he heard footsteps from the staircase. Out stepped Ron Weasley. He was still a tad on the gangly side but it was obvious that he had a little more muscle definition since they had left on their gallant trip to destroy Voldemort. His hair was also very trimmed as a result of the rigorous Auror training he had to endure.
Behind him was Ginny Potter. She and Harry had been married for the past year and she smiled as she saw him.
"Hey, Harry!" she said as she bounded over and gave him a peck on the cheek.
"Hello, Mrs. Potter," Harry returned with a smile. Ginny walked over to Hermione to talk to her and to help with the dishes.
Ron grabbed an apple and tossed it in the air. He caught it on the way down and immediately bit into it.
"Fine day, isn't it Harry?" he mumbled through his food.
"It's a right fine day Ron," he said. The spring had left them with a nice cool breeze and no rain. The sun hung high in the sky and smiled cheerfully down at the two couples within the Burrow. The rest of the family was away on a trip and Mrs. Weasley granted them permission, with restrictions, to use the Burrow. These restrictions, of course, prevented any of them from engaging in more frivolous activities.
"Hermione, why don't you just use your wand," Ron said as he munched on the apple.
"I'm perfectly content with washing these the Muggle way, Ron," she responded haughtily.
"Mental, I tell you," he whispered.
Harry snorted quietly and shook his head disapprovingly with a smile on his face.
"I heard that," Hermione said and squirted a jet of water into his eye. The two continued to argue while Harrry sat down and read the Daily Prophet for the day. The headline read "Death Eaters continue to be caught by the Boy Who Defeated Voldemort." He flipped away from that page and read up the Quidditch standings.
"Oi, Ron! Look at this, your Cannons actually won a game!" Harry said over the clatter of dishes.
"I know," Ron said smugly, "It's only a matter of time before they win the Cup."
"Wait, hold on, it says here that they won by default because the other team's seeker died of heart failure," Harry said.
"You take them as you get them," Ron snapped as Harry shook his head again.
"Poor bloke," Ginny piped up.
"They reckon it ran in the family or something. The guy was only twenty three years old!" Ron informed them.
"It must have been poison. I've never heard of a twenty three year old dying from a heart attack," said Hermione.
"Well, this might be the work of some Dark fellows," Harry said. The group turned around to listen to him as he addressed them, "Lately there have been quite a few unexplainable deaths. This Seeker's only one of them; he got off fairly easily. A few days ago, an old man died from sticking his head in a furnace; he was the only one in his house. Before that, that singer, you know the one Mrs. Weasley always sang?"
"Celestina Warbeck?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah, that one, she hung herself from the top of a ceiling using some Muggle microphone wires! There's more but I don't think I have the stomach for it right now," Harry finished.
"Please stop, we're about to eat, it's almost three," Hermione said.
They all took a moment to digest the recent odd occurrences before the clock signaled it was three just as Hermione said it would be.
"I've arranged for us to eat outside since the weather is so nice," Hermione said. She waved her wand and the tray of neatly arranged food marched behind her in order as she set them in perfect order on the already conjured picnic table outside.
"Remind me to thank my Mom for this," Ginny said as she ate. Harry and Ginny sat side by side opposite to Ron and Hermione.
"She always did the best cooking," Ron said wistfully. Hermione glared at him.
"Not that yours is bad or anything, you know," Ron finished weakly. Hermione pointedly ate her food and did not speak with him for a couple moments.
The four of them enjoyed their food quietly, occasionally talking about the lives of other Hogwarts alumni (I heard Seamus built a pub), the current state of the Ministry (Remus finally pushed that Werewolf bill through), and Quidditch (No, Ron, the Cannons aren't going to win the cup this year).
As they ate, Hermione asked Harry about the deaths, "Harry, spare us the grisly details; what else do you know about those weird deaths?"
"Well, counting the Seeker that's six. They've all died in some weird or unexpected fashion. Often gruesome, as I said earlier. It doesn't seem to be the work of any Death Eaters. We checked for the Imperius curse or some Confounding charm but they've all checked out. No signs of any poison or hallucinogen in them so your theory has been debunked. They're all just dying."
"Who else has died?" Ginny asked.
"The Seeker, the old man by the lake, that singer, the fellow that created the Floo Network, a visiting Professor from Beauxbatons , and head of the Auror division from a few years ago," Harry counted off the deaths on his fingers.
"No one knows what their about. It's all a bit strange, really," Ron chimed in.
"And you're sure it's not the work of Death Eaters?" Hermione asked again.
"Well, nothing's sure, but there weren't any signs of a struggle or a curse. They all just died," Harry shrugged, "It's definitely Dark though. We just need more time to figure it out."
"We'll probably have to read through all the books in Hogwarts to figure it out," Ron joked.
"Those books contain valuable information I'll have you know," Hermione contested hotly. The pair bickered for a couple of moments as the other pair ate in silence.
After finishing, they helped Hermione banish the dishes back into the kitchen and Ginny offered to help her when they went back. With a small pop, Hermione banished the picnic table as the four of them gazed towards the hill in the horizon.
"Who knew that one day this would happen?" Ginny asked softly as she leaned on Harry's shoulder.
"I sure didn't expect it to happen like this," Harry responded.
"Me neither," said Hermione. Ron was silent.
There was a loud snap behind them as they all twirled around to see what the noise was but there was nothing there. The Burrow stood as awkward as ever with the sun hanging directly on top of it.
"What'd you reckon that was?" Ron asked. Hermione and Ginny shook their heads.
"Harry, what do you think?" Hermione asked. There was no response.
"Harry?"
It was 3:23 PM.
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If you're lucky, you can catch a snippet of news at this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Kwan_Li/Sandbox
I don't exactly know if that link works so someone can tell me.
The chapters after this one are considerably longer. Consider this the 2nd part of a two part prologue.
Sorry about Ginny but it's important.