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Author: legobean Story: Harry Potter and the Toll of Destiny Rating: Teens Status: WIP Reviews: 11 Words: 169,577
Disclaimer: It appears I have once again failed to retain the rights to Harry Potter and his magical world, as such, I am continuing to make no profit from this story. The characters created by J.K. Rowling remain her property, and I just get to turn them into salamanders. Harry and Ron spent the next three days reminiscing over the time they had been apart. Well, mostly Ron remised and Harry listened since he had no memories of the last nine years. Ron had painstakingly reconstructed each of the last eight seasons by the Cannons and speculated endlessly about who might replace Oliver Wood as the league's top Keeper. Wood had announced his retirement effective the end of the current season. Ron recounted the amazing season Ginny had in her seventh year at Hogwarts, and Harry had been surprised at the revelation that he had parted with his beloved Firebolt. He felt guilty that she had given up the chance to play professionally to spend her time looking endlessly for some sign of him. Ginny. The more they talked about Ginny, the worse Harry felt. It was obvious from the indications Ron had given that Ginny had been waiting for Harry to return all this time. It was these thoughts that drove him to want his memories back, to understand why, but at the same time caused him to fear his past. What if he remembered things that made him unable to face Ginny again? Clearly there were things in his memory that had made him stay away before, and he was having a hard enough time thinking about facing her now. How would she react? They would at least give him back his wand before he saw her for the first time, right? Harry was going stir crazy. He wanted to get out of this house, move around a bit, find out what had happened to the world in the last nine years. It couldn't all be bad from what Ron and Hermione had told him. Fred and George were successful entrepreneurs parlaying their joke shop into a small empire of different ventures, each of them successful in their own way. George apparently now concentrated his time on running a series of tourist hotspots for wizards, while Fred lived up the London high life, dating Katie Bell, and being seen at all the right parties. Bill and Fleur had three very blond daughters, and Bill now ran a private security firm specialising in building enchantments to protect homes and property. Ron said that it kept him away from home more than he would like, but that the business was doing really well. Ron wouldn't really talk about Charlie or Percy, but Harry had figured out that Charlie must have died at some point, because each time his name came up, Ron got a distant look and became very subdued. Percy's name on the other hand was always greeted with some offhanded insult or another. Percy had been estranged from the Weasley family the last Harry could remember, and it seemed things hadn't changed much, but Ron refused to talk about him. Harry threw the Muggle mystery that Hermione had leant him onto the night stand. He'd been going so stir crazy, he'd even taken some of the sleeping potion that Hermione had given him, but every time he tried to close his eyes, his head filled with questions. What had happened? Why had he disappeared? What secret lurked in his memories that would drive him to push away his friends? He thought about it frequently; the only breaks from these thoughts where brief periods where he worried about what Ginny must think of him. He was a coward, afraid to face her, at least he had been when he had his memories, and if he admitted it to himself he was afraid of it now. Some Gryffindor he had turned out to be. He got out of bed and wandered into the loo to take a shower. He wondered how much longer Hermione would want to wait until they started dealing with his memories. She was the expert, but he would go completely off his nut if they didn't start soon. Harry turned off the shower and put on his slacks and a very nice button-down shirt that Hermione had bought him. He felt a little silly since he still only had trainers and athletic socks to wear with them, but since it was unlikely that they would let him leave the house, he'd decided he could look as mismatched as needed for the next few days. At least Dobby wasn't picking out his clothes anymore. As he looked at himself in the mirror, he saw a little more of the Harry Potter he had once known, and a little less of the stranger. It was amazing what a few days of nutritious food and a little sleep could do for someone. His hair was as black and unruly as ever, but at least it wasn't falling out. Satisfied that he looked as good as could be expected, he wandered out into the kitchen and found that Dobby had already left breakfast out on the table with a warming charm and a note. Harry Potter, sir! Dobby must go out and get groceries and supplies. If you need anything just call out loudly, and Dobby will return immediately! Harry smiled. He could just picture Dobby dropping a cantaloupe in the middle of the market to Apparate back to the house to get Harry more juice. Harry had always liked Dobby, but his avid dedication was best experienced in small doses. He wondered how long Hermione and Ron had hired Dobby to be his nurse maid for. Harry picked at his breakfast. It was nice to be eating real food once again, but his appetite was still very limited, after a few bites he generally felt himself getting full. This certainly explained why his bones were poking into his skin all over; apparently it had been a while since eating had been high on his list of priorities. After about another half hour, Ron and Hermione finally made an appearance at the breakfast table. Harry had no idea what time it was. It appeared all the clocks had been carefully removed from the house. Whenever he asked Ron or Hermione what time it was, they always knew, but they never acted in a hurry, or paid any attention to the time at all. Ron plunked down next to Harry, and Hermione sat across the table from him and Ron. "Morning, sunshine," Ron said cheerfully, watching Harry's scowl with interest. "Juice too bitter this morning? You look like you might be about to spit it back up," Ron joked, pushing Harry's shoulder and trying to shake him out of his mood. "I'm fine. I'm just tired of sitting around all day. When do you think we might be able to get started, Hermione?" Harry attempted a smile, but it was, at best, a grim twist of the lips. "Well, I suppose we could get started today if you feel up to it. I think it's going to take us several days to get all the memories out. That's if you're able to not dwell on them between the time I take the memory block down and when we extract it," Hermione offered. Harry brightened at the prospect of making progress. "Oh, I think I'm ready, Doc." Harry had taken to referring to Hermione as "Doc" whenever she turned on her professional mannerisms. Harry had seen the same down-to-business side of Hermione many times during their hours of study. "Well, Ron has to go back to work this morning, and then we can get to it. We just need to make sure not to overdo it today. This process can be very draining and you need to keep your strength up." Hermione sent a knowing look at Harry. She knew exactly how little regard he had for his own health and that he would want to push harder than they should. Ron snickered. "Enjoy the coddling now; she's a slave driver once she gets started." "I remember. Studying those History of Magic notes over and over, I've sure got a lot of use out of that knowledge," Harry needled. Hermione harrumphed. "A well-rounded education is never a waste." "We're only teasing, Hermione. We never would have got through Hogwarts without you. Of course, I never did get through Hogwarts, so maybe you should have worked harder on me." Harry smirked. Hermione looked scandalised and picked up the teapot and went back into the kitchen gumbling about the general lack of appreciation people had for her help. "So, you finally have to go back to work, huh? Pretty rough job you have there, Ron, watching people play games all the time." Harry put down his fork, finally giving up his breakfast as a bad job. Now that he was going to start treatment, food seemed like an inconvenience he could live without. "Well, it's not all fun and games. There's a whole lot of paperwork, shaking hands, and boring dinners, too." Ron smiled as he said this. "It is a pretty sweet gig, although I might have to hire a bodyguard if we don't qualify for the cup next spring. People are getting very restless, and the players think there is too much pressure. The best ones don't want to play. At least Wood has agreed to take one last turn at Keeper for us. We should have some decent goal work, and if you have a good Keeper you always have chance," Ron said optimistically. "Maybe I can get a job as your bodyguard, so I can go to all the cool parties with you," Harry suggested. "Oh, I have another job that I think will be right up your alley." Ron waggled his eyebrows. "Ron!" Hermione growled in warning. "Right, well, we can talk about that later," Ron added quickly. *** Harry and Ron spent the rest of his time before leaving for work discussing England's chances of qualifying for the cup. After he left, Hermione turned down the lights and settled herself in a chair across from Harry, with a Pensieve between them and a whole box of jars at her feet. "Alright, Harry, each block that I have added to your memory represents about one week's worth of memories. I am going to tear each block down, one at a time. After I break down the memory block, you need to concentrate on isolating the memory from your other thoughts, and then when you're ready, I will use my wand to pull it from your mind, and we'll seal it in a jar and label it. Later we will go through the memories one at a time and isolate any particular events in them that might cause you distress. We will work on dealing with these memories in a healthy manner, and then we will reincorporate the memories into your conscious mind. Some memories we may need to analyze for several days in the Pensieve. Some aren't likely to bother you at all, and hopefully some of them will be happy memories that we can give back to you right away to help build up a store of good thoughts." Hermione explained all this and then, looking a little nervous, asked, "Are you ready?" Harry closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then said, "Ready." Hermione waved her wand in a circular motion at Harry and muttered an incantation. Instantly Harry's mind was filled with a rush of memories from The Burrow and Grimmauld Place. He saw happy faces congratulating him and wishing him a happy birthday, and then a very cool and angry Ginny pointedly ignoring him in the disorderly kitchen of The Burrow. He heard Hermione's voice say clearly, "Don't try to analyze these memories. They should be a little fuzzy; that's normal. Just collect those new memories for a second, and let me know when you're ready." "Ready," Harry repeated back to her. Hermione put her wand to Harry's temple and a large swirling grey mass emerged reluctantly from Harry's temple. It started to extend out into a long strand like hot mozzarella. "Don't think about the specific memories, Harry, just concentrate on keeping them together; you're letting them separate, and that makes it harder." Hermione put one end of the memory strand into the Pensieve and then moved her wand back up and started tugging at the strand of memories. Finally, a larger mass of memories broke out from Harry's temple and plopped into the Pensieve, causing a disturbance in the swirling mist. "How do you feel?" "It's weird, I feel mentally drained, like I just took a really hard test," Harry answered. "That's normal," Hermione responded. "Is it going to feel like that every time?" Harry asked, more concerned than he had been a few minutes ago. "Well, like taking a bunch of tests in a row, you do get used to it, but it's hard on your mind to move so many memories at once. That's why I wanted you to have some time to get yourself in order before we started the treatment. It can be very draining and, if you don't isolate the memories, emotionally difficult. So, do you have any additional memories that you didn't have earlier this morning?" Hermione inquired, picking up a Muggle pen and notebook. "I have a distinct memory of Ginny in the kitchen at The Burrow, she was so angry; she wouldn't look at me, or talk to me. It was like she hated me," Harry answered, feeling somewhat devastated. "That was the first time you saw Ginny after leaving her at King's Cross. You need to do a better job keeping the memories together, Harry. Keeping them in your mind will only make this harder. Concentrate on Ginny in the kitchen for a moment, just as you saw her." Hermione put the tip of her wand to Harry's temple and pulled a much smaller, but much more bright silver memory from Harry and added it to those in the bowl. Hermione peered over the bowl for a moment and made a note on her pad. Then using her wand, she fished the memories out of the Pensieve and sealed them in a glass jar. She whispered a sealing charm and then tapped the label of the jar and a date along with a brief description of the images she had seen in the Pensieve appeared. "What's with the sealing charm?" "Oh, it keeps the memories fresh, and it allows me to make the jar impenetrable to anyone but myself. So if someone stumbles across your memories while they are outside your head, then they can't look at them without my, and therefore your, permission. Nobody else will see these memories unless you expressly grant them permission to do so. I promise," Hermione answered. She put the jar of memories inside the box and pulled out a fresh jar. "Do you need a minute or are you ready to go again?" Harry was honestly somewhat drained, but he shuddered to think of how much time had passed since these memories had been made and vowed to get it over with as soon as possible. "Let's go." Hermione waved her wand at Harry and once again his head was filled with familiar faces, the twins' joke shop, Mrs Weasley giving him a deeply disapproving look, and some images from what was quite obviously a party but attended only by men. Harry concentrated on keeping the memories together and muttered, "Ready." A much more consistent thread of memories came from Harry's temple this time and started swirling in the Pensieve. "Much better, Harry. Any stray memories this time?" Hermione asked. "No, no, I don't think so." Harry rubbed his temples. He still felt drained, but not too much more than before. Hermione fished the memories into a jar and labeled them, then said, "All right, Harry, whenever you're ready we can go again." "Let's keep going." Once again Harry's mind was filled with memories; Ron dressed in fancy robes, Fleur dressed in all white robes, Bill looking like the cat who swallowed the canary. Then suddenly there was Ginny, her face pink with fury, her hair out of sorts, wearing pale blue dress robes and in a towering rage. Harry quelled at just the memory of her rage, she was so angry. He rememberd vaguely telling her he was leaving the next morning, and he couldn't tell her where he was going or when he was coming back. This was the moment he had told her he wouldn't be coming back to Hogwarts, and that they had to say goodbye. Harry muttered, "Now," and Hermione started pulling out the memory. Part of it came out, but then it just stopped. She tugged at it, but it wouldn't budge. "Harry, you have to give me the memory. I can't take it by force. Let it go." She tugged once again on the memory, but it still wouldn't budge. She sighed, "Let her go, Harry." Tears started rolling down Harry's cheeks, and he whispered, "No, I can't, not again." "It's just a memory, Harry, it will still be here; it just won't be in there causing you pain." Finally, Harry started to relax, and Hermione pulled on the strand once again and it started to come. Once it was out Harry looked at her confusedly. "What was that? Why am I crying?" "You are crying because you fixated on the details of the memory, and it was painful. It was something you haven't had a chance to put emotional distance on, because you don't have memories that came after it to dull it. It is very important that you just concentrate on keeping the memories isolated. I don't want you to have to relive every detail of your life right now, just let the memories go." Hermione reached over and squeezed Harry's hand. He felt like someone had punched him in the stomach and his head throbbed. "Did we get them all, Harry?" "I guess. I feel terrible, though, like you ripped away a piece of me," Harry said stoically. "Here, eat this; it will make you feel better." She dug a chunk of chocolate out of a bag sitting next to her. "I'm not hungry," Harry replied but took the chocolate. "It helps with the memory shock for the same reason it helps after a Dementor attack. Just eat a little bit." Harry took a tentative bite and chewed slowly. As it melted in his mouth he did start to feel a little better. Harry took another bite and started to feel much better. "Thanks, Hermione, you're brilliant, you know." He smiled weakly at her. She got rose-coloured spots on her cheeks and a twinkle in her eye after the compliment but didn't respond. She started packaging up the new jar of memories and got out another. They worked for hours; some memories came easier than others. Harry got better at not reflecting on the memories and keeping them isolated in his mind. This made them easier to let go of and consequently didn't take as much energy. They stopped for chocolate breaks every so often and to give Harry a bit of a recharge before soldiering on. Finally, after several hours, Hermione put down a jar, and said, "Well, I think that's enough for today. Why don't you take a nap, Harry, or would you like some dinner first?" "Why don't we keep going? I'm fine, and, honestly, I want to get this over with," Harry responded. "No, I really think we have gone far enough for today. We can do more tomorrow if you feel up to it, but I don't want to tire you out too badly. Let's see how you feel in the morning and then we can gauge how far to take this. Besides, I think Dobby is working on a shepherd's pie for dinner and treacle tart for dessert." Hermione winked at Harry. "Now that you mention it, I am starting to feel a bit peckish, even with all the chocolate I ate." Harry smiled. "Put your feet up for a minute while I get cleaned up, and then we will have dinner." Hermione picked up the box full of jars of swirling memories, and headed for a room in the back of the house. Harry jumped up. "Let me help you with that." "It's okay, Harry, I've got it. Sit down and relax for a few minutes; you have had a tough day." "I'm fine; just let me carry something for you." Hermione pointed her wand at Harry. "You sit, feet up! Relax, now!" "Oh, come on, Hermione, you wouldn't hex a nice bloke like me," Harry chided. "Do I need to spell the words? S-I-T D-O-W-N. I'm the trained Healer here, and I will decide who is fine." She raised an eyebrow at Harry. He smirked and sat down in his chair, propped his feet up next to the Pensieve, and put his hands behind his head. "Fine, Doc, have it your way." Hermione puttered around the house for a bit while Harry watched her with a bemused look on his face. After checking on Dobby's progress with dinner, she came back out and resumed her straightening. Since Dobby meticulously put every item in the house back in its proper spot each night while they slept, there really wasn't much to do, but it had been a long day. "You know, Harry, you don't have to sit there smirking at me, like I couldn't get a hex off on you, even when you're wandering around here without a wand." Hermione looked at him, quite exasperated. He had been shooting her smirks and glances ever since she had pulled her wand on him earlier. "Oh, I'm sure you could; I was petrified in terror." "Don't patronise me, Harry; I could just leave some nasty memories in your head, you know." Harry chuckled and then made an effort to stop smirking. "Is Ron going to stop by tonight?" "No, he needs to go check on the kids just to make sure they haven't tied Ginny up and burnt the house down," Hermione answered. "Don't you need to go, too? I bet they miss you." "Honestly, Harry, sometimes I think they prefer Ginny. She spends way more time with them than I do, and she knows more about Quidditch and boy stuff and is better at Exploding Snap than I am. I doubt they miss me at all." Hermione sounded more than slightly wounded; it was obvious some part of her really believed this. "Well, maybe you should spend more time with them; I don't need a babysitter. Besides, Dobby's here. How much trouble could I get into?" "That's sweet, Harry. I'll go and visit them in a few days. The work we're doing here is important, and I don't want to start going back and forth until we have made some progress. You did really well today. We will be ready to start adapting you to your memories in no time. Let's go see if Dobby's about done with dinner." Harry and Hermione had a very pleasant dinner but struggled to find conversation. Harry didn't know what to talk about, but discussing her kids only seemed to make her miss them more. Harry didn't want to talk about the treatment anymore, and Hermione didn't seem to want to either. After his stomach was full, Harry started having difficulty keeping his eyes open and decided to say goodnight. *** Ron returned home from work later than normal. He wasn't exactly looking forward to facing Ginny's questions again. But, he was due home this evening, and Ginny knew it. He finally decided he better be getting on with it and Apparated home. It was after supper time when he walked in the back door. "Hey, you lot, I'm home!" A stampede of feet greeted this announcement and soon each of his long legs was being hugged by one of his sons. "Hey there, guys, did you have a good time with Aunt Ginny?" "It was okay, but she's been really sad. She doesn't want to play games, and she cries at night, but she won't say what's wrong," James answered with a concerned puppy dog look on his lightly freckled features. "James, I've told you I'm fine," Ginny said unconvincingly. "I thought it was brilliant!" Harry said. "She showed how to do the hand position for the sloth grip roll, and she says you know somebody who can teach me the Wronski feint! Is that true?" "Well, Harry, I know several people who are adept at the Wronski feint, but I don't think they would want to teach you just yet. Six is a bit young for such dangerous maneuvers." Ron glanced quizzically at Ginny. What was she playing at? Ginny was the picture of innocence leaning against the doorway. "Have a good, erm, trip, Ron?" she asked. "It was interesting," Ron answered, deflecting the question. He picked up one writhing boy in each arm and carried them into the sitting room. Ron spent about an hour playing with the boys and then sent them off to bed. He wandered into the kitchen to find some dinner. His head was in the cold pantry poking at some pasta, wondering just how old it was, when he heard a sniffle behind him. "Is this pasta still good?" he asked the sniffler. "Should be. We had it the night you left; I wasn't hungry and the boys didn't eat much," a watery voice answered. "Ah, bully for me then!" Ron pulled the pasta and a Butterbeer out of the cold pantry and walked over to the stove. He pointed his wand and it sprung to life as he started getting a pan out. "Oh, Ron, just use the microwave. Why do you think Hermione went through the trouble of charming the thing?" Ginny asked, walking over and picking up the container of pasta and unceremoniously throwing the whole thing into the microwave and flipping it on. "I can never figure out how to work that thing," Ron commented, opening his bottle of Butterbeer and taking a significant pull. Ginny pointed her wand at a cutting board, knife and loaf of bread, and they began working together to slice the bread. She then Banished the whole operation to the kitchen table and pulled the pasta out of the microwave, placing it on the counter while reaching into the cupboard for a plate. "No need for that. I'll just take the bowl." "Ron, you're a father now. You would think you could learn some manners." "Wavvver dwb yehm mphf?" Ron asked. "I mean stop talking with your mouth full, use a plate, and a napkin. And, Crimeny, take sensible bites!" Ron had shoved another huge fork full of pasta into his mouth and smiled at her, with noodles poking out of both sides of his mouth. He chewed for a little while and then swallowed a huge gulp; Ginny looked disgusted. "Mum worked so hard on all of you. How did all of you but Bill end up being such slobs?" "Percy isn't a slob," Ron said defensively. "Don't mention that stupid git in front of me!" Ginny's eyes flashed dangerously. Percy had continued extolling his view that Harry was little more than a rule-breaking troublemaker and criminal, despite the several months he had spent is St Mungo's with exploding boils covering most of his body. The Healers had been at a loss figuring out how to remove them. Ginny finally released the spell after Percy apologised, but she still hadn't forgiven him for his attitude towards Harry. "So how is he?" "Who, Percy? How would I know? I haven't seen that git in months." "RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY! You will tell me everything right now, or Merlin help me, your boils will make Percy's look like a mild case." Ginny's eyes had narrowed into tiny slits; she was not a witch to be trifled with. "Oh, er, I guess he's doing okay all things considered," Ron blustered uselessly, squirming under Ginny's glare. "Everything, Ron, now!" Ron was rather scared and a little lost. On one hand he had the smartest witch he knew, and the woman he loved, telling him not to give Ginny too much information; on the other hand the most dangerous witch he knew was threatening to hex him if he didn't tell her everything. His hesitation cost him—Ginny waved her wand, and Ron turned into a salamander with a small 'pop'. The salamander looked at his tiny orange body, rather perplexed and it seemed he was incapable of making audible noise. Ron knew he was likely stuck this way until such a time as Ginny decided to turn him back. He knew she would, because she wanted information, but the question was how long would she be willing to wait to get the information? Ron, as a salamander, sat in his chair at the head of the table for several minutes before Ginny leaned down and looked at him. "Ready to talk yet?" The salamander gave what he hoped Ginny perceived as a nod, for a salamander, and she waved her wand again. Ron reappeared in his normal body, feeling somewhat relieved. Having made his choice between an angry wife and spending his life as a salamander, Ron got down to business. "Well, Hermione reckons that the reason that Harry's gone missing all these years is that he was emotionally scarred during the war. She thinks at some point either his self value got screwed up, or he did some things that he just isn't capable of living with. When he gets around other people, they want to talk about it, and it causes emotional overload; and then he disappears for however long it takes him to deal with it. At first, Hermione thought he might eventually work himself through it enough to come to us for help himself, but after this latest two-year hiatus, Hermione decided we needed to help the process along a little." "All right then, so what have you done to him?" Ginny asked, her eyes still hard. "Well, you see, after your little encounter with him a couple of weeks ago, he stopped by my office. He was already bent out of shape, and it didn't look like it was going to be a long chat, so I waited until his defenses were down, and I Stunned him." "You didn't!" Ginny exclaimed. "I had to, really. He looked like he was about to bolt again, and I just didn't think him losing another two years was going to help anybody. So I Stunned him. I just Stupified him; it didn't hurt him any," Ron explained calmly. "So where has he been these last two weeks?" "Well, Hermione had secured what you might call a safe house that we're guessing he won't be able to Apparate out of. She kept him sedated while she constructed memory charms in his mind, so that he wouldn't remember the last nine years. He woke up the morning that I left here, and I went and spent a few days with him. He doesn't remember anything that happened after his seventeenth birthday," Ron finished quietly. "I have to see him!" Ginny's look had softened and she appeared to once again be on the verge of tears. "I know, but Hermione reckons that he needs to deal with some of these emotions and memories before he gets confused by his feelings for you," Ron said as placatingly as possible. "Tell me where he is, Ron." Her eyes were starting to narrow, and Ron didn't like where this was heading. She had her wand out and his was in his robes; he would never beat her to the draw, and she was quicker anyway. "Ginny, Hermione has been studying the treatment of these kinds of conditions for years now, and she thinks it is best that he wait a little longer before he sees you. She isn't trying to keep you two apart. She thinks you're essential to the process actually, but she is afraid if he gets overwhelmed again, he may run. We all want what's best for Harry. Let her do her job." "I thought you said he couldn't Apparate out of this place? If you think you can keep him there, he obviously doesn't have his wand. How would he run?" "Well, I don't think he can Apparate out of the safe house, but he can't Apparate in and out of the Ministry of Magic building, either, and he certainly seems to do it a lot." Ginny came very close to giggling. "He does have a flare for doing the impossible." "You're telling me." Ron looked questioningly at Ginny. "So now that you know what I know, can I go up to bed or will I be spending the rest of my life as a salamander? I've had a long day." She smiled weakly at him. "No, you're okay for now, but no more secrets, okay? And I want to see Harry very soon. He's not the only person whose emotions are out of balance; I need answers." "I don't know if he can give you answers, Ginny. In his mind, he just broke up with you at Dumbledore's funeral. I know you deserve answers, nobody blames you for being mad, but if you want the Harry you have been waiting for all these years, you're going to have to wait a little longer." Ginny's expression turned dark once again, and Ron got out of his chair and hugged her. "Oh, it's not as bad as all that. At least we finally know where he is." "Thanks, Ron, I really needed to know what was going on. So is Hermione planning on staying there until he's better? What about the boys?" Ginny asked. "I don't know. She misses them terribly. She talked about little else when we weren't with Harry, but she feels she owes it to Harry to try and heal him. You know how Hermione is when she's working on a project. At least we know he'll get sorted out." Ron put the pasta container in the sink where it immediately began washing itself and headed for his bedroom. "Night, Ginny." "Goodnight, Ron" *** Ron had got ready for bed and just laid down with the Evening Prophet, hoping to catch up on the day's news, when the Floo in the bedroom sprang to life, and Hermione's head popped into it. "Ron?" Ron got up and moved in front of the fire. "Hi, sweetie, I thought you said it was dangerous to have the Floo on the network while Harry's there." "Well, Tonks refused to have it taken off the network completely, but it is restricted to voice travel only, and it's password protected, so hopefully it's not too dangerous. How was your day?" Hermione asked. "Oh, the usual, mostly. The Quidditch officials want more money or they're going to strike, and the owners think they should just get new officials. Oh, and there was an illegally charmed Snitch used in the Wasps vs. Tornados game last weekend apparently, so there is a huge controversy over that. How's Harry?" "He's a machine; we went all the way up to just before he disappeared today. He wanted to keep going but I wanted him to be rested in case it overwhelms him before we can get the memory removed. He did really well, though. We should finish with the memory removal in just a few days and then the hard part begins." Hermione sighed. "How are Ginny and the boys?" "Well, the boys are in good spirits. Ginny taught them the grip for the sloth grip roll, and she told them that I know an expert who can teach them the Wronski feint." Hermione gasped. "She told them that? They are much too young to be learning such dangerous things!" "I know, I know. I told Harry he would have to wait a few more years before anyone would be willing to teach him," Ron said placatingly. "So is Ginny okay, other than promising to teach our sons new ways to kill themselves?" Hermione grumbled. "Um, no, not really. She demanded to know what you were up to, and when I didn't tell her, she turned me into a salamander," Ron said quietly. "She didn't!" "Quiet, love. You'll wake the boys," Ron said urgently. "How did y… She can't…. That's just not on, that's not on at all," Hermione sputtered. "Well it wasn't too pleasant for me; I had to agree to tell her everything just to get her to change me back," Ron said somewhat apologetically. "Oh," Hermione said worriedly. "How'd she take it?" Ron proceeded to recount the evening's events and wished Hermione a goodnight. She made him promise to stop by and see Harry the next night. She felt he would be in need of a pick-me-up. Ron was happy to stop by and see Harry, but ultimately he thought Harry would really prefer that the cheering up be done by Ginny, if they could just keep her from killing him before she cheered him up. Ron settled back in to bed and started snoring very loudly. A/N: If I could have your attention, please give a hearty round of applause for the three fabulous people working on this story for free, during their spare time: Emily, Cera, and Katieay. Without them my secret of writing at a third grade level would be revealed…oops, I shouldn't have told you that. Anyway I hope you're enjoying the story, if by chance you are, please leave a review! Suggestions for other animals I should turn Ron into will be gladly accepted.
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