Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 73: New Attire
The next morning, Harry walked across the long halls of the manor until he stopped in front of one particular door.
"This one?" He raised his hand but asked before knocking.
"Third door to the left. That's what the elf said," V answered.
"Okay, here we go…" Harry still didn't knock. "You think she will be mad at me?"
"I'm sure she understands you had a good reason for knocking out her entire family and bringing them here against their will. Just don't expect her to be thrilled about it," the hat told him.
"Thanks, V…"
"Hey, you asked."
Harry took a long breath. "Here we g—"
The door opened before he had a chance to knock.
"Who is making a—... Harry?" A sleepy-looking Ginny stood on the other side of the doorway, wearing her pajamas. After saying his name, she rubbed her eyes as if to make sure.
"Harry!" A wide grin appeared on her face before she lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
"Maybe I was wrong," V commented. "She does look quite happy to see you."
"Ginny, ehm… good morning. Did you get my letter?"
"I did! Your Godfather gave it to me." Ginny stared at him with concern. "Did you get hurt? Where were you yesterday? I was so worried."
In the letter, Harry had more or less explained to her the same thing that he did to Dumbledore.
She was the only one who received some clarification from him because she was the only one who actually remembered everything.
On the rest of the family, Harry had used a mild version of the memory charm. This one doesn't completely erase the memories, but it does make it much harder to recall any specific details.
"I didn't get hurt, as you can see. But V got a bit damaged, so yesterday I was taking care of that. Sorry for worrying you." Harry tapped on the hat.
"But I'm doing much better now, thanks to Harry," V commented.
"So that's what happened." Ginny glanced at the hat. "I'm glad to hear that, V."
"But…" Her eyes went back to Harry. "What happened to the people who attacked our house? Have they been arrested?"
Harry made a troubled expression. "Actually…"
"The Headmaster made sure to send them away. You and your family won't have to worry about them again," V told her.
Ginny sighed. "That is a relief. He visited us yesterday, but was very vague about any details. He didn't even tell us when we could come back home."
"You don't like it here? If there is something you need, you can ask Kreacher," Harry told her.
"No, no. The house is not bad. But you know… I miss going into the garden, being in my bedroom, or sneaking into the shed to borrow one of my brother's brooms." Ginny became embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I'm probably sounding very ungrateful right now. You saved our lives, and here I am, complaining about something like this…"
"No, you don't… you don't have anything to be sorry about. It was partially my fault that the attack happened at all. I'll make sure your house is safe to return to in a few days. A week at most." Harry was still waiting on a message from Lady Rose, but that should not take long.
"You know…" Ginny leaned closer and put a hand on his chest. "The other night, we were interrupted in the middle of something."
"Right." Harry had not forgotten. "That was very rude of them."
Ginny let out a soft chuckle. "Should we finish it?" She lifted her heels, bringing her face closer to his.
"We should…" Harry leaned closer.
Their lips were about to touch, when a nearby door was suddenly opened.
"Harry, mate, you are finally back!" Ron quickly spotted him, standing in front of Ginny.
The redhead girl had turned her face away to hide the blush on her face, while Harry was doing his best to prevent his emotions from showing.
'Want me to kill the brat?' V sent him a mental image.
'He is my… friend,' Harry had to remind himself. 'And they will probably notice he is missing.'
"Where have you been?" Ron asked.
"I was just d—"
"What are you doing here?" he asked his sister.
"This is my room, you moron!" Ginny went inside and closed the door. "I'm going to change. No one comes in!" She shouted from the other side.
"What's wrong with her?" Ron sounded puzzled. He glanced at Harry and tapped him on the shoulder. "Mate… what are you wearing?"
"This?" Harry looked down at his current attire. "My robes became damaged, so I got these from one of the wardrobes. There wasn't much to choose from, so I was wearing the robes from the previous Patriarch."
"You kinda remind me of those pureblood pricks like Malfoy or his dad…" Ron muttered.
"Are you hungry? Kreacher told me that breakfast is almost ready." Harry decided to avoid getting into an argument with his friend by changing the topic to something that he knew Ron would be passionate about.
"Yeah! I'm starving," Ron exclaimed.
As the two of them were walking to the kitchen, Ron was telling him how bored he was to be here.
"I swear… yesterday's highlight was playing chess with my mother. Can you believe it? There is nothing to do here but read books. I need my Quidditch magazines."
Harry was glad to see that Sirius was already in the kitchen.
"Good morni—" His silver eyes went immediately to Harry's clothes. "Are those my grandfather's robes?"
"I believe they are. I had to adjust the size to fit me." Harry tried to read Sirius's expression. "Sorry, I didn't ask you first. But is it okay for me to wear these? Kreacher told me that I could."
"No, of course you can wear them if you want to. It's not like I was planning on doing that. It's not my style," Sirius told him. "And hey, they look good on you. I'm sure the ladies will agree." He gave Harry a knowing wink.
A.N: - Remember to comment, vote, and/or leave a review if you have the time. Those things help me a lot and I would really appreciate it.
You can Support me on P@treon if you like and get 20 advanced chapters. You can also find characters images to view for free in Collections/Time Images
-patreon.com/Kriogenix
For donations and commissions, go to ko-fi.com/kriogenix