Totally Awesome | George Weasley

Days of Summer | Chapter 8 | Book 2 Ch 2

     " Very fishy," Fred said once Harry had finished his story.

     " Definitely dodgy," George said." So he wouldn't even tell you who's supposed to be plotting all this stuff?"

     Harry shook his head." I don't think he could. I told you, every time he got close to letting something slip, he started banging his head against the wall."

     The other four all glanced at each other.

     " What, you think he was lying to me?"

     " Well..." Fred said eventually." Put it this way - house-elves have got powerful magic of their own, but they can't usually use It without their master's permission. I reckon old Dobby was sent to stop you coming back to Hogwarts. Someone's idea of a joke. Can you think of anyone at school with a grudge against you?"

     " Yes," both Harry and Ron said immediately.

     " Draco Malfoy," Harry said." He hates me."

     " Draco Malfoy?" George asked in surprise, turning all the way around in his seat." Not Lucious Malfoy's son?"

     " Must be, it's not a very common name, is it?... Why?"

     " I've heard Dad talking about him. He was a big supporter of You-Know-Who."

     " And when You-Know-Who disappeared," Fred continued," Lucious Malfoy came back saying he'd never meant any of it. Load of dung - Dad reckons he was right in You-Know-Who's inner circle."

     " He's in your year right?" Arwen asked." Draco, I mean, not Lucious... We met him on the train last year and for a first year he seemed to be eager to fight people who were multiple years older than him."

     " Yeah, first year. I don't know whether the Malfoys own a house-elf," Harry muttered.

     " Well, whoever owns him will be an old wizarding family, and they'll be rich," Fred assured him.

     " Only older families who are caught up with the prestige their name comes with are the ones who would actually own a House Elf - also they are pretty damn expensive to buy, with is only made worse when you realize none of that money is given to the house-elf."

     Harry went silent with thought, before Ron broke the silence, patting his friend on the back.

     " I'm glad we came to get you, anyway. I was getting really worried when you didn't answer any of my letters. I thought it was Errol's fault at first-"

     " Who's Errol?" Harry interrupted.

     " Our owl. He's ancient. It wouldn't be the first time he'd collapsed on a delivery. So then I tried to borrow Hermes-"

     " Who?"

     " The owl Mum and Dad bought Percy when he was made prefect," Fred explained.

     " But Percy wouldn't lend him to me," Ron grumbled." Said he needed him."

     " Percy's been acting very oddly this summer," George contemplated." And he has been sending a lot of letters and spending a lot of time shut up in his room... I mean, there's only so many times you can polish a prefect badge."

     " You send letters to Arwen all the time, and she lives just up the hill," Fred pointed out.

     Harry saw the back of George's neck redden as the boy quickly turned away from them and leaned over to Arwen.

     " You're driving too far west."

     She nodded, turning the wheel to course correct.

     " So, does your dad know you've got the car?" Harry asked.

     " Err... no," Ron admitted." He had to work tonight. Hopefully, we'll be able to get back in the garage without Mum noticing we flew it."

     " What does your dad do at the Ministry of Magic, anyway?"

     " He works in the most boring department: The Misues of Muggle Artifacts Office."

     " The what?"

     " It's all to do with bewitching things that are Muggle-made, you know, in case they end up back in a Muggle shop or house. Like, last year, some old witch died and er tea set was sold to an antique shop. This Muggle woman bought it, took it home, and tried to serve her friends' tea in it. It was a nightmare - Dad was working overtime for weeks."

     " What happened?"

     " The Teapot went berserk and squirted boiling tea all over the place and one man ended up in the hospital with the sugar tongs clamped to his nose. Dad was going frantic - it's only him and an old warlock called Perkins in the office - and they had to do Memory Charms and all sorts of stuff to cover it up-"

     " But your dad - this car-"

     " Yeah, Dad's crazy about everything to do with Muggles," Fred said with a laugh." He takes it apart, puts spells on it, and puts it back together again. If he raided our house, he'd have to put himself under arrest. It drives Mum mad - and Arwen's mums too given how much stuff he's borrowed from them and given back now with magic."

     " Your mums are Muggle?" Harry asked the girl.

     " No, but they're both Muggle-born," she answered, looking at him through the review mirror." They clung on to a lot of muggle tendencies, one of them being driving places, which is the reason I'm the one driving and not one of these three."

     " That's the main road," George said, leaning over to Arwen again." We'll be there in ten minutes... Just as well, it's getting light... We're a little outside the village, Ottery St. Catchpole."

     They began to fly lower and lower until the car landed.

     " Touchdown!" Fred yelled, jumping out the car door.

     Harry looked around him in wonder at the house these people he'd met a year ago lived in, a place that, to him, seemed like the most incredible place he'd ever been - second only to maybe Hogwarts.

     " It's not much," Ron mumbled self-consciously.

     " It's wonderful!"

     " Now, we'll go upstairs really quickly," Fred explained," and wait for Mum to call us for breakfast.  Then, Ron, you come bounding downstairs for breakfast. Then, Ron, you come bounding downstairs going, 'Mum, look who turned up in the night!' and she'll be all pleased to see Harry and no one need ever know we flew the car."

     " What about Arwen?" Harry asked.

     Ron shrugged." She's turned up in the middle of the night before. Right, come on, Harry, I sleep at the - at the top -"

     As Ron's face turned into an expression of horror, the other four turned away from him to see a very very angry-looking Molly Weasley stomping over to them.

A/N: I'm just now realizing, the chapters I'm taking any dialogue directly from the book for, turn out a lot longer. This chapter, the last chapter, and the next chapter are all made from the same book chapter.

I hope you have an absolutely wonderful rest of your day!

- Alex