𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐝 {𝐇. 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫}

92

The shock of losing Mad-Eye hung over the house in the days that followed; Johnny kept expecting to see him stumping in through the back door like the other Order members, who passed in and out to relay news. Johnny felt that nothing but action would assuage his feelings of guilt and grief and that he and Harry ought to set out on their mission to find and destroy Horcruxes as soon as possible.

"Well, you can't do anything about the-" Ron mouthed the word Horcruxes, "-till Harry is seventeen. He's still got the Trace on him. And we can plan here as well as anywhere, can't we? Or," he dropped his voice to a whisper, "d'you reckon you already know where the You-Know-Whats are?"

"No," Harry and Johnny admitted in unison.

"Hermione's been doing a bit of research though," said Johnny, a fond smile on his face at the mention of his girlfriend. "She said she was saving it for when you got here."

They were sitting at the breakfast table; Mr. Weasley and Bill had just left for work. Mrs. Weasley had gone upstairs to wake Hermione and Ginny, while Fleur had drifted off to take a bath.

"The Trace'll break on the thirty-first," said Harry. "That means we only need to stay here four days. Then we can-"

"Five days," Ron corrected him firmly. "We've got to stay for the wedding. They'll kill us if we miss it."

Johnny understood "they" to mean Fleur and Mrs. Weasley.

"It's one extra day," said Ron, when Johnny looked a bit angry.

"Don't they realise how important-?"

"'Course they don't," said Ron. "They haven't got a clue. And now you mention it, I wanted to talk to you  both about that."

Ron glanced toward the door into the hall to check that Mrs. Weasley wasn't returning yet, then leaned in closer to Harry and Johnny.

"Mum's been trying to get it out of Hermione and me. What we're off to do. She'll try you both next, so brace yourself. Dad and Lupin've both asked as well, but when we said Dumbledore told you not to tell anyone except us, they dropped it. Evelyn is fine with the whole thing, as long as we keep ourselves safe. Not Mum, though. She's determined."

Ron's prediction came true within hours. Shortly before lunch, Mrs. Weasley detached Johnny from the others by asking him to help identify a lone man's sock that she thought might have come out of his rucksack. What she didn't realise, however, was that Johnny didn't arrive with a rucksack. He arrived with nothing but a suit and a dreadful mark on his arm. Once she had him cornered in the tiny scullery off the kitchen, she started.

"Ron and Hermione seem to think that you, Harry and they are dropping out of Hogwarts," she began in a light, casual tone.

"Oh," said Johnny. "Well, yeah. We are."

The mangle turned of its own accord in a corner, wringing out what looked like one of Mr. Weasley's vests.

"May I ask why you are abandoning your education?" said Mrs. Weasley.

"Well, Dumbledore left Harry and I... stuff to do," mumbled Johnny. "Ron and Hermione know about it, and they want to come too."

"What sort of 'stuff'?"

"I'm sorry, I can't-"

"Well, frankly, I think Arthur and I have a right to know, and I'm sure Mr. And Mrs. Granger would agree!" said Mrs. Weasley. Johnny had been afraid of the "concerned parent" attack. He forced himself to look directly into her eyes.

"Dumbledore didn't want anyone else to know, Mrs. Weasley. I'm sorry. Ron and Hermione don't have to come, it's their choice-"

"I don't see that you have to go either!" she snapped, dropping all pretense now. "You're barely of age, any of you! It's utter nonsense, if Dumbledore needed work doing, he had the whole Order at his command! Johnny, you must have misunderstood him. Probably he was telling you something he wanted done, and you took it to mean that he wanted you-"