An American At Hogwarts: Book Three

Chapter Six

A/N: Above is the floor plan I've been using for 12 Grimmauld Place, in case anybody wants it 😄 also, Alexa's been calling the ground floor the first floor and counting up from there because that's how it's counted in America, so for her, her room is on the second floor, the twins are on the fourth floor, etc.

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Ginny shook me awake the next morning to go downstairs for breakfast. I didn't want to get up, but I knew Mrs. Weasley or the twins would be up to get me next, so I let her and Hermione drag me downstairs. I was using this week as a break, so I didn't even bother trying to find a place to do my usual workout routine. I'd get back to my schedule once we started school again.

The same group from dinner was at breakfast. We chatted and ate, and I slowly woke up. Mrs. Weasley was the first to stand, and she tried to recruit me into the cleaning brigade again, but I used the torn up wallpaper on the first floor as an excuse to escape it. The twins managed to hide from her cleaning energy yet again as she dragged Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Ron upstairs to get back to battling the drapes and cabinets.

"Alright, well, I'd better be off," said Bill, standing and stretching along with Tonks once the cleaning party had made it up the stairs.

"You two have work?" I asked. "Have fun."

"I have a much better chance of that than he does," said Tonks with a grin, elbowing Bill as they walked out together. Bill just smiled and rolled his eyes, waving to all of us as he went. Once they were gone, I turned back to Professor Lupin.

"So, Professor, what do you think about helping with a little home renovation today?" I asked. "I promise it's different than cleaning."

"I appreciate the offer Alexa, but I can't. I have a few tasks for Dumbledore I need to get to." I sat up a little straighter to start asking questions, but Lupin held up a hand to stop me before I could even get started. "I can't tell you any more than that, Alexa. I'll see you later today, when I get back."

I glared daggers at his back as he left, but I didn't let it bother me for long. It was the answer I was expecting, and I had more important stuff to do today anyway.

"Twins? How about it? You up for learning what HGTV is?"

"Sorry Alexa."

"We've got some work to do on our mail-order joke shop if we want to keep it running."

"We'd love to have your help, if you're interested!"

I sighed. "I appreciate the offer, but I think I'm good. You guys don't really need my help, and I've got some serious home renovation energy going right now."

"Alright, suit yourself," said George. He waved and Fred winked, then they pulled out their wands and Disapparated in tandem. Finally, I turned to Sirius, the only other person left down here with me.

"How about you, Fido? Tell me you're not gonna ditch me to go chase squirrels."

Sirius grinned. "I have no idea what HGTV is, but there's nothing I'd rather do than find out."

"Great!" I pushed back from the table and finally stood, motioning for Sirius to follow me as I walked to the stairs. "Let's go look at that gap we left in the wallpaper and start coming up with some ideas."

We headed upstairs and took our time surveying the space. There was a small bathroom across from the door to the basement, at the furthest end from the front door, and most of the rest of the space was dominated by a large dining room. The hallway was dark, with absolutely no natural light, and all the light fixtures were horribly creepy and old-looking.