Time Astral | Sirius Black

36||The Daughter and the Lover

Harry Potter had been drifted in and out of consciousness when he was called to be taken to the Headquarters midway into sleeping. 

Ron was sitting at the head of his bed while Harry fixed his lopsided spectacles, it was a wonder they were still in one piece. He always slept with them on. 

"So Slughorn's really coming to the school now?" Hermione asked from where she sitting on the edge of the mattress.

He nodded. "Yeah, now Umbridge has left, obviously we need a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, don't we?"

"So what's he like?" asked Ron. 

"He looks a bit like a walrus, and he used to be Head of Slytherin," said Harry. 

"Did Slughorn seem like he'll be a good teacher?" Hermione continued the interrogation.

"Dunno," said Harry. "He can't be worse than Umbridge, can he?"

"I know someone who's worse than Umbridge," said a voice from the doorway. Ginny slouched into the room, looking irritable. "Hi, Harry."

"What's up with you?" Ron asked.

"It's her," said Ginny, plonking herself down on Harry's bed. "She's driving me mad."

"What's she done now?" asked Hermione sympathetically.

"It's the way she talks to me — you'd think I was about three!"

"I know," said Hermione, dropping her voice. "She's so full of herself."

Harry was astonished to hear Hermione talking about Mrs. Weasley like this and could not blame Ron for saying angrily, "Can't you two lay off her for five seconds?"

"Oh, that's right, defend her," snapped Ginny. "We all know you can't get enough of her."

This seemed an odd comment to make about Ron's mother. 

Starting to feel that he was missing something, Harry said, "Who are you — ?"

But his question was answered before he could finish it. The bedroom door flew open again, and Harry instinctively yanked the bedcovers up to his chin so hard that Hermione and Ginny slid off the bed onto the floor.

A young woman was standing in the doorway, a woman of such breathtaking beauty that the room seemed to have become strangely airless. She was tall and willowy with long blonde hair and appeared to emanate a faint, silvery glow. 

"'Arry," she said in a throaty voice. "Eet 'as been too long!"

As she swept over the threshold toward him, Mrs. Weasley was revealed, bobbing along in her wake, looking rather cross.

"There was no need to come here yourself, I was just about to do it myself!"

"Eet was no trouble," said Fleur Delacour, swooping to kiss him on each cheek: He felt the places where her mouth had touched him burn. "I 'ave been longing to see 'im. You remember my seester, Gabrielle? She never stops talking about 'Arry Potter. She will be delighted to see you again."

"Oh . . . is she here too?" Harry croaked.

"No, no, silly boy," said Fleur with a tinkling laugh, "I mean next summer, when we — but do you not know?"

Her great blue eyes widened and she looked reproachfully at Mrs. Weasley, who said, "We hadn't got around to telling him yet."

Fleur turned back to Harry, swinging her silvery sheet of hair so that it whipped Mrs. Weasley across the face.

"Bill and I are going to be married!"

"Oh," said Harry blankly. He could not help noticing how Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, and Ginny were all determinedly avoiding one another's gaze. "Wow. Er — congratulations!"