Vagary

Chapter 11 Uncertainty in the Air Harry

"So Ophelia had a task to bring you to him? She definitely had that task?"

"If you ask that once more," Harry said, "I'm going to stick this sprout--"

"I'm only checking!" Ron said. They were standing alone at the Burrow's kitchen sink, peeling a mountain of sprouts for Mrs. Weasley. Snow was drifting past the window in front of them and Harry could see Ophelia throwing a snowball at Ginny.

"Yes, Draco told her he knew about it. I thought she would deny it but she didn't..." Harry said, hiding the tone of betrayal in his voice.

"But it never happened, right?" Ron said, glancing at him.

"Didn't it?" Harry said. "She could've stopped me last June."

"She tried," Ron argued. "At the time I just thought she was scared of going to the Ministry but she was really insistent on you not going. And didn't she go against her father? She's the main reason he's rotting up in Azkaban."

"Don't tell me you're starting to like her," Harry scoffed, ignoring the fact that Ron was right.

"Don't get me wrong, I still think she's full of herself but you're not looking at the whole picture."

"It doesn't matter what you say, Ron," Harry said, getting frustrated. Shouldn't he be on his side? "She could've told me. I would have never gone to the Ministry and Sirius would be here..."

"Mate..."

"And she knows what Draco is doing, she's been tricking me this entire time..."

"Well, what are you going to do?" Ron asked.

"I don't know yet..." Harry said, watching Ophelia laugh happily along with Ginny. She caught his eye and waved at him. "Just keep acting like nothing's wrong."

He waved back.

"There's something wrong?" Fred's voice said as the twins entered the kitchen. "Aaah, George, look at this. They're using knives and everything. Bless them."

"I'll be seventeen in two and a bit months' time," Ron said grumpily, "and then I'll be able to do it by magic!"

"But meanwhile," George said, sitting down at the kitchen table and putting his feet up on it, "we can enjoy watching you demonstrate the correct use of a -- whoops-a-daisy!"

"You made me do that!" Ron said angrily, sucking his cut thumb. "You wait, when I'm seventeen--"

"I'm sure you'll dazzle us all with hitherto unsuspected magical skills," Fred yawned.

"And speaking of hitherto unsuspected skills, Ronald," George said, "what is this we hear from Ginny and Ophelia about you and a young lady called--unless our information is faulty--Lavender Brown?"

Ron turned a little pink, but did not look displeased as he turned back to the sprouts. "Mind your own business."

"What a snappy retort," Fred said. "I really don't know how you think of them. No, what we wanted to know was... how did it happen?"

"What d'you mean?"

"Did she have an accident or something?"

"What?"

"Well, how did she sustain such extensive brain damage? Careful, now!"

Mrs. Weasley entered the room just in time to see Ron throw the sprout knife at Fred, who had turned it into a paper airplane with one lazy flick of his wand.