About Harry

Chapter 8 - George's help

The next morning Ginny shook Harry to wake him up 'Harry, get up. You've already slept enough!'
He felt like he had barely slept ten minutes.
With his eyes still closed he grunted with disapproval 'Do you know that some wives wake their husbands up with a kiss and a cup of coffee? ... Or even better, they don't wake him up at all?!'
He hid his head under the pillow to protect his eyes from the light she had mercilessly turned on.
Ginny didn't let herself being wayed and noticing his sneak deprived him of the pillow.
'Lucky husbands! Get up and come down. It's seven o'clock already.'
'Seven o'clock?!' he repeated more upset than ever 'You must be joking! I barely slept six hours!'
'I know but we have to find Ron.' she said with finality leaving the room.
Harry didn't move feeling sour and less sympathetic with Ron than ever before. Why did he have to ruin his Sunday looking for a person that only the day before tried to curse him and scared the hell out of Ginny and Lily?
'Because he is your best mate and if we came to this it is also your fault' the voice inside him replied.
He heaved a sigh and very slowly, trying to regain his faculties, started to get ready to go down. From the living room he could hear Lily and Hermione chatting animatedly. Lily had been delighted to find her aunt there and she was submerging her with a torrent of words. Thankfully they weren't directed to him.
'Do you know Aunt Hermione I almost decided I want to be a Ravenclaw when I go to Hogwarts! The founder was beautiful, and she had a tiara and she has got a treasure!'
Hermione laughed pleased by all her enthusiasm 'I know right? I was almost chosen for Ravenclaw myself and do you know that their dormitory is up on a tower and they can see the lake and Hogsmeade and all kinds of beautiful things?'
Hermione was sitting on an armchair and Lily was in front of her, on the rug, still in her fluffy pink pyjama.
'Can you please not encourage her in this?' Harry said, once in the room.
Lily, as soon as she saw him, ran toward him jumping in his arms all excited 'Did you see daddy? Aunt Hermione is here! She actually slept here! She surprised us'.
He lifted her and they rubbed their noses 'Mmmh you are so soft, and you smell like milk and biscuits!'
'I had milk and biscuits! Just now!' she chirped gaily.
'Good, I deserve some breakfast too I think' he replied putting her down 'Now leave your dad some time to return down on earth and go dress yourself'
She obeyed straight away sprinting upstairs with enthusiasm.
'She is so full of energy!' Hermione said smiling.
'I know. Even a notch too much, I'd say, if you consider what time it is'
'She told me I had to tell Ron we didn't kiss so you two could make peace'.
He nodded and yawned 'She thinks that is what Ron thought had happened. A silly friend told her that's why couples break up'
'I see...' she smiled.
'Did you already hear from the Burrow?'
She shook her head, her smile vanishing quickly but as she was opening her mouth to answer they heard Ginny calling out from the kitchen.
They hastened there. She was kneeling in front of the fireplace and there, blazing in the glowing embers, they could see Neville's face. He looked at them entering the room and, without even a greeting, started to speak in agitation 'Hermione I was looking for you! I tried to your place and you weren't there luckily I thought to try here.'
She kneeled close to Ginny in front of the fire 'What's happened?'
'I could ask you the same thing! Blimey! Ron is here, at Hogwarts, in the hospital wing.'
She startled 'Is he hurt?'
'He's not but he gave us a fright all right! Especially McGonagall, she is not that young anymore, but in the end, it was her who stunned him'
'Stunned him? Why?'
'He came here yesterday in the middle of the night; he made such a fuss at the gate asking for me that the caretaker thought best to wake me up. He was drunk. He started to shout that he was there to take Rose away insulting you and Harry. I didn't know what to do with him, he wouldn't calm down, so I sent for McGonagall and she used the Stunning spell on him, we brought him to the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey rennervated him and made him drink a sleeping potion. What's happened?'
None have them had even tried to intervene during his speech, surprise mingled with horror.
'I... we... had an argument yesterday...' said Harry clearing his throat uneasy 'he didn't take it well.'
'He didn't take it well?! Bloody hell, Harry! He almost woke up the whole castle!'
'Ergh... He found out something about the past about me and Hermione and.... He didn't like it...'
He was starting to feel hot around the neck, Hermione was looking with a certain intensity at the floor and Ginny straight into the fire, her gaze fixed and her posture rigid.
Neville moved his gaze from on the other in stupor.
'Do you mean to say...'
'It was long time ago!' he blurted out before Neville could finish the sentence, 'even before me and Ginny and Hermione and Ron. It was a mistake!'
'Blimey Harry' he replied with amazement 'How could you do it!? To your best mate! Everybody could see that Ron was head to toe in love with Hermione!'
She blushed furiously exactly like Harry who replied defensively 'It was a difficult circumstance, and it is not like I have done it on purpose to hurt him! It just happened and it was a mistake! And please keep it to yourself for heaven's sake'
And it was two of us doing it if I remember properly! Why is it only my fault now??
'Ok all right but still! Now I understand why he was so upset, poor Ron!'
'Poor Ron?!' he snapped starting to feel annoyance rising 'He almost tried to kill me yesterday!'
'Well, you can't blame him really...' Neville retorted arching his eyebrows but then he resumed matter of fact 'What do we do now? He will wake up eventually'
Harry felt like arguing the point, but Ginny answered before him 'We will send George straight away to pick him up, hopefully he will make Ron see reason. Don't let Rose know he is there, better if she doesn't see him now, she could get scared'.
Neville nodded 'I must go now; I will wait for George.' he said disappearing, before another word could be added, from the flame.
Ginny darted up in haste, lighting up with determination 'Harry, we must go and wake him up!"
'He will be delighted...' Harry replied following her lead, his determination, on the other side, at the lowest point imagining George's reaction in being woken up on a Sunday at 8 o'clock.
'I'm going to take Hugo from the Burrow' Hermione stated , her too with a new determination.
'You are right, you must do that. We can drop Lily at Andromeda and Ted's. Then we can go to George's.' Ginny replied after having gently squeezed Hermione, disappearing from the kitchen going to look for Lily.
It needed only ten minutes to be ready, Lily all excited at the prospect to spend some time with Ted and Harry, Hermione and Ginny tense with worry.
Hermione after having thrown some floopowder, stepped in the fireplace as Harry said 'All right Hermione, we will keep in touch. We'll tell George to try to take Ron to his place so you can go home and if you need, send an owl'
She nodded nervously, 'The Burrow' she shouted, and she was gone.
'Do we go with the floopowder too?' Lily asked eager. For some reason she loved it.
'No, we don't want to be rude arriving there uninvited' explained Ginny 'We will disapparate in front of their door and we'll knock so they won't be frightened'
Once outside Harry took both their hands and took the step focusing on Tonk's place.
Andromeda was awake, like all old people she woke up very early. Ted was sleeping, like all young people he slept until late. They apologised for the hour naming an emergency, but she didn't ask for any explanation, she was always pleased to take care of Lily and, refusing a breakfast offer which really tempted Harry who hadn't yet had any, they marched straight to George's who obviously wasn't awake yet.
He led a most extravagant life, his creativity whims robbing him of a normal routine. He could be seen having breakfast at two in the afternoon or having dinner at midnight. Whenever an idea for some new merchandise struck his mind, he had to work on it. Being it at five in the morning or at six in the evening. He was not an early riser, quite the opposite. Going there at eight o'clock they were sure to find him asleep and if, by any chance, he was awake that meant only that he hadn't gone to bed at all.
He still lived in the small apartment above the joke shop. He had never wanted to move anywhere else. Everybody was of the opinion that it would have been better for him to move somewhere new, not to be haunted by Fred's presence but he had always refused categorically.
Fred's death had hit hard when it happened, throwing him in a spiralling depression. Very often he was seen drunk, and he had lost any interest in the shop that was fast going to the drain.
The Weasley family didn't know how to handle the situation bumping against a decided opposition in being helped.
It had been Lee Jordan at last attempting to recuperate the situation; he had imposed himself in his place and, perhaps because not a member of the family, he had managed where everybody else had failed, bringing some order in his devastated life. He had taken Fred's place as a partner, managing the business until it had been brought back to its initial splendour.
When, years later, he moved out, he left behind George recovered, back in his prone to laugh temperament and with e second shop in Hogsmead.
They knocked at the door with insistence to wake Gorge up until the latter opened the door violently.
A murderous stare threatened storm, his mouth wide open ready to express his dissent until realising that Harry and Ginny were the disturbers. He halted in his track, although without looking more conciliating either.
'Do you realise what time it is?' he apostrophized them with a furred tongue, his hair going in all directions.
'It's an emergency' Ginny said pushing him aside.
The place was as usual very similar to a battlefield. Clothes forming a second layer on the floor, and a mountain of dirty plates seemed to sprout from the sink, the table cluttered by all sorts of indecipherable objects and much more common rubbish of every kind. Ginny and Harry freed some chairs from a stack of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes' catalogues, still under George's belligerent stare, and sat down.
By that point, understanding that the sleep's interruption was going to be permanent, George snorted, slammed the door and went to kitchen 'Do you want some breakfast?' he asked grudgingly looking for the coffee machine between the dirty plates.
'Yes pl...' 'No, thank you' Ginny interrupted. 'George something bad happened and we need your help'.
Hearing those words, George's frown assumed a new form. He halted his research sitting in front of him.
'Yesterday Ron had a fight with Hermione, he came to our place and tried to curse Harry. He doesn't want you or anybody else of the family having contact with him anymore and he tried to get Rose from Hogwarts. He was drunk, they had to stun him and now he is there in the hospital wing sleeping.'
George looked at her transfixed for a few seconds, then he made to speak but stopped again running a hand in his hair.
'I beg your pardon?!' he managed to say in the end.
Ginny rolled her eyes 'George, wake up, this is important! We need you to go there to pick him up, try to calm him down and keep him here'
George rubbed his face and said 'Ginny, sorry, I just woke up, I basically had three hours of sleep. I don't get it! What in the name of hell happened? Why did they argue? What does Harry have to do with it?'.
'All right' Harry told himself 'here we go again' and he was about to tell his rehearsed story when Ginny blurted out 'Harry shagged Hermione when they were seventeen and Ron found it out'
'Bloody hell, Ginny!!!' Harry exclaimed sprinting on his feet.
George exploded in a sudden roar of laughter, so energetic that almost made him fall from the chair. Ginny reddened in anger while George, with tears in his eyes, gave Harry a strong pat on the shoulder 'Well done Harry!' he said between laughter 'I was always a bit concerned about you. All these women buzzing around and you just sticking to Ginny and her alone, now I know you had some fun before her'
Harry flushed to the root of his hair and stammered incomprehensible words while George kept laughing like his life depended on it.
Ginny darted up too then 'George this is not a laughing matter, this is serious!'.
George made an effort to suppress the amusement, gulping in an attempt to regain composure but succeeding clumsily 'I'm sorry Ginny, it was unexpected. Do you want me to go and pick him up?'.
'Yes, and you must calm him down and keep him far from Hermione. And from Harry. At least for the time being. He tried to use the Cruciatus Curse on him'
Harry was sure it was said only to sober him up and it worked the trick.
'The Cruciatus Curse on Harry? But why?'
'Didn't you hear what I just said?' Ginny asked impatiently.
'You know I have just half of it!' he smirked pointing at the hole in his head where his hear should have been but seeing the expression on Ginny's face he sobered up immediately 'Sorry couldn't resist. They were seventeen, come on! And they have always been friends since. Why is it a problem now?'
Ginny let herself fall limply on her chair 'Oh please George! You speak as if you don't know him. You know all about his inferiority complex, especially with Harry around. It has been a blow to him'
'I have always wondered why we all managed to grow up eventually but him' he exclaimed going to look for the coffee machine again 'And I imagine you want me to go now.'
'Straight away'
'Alright, alright, I'll go.'
Having localised the coffee machine right at the bottom of the sink under a pile of dirty dishes, pots and pans a new research in the cupboards for the coffee was then started.
'Obviously you take this to the grave' Harry threatened him with a stern stare. 'Nobody else needs to know.'
'Shame. It was a good piece of gossip' George replied disappointed, but Ginny intervened 'We need to tell my parents... and maybe Bill and Percy too'
'You are kidding, I hope! Does the whole world need to know?!' Harry exclaimed turning to her in alarm.
'Oh Harry, do you prefer that they hear it from our mouths or Ron's?'
'Fair point' said George that having localised the coffee he had placed the machine on the fire.
'Ok, all right' Harry surrendered 'But please, please! I beg you' he implored Ginny 'You tell them when I'm not there, I don't want to go through it again, not with your parents anyway'.
'How many times did you have to tell already?' asked George out of curiosity looking for clean cups while the coffee was grumbling gently in the machine. A strong aroma was pervading the room making Harry's belly growl louder.
'A few times...' said Harry with a sigh 'And it's distressing I can tell you...'
'There are worst things, I say. It is not as if you killed somebody. If Ron wasn't the biggest prat he would see it in the same light too' George found three cups and served them a black coffee (without sugar to save him another quarter of an hour searching) that they sipped in silence savouring the bitter flavour, all deep in their respective reflections. Harry on what step to take next and George was mumbling about Incarcerous spell and Full Body-Bind curse.
On the door, Ginny hugged George 'You will let us know, will you?'
'As soon as I have the chance. I will make the prat see reason. Don't worry' he reassured them.
'And George?' Ginny added just before turning way 'Your place is indecent. It looks like a pigsty. Tidy up please'.
He smirked and closed the door behind them.