Bound To You

Chapter 49: Reunion

Harry felt apprehension at the sight of the Burrow, the wonky house exuding warmth, but reminding him of where Ginny came from--lived before she... before. But Sirius insisted that the Weasley's had been beside themselves in worry for him, and that Molly looked terrible due to depression. Well, who wouldn't be? Her daughter had just been Trialed and sent to Azkaban, due to a mental illness she'd developed whenever it was in the past few years, without her knowing.

Sirius nudged his forward, guiding him to the Weasley's house. Dread filled his heart--will they blame him for making Ginny land in Azkaban, even though it he who was the victim? He remembered how Aunt Petunia would always take Dudley's side in an argument, just because he's their son, not because he's perfect in every way in their eyes, and hoped that it wasn't the case.

The door opened, and the dread increased tenfold. He cursed Tom for having work to do in the Ministry--something about more passing laws and such--and gulped to calm himself.

"Harry!" a familiar shriek came from the open doorway, and before he knew it, his face was hidden in the Weasley Matriarch's bosom. "Oh, Harry, are you hurt? You're gone for so long, he didn't do anything untoward to you, did he? Oh my gosh, you're so skinny! Did he even feed you? Sirius Black, answer me--did You-Know-Who feed him properly when he was with him?" she demanded in a single breath.

"I'm fine, Mrs. Weasley," Harry's response was muffled due to his position, but Molly didn't seem to realize.

"He came into his magical maturity prematurely, and he said that he'd been unconscious the whole time, hence his skinnier frame," Sirius explained, though not a complete lie, not a complete truth either. He knew that Harry will always be skinny due to the way he was brought up, no matter how much he ate, how often. A grin in Harry's direction let him know that he said that deliberately, and he gave him a scathing glare in response.

Not that Harry didn't like Molly's cooking, rather he loved it, but she just gave him too much on a regular meal.

"I'm fine, Mrs. Weasley," Harry repeated, pulling back from her smothering embrace a tad bit so that he could be heard. She gave him a 'look', the kind that mothers would give to particularly naughty children.

"How many times should I tell you to call me Molly?" she admonished, and Harry blushed.

"Sorry Mrs.--Molly."

"Good. Now come in, both of you--I made curry!"

She ushered both Harry and Sirius inside, and gave them a large helping of curry and rice.

"Ron! Hermione! Harry's here!" she called, and the floor above became loud with footsteps, sounding not unlike an elephant's march, and before Harry could eat a bite of his curry, his mouth was filled with a bush of brown hair. There were calls of 'Harry!', with a multitude of questions that came from too many people's mouths that he couldn't discern who was asking what.

"Now, now, give Harry some room and let him eat," Molly said with another 'look', the same look that he'd seen her give the twins before she severely punished them (a.k.a. taking away their cauldrons that they used to experiment on a few products, and also their wands.) The others immediately backed away, except for Ron. He seemed to have a lot of questions at the tip of his tongue, just waiting to be released.

He held up a hand to halt any from coming out. "As Molly said, I need to eat, so please save it for later," he said seriously. His words made Molly beam, and Ron's eyebrows to furrow.

"Who are you and what have you done to my best mate?" he demanded. In response, he stuck out his tongue and kept on eating the delicious curry. When he heard Ron's laugh, he knew that he also knew that he was joking. A relatively peaceful meal later--well, as peaceful a meal as one you're having while feeling people's gazes and questions directed solely at you--Hermione was the one to ask the first question.