THE ANGEL OF WOE | RON WEASLEY [BOOK THREE]

1. TO ROCAMADOUR

"...I mean, what kind of a name is 'Privet Drive' anyways?"

"You missed the turn, Aure!"

"Bugger."

One thing that Gene always dreaded when coming home from Hogwarts, was the car journeys she would inevitably have to face during the summer holidays.

Aurelia enjoyed driving, (though she wasn't very good at it), and that called for many rides into the countryside, far from the busy city of London. Not only did Aurelia barely pass her real drivers test, (she got in trouble with the Ministry when she was eighteen after Obliviating her driving examiner after failing), she also wasn't very good with directions either.

They were on their way to Privet Drive in Little Whinging, a place in Surrey which had been Harry's place of living for the last fourteen years. Gene didn't like to call it his home, because it wasn't. After last year, with some careful consideration and a very long-awaited owl of approval from Dumbledore, they were finally able to have Harry stay with them, but only for the beginning of summer.

Aurelia had quite the holiday planned for Gene and Harry this year. After the events of last year, she figured that they deserved a break, and rightly so. Gene hadn't found it easy to rid herself of the memories from the last few weeks of her fourth year at Hogwarts.

She'd woken up in the dead of the night in tears more times than she could count in the span of a month. Aurelia had actually spent the first few weeks sleeping in Gene's room, in case she had another panic attack and couldn't call for help.

It hadn't been easy. But having Aurelia by her side, and receiving letters from Sirius often, seemed to help Gene more as the days passed. Plus, the excitement of spending two weeks with Harry on holiday seemed to make everything much less bleak for Gene.

The engine shut down with a whirring sound, the keys turning as it went quiet for a moment in the car, with Gene and Aurelia simultaneously removing their seatbelts with a click, causing Gene to look at her aunt warily.

"What?" Aurelia said.

"Maybe it's better if I get Harry... alone." Gene said, and Aurelia narrowed her eyes at her niece.

"Fine." she said, sitting comfortably in her seat again and Gene opened her car door, stepping out onto a very clean, private road.

Gene had never been to the suburbs before. She felt like she should have taken her shoes off before walking along the incredibly unmarked pavement, with not even a single stone out of place. It was unnerving. She even caught a glimpse of an eye peeking at out at her through the window, peering past a sheer curtain until she made eye contact, and the curtain quickly shut.

She spotted the number four, marked on a house that looked just the same as the rest of them, from the flower beds to the car in the driveway. They looked as though they lived very boring lives. Gene exhaled sharply, lifted her hand to the door and knocked thrice before stepping back from the door, just in case Harry's uncle decided to attack. She wasn't quite sure of what he was capable of.

The sleek brown door opened, revealing a large beefy man with a bushy moustache, peering down at Gene with such distaste that she almost felt bad about herself. Almost.

"Hello, Mr. Dursley. Is Harry ready?" she asked politely, even offering a smile to which his eyes squinted more, as though she had a ulterior motive. Her tone was well-mannered, as Aurelia warned her against any sly remarks or comments, in case they stopped Harry from going. She begrudgingly accepted.

Mr. Dursley began to murmur under his breath, giving a brief nod and stepping aside to reveal Harry, a smile making its way to his face as soon as he set eyes upon Gene. She smiled wider, watching Hedwig wave her wings excitedly in her cage, causing Mrs. Dursley to tut disapprovingly from behind him. Gene took Hedwig's cage while Harry began to drag his large suitcase out of the house and onto the drive, standing at Gene's side.