Family Inseparable
Chapter 10
By: Luke Schierer
Dumbledore entered his office after the staff meeting. He wasn't sure which was worse, the dressing down Minerva had given him, or the cold, sneering anger from Severus as he realised that the last link to Lilly was missing. It was Filius Flitwick who had given what was in retrospect the obvious solution. The sensors in his office said that Harry was alive, so an owl should be able to find him. If a touch-activated portkey was enclosed in the letter, Harry could be returned to Dumbledore's office without any fuss, and without knowing where he was. Once Harry was safe, Dumbledore as Chief Warlock could obliviate any muggles who happened to be affected. Best yet, despite their anger at him, Dumbledore knew that at the very least, the staff he had assembled could be trusted to keep the news secret.
A few days later an owl arrived for Ginny with the expected reply from her grandmum. Ginny took it upstairs to her room to read with Harry.
Dear Ginny and Harry,
I applaud your generosity in helping your brother achieve his educational goals. Since your goals are noble, I will support you in reassuring Charles that the money you gave him is honestly come by. You may, when you write him, state that I know where the money came from, that I can confirm that it is yours to give in this manner, and further that he may accept it without fear or reservation.
You need to consider how and when you will allow your family into this part of your life. You are just starting to experience the problems that keeping this secret will continue to cause. I cannot guarantee, even with my support, that Charles will accept an evasive answer. He may continue to press you to come clean.
Love,
Grandmum Prewett
While this response helped Ginny to approach her letter to Charlie without the panic she had experienced on first seeing his questions, it left plenty of room for worry. Harry comforted her as best he could. Part of him wanted to tell her parents, while another part continued to feel that they should wait until the family was all together again. Ginny's letter to Charlie leaned heavily on her grandmum's support, while otherwise entirely dodging the question. Errol took so long on each delivery, that they could not expect a reply until after Charlie got back from his trip.
That evening, in bed, Harry could tell that Ginny was still very nervous, and unable to relax. He asked her "What would you have done before I came if you felt this way?" Ginny thought about it for a second. "I would have snuck out and gone flying, I haven't done that this summer since it isn't safe for you."
Harry responded "It should be safe enough if I just watch you. I don't want to deny you something you like, can we do that now?" Ginny was hesitant, but Harry insisted. He pulled her under the invisibility cloak with him, and they snuck out to the broom shed. Ginny explained that the brooms were old ones from when Bill and Charlie were young, and that each had gotten a new broom when he became a prefect. Ginny took off, and Harry watched in awe as she proceeded to loop and dive through the air. Several hours later, they returned to bed, now extremely tired from the unusually late night, but feeling much happier and much more relaxed.
The next morning an owl arrived for Harry while Ginny was downstairs eating breakfast. Harry saw that it was addressed to him, and went to open it. Fortunately, for him, he was still wearing both the galaxy and the invisibility cloak, not wanting to upset Ginny further when she was already nervous about her brother's reaction. As he grasped the paper enclosed by the envelope, he felt something that felt like a hook jerk somewhere behind his navel. He fell over as he landed, but was able to avoid knocking anything over or slipping out from under the cloak.
As he got up, he looked around. He was in a circular office, with a large desk. Paintings hung all over the walls, most of them picturing men and women who appeared to be asleep. A table to one side a a number of silver instruments on it, some of which were making small noises or emitting puffs of smoke. Harry was confused and worried. Where was he? How did he get there? How would he get back to Ginny? He decided his best course of action was to wait quietly and see what answers would present themselves.