(no subject)
harry scanned hermione's copy of the daily prophet (a risk, he knew, to let the owl continue to find them, but he needed to know what was happening). he looked at his two friends.
"well," he started. "there were no mysterious deaths or raids today either. i guess they might be starting to give up the search. which is good, because we can move a bit more freely then. pretty soon, we might even be able to take a trip to diagon alley."
"you think so?" ron asked, looking hopeful. "maybe we can go check on Fred and George. i never thought id b so worried about them, but you have to admit, its dangerous for them to keep going to diagon alley for their shop, when all those death eaters were looking for us."
"im sure their fine, ron, but thats a good idea. and we might want to stock up on their supplies. their really quite useful, as malfoy so kindly illustrated for us."
"but we have to be careful. anyone could be on the dark side, anyone. other than fred and george, they're nobody we can truly trust. we have to be careful not to be seen." said hermione.
"right. we'll keep our eyes open for the next few days, and keep checking the newspapers. and then, if the coast seems clear, we'll go to the shop. maybe we should send a messege to fred and george, so they can prepare for us. clear out the shop or something. i think we can use floo powder to get there, if we use that trick mrs. weasley showed us at the burrow, remember? the one that lets you use floo without showing up on the floo network monitering system. now, how are we going ot get a message to fred and george without the risk of people intercepting it?"
"with a patronus, of course. fred and george are members of the order now, so they'll be able to read it for sure," said hermione practically.
"well, that would be all well and good, hermione, if we knew how to send a messege with a patronus," ron said dryly. "besides, someone's bound to see it. its not exactly normal to see a bright silver stag galloping down the street, even in the wizarding world."
"well, thank you, ron. im obviously not NEARLY intelligent enough to remember THAT."
ron blushed, muttering, "well, you could have forgotten."
"well, for your information, ronald, i didn't forget. you didnt let me finish. now, as i was saying," she continued. "i did some research this summer on the message patronuses. it turns out, if you send it through a fire, it acts as though it were being flooed. we can send it directly to them. and the patronus always reveals itself and its message only to those it is intended for or those who are innocent anyways, so even if we were to send it galloping all the way there, it would hide, and not let itself be seen. it would just take a very long time."
"okay, hermione," said ron. "that would be perfect, if we KNEW HOW TO DO IT."
"oh, but i do. didn't i say that? when i was researching, i found out how it was done, and i practised it a few times. i sent messages to hagrid when i had nothing else to do. i figured it would be useful this year. and it turns out i was right."
harry shook his head at her. "have i told you how amazing you are recently?" hermione grinned at him.
"mind, the two of you need to learn this yourselves. i cant always do everything, you know. and what if you need to send a message to ME?"
"yeah, you're right. tell you what. why don't you teach us over the next few days, before we send the message to fred and george? then we can practice while we wait for them to reply, by communicating with the other weasleys. im sure mrs. weasley's worried sick by now, and we can ask mr. weasley about what's happening in the ministry. you can read messages too, right?"
"of course. and thats a good idea, harry. thats what we'll do. now come on, let go eat lunch. im starving."
over the next few days, the trio stayed at the motel, checking the paper and practicing message patronuses. harry mastered it easily, as did ron (once he has managed the actual conjuring of a patronus). they sent messages to the headquarters, and got interesting replies. from mrs. weasley, they recieved a tearful message, in which she expressed her joy that they were all fine, and congratulated them on their ability to send messages. they also heard from bill ("honestly, i can't decide who's worse, percy or malfoy"), and mr. weasley, who told them about the ministry's "efforts" to capture the death eaters, as well as voldemort himself. finally they decided that it would be safe to go to the joke shop, and sent a message to fred and george. the prompt reply told them cheerfully that they could come the next day, and all would be ready for them. the trio spent the day packing all their stuff into harry's trunk (both boys went brilliant shades or red at the sight of hermione's silky undergarments, though for different reasons). They spent their final night in the motel, and were up bright and early the next day. by 9 o'clock, they were ready to leave. together they stepped into the fire in their room, the trunk between them, and spun away to diagon alley.
harry fell out of the fire, ron and hermione falling on top of him. "oofh," he said, as rons weight pinned him down. "ron, get offa me."
"harry! hermione! little brother! at last!" said a voice. harry turned his head to see george standing next to the fireplace, grinning. he took george's hand and pulled himself off the floor.
"hey, george. how have you been?" harry asked, grinning.
"not bad, not bad at all. and yourself?" asked george courteously.
"same. where's fred?" asked harry, looking around.
"oh, he'll be here in a minute. hes just making sure everything is shut and locked. can't take any chances, with you three in here. not to mention all that valuable stuff in the shop. ah, here is is. everything good, fred?"
"yup," said fred, grinning. "harry, hermione, how are you two? and you, twerp?"
ron scowled. "we're fine," he said. fred grinned.
"oh, ronald. not taking us seriously, are you? thought you would know better by now. we're just kidding."
"but seriosuly, how are you three? we heard about what happened at hermioen's house. we were really worried about you guys, even you, ron. and hermione, how are you doing after what happened? ifs there's anything we can do, just say the word."
hermione smiled wanely. "i'm okay, but thanks. its sweet of you to offer."
"no problem. now, you guys are welcome to stay here as long as you need. we live right above the shop nowadays, and we have plenty of extra space. and any merchandice you might want is free. well, except for you, ron."
"hey! thats not fair!" said ron.
"yes it is. you didn't give us the money to start this shop, and you havent lost your parents recently. so suck it up." ron shut up at this.
"thanks you two," said harry. "we might take you up on that, actually. its not like we have any plave to stay, and staying out of sight in diagon alley would be incredible convienient. you dont even have to keep the shop closed, we'll stay out of sight."
"great, then its settled. im glad, too," said fred. "it was getting a bit dull around here, with just the two of us. well," he paused, seeing the amused look on harry's face. "okay, fine, maybe not THAT boring, but still."
"come on, ill show you where you're gonna stay, so you can stash that trunk of yours. unfortunately we only have one extra room, but its really big. that okay?"
"thats fine," said hermione. "thanks again, you two."
"no problem. now come on, let's get this thing upstairs and out of sight, just in case."