Chapter 36: Friendship and Compassion
The Weasleys were leaving their ancestral home for the last time, everything was packed, shrunk and stored. Molly had been in tears all day but was inconsolable as her children flooed from the Burrow, never to return. The realisation that the house her family had been so happy in would not be here tomorrow was finally hitting home to the Weasley matriarch. Combine that with the fact her husband had barely spoke to her, far less offered any comfort, and Molly was as miserable as she'd ever been. That the whole family blamed her for their troubles had led to a lonely few days as she had been avoided whenever possible, Ginny wouldn't even look in her direction.
Arthur practically pushed his wife into the floo before taking a moment in the now silent house to reflect on his life here. There had been more happy times than sad but he couldn't help the shiver that ran down his spine with the thought that the Weasley family's troubles were far from over. The fine wasn't as heavy as Arthur feared, giving them a better stab at a new life somewhere else. Charlie had also been in touch to offer any help he could, Arthur knew dragon handling was a calling, rather than a career and his second son wasn't well paid. Just the lad making the offer lifted Arthur's spirits and gave him hope they could come out the other side of this stronger.
Bill was going to take the boys back to Hogwarts on Monday before they left Britain to seek employment elsewhere, Arthur had no intention of allowing Molly anywhere near the castle and was struggling to forgive her for the trouble she'd caused. Perhaps if she would realise what she'd done then maybe they could begin to patch things up, but as long as she kept blaming the Potter boy for everything then Arthur had no intention of forgiving his wife. Normally he would just have agreed with the woman as he sought a quiet life, he knew that part of this was his fault for not standing up to her more often.
His wife was an opinionated woman, her greatest fault though was in thinking that everyone wanted, no needed to hear her opinion on everything. At the heart of the problem was the fact that she thought she was entitled to grab the Potter boy and give him a piece of her mind. That the boy's wife had objected and the couple had then put forward charges was them being 'bloody minded' as far as Molly was concerned.
Arthur could and had made a lot of allowances for his wife but this was a step too far, unless she could face up to the fact that she was wrong then he just couldn't see how this could be resolved.
One last longing look and he entered the floo, it would be tight at Muriel's but it wasn't for long. Soon the boys would be off to Scotland and the three adults heading for Europe, leaving little Ginny behind. Now that really broke Arthur's heart.
...
Emma had been amazed at the magical blueprints for their new house, if they wanted to alter the size or layout of a room then one of the kids just used their wand to pull a wall to exactly where they thought it should be. This gave them unlimited options and was a lot of fun though Hermione kept trying to make the library bigger, it would seem some things never change. The magical world might not have computers but this was as close to a design program as to make no difference.
They wanted the house to be a combination of magical and mundane, there would be electricity and phone lines while the water and drainage would be provided by runes. The kitchen would have all modern appliances but with liberal use of self-cleaning charms to make the devices really labour saving.
With the plans at a stage where the family were all happy with them, the magical builder was then talking weeks to have it completed, and apologising because their mixture of specifications would make him take that long.
Emma's first sight of the burrow left her totally confused, this was a beautiful setting in Devon yet the building jutted up into the air like something a four-year-old would build using Lego. They had all this land yet had made the rickety structure at least four stories high, Emma could see no sense to it.
As the contractors started tearing the building down she noticed Harry had Hermione held tightly in is arms, comfortingly whispering in her ear as she watched a place they had once loved raised to the ground.
Emma also noticed a little blond girl in the trees and brought it to their attention, this had the effect of immediately ending the funk that both had been slipping into. The young couple walked slowly over to their friend, hoping they didn't spook Luna into running away before they could talk.
Their hearts went out to this frightened little girl who was standing here alone, with tears running down her cheeks, "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't be here but my best friend, my only friend lived in that house and now I'll never see her here again."
The impulse to hug Luna was almost overpowering, Harry tried to talk to her. "Well we'll be living here very soon and always have room for new friends, you're very welcome to come by here anytime you want. Our door will always be open and we need someone to show us around the place. Do you live in the village?"
Luna was half-expecting to be shouted at and told to 'get lost!' this was a surprising, yet very welcome change. "No I live with my father at the Rookery, we'll be your nearest neighbours. My name is Luna Lovegood, some people call me loony."
Hermione intended to nip that in the bud, "Not while we're around they won't, Luna is a beautiful name. My name is Hermione and this is my husband Harry, we're the Potters."
Luna's eyes focused at this, the Potters were both pleased that they didn't immediately shoot straight to Harry's scar though. "My friend Ginny told me she met you two." On seeing the expressions on both the Potter's faces, Luna thought she needed to clarify what she meant. "Ginny was very impressed with you Hermione, she described in great detail how you protected Harry from her mother and brothers." She hung her head down, "Ronald is the one who calls me loony."
This time Hermione couldn't hold back, she had her arm around Luna's shoulders. "Well he won't be doing it again if we're within earshot, nobody gets away with saying that about our friend."
Luna had tears in her eyes again, but this time for a different reason. "Ginny told me you looked really nice people, wait until I write and tell her I've not only met you but we're going to be friends."
The little blond seemed to have a problem with her last comment as her expression changed to that of sadness, this prompted Harry to speak out. "What's the matter Luna, you look upset?"
"Ginny is going to be staying with her Aunt Muriel as her parents go abroad looking for work. I wouldn't be a very good friend if I sent a letter telling her I've met two new friends while she is so miserable."
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