Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 74: The Crow's Message
"Phghgtht!"
"Ron, stop talking with your mouth full." Ginny grimaced, moving his hand away.
"I think he wants the bread," George pointed out.
"Here." Ginny passed him the bowl with white bread.
"Thrgganks!" Ron muttered and gave her a thumbs-up.
"He eats like a piggy," Fred commented.
"And whose fault is that?" Molly said to the twins. "It is you two who kept messing with his food when he was little."
"That was years ago!" George said in his defense.
"That being said… we are not at home." Molly glanced at her son. "Ron, could you take it slow? The food is not going anywhere."
"It's fine, Molly," Sirius told her. "I'm glad he is feeling a—" A piece of bread landed next to his plate. "At home…" He said with disgust.
"Mom, where did Dad go?" Ginny asked.
"Hogwarts. He had a few things to talk about with the Headmaster. He will be back in the afternoon," Molly said. "Oh, and we are going to have a meeting for the Order. I expect you all to behave properly and stay away from the hall." She glanced at the twins. "No spying this time."
"When can we go get our things from home?" Ron asked.
"I don't know yet, Ron," Molly responded.
"But I'm bored here!" the boy complained.
"He can come with us to Diagon Alley," George suggested.
"We will give him something to do at the shop," Fred added.
"Yes! Can I?" Ron seemed excited at the idea.
"The Alley is too dangerous right now. I don't want any of you going there," Molly told them.
Fred and George looked at each other.
"If you don't want Ron to do it, that is fine," George said.
"But we are both legally adults, so we can go anywhere we want. We are doing the grand opening in only two weeks, and there is much work to do."
"Hmph!" Molly crossed her arms, obviously not pleased with the response. "Ron, you can't go."
"What? But that's not f—"
All of a sudden, they heard the sound of flapping wings inside the house, and it was quickly getting closer.
"An owl? How did it get here? I made sure the wards prevented an—" Sirius froze mid-sentence when he saw a black bird flying into the kitchen.
"A crow!" Ron exclaimed.
"This is a bad omen. Make it go away!" Molly said.
Harry watched as the bird flew directly towards him and landed on the table.
"A crow… this is from her," V said.
"I mean, who else?" Harry took the tiny scroll from the crow's leg and gave it something to eat before it flew away.
As he opened the scroll, he noticed there was also a small object hidden inside. It was a simple brown button.
"Harry, who sent you a crow? That can't be good… right?" Sirius asked.
"No decent wizard or witch would use one of those creatures," Molly frowned.
Ginny didn't make any comment; she merely watched Harry with curiosity.
Harry took his time to read the contents of the note twice. Once he had them memorized, he activated a small amount of magic and burned the paper while it was still between his fingers.
"That's cool. Can you teach me that?" Ron asked.
Harry stood up from his chair, picked up the brown button, and glanced over at his godfather. "Sirius, I need to leave for a day or two."
"Wait, where are you going?" Sirius asked.
"Harry, you can't leave the house. You know this," Molly told him.
"I'm going to Egypt. There is a tomb I must visit. Something important I have to get," Harry told them.
"Egypt?!" Sirius exclaimed.
"Harry…" Ginny got close to him and whispered. "This is not for us, right?" she asked. "Because you don't have to do more."
"It's not just that. Trust me, it'll be okay. I won't be in any danger," Harry assured her.
It wasn't really a lie. He didn't think a tomb's defenses would pose much of a challenge to him. He had raided hundreds already.
There was probably no one with more experience than him in that field.
"You are going to a tomb in Egypt?" Fred asked.
"Our brother Bill went to one of those. He claimed to have never been closer to dying…"
"Can I come with you?" Ginny asked.
"Ginny! What in Merlin's name are you saying?" Molly looked shocked.
"Yeah, if anyone is going, it's me!" Ron added.
"No one is going anywhere! Do you kids not understand how dangerous it is outside these walls?" Molly said.
"No," Harry said to Ginny. "Ancient tombs are filled with nasty traps. They can be very deadly," Harry explained.
"You just said it wasn't dangerous." Ginny's lips were pressed into a thin white line.
"What I said was that I wouldn't be in danger. Bringing someone else along is a different situation," Harry told her.
"And you promise that you won't be in danger?" Ginny asked.
Harry nodded. "I'll come back in two days at most." He took a step back while holding the brown button in his right hand.
"Now…"
Ginny looked at the other people present in the room for a short moment, and then she seemed to make up her mind. "Wait!"
"Hmm?" Harry was about to ask her what she wanted, but then he saw her approaching with determination, stop right in front of him, and kiss him on the lips.
"When you come back, maybe we can have a proper date," Ginny said with a smile.
Harry could feel the penetrating gazes of the Weasley family and was never happier to be holding a portkey.
"Rose." The moment he spoke the keyword, the artifact activated and pulled him away from the House of Black, leaving an empty space where he had been standing.
Ginny now wished she could do the same. "Excuse me. I have something to do in my room." She left the kitchen in a rush.
There was a long moment of silence after that.
"Well… I think I'm done with breakfast," Sirius stood up.
"So… did no one know about this?" George asked.
"I knew it was going to happen sooner or later," Fred said.
"But… my… my daughter and… Harry?" Molly muttered.
Ron stared in shock at nothing in particular. "What the fuck?!"
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