OWLs
Just as Harry hoped it would be, life at the Burrow was somehow both gloriously busy and perfectly relaxing.
Although Bill had gone in to work Mr Weasley had elected to stay home for a day, spending time with Charlie who had arrived only a few hours earlier. Wasting no time on his first day Charlie was already occupying himself with work around the Burrow, sketching out plans for an extension to the chicken coop he and Mr Weasley were going to build - when he wasn't winding his mother up that was. Charlie seemed to be the only Weasley child who could truly aggravate Mrs Weasley without risking their life.
'That's why I only visit every few years,' he said loudly after lunch, teasing his mum. 'When I do come home I get spoiled rotten.'
'Yes,' Mrs Weasley retorted, throwing a dish cloth at him and directing him to the sink. 'That and the fact we won't let you bring home baby dragons anymore.'
Fred and George, Harry learned, were so busy with the new shop they had taken to sleeping there, a necessity given their room at the Burrow was filled to the brim with boxes and supplies. Nevertheless they would routinely return home, Fred stopping by to collect a packed lunch and kiss his mother on the cheek, thanking her profusely and threatening Ron with becoming a test subject, while neither of them were yet to miss a cooked dinner.
No one had ever denied the twins were hard workers when it suited them, and that was proven by the corner of the kitchen dedicated to parchment work and various folders, the place where apparently George could be found working diligently into the late hours of the night, coming there for peace and quiet while Fred stayed at the shop keeping it stocked with new batches of product.
'We've spent hours slaving away for them,' Ron complained later that afternoon, scowling at the enveloped stuffed with orders the twins had sent along with Pig. 'We're packing a hundred mail orders a day and the cheap bastards aren't even paying us!'
'It's not a hundred orders a day,' Ginny rolled her eyes. 'And they're our brothers.'
'They won't even let us have anything, not even one lousy Trick Wand. And they're counting all the Extendable Ears,' he warned. 'Inventory was one short and George threatened to give me a cavity search.'
'Did you swipe it?' Harry asked.
'Of course I swiped it, that's not the point!' he whinged, looking through the stack of orders. 'Oh, gross - Eloise Midgen ordered a Daydream. Playful Pirates.'
'Eugh.'
'This one's getting lost in the mail,' Ginny decided, scrunching up a piece of parchment. 'No way is Romilda Vane getting her hands on a Love Potion.'
'Who's Romilda Vane?'
'No one,' she said abruptly, glaring at Ron who was sniggering. 'Shut up Ron!'
'She's a good looking witch who fancies you,' he divulged to Harry. 'So of course she's public enemy number one 'round here.'
'It's not funny, Ron.'
'It kind of is.'
Harry couldn't help himself, liking how annoyed Ginny seemed. 'Tell me about her.'
'She's a snob who doesn't like Quidditch, that's all you need to know. Are you going to help us pack these or not?' she asked, changing the subject. 'Go on, you're an investor, right? A shareholder, is that what you're called?'
'Whatever it's called, I'm not it,' he said shortly, having never intended that the Triwizard Tournament money would ever give him a financial benefit. 'But yes, I'll help,' he agreed, taking a couple of order forms and looking them over. There was an order from Ernie Macmillan, and then Neville Longbottom. 'Can we give away free stuff?'
'Not unless you want that cavity search. They barely have enough to sell, let alone give away.'
When he looked at the next order form Harry laughed incredulously. 'Crabbe's ordered a ten pack of Decoy Detonators.'
'Lost in the mail!' Ron and Ginny declared in unison.
Rather enjoying this Harry scrunched up the order form and tossed it to join Romilda Vane's order for a Love Potion. For a short while they carried on looking through the order forms, Harry following Ron and Ginny's lead in sorting them into certain categories before they went upstairs into the twin's cramped bedroom and started rifling through boxes looking for product to package up. But they had barely started when they were interrupted by Mr Weasley who came up from the garden.
'Harry,' he said jovially, clasping him on the shoulder. 'Would you come out to the shed for a short visit? I've got a microwave to show you, I've always wanted one!'
'Sure,' he answered, glad for the break. He went to pass Ron a half fulfilled order and noticed the funny look he and Ginny were exchanging. Neither of them were looking at him properly, with Ron giving him only an odd expression before quickly averting his eyes again.
Realisation struck him, and he looked back at Mr Weasley who just gave him a friendly smile. If Harry was right this was not the first time Mr Weasley had had this conversation. He opened his mouth to protest, to insist that Sirius had already taken care of this particular conversation. But his voice was apparently gone.
Leaving Ron and Ginny behind in an awkward silence Harry followed Mr Weasley down through the house and across the garden, the two of them walking quite casually. Nearby Charlie and Mrs Weasley were fussing about in the chicken coop while Fleur was presumably somewhere around. When Mr Weasley opened the shed door and ushered him inside Harry mentally braced himself, convinced this was a misunderstanding...he wasn't supposed to have to do this...
'Harry, I must apologise,' Mr Weasley said lightly as he closed the shed door and illuminated the lights. 'But I have brought you out here with somewhat of an agenda.'
'Right,' he muttered, trying to sound nonchalant. While Mr Weasley looked and seemed perfectly at ease Harry on the other hand was trying to decide what to do with his hands, and figure out where to look.
'Before your arrival, did you and Sirius have a certain discussion about what it means to be a young wizard of your age, and how having a girlfri-'
'Yes,' he said emphatically, not letting him finish. 'We did, I swear. He talked to me.'
'Well, now is the follow up discussion. Nothing too embarrassing, I promise. But I do insist you hear me out.'
Realising he should have seen this coming he reluctantly nodded, taking a deep breath. He even managed to steel himself enough to look up at Mr Weasley as he began to talk.
'Now you and Ginny are free to enjoy the delights of summer romance-'
Suppressing a shudder he had to look away already.
'-with limitations,' Mr Weasley stressed. 'As I'm sure you've heard with Bill and Fleur visiting, pre-martial sex is not something that Molly and I would approve in this home. Particularly for those who are not yet of age.'
'Seriously, Mr Weasley - you don't need to worry about me and Ginny,' he began, his voice louder than he would have liked. 'It's not like that. I swear.'
Mr Weasley was chuckling, though not unkindly. 'Though it was some time ago I do recall being a young wizard of your age and having a girlfriend. We always do swear these things won't happen until...well, I'd like to be clear about our expectations. Anything even in the broad vicinity of below the belt or under the shirt is not something that would be approved of, either in this home or at Hogwarts.'
Exceptionally relieved that Mr Weasley couldn't read minds the way Snape could he hurriedly fumbled through his reassurances. 'Really, you don't have to worry,' he implored. He glanced up, relieved that he seemed neither unduly cross or suspicious. 'I-in fact, I've recently decided that, erm...I'm never going to - you know. Not ever,' he concluded lamely.
Seemingly unable to help himself Mr Weasley started laughing, and he clasped him on the shoulder. 'Never, hmm? When did you embark on this noble lifestyle?'
'About a minute ago, funnily enough.'
'It's quite alright, Harry. The rules for dating my daughter are very simple. No underage premarital sex of any kind. Nothing below the belt or under a shirt...or over a shirt for that matter. And you and Ginny are not to be found alone behind closed doors, a rule which also applies when you return to school. That's it.'
'Yep, okay. Got it.'
'Now Molly might be a little overbearing at first, but she will be alright. Just remember the rules and I'm sure everyone will get along just fine.'
'Right. I'll remember.'
To his relief Mr Weasley ruffled the top of his head, the same type of thing he'd seen him do to Ron and the twins numerous times, and then he was taking him further into the shed as though that conversation hadn't been excruciating.
'It's a microwave,' he declared excitedly, whipping off the old sheet of plastic serving as a dust cover.
To Harry's alarm he began pressing buttons, and the microwave beeped and lit up - and seconds later it was working. The brown glass plate inside began circling around, a light shining to show that it was empty of any contents.
'You got it working without electricity?' Harry questioned, knowing there was no electrical connection at the Burrow. 'How?'
Quite proud of himself Mr Weasley showed him around to the other side of the work bench, and it was then Harry's eyes widened. Hooked up to the back were a series of cables connected to what must be a car battery.
'Ummm,' he began, trying to be sensitive. 'How safe is this?'
'Perfectly safe,' Mr Weasley beamed, illuminating his wand and using it to point out the individual cables. 'I've got it under all sorts of protective charms, I know how dangerous electricity can be. Three shocks is quite enough I think.'
'Three?'
'That's neither here nor there. Don't mention it to Molly though. She seems to share your concerns.'
'I bet,' Harry muttered, even less assured now. 'Just...be really careful.'
He half started to reach out, getting the impulse to disconnect it all before second guessing himself - he had no idea what he'd be touching. Instead he let Mr Weasley carry on, showing him how he was using the microwave to heat up water to make tea when he was pottering around in the mornings.
'Of course I don't truly recommend it for tea,' he mused. 'Bit of a funny taste, but convenient. Muggles tend to use it more for dinner. There are special meals you can buy at a supermarket, and they're just for the microwave.'
They quickly moved on, Mr Weasley asking him what kind of microwave the Dursleys had, but they were interrupted by the sound of shouts coming across the garden. It stopped them mid-conversation, and he recognised Ginny calling out for him, urgently.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he resisted the instinct to reach for his wand. He was safe here, they all were...and she wasn't panicked. He reasoned with himself in the split seconds this all passed. Urgent, but not panicked.
'They're here!' Ginny shouted, wrenching the shed door open and bursting inside. 'Harry, they're here, your OWL results!'
His heart faltered, caught between relief and existential dread. He'd been waiting just over a month since the last exam, anxious to get the results and find out what the course of his future would be...but now...he might be happier not knowing.
'Right.'
'Ron's already opened his,' Ginny said urgently, seizing his hand and tugging at him to follow. 'Come on!'
Leaving Mr Weasley to follow he and Ginny sprinted back across the garden, his heart racing thunderously inside his chest. When he arrived in the kitchen he was met by Ron pacing around, his face somehow flushed and pale at the same time. He whirled around to Harry.
'Only failed Divination and History of Magic, and who cares about them?' he said happily. 'Here!'
Ron thrust a plain white envelope at him, and he took it, holding it for a long moment. That Ron had passed was surely a good sign that he had too, and he had felt a certain amount of pressure lift since last night when Slughorn agreed to resume his post as Potions Master. That he would take even an Acceptable grade under the right circumstances was the reassurance needed that unless his performance had truly been abysmal he would be able to take Potions. And he couldn't help but feel quietly confident that he might have scraped an Exceeds Expectations...
He slit open the envelope and unfolded the parchment inside.
ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS
Pass Grades: Outstanding (O)
Exceeds Expectations (E)
Acceptable (A)
Fail Grades: Poor (P)
Dreadful (D)
Troll (T)
HARRY JAMES POTTER HAS ACHIEVED:
Astronomy A
Care of Magical Creatures E
Charms E
Defence Against the Dark Arts O
Divination P
Herbology E
History of Magic A
Potions O
Transfiguration E
Harry read through the parchment several times, his breathing becoming easier with each reading. It was alright, he hadn't even tried to pass Divination, but he had passed everything else...in fact...
'This isn't right.'
'What isn't?' Mrs Weasley asked, and he could hear her tone of voice was carefully measured, calm and ready to face whatever the outcome was. She'd been through this with several children before.
'It says I got an O in Potions.'
Ron gave a particularly rude expletive that made Mr Weasley admonish him, and he crossed the kitchen to look for himself. 'You did!'
'No.'
'Looks like you did,' Ginny commented.
Ron punched him in the arm, exclaiming again. 'Can you imagine Snape's face if he had to take you this year?'
'That's your name at the top there, dear,' Mrs Weasley said, looking over his shoulder. 'I don't see any other Harry James Potters running around, do you?'
Harry was stunned, and he stared at the parchment trying to comprehend it. Four months ago McGonagall told him he was at risk of failing all his classes - she wanted him to take remedial classes just to catch up. Now, he'd actually done pretty well - and an O in Potions!
'Well done to you both,' Mrs Weasley said warmly, kissing each of them on the cheek, her sentiment echoed by Mr Weasley who was now proudly looking at Ron's marks.
Still Harry looked at his parchment, beginning to wonder if this was a mistake, or if there had been undue special treatment. It didn't help that the Daily Prophet and magazines had taken to calling him the Chosen One. But Scrimgeour had assured him that special treatment wouldn't be given. Sirius had helped him study a lot when he stayed at Grimmauld Place, it was practically five weeks of tutoring. So unless it was a mistake, he really had scraped an O.
Finally he looked up at Ron. 'We should call Hermione.'
Ron snorted in amusement. 'Why? She won't even be conscious right now.' But nonetheless he turned to Mr Weasley and asked to use the telephone, and two minutes later they had the earpiece held between them as they tried to reach Hermione. Her mum answered the phone, and after telling Ron to shut up (he had loudly started calling Hermione's name) Harry politely reminded Mrs Granger who they were and asked to speak to her.
'Of course,' Mrs Granger said quite pleasantly, calling out Hermione's name. 'She's just received her school results. Done exceptionally well, although she is a little...she's not quite herself at the moment.'
Ron snorted again. 'That's alright, we assumed she'd have passed out by now.'
'That might actually have been the case when we told her a letter had arrived.'
Mrs Granger's voice became softer now, Harry and Ron listening as she told Hermione her friends had called for her.
'Hello,' Hermione said when she came to the phone, her voice a breathy whisper.
Ron got straight into it. 'I passed everything that mattered, and Harry got two Os! He's convinced it's a mistake.'
'Oh, that's wonderful. Os in what?' she asked. 'I assume Defence Against the Dark Arts, and Charms? He did do qui-'
'Potions!' Ron said loudly, still looking at Harry in awe.
'Oh,' Hermione said again, sounding as perplexed as Harry felt. 'In Potions?'
'Yeah,' Harry confirmed, actually feeling relieved by her surprise.
'Well you know what that is,' she began, beginning to perk up a little. 'It's not having Snape breathing down your neck, and it's all the work you put in over Easter and in exam preparation. All those antidote equations you didn't want to learn. Sirius was right, that's what pushes you up a grade, demonstrating additional thinking beyond the curric-'
'Alright enough about him,' Ron interrupted. 'Your turn, go on.'
'And how did you fare, Ron?' she asked.
'Passed everything but Divination and History of Magic. How'd you do?'
'I - not bad,' she said in a small voice
'Oh come off it. Tell us.'
There was a short pause before she answered. 'I got nine Os, and...and an E in Defence Against the Dark Arts.'
Harry and Ron both exclaimed, repeating her results to Ginny who was waiting patiently with them, sitting on Mr Weasley's work bench.
'Hermione?' Ron said down the telephone, prompting her. 'That's great, huh! Come on, that's great.'
There was a longer pause now, and they heard her breathing down the phone. 'Yes.'
Harry and Ron stared at one another, both perplexed.
'You're actually disappointed, aren't you?' Harry questioned.
'No...not disappointed at all,' she murmured, her voice still a breathy whisper. 'It's just...that...'
She seemed beyond words, and for a few moments they listened to her fluster and fumble, her voice becoming quieter yet more high pitched with every strangled word until she fell silent.
'Hermione?' Ron said in concern.
'Yes?'
'You got ten OWLS! Nine of them Outstanding. You should be jumping for joy!'
'Well. It's just, I know I didn't do so well in Charms. I didn't do myself justice on the section for Cheering Charms, there just wasn't enough time to go back an-'
'You got an O,' Harry reminded her. 'You obviously did well enough.'
'But I know I mixed up ehwaz with eihwaz in Ancient Runes, and -'
'You talked to Professor Babbling about that,' Ron argued. 'She said it wouldn't matter if you got it right in the first section. Hermione?'
'Yes. I'm here.'
'Hermione, you got nine Outstanding OWLs and an Exceeds Expectations.'
'McGonagall is going to be bragging about you for the next decade,' Harry added.
'I suppose.'
Finally Ron could take it no more, and he snatched the phone from Harry and started practically shouting into the receiver.
'You know what this is Hermione,' he started knowingly. 'You're...you're...underwhelmed and overwhelmed at the same time! You're too whelmed!'
'That word doesn't make sense in this context, Ron.'
'You know what I bloody mean. You've spent five years obsessing and studying for these exams, and you've bloody aced them right up the arse! And now they're over and you just don't know what to do with yourself anymore. You're in shock, that's what you are. That's what's wrong. And I know you Hermione, even if you got twenty Outstanding OWLs you'd still be like this.'
A long silence came to pass while Harry stared at Ron in trepidation, waiting for Hermione's response. And then he heard her on the other end of the line, a faint whimper. 'Yes...Yes I think you must be right.'
'I know I'm right!' Ron declared. 'I know you, Hermione.'
'Yes. I think I'm just...in shock. And maybe a little...lost. Yes, I think that's it. I'm lost. I don't know what to do next. What...what do I do now?'
'Isn't it obvious? You've got two more years to do the same bloody rubbish with your NEWTs.'
To Harry's surprise this brightened her. 'Yes, I suppose I do,' she said lightly. 'I've got my NEWTs now. We all do. We're NEWT students, Ron! We're actually NEWT students!'
When they hung up the phone a few minutes later Harry was still astonished. 'How did you do that?'
Ron shrugged. 'She thinks we don't know her.'
'Nothing I said helped. It's you who knows her.'
Liking this suggestion Ron came over rather smug. 'Emotional range of a teaspoon, huh?'
Ginny scoffed skeptically. 'We should write to Dumbledore. Ron's clearly being impersonated by someone with emotional intelligence.'
'And you can stick a giant wad of-'
'Mum wants that big box of cake tins brought in,' Ginny cut him off, gesturing into the depths of the shed. 'I can't reach the shelf, can you get them down?'
Still ranting Ron stalked off to the far corner of the shed, and seeing the hint of a smile on Ginny's face Harry went straight to her. She slid down off the work bench and reached for him, taking his hand and leading him outside the shed and around the back.
First making sure there was no one else around finally they properly kissed. All embarrassing conversations with her dad slipped out of his mind as he put his arms around her, welcoming her own when she did the same. For a few quiet moments they could have been anywhere at all, and though they'd only been apart for a few weeks being there with her now made it feel like months had passed, like he'd been starved of her.
'I suppose I forgive you for not hanging out with me more last year,' she smiled, her lips brushing against his as she spoke. 'Maybe you'll have to tutor me in Potions.'
'I'm convinced that grade is wrong,' he said lightly, his chest feeling significantly lighter. It was beginning to sink in - after everything that happened last year, he did really well. He kissed her again, a familiar sensation welling up while his insides writhed in happiness. 'I really missed you.'
'I'm worth missing.'
A burst of laughter slipped out before he kissed her again, unable to resist the cheeky glint in her eyes. It would have been perfect were it not for the sound of violent retching.
'Gross!' Ron said loudly, standing before them with a box of baking tins.
With an impatient sigh they broke apart. 'Ron, that's getting really old,' Harry complained, feeling he'd been pretty patient overall. He took Ginny by the hand and started heading back towards the Burrow.
'Where does it end with you two?' he retorted, jostling the box of tins at them as he followed. 'Do I have to get the garden hose?'
Ginny beat him to the response, and very quickly it escalated. 'Just because you've never snogged anyone in your life except Auntie Muriel.'
'Hey, you shut your mouth!' Ron said hotly, his eyes flashing.
'No, I will not! I've seen you with Phlegm, hoping she'll kiss you on the cheek every time you see her, it's pathetic. If you went out and got a bit of snogging done yourself you wouldn't mind so much that we're doing it!'
'You don't know what you're talking about,' he bellowed, bypassing red and turning maroon. 'Just because I don't do it in public-'
'Been kissing Pigwidgeon have you?'
The box of baking tins tumbled to the grass, Ron coming to a dead stop. Quite alarmed by how quickly this had escalated Harry was forced to step between them, wondering what on earth had triggered such an overreaction.
'You-'
'Harry snogged Cho Chang, I snogged Michael and now Harry,' Ginny was shouting. 'And Hermione snogged Victor Krum! But it's only you who acts like it's something disgusting!'
'I just don't want to find my own sister snogging my best mate in public.'
'We were in private until you had to come along and ruin it!'
Blessedly intervention came. The back door swung open with a loud bang, and Mrs Weasley was standing in the threshold, hands on her hips.
'What on earth are you two caterwauling about?'
A beat passed, both Ron and Ginny glancing at Harry, but he knew what they would do.
'Nothing!' they said in unison. But Ron's hands were clenched in angry fists, and the expression in Ginny's eyes was one Harry hoped never to be on the receiving end of.
'I've had a gut full of you both this summer,' Mrs Weasley shouted. 'Like raving lunatics, the two of you! You are to behave yourselves, or there'll be trouble. Is that clear?'
Without another word Ron stormed off around the other side of the house, while Ginny went inside, her feet audibly stomping. Harry breathed a sigh of relief, pleased to have not been in the firing line of that argument.
Shaking her head Mrs Weasley turned to Harry. 'What was that about, dear?'
Harry shrugged, feigning ignorance. 'Not a clue, they just went off.'
'Mmmhmm,' Mrs Weasley murmured, not believing him. 'Well, congratulations on your OWLs. I've written to Sirius and told him you got your results, I'd say he'll come over for lunch or dinner so you can share them with him. What's all this?' she asked, peering into the box he had picked up.
'Ginny said you wanted the baking tins brought in.'
Mrs Weasley looked perplexed and then shook her head. 'No dear, I won't need any of these just yet. Your birthday's still a week away.'
'Right,' Harry said, understanding dawning on him. He tried not to smile. 'I'll put them back.'
As he crossed the garden carrying the box of baking tins that had provided a well used distraction Harry looked back up at the tall teetering Burrow. Ginny had appeared in her bedroom window and was watching him, and when she noticed she had his attention she opened her window and leaned out.
'For the record, I missed you too.'
He grinned up at her, lamenting the fact that they had been interrupted, but duly noting that at this present moment Ron had stormed off elsewhere. Mr Weasley's limitations had been clear, but as long as the door remained open...
As he hurried into the shed to put the cake tins away a sense of great relief was sweeping over him. It was more than seeing Ginny and Ron, it was more than exceeding the OWL results than he had expected. It was that for the first time since leaving Grimmauld Place last April he finally felt at home.