the siphon | h. potter

~twenty five~

harry

When Harry and Dumbledore approached the front entrance of the Burrow, a nervous voice shouted out, "Who's there?!"

"It is I, Dumbledore, bringing Harry," Dumbledore announced through the door. Moments later a flustered Mrs Weasley appeared and let the pair into the warm kitchen.

The Burrow looked the same as it had the first time Harry had visited. Self cleaning dishes were floating in the air above the sink, the countertops were covered in various recipes, clothing magazines and store catalogues, and about a dozen different sized shoes lined the floor by the back door.

However, much to Harry's surprise, Tonks was sitting at the kitchen table. Her hands were wrapped around a small cup of tea. Not much had been drank, but the lack of steam suggested it was not fresh. When Harry made eye contact with her, Tonks quickly looked away and attempted to divert her attention to picking away the polish on her nails.

"Oh goodness, you two gave me such a fright! We weren't expecting you until the morning," Mrs Weasley exclaimed.

"My apologies, Molly. Professor Slughorn proved much more persuasive than expected."

Mrs Weasley lead the pair toward the kitchen table where Tonks was still avoiding Harry's eyes. Before he and Dumbledore could take their seats, Tonks bursted from the table. Her chair nearly fell from the sudden movement.

"I really must be going, Mrs Weasley. Thank you for the tea," Tonks muttered while rushing toward the door.

"Don't leave on my account, I cannot stay long. I have urgent matters to discuss with Rufus Scrimgeour."

"No, no, I must be going," Tonks said hurriedly before escaping out the back door.

It wasn't long before Dumbledore followed in Tonks's footsteps and left the Burrow. When Mrs Weasley turned back to Harry she was still wearing the same troubled expression that had grown across her face when Tonks ran from the house. However, her current emotional state didn't keep her from giving Harry a warm welcome.

"You're like Ron," Mrs Weasley sighed, "both of you look as though you have stretching jinxes put on you. I swear Ron's grown four inches since I last bought him school robes. My guess is you're hungry, Harry?"

"Starving," Harry sighed as his stomach groaned in agreement. He missed dinner thanks to Dumbledore's adventure and coincidentally that was the only meal the Dursleys bothered to feed him.

As Harry sat waiting in his chair a familiar orange cat began rubbing up in his leg. Crookshanks announced herself with a loud meow and continued to bother Harry until he scratched her behind the ears.

"So Hermione's here, is she?"

"Yes, she arrived a week before Cassandra. They're all in bed. We weren't expecting you to arrive for at least a few more hours," Mrs Weasley explained while stirring a pot of soup on the stove.

"Cass's here?" Harry asked softly.

"Yes, Dumbledore brought her here a few weeks ago... Maybe now that you've arrived her mood will improve, the poor girl has been awfully sad."

"What do you mean?"

"Cassandra hasn't been her usual bubbly and entertaining self. She hasn't even been eating her food. I even made her favorite chowder and she barely ate two bites!"

"But why has she been so upset?" Harry asked as Mrs Weasley placed a bowl in front of him.

"I think you should talk to her about that," Mrs Weasley frowned. "But never mind that now, eat, eat!"