Phoenix Tears

Chapter 8: Dissipation

After the Weasley children, plus Hermione had been herded out (against their howling protests) and the room warded against further intrusions, an unnatural quiet settled around Harry. He could only hear his trousers moving against the rough velvet of the sofa but nothing else. It was as if he had been enclosed in a bubble.

"Hello? Bill? Mr. Weasley?" Harry asked, panic fluttering his heart. He started to rise and put his hands out in front of him trying to find something, anything tangible. His hands passed through empty air and he flicked out his wand, casting a shield charm as he took a defensive stance.

"Where did everyone go?" he asked, hating the tremble in his voice. "Nio, what's going on?"

The snake didn't answer or even stir at his belly and Harry sighed as he realized that Nio was sleeping through this whole encounter.

His ears popped and he could hear other people in the room again, as well as the familiar creaks and groans of the Burrow around him.

"Oh, no, Harry. I'm so sorry. You can put your wand away. We're just... er. We don't want to frighten you... and yet we know that you're also prone to take matters into your own hands. We've been debating about how much to tell you. You are, after all, just a child." Mr. Weasley explained.

Harry snorted even as his shoulders sagged. He didn't feel like a child. When had he ever been able to be just a child?

"I get it, Harry," Bill said, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder, then taking it away quickly when Harry flinched. "You've always had to rely on yourself. You haven't had adults looking out for you. But things are going to be different now, okay? We're going to make sure that you're safe."

"How?" Harry asked, his voice flat.

"Well, first off, you've got to trust us," Auror Bones stated.

"Us? Who is 'us' exactly?"

"Harry, we understand your skepticism. Auror Bones has already launched an investigation into what happened underneath the Center. She's promised to get to the bottom of it," Mr. Weasley assured.

"Well, I trust you...er, the Weasleys, I mean. But honestly, I don't know if I can ever trust the ministry again... after what happened to Aminah's dad... even if you do get to the bottom of it," Harry turned a bit so that his nose was pointing in Auror Bones' direction.

"That's fair. If you can trust the Weasleys, and I trust the Weasleys and they, in turn trust me, then maybe we can start there... we're all just doing the best we can given the circumstances. There is a lot that we don't know."

For some reason, this made Harry let out the breath he'd been holding since she'd started talking. He drew in a deep breath and shook out his shoulders.

"So, Harry? You'll work with the Weasleys, then?"

"Yes, I will."

"And you'll tell them if something feels off?"

"All right. Yes, I will."

"All right, let's get to work warding your house and setting up that Egress..."

As Bill, Mr. Weasley, and Auror Bones launched into the logistics of warding the house and creating the Egress using a lot of jargon that Harry didn't understand, he sank into the sofa, his hand cradling the sleeping snake in his shirt, tuning them out and trying to sort out what all of this would mean for him.

At a lull in the conversation... it sounded like Mr. Weasley pulling a heavy trunk from a corner of the room... Harry sat up and asked, "So, does this mean that I'll be able to take more courses at the Center during the summer? By traveling through the Egress?"