Fullmetal Wizard | Chapter 40

Title: Tea and civility

Harry closed the door behind him. He didn't even jump when he heard the Pop! that signaled the arrival of the twins in the room he shared with Ron. With one glance to them both, and then to Ron, he went straight away to his trunk at the foot of his bed. He opened it up, and started to dig.

"Knew it...!" Ron said.

"You do know where he is." Fred said.

"Not exactly." Harry said. "Might have a bit of a clue though. Where IS it?"

"What are you looking for..?" George said.

"Notebook. The one he gave me before we were...Ah-HA! Right!" Harry said, and gripped said notebook with both hands. Then, he settled himself to his bed, and began turning the pages carefully one by one. He looked at both sides of each paper within. Even tapped his wand and said, "Aparecium". He shook his head angrily, and growled in frustration. Finally, he picked the notebook up and threw it across the room, where it hit the wall by Ron with a bang! and fluttered to the ground.

"What was that for?" Ron asked, looking at Harry with worried eyes.

Harry gripped his hair and laid back into his pillows.

"Thought for sure he'd leave something in there. Address. Contact info. Something. He gave it to me, when he saw Uncle Vernon slap me."

Fred went to the notebook and picked it up, holding it with a thumb and forefinger as though it would bite him, by a corner of one of the flaps.

"Hello. Hold on. What's that?" George said, squatting down to grab the notebook. He folded back all the pages from the flap in question.

"Looks handwritten..what scrawl...!" Fred said.

"..Can't make sense of it, either." George said.

Ron reached for the notebook, and shook his head and frowned when he saw the scrawl himself. By this time, Harry had picked himself back up from the bed, and was looking over his best friend's shoulder.

"That's his handwriting." Harry breathed. "Bloody brilliant! He thinks like a Muggle. I should've known..!"

On this inside front cover, right below where it said, "This notebook belongs to" was Ed's handwritten, hardly legible, yet neat, scrawl, which read:

679 Birch Street. Ask for Elysia.

Mention me.

Harry read it out loud for them.

"'Elysia?' That's a girl's name...So he DOES have a girlfriend!" Ron said, relief in his voice. Harry smirked and nearly rolled his eyes.

'Now..we just have to figure out how to get there.' Harry thought.

"We need to let Sirius know." Harry said, after a few moments.

"Tch. Sure...."

"Get them involved. Why not?" FredandGeorge said.

"You gits...!" Ron said, and Fred and George shot him dirty looks. "Don't want Harry to be attacked again, do you? We have no choice."

"Knew you'd take his side, Ronnie..."

"...And we had such high hopes for you." FredandGeorge said.

Notebook in hand, Harry opened the door.

Though Harry wanted to go straight away that night, Sirius convinced him to wait until morning. "He might not even be there, Harry. Best to have Moody check on it first."

He also thought he wouldn't sleep, but he did. He woke that morning with the twins leaning over him, wide smiles on their faces, having just finished pummeling him awake with many soft pillow strikes.

"Wakey wakey.."

"Eggs and bakey.." FredandGeorge greeted.

"Leave him, you gits!" Harry heard Ginny yell from the doorway.

Harry sat up and blearily blinked the sleep from his eyes, and looked over at Ron. The twins were now pummeling him awake.

"Breakfast!" Mrs. Weasley called down the hall. The various pictures on the wall began to yell as well. Harry heard the distinctive screaming of a certain portrait of Mrs. Black.

"Ugh." Harry wrinkled his nose. He heard Sirius yelling now. Likely at the portraits.

"Yeah..forgot Ed did that." Ron said, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Back to whispering in the halls, I guess."

Harry shrugged, rolled out of bed, and got dressed.

At the breakfast table, Sirius looked at him with a slight smile on his face, and handed him a small tightly bound scroll.

"Just arrived by owl. From Moody."

It read:

Watching now. Quiet. Too quiet. No sign.

-M

"I still want to go." Harry said firmly.

"Thought you would. Tonks and Lupin will be here.." Just then there was the clanging sound of the doorbell, followed closely by the cacophany of the portaits' screams. Sirius looked as though he was a man deflated, his shoulders slumped so much. "Not again..!"

"I'll get it." Mrs. Weasley said brightly.

"Leave mother to me, then." Sirius growled.

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