Chapter One :
The Two Cousins

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"What's wrong, Hermione?" Harry shouted as he burst into the room. She was clutching her head with her hands, as if scared. Sweat dripped down her face, mixed with tears. A feeling of fear shot through Harry as he looked at his best friend.

Ron pushed past him and hugged her, whispering something to her which sounded like Gobbledegook to Harry. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry spotted an half-burnt parchment lying on the floor beside the panicking girl. He stepped towards them cautiously.

"Hermione, can I talk to you in private?" he asked. He was still unsure about Ron being involved in this whole letter drama. Facing the consequences of letting anyone other than the chosen five of his friends or cousins was definitely not on his list at the point of time.

Hermione looked up, eyes narrowing. He merely nodded and left the room. Ron walked out of the room, jaws clenched. He was surely mad at Harry, by now, for keeping him in the dark but there was no other way if he did not receive the letter.

As soon as he was back in the room which was now protected by privacy charms, Harry spoke up. "What happened? Did you – get anything?" His voice faltered with every word he uttered. Hermione, who had her back turned towards him until then, wheeled around to face him. Her eyes showed a spark of emotion, something Harry could understand easily after all these years of being with her. She was, after all, like his sister and he knew she felt the same towards him. "Something intriguing, perhaps?"

"I need to see yours before I tell anything."

Trusting her, just because his reckless gut told so, he withdrew the parchment from his front pocket and flashed it at her. Silence reigned as she drank the wordings of the letter. In such moments did Harry's heart hammer loudly. It was a tense situation.

"I-" Hermione paused, then snatched the parchment which Harry had seen earlier and proffered it to him. Harry took it with shaking hands.

Miss Smart,
We are in dire need of your help. Please be present at the atrium of the Ministry on 7th of April, 1999 dressed in black and, with a hood on.

Five of your close cousins have been selected for the same task. You may bring them along, if you have found them without revealing to anybody but them that you have received this letter. May I warn you that consequences will be hard if the speech of this letter gets to unwanted ears.

We don't mean to cause you any harm. We are not Death Eaters.

Sincerely,
I

The only difference in the letter was the sender and the receiver's names.

"So it does mean friends. . . unless we are cousins," Harry spoke up, childishly, feeling rather better at having another person in the same boat. Hermione snorted.

"That is out of the question now. Everything depends on whether or not we choose to believe this letter," Hermione said, fixing her hair as she got up.

"I know."

A tense silence followed behind.

"Do you think Ron got it?" Hermione spoke up. Harry shook his head in confusion.

"I have no idea."

"Do you reckon we should ask him?"

Harry thought hard. "I guess we should but it should be really discreet. Let's ask after a while. He's probably confused about your condition."

Hermione nodded.

The war had only ended, leaving behind mass destruction of people, property and intellect. Not everything could be repaired in a year or two. Decades might be required but all Harry wanted was nothing more than a peaceful summer at the now-renovated Grimmauld Place but it seemed that his wish was just not meant to be which made it all the more depressing for him.

—xoxo—

A delicious dinner was laid out in front of them, freshly prepared by Kreacher. Salads to dessert, everything was covered by the house elf who was in a high mood at his Master and his friends staying over. Ron had wanted nothing more than to escape the Burrow for a week or two, just to avoid being reminded of how alike his voice was to Fred's.

Fred was still sorely mourned. George had never managed to come out of the pit he had created. The other Weasleys were forcing themselves to recover, as well as help the lost twin recover. Harry wanted to be there for them as much as possible but then again, it was excruciating for him as well: being reminded of all the loss he had seen and caused.

"Ah–! These look amazing, thank you, Kreacher." Rubbing his hands on the towel the elf had offered him, Harry looked at all the delicacies laid out in front of him.

"Blimey, you 'ave out–bone yuself!" Ron exclaimed in between bites, causing Hermione to snap at him.

"Don't talk while you are eating!"

Ron paid no heed, which reminded Harry of an old married couple. He cringed, not even bothering, or rather, wishing to think of the implications it meant.

"Ron, did you get something? Y'know, I saw an owl outside which is impossible unless you got post?" Harry tried. Although he did not wish to ruin the meal, he had to know. Ron jerked his head up almost instantaneously that Harry doubted if he broke a bone or two.

"Blimey?" His voice was unsure. With narrowed eyes, he began searching for a clue; a clue that might lead him to know what exactly Harry was trying to ask. "A letter?"

"Yes, yeah."

"It need not be delivered by owl necessarily," Hermione put in, just to ensure that she was in too and was no foreigner in this matter. Ron stole a glance at Harry then at Kreacher, which reminded the latter of the elf's presence.

"Er–right. Kreacher, you may go right now. There are some matters we must discuss. Nothing for you to worry about!" Harry added as soon as he saw the elf's faltering expression. Kreacher was feeling paranoid about being given a sock any moment and Harry, as his Master, wanted to reassure the elf that nothing of that sort would be done. With an obedient curtsy, Kreacher left with a pop. With a swish of his wand, Harry applied privacy charms. "So?"

"Let me get straight to the point," Ron said, pushing away his plate for the moment. "A person whose ruddy name can't even be pronounced sent you a letter asking you to be present at the Ministry at so-and-so time. Is it?" he asked bluntly. Hermione squealed beside him.

"You aren't supposed to be so blunt in this matter, Ronald!" she reprimanded and his eyes went wide.

"Did I breach the law. . .?" he asked, shaking a little.

"No!" Harry shouted, feeling reassured that he was not stuck alone with Hermione. "No, Hermione and I are in it, too. We got the same letter."

"Blimey! You got me there, Hermione!" he exclaimed, looking at the girl beside him. "I thought you both were really enquiring about an owl from Mum or something for a moment."

"As much as I am glad you are in, you shouldn't be so blunt especially when they have explicitly stated to be careful," she scolded. Ron shrugged again before turning to face Harry.

"Oi! What d'you think? Is it fake?"

"I don't know. . . what were you referred to as? In the letter I mean."

"Mister Loyal. That's what they wrote."

"And their name?"

"Whatchamacallit."

"Ron, I'm serious."

"I don't think Sirius would appreciate you calling yourself by his name, mind you." He grinned when Harry and Hermione rolled their eyes. Taking out the burn-tipped parchment, he read. "'Sincerely, Seems you found out who I am'. That's the name."

How strange was it? Harry as well as Hermione had a silly name and here was Ron with a simple sentence instead. Hermione even voiced out her thoughts about it. "What if the same person just changed names?"

"No idea," Harry answered. "Now that there are three of us, we must find out the rest. We might get a clue from their letters."

"True. I guess we could say that cousins here mean friends," Hermione suggested.

"Three more close friends?" Ron questioned, more to himself. "Who could that be. . .?"

"I'm knackered," Harry stated, getting up. "I'm not going to break my head over this for tonight. Let's discuss this tomorrow." He left the dining hall in a rush, not wanting to heat his brain even further. Naturally, he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, wondering how a certain redhead was doing in a totally different location. . .

What are your thoughts about this chapter? Let me know!

Did you guys guess the receiver right? ;)

Also, can you guys watch the trailer for this book and let me know how it is? It's the first time I've made a trailer so I'd love to receive feedbacks on it! The link to watch it is in the first chapter's comments. I'll add the link here as well.

Thank you for reading!

Miyoko x