I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good Private Message to Sally Anne Perks and Pansy Parkinson

[alt_ron]

So. Are you able to walk yet?

Comments

[alt_pansy]

Cheeky.

Yes, I can. I spent most of Friday sleeping, though.

I think that I got the hang of ley flying, at least. I mean, it was hard not to given all the flying we did. About halfway through our trip on Wednesday, I got tired of working so hard and then it was like the broom was flying itself, almost. So that wasn't nearly as tiresome as I thought it'd be. And it didn't take me nearly as long to pick it up again on Thursday, even though it came and went when I started thinking about it too hard.

[alt_ron]

Yeah. You're right. Flying ley helps you feel the broom's magic blending with the earth's and yours so you can get to that place where you don't have to think about every twitch and turn or rise or drop.

But, yeah, flying a long way or just flying a lot'll get you to the same place eventually.

Good on you for feeling it!

Course, there's more to it, too, ley flying, I mean. It's dead useful for surveying, because if you can sense it, then it totally helps you find your way even in unfamiliar places. I think they're going to have us trying that during CCF this year. Or maybe it's just in the surveying sessions, I've been looking at some stuff Charlie sent me about it. He uses it all the time.

[alt_sally_anne]

I'm moving again. Blame Gemma.

[alt_ron]

What did Gemma do to you?

[alt_sally_anne]

When I didn't get up at what she considered a reasonable time, she came and jumped on me in my bed.

I'M UP NOW GEMMA.

Hey, you know what? Philip is going to be at Hogwarts this fall. He'll be a firstie. Gemma is so jealous! And she's hoping he gets Sorted into Hufflepuff. She STILL wants to be a Hufflepuff.

[alt_ron]

Gemma's a goose.

Where do you think Philip'll get Sorted? Ravenclaw like his brother?

I'm glad I met your mum. I liked her.

[alt_sally_anne]

Ravenclaw like their parents would be my guess.

And I'm glad you got to meet her. Once, anyway

[alt_ron]

It seemed as if she's all right. I mean, I guess I thought maybe she'd-

I don't know what I thought. That they don't get enough to eat, I guess, so I expected she might be sort of ill looking? But she wasn't, really.

She was really kind, too, and it was great when she laughed. I mean, I was being daft, I know, and it was lucky she thought it was funny when I almost knocked everything off that shelf. But, yeah, she was really nice.

And I could tell she's dead clever, the way she makes do with things without using magic. And the things she knows about. She was a Ravenclaw, too, wasn't she? I think you said one time. It totally makes sense now I've met her.

She seemed really pleased about you wanting to be a Healer. But I, uh- I didn't really understand what she was trying to say about Muggle medicine, though, being like wizards' duels.

[alt_sally_anne]

It's thanks to your mum they have enough to eat now, actually. My father could never find enough work, that was part of why we went hungry so often when I was little. Your mum knows loads of people through the barter network who don't care he's married to a muggleborn, they just like being able to hire a magical mechanic who'll trade work for meat and eggs and wool and the rest.

Both my parents were Ravenclaws. My mum really is clever, though. The bit about wizards' duels was a METAPHORE, she was trying to explain vaxines so you'd understand. I guess it didn't work.

[alt_sally_anne]

And I was glad she was pleased I want to be a Healer.

Her idea about getting Healer training AND going to muggle medicine school would be mad even if I weren't in the Protectorate, though. I mean there are only so many hours in a day. Unless you use a Time-Turner, I suppose.

[alt_pansy]

Of course she was pleased! I think you're well on your way, and you'll be just brilliant at it.

I can see how learning about one would help you with the other, even though they really do things very differently. I can't imagine literally sewing skin together. With a needle and thread! Ugh ugh ugh. You'd think they would've come up with something better than that. I mean, they invented aeroplanes, after all.

The pictures she showed us of your grandfather were really ace by the way.

[alt_sally_anne]

Those really were ace pictures! She never showed them to me when I was little. I think maybe my father doesn't know about them.

[alt_sally_anne]

And when she was talking about her brothers and sisters

I wonder if any of them are alive? They might be in the muggle camps.

We never talked about that, either, when I was little. She had NINE siblings. So even if

[alt_ron]

Nine's a lot. And some of them must've got married and had kids, too. So you could have loads of cousins.

I wonder if any of them showed magic?

[alt_pansy]

Doesn't your dad work with records and things, Ron? He could look, couldn't he?

[alt_ron]

Well, yeah. You're right.

We'd have to know their names, though.

I mean. Sally Anne. What was your mum's name before she got married? And d'you know what her sisters' names were after they got married? It wasn't just all brothers she had, right? (I mean, it could've been. Look at Ginny!)

[alt_sally_anne]

Cousins! I didn't even think about cousins.

[alt_sally_anne]

No, she had some of each. I should have asked her for their names, I didn't even think about it. Her maiden name was Goddard.

[alt_sally_anne]

And she didn't grow up anywhere near where I did. Neither of my parents did, actually -- they moved there because they thought it would be best to live somewhere very out-of-the-way. My mother grew up in Eckington. I've never been there.

[alt_ron]

Where's Eckington? Never heard of it.

[alt_sally_anne]

It's in Derbyshire.

[alt_ron]

Oh, yeah. Now I see it on the map! Did you know there's another Eckington outside Gloucester? Funny what you learn by looking at maps.

You know, we could go there sometime and see if there are any graveyards with stones or anything. You might find out something about your relatives that way.

I'll ask Dad, though, whether he could find out about any of them in the camps. You did want me to ask, right? I tried talking to him yesterday, but there was always someone around.

[alt_sally_anne]

I don't know. It's not as if I could do anything about it if he finds them.

Yes, please.