So here I am once again, beginning yet another part of this journey! This one isn't as long, but we're only just starting, right?! Thank you to everyone who has patiently waited for Part 5 to get started. I'm terribly sorry it took so long, and that I left you all with a cruel cliff-hanger! However, I've been extremely busy with college-life. It's pretty intense! I have managed to write this up for you all though, just to kick things off. We've got PLENTY of ground to cover! Lord help me - and I don't mean Lord Voldemort (cue lonely-self-laugh cause the joke wasn't funny).
The Order of the Phoenix - PART 5!
Summary - It's time to take on the challenging fifth year and get ready for the O. , but that would be much easier without heartache, family issues, an unbearable teacher, and a Dark Lord on the loose.
(Such a vague summary...)
So... Did anyone die after the attack at Selwyn Mansion?
Enjoy! :) xoxo
Restart
It was pouring. People had been talking about how this summer was meant to be an extremely warm one, but all Jessica had seen so far was rain - although, she was quite aware that she still had a long while of summer left. A soft rumble of thunder was heard, but she didn't flinch. She hadn't moved much since the healers did their work. It had been four days since the attack, and although she'd unconscious for two of them, she knew it had been four days of nothing but gloomy weather, downpours of rain and thunder every now and then. "Lunch is ready." Josh grinned, a little too excitedly, as he walked - or rather slightly limped - toward her with a tray in hand. He'd been abnormally cheerful since the healers allowed him to get out of his bed and wander around. Everyone adored him at St Mungo's - but Jessica wasn't at all amused by his cheerfulness. "C'mon Munchkin, Nancy made it." Jessica could hear the smirk in Josh's voice. She simply rolled her eyes at him. She didn't want food made by Nancy - she didn't want to be there at all.
"Afternoon children!" A chirpy healer waltzed in, carrying her usual healing kit. "I've got your medicine ready and if you take all of it, I can discharge you both by this evening."
"Hear that?" Joshua grinned. "We could head on back-"
"Back where, exactly, Joshua?" Jessica sneered. "It's not like we have a house to get back to."
Joshua fell silent, and Jessica felt thankful. She watched as the healer set up five different bottles of medicines on Jessica's table, and began explaining what each one would do. It didn't take long for the healer to realise that Jessica wasn't listening, so with an almost inaudible sigh, she went on to explain Joshua's set. "Dad's sorting it, you know?" Joshua said, a few good minutes after the healer had left. "It's not like we'll be homeless or anything. I mean, yeah, we are, but we're not... And-"
"Just shut up, Josh." Jessica muttered.
"There's nothing we could've done." Joshua said, running a hand through his hair.
"So, why do I get the feeling there was?" Jessica said. She felt her eyes sting and took a deep, shaky breath. Joshua glanced over to her, and without saying a word he got up and sat down next to her on her bed.
"Jess-"
"What if our only option is to give in?" Jessica asked. Joshua wrapped his arms around her now, and he pulled her into a tight hug.
"That will never be an option." Joshua said, firmly. "No matter what happens, Jess, we can't give in to them. We won't play their game."
"They could've killed us." Jessica whispered.
The healers and their father had tried asking them both to explain the events of the attack in the upmost detail since they'd woken up, but neither really wanted to speak much on it. Joshua had told their father about Marcus Flint, because that's all he really knew. He didn't know who was downstairs, nor did he know who'd attacked Jess. Jessica, however, refused to speak on it altogether. "Don't think about it that way." Joshua smiled slightly. "We're fine, aren't we? Besides, we've got a good number on our side."
"But-"
"And we'll fight, Jess." Joshua said, giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze. "This is war. It's no joke. It'll be frightening, and there will be times where we'll sit and wonder if this is all worth it. But it is, and we know it is. Voldemort gets his strength from his followers, but let's face it, they're not all as smart as they think they are."
"Family hug without us?" Anna said, as she walked into the room with their father right behind her, carrying what seemed to be cake.
"What's the occasion?" Joshua asked as he stared at the cake.
"Well, I suppose your discharge could be a celebration." Athos grinned. "And I'm certain you all love chocolate cake."
"Does it have strawberries?" Jessica asked, with a slight sniffle.
"I wouldn't dare bring you chocolate cake without strawberries!" Athos said, feigning shock and making Jessica smile at him for the first time in what seemed like a long time.
x.x
"Twelve, Grimmauld Place?" Joshua said, furrowing his eyebrows.
"It's a much safer and less obvious option." Remus said, as he grabbed himself another slice of the carrot cake that Mrs Weasley had baked.
"And I'll be there all day to keep an eye on things." Sirius grinned.
"Oh wow, isn't your life exciting?" Joshua said, sarcastically, and Sirius sneered in response. Joshua folded the piece of parchment Remus had handed him and placed it safely in his pocket. "So, any news on-"
"Joshua James Selwyn!" Lila screeched as she barged into the Weasley household. "How dare you!"
"Uh-oh." Sirius said, teasingly. Remus greeted Lila with a nod, before pulling Sirius up and heading out of the room to give the two teenagers a little privacy.
"Hey... Babe..." Joshua grinned, somewhat uneasily.
"You nearly die and you didn't even think about letting me know?" Lila said, as she hit him across the head. He ducked before she could hit him a second time. "You absolute idiot!"
"Babe, you're going to give me a concussion." Joshua said, as he avoided yet another hit.
"I could kill you myself!" Lila spat.
"Now, there will be no killing in this house." Mrs Weasley said.
"You hear that? No killing." Joshua grinned, thankful to have Mrs Weasley on his side.
"Take it outside if you must." Mrs Weasley said, giving Lila a tap on the shoulder, before she went on to retrieve the remains of the carrot cake. Joshua glared at her, eyes wide. Lila simply stared at him, still furious.
"Now, babe, let's be reasonable here." Joshua said.
"Oh, I'll be reasonable." Lila said, viciously. "I'll be reasonable once I find that bitch of a mother you have and wring her bloody little neck!"
"It was Flint, remember." Joshua said, rolling his eyes at the thought.
"As if she's got nothing to do with this." Lila said, glaring at him.
"She's always got something to do with it. She's always involved." Jessica said, irritably, as she entered the room. "Hello, Lila."
"Jess, how are you?" Lila said, in a much more concerned tone. She walked over to Jess and pulled into a rather tight hug - one that rivalled her brother's, easily.
"I'll be fine once I can breathe." Jessica said, as she struggled to break free. Lila let her go, eventually, but maintain her concerned look. "I'm fine. Really."
"So..." Lila said, turning to face Joshua once again. "What now?"
"We stay in a safe place until September." Joshua said, with a shrug.
"I meant, what action do we take to find your mother." Lila said, rolling her eyes.
"We don't." Joshua said, flatly. He took notice of Jessica rolling her eyes and puffing out her cheeks behind Lila.
"We don't." Lila repeated. "We don't? Are you absolutely out of your mind?"
"It wouldn't be safe." Remus said, re-entering the room. He didn't bother hiding the fact that he'd clearly been eavesdropping.
"Since when has any of this nonsense been safe? Why would it stop you now?" Lila argued.
"She has a point, you know?" Sirius said, standing by the front door.
"Sirius-"
"Come on, Remus!" Sirius grinned, a plan already formulating in his head. "Even if she wasn't there, she's behind all this. How else would that Flick boy have known where to go or how to get in?"
"It's Flint." Joshua said, turning his head slightly to glance back at Sirius.
"Whatever." Sirius said, with a wave of a hand. He was about to tell everyone his master plan, but was shocked back to reality when Jessica stormed passed him, out the door. He froze for a few seconds, staring at everyone in the room. "Should someone-"
"Just give her some space for a while." Joshua said.
x.x
Jessica viciously kicked and pushed her way through the high grass of the Weasley land. She was upset - angry, even - and she had to take it out on someone, or something at least. She sniffed as she ripped a leaf from somewhere beside her. When had she started crying? "They shouldn't let you wander out here, you're small and the plants hide you too easily." Athos said, as he approached his little girl.
"Go away." Jessica spat. She wasn't angry at him, she was just angry, and she didn't want to be around anyone.
"I'd be upset if I didn't know that's not what you really meant." Athos said. Jessica groaned, irritably, and dropped. She didn't care that her clothes were getting muddy, or that there were possibly bugs crawling around. Athos silently walked up to her and crouched down beside her. "Things will change, sweetheart. I'm aware it's all a bit... Shit... But I promise it'll change."
"You've never said 'shit' in front of me before." Jessica laughed slightly.
"I got you to smile, so I might have to use it more often." Athos said.
"I love you." Jessica said, as she wrapped her arms around her father. Athos smiled and returned the hug. "Don't ever leave us."
"I wouldn't dream of it." Athos assured.
"No... I mean it." Jessica said, sitting up properly again. "Don't be careless about this, okay? You really need to think outside the box and outsmart mum. Whether or not she's doing this because she's scared is beside the point, okay? Nothing's stopping her from attacking again."
"Unless Marcus Flint is captured and he names her, we can't do anything about her just yet. At least not legally-"
"She was there!" Jessica said, desperately.
"Jessica-"
"I'm sorry! I know I should've said something sooner, but... I don't know! I'm just... I feel confused and... I'm sorry." Jessica hugged him again, sobbing into his shirt.
"Jessica..." Athos said, sounding firmer now. "Was it her? Did she... Was it your mother that..."
"She didn't mean it." Jessica said, desperately, as though she was trying to convince herself of her words. "She didn't. She wouldn't."
x.x
"Well... This is..." Jessica began, as she allowed herself into Sirius Black's home and set her bags on the floor. There was a long, dark hallway, with a few chandeliers hanging off the ceiling. The wallpaper was peeling and the carpet looked worn.
"Dusty." Joshua said, making a face.
"Yes, well, it could use some work." Sirius admitted. He walked further down the hallway, stopping by one of the portraits hanging on the wall. "This here is Walburga Black!"
"Awesome." Joshua said, completely uninterested.
"Right, well, the kitchen is down the stairs, over there." Sirius said, pointing towards the far end of the corridor. "You two can pick out rooms on the second floor for yourselves, Anna and your dad. Just make yourselves at home."
"Great." Jessica muttered, though she was rather thankful Sirius hadn't heard her. He had eagerly walked down toward the kitchen. She didn't want to hurt his feelings, and she was truly grateful to have a safe place to sleep at night, but nothing could compare to the Mansion.
It was well past midnight when Athos and Remus arrived at Grimmauld Place. Sirius was downstairs, in the kitchen with an open bottle of fire whiskey and a newspaper. "They found him, Flint, but he ran off." Sirius said, with obvious disgust. "When I get my hands on him-"
"Sirius." Remus warned. He walked up to the cupboards, searching for something to eat. He sighed when he found nothing. "I'm assuming you didn't bother feeding the children."
"I fed them!" Sirius said, irritably.
"All this... Shit... Going on, and all Fudge seems to care about is resigning." Athos huffed.
"Look at him, Remus, he's saying big-boy words." Sirius teased.
"Shut up." Athos muttered. He very childishly groaned and took a seat at the table. "I'm hungry."
"Yes, well, there's nothing to eat." Remus said, rolling his eyes.
"You do realise you're a wizard." Sirius said, raising his eyebrow. He smirked when he noticed Remus's surprised look.
"Too lazy for magic." Athos mumbled.
"He's had a long day." Remus said, sympathetically.
"And I've been here all day with two teenagers." Sirius frowned.
"They're good kids, though." Remus said.
"True." Sirius shrugged. "But they're still moody teenagers."
"Who've just lost their home, so be nice." Remus said.
"Geez, no need to talk about us behind our backs." Joshua smirked, as he waltzed in. A very sleepy-looking Jessica followed.
"It's late." Athos said.
"We're not five, you know?" Joshua said, rolling his eyes. "So I was upstairs, thinking to myself-"
"Oh no." Remus said.
"And if this is meant to be the Orders new hideout, then shouldn't more people be here by now?" Joshua continued, ignoring Remus.
"They were meant to arrive today." Sirius nodded.
"So why didn't they?" Joshua asked curiously.
"What are you getting at?" Athos asked.
"Nothing." Joshua said, raising his arms up in defeat. When the three adults glared at him, he grinned innocently. "Nothing, this time, I swear. Just curious."
"Well..." Sirius began, suspiciously. "I don't know, but-"
There was a sudden, loud thump on the floor upstairs, which made dust fall from the ceiling. They all looked up curiously, wondering what to do next - apart from Joshua, who could only think of how dusty the place still was. "Sirius!" A voice called out. Jessica furrowed her eyebrows and glanced over at Joshua, who simply shrugged back at her.
"We're down here!" Sirius yelled back. There was a big grin on his face. In a matter of seconds, footsteps were heard, sprinting down the stairs and round the hallway. A figure soon stopped by the kitchen door. Jessica didn't know who she was, but she couldn't help think that she looked familiar. She had bright pink hair, glistening hazel eyes, and was extremely pale - but not in a sickeningly way. "Tonks. I'm sure you remember Joshua and Jessica." Sirius said.
"Tonks? As in Nymphadora Tonks?" Joshua asked. "Damn... You don't look half bad."
Tonks, as Sirius had called her, approached Joshua with a smile. She patted him on the head affectionately, before whacking him. Jessica raised an eyebrow, amused. "Don't. Call. Me. Nymphadora." Tonks said through gritted teeth. Joshua scowled back at her and rubbed his head.
Yey, Tonks! I love her so much. So adorable.
So... The Selwyn's are going to be at Grimmauld Place for a while... I wonder what will happen when Harry, Hermione and Ron find out...
Until next time! Xoxo!