"We don't like what we don't understand. In fact it scares us."

The Villagers (Beauty and the Beast)


Scarlett stepped out of the green flames and looked around, dragging her trunk to her side and reaching up to push her hair out of her eyes. Her mother stepped out soon after and smiled warmly.

"Try to relax," she said. "I know you're nervous, but everything will be fine."

Scarlett simply nodded before stepping further into the narrow room. It was obviously a kitchen, with a long wooden table in the middle, a sink, counter space and even a pantry that looked pretty well stocked. It was a dim room and if it was any indication of how old the house was, well, the house definitely wasn't new.

"I know it's a little…" Scarlett's mother began.

"Dim? Gross? Not our house?" Scarlett asked, giving her mother a perplexed look.

"Scarlett, it's not gross, it's just old."

"Yeah, I'll say. It looks older than Great Grandma Martha and she's what, a hundred and two?"

"Scarlett," her mother warned. There was a pause. "And she's a hundred and one."

"Close enough," Scarlett shrugged.

"Will you stop acting like that?"

"Like what?"

"I know you're nervous," her mother plowed on, ignoring Scarlett's question, "and I know you don't quite understand why we're here but staying here won't be so bad and you will understand eventually."

Scarlett didn't answer. "Where is everyone?" she finally asked. "It's oddly quiet in here."

The words had just barely escaped her mouth when there was suddenly the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. A short redheaded woman appeared, followed by a tall man, also with red hair. Scarlett smiled. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley hadn't changed a bit.

"Jenna!" Mrs. Weasley nearly yelled. "It's been so long." She pulled Scarlett's mother into a hug, leaving Scarlett and Mr. Weasley staring at each other.

"Hi, it's good to see you," Scarlett said politely.

"It's good to see you too," Mr. Weasley said. He smiled and hugged Scarlett, which surprised her.

"Oh, and Scarlett!" Mrs. Weasley gasped, grabbing Scarlett in a tight hug the second she had been released by Mr. Weasley. "You've gotten so pretty! Not that you weren't pretty before, but I haven't seen you since you were a little girl!" She grinned at her. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Scarlett said, "how are you?"

"I'm doing just fine, considering how bad things are getting," Mrs. Weasley said with a sigh and a shrug. A second later, though, she broke into another grin. "Oh, come here," she said, grabbing Scarlett into another death grip of a hug.

"Don't squeeze the life out of her, Mum," said a voice from the doorway. "Let her breathe."

Scarlett broke away from Mrs. Weasley and looked towards the sound of the voice. Fred Weasley was standing there, leaning against the wall, arms crossed and wearing the smirk he had had even at age nine. Scarlett found herself feeling glad and slightly proud that she hadn't lost her ability to tell the twins apart. She honestly had expected to not have a clue.

"Fred," Mrs. Weasley said. "You remember Scarlett, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Fred answered, pushing off the wall and walking over to join them. "We used to dig in the backyard for worms when we were what, six? Seven?"

"I remember that and I can't believe I actually thought it was entertaining," Scarlett said with a half-smile.

"Well, you did," Fred said, smiling.

Everyone stood in silence for a few moments until Mr. Weasley cleared his throat nervously. "Well then, Molly, do you want to show Jenna and Scarlett where they'll be sleeping?"

"Of course," Mrs. Weasley said. "Scarlett, if it's okay, you'll be sharing with Ginny and Hermione."

"Okay," Scarlett agreed, picking up her trunk.

"I can get that," Fred offered.

"No, I got it," Scarlett answered. "Thanks, though."

"Fred, help Scarlett carry her trunk," Mrs. Weasley called over her shoulder as she led Scarlett's mother towards the stairs.

"She said she-,"

"Well I said help her!" Mrs. Weasley said sternly.

"I have to help you," Fred said, his voice low as he smiled at Scarlett. He picked up her trunk and headed for the stairs. "I'll show you to Ginny's room."

"So, what is this place?" Scarlett asked. "My mum didn't say much."

"It's headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix; an organization Dumbledore started against You-Know-Who during the first wizard war." They had reached the top of the stairs and were standing at the end of a long hallway.

"It's a lovely place," Scarlett said with a laugh, aiming a tiny kick at a troll foot umbrella stand.

"Isn't it?" Fred snorted. He gestured to the umbrella stand. "That's not even the worst part."

"It's not?"

"No. The upstairs hallway is lined with house-elf heads."

"Real ones?" Scarlett squeaked.

Fred nodded. "House elves have been in this family for generations and whenever they die, their heads get hung on the wall. They actually consider it an honor."

Scarlett shuddered. "How can Sirius stand it? How can anybody stand it?"

"Beats me," Fred shrugged. They stared at each other awkwardly for a few seconds before Fred continued. "There's the front door down there. The kitchen, where we just were, is in the basement. Your room is on the next floor. Your mum, my parents and Sirius are two floors above you. I'm only one floor above you with George. Ron's down the hall from us with Harry…when Harry gets here of course, but we don't know when that is yet. My parents are trying to arrange a time to pick him up."

"Oh," Scarlett said, following him up the stairs. She wasn't sure of what else to say.

"You don't look or sound too happy to be here," Fred observed.

"I'm not," she admitted. "It makes no sense for me to be here. It's kind of fishy."

"I know and my mum wouldn't say anything about it."

"Neither would mine. So, why are you here?"

"I have to be," Fred shrugged. "It's safer and my parents are in the Order. Since this is headquarters, I guess it's easier to just be living here. George and I would be in the Order too if mum would let us. Anyway, this is your room." He stopped at a dark wooden door and knocked.

"What do you—oh." Ginny had flung open her door and was staring at them. "I didn't know Scarlett was here yet."

"Well, she is," Fred said, moving past Ginny to set Scarlett's trunk down by the bed that wasn't already piled with clothes.

"I'm in the middle of unpacking," Ginny said to Scarlett.

"Yeah, so excuse the mess," Fred said.

"Oh, please. Your room probably isn't much better. The only difference is that yours will be messy all summer. This room will only be messy until everything's put away."

"Oh well," Fred shrugged. "This place is already dirty enough. What's a little more mess?"

"It won't be dirty for long," Mrs. Weasley said, appearing in the doorway. "Soon, we're going to be doing a thorough cleaning of this place and everyone's going to help."

"Of course," Scarlett said, feeling almost intimidated by Mrs. Weasley's stern glare.

"You don't have to give in to her," Fred said, smirking. "You could have just said no and watched her get even angrier."

"Why would I want to do that?" Scarlett asked.

"It's entertaining. Mum kind of has a short fuse. Ginny, too."

"We do not!" the two girls snapped.

"See?" Fred asked, nudging Scarlett. "You're getting reacquainted with my family already."

"Yeah, how about you get reacquainted with her," Mrs. Weasley muttered.

"Relax, relax," Fred said, holding up his hands. "For your information, I have been. We bonded all the way up the stairs."

"Hardly," Scarlett laughed.

"Shh," Fred hissed, but he was smiling as well.

Mrs. Weasley swatted him. "So, I'll let you get settled in," she said to Scarlett. "Your mother's two floors up in the second room on the left. Come on, Fred."

"Yeah, it's about time I got back to George," he said.

"Why? You aren't making more owl-order forms for your joke products, are you?"

"No, of course not," Fred answered, looking offended. "It's just that George gets lonely if I leave him alone too long. He's a big baby. Needs lots of attention. Sometimes he cries and everything. I think I can hear him now, actually."

"Fred, don't exaggerate," Mrs. Weasley scolded, but Fred didn't answer. Instead, he slipped out the door, throwing a wink over his shoulder at Scarlett, confirming her suspicions that he was most definitely making owl order forms for joke products.

"So, where's Hermione?" Scarlett asked once Mrs. Weasley had left the room and shut the door behind her.

"Probably off looking for Kreacher," Ginny answered, grabbing a sweater off the bed and hanging it in the closet.

"Kreacher?"

"The house elf that lives here. He belongs to Sirius, just like the house does. Hermione's big on house elf rights and she doesn't think Sirius is very nice to Kreacher. I guess that's true in a way, but Kreacher isn't nice to anyone. He's downright awful."

"Sounds like a joy," Scarlett sighed. "Hermione must hate the house elf heads, then."

"Everyone hates the house elf heads," Ginny said, rolling her eyes. "Aren't you going to start unpacking? There won't be much closet space, splitting it three ways, but-,"

"It's okay, I don't have much," Scarlett said, kneeling down and opening her trunk. "So," she said after a short pause, "Sirius-,"

"—is not a murderer," Ginny said, almost automatically.

"That's not what I-," Scarlett began. She stopped and took a breath. "I mean, I figured he was innocent since we're staying here. I trust my mum and your parents too, no matter how long it's been since I've seen them."

"Oh, right," Ginny said. "Sorry. It's just tiring being one of the only few people who know that Sirius is innocent. The Ministry still thinks he's a killer, so everyone else does, too."

"It's alright. I was just going to say, well, Sirius owns this place?"

"Yeah, he grew up here."

"I'm guessing he's not allowed to leave since most people still think he's a murderer?"

Ginny nodded. "He doesn't like it much, but he's still really glad the house is being used as headquarters. Loads of people are always coming in and out and now we're here for the rest of the summer. This way he always has company."

Scarlett nodded and carried a pile of clothes to the closet. "I like this," she said, pointing to one of Ginny's shirts hanging inside.

Ginny smiled. "Thanks. I saved up for that shirt for months. It's always nice buying clothes that aren't secondhand."

"Mm," Scarlett agreed. "There was a time—just after my dad died, actually, where my mum and I didn't have a lot of money. Hardly any, actually. We're doing better now, but we're still not exactly the richest family in the world…." She trailed off and shrugged, feeling as if she had said too much. "Anyway, my point is that I know how you feel. I've been there." She started hanging up her clothes to have something to do with her hands.

Ginny sat down on her bed. "Do you talk much about your dad to other people?"

Scarlett shrugged again. "Not really. I talked to my mother a little, but it took forever to be able to even do that. For a while I didn't want to talk to anyone at all, never mind about him. And I don't have any siblings, so there weren't many people around."

"Well, for what it's worth, if you want to talk, you can talk to me. It's better late than never, right?" Ginny said.

"Yeah," Scarlett said with a half-smile. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Ginny said, returning the smile.

Scarlett was still feeling a little nervous, but for the most part, the jittery feeling was subsiding. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad living here after all. It would just take a little getting used to, but she had the feeling that she would be fine.


"Should we even tell them?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "Is it the right thing?"

Scarlett froze and held her breath outside the kitchen door. She had been about to go down to see if she could help with dinner when she had overheard Mrs. Weasley.

"Of course. They have to know." That was her mother's voice.

"But what if telling them only makes them feel obligated to be together? You know, since they have to be together eventually. What if they just go through the motions because they have to? Or worse, what if they continue to simply be acquaintances until they're twenty when they have no choice but to be more than that?"

What were they talking about? Scarlett had no idea. It sounded like somebody was being forced into a relationship. Scarlett tried to take a step back, but she bumped into someone. With a gasp, she spun around. Sirius Black was standing there. She recognized him from the old wanted posters. The only difference was that now he was a whole lot cleaner and neater looking.

"Scarlett, right?" he asked, smiling.

She smiled back. "Guilty," she shrugged. Then, she clapped her hands over her mouth. "I'm sorry, I mean not guilty! I mean—," she took a deep breath. "I'm Scarlett, yeah. Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like a jerk."

Sirius chuckled and patted her shoulder. "No need to be sorry. I've had people react much worse."

"I know you're innocent," Scarlett said, still embarrassed.

"I figured," Sirius said, "or else you wouldn't be here."

"I'm sorry," she said again.

"Honestly, forget about it," Sirius grinned.

Scarlett nodded and gestured to the kitchen. "I was just-,"

"Eavesdropping?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Er, yes," she said.

"There are better ways to eavesdrop than standing outside the door. Just ask Fred and George."

"What do you-?"

Sirius bent down and picked something up off the floor that Scarlett hadn't noticed. It was an ear. An ear? Sirius handed it to her, smirking, before heading down into the kitchen. As soon as he had, there was the sound of laughter from above. Scarlett looked up and saw the twins leaning over the banister, holding the end of a string. They pulled on it and the ear began to rise out of Scarlett's hand.

"What is that?" she asked as Fred and George came down the stairs and joined her, still laughing.

"Brilliant!" Fred said through his laughter. "'Guilty! I mean, not guilty'!"

"It wasn't funny! I made a fool out of myself and Sirius probably thinks I'm crazy!"

"No, he doesn't. He's cool," George said. "Hey, you remember me, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Scarlett said. "We go to school together."

"Yeah, but-,"

"I know we haven't talked in a while. That doesn't mean I forgot you."

"Okay, okay, you didn't forget me. That is the kind of impression I like to have on people."

"So, you never answered my question. What is this? What does it do?" Scarlett pointed at the ear-on-a-string in George's hand.

"It's an Extendable Ear," George answered proudly.

"We invented it," Fred added. "It allows us to eavesdrop on any conversation."

"The only thing is they don't work when there's an Imperturbable Charm on the door. Mum's gotten smart and started putting the charm up, but she clearly forgot this time," George finished.

"So you heard what they were saying?" Scarlett asked.

The twins nodded.

"And? What do you think?"

They looked at each other. "Well, we think they were talking about you."

"Me?" Scarlett asked. "It sounded like they were talking about someone having to be with someone else. It sounds like they're worried about the person's reaction."

"Yeah, your reaction," Fred said. "Your mum's in there, so you have to be involved somehow."

"Not necessarily and your mum's in there too!"

"Yeah, but if this had to do with you, it would explain why you're here. We already know why we're here, but you…" Fred shook his head. "Maybe they're setting you up with someone. Maybe you have to be with a Death Eater and your mum is protecting you by bringing you here until they figure out what to do."

"That's utterly ridiculous! And it makes no sense!"

"We think it does," George smirked.

"Are you trying to mess with me?"

"No," Fred and George said together.

"Anyway," Scarlett said, "your mother said 'should we even tell them'. I don't think my mother's going to tell a Death Eater anything."

"Maybe she has to. Maybe this is all a bribe from a Death Eater or even You-Know-Who himself."

"That's crazy. You-Know-Who doesn't sit around planning stuff like that."

"How would you know? Did he tell you that? Did he knock on your door and say-,"

"Have you always been this annoying?"

Fred and George burst out laughting. "I'm sorry," Fred said through his laughter, "it's really not that funny, but picturing You-Know-Who knocking on the door and asking someone if they've always been annoying is just-,"

"I was asking you that," Scarlett said.

Fred and George looked at each other again. "We know, and yes, we have," they answered together.

"Yes, I suppose you have. I still have flashbacks to when you gave me a 'haircut' when I was sleeping."

"Oh, right. That was during your sleepover with Ginny in our living room."

"Yes and my hair was very uneven when I woke up."

"Your mother fixed it in two seconds," George said.

Before Scarlett could retaliate, Mrs. Weasley came up the kitchen stairs. "Oh, good, getting to know each other?" she asked.

"We already know each other, Mum," Fred said, rolling his eyes.

"Yes, well, come down to the kitchen and help get dinner started."

"Are you going to tell us why Scarlett's here?" Fred asked.

"Yes," Mrs. Weasley sighed, turning to go back downstairs.

"Nervous?" Fred smirked as they followed her.

"No, because you're wrong," Scarlett hissed. "For all we know, it could be you getting paired with some Death Eater like Bellatrix Lestrange or something and I'm here to provide moral support."

"That makes even less sense than my theory," Fred answered. "You're nervous, aren't you?"

"No," Scarlett said. When Fred looked away, she bit her lip because if she was being honest with herself, she was incredibly nervous.