Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series.

Chapter 4
The Potter-Weasley Clan

"Effie?"

A faint sound rung in her ears, urging her to gain consciousness. A light groan escaped her lips, her eyes were sealed shut, and her brain refused to register the urgent tone of the mysterious voice.

"Effie, bloody hell, wake up!"

The shrill sound of a girl's screech jolted her awake, brown eyes sleepily blinking at her annoyed friend. Dominique was already dressed in her school robes, blonde hair brushed to perfection and blue eyes narrowed into slits.

"What time is it?" Effie asked, confused.

"It's nearly time for class and I didn't see you come down for breakfast," Dominique said blankly. She extended her hand in which she held a warm croissant. "Here's some bloody bread and get in the shower. You rarely ever sleep past six in the morning; I was beginning to get worried."

Effie blinked, attempting to process the situation. Dominique had not spoken to her in days. The very fact that she even noticed Effie was not at breakfast was mind-boggling to her. Before she could inquire if they were friends again, the blonde shooed her away and into the shower with her bread.

Dressed and somewhat satisfied with her hunger, Effie stepped into the dormitory ten minutes later with the same confusion etched in her facial expression.

"Good, you're finished," Dominique commented swiftly, hopping onto her feet and briskly walking towards the door.

"Dom," Effie called, rooted to her spot.

"What?" Dominique snapped, not turning back to face her.

"I–We–We haven't talked in days," Effie managed to stutter out.

"And?"

"And well– I'm– I just–"

"Spit it out, Effie."

"Dom, I–I'm sorry," Effie said, frustrated with her inept social skills. "I don't know what to say. You haven't exactly given me a chance to talk to you about it because you're always walking the opposite direction when I try to approach you."

"I do not," Dominique scoffed, finally turning to face her.

"Yes, you do!" Effie cried.

"I just forget my books back in the classroom, that's all," she muttered, avoiding Effie's gaze.

"Dom, you don't even bring books!"

"I do now!" Dominique countered stubbornly. "I only woke you up because Andy wouldn't be able to come up here. I still can't be around you without thinking about what you did to James."

Effie fell silent.

"And I feel like I'm the only one reacting properly!" she continued, voice strained. "Lily's been telling you random crap about James that she has no right to tell. Al and Rose are in the library doing schoolwork ninety-nine percent of the goddamn time and neither of them is giving support for James whatsoever.

"Molly and Lucy are too bloody stuck-up to defend him. Hugo and Roxanne think it's all one big joke. I don't even see Louis. The only other one who's on his side is Fred! It's ridiculous how selfish everyone else can be."

Breathing heavily, Dominique stared helplessly at her best friend. Effie was unsure of what to say. It seemed to be something the blonde was dying to say for days. Obviously the lack of family support immensely bothered her, and this was a fact about Dominique that Effie never noticed. It made her feel horrible.

Growing up in Hogwarts, the main detail Effie picked up on the Potter-Weasley clan was that they were famous for their older relatives' contributions to the Second Wizarding War. Their last names were often discussed in History of Magic, especially in lower years. Most would assume their rich background tied them together, including Effie. Oddly enough, with the way Dominique spoke about her family, they were not as they seemed.

Effie always assumed it was just Dominique who was never really close to her cousins, which was why she was initially surprised at her protective outburst concerning James, but she realized all the cousins did not exactly function with the dandy family bond everyone expected them to have.

"Everyone thinks they know us," Dominique finally spoke, no louder than a whisper. She refused to meet Effie's eyes. "We're all just a bunch of spoiled brats who can't stand the thought of our cousins besting us. Everything's just a bloody competition."

With that, Dominique left the dormitory in haste, leaving Effie with her thoughts.

At lunch, Effie sat with Andy. He gobbled down mounds of food as per usual, bulking up for the long year of Quidditch ahead. It had been a week after the article was posted. It had also been a week since Lily and Effie met. After her strange story-telling tendencies, Effie did not think it was right to contact her more about the solution to her present problem.

Something about Lily irked her, and she did not seem like the type of person whom she could trust. It was ridiculous because the girl was in Gryffindor. If she were a Slytherin, it would make more sense in Effie's head. Unfortunately, she was not, so Effie was stuck with the mystery that is Lily Potter and her questionable intentions towards her own brother.

Thoughts about the young redhead aside, Effie pondered once more on Dominique's outburst that morning. She was seated by the middle of the Ravenclaw table with her cousin Rose. They were silent as they ate the portions of lasagna on their respective plates.

"Are you two ever going to make up?" Andy suddenly asked.

Effie's head snapped back into reality.

"I told you. She wants nothing to do with me," she mumbled sadly.

"It's not your fault her family's all wonky," Andy pointed out.

"But it's my fault she had to realize that in the first place," Effie shot back. "If I hadn't released the article–"

"Effie, you can't keep dwelling on that mistake. Okay, so you released the article and Dom's pissed about it, and at the same time, her family is apparently as bloody dysfunctional as Lily Potter proclaimed the Gryffindor Quidditch Team to be. Nothing's going to change if you keep moping about it!"

Effie refused to acknowledge it aloud, but she knew that he was right. She wasted enough time feeling sorry for herself and was nowhere near close to repairing her friendship with Dominique and redeeming herself to James Potter. She thought pairing up with Lily would help her, but it only puzzled her even more.

"I'm just so lost," Effie said wearily. "I thought Lily wanted to help but it didn't seem like it with the way she was talking. Dom doesn't want to talk about it. Maybe I can talk to Al but Dom said he's in the library half of the time and I don't want to bother him about something as pathetic as this."

"There's really nothing pathetic about fixing your mistakes," Andy assured her.

Effie suddenly knew what she needed to do, but she could not bring herself to face the reality of it. All she needed was a way to cleanse her conscience and she could walk away free. She desperately wanted nothing to do with a conflict in the Potter-Weasley clan, but there was no choice but to be included at the moment.

Scanning the Gryffindor table, she locked her eyes on a certain redhead eating with a friend. She ate her lunch in a neat and proper manner, pupils wide with a sort of innocence that Effie could hardly believe. She thought about her last encounter with the young Potter.

Lily walked with her to the Great Hall for dinner after meeting Effie by Gryffindor Tower. She spoke more about her brother and Gryffindor's Quidditch Team, giving her more interior details of their cheating escapades. There was a little glint in her eye as she spoke as if she were happy that there was finally someone she could tell.

"I only came back to you because I wanted to know the real reason why you're telling me this," Effie said.

"Why do you think?" Lily replied. "I already said so. I want it stopped."

Effie resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "And how do you suppose I can do that? I'm no Gryffindor. I can't just waltz in their practice sessions and tell them to stop it."

"Dear Merlin, and I thought you Ravenclaws were supposed to be the intelligent ones," she scoffed. "You've got a paper to run, don't you? Perhaps you should start with printing headlines that actually matter."

Lily walked off to her house table after that, offering a confused Effie no more explanations.

The more Effie thought about the encounter in real time, the more she felt confused. But somehow, Dominique's outburst about her dysfunctional family relationship seemed to fit with the young Potter's attitude. Dominique claimed they were all spoiled and competitive, perhaps even jealous of each other. Lily mentioned she always wanted to play but she wanted no part in the cheating practice of her house's Quidditch Team. Could she have sent the pictures to expose that?

Effie suddenly stood, determination set in her veins. Andy jumped in surprise, looking curiously at her.

"What's up?"

"I need to look for James Potter," she declared, swinging her bag over her shoulder and rushing out of the Great Hall without another word.

Turned out, it was hardly difficult to find him. Effie went straight to her next class, hoping she would be able to catch him if he came early as well. Luckily for her, James was never really late for a class and came just as early as her. She walked in the Charms classroom and James Potter came in a minute after.

Effie spun around in surprise, elated at her luck. However, nerves swallowed the happy feeling. Now that he stood before her in an empty room, her confidence wavered and she almost ran out. He stared blankly at her, as if contemplating how to react at their current arrangements.

"Er," he began unintelligibly.

"Um, hi," Effie said quickly. "I was actually, er, looking for you."

"You were looking for me?" He frowned.

"Yeah."

"Oh."

"Er, yeah."

James blinked. "Okay, so?"

Effie could have vomited right then and there. "Right! Um, well, it's rather complicated. First off, I want to tell you that I'm sorry again. I probably should have approached you sooner. The last time doesn't really count because it was sort of a coincidence."

He opened his mouth to speak, but Effie could not seem to stop talking since she started.

"Second, I got into this huge fight with Dom, my best friend. And well, your cousin, obviously. It was about you…obviously…and she said a bunch of stuff about your family that I don't think she really meant but it sounded like she did and it really got me thinking and I think one of your cousins sent me those photos."

A pregnant pause hung in the air. James' eyebrows scrunched.

"Well, I always assumed that, I suppose," he said indifferently.

Effie gave him a look. "James, one of your family members–"

"I know, I know." He waved it off. "It was bound to be one of them. I always knew that."

"Then why didn't you say something?"

He shot her a bemused expression. "I thought it had been obvious."

Effie looked at him in sheer incredulity. "Obvious? Last time I checked, family members shouldn't be ratting each other out. Excuse me for not getting to that conclusion quicker."

"You must come from a nice family then," James snapped.

"I don't."

His expression softened.

"I just–I'm sorry," Effie said quickly. "I just assumed…well, Dominique already said some stuff about your family and I didn't really know whether to believe her or if it was in the spur of the moment–"

"Whatever she said, it was probably true," James chuckled darkly. "She's always been ahead of us, Dominique. Always been the smartest, most outgoing, and bloody likeable out of us all."

"Dom is hardly likeable," Effie laughed.

"And yet she's your best friend."

Effie blinked.

"She's rude, opinionated, and loud but she's also sweet, intelligent, and more genuine than any of us ever will be," James admitted. "Everyone's jealous of her, especially Rose. When you grow up with a big family with parents that have a lot of credentials, it becomes a game. My dad doesn't believe in any of it but it's just a cousin thing now."

Effie stared at him, unable to think of anything to reply. Suddenly it made sense why Dominique seemed so distant from her family. With the way James claimed they saw her, Dominique probably noticed and knowing her, she did not want anything to do with their drama. But that did not mean she loathed them for it. In fact, it seemed to bother her more than she let on.

"What do you mean it's a cousin thing?" Effie asked.

"All our parents think everything's fine and dandy," James replied, avoiding her eyes. "Growing up, we used to be close, I'll admit that. Then when we started to think more for ourselves, we felt our insecurities get in the way of our relationships. Rose could never seem to beat Dominique in terms of academics. Hugo didn't start his Hogwarts years as good as Fred when it came to popularity. Molly and Lucy are too busy competing against each other to give any of us their attention. Lily's just…Lily."

"Speaking of Lily–"

"You think she sent the photos," James said before Effie could continue. "I think so too."

"I–What–" Effie stuttered, unable to keep up.

"As soon as I saw her talking to you last week, I knew what she was doing," James explained. "She was telling you about the cheating, right?"

"I–Yeah."

"She tried out in her second year and I didn't put her in the team. She's been after me ever since."

"She tried out?" Effie said in shock. "But she said she didn't want to play because she wanted nothing to do with the cheating."

"What a load of crap," James snorted.

Effie felt foolish. James looked frustrated. Suddenly the door burst open and students piled in. A few gave the pair odd looks but the rest went straight to their seats. James awkwardly stood next to her for a few more seconds before clearing his throat and politely nodding at her direction. He walked away from Effie and towards his seat where Fred Weasley was already present, eyes shifting bemusedly between his cousin and the Ravenclaw.

The rest of the day passed quickly and Effie wanted nothing more than to collapse on her bed. Her thoughts whirled in her head, unable to group themselves together and resulted in a painful migraine. Effie pondered on Dominique, James, Dominique and James, and Dominique, James and the rest of the Potter-Weasley clan.

It disappointed her that even after her slightly less awkward second encounter with James Potter, she was still lost at what to do. The feeling of guilt did not waver. All she wanted to do was to get rid of it, but that was not going to happen if James Potter was going to be a step ahead of her to finding the culprit every time she thought she found a good lead. Then again if it were indeed within his own family, James would definitely know whom to suspect first.

Effie was determined to help whether he liked it or not, but she was worried what would come out of meddling with Potter-Weasley drama. It seemed even bigger now that she knew that they did not exactly get along in a conventional family way. It was surprising, to say the least. Effie never expected something like this, but she had to try to fix it for Dominique and James. She needed it for herself too.

By the time it was dinner, Andy ditched Effie for a Quidditch meeting. Effie called off the Owl's Post meeting for today to give everyone a day off. She had hoped that after her somewhat successful (but morally wrong) first issue of the year, a number of students would like to join the club. Unfortunately she was yet to be approached. Then again she still remained optimistic for the rest of the year, knowing there were still aspiring journalists out there.

On the way to the Great Hall, she planned on grabbing a piece of bread and heading straight to her dormitory. Her appetite wavered significantly since her conversation with James. She thought of bringing up a plate for Andy since he was bound to miss dinner due to his Quidditch priorities, but then realized he would drag her to the kitchens anyway.

As she reached the Great Hall's double doors, she noticed a tall figure standing by the entrance. His hair was light and red and his posture was straight and confident. Effie was determined to walk straight past him but he turned to catch her eye before she could.

"Greengrass," he uncharastically greeted her with a lazy salute.

Effie stopped a few feet to his left.

"Er, hello," she replied awkwardly.

"Fred Weasley." He extended a hand.

Effie shifted ungracefully towards him to take it in hers.

"I'm, um, Effie."

"Good to finally meet you, Effie," he said with a glint in his eye. "But you know what they say about journalists! They know you before they meet you!"

He heartily laughed. Effie felt sick.

"I…guess."

"I'm only playin'," he chuckled. "James forgives you anyway. I know he does."

A redness spread across her cheeks. "You don't know that…"

"Oh, but I do," Fred said with a genuine smile. "It's how he is. Can't stay angry for long. Always here to please."

"But–But that doesn't matter," Effie stuttered. "What I did was horrible to him. I would have murdered me if it were me."

"He doesn't think it's your fault," Fred explained. "All he's been talking about the past week is who amongst us did it. And when he mentions you, it's only to recap how you received it. He doesn't blame you at all, you know."

"He should."

"But he won't." His eyes turned sad. "If he's anything, he's reasonable. And well, he doesn't like conflicts. He's dead afraid of confrontation and hates the attention. Picking a fight with you is something he'd never do. The easiest thing to do would be to forgive and forget."

"That's something we have in common then," Effie chuckled. "But I have a limit. This should have been a limit. I can't imagine that anyone can keep their cool with a situation like this. Even I wouldn't, even if it means conflict and confrontation."

"Well, that's James for you," Fred laughed. "He's a bit odd when you get to know him."

Effie could not add things up. "I still don't understand. Everyone perceives him to be so different."

"Maybe you should ask him then?" Fred suggested. "He's complicated, but when you get him to open up, he'll make you understand."

Effie fell silent.

"You should help him," Fred suddenly spoke. "I know he thinks it was Lily, and I think you should help him figure it all out. He's a bit uncomfortable around the family and perhaps he'd move a bit quicker with his investigation if you were involved.

"Doesn't really like talking to Lily alone either. Creeps him out."

"Why don't you go with him then?" Effie asked quietly but already had an idea of his answer.

"When he says he thinks it's one of the family, that includes me," Fred said sadly, confirming Effie's suspicions. "I don't mind. It's only natural for us, but I always thought the drama was stupid, you know? It's really sad how we act as a family, but I don't know what to do about it.

"You should approach him again. I could tell he appreciated the last time. Just offer your help and he'll gladly take it. I'm sure of it."

Effie softened at the sincerity and worry in his tone. Besides Dominique, Fred seemed to be too tired of the situation as well. It also looked like it hurt that James possibly suspected him, but Fred reacted as if it were completely normal and understandable. He was right. It was all very depressing, and Effie felt a pang in her heart for him.

"Okay, I'll do it," Effie said, surprising herself. "I'll–I'll talk to him soon."

Fred shot her a genuine grin. "Thanks, Effie."

With a wave, he jogged into the Great Hall and towards his house table. Effie stayed rooted on her spot for a while, registering in her brain what exactly just happened. Suddenly she realized, was Fred waiting for her to arrive all along?

Author's Note:

First of all, Happy Holidays everyone! I'd like to thank my reviewers and readers who continue to motivate me every single day. I'm so determined to finish this story because of you all and I would love if you kept the motivation going.

About the chapter, here's the big reveal. A lot of subtle interactions in the previous chapters sort of implied the weird relationship of the Potter-Weasley kids but this chapter basically explained everything.

I like to believe that growing up with a family like theirs really made an impact in their own self-development because they grew up differently from a normal child. For one thing, their entire family is famous and important. I feel like that encouraged competition among the cousins to see which one of them can impress the family more or which one has the most potential to be as successful.

I also imagine they were immensely spoiled and they probably compared themselves to one another a bit too much, resulting in their odd relationship as teenagers in my story.

If you'd kindly drop a review, I'd like to know: What do you think about my take on the Potter-Weasley kids? I understand it's a bit different from the usual but does it seem like it makes sense? What do you think of my OC, Effie, so far? Do you think Lily sent the photos? If not, who do you think did?

PS- I plotted all the chapters to this story and the outcome will have 20 chapters.