Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling. I'm only having fun with her characters. :)
"Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up."
-James A. Baldwin
Chapter 10: An Attack, Role Reversals, Something Unexpected, and Serious Sirius
"Beth wake up," Ginny said as she shook her friend awake.
"Wha? What's going on?!" Beth said as she quickly sat up.
"Hurry up. Something's happened to Dad and we need to go to Dumbledore's office right now.
"Sweet Merlin! Why didn't you say that in the first place?" Beth said as she stumbled out of bed. She quickly slipped on her slippers and grabbed her robe to put on to cover her pajamas.
Soon they reached Dumbledore's office and were told that Harry had witnessed Mr. Weasley being attacked by a snake. Then he informed them they would be traveling by portkey. He didn't mention where, but Beth assumed they would be going to Headquarters. They went off in pairs- Beth and George; Fred and David; Ginny and Ron.
As soon as Beth let go of the portkey, she was being pulled into a bone crushing hug from Mrs. Weasley. After all of her children (yes, she considered Beth and David her children) had returned safely from Hogwarts, Mrs. Weasley started to pack a bag. She didn't know how long she was going to spend at St. Mungo's but it's better to be safe than sorry. After she gave hugs to everyone, even Sirius, she left to tend to her husband.
-x-
Their trunks filled with all of their clothing were sent to them only a half hour after they arrived. Ginny said that she was going to wrap all of the Christmas presents she bought since this will probably be the only time she'll be able to do it. Although Beth believed that she was only doing it now because Ginny hated waiting on the sidelines.
David and Ron fell asleep on the couch so they were sent to bed immediately.
"Up to bed, you two!" Beth said.
"Aw, we're not tired. We want to stay up longer," David said as he yawned.
Beth snorted. "I mean it. Up to bed. Now," she demanded.
"Bloody hell David, you're sister sounds like my mum," Ron grumbled as he left the room.
"I heard that Ron!" Beth said sternly, but the smile betrayed her feelings.
Sirius and Fred were comparing pranks they pulled on people.
"You managed to prank the Slytherins into doing the can-can during breakfast?" Fred asked in awe.
"Yep," Sirius said smugly.
"How'd you do it?" Fred asked.
"We got the house elves to spike their punch with a potion that Remus brewed. The house elves would do anything for James. Was quite handy," Sirius explained.
Fred just stared at the older man, completely speechless.
George was sitting on the floor, just staring straight into the fire that was roaring in the fireplace. It was quite odd that he wasn't discussing pranks with Sirius and Fred, but they dismissed it as the late hour and that fact that he was nervous about his dad.
Beth was now reading Mansfield Park and looked occasionally at George every now and then to see if he moved at all.
-x-
It was now after two o'clock and only Beth and George were still awake. George was still sitting on the floor, staring at the fire. Beth was still reading, but after reading the same paragraph over for the past ten minutes, she decided she was done with reading for the night. She closed the book, carefully marking the page and got off the couch to sit down next to George.
"George, are you okay?" Beth asked, concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said. But Beth instantly knew that he was lying.
"George, don't lie to me. Something's bothering you. It feels better to talk it out than keep it to yourself," she said as she grabbed his hand.
"Look at me, for example. I used to be quiet and bookish. I never got into fights and I never stood up for myself. Now, I've defied the Ministry's judgment, and I'm more loud and disruptive. Hell, most of that happened during the first two weeks of school. All because I bottled up my emotions," she said.
She stared into the dying fire.
"I'm scared, Beth," George said quietly after a few minutes of silence.
"I don't know what to do. I want to fight; I want to get those bastards that hurt my dad. I also realized that if something happened to you...I wouldn't know what to do. I can't loose you Beth," his voice cracked and his eyes looked glassy.
Suddenly she was sitting in George's lap, and he buried his head in her hair. He needed her to comfort him; just like she had when she saw her boggart.
"It's okay, George, I'm not going anywhere," she said softly as she wrapped her arms around him.
Unknown to Beth and George, Sirius had witnessed the entire conversation between the two.
-x-
"David and Beth! Wanna help me put up the Christmas decorations?" Sirius asked, absolutely excited. Sirius loved Christmas.
"Yeah!" David said as he sprinted out the room to follow Sirius.
Beth rolled her eyes and laughed at their antics.
"I'd love to," Beth said as she walked out of the room.
-x-
"Sirius, don't you know any other songs besides God Rest Ye Merry Hippogriffs?" Beth asked, sounding exasperated.
"Well, I could sing the Twelve Days of Christmas," he replied cheekily.
Her eyes widened.
"On second thought, stick to the hippogriffs," Beth muttered.
"Yes ma'am!" Sirius saluted her.
"Merlin, sometimes he still acts like he's seventeen," Beth mused.
-x-
"Where are Fred and Hermione?" Sirius asked as he sat down on the couch.
"Oh, they're probably snogging each other senseless in some room," Beth said as she was flipping through a magazine.
"Fred and Hermione? How long have they been together?" Sirius asked, taken completely by surprise.
"Almost two months, I think. I really haven't been keeping track. Since Mum isn't here, they're probably trying to get as much snogging done as humanly possible," George said.
As Beth looked through the magazine, she noticed quite an interesting picture.
"Well, who would have thought," she mused aloud.
"Who would have thought what?" George asked as he looked over her shoulder to see what she was viewing.
"Blimey, is that?" he asked in disbelief.
"If you mean Katie Bell and Oliver Wood, then yes, it's them," Beth said.
"Huh, well, that's something unexpected," George mused as he sat down on the couch.
-x-
"Oh, hey Sirius. I wasn't expecting anybody to be up," Beth said as she walked into the basement kitchen.
"I think no one expects anyone to be in the kitchen at three in the morning," Sirius joked.
She smiled at him.
"Want some hot chocolate?" he asked.
"Yes, please," Beth sat down at the kitchen table.
"Thanks," she said as he handed her a cup.
"No problem. Why are you up this late anyways?" he asked.
"Bad dream," She simply stated before taking a small sip of the hot chocolate.
"It was about your boggart, wasn't it?" Sirius asked knowingly.
"How did you-"
"Molly told me about it. Well, she looked really flustered one day, and I asked her what was bothering her. Then she just kinda blurted it all out," he said apologetically.
"It's okay, I really don't mind," Beth said as she took a sip of her hot coco.
"Have you been having the nightmares frequently?" he asked.
"Well, I had them a lot right after it happened, but once I thought I wouldn't have them ever again- I do," she sighed.
"I know what you mean," he said softly.
"I keep telling myself that it wasn't real. But in my third year, my boggart was my parents' graves…And look what happened," Beth said bitterly.
"I can't loose him. I care too much about him," she said as she tried to prevent herself from breaking down in front of Sirius.
"Merlin's pants, I can't believe I haven't noticed it before. You love him, don't you?" Sirius asked.
Beth remained silent for awhile.
"I guess I do. If I didn't love him, then his death wouldn't be the thing I fear most," she said slowly.
"I never thought of it that way," Beth stared down at the table and laughed softly.
"I'll keep it a secret," Sirius said.
"Well, until you tell him," he added. "Then I'll take some of the credit for getting you two together," he mused.
She smiled at him, and traced the rim of her coffee mug.
"We're fighting back, you know," Beth said quietly.
"You are?" Sirius asked, somewhat confused as to what she was referring to.
"At school, we're fighting back against Umbridge," she added.
"I wish I could do more though," she said wistfully.
"Hey, you're doing the best you can. Whatever you're doing, it's probably the only option for you," Sirius assured her.
She smiled gratefully. The two were silent.
"Sirius, I never knew that you could be so…well, serious," Beth said finally.
"I have my moments," He grinned cheekily.
A/N: That's Chapter 10! What's your favorite part? Feedback is appreciated! :)