Oh, I'm so sorry!
This chapter was a pig to write, honestly. I stopped it at 3000 and something words, otherwise the chapter would be about 10,000 altogether. But I have another reason.
You might have noticed, I have story up on my profile. Metamorphosis, its rated M for language and graphic violence, and it's about a Muggle girl called Laney who gets bitten by a werewolf and survives. Please go and read it! And review, pretty please? It's very different to this story.
I aslo have a blog now! Yes, search Diary Of The Oddest Fangirl on Blogger, or not. It's a tad weird, but I got 100 views in 5 days so I must be doing something right.
Thank you to Dalonega Noquisi - yeah, I think Fred's the kind of guy to play things like that off.
BellatrixD, sorry, not as much cuteness in this chapter. It's a really important one though, which is partly why it was such a pig. Probably the hardest to write so far, which is why it's so short. I want them for my birthday too!
SunRaven96 – well. This is going to the Final Battle, and post-Final Battle. I need to think up an excuse for Fred to live, I have one in Metamorphosis but that only works for that storyline.
StandardOfGrace: Wow, I hate homework too. Over here in the rainy Midlands, we have a homework grading system of 1-8, 11 being absolute poppycock and 8 being outstanding. I normally get 5. Which is good, but not great.
Gurl5678-who-is-now-Aria, I have 6 cousins, three of them live in Canada, one in Leeds and 2 literally only an hour or so away from my little town. The Leeds cousin is two in January (Eep! He's so cute!), I think Matthew's nearly 12, like my sister (he's the one an hour or so away) and his older sister Megan's just started sixth form. She's awesome. And technically the 2 year-old and the Canadians are my half cousins, so it's confusing as hell.
HT118, I almost did make him propose, but not yet ;).
Guest, I have no idea how long it will take. Sorry. But thanks all the same!
EmerC, wowzers. I love getting reviews, but yours made me all tingly. I think new reviewers are always the best. I look forward to hearing from you again, and thanks for the feedback on Selene.
Please review this chapter!
"It's just past 8 and I'm feeling young and reckless, the ribbon on my wrist says, "Do Not Open Before Christmas." - Our Lawyer Made Us Change The Name Of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued by Fall Out Boy [I love the name of this song. Don't you? Great guitar riffs too.]
Chapter 51: God Cousin?
"Um… Sirius?" Harry said slowly, peeking around his godfather's door. The man in question sprang up from the newspaper clipping he was examining, and stared at Harry for a few seconds before unfreezing.
"What can I do for you Harry?" Sirius answered jovially, walking forwards and gently pushing them both out of his room. "Anything bad happened?"
Harry grimaced, and nodded. "Um… Mrs Weasley was back this morning." He began to explain. "And somehow Fred made it rain orange juice."
Sirius grinned. "That must have been quite the sight." He smiled, shaking his head. "Why? What happened then?"
"Somehow…" Harry grimaced again. "Somehow Bill cast a freezing charm on the orange juice falling from the ceiling so now Mrs Weasley, George and Ron are trapped behind huge shards of frozen orange-juice, and no one's able to undo the charm because Bill screwed the charm up somehow."
Sirius blinked, and shook his head. "Great." He said, a touch of happiness in his voice. He'd missed having things like this happen at every turn. "We're leaving to see Arthur at half past, aren't we? It's only eleven; plenty of time to sort it all out."
Harry wasn't convinced, but followed his godfather down the stairs, right the way down to the basement kitchen, where there were muffled exclamations of anger and a few swear words coming from the room beyond. Sirius swung the door open, and swore himself.
"SIRIUS ORION BLACK!" Mrs Weasley bellowed. "As soon as you fix whatever has happened here, I'm going to wash your mouth out with soap!"
"Alright." Sirius ignored Mrs Weasley for the moment, and looked at Selene, who was wisely staying out of the way with Ginny while Fred bore the brunt of his mother's anger. "Selene, can you fix this?"
Selene nodded, and everyone else in the room turned to stare at her. "Um…" She went red. "I tried saying so, but none of you paid attention?"
"What's going on?" Tonks hurried in, Remus right behind. She vanished the orange juice shards with a quick wave of her wand. "What was that? Was that orange juice?"
"Fred made it rain orange juice." Selene began to explain quickly, but Remus held up his hand.
"Explain later, it's time we went to St. Mungo's." He cut in, checking his watch.
There was something about hospitals that put Selene on edge. Maybe it was the smell, too much like the residue cleaning charms left behind (that was a paper she had completed for Professor Flitwick in October), or maybe it was just the fact that so many people were in here with no hope of recovery. She unconsciously slipped her hand into Fred's who looked at her for a second, before squeezing her hand gently.
"I don't like them either." He whispered, as the group walked up to the grumpy-looking Welcome Witch. As Mrs Weasley began to speak, George sidled up to Selene.
"Bet you ten sickles I can get that witch to go out with me." He grinned; ignoring the weird look Ginny was giving him. "What do you say, Cheesecake, Forge? Frelene?"
Fred grinned too, and nodded, holding out his free hand to shake on it with his twin. "You're on."
"You'll never be able to." Selene cut in quickly. "Look, she's, what? Two, three years older than us? I doubt you'll even get her name."
As they group began to make their way up the stairs, Fred, George and Selene hung behind a little. George winked at Selene, before striding up to the Welcome Witch, who was now looking through Witch Weekly disinterestedly.
"Snarmy git." Fred muttered, as George began to try to chat the blonde up. "It's obvious to everyone but him that Angelina's obsessed with him, and he's not doing himself any favours by going for every woman that might swing his way."
Selene smiled. "I guess it's a little funny." She admitted. "I can imagine you two chatting up every woman that did swing your way, to be honest."
"I was never as bad as him." Fred protested, grinning. "He never had and never will have this handsome face, so he has to try extra hard. "
George emerged from the snake's nest a few seconds later, with a triumphant smirk. "Got her name." He grinned. "Hand over the money lugless, the master needs his reward."
"Tell me her name, and then you get the money." Fred insisted, shaking his head like he didn't believe his twin.
"Her name's Verity." George explained, looking incredibly pleased with himself. "She said nothing else, except that she'd a drop-out from Charlie's year, an ex-Gryffindor with a horrendous job."
Fred scowled but handed the money over. Together the three of them made their way to the first floor – Creature-Induced Injuries – where Remus, Tonks and Kingsley were waiting outside.
"Where have you three been?" Remus asked curiously, but the twins shrugged so he guessed that the answer was not important. "Oh, okay. Your Father's just through here."
Selene instinctively went to stand next to her cousin, but Tonks pushed her gently in the direction of the door. "Go on." She said, in a low voice, guessing that Selene wouldn't want attention drawn to her. "Harry's already in there, I'm sure Arthur would like to see you as well."
"But-" Selene began, but Tonks cut her off.
"But what?" She said innocently, raising her voice. "Go on then, you three."
With a wink, Tonks turned back to her conversation with Kingsley, and Fred pushed the door to the ward open with a little 'creak'.
"Where have you three been?" Mrs Weasley gushed, running from her husband's bedside to the newcomers. "You've been absolutely ages…"
"Actually, Mum, they've only been three extra minutes." A tall man said, from the chair next to his Dad's bed. Bill grinned, getting up and greeting his brothers and Selene. "Nice to see you all. Fleur says hi, by the way." He grimaced, and flinched. "Well, she did, after she finished yelling."
"Women." Fred, George and Bill chorused.
"Um… excuse me?" Ginny asked, placing her hands on her hips. Selene raised an eyebrow, but Mrs Weasley just turned back to Mr Weasley – acclimatised to her son's behaviour.
"How are you feeling Dad?" George asked eagerly, swallowing at Ginny's murderous expression.
"Better, thanks George." Mr Weasley smiled. "They took my bandages off this morning, the wound's clearing up nicely."
"That's good dear." Mrs Weasley said absently, nodding meaningfully at Bill. "Now, come on you six, the rest of us need to have a little chat."
Without pomp or ceremony, the six of them were unceremoniously bundled out into the corridor, where they were swapped wordlessly for Remus, Tonks and Kingsley.
"That's a bummer." Fred said to the door, after the object in question had swung shut behind Remus.
"Tell me about it." Ginny groaned, flopping down in one of the plastic chairs that one always seemed to find in hospitals.
The smell (or rather residue) of the cleaning spells seemed to be getting to Selene a little now. The stench just got under her skin. "Sorry, I need a bit of air." She said quietly. "I'm not the greatest fan of hospitals."
"I don't think any of us are, to be honest." George admitted, shaking his head and sitting next to his sister. Then he brightened up. "Let's see if St. Mungo's put Impertuable Charms on their doors, shall we?"
Selene shook her head, knowing that for once they should leave well alone. "I'm going outside." She said quietly. "Tell Dora and Mrs Weasley where I am, will you?"
"See you." Harry said quietly, as Selene walked as fast as she could out of the room.
The corridors weren't much better, but at least the smell wasn't so concentrated as it was in the ''Dangerous' Dai Lyllewhyn' ward. Selene saw no one she knew (for which she was grateful), but there was a portrait on the wall that tried to convince her that she was actually an Inferius.
"But your skin!" It crowed. "Your skin is pale, and you look sick!"
"I was born with pale skin." Selene sighed, trying to get away from the annoying portrait and not succeeding. "And I feel sick, okay?"
"You cannot feel! You are not technically alive, my dear!"
Selene just ignored the wittering voice, and tuned it out eventually, doubling back to lose the painted man as soon as she saw a gap in the market. The Welcome Wing was just as crowded as it had been when she passed through this way before, and the same Welcome Witch was still flicking through Witch Weekly.
The fresh air did help a lot, and Selene somehow blended in quite well with all the Muggles hurrying up and down the busy street, despite the fact that a girl who should be in school was sitting on a park bench opposite a dilapidated and condemned apartment store.
Someone passed by, and Selene's head flickered up. Dark skin, dark eyes, dark hair. "Angelina?" She asked, before she could stop herself.
They looked around, looking at the speaker curiously before slowly shaking their head. "Angelina's my cousin." They explained. "How do you know her? She goes to a big boarding school in Scotland, not anywhere around here."
"Oh, I go to school with her." Selene said quickly. "Um… I'm with my cousin, she's just..." She gestured to a shop. "In there."
The cousin nodded, and doubled back to sit next to Selene. "I think I know who you are." They said, in a low voice. "You're Selene Malfoy, right?"
Selene nodded slowly, as the guy grinned and stuck out his hand. "Alexander Johnson." He greeted, as Selene slowly took his hand. "It's not every day I meet ladies so lovely as yourself, but from what my dear cousin tells me you're taken."
"It's nice to meet you too." Selene managed a little smile. "So, um… where do you go to school?"
Alexander rolled his eyes, and pointed to the logo Selene hadn't noticed before on his hoodie. "London City Comp." He groaned. "It's a bloody nightmare. Don't tell me you're a magic one too."
"Huh?" Selene started. "How do you know about that?"
Alexander scoffed, and waved his hand airily. "I'm a Squib." He said, rolling his eyes for a second time as Selene's eyes widened. "Don't tell me you have all that prejudice, being a Muggle is quite fun. You get the clothes, and the music, and the TV, and a new invention called Atari game consoles…" His eyes glazed over for a moment, until he was jolted back into the present. "Well, when I say Squib, Dad's the Squib." He admitted.
"Oh, okay," Selene nodded. "Angelina's mentioned you, once or twice."
"That's nice." Alexander said absently. "I was a bit worried, when you called me Angelina, because I don't think I look like a girl. Do I look like a girl?"
Selene looked Alexander up and down, and slowly shook her head. Even though she never thought of anyone like this except Fred, and she never had done, Alexander was quite good-looking. Very good-looking, in fact. She didn't like thinking like that, so she shook her head faster and dropped her gaze again. "Um… no, you don't."
"Good." Alexander said briskly. "Look…" He dropped his voice. "Don't tell Angelina you saw me, okay? It's just…" He sighed, and ran a hand through his dark hair. "I'm skipping. I never learnt anything of importance in the comp, except how to get in a fight and win, and Angelina wants me to finish school. I've hung out for her."
Selene nodded, looking up again. "What do you want to do?" She asked carefully, feeling a little less shy than she had done. "After school, I mean."
"I want to go to Africa." Alexander admitted. "Go and help the children, give them education and suchlike. A Charity worker, I guess you'd call me."
Selene didn't understand what exactly Alexander was going on about, but she nodded all the same, grasping the essence. "That sounds nice."
Alexander nodded, but he caught a glimpse of his watch and cursed under his breath. "I'm sorry, I have to run." He said apologetically, standing up. "It was nice to meet you, and tell that George that my cousin is really hung up on him and that he needs to get his head out of his arse."
"Sure." Selene laughed at his choice of words. "I do actually need to meet my cousin. It was nice to meet you too Alexander."
"Oh, call me Alex." Alexander chuckled, before turning and disappearing into the crowd like a ghost might float through the walls of Hogwarts, leaving Selene feeling like she had just met a ghost.
When Selene returned, everyone was staring at her. "Um… are you all okay?" She asked hesitantly, meeting Fred's gaze across the room. He shrugged apologetically, and went back to staring at his feet.
Ron grunted non-committedly, and Ginny looked shocked to say the least. Only Fred looked nonchalant. Selene's mind whirred, what had happened in the short time that she had been away to make everyone so wary of her?
"When were you going to tell me?" Harry asked, and Selene blinked.
"Tell you what?" Selene asked, a feeing of dread settling in her stomach. She felt that she had an idea of what was going on, what they had overheard on the Extendable Ears. Why was the Order even worried about that? It didn't make a difference in the long term, or even at all. That matter had been done and dusted fifteen years ago.
Harry looked up, and he looked close to blowing up. Selene swallowed, as she saw the betrayal and sadness in his green eyes. She almost expected to find herself getting dizzy, but that never came. Maybe Voldemort celebrated Christmas?
"What didn't you tell me we were god cousins?" He asked, in a quiet voice that held danger.
"Harry." Selene began, knowing inside that whatever she said wasn't going to help. Luckily, she didn't have to finish the sentence.
"I thought you trusted me." Harry said quietly. "Do you even remember what you said to me after Cedric died? Did you even mean a word of it? Or was it all just some pathetic joke?"
"Harry-" Ginny tried to cut in, but Harry had already got into his element.
"TELL ME, HOW MUCH DO YOU KEEP SECRET?" He said, almost yelling. "HOW MUCH? 'IT'S BETTER TO THINK ON THE GOOD THINGS RATHER THAN THE BAD', WAS THAT JUST SOME PUREBLOOD PROPAGANDA? DO YOU SECRETLY THINK YOURSELF ABOVE EVERYONE ELSE? LIKE YOU DID WHEN I FIRST MET YOU?"
Selene reeled backwards, as if struck with a blow, but Harry was by no means finished.
"EVERONE LOVES YOU, YOU'RE THE RAVENCLAW PRINCESS, THE HEAD GIRL, THE GIRL WHO CAN DO NO WRONG!" He was yelling now. "OH, COME ON, EVERYONE'S BLIND! YOU'RE MANIPULATIVE, YOU'RE UNKIND, AND YOU'RE COMPLETELY FAKE! YOU'RE NO BETTER THAN YOUR DEATH EATER FATHER!"
The words whacked everyone in the room around their heads, and Selene swallowed back her tears, looking at the boy she saw as a brother glare at her with as much venom as he could muster. "OH, AND YOU CAN 'IDENTIFY' WITH ME AS WELL!" He added furiously. "JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE A SPOILT-"
"Shut UP!" Selene yelled, above Harry. In a flash, everyone realised just what Harry's words had done to her. Selene, the girl who never raised her voice and settled arguments by apologising, had yelled. Fred, who had been shell-shocked throughout this entire exchange, grabbed Harry's collar and turned The-Boy-Who-Lived to face him.
"If you're clever, you'll shut up this minute." He growled menacingly. "And you'll apologise, and take everything back."
Harry tore his collar away from Fred, and turned to face the spot where Selene had been, but all he got was a view of her back, then an echoing thump where the door slammed shut behind her.
Everyone who had been in Mr Weasley's ward had overheard Harry's yells, and subsequently knew that the Ears had been involved somehow, but none of them were brave enough to approach any of them. Harry was with Ron, who was grudgingly staying with his best friend, because none of the others would acknowledge him.
Every time he turned to look at the younger boy, Fred would clench his fists and stare determinedly in the other direction, inwardly wanting to punch the Boy-Who-Lived, but knowing that doing such a thing wouldn't help matters in the slightest. If it wasn't for George intervening, Harry would be half-dead by now, he told himself.
After Selene had left, Fred had got two punches in, until Ginny yelled some sense at him, and now Harry had a splendid black eye all the same. Ginny was sticking to Selene like superglue, glaring at Harry every time he so much as looked towards them both.
"You should apologise, mate." Ron said quietly, dropping back slightly so they couldn't be overheard. Harry glowered at the tarmac of the road, resolutely not answering. "Come on, it would just be easier."
"But why didn't she tell me?" Harry said quietly. "She obviously keeps too many secrets, she might be a Death Eater for all we know!"
Ron rolled his eyes, glancing over to Selene. He chuckled slightly – the idea of Selene being a Death Eater was ridiculous. "Harry, come on." He muttered. "That's stupid."
Harry didn't answer, instead choosing to fixate his gaze on the edge of his trainers. Ron gave up after a few seconds of silence, and mirrored Harry's movements.
"How is Arthur?" Sirius asked eagerly, as they all walked into the hall of Grimmauld Place, but Harry pushed past him and stormed upstairs. "Harry?"
Sirius turned to Selene, who was standing quietly between Fred and Ginny. "He's fine." Tonks cut in quickly, sensing the slightly awkward atmosphere.
"Um… okay…?" Sirius looked around the group carefully, noting Fred's furious expression, Ginny's reluctance and Selene's quietness (even more so than usual). "What happened?"
"Harry." George explained. Fred scowled once more, and Selene tried to keep her expression blank. "Come on Fred, let's go. Selene?"
"Selene's staying with me." Ginny cut in quickly. "Come on Selene, I wanted to show you that thing remember?"
Selene nodded, casting a little glance at Sirius as she passed, and immediately regretted it. He was incredibly confused, and as they met gazes Selene felt as if he could see past her façade of an expression. Snippets of voices drifted up after them, mainly from Tonks and Remus, who were recounting the incident to Sirius.
"So, you're god cousins with Harry then." Ginny said calmly, nodding as her and Selene walked into their room. "Good. He'll come around."
"Did you hear what he said?" Selene cracked, feeling tears start to prick at her eyes. "Am I really that superficial that I act like I'm more important than everyone else? Do I really act unkindly, and I manipulate everyone I see?"
"No." Ginny said stoically. "No. Harry over-reacted, he knows why you didn't tell him deep down."
"Then why did he say it Gin?" Selene sighed, flopping backwards on the bed and closing her eyes. "I'm not generally liked at Hogwarts, am I? I'm just the Head Girl who got a lucky break."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "For the love of Godric, Selene, you are liked!" She insisted. "Look, Harry will come around, no one can stay angry with you for long. When you had that argument with Fred, how long did it last? A week? I swear on my broomstick, when you two get married, you two will have the happiest marriage known to Wizardkind."
"If Sirius agrees." Selene said, laughing a little. "He would hate me getting married before I'm at least twenty or so, and Uncle Ted said I have to be twenty-three."
"Screw them!" Ginny jumped up, grinning and laughing. "You two can elope! As long as you let me in on it all, okay?"
Selene's eyes snapped open. "Calm down." She said quickly, to an over-excitable Ginny. "Ginny, if that ever happens, I promise you can be a bridesmaid, okay? Just don't get… worked up."
Ginny smirked, flicking her hair out of her face. "Bet you'll be married before Bill."
"No." Selene said simply. "That is very unlikely."
"Sure it is…" Ginny said sarcastically. She ducked the pillow that Selene threw at her, watching as it hit the far wall. "You've got a good aim."
"I'm a Chaser Ginny." Selene reminded the younger girl with slight exasperation. "I have to have good aim."
Oh, Harry…
Your hormones got the better of you there, I'm afraid.
Needed that little argument, it is amazingly important. Trust me.
Please review, give Harry some verbal abuse, you know the deal.
Eleanor xxx
