A/N: Hello lovelies!
What?! Two chapters within 24 hours? I can assure you I'm not going off my rocker (as dear Ronald might suggest), I just figured you might like something to do while you're stuck at home. Please enjoy this chapter and don't forget to leave me a review!
Love,
Leona
Chapter 19
Yet another Hogsmeade weekend had come, and this time the group had decided to actually spend some time together. So they decided to meet at the three broomsticks at 2:15 that afternoon. That left them some time to spend on their own things before that time. Which was how Amelia and Fred found themselves walking through the village with Angelina and George, hitting up Honeydukes and Zonko's, before deciding to take a walk up to the shrieking shack. There was a small part of Amelia that was disappointed that she didn't get a chance to walk to the cave, to see if her dad was still holed up in there. The problem was not that she didn't trust George and Angelina, on the contrary, she trusted them more than she trusted herself at times. No, the problem was that she didn't know what her dad would say to her bringing two more people with them to his hideout, no matter how sure she was about them. Her musings were ended, however, when their path was blocked by a figure in a dark robe, which was pulled down low enough to cover his face. They didn't need to see his face though, seeing as the wand which was raised at them, was more than enough for Amelia to recognize who exactly it was that was blocking the way. Another problem was that neither she nor the other three were able to grab their wands, without risking being hexed by the hooded figure of Marcus Flint. She felt Fred's grip on her hand tighten quite a lot, probably trying to keep either of them from making a stupid decision.
"Would you look at that? It seems I was right last year. So tell me, Kitten," The pet name send shivers down her spine. "Did you let both of them get their hands on you, or just the one?" Amelia heard the tell tale growl of a very, very angry Fred Weasley coming from her right. She tightened her hand around his, much like he had done a few seconds before. Any rash actions the twin had planned to undertake were cut short, however, by a large, black dog, who was growling and bearing its teeth at the cloaked figure. Flint lifted his head, effectively letting the hood of his cloak fall down to his shoulders, an arrogant smirk on his face. "What? Am I supposed to be scared of this filthy, old dog?" The smirk disappeared as soon as the dog let out a menacing bark, and the next thing they knew, Flint had disappeared into thin air.
Amelia turned to the dog, as soon as any sign of Flint was gone, letting go of Fred's hand and dropping down to her knees in front of him. She heard Angelina gasp and turned around, just in time to see George flush at the way Angelina had gripped his hand.
"You okay, Ange?"
"Amelia! Are you crazy? Who knows when that dog will turn on you! He might be attacking you next." Amelia grinned at Angelina, before turning back to the dog.
"Don't worry, he wouldn't do that. Would you?" The dog let out a small bark and started wagging his tail, before turning his head sideways and looking at Angelina and George, as if deciding if they could be trusted. "You wondering if you can trust them? We can." Another bark sounded, before the dog started walking off, in such a pace that he was easy to follow. Amelia and Fred did, without any hesitation. George and Angelina stood rooted to the ground, still in the same place they had been since the moment Flint had appeared.
"Are you coming, Forge?" Fred called out to his twin, a carefree tone in his voice. This, apparently was enough for George to trust the situation, which also led to Angelina slowly following, still holding on to George's hand.
It took them about a ten minute walk before they reached the cave, Amelia and Fred walking closely behind the dog, while George and Angelina keeping a much larger distance. They waited about three minutes before entering the cave, giving her dad the chance to get dressed after his transformation.
"Are you decent?" Amelia called into the cave.
"Yeah. You guys can come in." Amelia ran into the cave and gave her dad a careful hug. It was something she had decided on doing when she'd been laying in bed that night, thinking about how every moment her dad was out in the world, there was a chance that he would get caught and spend the rest of his time in Azkaban. Or worse. She smiled when she felt him tightening his arms around her. When they let go of each other, Amelia turned to George and Angelina.
"Guys, I would like to introduce you to my father, Sirius Black." For a few moments it looked like Angelina was going to faint, especially when George only grinned at the unshaven, very skinny man.
"Dad, this lovely red head here is George Weasley. And the looking ready to faint over there, is Angelina Johnson, one of my best friends. And you know Fred, of course." Those last words made Sirius turn to the other red head, a wicked grin on his face.
"Ah yes, Fred. I believe I have some threats to throw your way, haven't I?" A slight panic rose to the surface, judging by Fred's wide eyes.
"W-what do you mean?" Sirius let out a barking laugh, reminding Amelia of his actual bark.
"According to my sources, you, my friend, are dating my daughter. Am I right?" Fred sheepishly scratched the back of his head, before grinning at the man in front of him.
"That I am, sir. But to be honest, I don't think you need to threaten me. Amelia is the scariest person I have ever seen in my life, and that includes my mother and professor McGonnagal." This made Sirius laugh again.
"Ah, yes, dear old Minnie. How is she doing? Still very much into quidditch?"
"You could say that again."
"Woah! Hold on! Are we just going to ignore the fact that Amelia's dad is a convicted mass murderer? No offense, Mr Black, I know you're innocent." Angelina's voice was shaking, a fact that was not helped by George's fingers softly stroking the back of her hand in an effort to calm her down.
"None taken. I think I'll let Amelia explain this one."
"Yes, well. There really isn't too much to explain, since you heard most of the story last year. The only thing I did leave out is the fact that he is my father. And that Harry is my nephew, I guess. I don't really know a lot about my mother just yet. I was kind of hoping my dad would tell me a few things, once we get the bounty on his head removed." It took them quite a while to get Angelina to stop shaking, which was mostly due to George's soothing words and the hand that still held onto hers. Amelia was smiling all the while.
X- Harry Potter –X
Once again students were jumping out of the way when they saw Amelia stomping through the hallways, this time making her way to the hospital wing. As soon as she entered, she noticed Harry and Ron sitting next to a bed on the left side. She briskly walked over to the bed and pushed Ron aside. Ron, who used to Amelia's ways by now, didn't comment and just took a few steps to the side, letting the older girl taking his seat on the side of the bed. The second she sat down, her demeanor softened. Hermione's hands were bandaged and the nightstand was filled with several different creams and potions.
"Do you have any idea who it was?" She asked the shivering girl. The answer was just a small shake of the girl's head. "I am going to talk to Dumbledore about this. This can't go on any longer. That Skeeter woman has got to be stopped. I'm pretty sure she's breaking laws with her articles."
"Alas, miss Sterling, she is not. If she was, I would have put a stop to this woman years ago." They were all startled by Dumbledore's voice as it reached them from just a few meters away, where he was joined by madame Pomfrey, who seemed to raise her eyebrows at Amelia's appearance.
"Amelia. I did not expect you to be here. Where are those two troublemakers, and which one of them is hurt this time." Amelia grinned sheepishly at the woman.
"I'm afraid my troublemaking twins have been joined by these three as well."
"Oh dear. I'm afraid we are going to see each other a lot more over the next few years."
"It seems like it." Amelia had always liked the medic, but right now her appreciation of the woman went up even more. It was in that moment that Amelia decided that she was going to befriend the woman, no matter what.
X- Harry Potter –X
Getting in touch with madam Pomfrey turned out to be relatively easy, seeing as Hermione ended up in the hospital several times that week, much to Amelia's chagrin. It was during one of those days, when Amelia had brought Hermione to the hospital wing, once again, that madam Pomfrey handed Amelia the materials she needed.
"What is this?" She asked, eyebrows raised at the older woman.
"I figured, since you are going to be spending so much time with troublemakers, it might be a good idea for you to learn a little bit more healer magic. So show me what you can do." So Amelia got to work with cleaning Hermione's hands, before administering the right salves and bandaging the wounds, only needing a little bit of instruction from the medic. "Not too bad. Tell me, have you ever thought of a career in healing?"
"I actually have. It was one of my top choices when they asked me during the OWLS last year. Why do you ask?"
"Well, I could use an extra pair of hands around here, especially with the tournament going on. Would you like to help me? You can think of it as a kind of internship." Amelia thought about it for a moment, before agreeing. That's how she left the hospital wing a little while later, a list of spells to practice in her hands and an uniform neatly folded in her book bag.
When she told Fred about her internship later that night, he was very happy for her. Going on about how handy her skills would be when they were experimenting for the shop. Amelia couldn't help but smile at his enthusiastic hand gestures. He really was cute when he was talking this animated. That was what she liked about him. One moment he was like this, cute and enthusiastic, almost childlike. And then the next second he was all seriousness, the focused look on his face appearing. And then there was the wild side, the sight that had him pull her into little alcoves and hidden passageways and kiss her like there was no tomorrow. That was the side that made her feel weak in the knees and made her wish that his kisses would never stop. That they would be able to find a place where they wouldn't be interrupted and… That last thought made her blush. She hadn't had any of those thoughts yet. And right now really was not the time.
