"Giselle, are you coming?!" shouted Lily, her voice carrying up the dormitory stairs.
It was the night of Slughorn's infamous Christmas party and Giselle should have already been on her way to the dungeons with her date on her arm, but instead she was standing in front of the dorms' biggest mirror trying to prevent another hair-styling disaster with her wand. In an attempt to channel the essence of one of her favourite Quidditch players of all time, Pride of Portree's frizzy-haired Catriona McCormack, she charmed her hair to sit in tight corkscrew curls but due to a miscalculation caused by her stubborn strand thickness her charms failed and her curls ended up limp and lifeless.
Giselle let out a frustrated groan and messily pinned the curls on top of her head, ignoring the tickles from her spiralling flyaways against her neck. "I'm coming! Give me one more minute!" she shouted towards the open door.
"Good because we're starving and St Mungo's Head Healer is waiting to meet me! Move your arse!" came Lily's voice again and Giselle snorted, securing her surprisingly fashionable mop of curls with a few glistening crystal flower pins. She decided to wear one of her mother's designs tonight, a pistachio ruched silk dress that clung to her body with boning that jabbed her in the ribs every time she turned, and a dainty pair of white heels that were already pinching her toes - but she suffered in silence, the look she had put together screamed 'future professional sports personality', it was too perfect to change. She needed to dazzle the notable Hogwarts alumni with her charm and undisputable knowledge concerning Quidditch professionalism in the hopes that it would keep her at the forefront of their minds when they eventually start their search for fresh talent; it was her only plan. Spritzing herself with perfume one last time, Giselle gave her reflection a confident nod before heading down to meet her date.
When Slughorn reminded her during their last meeting that she was allowed to bring a date, Giselle immediately asked Remus. As it was their last year at Hogwarts, the professors continuously harped on about their futures after school and Giselle noticed the absent look on his face whenever the topic of careers came up, his enthusiasm vanished and he never spoke about his own dream job, he physically clammed up and reverted into himself and she made it a personal goal of hers to pry him from his anxious shell. The networking opportunities were too irresistible and Giselle knew it would be the perfect way to introduce Remus into the working world. Something at the club party was bound to spark his interest, she was sure of it.
"Don't panic, I'm here!" puffed Giselle, rushing through the busy common room with a reassuring smile on her lips and she found the impatient trio by the portrait hole, "we can start the festivities now, time to get drunk!"
"Finally!" huffed James, checking his flashy watch for the dozenth time, "I can feel my stomach eating itself!" He looked very dashing in his burgundy fitted suit and smokey grey cloak, and the gold of his jewellery glistened in the tower's warm light. He had tried as equally as hard as Giselle in terms of appearance, his usual mess of wayward curls had been tamed using his father's famed glamour potion and his sideburns were exceptionally sharp today - he looked extremely handsome and Lily couldn't stop gazing at him, Giselle found the sight of the couple adorable.
"Aw, look at you two!" she cooed, grinning at her adoring friends, "did you mean to match your outfits?" Lily borrowed another one of Giselle's french dresses, a merlot cocktail number with delicate bell sleeves and a plunging neckline, and her skin shimmered from the copious amounts of lotions she smothered on in the shower. Delicately perched above her bosom was a pretty emerald pendant that glistened in the candlelight.
"No, it must have been fate," sighed James, sneaking his hand around his girlfriend's waist and planting a quick kiss on top of her head. Lily beamed, content with his sentiment.
"You look beautiful," stuttered Remus bashfully as Giselle turned to address him and her cheeks burned at his unexpected compliment - he never commented on her looks before. He was smiling at her, his eyes crinkled in joy as he took in his date's appearance and his fondness felt validating, she really appreciated his commitment to their date. She needed a confidence boost, her emotions were all over the place since her steamy Hogsmeade trip and she was desperate for a distraction.
"As do you," she smiled and looked him up and down with a vigorous nod of approval, "juniper is definitely your colour, it brings out the green in your eyes." His outfit for the evening consisted of an expensive set of juniper robes, a pair of pristine leather boots, and a new plush charcoal cloak - James mentioned in passing that he gave Remus his Christmas presents early and Giselle hazarded a guess at what he got him. His scars were less flamboyant too, the jagged lines were hidden by subtle smears of concealer and his facial hair looked neater than ever - she never realised how good-looking he was before.
"We've got to have our picture taken," asserted Giselle, proud of how good her friends looked, "we can't waste this opportunity, we look too hot."
"I heard that Adrian is the photographer tonight," informed Lily, finally leading them out of the tower with some Hufflepuff gossip, "he wanted to complete his portfolio before the end of the year for his interview at the Prophet."
"That boy's got a bright future ahead of him, you should have seen the photos he took us during our matches," said James and he gasped, glancing back at Giselle with an inspired smile, "do you reckon he'll have some action shots on him tonight? We could casually flash them around and show the good people what they're missing."
Giselle pouted in thought, considering the pros and cons of his idea. "We don't want to appear to be too showboat-ey though, we can't give away all of our tricks straight away. We need to seduce them, you know? Tease them and lure them in - we can't unzip their pants and suck their dicks straight away."
Remus blinked at his date, amused. "What a peculiar analogy," he muttered.
"You've got a point," said James, considering what angle he wanted to go for. Lily rolled her eyes and tugged on his arm, pulling him closer.
"Don't worry, James. You don't need pictures to show them how wonderful you are, just be your usual charming self…" she paused before adding, "but do keep in mind that they are professionals, they might not appreciate your sense of humour."
"Doubtful, my sense of humour is a huge chunk of my charm, but I'll consider it," he grinned, teasing her with small kisses against her neck and they walked on ahead, too immersed in each other's eyes.
"Ey, Remus? Have you ever thought about working for the Prophet? I could see you being their Magical Creature Correspondent?" prompted Giselle, using their moment of solitude to restart her conquest. Remus glanced down at her and replaced his smile with the same absent grimace.
"I don't know…" he mumbled, looking directly ahead with a furrowed brow so he didn't have to catch her eye. His arm stiffened in her grip, he was closing up again but she refused to let his defensive wall set this time.
"You do know; you can't hide from me, Remus. Be honest, what do you want to do after school?" She asked, resuming her search for his gaze. "What's your dream job?"
"I don't know, I don't have one," he said with a soft huff. He didn't say much but she felt his pace quicken as though he was trying to outrun her questions.
"Everyone has a dream job! Please Remus, I just want to help," she corrected him and she pulled on his arm, urging him to slow down. They were on the ground floor of the staircase hall and they watched James and Lily disappear behind a door, not bothering to wait for their friends.
"Stop trying to help me, you can't," said Remus with an air that his word was final. He dropped her arm and faced her directly, matching her concern with his own fury. His nerves had been touched and he didn't care about keeping calm anymore. "I know what you're trying to do, I know that your invite to this party was just an excuse to pry into my career plans. I thought I could simply ignore it and drink the night away but it looks like I was wrong," he exclaimed. His voice echoed slightly in the cavernous hall and Giselle pouted, listening to the rough echoes as they faded.
"But I can't watch you throw your life away before it's even begun! You're more intelligent than you think and you're resilient, you could dominate any field you choose and you will choose! You're better than this, Remus!" she told him, suddenly snatching his hands so he wouldn't run away. They were calloused from his years of adventures and she smoothed her thumbs against his palms, letting him know she meant well.
But his eyes glazed over and he looked away, deeply distressed.
"You wouldn't understand," he whispered, his voice breaking.
Giselle groaned, dropped his hands and crossed her arms in a sulk. She couldn't hold it in any longer. "Fine! I'll stop playing dumb! Werewolf or not, you are a fantastic wizard and you could achieve so much if you apply yourself but if you want to play this game then-,"
Remus cut her off by dragging her into the shadows of the staircases, terrified that someone would overhear. "How the fuck do you know about that?!" he spat in a whisper, trembling in fear. Giselle scooped up his hands again and rushed to comfort him, hating how his pain distorted his face.
"…Black," she couldn't say his name, "he told me during our second year."
"Second year?!" gasped Remus, astonished at the huge gap, "you've known for five years?"
"Yup!" She nodded, laughing faintly at his reaction, "it's been tough trying to hold back from making wolf puns."
"I've heard them all twice, don't start now," he warned her but she saw the light in his dark eyes, he couldn't hide his adoration at all.
"You don't care that I'm a beast?" he wondered, as quiet as a gentle breeze, and Giselle guffawed, looking him up and down with scrutiny.
"You? A beast? I'm the beast - you're a cub, mate. You're harmless," she teased but his tight lipped scowl wiped the smirk from her face. He wasn't joking.
"Elle," he warned.
"Look, I don't care if once a month you turn into a bloodthirsty wolf - you, Remus Lupin, are not that creature, you're an entirely different person to your affliction and it hurts to know how little you think of yourself. You're not a monster," proclaimed Giselle soberly. "I understand that you're apprehensive about your future employers finding out about your hairy situation but you've got to at least try and trick them into hiring you first!"
"But… but-," tried Remus, searching her eyes for a fault and she giggled.
"But nothing! You've got to try! You can get away with the sick card a few times before they spot the pattern, that can be Plan A," she explained logically, nodding her head at him. Maybe if he started to nod with her then he'd agree to her plans, "but ideally we need to find you a job that doesn't require you being in a stuffy office which is why being a journalist would be perfect for you! Maybe a foreign correspondent, that way you could spend long periods of time away from other people and you won't have to worry about your transformations ruining your deadlines!"
Remus blinked hard and his lips twitched upwards. "You've been thinking about this for a while, haven't you?" He muttered, gently absorbing her kind words. The sparkle was returning to his eyes and she felt him squeeze her fingers.
"Five years, Remus," she reminded him, arching a brow in disappointment, "you've kept this from me for five excruciatingly long years! Some friend you are!"
"I thought you might look at me differently," he confessed in a hushed tone, embarrassed at his thought process. "I know you've had a bad run-in with a werewolf in the past."
The derelict, haunting cottage flashed up in her mind and Giselle shuddered, immediately taken back to the day Junior tried to kill her during one of their family holidays to the seaside. Knowing how annoyingly brave his sister was, he dared Giselle to sneak into a werewolf's house and steal one of his possessions and she couldn't turn down his dare - luckily their father intervened, he stunned the hungry wolf and pulled her out of the house by the scruff of her neck, screaming at her until he was red in the face. She still remembered the rotten stench of decaying flesh that rolled from the house and she hurried to fix her traumatised expression.
"That's completely different," she defended, pursing her plump lips, "we were ten years old, Father and Junior traumatised me more than the wolf did. You're not a resentful middle-aged man with an appetite for children, you're one of my best friends who has been dealt a real shitty hand so let me help you!"
"I don't think there's much you can do to help," he admitted, letting her into his world a little bit more. "There hasn't been any new developments in lycanthropy treatment, every werewolf I've heard of has turned feral, and I found my first grey hair the other day!"
"…you could dye your hair?" she suggested innocently and her anxious butterflies calmed in her stomach when he laughed but she didn't know if it was from amusement or defeat.
"That's one problem solved, I guess," he sighed and rubbed the dark circles under his eyes. Giselle pouted and wrapped her arm around his once more and pulled him out of the shadows, her mind focused on the copious amount of alcohol down in the dungeons calling their names. The unravelling of his secret straightened Remus' spine and he held himself with more certainty, it suited him.
"Take full advantage of this evening," she ordered him as they resumed their journey, "I want to see you talking to everyone, even the Quidditch players. You never know, they might need a new furry mascot for their team."
"Ha ha! Very funny!" He drawled sarcastically but Giselle noticed the grin on his scarred face, "I'll never know how you managed to keep it quiet."
"Who said I kept quiet? Everyone at Beauxbatons are terrified that a murderous wolf called Remus is going to turn up and eat them. If I were you I wouldn't go to France… ever," she joked, worsening his blush.
"Great! There goes a bunch of French job opportunities," he laughed heartily, and his defensive walls finally vanished. He looked down at her and placed a single soft kiss on her forehead, moved by her efforts to help him.
"Thank you, Elle."
"You're so welcome," she chirped, shooting him a wink, "now let's go, I can't have James stealing all of my Quidditch anecdotes!"
Giselle's Christmas break started out rougher than she expected and that was quite a feat since her expectations were abysmally low.
The uncomfortable train journey back to King's Cross should have been her first indication that the holidays were going to be a challenge, she spent the majority of the train ride with her head in her book, actively avoiding the dismissive glances from Marlene who had decided to crash her's, Lily's, and James' compartment. The other members of their usual gang were staying at Hogwarts for Christmas this year as the full moon was due to make an appearance on New Years Eve and Giselle, for the first time in her life, thanked the universe for its impeccable timing - she loathed the idea of being trapped in an enclosed space for a long period of time with Sirius near her.
Being the pariah of the Gryffindor friendship group, Giselle felt compelled to keep quiet so she didn't ruin the entire trip but it was incredibly difficult as Marlene kept harping on about what she got Sirius for Christmas. She wanted nothing more than to scream at Marlene to shut up about her stupid boyfriend but she bottled the toxicity up and sealed her lips shut. Listening to his name over and over again was torture, her venomous subconscious was determined to remind her of her dirty thoughts and it disregarded her frail conscious attempt to lock those feelings away. She couldn't separate her surges of fury from her pulses of arousal and each cluster of powerful emotions frazzled her brain - she was an utter mess. By the time they arrived in London she swore her blood was literally boiling.
Once she arrived back at the manor Giselle suffered through a distastefully intense meal with her family before retiring to her bedroom for what seemed like days. Her bedroom was the only room in the whole house that was untidy and colourful, her elegant wallpaper was covered by countless posters of international Quidditch teams and their star players, her desk stayed cluttered and the smooth mahogany piano in the corner of her room played host to endless stacks of music sheets and old sketches that she once fawned over. Since her last visit Winky had attempted to clean up the room as she noticed her dishevelled bedsheets and scattered cushions had been replaced, but it didn't take her long to ruin her house-elf's hard work.
She didn't emerge from her room until her birthday, a day that usually passed without spectacle. With Christmas being only two days away, Giselle grew not to expect many lavish gifts from her family, her father told her once that austerity was a fine way to build character, but she did receive one happy surprise in the form of a statement from her mother during breakfast.
"Be ready by twelve, we're having afternoon tea with Lionel and Evelyn," announced Adelaide, neatly propping her cutlery on her plate before dabbing her pink lips with her handkerchief. Giselle gasped and dropped her piece of toast, gawking at her mother in glee. Senior and Junior never joined them for tea, it would be just the two of them. Success! She screamed internally, whooping at the prospect of seeing her favourite cousins.
"Who else is coming?" she blurted out, rushing to clean her fingers on the freshly laundered tablecloth. Adelaide chose to ignore her disgusting habit.
"Molly and the kids, Fabian and Gideon will be there too but sadly Bilius and Carys are in Portugal for Christmas this year," she admitted with a smile, enjoying her daughter's positive reaction to her side of the family, "I thought that would cheer you up."
Giselle couldn't deny it, she was over the moon! She hadn't seen her cousins in years and she needed some family love now more than ever - especially on her birthday. Her father and brother hadn't said one word to her yet.
Twelve o'clock couldn't have come quick enough, Giselle had been impatiently waiting in the kitchen for her mother since eleven with her tapping foot and her tutting tongue. Her patience was pushed further when Junior appeared briefly to make himself a cup of tea but thankfully he was feeling particularly stubborn today and pretended as though she didn't exist - that was the best present he could have gotten her.
"Darling you look gorgeous," cooed Adelaide as she waltzed into the kitchen at precisely two minutes past twelve, much cheerier than before. Giselle welcomed her warmth but chose not to ruin the moment with a sly dig; Adelaide always brightened whenever she visited her younger brother, she reverted back to her old self, the woman she was before she got married. Giselle theatrically twirled on the spot, giving Adelaide a clearer view of her gift - having a seamstress for a mother meant that her birthday presents were usually wearable. This year Giselle had been blessed with a small collection of velvet pantsuits in different rich shades; she chose to wear the deep jade suit today and, in the hopes of keeping the Christmas spirit alive, she chose to wear her chunkiest candy red platform boots.
"Like mother, like daughter," mused Giselle, taking in her mother's debonair winter cape dress that sweeped the floor with its thick frosty fur trim. The snow storm that swallowed Britain had reached their part of Gloucestershire and her mother looked more than prepared to deal with the icy flurries with her matching arctic fur pillbox hat and muff, she looked like she belonged on the front of a Christmas card. "You've truly outdone yourself again," she added, impressed by her handiwork.
"Thank you, dear," smiled Adelaide, using a tone of voice she hadn't heard in years, it stirred something cosy inside of Giselle. She picked up the neatly wrapped presents from the kitchen counter and gestured for Giselle to follow, "remember, don't talk about your misdeeds abroad whilst we're there."
Giselle nodded with a small scowl and the warm feeling vanished. "Yes Mother," she drawled sarcastically and Adelaide purposely snubbed her.
Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Lionel's house smelled like freshly baked bread and treacle, stepping into the quaint cottage felt like receiving a cosy hug and a rush of memories crashed over her like a breath of hot air. Before they started Hogwarts, Giselle and Junior spent most of their time at their aunt and uncle's cottage in the south of Cornwall as their parents were always busy working, it became a second home to them and Giselle missed her visits dearly - her parents started to withdraw their permission for her to see Evelyn and Lionel as punishment for her mischievous wrongdoings at Hogwarts, especially since Giselle and her cousins were very close. The Prewetts were fellow Gryffindors and they constantly teased Adelaide for being a Slytherin, she couldn't help but love them.
"Elle!"
"Here comes the birthday girl!"
The moment Giselle walked through the front door she was greeted by a chorus of cheers from her older twin cousins, Fabian and Gideon. They were so much taller than she remembered, their heads scraped the ceilings and she noticed a rather fresh red mark on Fabian's forehead from a doorframe or two. Despite them being identical, Gideon had grown an extraordinarily bushy handlebar moustache and Fabian's strawberry blonde hair had grown past his shoulders. She thought they looked very suave, now they were in their mid-twenties they had filled out and transformed into two very respectable gentlemen but Gideon's ruffled suit caught her eye, he had a huge scorch mark down his sleeve.
"Did you stand a little too close to the fire?" she asked him with a cheeky smile, accepting their tight hugs in the cramped entrance hallway. She inhaled the scents of burnt ash, almonds and peppermint and she spluttered a little, intoxicated. "Seriously, Gideon what have you been doing? You smell like a holiday explosion!"
Gideon side-eyed his brother and waved her question away with a smooth chuckle.
"Nothing you need to worry about," he told her but before she could ask Fabian to explain his brother's vague answer, the screams of young children filled the house, drowning out their conversation.
"Mummy! Charlie keeps hiding the chocolates!"
"No! It's not me!"
"Yes it is!"
From under Fabian's outstretched arm Giselle spotted two little red-headed boys running past the door to the kitchen, both wearing identical knitted Christmas jumpers and cackling like a pair of imps.
Gideon snickered and winked at Giselle, putting a finger on his lips.
"Don't tell the kids but I scoffed all the chocolate," he muttered under his breath and she giggled, forever amused by her cousins' antics.
"Was that Bill and Charlie? Gosh they've gotten so big!" she sighed, gazing after the boys with a sad pout. The last time she saw them they were only infants. "Has it really been that long?"
"It's been over five years," mused Fabian, shaking his head in disgrace, "you were thirteen years old-,"
"And now you're eighteen! We've missed you, Elle!" finished Gideon, scooping her into another rib-cracking hug, "you're all grown up!"
"Yeah, a lot has happened since the last time we saw each other," she said sadly, trying not to think about her rough few years. Fabian scratched his chin and ignored his brother's troublesome smirk, keeping his eyes on her.
"Yeah, we've heard that you've been causing chaos everywhere you go," he snickered and Giselle's stomach dropped, panicked. Did they already know?
"How did you-,"
"Ah! No can do! No questions please, Elle!" interrupted Gideon, shoving his hand out to physically stop her from talking. "How we get our information is classified, we can't tell you how we know that you attempted to steal Durmstrang's ship-,"
"Sshhh!" It was Giselle's turn to interject this time and she stretched up and slammed a hand over his cousin's mouth, "Mum'll kill me if we talk about it!"
The twins' faces lit up like the Christmas lights trailing along the ceiling above them and she couldn't resist relishing their looks of pride with a lip-bitten smile.
"You little devil! I can imagine how well things are going between you and the Barties?" wondered Fabian and Giselle's smile faltered slightly, she tried to stay positive. She really didn't want to think about them right now.
"Mhmm," was all she could manage. Instantly picking up on her agitation, the two men dropped the subject and rushed to distract her like they always did. The seven year age gap between her and her cousins was irrelevant, they treated her as an equal, something her own immediate family never did, and they knew of her appalling relationship with her father.
"But enough about that, there's a present and a cold glass of pumpkin juice and champagne waiting for you in here!" exclaimed Gideon, wrapping his arm around Giselle's and pulling her into the kitchen.
"Yeah, Molly's dying to see you - you'll never guess what she and Arthur have done again…" added Fabian, taking her other arm.
Afternoon tea was a delight, Giselle genuinely couldn't believe how much she enjoyed spending time with her mother and her family. The Prewetts were always welcoming and the conversations in their company never turned nasty, it was a refreshing change for her. Lionel and his wife Evelyn greeted her with cheek kisses and tight squeezes, they were more affectionate than ever and Giselle eagerly returned their efforts, the familiar smell of Evelyn's delicate perfume tickled her nose and she was immediately taken back to the times Molly dressed her up like a doll using her mother's clothes. Lionel, her mother's younger brother, looked exactly the same, he hadn't changed in years. He shared Adelaide's auburn locks and wide toothy smile but he was quieter than his sister, he was informal and chilled whereas Adelaide was uptight and proper. Molly was by-far the most excited to see Giselle, her kind face lit up and she hurried to pass one-year-old Percy to her husband so she could smother her with kisses but she struggled quite a bit as her protruding stomach continuously pushed Giselle out of the way.
"Bloody hell! You're huge!" gasped Giselle, crouching down to tenderly listen to her baby bump.
"It's definitely twins," piped up Fabian between mouthfuls of cream cake that his mother offered him, "Mum says you look exactly like her when she was pregnant with us."
"Say goodbye to your sleep schedule," tutted Adelaide, helping her sister-in-law with pouring more tea for the table. Molly shot her aunt a look and pursed her lips, pointing at her terror-inflicting sons who were squabbling over a cuddly Hippogriff toy in the living room.
"I don't get any sleep now! What's two more? Although I do hope they're twin girls," she admitted, taking a seat to soothe her swollen feet. She was bigger than ever, Giselle had never seen a pregnant woman look so rotund - but she was glowing. Her skin was radiant, her hair looked nourished and she couldn't stop smiling. Giselle aww'ed and leant on her hand, gazing at her cousin. The last time she saw Molly, she was pregnant with Charlie, she couldn't remember a time she wasn't carrying a child and pregnancy suited her.
"They'd be adorable! You could get them matching outfits, I bet Mum could sew you a few bits and pieces," she said enthusiastically, imagining the identical red-headed girls in pretty satin frocks.
"Hmm, I don't think you need more clothes," asserted Lionel from the head of the table and he smiled widely at his sister beside him, "I've had to transfigure the kids' wardrobes a dozen times over the years, please stop giving my children clothes!"
"I, on the other hand, welcome the challenge of making another wardrobe," piped up Arthur as he tried to settle a sleepy Percy.
"Don't listen to him!" shushed Evelyn, smacking her husband on the arm, "We still have plenty of room!"
"I never listen to my brother," assured Adelaide, sipping her tea with an arched brow, "as a matter of fact, I have brought everyone's Christmas presents with me-,"
"Yes! New clothes!" cheered Molly, cutting off her father's disappointed groans as Adelaide cheerfully revealed the soft paper-wrapped gifts from her handbag. As presents were passed around the table, Fabian and Gideon excused themselves from the jubilant exchange and snuck off out into the back garden, whispering to each other as they scurried off. Curious to know what they were talking about, Giselle dismissed herself from the table with a claim that she needed fresh air and rushed off to join them.
The garden looked enchanting, everything was covered in a thick layer of white, the pond at the end of the stone path gurgled and fought against the ice, the old willow tree that engulfed most of the lawn in shadow wilted from the heavy snowfall and, for extra comfort, Fabian and Gideon effortlessly cleared the spindly patio furniture so they had somewhere to sit. They had their backs to her as she crept towards them and she strained her ears to catch their whispers - they were being shifty, she knew they were hiding something.
"-can't go yet, Mum'll kill you for leaving before we bring out Elle's cake," hissed Gideon, his shoulders hunched to shield him from the cold.
"I know but you heard what happened last night, I need to go to-," Fabian whispered back but the crunch of snow under Giselle's boot jolted them from their secret discussion. They whipped their heads around and she grinned awkwardly at them, embarrassed that they caught her snooping.
"It looks like we've got a shadow," snorted Gideon, replacing his timid expression of worry with a relaxed smile.
"What are you whispering about?" she questioned, arching a recently plucked brow in suspicion, "you two are being more sneaky than I remember."
"That was a long time ago, Giselle, a lot has changed," said Fabian, taking a seat on one of the metal chairs and he gasped at the icy shock, "fuck me, that's cold!"
"Fair," she mused, stealing a glance at the group inside before pulling a pack of cigarettes from her pocket and the twins guffawed at her nasty habit.
"Yeah, it looks like you've changed too! Smoking?! Giselle! We never would have guessed you'd become a dirty little smoker!" exclaimed Gideon, deadpanned.
"That's what you get when you spend two years in France," sighed Fabian, ashamed of his cousin. Giselle chuckled and swiftly lit the stick in her mouth, puffing quickly as it caught fire.
"In my defence, you'd be smoking too if you had to live in my house," she countered with a shrug, "please don't tell Mum."
"Your secret is safe with me," promised Gideon and he stole the cigarette from her fingers to steal a puff, "I've recently been seeing this French bird and she's always got one of these in her mouth, I quite like them."
"That explains the burn marks I keep finding on the sofa," remarked Fabian with a smirk.
"How did you meet this French girl?" inquired Giselle, looking at her cousin for an explanation. She wanted to dive deeper into their personal lives, it might give her some clues as to what they've been doing. The subject of their occupations had been carefully avoided during their meal, Molly and Arthur profusely interrupted any questions that Adelaide and Giselle directed at the twins with baby pictures and offers of more food, but Giselle couldn't shake the minuscule hunch that had been growing in the back of her mind. Her cousins were well-known for their prowess during a duel, they were keen fighters and they had been very vocal about their ambition to join the war against Voldemort in the past. The scorch mark on Gideon's arm wasn't from a fireplace, she just knew it.
"Through work," said Gideon vaguely, watching two robins peck at the ground so he didn't have to meet her suspicious glaces.
"What work?" she asked again, eyes bright in excitement, "what have you guys been doing?"
"I have been… er, working abroad," Gideon spat out, his eyes wide in alarm, and Fabian snorted, slapping his brother on the arm.
"Very inconspicuous, nice one," he chuckled.
Giselle breathed out another cloud of smoke and narrowed her eyes. "You've joined the Order of the Phoenix, haven't you?" she asked them lightly and they froze. They were adults now, they could defend themselves well, and they were braver than most people she knew - it could feel it in her bones.
"How do you know about the Order?!"
"For a secret organisation, it's surprisingly well-known,," she told them as though it were obvious, "besides, your secret-keeping needs some work, it was really obvious in there that you two were hiding something."
"You're an observant one, aren't you?" chuckled Fabian, wiggling his brows at his brother who shook his head.
"Don't you dare-," Gideon warned.
"We may or may not be treasured members of an underground group who are actively fighting the Dark Lord…" Fabian sighed, grinning back at his younger cousin, his dark eyes crinkling but the poke from his twin made him frown. "Don't start, she's trustworthy!"
"Yeah! I'm trustworthy!" repeated Giselle, stamping out her cigarette and vanishing the end before her mother caught her in the act. "I figured you two would be fighting, I'm so very proud!"
"Don't tell anyone, obviously," muttered Gideon, sneaking another look at the laughing group through the window, "it's top-secret."
"I'm not going to say anything, I'm no snitch," she scoffed, putting her hands up to defend herself and their matching grins were a sight to behold. She imagined them out in the throw of war, fighting against Voldemort and his Death Eaters, and her respect for them shot through the roof. A part of her wanted to join them, she wanted to fight against the dark forces threatening the wizarding world and she knew she had skills that would be useful. The twins seemed to sense the desperation in her expression and shared a small look.
"When did you join?" whispered Giselle, keen to find out as much as possible. "What's it like? Have you met Voldemort?"
"Chill out, tiger," laughed Gideon, absently playing with the corners of his moustache, "we can't talk about it."
"What? Even with me? I'm not going to spill your secrets to the Death Eaters," she cackled, wrinkling her freckled nose, "I'm not Junior."
But all amusement faded at the mention of her brother and the twins' smiles dropped from their lips.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Fabian, pretending not to pry into the privacy of the Crouch family. Giselle bit her lip and ran her fingernails along the winding design of the table they were sitting around, wilfully drowning out the usual feelings of anxiety that appeared whenever her brother was mentioned. Discounting her parents, she hadn't spoken to anyone about Junior's questionable illicit activities, she didn't know who to tell. She should have mentioned it to Professor Dumbledore when she saw him in private after the Prophet's interview but she didn't know how to start such a sensitive topic. Now she knew that her cousins were involved in the cause, she was more willing to divulge.
"I don't know how much of Junior you've seen whilst I've been out of the country but I think he's up to something. He wants to join Voldemort, I caught him in Knockturn Alley with Bellatrix Black and he's being more hostile than normal, he wants to get back at Father - I can feel it," she confessed, darting her eyes between the brothers who caught her every word. "He's going to join the Death Eaters once he leaves Hogwarts or he might have already joined them, I'm not sure."
Their humorous expressions were long gone, she had never seen them look so serious before.
"It's Bellatrix Lestrange now, by the way," informed Gideon under his breath with a shiver.
"Have you told your father about this?" Fabian asked, dropping his voice.
"Over and over again but he's not listening to me. I've told Mum too but they don't believe me, they think…" she trailed off, biting her lip, but Gideon beat her to it.
"They think you're the one who's going to join him?" finished Gideon for her and she nodded, staring at her eye-catching boots, overwhelmed by the familiar hurt that usually rocked her when her parents accused her of being a threat. Blinking away the threat of tears, Giselle crossed her arms and tried to appear composed.
"You have no idea," her voice broke and she tried to hide her hurt but Fabian stroked her arm and suddenly pulled her into another tight hug. She buried her head into his chest and puffed out all of the aggravation she had harboured from her parents. She hoped if she stayed in her cousin's embrace long enough she might be able to stay here and not have to return back to the manor.
But she had to go back.
"Giselle! Boys!" called Evelyn from the backdoor, "can you come inside please?!"
Hastily wiping away her tears, Giselle drew away from Fabian, took a deep breath and smoothed her velvet suit, assuming a more pleasant facade. Even though their conversation was brief, it pumped more confidence into Giselle and she knew by the stern looks on their faces that she was onto something. She kept her fingers crossed, hoping that her allegations would be taken seriously.
"They've turned all the lights off, I wonder…?" teased Gideon, placing his hands on her shoulders and leading her inside. Giselle scoffed, secretly pleased with the attention that birthdays brought. She was welcomed with a delicious red sponge cake in the shape of a lion (Giselle saw her mother's lip curl) and the room burst into a chorus of 'Happy Birthday', she couldn't resist singing along. A fascinated Charlie bounced up onto her lap, begging to see the lit candles up close and Giselle happily let him blow out her candles with her.
"You're in Gryf'dor like Mummy," babbled Charlie, giggling as Giselle tried to stop his chubby little hands from launching into the rich icing.
"It's Gryffindor," corrected Bill sassily to his baby brother, patiently waiting for Molly to cut up the cake.
"Gryf'dor," repeated Charlie adamantly, shaking his head.
"Gryffindor!" cried Bill, laughing as he wound him up.
"Are you brainwashing the children already?" mused Adelaide, unable to help herself, and Lionel shook his head with a chuckle.
"Don't be sour, Ads. Just because your daughter got sorted into the greatest house in the world," he said airly, winking at his niece. Giselle stifled her snort and batted her eyelashes innocently at her mother.
"Yeah Mum, chill out!" she told her honestly, and for a split second she swore she saw Adelaide smile.