Giselle wished that she could say she remembered Mary's memorial but she couldn't, it passed by in a blur.
She hoped she could get away from being involved in the proceedings, she wanted to bury herself in between Sirius and Remus in the Gryffindor section of the Great Hall and stuff her face with tissues to stop herself from sobbing too loudly, but her hopes were dashed the moment Mary's parents and older brother arrived at Hogwarts to represent their darling daughter. The seventh year Gryffindors and a handful of Ravenclaws met them in McGonagall's office before the memorial to give them a chance to speak with one another in private, Mr and Mrs Macdonald wanted to personally console their Mary's school friends and thank them for loving her so much, but Giselle's heart broke when she noticed that Mary's mother had her daughter's chocolate brown eyes. It was hard to look her in the face without seeing Mary in her but Giselle sniffed back her tears and squeezed Mary's parents tightly, muttering her sympathies into their ears. They didn't deserve this.
After their meeting, Giselle tried to head into the Great Hall early to find her seat and hide but instead she was cornered by Professor McGonagall who asked if she could play the piano throughout the memorial - she had to take part.
"I know it's short notice, you'd probably appreciate some time to practice beforehand, but I heard you playing in the Gryffindor tower over Christmas and it moved me. It was inspiring, Giselle, and we all need a little extra magic right now," rambled McGonagall, deeply distracted by the floods of students mulling around the Entrance Hall waiting to enter, but Giselle simply shrugged and mumbled her agreement. She knew some songs off the top of her head and she much preferred to improvise than to stick to sheet music, it would be the perfect distraction for her. She wasn't looking forward to whatever Lily had to say, she heard some of her speech in the bathroom this morning and immediately teared up.
"You don't need to convince me, I'll do it," assured Giselle, determined to help her professor. McGonagall had never looked so fatigued, the lines on her face were darker than ever yet her spine was straight and her hair still gleamed in the dim morning light, she never let her students see how much she was truly struggling and Giselle wanted to do anything she could to relieve some of her stress. McGonagall gave Giselle a genuine smile and a shoulder pat, silently thanking her before rushing off to help the headmaster greet the government officials that had turned up to pay their respects. Giselle spotted the back of her father's head in the crowds and she immediately beelined for the Great Hall in the hopes of avoiding Bartemius altogether. She was in no state to deal with her father and she prayed for the sake of everyone around them that he knew to stay away from her too, she didn't know what would happen if he tried to start with her while she was grieving.
James, Lily, and Dorcas were the only people inside the hall when she entered, the trio were huddled on the dais practising their speeches and coming up with a backup plan in case Dorcas broke down, but Giselle left them to their planning and hurried up to one of the busy house elves that were levitating chairs into neat rows to ask for their help in setting up a piano.
"Did McGonagall speak to you about playing?" piped up Lily from her group, intrigued by the bouncing house elf conjuring a grand black piano from thin air. Giselle took her seat and brushed off the keys, getting used to the unused ivories.
"Nah, I just thought Mary's memorial would be the perfect opportunity to introduce Hogwarts to Spiders with Dicks," she teased automatically, her fingers snapping to the keys and the soft tinkling filled the Great Hall. The hall seemed to enjoy the short melody, the house banners shivered and waved in response and the enchanted sky brightened up, parting the misty grey clouds that were hanging over the castle. The longer she played the lighter the hall felt and she trailed off as the trio on the dais whistled and cheered, shouting at her as though she were a rock god.
"If you could play loud enough to drown out my speech then I will forever be in your debt!" Dorcas suggested eagerly, looking extremely pale at the thought of speaking publicly about her dead girlfriend. She still didn't look well, Giselle noticed the purple bruises under her large brown eyes that made her look more like a poor baby doe than usual - she was a delicate girl and rivelled Giselle in being the shortest in the year - but she grew a few inches when she heard Giselle's piano-playing. Maybe McGonagall was onto something here…
"I'll make you a deal," said Giselle, levitating her piano into position beside the staff table, "if you feel like you're going to projectile vomit or pass out or have a mental breakdown, shoot me a thumbs up and I'll play as loud as possible." She wanted to make this process as easy as possible and Dorcas looked extraordinarily grateful and she nodded, sniffing back her tears.
"That would be w-wonderful, thank you Elle," she sobbed. Lily pulled herself together and sat down on the platform with Dorcas, rubbing her shoulder as she consoled her, and James crept over to Giselle, wanting to give the girls some privacy.
"I heard Dickhead is making an appearance today," he said under his breath, pretending to watch Giselle clean the tuning pins, "you feeling ok?"
"Just peachy, Potter," she murmured, meeting his eye, "He's already here, I saw him outside so as long as he keeps his distance from me and Sirius then there won't be any problems."
"That's my girl! As both Head Boy and your friend that's great to hear, I can't be having you and Daddy brawling in the middle of the memorial," James slapped Giselle on the back like a proud father as she took her seat once more, "that's just bad taste, although I'm sure Mary would have found it entertaining."
"She always loved a bit of drama," sighed Giselle sadly, but the sounds of voices approaching the Great Hall doors snatched James' attention and he stood up straighter, hurriedly cleaning his glasses with a wand tap. It must have been midday already, and Giselle's stomach flipped as the doors swung open, revealing the students who were arriving to take their seats. She immediately started to recite classical pieces in her head that didn't sound morbid but her hands began to play the start of one of Chopin's most depressing songs in the world and Lily shot Giselle's the dirtiest look she could muster.
"Not the Funeral March?! Elle?!" mouthed the redhead, aghast, and Giselle quickly swapped tempo and tried to remember the more upbeat classical songs and she sighed in relief when she smoothly transitioned into something that resembled an old Mozart song her mother urged her to learn years ago. Lily shot her a brighter smile.
"Better!" she mouthed.
With her hands on the piano and her mind busy translating Muggle rock ballads into piano instrumentals, Giselle didn't pay much attention to the memorial. Her job was to play as a backing track and that was it, she didn't need to use much of her brain and she savoured the moment of solitude despite the hundreds of eyes on her and the others on the dais. She felt her father's presence before she saw him, but she didn't dare meet his eye as he took to the podium and addressed the school in his most humble, gentle tone to assure everyone that the aurors were here to help - it was a tone of voice she had never heard before in her life. Barty can be caring?! He must be faking it.
Professor Dumbledore's speech sparked Giselle interest the most, he spoke of uniting together as a school to fight the dark forces threatening to tear Hogwarts apart and make a mockery of this new generation of wizards and witches, and it resonated within her more than she thought it would. He told them to be strong and smart, to be observant of those around them and to be brave enough to stand up to the darkness that was consuming the Wizarding world, and Giselle felt her confidence rise when she saw herself in his words. She felt as though he was speaking directly to her, like he was telling her to speak up about her worries concerning Junior and his dabbling in the dark arts, and something deep in her gut bubbled with excitement at the prospect of doing something. She really wanted to help, if not for herself then for others, for Mary.
Giselle replayed the night of the seventh floor attacks over and over in her head in the hopes of remembering a crucial detail that would solidify her brother's involvement in the incident; she knew the evidence was there, waiting to be found . It had to have been Junior, he was there with her before her lesson, he threatened her and Sirius and he knew they were in Astronomy. Of course, it was wild to assume that her brother constructed a whole attack in the hopes of possibly injuring her and Sirius, but he was a malicious little boy. Junior was twisted and, from what she remembered of that night, he was getting desperate - was he crazy enough to do that?
As the Head Boy and Girl took their places on the dais to give their own inspiring speeches, Giselle began to survey the hall in search of her brother but her heart started to pound when she realised she couldn't see him anywhere. He wasn't here, his smarmy freckled face wasn't anywhere in the sea of black and emerald. Was he avoiding the memorial because he was responsible for Mary's death? Was the guilt eating him up so much that he couldn't put on a poker face? She doubted it, Junior didn't have a sorry bone in his body, but his absence was louder than a blaring siren and Giselle felt the adrenaline trickle into her veins. He was involved, but he wasn't the only one. Regulus wasn't here either, and neither was Snape or Selwyn.
Disgusting! Giselle was revolted by the Slytherins' behaviour, their disrespect was getting worse. Really?! They can't even pretend to be sorry?! Pathetic, I shouldn't be surprised by this spineless behaviour, typical snakes.
Giselle wanted to rip herself away from the piano and hunt down her brother the second Dorcas finished her heartbroken obituary to the girl who became her soulmate, but she had to sit there and play everyone out. Halfway through James' speech she ran out of classical songs and filled the silences with soft covers of The Who and Elton which seemed to cause James to lose his place a couple of times as he fought the urge to sing along, and she tried to pick an upbeat jaunty tune in the hopes of hurrying up the stragglers. When only a handful of people were left, Giselle slammed the cover onto the keys and sprinted from the hall, ignoring the strange looks from Lily who wanted to talk to her.
The Entrance Hall was the busiest it had been in ages, students mulled around to share loving stories about Mary or to console others after the beautiful service that struck a chord, but all Giselle could see were the faces of the aurors around the room's outskirts. She recognised a few of them through her father (Bartemius was chatting to Dumbledore a few feet away and she refused to look in their direction in case he caught her eye) and she wondered what they were looking for, or more specifically who they were keeping a close eye on. Was her brother a suspect? She doubted it, Barty would see to that immediately, but she clung onto the hope that at least one of the aurors would be open to hearing about her suspicions despite her reputation.
But as Giselle started towards the nearest auror, a broad-shouldered, dark-skinned man with horn-rimmed glasses, she spotted two very familiar faces across the hall and froze, pleasantly taken aback. But, they're not aurors?
Fabian and Gideon were chatting amongst themselves by the entrance doors, smiling as they reminisced their school years, but Gideon stopped twizzling his moustache and tried not to make it obvious that he had spotted Giselle when she smiled at him. She took a few steps forward, intending to bombard them with interrogating questions that hopefully would give her some sort of hint as to how much they all knew about the attack, but she skidded to a stop and panicked when Fabian slashed at his throat and Gideon furiously shook his head.
"Not now!" mouthed Gideon.
"We're not here!" added Fabian.
Oooh… Secret Order of the Phoenix business! Gotcha! Giselle stifled her excited grin and she spun on her heel, trying her best to look as inconspicuous as possible as she pushed her way through the dawdling students that were blocking the path to the dungeons. Now Junior's absence made sense - he must have been involved, he didn't want to run into any Order members, especially ones that were related to him. But that wasn't good enough for Giselle, she needed to find her little worm of a brother and squeeze a confession out of him.
The dungeons were always darker than the higher floors of the school, the lack of windows in the basement was most prominent during the daytime as the orange flickering light of the lanterns felt too artificial against the dank, dripping stone walls. Giselle cursed the clacking of her platformed boots as she traipsed around the dungeons in search of Junior, she didn't want her feet to announce her arrival and give away the element of surprise. If she could catch him doing something illicit then she would finally have the upper hand over her brother, maybe then her stupid father would believe her?
We're not doing this for Dickhead, we're doing this for you! Her subconscious prodded her, punishing her for thinking about Barty again, and Giselle nodded to herself, holding her head higher.
It wasn't until she passed the entrance to the Slytherin common room that she finally ran into someone of interest. It wasn't Junior but her patience was wearing thin, the dungeons wasn't her favourite place to be and she happily settled for the boy in front of her instead. She had been meaning to talk to him anyways and a cruel smile grew on her freckled face when she purposely barged into him as he exited his common room.
"Oi, watch it-," spat Regulus Black, annoyed that he had been knocked sideways, but his snarl slid into a snide smirk when he realised it was Giselle. "Oh, I've been wondering when I'd see you down here. Walters isn't here, try again later."
Giselle hadn't been this close to Regulus since her fourth year, she hadn't noticed how much he had grown while she was in France but she took the moment to properly take in his appearance. She wasn't surprised that he had grown into his hereditary good looks but he wasn't as sharp as Sirius, he was quite haunting whereas his older brother was dazzling. He had chopped his black hair off to his chin as though trying to enhance his strong jaw but the facial hair he had grown was thin and scruffy, it betrayed his adolescence and she could see the newly trimmed lines where he had tried to blend his patchy beard.
"Fancy seeing you here, Regulus," drawled Giselle, scowling up at him, "I didn't see you at Mary's memorial… Was there something going on that was more important than paying your respects?"
"Macdonald's memorial wasn't compulsory," sighed Regulus, choosing to move on so he wouldn't have to deal with Giselle anymore, but she stuck by his side like a pesky wasp, determined to have this conversation.
"But it is mighty suspicious that you and your little gang didn't show," she spat, keeping her eyes on the side of his face and she watched his frown deepen with every step.
"Fuck off Crouch, I don't care how my absence looks to you, I'm busy and you're pissing me off so go away," he growled, but Giselle could only laugh. Yeah right! Nice try, idiot!
"I'm not going anywhere," she scoffed, trying not to break into a run as Regulus had picked up his pace, "I was trying to find Junior-,"
"Barty-," Regulus corrected automatically.
"- but I'm guessing he's in his little hidey hole back there," Giselle pointed back in the direction they had come from, "so you'll have to do."
"Actually he isn't in there," Regulus couldn't stop himself from correcting her, "why do you want to know where he is? From what I've heard you should stay away from him before you get seriously hurt."
"Aww, thanks for looking out for me," teased Giselle, luring Regulus into lashing out and letting something slip.
"That was a threat," he said, rolling his eyes at her wit, but Giselle refused to give up and pushed him further when she heard him mutter "... stupid fucking blood traitor" under his breath.
Giselle sighed, slowing down to massage the bridge of her nose. The Slytherins were always so quick to bring up their blood purist views, she should have known it would come to this. "Enough of the blood traitor shit, you've got a lot of nerve to call me the traitor when you're the one who fed his own brother to the wolves. You're the traitor," she called out when Regulus continued down the shadowy dungeon corridor, and she smirked to herself when he froze, shoulders hunched and his fists balled. Her remark clearly hit a soft spot and Regulus turned to snarl at her.
"Excuse me?" he scoffed, disproving as he looked her up and down, "you've got a lot of nerve to call me the blood traitor, Crouch, and your opinion means nothing to me. When you first came back here I thought there might be some hope for you still, especially since you turned on that piece of shit I used to call my brother and I thought you had finally come to your senses, but here you go defending him again."
"I'll always defend Sirius, don't kid yourself," laughed Giselle, shaking her head at his ignorance, "do you really expect me to not say anything? I know what happened the summer he was disowned and I know what you did - did it feel good snitching on him? Did you finally feel like a big man watching your mother torture him?"
"It was inevitable, he knew exactly what Mother would do to him and yet he still fucked around," muttered Regulus, coming closer and dropping his voice to intimidate her. She could tell he had been hanging around Junior more, his mannerisms were way too familiar. "He never fit in, he doesn't deserve to be a part of the Noble House of Black and he knows it, he doesn't want anything to do with us either. I'm glad he's gone and I can't tell you how good it felt watching him cower in front of the Dark Lord."
Giselle's insides lurched and she gawked at Regulus, hating how quickly her brain imagined the scenario. She didn't really know what Voldemort looked like but she winced when she pictured Sirius sobbing on his knees in front of the mysterious dark wizard.
"Your whole family is truly evil," she scoffed humourlessly, "really Regulus, I think you've been brainwashed. You're sick."
Regulus cackled, vastly entertained by her insinuations, and he put his hands on hips, subtly searching his robes for his wand. "Really? When were you such an expert on families? Don't make me laugh, you're about to be disowned so you've got no ground to stand on. Your situation is almost comical if you think about it, how your brainless father managed to hold his office for so long I will never know…"
Blood rushed into Giselle's cheeks but she never cracked, she couldn't. "I'm not here to talk about my family, I'm here to talk about yours," she growled, trying to switch the conversation back onto him to spare her some decency, "my father may be blind to what's going on under his roof but at least he's not coercing his children into becoming Death Eaters. What kind of parent does that to their child?"
"A strong one, a decent family figure would do what's best for their family," noted Regulus proudly, ruffling a hand through his choppy locks so she could see his entire face, "and family comes first."
"What a load of old-," Giselle laughed, but she gasped and slid her wand from her robes when Regulus cried out in frustration and readied himself for a duel.
"Fuck off Crouch, leave me alone! Reducto!" he yelled, his voice deep from desperation. "I don't want to fight you!"
"Of course you don't!" exclaimed Giselle angrily, diving out of the way of his fierce bright white spell that zoomed off down the hallway, and she flicked her wrist before Regulus opened his mouth again. "Protego!"
The sheer force of her shield blasted the Slytherin backwards but he caught his footing before he fell flat on his back. She wasn't in the mood to start a real duel and she hoped her powerful defensive spell would be enough to steer Regulus away from continuing, and thankfully his aggravation got the better of him and he dropped his wand arm in defeat. Duels tended to draw unwanted attention and they both knew better than to start a fight on the day of a student's memorial.
"Get out of here, Crouch," murmured Regulus, stiffly straightening his robes as he hid his embarrassment, "shut your whorish, blood-traitor mouth, you won't be so lucky next time."
"Mhmm, maybe," Giselle shot back, slowly backing away from Regulus with her eyes glued to his wand arm, "if you see Junior-,"
"Barty," Regulus spat again, loyally sticking up for his friend.
"-tell him that I know what you're all doing and he needs to watch his back," she concluded, slowly drawing each word out so he could hear her spite, and he shot her an uncharastically handsome grin - her heart skipped, he looked almost like Sirius' twin.
"I'll be sure to pass on the message, traitor," he smiled, smoothing his hair out of his eyes for the last time, but as he turned to leave Giselle in the dungeons his robe sleeve slipped down his arm and she noticed that his forearm was bandaged. Her stomach plummeted in alarm, the shock had frozen her tongue and she let him go without saying a word. His injury looked exactly like Junior's, they were completely identical. Were they… hurting themselves for Voldemort? She shivered viciously and tried not to retch - she hoped not.
But it means something, this is something! Go and tell Dumbledore!
Feeling jumped back into Giselle's feet as her brain caught up with itself and she sprinted through the dungeons and back up to the surface of the school, virtually frothing at the mouth from anticipation. Only a few students were left in the Entrance Hall as she tore through but she didn't stop to see if she recognised any of them, she didn't have time. Luckily the path to Dumbledore's office was deserted and she skidded to a stop in front of the gargoyle guard, bouncing on her heels as she tried to think of the right thing to say.
"Password?" purred the griffin, gently stretching its wings as it sprung to life, and Giselle huffed.
"Uh, hmmm," she struggled to think, "Team Kill Voldemort?"
"Nice try," said the griffin, unamused.
"Do you really think I know? This is really important, just let me pass this one time! Please!" pleased Giselle, clasping her hands together, "I swear I'm not pranking you, I'm being serious."
"One moment please," replied the griffin after a pause, but he swiftly stepped to the side and allowed her passage up the spiral stairs without another word. Anxiety pummelled Giselle's tired body as she knocked on the headmaster's door, she could hear a dozen voices on the other side, and the butterflies in her stomach multiplied when Professor Dumbledore answered the door himself.
"What a wonderful surprise, Giselle," he smiled down at her from the doorway and sidestepped, welcoming her inside, "how may I help you?"
"Hi sir," said Giselle shakily, keeping her eyes on his face to avoid the new weight of eyes on her, "sorry to interrupt, I'm sure you're busy-,"
"Elle!" one of the inhabitants shouted out, and she automatically looked up and locked eyes with Gideon who was waving at her. Her confidence rose tenfold as she realised that she was currently surrounded by Order of the Phoenix members and the corners of her lips twitched. Oh! Actually, this is even better!
"-but I wanted to talk to you about something I've noticed, something suspicious," she finished, meeting Dumbledore's twinkling eye again and he perked up, his wispy brows disappearing behind his pointed hat's brim. He seemed to know what Giselle was going to say and he beat her to it with a genuine smile.
"You are not interrupting whatsoever," he said gently, beckoning her to follow him towards a quiet corner of his office. One of his towering bookshelves was positioned perfectly to hide a small cushioned alcove designed for private reading and Giselle admired the extravagant plum tassel fabric of the chairs, wondering which headmaster added this particular feature.
"If I've assumed correctly then you wouldn't mind my guests being in here with us?" he wondered, gesturing that she take the nearest pouffe, and Giselle happily shook her head.
"Nope! Not at all, I think you know exactly why I'm here," she admitted casually, her gaze naturally drawn to the bookcases around them. Through the shelves she could see her cousins deep in conversation with the other Order members but a sudden shadow covered her view as Professor McGonagall came storming over to see what the pair were up to.
"Albus?" asked McGonagall pointedly, widening her eyes in fear, "are you sure this is safe?"
"Perfectly safe," assured Dumbledore, confident with his plan, "I cannot think of a reason why Giselle here shouldn't be given a chance to help?"
"I really want to help," Giselle interjected enthusiastically, smiling innocently at her head of house, "I should have come to you sooner about this, I wasn't one hundred percent certain but now I am. I have information that you're going to want to hear."
Professor McGonagall surveyed Giselle's face in discomfort but she eventually nodded and kept quiet, simply watching the pair instead. It was obvious she didn't want Giselle to get involved by the fierce deep lines on her furrowed brow but she didn't protest.
"What information do you have for me?" wondered Dumbledore..
"I'm sure you noticed but my brother and his friends weren't at Mary's memorial," began Giselle, her voice wobbling from her nerves, "I think Junior and Regulus Black are responsible for the attack the other day and I believe that they are both Death Eaters. Now, before you start, I know that I've accused Junior of doing evil things in the past and Father is adamant that he's an angelic little boy - but this is different, he's up to something and I'm not just being anti-Slytherin. I have evidence, I promise." Everything came spewing out of her like bile, she needed to get it all out. She told them about catching Junior with known Death Eaters over the summer, his blatant admiration for Lord Voldemort, his sneaky comments that inferred he was meddling in the dark arts, him cornering her just before the attack - and the bandages on his and Regulus' arms. During her ramblings Giselle hadn't noticed that the people on the other side of the bookshelves fell silent.
McGonagall's eyes stayed on Albus' face the entire time, as though she were afraid to react and accidentally give something away, but the headmaster simply nodded and climbed to his feet, smoothing down his trailing beard and tucking it into his belt. Giselle waited patiently, wondering what the two professors were saying with their exchange of glances, but before she could ask Professor Dumbledore gestured for her to follow him.
"I think it's best we have this particular conversation out here," he told her, seemingly unfazed that Giselle had accused two of his students of being Death Eaters, but she happily followed without another word and she joined the main group with a shy smile. The Order of the Phoenix were lounging throughout the office as though it were their own home, they clearly had been inside the headmaster's office before and she began to wonder if the Order had been meeting inside the castle throughout the year, under everyone's nose.
"For those who do not know, this is Giselle, Bartemius' eldest," introduced Dumbledore as he sat down behind his desk, and she automatically waved at those she didn't know. The man standing behind (Giselle's heart thudded and she tried not to blush) Marlene's older sister Monica chuckled and caught her eye, she had an inkling as to who he was but it was hard not to stare at him, the whizzing luminous blue eye rolling around in his eye socket was rather mesmerising. Her father told her nasty stories about the infamous auror Mad-Eye Moody and she never thought she would ever see him in person, it felt rather surreal. Holy shit this is real, I'm surrounded by the best of the best!
"We've been wondering when you'd 'fess up about Junior," sighed Gideon in relief as he walked over to slap Giselle on the back, "thank you for not giving us away earlier."
"Well, I'm great at keeping secrets," hinted Giselle loudly, eyeing up the secret organisation with a hopeful smile, "and I know I should have snitched on Junior earlier but it's been hard-,"
"He's kidding," Fabian rushed to assure Giselle as her freckled cheeks turned scarlet from embarrassment, "we told Albus everything you said straight away and your information has been extremely useful, Elle, thank you."
"Oh!" Giselle glanced back at the headmaster who nodded, half-listening to their conversation as McGonagall and two unfamiliar wizards whispered into his ear, "brilliant! Can you confirm any of my suspicions or is that strictly confidential?"
"We believe your brother and some of his friends are… persons of interest," disclosed Gideon carefully, and Giselle forced her face to remain neutral. She wanted to scream out in joy, she needed to celebrate this historic moment but she needed to remain composed in front of the renowned group - she was right!
"So you can confirm that Junior is a Death Eater? Have you told my dad?" she spat out, frantically looking from her cousins to the headmaster, and a few of the faces around them looked away awkwardly. Oh no…
"You said that the boys had bandages around their arms?" grunted Moody, shifting closer to lean on the headmaster's desk, the wooden leg he was sporting seemed to give him a lot of grief. "...You sure they weren't just injured?"
"No, I don't think so," muttered Giselle, his question was a sharp pin and her hope popped like a balloon, "why?"
"You don't think so? So you're not absolutely certain?" growled Moody as though trying to catch Giselle out, but McGonagall swatted his arm.
"Don't be difficult, Alastor," she scolded him with a tut, and he begrudgingly settled down.
"Once Fabian and Gideon relayed your accusations, I asked Professor Slughorn to inspect your brother's arm," explained Dumbledore calmly, politely ignoring Moody's grumbles, "but he saw nothing underneath his bandages, he wasn't hiding anything. The other boys who have been spotted wearing similar wrappings have been checked too but, once again, nothing has been found."
The intensity of her shame almost winded Giselle but she kept her chin high and choked back the urge to flee… was she wrong? Were the bandages nothing? How embarrassing! I was so sure!
"But… but that's not right. Those bandages mean something!" Giselle tried to justify her claims but instead of thanking her for trying her best, he smiled broadly.
"And I wholeheartedly agree, I believe that they were covering something on their skin, it wouldn't be difficult for them to find the recipe of a potent potion that would camouflage their arms," suggested Dumbledore, and McGonagall huffed in exasperation, cutting him off before he started his explanation.
"Albus, please! Do you honestly think that getting school children involved in the cause will-," she began again, unable to hold back her opinion any longer, but it wasn't Dumbledore who fought back.
"Elle's eighteen, she's mature when it matters and she could handle this in her sleep," Fabian spoke up proudly, "you know she's much stronger than she looks."
"That's because she's a Prewett," Gideon added, grinning at his little cousin as he smothered her with a side-hug. "I think she'd make a wonderful addition to the crew and you know it, Minnie, we need people like Elle."
McGonagall looked pissed.
"By people do you mean Hogwarts students? Giselle is still at school, just because You-Know-Who has stooped low enough to recruit children does not mean that we should too," tutted the deputy headmistress, appalled by what she was hearing, and a soft murmur of agreement rolled through the room.
"I'd feel uncomfortable lying to Barty, he'll find out eventually that she's joined," a brunette witch whispered to Moody who grunted in agreement, and it took Giselle a second to realise that the witch was Edgar's older sister, Amelia. She looked much more stately than she remembered, working under Bartemius seemed to have rubbed off on her as her robes were pristine and her stylish feathered hair shone.
"You don't have to lie to him," Giselle piped up, wanting to be heard, "he's disowning me soon, it doesn't matter if he knows - I want to join."
Amelia met Giselle's determined gaze and she softened her own, rather impressed by her statement. "I should have known, I suppose joining the Order of the Phoenix is a regular Tuesday for you after all the havoc you've caused us over the year-,"
"Don't say it like that!" scoffed Gideon, getting defensive on Giselle's behalf, "we need more thrill-seekers on our team!"
"I think attempting to steal a ship is admirable, you can't hold that against her," added Fabian, winking at his cousin to stop her from retreating into herself.
"That was you?" asked Moody, lightening up at the news, and Giselle smiled meekly.
"...it's been a rough year," she admitted, and the Order members looked a lot more confident, maybe having a school student with a death wish amongst their ranks wasn't the worst idea in the world? Professor McGonagall, however, was far from happy.
"Unfortunately we are losing valuable time and I'm afraid we cannot discuss this in length like I had hoped," began Dumbledore, subtly side-eyeing his distraught headmistress, "but I believe that you deserve at least a sample of what we are dealing with for your own peace of mind. After all, I suspect you've been worrying about this for a while now?"
Giselle held her breath and nodded, she didn't want to breathe in case she missed anything. Was this really happening? "You have no idea!" she rasped, biting hard on her bottom lip.
"We don't believe your brother was involved in Miss Macdonald's murder, he had a tight alibi and witnesses confirmed that he was near the library at the time of the attack," explained Dumbledore, "but we do believe that some of our Slytherins have been seduced by Lord Voldemort and your brother may be one of them but without any real evidence we cannot act on these suspicions. We have spoken to your father about this but he does not agree that Barty is vulnerable."
I knew it! Giselle kept her lips straight but she nodded furiously, illustrating how carefully she was listening. She needed to prove herself to be trustworthy, mature, and above all dedicated to the cause. From what the office was inferring they were interested in recruiting her… don't blow this, Giselle! This could be your only shot!
"I'm sorry to say that I've tried to tell Father that over a hundred times," she sighed, annoyed that Bartemius was being just as hard-headed with her headmaster, "Junior could bring Voldemort round for tea and he still wouldn't believe it."
Dumbledore's moustache twitched at her comment but he chose to move past it. "We have a lot of work ahead of us, but alas, we've come to the end of our time together today. Giselle, there will be another meeting at the Three Broomsticks next Saturday and I would like to invite you to come along. You've demonstrated a lot of skills that would fit in perfectly within our organisation and I can see that you are yearning to join the fight so the invitation is your but yours only - you cannot tell your friends about this," said Dumbledore seriously, his piercing eyes exaggerated by the flash of his spectacles, and Giselle never felt more adult in her entire life.
"Understood, sir, I feel honoured," she said, straightening her spine and smiling widely. "I won't tell another soul."
"It is I who feels honoured, Giselle," complimented Dumbledore, "I look forward to our next meeting."
In Giselle's opinion, there was nothing better in the world than a scenic view, her trusty broom, and an obscene amount of alcohol.
After her impromptu meeting with the Order of the Phoenix, Giselle spent the rest of her day and most of her evening down at the Quidditch pitch with Flash II and a party-sized bottle of Firewhiskey to keep her company, her head was too muddled to be able to deal with social interactions right now. She was totally consumed by the idea of joining the Order of the Phoenix, she knew she wouldn't be able to keep her invitation a secret from her friends so she isolated herself instead. They would eventually come looking for her so she took advantage of her solitude for the time being.
Joining the Order would give her purpose, it gave her something to work towards especially since she hadn't heard from any Quidditch teams yet. She was intelligent and a fair fighter, she wasn't scared of getting up close and personal with Death Eaters, she had been living with one her whole life, but the nervous hisses of doubt in the back of her mind told her not to put all of her eggs in one phoenix-shaped basket. What if they changed their minds? What if she wasn't good enough? Then what?
They won't change their minds, they want you, her subconscious smugly interjected after a few shots of whiskey, I mean, why wouldn't they? You've duelled against Russian aurors, they're fucking terrifying! And remember that giant? They'd be spectacularly dumb not to give you a chance.
"Yeah! I'm great!" Giselle said herself, lounging back on the bench she had chosen in the Hufflepuff stands. She had never seen the pitch from this side, she figured now was her last chance. She knocked back another shot of whiskey and swore as it splashed down the front of her white cropped blouse, she had changed out of her uniform hours ago in an attempt to stay cool as it was still sweltering outside.
If they do let you join then you're gonna have to tell Sirius and the others, her subconscious reminded her, I wonder what they're going to say? With slightly blurred vision, Giselle cleaned her top to the best of her ability as she came up with wild theories depicting her friends' reactions to her news. Would they be happy for her? Scared? Jealous, maybe?
Definitely jealous, her subconscious decided, and she snorted in agreement. She couldn't wait to rub it in their faces!
But Sirius… His potential reaction made her the most anxious, he would certainly have a few things to say about her decision to actively join the war, but a part of her knew that he would be proud of her - if he was in her position then she would encourage and support him, he would do the same… right? She couldn't destroy that part of her life, she had only just got him back!
Technically you haven't got him yet!
"Shush!" Giselle snapped at herself, sloppily pouring yet another shot, but the amber liquid ended up in her lap when she jolted at the sound of voices travelling through the stands across from her.
"-here is perfect!" announced Edgar, emerging into the Ravenclaws stands with his arms stretched wide, "our stands are much cleaner than yours!" She could tell by the fluffiness of the inch tall figure that it was Bones, his mousy locks stood out amongst the dull brown benches and she squinted to see who else had come to interrupt her quiet time.
"Excuse you?! Our stands are way better!" tutted James, disproving of the muddy benches as he followed Edgar, "are you sure you don't want to sit in our luxurious box?"
"Here is perfect," decided Dorcas, sounding much more collected than before, "this is… was Mary's favourite spot."
Slowly Giselle watched more of her classmates appear and her heart practically shot into her neck when she recognised the final figure to appear from the stairs, and she automatically grinned when he immediately spotted her.
"Oi! Elle! Get your arse over here, we've been looking for you!" yelled Sirius, waving at her to join them, and the crowd opposite her added to his shouts, encouraging her to fly over. It took her a while to climb her feet, the alcohol rushed to her head when she found her bearings and the giggles came erupting out of her when she realised she tried to mount Flash II backwards.
"She's pissed already," snorted Peter the second Giselle touched down in the navy and bronze section, she wobbled dramatically but she caught herself before she toppled over.
"Great minds think alike!" snickered Robert Fenwick, revealing a crate of Algerian Alchemist pale ale from behind his back, and Edgar cheered, spurring the group on to share their goods. The seventh years were fed up with their grief, they wanted to get together to toast to Mary's life in a setting that was more personal than a memorial, and Dorcas came up with the idea of sneaking down to the pitch with all the alcohol they could find.
"And what's your choice of poison, Elle?" asked Edgar, gesturing for her to add to the growing pile of bottles on the bench at the centre of the group and she grinned, producing her huge Odgen's Firewhiskey bottle from her expandable pockets and slamming it down on the bench with immense satisfaction at Edgar's stunned expression. It was by far the biggest bottle, and it was only two thirds full.
"Atta girl Crouch!" whooped Emmeline, viciously pushing Remus out of her way to help herself, "may I?"
"Please, I don't want to find out what happens if I drink that to myself," slurred Giselle, winking at her Hufflepuff friend as she generously poured out a few shots, but the warmth of the whiskey inside of her trickled into her loins when she felt Sirius casually come up beside her. She didn't dare look up at him, the clown inside of her was raring to play and she couldn't do anything - Marlene was directly in front of her, nursing a bottle of Butterbeer as she clung onto Dorcas.
"But I want to find out what happens," muttered Sirius under his breath, and Giselle stiffened, exhilarated by his tease.
"You already know what happens when I drink Firewhiskey," she whispered back, and she bravely caught his devilish eye, "remember?"
Sirius's gaze was dark and heavy already, she could smell the intoxicating fumes roll from him and something deep behind her navel pulsed hungrily when she noticed the wicked curl of his smile - but she promptly winked and sauntered off to join Lily, James, and Emmeline's conversation to dissuade the tempting dirty thoughts that wanted to flood her consciousness. Fighting against the cruel whispers of the whiskey in her veins was hard but the feeling of Sirius' leering eyes on her back made it worthwhile.
As the powdery grapefruit sky began to glitter from the summer stars, the drunken conversations being shared in the Ravenclaw stands started to dwindle into the topic everyone had been most anxious to discuss - the war against Lord Voldemort. Giselle sat back and listened to everyone's worries, she didn't dare add her own thought in case she accidentally let slip that the Order had her on their recruitments list but it was oddly comforting knowing that she wasn't the only one who was eager to fight.
"We can't sit around and do nothing about this," said Edgar strongly, hammering his fist into his thigh as he tried to sit upright on the floor, "we're in this war whether we like it or not, and it keeps getting closer."
"And let's be real here, we all know that You-Know-Who has his little spies at Hogwarts already," agreed Hufflepuff Adrian, using the neck of his beer bottle as a pointing stick, "all of us here know that those slimy snakes have turned on us."
"Not all of them are bad," tutted Lily, trying to find some light in the dark conversation, but she pouted when James shot her a very specific look, "ok, fine, I can't think of any examples right now but I'm sure there are some good ones out there."
"It'll be worse once we leave school," mused Sirius, darkening the tone of the conversation, "granted, nine out of ten Death Eaters were Slytherins but it'll be harder to know who to trust, it's getting darker out there and we won't have Hogwarts to protect us anymore. This is only the beginning."
"Mhm, how inspiring," snorted Remus, drunkenly smirking at Sirius, and Giselle stifled her laughter with her drink.
"But it's true," croaked Dorcas, staring blankly at the centre of their cosy circle with tears in her eyes, "everything could end at any second, I didn't think anything would happen to me or Mary while we were here at school but I couldn't have been more wrong. We were supposed to live at the farm together, she was supposed to train as an Obliviator… but now…" the group sobered up slightly as they listened to Dorcas's cries, Marlene sniffled and continuously rubbed Dorcas' back as she struggled to finish her thought, "she was the love of my life and now I will never get to grow old with her, I will never see her beautiful crooked smile again, I will never see her flourish into the wonderful witch she was destined to be and I don't know what to do with all of this love I have for her… what do I do with it?"
"Continue to feel it," Giselle answered, unable to stop herself, and Dorcas locked eyes with her, "continue to love her, just because she's no longer here with you doesn't mean she can't feel your love and it doesn't mean it's not real. Express your love through your actions, honour Mary's memory and fight for her, avenge her death and fight against those pricks that took her from you."
Wow, you've been around the Order of the Phoenix once, slow down soldier! snickered the sober part of her brain, pulling the reins on Giselle's motivational speech, and she quietened herself with another drink sip. Dorcas absorbed her words and wiped her eyes, touched by the sentiment and a sparkle lingered in her wide doe eyes for a split second.
"Look who's the inspirational one now!" scoffed Remus, nudging her leg with his own, and she blushed slightly with a modest shrug.
"I was thinking about writing a book," she joked.
"Giselle's right though," Edgar piped up, gazing sadly as his tearful housemate, "we need to live life to the fullest, we need to stand up together and fight, it isn't enough to just wait around and expect others to defend us from V-Voldemort," he struggled to spit the name out but he fought hard against his wince, "we're of age, we're damn good duellers, and we need to prove that we're not to be fucked with. If not for us, then for Mary." He held his glass up to the blackcurrant sky and Dorcas joined in, smiling despite the droplets rolling down her cheeks.
"We need to, before it's too late… for Mary," she toasted, sounding stronger than ever, and the circle copied, galvanised by Dorcas' new fighting spirit.
"For Mary."
The drinking party came to a dry end once they ran out of alcohol to drown themselves in so the seventh years started to stagger out of the stands, a job that seemed much easier in theory since the stands seemed to sway more now they were intoxicated. Struggling to catch her breath after watching Remus misjudge the first two steps and somersault down two flights, Giselle hung back from the group to regain her composure but it turned into a useless task when she realised that she wasn't alone.
"Please tell me you saw that," she giggled weakly, and Sirius shook his head, transfixed by her.
"No, I was too busy coming up with a plan," he said simply, and Giselle arched a brow, confused. Huh?
"For what?" She wondered, her arms falling slack at her sides as Sirius came closer. His silver eyes sparkled through the darkness, captivating her gaze with a smooth wink, and he gently stroked his hand down her cheek, savouring the softness of her face. Giselle couldn't move, she couldn't breathe.
"We're going to live life to the fullest," he told her firmly, and she shivered as his intoxicating hot breath tickled her skin, "I can't wait any longer, Elle, I'm breaking up with Marlene tonight."
Giselle blinked and she felt like her body had transcended dimensions, she was on cloud nine, she never felt like this before. AHHH!
"Then I guess I better wish you good luck," she squeaked, grinning ear to ear, but Sirius' smile was even broader.
"Appreciate it, Princess," he sighed, smoothing his long hair out of his glowing face as he turned to leave, but before he left her in the stands he sent her another heart-skipping, cheeky wink, "oh, and just so you know - hearing you talk about fighting was really fucking sexy."
…I'm wet.
"Good to know," Giselle purred, squeezing her thighs together to prevent herself from melting on the spot, and she watched Sirius disappear into the shadows with cramping cheeks and fluttery butterflies in her stomach. The universe, or maybe something just beyond, gifted her some positivity and she couldn't have been more excited for whatever came next.