Hey again. Short and sweet, lets get to the chapter. I'll talk later.
HPFanatic04- its so fun talking to you now! Yay! Thanks for the review, it was highly appreciated! Thank you for keeping my spirits high!
Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter and I do own most of the plot, just some things had to be from OotP to make sense. I put them in my own words. So, anyways, here goes nothing.
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Chapter 10- Dark Bite
Fred shook George awake again.
"Since when do you ever get up before me?" George said groggily. He looked out the window and saw a black nights sky. "And since when do you get or wake people up at around three in the morning?"
He didn't answer. He just stared down at George, wide-eyed.
"I'm glad your talkative this morning… if that's what you want to call this time of night." George joked, sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed.
"Put on your cloak." Fred finally said. "Dad's in trouble."
George couldn't have remembered a time that he and his twin had put on their cloaks any quicker. After less than one minute, they were both running along the halls. It was almost Christmas, so the castle was freezing. They ran up to the gargoyles that happily hopped out of the way ('jolly good' 'morning, sir') and allowed them to reach Dumbledore's office.
Ginny, Ron, and Harry, were already there.
"Professor Dumbledore, sir?" George said walking up slowly to the front of his desk. "What's going on?"
Dumbledore gave a weak smile and answered, "Harry has had a vision, and your father has been hurt by Voldemorts snake. He's in the hospital, and I want you all to go to Number twelve, Grimmauld Place, to wait for your mothers consent for you to go see him."
Ginny and Ron looked as though they had already heard this, so they both looked down at their shoelaces.
"What? No! We have to go see him!" Fred protested.
Dumbledore shook his head. "You can't. What would they say at St Mungo's if you just waltzed in without them having told your mother yet? You have to wait."
"No, our fathers hurt and we deserve to be able to go and see him!" George said, his jaw set.
"Do you all know how to use a Portkey?" Dumbledore said, picking up an old teapot from his desk.
They all nodded and touched a finger to the portkey. George felt an immediate pull from somewhere behind his navel, and he jerked forward, watching the world around him swim out of focus and they all landed, toppling over, at Number twelve, Grimmauld Place, where Sirius stood there by the fireplace.
"I've heard." He said as they all looked up at him from the ground. "Dumbledore said he'll live."
Ginny was the first to stand up. "Well that must mean that-"
She had said what everyone was thinking. That must mean that he was close to death. George suddenly felt hatred towards Harry and he glared at him, along with Fred who seemed to be feeling the same way.
"Bed, anyone?" Sirius asked.
They all glared at him.
"All right, maybe not." Sirius said, walking over to a chair and sitting on it. Ginny, Ron and Harry all sat on a three-seated couch, Fred took the spot beside Sirius, and George plopped down in an armchair, located at the far side of the room.
"You think he'll be okay?" Ginny asked.
No one answered.
"Butterbeer, anyone?" Asked Sirius, raising his wand and saying, "Accio Butterbeer."
Butterbeer shot to all of them, and they took it gratefully. It must have been a couple hours going by, as they sat there in silence, sipping their Butterbeer and muttering what was on their mind quietly. Ginny's head was rolling to one side, as she slowly fell asleep on Harry's shoulder. Harry was sitting there, deep in thought.
'Harry… He made this happen.' Thought George angrily. He took another sip of Butterbeer and his thoughts started to make more sense to him. 'No he didn't… if it wasn't for him, who knows where dad would be? I should be thanking him…'
Fred slammed his butterbeer down. "We should be able to go see him now." He said, standing.
"George, sit." Sirius said.
"He's Fred." George said lazily.
Sirius growled from somewhere in his throat. "Sit, Fred. We're not going anywhere until we have permission. What would the healers say if we all marched in…?"
"Save your breath." Growled Fred. "We've heard the same thing from Dumbledore."
"And he's right." Barked Sirius, sounding more like a dog.
An owl fluttered into the room, handing Sirius a letter from its leg.
"How'd the owl get in…?" Ginny began, as she slowly began to wake up.
Sirius however, was more consumed in the letter than in what Ginny was saying.
"Well?" George asked. He took the letter from Sirius who had outstretched his hand for George. "Mum says that we can see him in the afternoon…" George muttered, his eyes scrolling across the page. "Nothing to worry about, get a good rest, don't do anything you shouldn't- typical mum."
Sirius got up. "Well, do as she says. Up to bed with the lot of you."
They did as they were told and went up to bed, falling into a deep sleep.
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Fred and George went to meet Arthur in the hospital at noon, along with everyone else.
"Hey dad." George said, giving his dad a quick one-armed hug.
"Dad! Hey!" Said Fred, also giving his dad a one-armed hug.
Arthur told everyone how he was going to be in the hospital for a little while longer, and Mrs. Weasley added, "Well Arthur, we will be staying at Sirius's house for Christmas."
After their visit, they all went back to Grimmauld Place and sat around, playing exploding snap and other games. There was a knock at the door, and Sirius went to answer it. Mrs. Black didn't hear it and to the others relief, didn't start screaming again.
"Afternoon, everyone." Said Moody, coming in and his magical eye swivelling around to look everywhere. "Me n' Lupin brought letters." He said, his normal eye resting on Lupin who had just walked into the room, laughing with Sirius.
"Oh, Harry and Ron, Hermione sent you one. She's still in school; it's not out quite yet… no sense in you guys going back either. Um… George, Alicia's written to you. Her owl was twirling around the burrow when I got there." Lupin said, handing Ron and George letters. "Lee's written to the both of you." He added, giving Fred a badly wrapped and lumpy package.
Fred tore open the package and in it were a bunch of Canary Creams. Fred stowed them in his pocket before Sirius, Lupin, or Mad-eye could see them, and gave George a wink, reading the letter that went along with them.
George ripped open the letter and sat in an armchair in the far corner. He began to read:
George,
Dumbledore has told Lee, Katie, Hermione, Angelina, and I, about your father obtaining an injury and that is why you have left. We were told not to tell anyone else or make it seem suspicious that you were gone, which seemed like a very odd thing to say… I'm sorry to hear about your dad, is he going to be okay? Are you staying away from Hogwarts for Christmas? Send me a letter back, please. Happy Christmas. I'll send you another letter and a gift on the eve of Christmas.
Love from,
Alicia
George smiled. LOVE from, Alicia. Not, 'from your friend' or just 'from' or 'sincerely yours' but, 'Love'. Of course, this could have been just coincidence, so there was no point in dragging on thoughts of her actually liking him. He took a quill from the table and looked around for a piece of parchment. He found one that was quite old, but shrugged. It wasn't like anything else he had wasn't old, so what was a piece of yellowing parchment to him? He scribbled on the date at the top corner and began to write:
Alicia,
I am happy to tell you that dad will be okay. I'm not sure how much I'm supposed to tell you, so I'll leave it at that. Odd things are going on around here, that's for sure. Yes, I am staying away from Hogwarts for Christmas; I think it will be the first time since I've been at Hogwarts that I will actually do so. Are you heading home, yourself? I need to know where to send your letters. Please send your next letter not to the burrow, but to the old barn down near Grimmauld Street, I can pick it up there. Merry Christmas, I'll miss you.
-George
George restrained from putting, 'with love' in case he seemed suspicious, and folded the parchment up, rolling it and tying it with string. He grabbed Lee's note and read it:
Hey Mates,
Nothing much going on here. I was told you left for something with your dad. That must suck. Hope he's okay, give him my uh- what's the word- best wishes I guess. You wont be back at Hogwarts for Christmas then? Damn, I'll be stuck here all by myself. I saw you guys running out of the room at three in the morning, and I never thought it'd be the last time I saw you till after Christmas. Write back one of you… or both. Both would be nice. Angelina says that she's still mad at the both of you for getting kicked off the Quidditch team, but told me to say Merry Christmas to the both of you.
-Lee
George took another old piece of parchment and wrote:
Lee,
Sorry about not being there Christmas time. Who would have known that this would come up though? Tell Angelina that I'm sorry and Happy Christmas. She better not be mad at me when we get back after holidays –don't tell her that- but I hope she cools off by then. Send me another letter soon… to the old barn down by Grimmauld Street. I can pick it up there.
-George
He also tied that parchment with string after he rolled it, and went over to the kitchen, looking at Pigwidgeon scuttling all over the kitchen. He dropped the parchment in a pile of other letters that Ron, Harry and Fred had written and waited for Lupin to finish his letter to Dumbledore. Then he tied all of the letters together, strung them onto the tiny owls leg, and sent him off.
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Christmas at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, was quite eventful. Besides Sirius who seemed in the best of moods singing carols and decorating, Fred and George's mum, Mrs Weasley, was busy making the regular Weasley jumpers, baking so many candies and cakes that it could make one sick, and visiting Arthur in the hospital.
Fred walked along the hallway, tiptoeing past the portrait of Miss Black, and then apparated into the bedroom where George was, sitting on his bed and writing out copies of order forms for Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.
"How are our fireworks coming along?" Fred asked, sitting on the edge of the bed, narrowly missing the top of the top bunk.
George looked over to the desk on the other corner of the room, staring at the bubbling potion and empty firework shell.
"Should be ready to pour in soon, I think." George said, scratching his chin with the feather quill and dipping it in more ink.
Fred walked over to desk and looked into the bubbling red potion.
"You are Fred!" Said the painting above the desk, of a blonde water fairy. She looked just like a human, except smaller and had wings. Her bathing suit was made out of shells and seaweed.
Fred looked up at her. "Uh-?"
George laughed. "Don't bother with her. She's been annoying me all day… doesn't shut up, that one."
"Well what happened to the other portrait the last time we were here? The one with the old guy who always slept?" Fred asked.
"Sirius disposed of him… seemed he was some sort of evil cousin." George said.
"I'm Sally!" The fairy piped up smiling. "You two are cute!"
Fred inched away from the painting. "Well, I think I'll go for a good nap." He said, crawling to the top bunk and pulling his covers overtop of him.
Soon, the only sound to be hear was Fred's deep breathing as he slept and the scratching of a quill on parchment-
"Am I hot?" The fairy asked, bouncing around in the painting and often sitting on the rock that was sticking out from the water.
George looked up at her and raised his eyebrows. "You're a uh- painting."
The fairy giggled. "Of course I am silly! Now am I hot?" She slid the shoulder strap of her bikini off her shoulder, and flipped her blonde curly hair behind her.
George sighed and shook his head. "Not really-…"
"WHAT? YOU DON'T LIKE ME?" The fairy yelled in her tiny voice.
"Would you be quiet," Whispered George, "you'll wake up my brother Fred."
"Oh that would be a pity." She mocked, laying on the rock and flipping her arms over her head. "You think I'm hot- admit it."
George shook his head. "No, sadly. The only person I think is hot isn't here."
"Oh!" The fairy turned on her stomach and propped herself up on her shoulders, staring at George. "Tell me who she is."
"No." He said simply.
The fairy flew closer to the painting. "Why not?"
"Because-…" He began.
She flipped her hair again. "You can trust me!"
"No I cant, you're just a painting." George said.
The fairy's face fell. "Just a painting? Just a painting!" She began to cry, awful loudly. "I am NOT just a painting! I have feelings too!" She yelled.
"Fine, I'll tell you if you shut up." Said George angrily, throwing down his quill. "You're going to wake up my brother!"
The fairy immediately stopped crying and stared at George. "I stopped. Well then?"
"Her name is Alicia." He said quietly.
"Oh! What does she look like?" The fairy asked.
George stared at her. "I told you her name, it was all you wanted to know. Now leave me alone."
"Tell me or I'll go through every painting in this house and tell everyone I see." She said happily.
George set his jaw and glared at her. "Fine. She has beautiful brown hair with eyes that peer into your soul. She's short and has an excellent body, and she can make anyone laugh or feel better when she talks. And when she talks to you, it's like you're the only person in the entire universe and she wouldn't betray anyone." He said, picking his quill back up and resting his back against the wall, beginning to write once more.
"She doesn't sound so great." The fairy said miserably. She sat on the rock and lay down, curling up. "Do people have any decency to put soft things in paintings? It's hard to fall asleep on a rock, you know!"
George laughed. "Well please do sleep. I've had enough of you."
The fairy glared at him. "Well, Happy Christmas to you too!"
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Hehehe, I like that fairy! She's so cool… anyways, how'd you like? Tell me in a review, I've got about one more chapter until the broom scene. And then… yay! You'll love what's happening, you will! So, review!
-Kit