After George had left, Thea had intended to stay in the kitchen. It felt rude for her to explore someone's house when they were, first of all, not there and second, didn't even know she was there. But she had never been good at waiting.
The minutes ticked away, and finally,Thea couldn't stand it anymore. She got up from the table and headed back out into the hallway. There wasn't much on this floor-just the kitchen, a small half-bath, the creepy portrait of Walburga Black, and a staircase going both up and down.
After a moment of internal debate, Thea decided to go upstairs. The stairs were straight and steep and at the second landing, there was another hallway. She followed it down to find a small living room and an even smaller bedroom. Thea was about to head back to the staircase when she heard voices downstairs.
"Are you sure you brought her here?" she heard Ron ask.
"No, I took her to the other Order of the Phoenix headquarters," George sent back.
"How big is this house?" This time it was Jax.
"Eight bedrooms, four and a half baths," Harry answered.
Thea started down the steps. Might as well just face the music.
"Then she's here," said Jax. "She just decided to explore." He looked up as Thea appeared on the steps.
"Sorry," she told them, directing her apology at Harry. "I was alone in the kitchen..."
"And you couldn't resist exploring," Jax finished for her with a chuckle.
Thea couldn't help grinning. "Yeah, something like that."
"You just used to be better at not getting caught," Jax teased her.
At everyone else's questioning looks, Thea continued, "It's how Jax and I met actually. Neither one of us tended to pay much attention to curfew...we liked to explore the castle. We ran into each other one night during first year, and we became friends from there."
"Did you find any of the secret passages? Like the one behind..."
"Gregory the Smarmy?" Thea finished for George with a grin. "And the one-eyed witch, and the one near the astronomy tower." She ticked them off on her fingers to make sure she didn't forget any of them.
George grinned at her. "Did you find any others?"
Harry cleared his throat. "Maybe we should discuss our next move now, school secret passages later?"
"And in the kitchen," Ginny pointed out, and Thea remembered the screaming portrait.
"Right," George mumbled, looking down.
Thea said nothing, but her cheeks flushed, and she looked away as well.
They headed into the kitchen to sit around the table. "So, I've been filled in about the Aurors and why they're after Thea," Harry began. "What I haven't been filled in on was what happened at the expo regarding the house-elves. Thea, do you want to start, since I haven't heard anything from your side of the story?"
Thea opened her mouth and tried to tell them what had happened, but found that she couldn't. She closed her mouth, pausing for a moment, before trying one more time. Thea shook her head. "I can't."
"I'll tell it then," said George. His expression was concerned, as if he thought that it was too emotionally difficult for her. Before Thea could set him straight, he opened his mouth to tell Harry about the expo, but the result was the same. "I can't either."
"He's smarter than I thought," said Thea, shaking her head. "He cast a curse so we can't say anything about what happened there."
George shook his head, and Thea could tell he was confused. "But Jax was able to tell me what happened with you and Liam outside the main area. Maybe he's not affected."
Jax opened his mouth to try to say something, but Thea spoke up first. "You were at the expo. The spell must only be activated if we're trying to talk to someone not at the expo."
Jax tried again but shook his head. "She's right. I can't say anything now either."
"Well, then how are we supposed to do anything if we don't know bloody well what's happened?" asked Ron with an exasperated sigh.
"We need to figure out what he cursed." Thea tilted her head as she thought. "And then we need to get ahold of whatever it was." If she had the cursed item, she could break the curse, but she didn't think there was anything she could do without it.
"Come again?" Ron narrowed his eyes in confusion.
"It had to be something we all touched," said Thea, biting her lip. "Probably our passes to enter."
Hermione shook her head. "Even if you figure out what it was and somehow manage to bring it here, there's no way to break a curse like that."
"Not yet there's not," said Thea with a shrug.
"So, what, you're just going to create a spell? On the spot?" Hermione's voice was rising in pitch, indicating just how flustered she really was.
"Or a potion," said Thea. "A potion actually might be easier, and I can make that beforehand."
"But..."
Jax shook his head at Hermione. "This is what she does. If the spell can be lifted, she can do it."
"I just need potion ingredients," said Thea.
"Unfortunately, I don't have any here," Harry pointed out apologetically.
"I have some at my shop," George volunteered.
"Well, wait a minute," said Hermione, through narrowed eyes. "Even if she can do it, which I'm not entirely convinced of, how are we going to get these passes—that is if that's even what he cursed? None of us can get into the department."
"That's not entirely true," Thea, Jax, and George said at the same time. Thea glanced over at the two of them, a little confused. "I would just have to be invisible when I go in. How are the two of you planning on getting in?"
"To pay him," George said simply. "I'm supposed to meet him tomorrow to give him the money."
"In the Department of Ministries?" Thea asked.
George shrugged. "Well, we didn't really clarify that, but as we're meeting at the ministry, I'm assuming..."
Thea was nodding along with him now. "Then I'll just go in when he's meeting with you. I'll go in, pour the potion over whatever he cursed and get out, and leave when you leave."
"Do you really think I'm going to be enough of a distraction?" George asked. "There will be other Unspeakables around."
Thea shrugged. "If I'm invisible, the other Unspeakables won't matter." She sighed at their sceptical looks. "Look, Liam doesn't scare me...and neither do the other Unspeakables. I need to do this."
Harry cleared his throat. "Do any of you have any better ideas?" When no one said anything, Harry sighed. "Then I think we should go with Thea's plan. It's risky..." he looked over at Thea. "But you're sure you can do it?"
Thea nodded. "I am."
Harry nodded, satisfied with that. "In the meantime, maybe someone should stay here with Thea." His gaze landed on Ginny.
"What, me?"
"You're the only one of us not working right now," Harry pointed out. "George and Jax need to be available for their covers to hold up, and Ron, Hermione, and me all work at the ministry-we all need to be seen, but you don't. Quidditch practise doesn't start again for a few weeks." He took her hand to whisper something to Ginny that Thea couldn't hear, but his thoughts gave away the gist of it.
"Fine," Ginny said finally.
Everyone else started to disperse at that point-Hermione and Ron were the first ones to leave.
"You'll be fine," Jax assured Thea, before heading out.
Now it was just Thea, Ginny, George, and Harry. Harry spoke softly to Ginny, and Thea gave them their space as George approached her.
"I'm sorry about how everything turned out," George told her.
Thea offered him a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "It's not your fault."
"But still," he told her. "And you and Ginny will be fine here-I actually think you two will get along pretty well."
"She seems nice," Thea offered, wrapping her arms around herself. It was cold here in the basement, and even if it wasn't, she needed the comfort. A lot had happened.
"Listen, I should probably go."
Thea followed George's gaze to see that Harry was at the doorway of the kitchen, waiting. She turned back to George as he continued.
"I'll bring by some potion supplies tomorrow, and then we can head over to the ministry, so you can find those passes," George told her, shoving his hands into the pockets of his robes again.
Thea nodded. "Thank you...for everything."
Then George followed Harry out, leaving Thea and Ginny alone in the kitchen.