Chapter Two: I must belong somewhere
Song: I Must Belong Somwhere by Bright Eyes
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, don't sue.
It was night by the time I cooled off. I sat on the roof of the Burrow and continued to sulk. Harry was being a git. So we're not going to get along, no big deal, but did he have to tear apart my picture? My only picture of my dad? I probably should've taken the pieces and tried to mend the picture, but magical photos are finicky. The movements are never the same after damage; they're usually fragmented or unnatural after repair. You know, I bet no one would dare mess with pictures of James and Lily Potter… what a jerk.
I was interrupted from my thoughts when a loud popping sound came from behind me and I felt the weight of bodies land on the rickety roof.
"I knew it! Told you she'd be up here!" A male voice called.
"Yeah, yeah…"
"Hand it over, elephant face."
"Hey, watch the profanities."
I turned around and saw the twins, Fred and George; one was giving money to the other. They stopped mid-exchange and grinned sheepishly. I continue to look on skeptically.
"Were you two betting on where I would turn up?" I asked slowly. They shrugged their shoulders and continued to smile.
"Afraid so, girlie," said one.
"We can't help it," chimed the other.
"We're men," They added together.
"…Elephant face?" I asked confused.
"I consider it a term of endearment." George replied. I shook my head in amused disbelief.
"And you do that freaky twin thing a lot?" I asked with slight wonder. They looked at each other then back at me in a cartoonish fashion.
"Yes." They answered, proving a point. I rolled my eyes and continued to stare out at the horizon. The twins plopped down on either side of me, the roof groaned in protest.
"You know, it's harder than it looks," Fred argued.
"The 'freaky twin thing' you call it," George added.
"Took us years to get down."
I would have smiled or shot back a witty remark, but I just wasn't feeling it; I wanted to mope, so I just continued to stargaze.
"How'd you find me?" I asked after a minute or two if silence. "I didn't think anyone would believe I'd have the guts to end up on this rickety roof…"
"That's an easy one babe," Fred answered. I shot him a dirty look at the 'babe' part.
"We saw you run off towards the muggle village about a mile down the road."
"But we've been there, a right boring place it is."
"So we knew you'd end up back home."
"Only a matter of time."
"And we thought, 'where do we go when the world's gone rotten and or we need to hide?'" George patted the roof affectionately.
"So here you are."
"And here we are. Mystery solved."
I stared with a furrow brow, utterly bewildered. It was like talking to one person, only fragmented. My head played tennis, shooting back and forth from twin to twin as they explained their reasoning. It made me dizzy.
"Touché," I finally commended.
"Thank you m'lady," George winked.
"Now come on, let's go downstairs, Mum made shepherd's pie." They both stood to go and simultaneously reached out hands to help me up.
"I don't want to," I replied. They immediately sat back down, the roof shaking just a little more dangerously.
"Why not?" They asked. Wasn't it obvious?
"Isn't it obvious?" I asked. They stared at me blankly. I guess it wasn't. I huffed impatiently. "I don't want to go down there, with all those people, including a kid who hates me because I'm upset. And upset people usually just run off and brood for a while." They continued to give me that blank look; it made me want to scream.
"Well…you covered the running off part earlier…"
"And you've got the brooding part out of the way…"
"Now it's time to eat!" They stood up again and reached out their hands once more.
"It's not that easy," I admitted. They groaned and sat back down.
"Is it Harry?" George asked?
"Cause believe me, you haven't seen a thing yet. That kid's an emotional roller coaster." Fred added.
"No, it's not him," I confirmed. My cheeks went red. I was beginning to realize how childish I was being.
"Then what is it?" Fred asked. I exhaled.
"That was my only picture of my father. And he ruined it. I wasn't expecting Harry and I to be best friends; if I were him I'd feel betrayed too, but he should at least have some empathy for the not having a dad part." I looked down at my shoes trying to not let them see me get all teary eyed. They were looking at me with goofy grins
"What is it?" I asked incredulously. Was snot running from my nose or something?
"Boy, are we gonna make your day," Fred gloated.
"A couple of heroes we are!" George puffed out his chest.
"What did you do..?" I asked sort of frightened. George reached into his pocket and handed me my picture. It was completely repaired. The movements were exactly the same as before. It looked like it had never been torn.
"…How..?" I was speechless.
"We invented a picture serum a few years back," said Fred. "It can fix just about any messed up photo."
I felt like I was gonna cry again, but I just hugged them instead.
"Thank you, really, you have no idea how much this means to me."
"Just don't get used to this," George warned.
"Yeah, we specialize in tricks, pranks, and other affiliated items. Not saving the day," Fred stated matter-of-factly.
"We just don't like seeing girls cry."
"Well, usually."
"Can we eat now?" George got on his knees and clutched my hands. "Please Miss, just a noodle and a drop o' tea!" Fred joined in on the act. He fell on his back and writhed in mock pain.
"So hungry! I see a light!"
"Alright, let's go," I laughed. We stood up but before I could start climbing down the gutter, Fred grabbed my wrist.
"Hang on. Before we go, you have to tell us something." I looked on suspiciously.
"Okay. What's up?"
"Do you always run away from a conflict?" Fred asked.
"You know that's poor character." George added. I raised my eyebrows.
"In case you haven't noticed, I've been running from conflict my whole life. I don't know any better," I stated in mock innocence. Fred smiled.
"Don't worry we'll teach you how to know better."
"You'll be taking the bull by the horns in no time."
"Or the wizard by the ears if you want."
I laughed and they apparated me downstairs before I could say another word.
~*~
"I need to talk to you," I said to Harry while tapping his shoulder. Dinner had ended and I just barely managed to catch him retreating back upstairs. Unlike myself, he hadn't calmed down; he was frowning at me as if he were born to. His fists remained clenched and it was obvious he was using all the self control he had to not spontaneously combust in a fit of anger.
"There's nothing to talk about." Harry said shortly, turning to leave. I grabbed his shoulder to face him; I refuse to let him get away that easily.
"No. There's plenty to talk about. You're just not up for the potential turmoil."
Harry glared at me, but stayed rooted in his place. I had caught his attention at least. I took a deep breath. "Can we go outside?" Harry still didn't look one bit pleased. But unblinkingly, he nodded.
We sat on the porch and didn't talk for a few moments. I risked a few sideways glances but in fear of catching eye contact kept them short. Harry stared mercilessly at the ground and kicked at a few pebbles.
In the last six hours, I've become a walking awkward silence… I thought skeptically. I gathered up some courage and turned to him.
"Look," we both said at the same time. I smirked in response; the boy who lived had been cracked by the illegitimate Black.
"You go first," Harry replied. I finally gave Harry eye contact and was (if nothing) confused by those pools of green. He looked severe of course, but not severe enough to jump down my throat. He almost looked humane; a face I was unfamiliar with from Harry Potter. I took a deep breath and hoped for the best.
"My dad…Sirius…he loved you, you know."
Harry's eyes got big and he furrowed his brow: he was definitely not expecting that.
"Yeah?" he asked.
Was I really going to be the one conducting this whole conversation? I nodded in surrender.
"You were his second child practically. Always told me about you, how he wanted us to meet more than anything. Before the whole rebirth of You-Know-Who, I think he really wanted the three of us to travel together." This most definitely caught him off guard. He looked away from me and resumed his staring contest with the dirt.
Yes. I would be the one conducting this whole conversation.
"And I'm not trying to use my dad to get on your good side; I just think it would be, I don't know, disrespectful to utterly loathe one another. We could at least be civil towards—"
"I didn't mean to blow up at you," Finally! He talks! It was most definitely not the reaction I anticipated, but now I wanted to play the quiet game and stare blankly. He assumed well that I wouldn't respond and continued with his soap-box.
"I don't want you to leave, contrary to what I said. Quite frankly, I think it's pretty incredible that Sirius had a family."
"You're just saying that," I said, smiling.
"No really. I always wondered why he never married. Turns out he did. And honestly if you're anything like your dad, we'll get along fine, not just 'civilly'." Harry smiled weakly.
"I try to live up to his reputation…the good one, that is, not the 'eats muggles for breakfast' one." Harry laughed. "So does this mean we're cool?" I asked hopefully. He looked at me squarely and put a hand on my shoulder.
"Yeah, for now."
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