Hello everyone!
I am terribly sorry I haven't updated these past few weeks. Midterms were really hard on me.
I will try to post two chapters this week to make up for it.
I hope you guys like this one! It was very fun to write. Please tell me what you think!
Thank you for all your alerts and favorites, and of course your reviews. You guys are so lovely! 3
Enjoy xx

wildest dreams
VOLUME II

CHAPTER FIVE

The next day, I spent the entire morning skimming through my book about Magical Law – my uncle had bought me one a few years ago. I looked for anything related to underage use of magic, and expulsion from Hogwarts. Arthur had told us that Dumbledore had been able to negociate a hearing for Harry – that was very good news. Harry had just been defending himself – his case looked good. I felt confident for him.

After lunch, Molly sent me and the twins to start cleaning up one of the bedrooms upstairs. The room was incredibly dark when we entered.

"Hmm" said Fred, looking around. "Looks like a fun one."

"Indeed, Gred. Best day of my life," added George.

I walked to the window – there was a small space between the two curtains, where we could see outside. I glanced down at the street – an elder couple was taking a walk.

"What does Molly want us to do here, exactly?" I asked.

"She just said to clean the room," shrugged Fred.

"Yeah, well, if you ask me," said George. "It would be a lot easier to just burn the whole thing down."

I turned to the curtains, laughing, and opened them wide mindlessly, not thinking one second about the possibility that something might be hiding in there.

"Not to mention – Addy, don't!"

But it was already too late – about a dozen Doxys came flying out of the curtains, and directly at me. I screamed in terror, instinctively hiding my face. I could feel them all around me, their distinctive buzzing sound echoing in my ears.

"Get them off!" I yelled.

Fred and George came running – I heard the two of them yell a spell – and a few seconds later, the Doxys were all frozen in the air around me. George grabbed my arm and pulled me to him, away from the small creatures.

"Bloody hell!" I breathed out, my heart racing. "I hate those things!"

"What were you thinking, opening those curtains like that?" said Fred, eyes wide.

"I don't know!"

"You're mad! You are absolutely, utterly –"

"Fred," quietly said George.

"What?!" exclaimed his brother, obviously almost as shaken as I was.

"Fred – d'you see what I see?"

Fred looked at the direction George was staring at. Then, both of them smiled. Out of breath, I glared at them.

"What are you two looking so bloody happy about? I've just been attacked!"

"Adds…"

"You're a genius."

"What?!" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Look."

George had to point at the small, black things for me to see them. I narrowed my eyes, frowning.

"What are those?" I asked.

"Doxy eggs."

"Doxy eggs?" I repeated.

"Doxy eggs."

Fred and George looked like they had just received the best news of their life.

"And what is so exciting about Doxy eggs? They look bloody disgusting."

"They are," said Fred with a grin.

"But they're also very useful."

"For what?"

"Didn't you hear about Connor Goligthy?"

I frowned, unable to stop my heart from racing in my chest. I felt oddly out of breath.

"That git from seventh year? Who told Oliver he would be a better Keeper than him?"

"Exactly."

"I thought Oliver was going to murder him," I said.

"Well, two years ago, someone pranked him, and dear old Connor ate a whole bunch of Doxy eggs."

"He was in the Hospital Wing for days."

"And what does that have to with –"

Suddenly, we heard a voice in the hallway.

"Addy? Fred, George, are you all right?"

It was Molly – she had probably heard me screaming my lungs out.

"Quick, snatch them before Mum sees!" said George.

They both leaned forward, grabbed the small, black eggs and stuffed them into their pockets. Half a second later, Molly entered the room.

"I heard screaming!" she said, her voice shaking.

"Sorry, Molly" I said. "It was me – I opened the curtains without thinking about the Doxys, and they all came swarming at me."

"Oh, dear!" shrieked Molly. "Were you bit?"

"Bit? Er - I don't – I don't think so…" I said, looking at my arms.

But Molly grabbed my arms anyway, inspecting them closely. She checked my face, and lifted my hair to check my neck – and let out a small shriek.

"What?!" I exclaimed, feeling the blood drain out of my face.

"Oh, dear…" she muttered. "I'm afraid you've been bit…"

"WHAT?!"

"Can we see?!" immediately said the twins, rushing behind me.

"Am I going to die?!" I cried out.

I suddenly felt weak in the legs – Doxy venom was poisonous, wasn't it?

"No, you're not going to die, my dear, but we need to get the antidote now…"

"Where?!"

"Sirius might have what it takes. Sit down, I'll be right back. Fred, hold her hair, let it breathe."

She then ran out of the room. I breathed out, trying not to panic – unsuccessfully.

"I'm going to die," I muttered. "This is it, I'm bloody going to die…"

"Calm down, Adds," said George, shaking his head. "Does it hurt?"

I shook my head, but then I felt a sharp pain in my neck. I screamed out, stepping away from Fred.

"OI! Fred, you git! That hurts!" I yelled.

"Sorry!" he said, not looking one bit sorry. "It just – I wanted to touch it. It looks nasty."

"Wow, you're really helping right now!"

"Adds, sit down, will you?" said George.

"I'm not going to sit down, I've been bit and I –"

"Bloody sit down, Addy!" he insisted. "And calm down."

I stared at George, and then took a deep breath. He was right. I needed to calm down before I exploded. I walked to the bed and sat down, putting my face in my hands.

"Doxy venom is a really common ingredient in potions, Adds, I doubt it's really dangerous," said George quietly, who sat down beside me.

"Yeah, I mean, nobody's ever died from being bit," nodded Fred.

"And you're sure about that?"

Before he could reply anything, Molly reappeared in the room, holding her purse, soon followed by – my heart stopped – Severus Snape. I was so stunned, I couldn't say anything.

"Addy, dear, Severus was here on business for the Order, he's going to look at your bite…"

"Oh – er – okay," was all I managed to say.

Snape took a step forward, and I stood up to meet him halfway. It was so weird seeing him outside of Hogwarts – even though he wore the same black robes, and the same stern, creepy look on his face.

"I understand you've been bit by a Doxy, Miss Harlowe."

"I have – they're over there, I didn't –"

"Where?" he asked, obviously not patient enough for me to explain the circumstances.

I turned around, lifting my hair so he could see my neck properly. There was a short silence before he said anything. I was really starting to feel bad – my throat felt dry, and I was suddenly really hot.

"Yes, I can see that the venom is spreading. She is going to need the antidote. Making it would make too much time, time that Miss Harlowe doesn't have…"

"What?" I asked faintly, but Snape ignored me.

"But I believe they have antidotes ready at the Apothecary on Diagon Alley – I recommend you go there at once."

"Oh, very well, we'll go right now," nodded Molly. "Thank you, Severus, that was very kind of you…"

Snape did not smile or acknowledge the thanks – he simply nodded, and walked out of the room.

"Well, that was unexpected," said Fred.

"I didn't know Snape was part of the Order!" added George.

"Of course he is, George, he always has been."

"But he's –"

"We don't have time for this, boys. Addy, come on, we need to get to Diagon Alley."

I nodded slowly, feeling very dizzy.

"Can we come?" asked the twins.

"I think it's best not, it'll be quicker if it's just the two of us…Come on, Addy."

I took a step forward, but my legs failed under me, and I felt myself fall forward.

"Woah!"

Luckily, George was close beside me, and caught me before I hit the ground.

"Adds, you all right?" he asked in my ear.

"I'm… I'm fine," I said slowly, shaking my head, trying to stop the world from spinning.

"Yeah, sure you're fine" repeated George. "Mum, look at her. She's paler than Nearly Headless Nick - someone needs to help her walk."

"… Very well. Fred, stay here, I'll –"

"What?! That's rubbish, I'm coming too !"

Molly let out a exasperated sigh.

"All right, let's go!"

"Adds, can you walk ?" asked George.

"Yeah – yeah, I'm fine."

I took a step forward, but failed, as I stumbled once again into George's arm.

"Your stubbornness will be the end of you one day, I tell you, Adds. Fred, help me."

Even if I felt horribly weak and dizzy, I couldn't help but smile. Fred and George each grabbed one of arms and helped me walk downstairs – we met some people on the way, but I was so dizzy I couldn't even tell who it was. The sun blinded me as we stepped outside, and I didn't even have time to enjoy the wind on my face before we Disapparated, and before everything went black.

I was only conscious of half the things that were happening – I could hear everything but nothing made any sense. At some point, someone sat me on a chair, and handed me a small potion, which I had to drink down as quickly as possible. I nearly spat it out – it tasted like death. But as soon as I had taken it all, I started to feel better. My vision came back to normal and the world stopped spinning.

"How are you feeling, miss?"

I stared at the old man standing in front of me. I looked around – the room was filled with flasks and bottles and jars – clearly, I was at the Apothecary's.

"Better," I muttered, my voice hoarse and weak.

"How's your vision?" he asked.

"Kind of blurry," I answered.

He nodded, like he was expecting my answer.

"That's quite normal. It should take a few minutes before it comes back completely."

"Am I cured?" I asked.

"Not quite, but you will be, don't worry."

"So I won't die?

The old man smiled.

"No, you won't."

He then turned to Molly, who was looking at me, her eyes filled with worry. It was only then that I noticed that George was kneeling beside me, holding my hand. Fred was standing next to his mother. He smiled when I glanced at him, giving me a thumbs up.

"She'll need to rest for the next few days" said the apothecary. "I would recommend three other potions, one each day, to drink during breakfast. Then, the venom will be gone for good. Now, I can give you the ingredients for the antidote, but you'll have to brew it yourself."

"That's fine" said Molly. "We'll take care of it."

The apothecary then turned to me.

"You may experience more dizziness in the next few days – don't worry about it. Just make sure you get a lot of rest."

I nodded slowly.

"Don't hesitate to come and see me if something goes wrong."

"I will. Thank you."

I felt good enough to walk out of the shop by myself – but George insisted on holding my arm anyway. When we got back to Grimmauld Place, Molly ordered me to go straight to bed – I knew there was no use in arguing with her, and I was exhausted anyway. So I went upstairs, cuddled into bed and fell asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow.

When I woke up again, I found George sitting at the end of my bed, scribbling notes on a piece of parchment.

"Hey," I said sleepily.

He looked up from the parchment, his face brightening up with a smile.

"Hey, gorgeous."

I couldn't help but smile – I loved it when he called me that.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"A lot better. What time is it?"

"Almost time for dinner. Are you hungry?"

"I'm famished."

He chuckled, shaking his head.

"I wasn't expecting any less."

There was a few seconds of silence, during which we only looked at each other – getting lost in each other's eyes.

"What are you writing?" I asked, pointing the parchment.

"Oh – I was just making up a list, for the Snackboxes. They're nearly done, you know, but we're still missing a few things… a few ingredients. Like Vernacula Tentacles, for the Nougat, but I've no idea how we're going to get them..."

I listened to him quietly, admiring the look of focus on his face. Every time he talked about the shop, it was like George became this whole new person - in a very good way, of course.

"But you know… It got me thinking, what happened to you."

"What d'you mean?"

"The effect the venom had on you. You looked like you were going to faint."

I couldn't help but chuckle as I sat up on the bed.

"It felt like it too. I couldn't see anything – the world kept spinning, and all the noises around me were like… blurred out. It wasn't a very nice experience."

"I can imagine. It was kind of scary, you know. You almost got me worried."

"Almost?" I said, smirking.

"I knew you'd pull through."

I smiled, grabbing his hand to stroke it gently.

"You said it got you thinking?"

"Well – all the symptoms you had, it's basically what we want for the Fainting Fancies, isn't it? So I was thinking that we could try and use Doxy venom. We had Dragon's Powered Thoraxes before, which were good, but not nearly good enough. Doxy venom – that's what we want."

"That's a brilliant idea. But how are you going to do it? I mean, those things, they won't just let you take their venom…"

"Mum said something about Doxycide. Maybe we can put them to sleep, take their venom, something like that –"

He stopped his sentence abruptly.

"Bloody hell, I'm sorry."

I frowned at the sudden change in his voice.

"For what?"

"I mean, you've just been poisoned, talking about venom's probably the last thing you want to do…"

"I don't mind. I'm too happy to be alive to mind anything, really."

He smiled, squeezing my hand.

"Shall we get to dinner, milady?" he suggested.

"Yes, please, m'lord."

He stood up from the bed – offering me his hand to help me do the same.

"Where's Fred?" I asked.

"Downstairs. He's helping Mum."

He glanced at me, and, seeing the look on my face, smiled.

"She made him."

"Ah. That makes more sense."

I groaned as I stretched, stroking my sore neck – I could still feel the bump of the bite, but it didn't hurt anymore.

"Hey," said George as I was grabbing my wool cardigan.

"What?"

"Come here."

I smiled as he slid his arms around my waist and pulled me close.

"You really did get me worried before, you know."

"I did?"

"You did."

"I'm sorry."

"You better be."

I shook my head, chuckling, and met him halfway for a kiss. He had his fingers in my hair, his other hand around my waist – and his lips on mine felt like heaven. I didn't want it to end. I never wanted it to end – and then, the bedroom door opened. I pulled back reluctantly from George's lips, expecting to see Fred at the door – it wasn't.

"Oh - well, I see you're up, Addy," said Ginny.

I took a step back from George, blushing furiously.

"Hey Gin," I said in a small voice.

"Glad to see you're feeling better."

I ignored the tone in her voice and the smirk on her face.

"Dinner's ready."

"Thanks. We'll be down in a minute."

She nodded, clearly amused by the situation. I glanced at George once she was gone – he too was smirking.

"Well that was embarrassing – oh, stop it with that smile."

"Why? You love my smile."

"You really don't have an ounce of self –"

I shook my head as he bent down to steal a kiss, interrupting me half-sentence. Even though I was kind of annoyed, I couldn't help but kiss back. When he pulled back, I glared at him, sliding my cardigan on my shoulders.

"C'mon, we should go eat before someone else comes up."

"After you, gorgeous."

AN: I honestly have no idea how Doxy bites are treated, and nothing came up in my research, so I made something up. Sorry if it doesn't make any sense, haha :)