Chapter 11:

Mrs. Weasley kept them all working very hard over the next few days. The drawing room took three days to decontaminate; finally the only undesirable things left in it were the tapestry of the Black family tree, which resisted all their attempts to remove it from the wall, and the rattling writing desk; Moody had not dropped by headquarters yet, so they could not be sure what was inside it.

They moved from the drawing room to a dining room on the ground floor where they found spiders large as saucers lurking in the dresser (Ron left the room hurriedly to make a cup of tea and did not return for an hour and a half). The china, which bore the Black crest and motto, was all thrown unceremoniously into a sack by Sirius, and the same fate met a set of old photographs in tarnished silver frames, all of whose occupants squealed shrilly as the glass covering them smashed. Alicia made no attempt to take anything which Sirius tried to remove. The group were very harshly waging war on the house, which was putting up a very good fight, aided and abetted by Kreacher. The house-elf kept appearing wherever they were congregated, his muttering becoming more and more offensive as he attempted to remove anything he could from the rubbish sacks. Sirius went as far as to threaten him with clothes, but Kreacher fixed him with a watery stare and said, "Master must do as Master wishes," before turning away and muttering very loudly, "but Master will not turn Kreacher away, no, because Kreacher knows what they are up to, oh yes, he is plotting against the Dark Lord, yes, with these Mudbloods and traitors and scum…" At which Sirius, ignoring Hermione's protests, seized Kreacher by the back of his loincloth and threw him bodily from the room.

"I'm sorry but even I must say you are pushing it too far with that!" Alicia had snapped "No wonder the house elf hates you."

The doorbell rang several times a day, which was the cue for Sirius's mother to start shrieking again, and for the teens to attempt to eavesdrop on the visitor, though they gleaned very little from the brief glimpses and snatches of conversation they were able to sneak before Mrs. Weasley recalled them to their tasks. Snape flitted in and out of the house several times more, though to Harry's relief they never came face-to-face; they also caught sight of the Transfiguration teacher, Professor McGonagall, looking very odd in a Muggle dress and coat, though she also seemed too busy to linger.

Sometimes, however, the visitors stayed to help; Tonks joined them for a memorable afternoon in which they found a murderous old ghoul lurking in an upstairs toilet, and Lupin, who was staying in the house with Sirius but who left it for long periods to do mysterious work for the Order, helped them repair a grandfather clock that had developed the unpleasant habit of shooting heavy bolts at passersby. Mundungus redeemed himself slightly in Mrs. Weasley's eyes by rescuing Ron from an ancient set of purple robes that had tried to strangle him when he removed them from their wardrobe.

Alicia was more than happy to have her brother back with her again, and he'd seemed to be much happier than she had expected, especially with the hearing coming up. Harry only seemed to remember this event when ever he stopped moving, stopped helping or his mind was no longer being kept busy. The girl had also noticed that he wasn't sleeping very well, having him in the same house as her, she occasionally, during her sleep, saw glimpses of corridors and locked doors that made the scar on her neck prickle. When this happened she'd wake up confused, however it had only happened since her brother had arrived.

He must be having this dream… but what for? she questioned.

"Harry," Alicia said when they were walking up the stairs after having cleaned another room. Ron and Hermione were following them. "Come with me, I have something to show you." she said taking his hand "We'll be right back." she smiled to Ron and Hermione who nodded. Alicia hadn't noticed the two often whispering together and casting anxious looks in Harry's direction, she knew they were worried about the hearing, but she'd already given them the cautious warning not to mention it around Harry, after all, who'd want to be reminded of such a thing?

"What's up Alicia?" Harry asked when the two entered her room and she closed the door

"Well, a few times now I've been woken up in the middle of the night with a pain in my neck after dreaming about a corridor and some door." Alicia admitted, sitting down on one of the beds and crossing her arms. Harry looked at her guiltily

"What's that about?" she asked

"I don't know. I've been dreaming about it all summer so far. It keeps waking me up." he muttered sitting opposite her.

"But… weren't you dreaming about Cedric?" she asked softly

"Not since I arrived here." Harry admitted, also trying to end that subject.

"Still, I imagined you'd be dreaming about the hearing at least." Alicia admitted "Not corridors and locks." she looked confused as Harry bit his cheek. "Don't look like that." Alicia snapped when he looked pale but straight, trying to hide the fear she knew he was feeling. "I know you're scared about this hearing and I know you're worried about Sirius' not so straight answer on whether you could stay here or not when you're not expelled."

"How do you know I wont be?"

"First of all, Dumbledore was on the Wizard council, he'll know the rules and how to convince them. Even if we haven't seen the man since you were attacked he'll do anything he can to make sure you get off. Second of all, I am a witness, I mean, I don't know if I'd be able to go in and testify as they'll just think I practiced with you or you told me all the details but still! A witness is probably all you need to get off innocent."

"And if you can't testify?"

"Then there's still Mrs Figg. She was there after all, I'm sure she would have seen… probably all of it." Alicia assured "If Dumbledore was able to get you a hearing in the first place then he'll have a plan of getting you out of it. Besides I'm not going to Hogwarts without you even if I have to shrink you down and steal you away in my trunk." Alicia said and Harry smirked slightly "That or I'll just stay here and have Hermione send me copies of all the homework."

"You can't do that." Harry believed

"Bet you I could." Alicia disagreed and Harry chuckled "And I'd still pass, just not on my usual standard."

"So, I'm going to ask if I can come with you to the hearing." Alicia grinned and Harry looked at her surprised "After all family has to have some sort of pass to be there, right?" she asked with a shrug.

"You can't!" the door suddenly burst open and the twins burst through. Alicia closed her eyes and her eyebrows furrowed in anger, unlike Harry who'd jumped and looked at the doorway in shock she hadn't even budged.

"If you go with Harry then who's going to tell us what happens?!" Fred questioned

"Yeah you've got a direct link to give us details on what happening! After all mum and dad probably wont tell us anything other than the fact that Harry's gotten off!" George agreed

"Excuse me… but what are you doing ears dropping?" Alicia asked through clenched teeth. The twins stopped

"We weren't…" Fred began slowly

"We just walked past and happened to—" George began

"Bullshit you were." Alicia turned to them. The twins flinched backwards slightly and inched for the door. Harry bit his lip as Alicia got to her feet.

"I will not use your nosiness as my only reason not to provide moral support for Harry. If I can go then that's what I'm doing, Harry and I can tell you everything when we get home. Don't be so selfish, using our weird connection for your own curiosity." she snapped and the two merely smiled guiltily.

"Get out." she said pointing to the door and the two twins left quickly with a crack.

"You know, you can be really scary when you want to be." Harry muttered as they stood in the doorway.

"Good." Alicia said before the two made their way down for Ron and Harry's room where Ron and Hermione were bending over Ron's homework.

"Haven't you finished that yet?" Alicia questioned

"We're not all book worms thanks." Ron replied "Harry you haven't finished your homework either have you?" he said

"No." Harry answered

"See."

"Yeah well if you ask me Harry has more of an… no, no you don't." Alicia changed her tune "I think with all the waiting around you would have done it to get your mind off of things." she said to him but the boy just shrugged. Alicia sighed. "I'm shocked you don't get annoyed at leaving it to the last minute all the time." she mumbled

"You're starting to sound like Hermione." Ron muttered, earning a disapproving look from the girl

"Well she's more sensible than you are." Alicia replied as she collapsed onto one of the beds.

"Everyone's more sensible then Ronald." Hermione said

"Not true. The twins aren't." Alicia said as Ron rolled this eyes annoyed, earning a chuckle from Harry.

The day of the hearing continued to approach and Alicia, though completely confident Harry would get off easily, was still a little concerned. Harry it seemed wasn't, but Alicia had a sneaking suspicion he didn't even know what the date was, locked in this house it wasn't hard to understand why; days flew by, especially with Mrs Weasley making them all clean. Alicia had pitched in a little but even Mrs Weasley didn't bother to make her work as hard as the others. They weren't completely back on speaking terms yet.

The day crept up on them and Alicia found herself loosing her ability to sleep as it arrived. She stared up at her celling before annoyingly threw her covers off of herself and moved to the doorway.

Not caring about what anyone said the girl moved down the three flights of stairs to the ground floor and then down the stairs to the kitchen.

She stopped, people were still awake. She wasn't sure what time it was but she hadn't expected that.

They're probably going to kick me out because they're talking about something Order related. She grumbled annoyed as she came to the bottom of the stairs.

"He needs to be escorted into the Ministry," Alicia looked surprised, that was Dumbledore's voice. She'd only seen him within the house once before. "I'll be attending the Hearing as well to make sure Harry has the best chance."

There was a sudden noise as though someone was about to start talking before Dumbledore continued

"I do not want you attending the Hearing with Harry, Sirius." he said strongly "We can't take the risk. Not only will you receive the Dementors Kiss if you're caught but you could also be tortured by Voldemort's follows if discovered. You will remain here." he ordered.

There was silence for a minute and Alice could picture Sirius grinding his teeth as he tried to settle his temper in order to speak again.

"What about Alicia?" Sirius' voice sounded "Technically she is a witness."

"Of which we cannot prove. I wish for her to stay here as well."

"She'll be very disappointed in that." Sirius warned. Alicia rolled her eyes and pushed the door open.

"Not that I can't be there anyway." she said before walking in and moving to the sink to pour herself a glass of water.

"Young lady what are you doing out of bed!?" Mrs Weasley scolded crossly.

"Well my brother is going to a hearing in two days in which he could be expelled from Hogwarts. Sorry if I cannot sleep." Alicia snapped back. She walked back to the door to leave before stopping.

"By the way Professor," she turned to Dumbledore "Thanks for coming and wishing Harry luck. He really needed that." she said cynically before turning and storming from the room as Mrs Weasley for once didn't bother to scold her, but stayed silent.

Alicia stormed up to her room where the twins poking their head out of their room as she reached their landing.

"What's up Alicia?" they asked

"Stubborn teachers!" she answered simply before closing her door rather loudly and moving back to her bed.

Alicia was in a sour mood for most of the next day. She stayed mostly in her room but having completed all her homework even that wasn't much of a distraction. The twins tried to ask her about her midnight visit to the kitchen but received a verbal beating instead. Per the twins advice no one else bothered her in worry of how she'd react.

Alicia left her room for dinner that night and those already there glanced at her straight face as she sat down and stared at the plate before her. Chops sat upon it with mash potatoes and vegetables.

Lupin and Sirius were already at the table, Hermione and Ginny soon joined before Ron and Harry, the last two chairs being filled up by the twins before everyone began to dig in.

The light chatter was all broken by Mrs Weasley and everyone on the table froze with what she said.

"I've ironed your best clothes for tomorrow morning, Harry, and I want you to wash your hair tonight too. A good first impression can work wonders."

Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny all looked over at him as Alicia sat playing with her food. Harry nodded and tried to keep eating his chops.

"How am I getting there?" he asked Mrs. Weasley, trying to sound unconcerned.

"Arthur's taking you to work with him," said Mrs. Weasley gently. Mr. Weasley smiled encouragingly at Harry across the table.

"You can wait in my office until it's time for the hearing," he said. Harry looked over at Sirius, but before he could ask the question, Mrs. Weasley had answered it.

"Professor Dumbledore doesn't think it's a good idea for Sirius to go with you, and I must say I —"

"— think he's quite right," said Sirius through clenched teeth. Mrs. Weasley pursed her lips.

"When did Dumbledore tell you that?" Harry said, staring at Sirius.

"He came last night, when you were in bed," said Mr. Weasley.

Sirius stabbed moodily at a potato with his fork. Harry dropped his own eyes to his plate.

"The same with Alicia." Mrs Weasley added after a moment of silence. Everyone turned to the girl who ignored the statement. Hermione and Ron however shared a look and the twins nodded with understanding. Harry stared at his sister not sure if he was disappointed or surprised.