July 24th
Bill Weasley
"I just don't agree with Dumbledore letting the poor dear live with two bachelors." Mum put a plateful of sandwiches on the table in front of Charlie and himself. "Your father and I have offered many times to take her in, but the Headmaster won't hear of it. If it was up to me, you'd both be having another sister to deal with. Even your father is on board with adopting her."
"Why isn't she with her Muggle family?" Bill asked and picked up a plate and sandwich. "Wasn't that where she was last year?"
"Those horrible people." Mum growled at the stove and Charlie grimaced, looking up at Bill at her tone. "They don't deserve to be called a family for anything, let alone that sweet child. Your father heard that her uncle hit her so hard that he busted her lip and that by the time the Department of Magical Catastrophes arrived her face was one big bruise. The year before that your brothers stole your father's enchanted car to rescue her from that place because they had kept her locked up in that room without food for over a month. Even Professor McGonagall said that the poor girl lived in the cupboard under the stairs for ten years, right up until she received her Hogwarts letter."
"Why didn't anyone help her?" Charlie asked, ever the saviour of anything injured.
"No one knew, of course," Mum said darkly. "She never told a soul. These things weren't known until after that nasty Aunt of hers kicked her out. I should have known when the first time I met her she acted as though she'd never been given a hug in her life. And that Muggle all but admitted to the abuse when Dumbledore requested that Mary return to live with them."
"The Headmaster wanted her to go back?" Bill narrowed his eyes. "Even after hearing how bad it was for her?"
"He said something about special wards that would keep her safe, but if you ask me," Mum said waving her bread knife at them and summoning the empty platter off the table, "that child was in far more danger in that house than out. But now she's living with Sirius Black and I don't think he was the wisest choice of guardian for a young girl who's had such a hard life."
"You said she was living with two bachelors," Charlie said, stuffing half a sandwich into his mouth and earning a glare from their mother.
"Well," Mum said fondly. "Remus Lupin is living with them too. Terrible business that he had to resign. The children all thought he was a wonderful professor. He would've returned next term if that awful Malfoy boy wouldn't have told all of Earth and sundry that he's a werewolf. Not like the poor man can help such a tragic condition. He may be a good influence on the poor dear, but still, not what a growing girl needs in a parent."
Loud laughter could be heard from upstairs and Bill decided that it proved to be a great distraction from his mum's dark mood. He stood up and smirked at his brother, who had infuriated Mum by pulling his hair out of its tie at the table, and made his way to the family room while his mother loudly complained about the trials of long hair and how it didn't suit a young man in the least.
"Bill and Charlie should be home by now." Bill heard Ginny's voice just as he saw their feet hit the top stair landing. "You'll love them. They're a riot!"
"It must be so interesting to be a Curse-Breaker," another girl said in a fascinated tone. "Imagine all the spells you have to learn."
"Yeah," a softer voice said. "But imagine all the things that could go wrong. It can't be an easy job."
"Sounds like your line of work, Mary." Ginny laughed loudly. "Danger and adventure that you'd actually get paid for. Although, I have to admit the dragons in Romania are really amazing."
"I think I've seen enough dragons for one lifetime," the first girl said haughtily.
"Norbert wasn't so bad." The quiet girl defended whoever 'Norbert' was. "He was just a scared baby."
"Bill!" Ginny shrieked and dove into his arms the second she saw him. "I've missed you."
"You too, Gin." He laughed and hugged her tightly then set her back on her feet.
She jumped back and pulled her friends forward. "Bill, I'd like you to meet Hermione and Mary."
"Hermione Granger." The bushy haired girl blushed and held out her hand which he shook lightly. "It's lovely to meet you."
"And you." Bill wanted to laugh at her overly proper greeting.
The second girl stood back and waited for her friend to move away then looked up at Bill with bright green eyes.
"How are you, Mary?" Bill asked in half amusement, half curiosity as they walked through the family room. "Enjoying the holidays?"
"You have no idea," she replied in mock seriousness, shaking his hand. "Good to meet ya, Mr. Weasley."
He knew from his parent's letters that this was the girl who had saved Ginny's life just over a year ago and that the year before Ron had helped her destroy an object a dark wizard wanted.
He looked at his younger siblings' friends and realised the two couldn't be more opposite if they tried. One was very straight forward and proper, where the other was more reserved and casual, but both were kind and seemed to be very close with his family, so that was enough for him.
"Did you have a good year?" Bill asked the three girls, but both Ginny and Hermione gave Mary a pointed look.
"It was interesting," Mary replied quietly and shrugged. "Better than the two years before, I guess."
The girls followed him into the kitchen where his mum stood beside Charlie, with one hand on her hip and another holding a lock of his red hair. "You and Bill with your long hair. I don't understand the point considering the amount of upkeep it takes."
She looked up and smiled at the girls then narrowed her eyes to the point that Bill stepped away, thinking that they had done something to earn his mother's ire. It was the same look she had in her eyes when the twins made the second floor loo explode. That was never a situation he wanted to be in the middle of.
"Mary!" Mum's eyes widened and walked toward the confused girl and grabbed her hands. "What on earth happened to you? Please don't tell me you've gone and had another Quidditch accident, or was it something in that dreadful house of Black's?"
"Leave her alone, Mum," Ron said defensively as he walked into the room and pulled her out of their mother's grasp. "She doesn't need to cover her scars here."
"It's okay." Mary smiled, tugging at the hem of her t-shirt like she wished it would swallow her whole, then looked back at Mum apologetically. "I forgot to bring a long sleeve shirt. I can borrow one of Ginny's, if she won't mind."
"Oh, dear." Mum rubbed her hands together nervously. "That's not what I meant. I didn't mean to make you feel bad. You should feel comfortable when you're here. Every time I see you there are more and more scars. I just wish you wouldn't get hurt so often."
"You and me both." Mary laughed and hugged Mum tightly. "I'm fine, really."
Bill had tried not to stare earlier, but it was hard to miss the deep gouges that wrapped around one of Mary's arms along with what looked like a Muggle gunshot wound. The other arm bore various scars that were slightly raised and lighter in colour than the others. Her legs were in slightly better shape, but even Bill knew that whatever caused the injuries must've been painful. That wasn't even mentioning the lightning bolt scar that she was famous for.
"You must be Charlie." Hermione interjected and held her hand out to his brother who was looking at Mary with narrowed eyes. "I'm Hermione Granger."
"Good to meet you." Charlie forced his gaze away and smiled, standing up to shake her hand.
Ginny pushed Mary forward, knocking Mary's knees into the chair in front of her. "Sorry, Mary. This is Charlie."
Mary regained her balance and shot Ginny a rueful glance.
She held out a hand and Bill could see Charlie's eyes avert from the scars and smile tightly while shaking her hand. Bill knew that Charlie was thinking the same thing that he was. Mary was living with a known werewolf and had the bite marks to prove it.
"I've heard a lot about you, Mary," Charlie said kindly.
"Nothing good, I hope," Mary whispered, casting a sly look to where Mum was making a batch of biscuits. "How's Norbert?"
"She's adjusting." Charlie smiled and Bill could see the light in his eyes as he spoke of whoever 'she' was. "We call her Norberta now, considering she's a girl."
"I'll have to write to Hagrid and let him know!" Mary said happily. "No wonder the poor thing was so irritable."
"Don't you remember?" Ron sat down next to Mary and picked up a sandwich. "I told you it was Mary's idea to write to you about that blasted dragon."
"I remember." Charlie pushed his plate away and crossed his arms on the table and leaned his head toward her. "My co-workers were thrilled when I told them that there was a Norwegian Ridgeback that needed to be picked up. My boss was ecstatic. I got a promotion after that. Rare breed of dragons Ridgebacks are."
Mary handed Ron a napkin and looked back at Charlie. "Hell, if I'd had known McGonagall would take one hundred and fifty points on top of detention in the Forbidden Forest, I would have left for Romania alongside Norberta. Would have even shared her little crate."
"What did you do to earn that harsh punishment?" Bill asked curiously.
Hermione took a deep breath. "Hagrid was keeping the dragon illegally and we worried that he would get in trouble – or even sacked – for keeping it on the grounds, so Mary suggested that Ron write to Charlie and see if the Reserve would take Norbert. We were caught by Professor McGonagall on our way down from the Astronomy tower after the dragon keepers left with it. We received detention in the Forest with Hagrid as the second part of our punishment for being out of bed after hours."
"I don't wanna hear about the Forbidden Forest while eating." Ron grimaced and put down his sandwich. "Bloody spiders."
"Acromantulas," Hermione corrected him. "And it's your own fault for going out there. You know Hagrid doesn't realise how dangerous they are to us smaller people."
"Your own fault for looking at that ruddy snake." Ron grumbled.
"I feel like I'm missing something." Charlie looked between them in confusion.
"It's a very long story." Mary shook her head and rubbed the scars on her arm.
"Short version is," Ron said, suddenly excited, "Mary and I encountered the great honking spiders out in the forest and they tried to kill us. I mean really really wanted to kill us. Then after we escape from thousands of the blasted things, we find out that it's a great honking snake that we should have been worried about all along."
"Basilisk." Hermione shook her head at Ron's massive understatement. "In the pipes of the school."
"You were the only one smart enough to figure that part out." Mary complimented Hermione who blushed in response.
"Mary here killed it with the sword of Gryffindor." Ron smiled proudly at his friend. "Saved Ginny and probably everyone else at the school."
Mary rubbed the crook of her arm and sighed. "It sounds easier than it was."
"I'm still sorry I freaked out and left you there," Ginny whispered, so quietly that Bill had to subtly lean forward to hear her and saw Charlie doing the same. "I was just so scared. I really did check on you, but it looked like you were dead."
"No worries, Gin." Mary smiled at her. "Between Fawkes and Healer Tonks I came out alright."
"Fawkes?" Charlie startled the girls and they both looked up at him in surprise as though they forgot that they had an audience. "Dumbledore's Phoenix?"
"He cried on the Basilisk bite and brought her out of the Chamber of Secrets," Hermione said quietly. "She was in St. Mungo's for over a month."
"Best nap I ever had." Mary laughed lightly, but Bill could see that she was just trying to console Ginny who was obviously on the verge of tears while she looked at the large round scar on the crook of Mary's arm.
"That was your first year?" Bill asked in awe. "Hogwarts seems more interesting since I left."
"Nah." Ron belched loudly into his hand. "First year was with the Mountain Troll and Mary's broom being cursed by Quirrell. Then Fluffy."
"A Cerberus." Hermione clarified and huffed loudly. "One of Hagrid's other pets."
"Then Norberta hatched." Mary smiled widely looking deep in thought.
"Bloody dragon." Ron rubbed his hand. "That bite hurt. Made my hand look like a bleeding green balloon."
"Ridgeback hatchlings are well known for their tempers." Charlie winced in sympathy but was still enthralled with the tale.
"You were lucky you were in the infirmary when we were caught." Mary sighed and shook her head. "McGonagall looked ready to box our ears."
"And you missed out on detention with Malfoy," Hermione said darkly. "I still have nightmares about his high pitched screams when he ran up to Hagrid and I, saying that Mary had been killed."
"I can't really blame him for that." Mary chuckled and picked up a chip. "Voldemort," his brothers and sisters winced at the name, "would have killed me if Firenze hadn't shown up."
"You were attacked by You Know Who?" Bill looked at her in shock.
"Just a shade of him." Mary shrugged. "He wasn't strong enough to off me until we tried to steal the Philosopher's Stone a few weeks later."
"You got him though." Ron patted her hard on the back. "Killing Quirrell was just a bonus."
"Ron!" Hermione hissed reproachfully. "I highly doubt Mary wants to dwell on that. She almost died."
"She almost dies every year!" Ron said vehemently, as though this fact scared him to no end. "Second year You Know Who found her again and she spent months in St. Mungo's! Last year she was nearly Kissed by a bloody Dementor and spent days in the hospital wing! Got gored by a Hippogriff! Skewered herself on her own broom thanks to the bloody Dementors! And then-"
"Stop." Mary's growl stopped Ron mid rant and he looked at her apologetically.
She put a hand on his arm and smiled. "I'm fine, Ron, really."
"Here we are, children." Mum put a pitcher of lemonade and a plate of biscuits on the table, killing the conversation completely. "You can take them outside to snack on."
They all got the hint that they were no longer welcome in the kitchen. Mary picked up the platter and walked alongside Ginny while the rest followed out into the yard like the intense conversation and story had never even happened.
Fred and George were already swimming – and throwing water balloons at each other - when the others walked over to the edge of the pond.
Hermione sat down on the edge, book in hand, and stuck her feet in the water. Ron jumped straight in and swam towards the twins. Ginny took a running start and cannon-balled into the deep end, splashing the others as she landed. Mary climbed the old oak tree until she was completely obscured from view.
"What is she doing?" Charlie lit a cigarette as he conjured a chair and sat down beside Bill with a smoky sigh.
"No idea." He shrugged as he watched his siblings play. "What do you think about their adventures?"
"Honestly?" Charlie had a contemplative look on his face. "None of them seem the type to exaggerate, more like they were trying to be vague, so part of me wishes that I was still there to be part of it. The other part is wondering where the fuck the Professors were during all of that."
"Did you see the scars on her arm?" He added in a dark undertone. "Kind of funny how that part wasn't mentioned."
"They're not exactly hard to miss," Bill said sarcastically. "Mum wouldn't have been so shocked if they were old scars, must be something new."
"Whatever caused it must've been painful." Charlie admitted. "But I don't think she's a werewolf."
The others were all having a great time, but suddenly they seemed to realise that their friend was missing and looked around in confusion.
"Have you seen Mary?" Ron asked Hermione as he and the others swam toward the edge.
"No." Hermione looked around worriedly.
A loud whoosh sounded from the trees and both Bill and Charlie stood as Mary jumped from the highest branch and into the water some thirty feet below, shocking the twins so much that both of them had their mouths gaping open when she landed and both were doused in a wave of water.
She surfaced a moment later – laughing loudly at their shocked faces - and splashed Ron, who dove into the water after her. Mary yelped, dove into the water and disappeared for the next few minutes.
Ron and Ginny were on each of the twins' shoulders and trying to wrestle each other off while Hermione sat back, totally engrossed in her book.
Bill watched as the top of a dark head poked out of the water a few feet in front of Hermione and chuckled. "This won't end well."
Slowly Mary walked onto the shore, covered in mud and eelgrass, hair covering her face like a wet blanket. Hermione looked up from her reading and shrieked as she clutched the book behind her back. Mary waved her hand and the book went flying through the air and landed softly on the porch.
"Nice!" Bill whistled in appreciation. "Wandless and non-verbal."
Hermione backed away and then took off running around the edge of the pond, drawing the attention of the other four who looked at Mary and laughed.
"I just want a hug, Hermione!" She yelled at her friend then turned to look at Charlie. "Any chance I can get a lift across this pond?"
Charlie waved his wand casually and Mary lifted into the air, floating from one edge to the other. Mary took off across it like a shot while Hermione yelped and started running again. The bossy girl was no match for her friend's speed. Mary caught up to Hermione and lifted a muddy finger and put a tiny smear on her cheek, then took off running as Hermione grimaced and wiped off the mud with a disgusted expression.
"She doesn't act like a celebrity." Charlie put out his cigarette and plucked a blade of grass from the ground to chew on the end. "Too quiet."
"Ron and Ginny picked a good friend." Bill voiced his honest opinion. "I think even Mum may be wanting to kidnap her and make her a Weasley."
Charlie laughed as Fred dumped a clump of mud onto Mary's head. "The twins already have."
Bill saw Mary reach up and grab the mud off her head and took two fingers and drew muddy lines across her cheeks as she pointed at the worried looking twins.
"WAR!" Mary's voice carried throughout the field and Bill was impressed to believe that the sound came from such a tiny girl.
An all out water fight started and Bill and Charlie resigned themselves to sitting back and watching, up until clumps of mud flew in their direction and hit them both square in the face. They both stood up at the same time as the five kids jumped out of the pond and ran to the shed yelling and whooping in glee.
The two summoned their brooms and laughed as both Ron and George had to release the uncontrollable broomsticks that were pulling them towards Bill and Charlie.
Hermione walked up to them with her hands up in a sign of surrender. "I had nothing to do with this and I don't like brooms."
"Then grab a chair and be ready to duck for cover," Charlie said as he mounted his broom.
"DINNER!" Mum yelled out the kitchen window, gathering everyone's attention.
"Or not." Charlie hopped back off the broom and sent it back into the shed with a wave of his wand.
The twins had Ginny slung over their shoulders and carried her up to the porch. Hermione shook her head and walked next to Ron who was plucking grass out of his hair. Mary had her broom slung over her shoulder and carried it into the house where Mum immediately attacked her with cleaning spells.
"Are you sure you can't stay, dear?" Mum asked hopefully as she hugged the girl. "I've made plenty."
"I promised Dobby and Kreacher I'd help with dinner." Mary explained apologetically. "Thank you for having me over."
"You're welcome anytime, sweetheart." Mum hugged her again.
"Oh!" Mary stopped with her hand in the pot of Floo powder. "Sirius asked if you'd mind lending the twins for clean up duty this evening."
"They'll be over straight after dinner." Mum replied in a relieved tone, like she was glad that the two were doing something helpful and productive. "What room are they working on now?"
"The upper bedrooms," Mary grimaced and shook her head. "Doxies have infested the curtains and Remus is allergic to something in the Doxicide, so he's no help."
"I'll be sure to send a couple bottles of my special formula. It's never failed to get rid of them completely." Mum told her and patted her hand. "If you need more, just send word with one of the boys."
"Weasleys, Hermione." Mary waved as she stepped into the Floo and vanished in a pillar of green flames.
"So you two are cleaning houses now?" Bill asked the twins, expecting them to be horrified at the prospect, but to his surprise they looked excited.
"Great old House of Black." George smiled lovingly as he piled potatoes onto his plate and his brothers.
Fred grinned brightly and poured the gravy. "So many creatures to find. So many objects to be studied."
"Although I thought Padfoot would flip his gourd when Mary cut herself in the library." George winced at the memory.
"Was it from that awful cursed tray that collects blood?" Ginny whispered horrified as she put her fork down then looked up at Bill with wide eyes. "Those books were spelled to fall and trap your hands on the blade."
"Mary dearest." George shook his head. "Poor thing thought that removing the books and setting the shelf on fire would get rid of the cursed blade."
"But the blade fought back." Fred grimaced and put his head down. "Chopped up those poor spindly arms of hers. Collected lots of Potter blood that night."
"Poor old Padfoot." George shrugged.
Fred closed his eyes. "He passed out at the sight of that much blood."
"Mary was bleeding all over the place and trying to wake him up."
"Padfoot kept waking up and passing out."
"Poor old girl had to call us in to help."
"Although we couldn't do much more than call Moony."
"And he was so distraught that he had us call St. Mungo's."
"Well, after he got the blade to stop attacking Mary."
"Maybe you could help us out, Bill." Fred looked thrilled and tossed a roll to Ron.
George leaned forward like he was presenting a business deal. "So many cursed objects you'll never get bored."
"Pays good." Fred supplied and polished the gravy off his plate with a roll.
George made sure Mum and Hermione were out of hearing range and smiled at him and Charlie. "Free drinks too."
His curiosity was eating at him and he could see that Charlie was in the same boat. If anything, he wanted to see if this house was as interesting as his brothers claimed, but Bill highly doubted Black would appreciate just anybody showing up at his home and voiced this thought to the twins.
George jumped up without another word, went to the fireplace and threw a pinch of powder in. "Hey, Dobby. Can you get Mary for me?"
A moment later, Mary's head popped into view in the flames while she coughed and sputtered. "Yuck! I think I accidentally just licked the grate."
"Sounds tasty." George laughed. "Think Padfoot and Moony would mind Bill and Charlie's help?"
"Are you sure you want to subject your brothers to this brand of madness?" Mary asked in a serious tone.
"Of course!" George nodded reassuringly.
"Then bring them on over." Mary smiled and disappeared once again.
An hour later, when dinner was finished and everyone had completed their chores, Bill and his brothers Floo'ed over to Number 12 Grimmauld Place, glad to be far away from Percy and his rants over cauldron bottoms.
A tall dark haired man looked up from his place on the couch, looking far healthier than the bedraggled man he had seen in the papers, and stood as they emerged from the large fireplace.
"Sirius," Fred said quickly in a mischievous tone. "We've brought Bill and Charlie to check out the dining room."
"Thought that they'd like to see all our hard work." George added in the same tone.
"Good to have you." Black shook their hands then turned to the twins. "Watch your ears on the way out. Mary and the elves are cleaning the kitchen and making a hell of a lot of noise with that damned Muggle radio."
George's smile beamed as he turned to Bill and Charlie. "You've got to see this."
"It never fails to entertain." Fred finished in an awed tone.
They followed the twins through the large, brightly lit house and down the stairs. It wasn't dark or dreary like he had expected. Instead it looked as though everything had been repainted or renovated completely. It was a massive posh house, but it had a very comfortable quality to it.
"They're not joking." Sirius laughed as they passed a set of wards and the sound of loud music assaulted their ears. "I'm amazed that she has eardrums left. But I have to admit that Muggle music is far better than anything I've heard in the Wizarding World."
Fred opened the door to the kitchen, stopped dead in his tracks, and they all crowded in the doorway to look in. Sirius's shoulder's shook violently at the sight in front of them.
"Whoomp there it is!" Mary shouted and pointed at a wide eyed house elf while vigorously scrubbing the cabinet doors.
A much older elf shook his head in exasperation, but his foot was still tapping in time to the music while he dropped another rasher of bacon into the hot pan.
"Whoomp there it is!" The first elf sang and vanished a pile of dust with a snap of his fingers as he threw a soapy washcloth to her.
She caught it without turning around and continued scrubbing.
"Miss Mary, there is a Doxy in your hair!" The first elf yelled over the music and jumped onto the table and crept toward her.
"What?!" Mary hissed and raised a shaky hand to her hair. "Where?"
"I'll get it, Mistress," the old elf croaked as he too stalked toward a shuddering Mary.
"It's just a Doxy." The young elf tried to calm her down when he saw her starting to panic.
At the sight of the two approaching elves, said Doxy decided to take refuge down the neck of Mary's shirt. Wide eyed, she yelped and reached up the back of her shirt to get it out. She screamed and flailed around as its tiny nails scraped across her back. Her hand accidentally hit the handle of the pan of bacon that was still sizzling on the stove, sending the grease flying into the air and straight onto the floor beneath her.
Mary's greasy boots slipped and slid across the highly polished wood floor as she danced around in horror while trying to reach the offending little creature that was still crawling around inside her shirt.
Her feet skidded out from under her and she landed hard on her backside while her feet slid into the roaring fireplace. She scrambled backwards like she was doing a backstroke, but it was too late. The grease on the soles of her boots ignited, the fire glowing a bright orange, and she yelped as she jumped up and down, dancing around, trying to stomp it out. The house elves stared in stunned silence while their Mistress hopped up and shrieked, feet still flaming, running in place as she searched the cabinets.
She pulled a bag of flour down and promptly threw it at her feet, creating a cloud of white powder that covered everything in sight. The flames vanished and Mary shuddered as the stunned Doxy fell to the floor and scrambled away looking dizzy and drunk.
"You got it, Mistress," the old elf said approvingly then snapped his fingers to vanish the flour and grease.
The music died and Mary looked up to see Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, and Sirius standing in the doorway to the kitchen all watching her in stunned silence.
Sirius couldn't contain it any longer. He burst out into loud cackling laughter and Mary ground her teeth as she stepped toward the doorway and waited for them to move. Her shoes were still smoking and smelt like leathery old bacon and her face burned in mortification while her cheeks twitched in an effort to contain her own giggles.
"We will never speak of this." She took a deep breath and then sneezed loudly.
Sirius slid down the door frame laughing loudly. "That poor Doxy! I'll be re-watching that in the Pensieve later. Wait till I show Moony!"
"And I can show him the memory of you doing tricks while sporting pink fur and little bows on your ears." Mary smiled innocently and vanished her shoes and the smoke with a wave of her wand, making Bill wince at the thought of what the Ministry would do to her for that.
Sirius gasped loudly at the threat. "You wouldn't."
"Wouldn't what?" A tall sandy haired man with a face covered in light scars walked up and smiled kindly. "Are you torturing him again, Mary Jane?"
Mary grimaced and looked up at him with a pitiful frown. "He was laughing about me falling into the Floo."
"Are you okay?" The man grasped her shoulder's and checked her over then turned to Sirius with intense golden eyes. "Why would you laugh about that?"
"That was dirty, Mary." Sirius growled playfully. "But I called it first and I've got a memory that Moony needs to view."
"Oh!" Mary cut her godfather off and looked at Bill and Charlie apologetically. "I'm so sorry! Remus, Bill and Charlie Weasley. Here to endure our madness."
Remus looked up at them and shook his head with wide eyes. "Run while you can."
"We're going to show them the creative development room." George patted Remus on the back.
Fred put an arm around Charlie and dragged him to a doorway. "Mum has no clue about this, so we're trusting you two to keep it quiet."
"Not even Ron and Ginny know," Mary whispered quietly, as though she didn't like keeping secrets from them.
The formal dining room was nothing like he expected, for there were no cursed objects or Doxy infested curtains. Boxes lined the freshly painted walls and the highly polished fancy table was covered in parchment and blueprints. A long section along the back wall held a marble top serving station that had been turned into a brewing area.
Fred and George sat down at separate places at the table and spent the next hour showing off various inventions and spells that they had created for their future joke shop. Mary added that as long as they graduated with three NEWTS each, Sirius would gladly front them the money to start up their business, having taken a liking to the twins and their pranking ways.
Loud laughter erupted from the hallway and Bill turned to see Remus walking in trying to keep a straight face as he followed Sirius – who was rubbing mirthful tears out of his eyes - into the room holding a massive Muggle cooler.
"Butterbeer for the kids." Sirius opened the lid. "And a nicely aged Firewhiskey for us older folk."
Everything went a little hazy after that. He had a faint idea that they had been going through the library, but the Firewhiskey made the memories blur.
Mary held up her butterbeer in a toast, Charlie - in his drunken stupor - raised his wand. "I can open that."
"Oh no-" Mary said, but it was too late.
The spell hit the bottle and it exploded, covering Mary from head to toe in butterbeer.
Hours later, Mary sat at the far end of the long wooden table holding an ice pack to her head while Sirius waved his wand at her.
"You okay, Mary?" Fred asked worriedly as he and George walked toward the two.
"Cursed candlestick joomped out and brained mae on mae poor wee noggin," she said in a heavy Scottish brogue. "Mangy ol' cur cannae be arsed to remove the spell."
"I told you I didn't know the counter-curse," Black said indignantly. "And I take offence to the mangy old cur comment."
Bill poked the dark brass candlestick with his wand and cast a revealing spell to see what he could do to help. The counter was simple enough and he wondered if Black was making Mary suffer through the accent just for the fun of it. By the sparkling look in the older man's eyes, it was clearly his intent.
He couldn't recall anything after that, only knowing that he had woken up sprawled out on top of the table, while Charlie was on the floor, hugging the chair legs and snoring loudly. It was there and then that he realised that neither his brothers or Mary had exaggerated about the insanity that occurred in that place. It made him almost grateful that his life was so quiet in comparison.
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