The announcement of the familial bond shared between Iris and Harry Potter had stopped the latter from yelling momentarily whilst also creating a new wariness from the others in the room. "My what?" Harry asked the red head, who shrugged and started picking at her nails to avoid his gaze in feigned disinterest.
"Your sister. Twin to be more specific. Shocker to me to." Iris added, she crossed her arms "Apparently some guy called Dumbledore thought I'd be better off raised away from this magic stuff" the girl rolled her eyes before sighing and shrugging again. "Well, was nice to meet you I guess" Iris finished before quickly walking out of the room, running up the stairs to her room and shutting the door before taking a large breath, and then another, not realising she had began to have a panic attack until warm hand placed themselves on her shoulder. Meeting brown eyes filled with concern she concentrated matching her breath with his until she was calm and pushed the hands off of her.
Remus offered a look of sympathy to the girl in front "You met Harry I'm presuming?" he asked. The girl nodded quietly. "Well I think the whole house heard his yelling. I doubt he's going to be happy with any of us" Remus added.
With a sigh the ginger sank into her bed "I didn't know what to say. I mean, what do you say to the long lost twin brother who's yelling at people because they're keeping secrets from him and he might get kicked out of school. I just don't have a single fuck of sympathy. I don't even know how to pretend." Iris admitted to her god father "I know it's selfish I just think by comparison, he's had it easier. I mean, at least he's got a school to be kicked out of, I never went. And as for secrets? The only secret that was really kept is there's a secret base people are hiding in. big deal" Iris ranted, not bothering to hide her sarcasm. "And at least he's been able to go outside, all of them have. I have to stay here and hide all because some dickweed is so magic obsessed he can't even kill a baby. Like, it's not hard? They don't even have formed knee caps yet. Just drop it or something, stop being so magic reliant."
As disturbing as the thought of child murder was, Remus couldn't hide the amusement from the rant of the girl who was predictably reaching for a cigarette to smoke the stress away. "I'm so fucked Remus" the girl sighed. Looking at her Remus smiled sadly.
Even weeks after being with them and force fed by Molly Weasley, she was still far too skinny. Her clothes were all too big and she refused the charity of others. The bags under her eyes were more noticeable and he knew it was because she stayed awake to the point of exhaustion before sleeping so as to not risk a night terror. Her hands were shaking too, and from the stories she had shared with Sirius and himself, Remus figured it was from withdrawals. He had heard her being sick a few times too but was smart enough to not bring it up. Although he had left water outside for her.
Remus felt like a failure of a Godfather. He hadn't offered the protection that Iris had clearly needed growing up and now she was facing the consequences. "Would you like to go shopping tomorrow?" he asked suddenly, knowing he would get an earful later.
The sudden perk in the girl stance was worth it though. "Really?" she asked, eyes wide and eager.
"I'll have to try and arrange something, a disguise of course, maybe some extra protection, but you certainly need new clothes if nothing else" he rambled, cut short by the hesitant hand place onto his shoulder, the girl putting up a finger in the universal sign to wait as she took her time to offer the man a hug in thanks. A huge step for the girl who avoided all physical contact like the plague. "Come on, I should think dinner will be ready by now." Remus smiled gently, standing and offering a hand to help Iris up who took it and pulled herself to her feet.
Dinner was tense. Iris and Remus were the first to sit, the pair opting to go next to each other. Sirius- who was curiously by the gleeful expression on his friends face- took a seat next to him. Tonks joining and going opposite whilst the rest of the teenagers filing in one after the other. Fred and George took a look at the seating arrangements and realise that only one could sit next to their usual dinner guest, Fred unsubtly pushing George forward who grinned widely at Iris when sitting next to her, she offering a small smile back, an exchange not missed by the two older men.
Harry walked in and the silence grew even louder. He eyed his apparent sister who was staring back only momentarily before starting a conversation with Tonks opposite who seemed thrilled. A little annoyed at being blatantly ignored Harry took a seat next to his godfather, his friends sitting around him. "Looks lovely Molly" compliments came in as Mrs Weasley used her wand to flick in the food.
There was more silence that followed. And the strangest part is, it was the girl who was usually most quiet that decided to break it. "Can you use magic in cooking the food as well as serving or is it all by hand? Like are there magic stoves or is it normal?" Iris asked Mrs Weasley who looked taken aback a moment before beaming.
"Oh, you can do both dear. I don't mind a bit of magic to help me with all the chopping, but you can't rely on it for tasting, or stirring. The bottom might catch!" Mrs Weasley ranted. "I could show you if you like? I was thinking of doing a stew tomorrow?" the older woman asked kindly, by this point other conversations had started and the usual loudness of the dinner time had begun.
Iris thought about it before nodded. "I've never cooked much more than pasta before though" the red head spoke almost in warning.
"Don't worry, you could be the worst in the world and mum'll still be delighted to have someone to teach, none of us really want to" George shrugged, helping himself to some roast potatoes.
When the meal came to an end and the lull began again, the expected out burst from the male Potter happened "So nobody thought it was important to tell me my twin was alive" Harry spoke suddenly and loudly. Iris felt her eyes roll.
"Harry- the orders secrets, including your sisters whereabouts, aren't something we could put in the post. Dumbledore made us all swear-" Sirius started trying to reason with his godson who was looking ready to argue back. Rightfully so after being kept in the dark for weeks.
"Jesus fucking Christ," the annoyed voice of Iris Potter rung out, immediately followed by Molly Weasley reprimanded her for her swearing. "Is this Dumbledore guy the magic equivalent of god or something? All summer I've been hearing that I must do this because Dumbledore said so, I must to that because Dumbledore told me to."
The room were struck by her outburst. Nobody defied Dumbledore, at least not the good guys. "Iris, you haven't met him, but Dumbledore is a good man. He's the head of the order, and he's the reason you're here-" Lupin spoke calmly.
"He's also the reason I grew up thinking I was abandoned by my parents. He's the reason I don't have any magic but have stupid fucking dreams that literally destroy walls. He's the reason that kid over there grew up in an abusive household. If he was such a good guy then I wouldn't be half as fucked up as I am, you would have all known I was alive, Sirius wouldn't be a wanted criminal, and oh yeah, I might have actually met the man who decided to dictate my life for me instead of whispering orders to others to pass on." Iris was standing on her feet at this point and everyone was looking at her. "Just give the boy some fucking answers so I don't have to listen to his yelling again." She spoke, pointing to Harry who's eyes were wide.
The door slammed loudly behind her and the portrait of Mrs Black was set off, but most surprisingly of all was with a scream of "Shut the fuck up" the portrait stopped it's yelling, apparently choosing to take the girls words seriously.