Chapter Thirteen

Stella sat up slowly, feeling much better after her fifth round of spells that summer. Once a week, Madam Pomfrey and Professor Snape made a house call, performing the ancient healing spell on her before she would take a long nap. They only needed to do it once more this summer and she would be fully healed, no chances of becoming paralyzed ever again. Well, as long as no one broke her neck or severed her spine again, but the chances of that happening a third time were rather low… she hoped.

Pomfrey and Snape would always be gone when she woke, a weeks' worth of potions to take before bed every night waiting for her. She picked up her quill and bent over a piece of parchment, writing Harry back. His last letter had described a reoccurring dream, more like a nightmare, where Wormtail, Voldemort, a large snake, and an unknown man were plotting his death. He woke with his scar hurting every time. He didn't want everyone knowing about it and he knew Ron would ask dad and then every Weasley would know. If he told Hermione, she'd try looking in a book and tell him to tell Dumbledore. Nothing about Harry's scar was normal and therefore wouldn't be in some book. Stella had no advice either, but it seemed like Harry just wanted to tell someone.

She told him to put an ice pack with some herbs (peppermint, rosemary, ginger, and sage if he could get his hands on it) on his head afterwards to help with the pain. She ended up sending him the herbs herself when he told her that his aunt's garden was strictly for flowers and trying to impress the nosy neighbors. She also sent him a magical ice pack that was always cold so he didn't have to sneak or ask for one.

She fidgeted with her ring and immediately heard Sirius in her head.

'Alright, little star?' he asked.

'Has Harry written you about his scar?' she asked him.

'I just received a letter from him earlier about it,' Sirius confirmed.

'Okay, good. I just wanted to make sure he'd told someone else as well. He didn't want everyone to know so he didn't tell Ron and Hermione is far too logical at times.'

'I am very happy that you and Harry ended up being close, even without any of us around.'

Sirius was growing sad again.

'We better be close with how often we've gotten into trouble together. How's Uncle Moony?'

'Gets all teary eyed every time you call him that.'

'Are all werewolves so emotional or is it a him thing?'

She heard a bark of laughter ringing in her head before she smiled, releasing her ring. After a few stretches, she began doing a small workout to get her strength back up. Stella also had to do physical therapy for her injuries so she walked down to the magic market four kilometers (two and a half miles) away from the house.

While she was there, she got meat pies, Yorkshire pudding, and treacle tart, all with stasis charms on them. Sirius had sent Ron and Stella each an owl to replace Scabbers and she sent hers, Owlivia or Liv for short, off with the food to Harry once a week to make sure he was actually being fed. He'd told her that his cousin had been put on a diet, meaning everyone else in the house was on it as well. He then mentioned that it was about the same amount he usually snuck out of the kitchen at night and she'd had to stop herself from stomping down to the muggle neighborhood herself to collect him.

She'd learned to avoid Molly at all times, the woman finding little things to nitpick her. Mostly because she was in constant contact with Gringotts bank about Sirius. Her last letter from Bloodshire told her that he'd found a lawyer willing to represent Sirius and that Gringotts was willing to offer sanctuary to Sirius for the time being. Professor McGonagall was more than willing to testify that she'd seen Peter Pettigrew with her own eyes that night, as were Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Remus had told her that he would but that his word wouldn't mean much to anyone on the Wizengamot. Snape had simply responded with one sentence: "If I must."

The only issue was that, if Sirius was found guilty, which was likely due to bias and greed, he'd been shipped right back to Azkaban or given the kiss. Stella had already filed a complaint against the auror department for how the case, or lack thereof, had been handled. They hadn't been pleased when she'd shown up at the ministry with Arthur just so she could demand a trial directly after. Arthur had been told what had truly happened and was on board with helping Stella, angry at the department for the lack of accountability.

An investigation was being conducted and evidence was being collected. His wand, which had been sitting in a very skinny evidence folder, was being tested by Unspeakables as they did some sort of ancient magic to figure out what spells Sirius had used on that day. Stella had about had a fit when she was told his wand hadn't even been tested when everything had happened.

Turns out magical fingerprints could be left on houses as well. The Fidelius had left an imprint and the secret keepers name was braided into the enchantment. It had already been revealed that Peter Pettigrew was, in fact, secret keeper due to that. Now, she just needed to wait for the lawyer to reach out to her once they finished studying the case and all of the new evidence as it was found. They were waiting on the wand and a few other pieces to fall into place before that would happen though.

Stella's last round of spells were complete and she was flying low in the backyard on Charlie's old broom, Ginny flying on the Firebolt. The sun had gone down and it was completely dark, clouds covering any light in the sky, so they were up a bit higher than they would normally be. Ginny was laughing as she flew around, enjoying the rush and saying how she couldn't wait to join the team one day. Stella was just happy that Ginny wasn't avoiding her for whatever reason anymore. All last year, Ginny had walked the other direction when she'd seen Stella, Luna walking with Ginny and giving Stella sad looks. Ginny had never explained why she'd been upset but Stella didn't really mind as long as she had her sister back.

They landed, placing the brooms in the shed before walking back into the Burrow, both smiling brightly as they did so. Stella moved through the kitchen and to the stairs quickly when she saw Molly, Ginny following close behind. Ron was waiting for them outside of their bedroom door.

"Dad, the twins and I are going to go get Harry on Sunday," he announced and Stella smiled brightly.

"About time," she laughed. "Now Mum'll be telling you to clean your room so I can set up the spare bed for him."

"Hermione'll be here tomorrow," Ron reminded her.

"She's taking my bed," Stella reminded him. "Dad's dealing with the ghoul tonight if he hasn't already."

"He was heading up there when I decided to wait for the two of you. Were you flying?"

"We were," Ginny nodded, opening the bedroom door and showing off the clean room.

"Stella, are you actually a house elf?" Ron asked.

"Pass me a sock and let's find out," Stella joked as she stood in the doorway.

The next morning, Stella carried a bucket of soapy water up the stairs and into the attic. The ghoul had agreed to move into the broom shed and Stella and Ginny had run out to it, clearing out the brooms quickly before it could get there. The brooms were now in the closet outside of Stella's new room. She grabbed a long brush and began scrubbing the ceilings harshly, working up a sweat quickly. The three windows, all which faced a different direction, were open so a breeze would come through, helping to air the room out. Once the ceiling was cleaned, she moved to the walls, starting at the top and slowly working her way down.

Hermione had arrived at lunch, Stella running down from the attic and waving her a greeting, before grabbing a sandwich and water and going back up the long trek of stairs. She sat in the middle of the floor and ate before going back to scrubbing the walls. She began the floors next, music playing from the radio on the windowsill. It was dark when she finished scrubbing the floor. She went down to Ron's room, falling onto the spare bed and accepting the sandwich he'd brought up to her. She ate it quickly before taking a shower and returning. She slept in Ron's room that night before reminding Ron to clean his room before she made what would now be Harry's bed and headed upstairs again.

Stella smiled as the morning light spilled into her room. She asked Percy to help her move the bed and dresser up before he started his report on cauldron bottoms and he'd agreed as long as he could tell her what he'd thought up so far as they worked, which she agreed to. Unlike the other siblings, Stella listened when Percy talked. It was mostly repetitive about how much he liked his job and his boss, but every once in a while he'd tell her some juicy bit of gossip that he'd heard about, scoffing at the ridiculousness of people gossiping in the first place. Stella didn't tell him that, by telling her, he was actively participating in the thing he claimed to dislike so much.

Stella placed her folded clothes in her dresser and made her bed. Ginny helped Stella put up posters and Slytherin banners while Hermione put Stella's books on the two bookshelves that Bill had built into the wall for her, him and Charlie visiting for a bit, Stella telling her she could read anything she wanted to from the shelf when she'd seen Hermione stop a few times to read the backs of the books. A plush throw rug was placed on the floor in front of her bed and that's where the three girl's laid until they heard everyone returning.

The three made their way down the stairs and Ginny and Hermione went to the kitchen while Stella went to the dining room, standing behind Charlie as Ron walked in, plopping down into the seat beside him. The twins came in next, looking rather excited as they stared at the doorway. Finally, Harry came in.

"Did he eat it?" asked Fred excitedly.

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "What was it?"

"Ton-Tongue Toffee," Fred answered. "George and I invented them and we've been looking for someone to test them on all summer…"

The tiny kitchen exploded with laughter and Harry finally looked around at everyone else. His eyes locked on Stella's and his face brightened considerably as he moved towards her. Stella walked to him to, wrapping her arms over his shoulders and letting out a giggle when he picked her up as they hugged. Bill and Charlie exchanged curious looks with one another that no one noticed, all used to how Harry and Stella interacted with one another by now. Harry set Stella down and pulled away.

"Thank you," he told her and she simply shrugged as Charlie stood and walked over.

"How're you doing, Harry?" he asked, holding his hand, which Harry took, shaking it as his other arm remained wrapped around Stella's waist.

Bill got to his feet as well, smiling with a bit of mischief in his eyes as he also shook Harry's hand, glancing at Stella as he did so. She gave him a confused look before a pop was heard. They all turned to find Dad having appeared behind George looking rather angry.

"That wasn't funny, Fred," he shouted. "What on earth did you give that Muggle boy?"

"I didn't give him anything," said Fred, with another evil grin. "I just dropped it. He went and ate it. I never told him to."

Stella could appreciate how Slytherin that sounded, but Dad was a Gryffindor.

"You dropped it on purpose!" Dad roared. "You knew he'd eat it, you knew he was on a diet!"

"How big did his tongue get?" George asked eagerly. "Stella won't let us test this one on her."

"And for good reason! It was four feet long by the time his parents let me shrink it!"

The Weasleys and Harry roared with laughter again.

"It isn't funny!" Dad repeated. "That sort of behavior seriously undermines wizard-Muggle relations! I spend half of my life campaigning against the mistreatment of Muggles, and my own sons—"

"We didn't do it because he's a Muggle!" Fred defended.

"We did it because he's a great bullying git," George nodded. "Isn't he, Harry?"

"Yeah, he is, Mr. Weasley," said Harry earnestly.

"That's not the point!" raged Mr. Weasley. "You wait until I tell your mother—"

"Tell me what?" said a voice behind them and Stella hid behind Harry quickly. "Oh, hello, Harry, dear. Tell me what, Arthur?"

Dad hesitated, not having had any actual intention of telling Mum anything. There was a silence as Dad eyed Mum nervously. Ginny and Hermione appeared behind Mum, both of which smiled to Harry, who smiled back and caused Ginny to go scarlet.

"Tell me what, Arthur?" Mum repeated in a dangerous sort of voice.

"It's nothing, Molly," Dad mumbled and Stella slowly began creeping backwards out of the room, Harry stepping with her to keep her hidden, having read Stella's letters ranting about how unfair her Mum was being, blaming Stella for her siblings actions yet again. "Fred and George just… but I've had words with them…"

"What have they done this time? If it's got anything to do with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes…"

"Why don't you show Harry where he's sleeping, Ron?" Hermione tried.

"He knows where he's sleeping," said Ron. "In my room. He slept there last—"

"We can all go," said Hermione pointedly, trying to get them out of there so that 1. They didn't have to witness the twins get yelled at and 2. Stella could escape.

"Oh," said Ron, catching on. "Right."

"Yeah, we'll come, too," said George.

"You stay where you are!" Mum snarled. "Where is Stella?"

"She's been getting the attic cleaned up for the past two days, Molly," Dad reminded her. "She's not had time to do anything else."

Harry and Ron edged out of the kitchen, Stella hidden behind both of them, and they, Hermione, and Ginny set off along the narrow hallway and up the rickety staircase that zigzagged through the house to the upper stories.

"What are Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes?" Harry asked as they climbed.

Stella, Ron, and Ginny laughed, although Hermione didn't.

"Mum found this stack of order forms when she was cleaning Fred and George's room," Ron explained quietly. "Great long price lists for stuff they've invented. Joke stuff, you know. Fake wands and trick sweets, loads of stuff. It was brilliant, I never knew they'd been inventing stuff…"

"We've been hearing explosions out of their room for ages but we never thought they were actually making things," said Ginny. "We thought they just liked the noise."

Stella didn't say that she'd known and been helping them for years or that she planned on investing the moment they had everything sorted.

"Only, most of the stuff… well all of it really… was a bit dangerous," said Ron, "and, you know, they were planning to sell it at Hogwarts to make some money and Mum went mad at them. Told them they weren't allowed to make any more of it and burned their order forms. She's furious at them anyway. They didn't get as many OWLs as expected."

"And then there was this big row," Ginny said and Stella flinched as she remembered it. "Mum wants them to go into the Ministry like Dad and they told her all they want to do is open a joke shop."

Just then, Percy's door opened and his face came into view.

"Hi, Percy," Harry greeted.

"Oh hello, Harry. I was wondering who was making all the noise. I'm trying to work in here, you know. I've got a report to finish for the office and it's rather difficult to concentrate when people keep thundering up and down the stairs."

"We're not thundering," Ron said irritably. "We're walking. Sorry if we've disturbed the top-secret working of the Ministry."

"What are you working on?" Harry asked.

"A report for the Department of International Magical Cooperation," Percy answered smugly. "We're trying to standardize cauldron thickness. Some of these foreign imports are just a shade too thin. Leakages have been increasing at a rate of almost three percent a year."

"That'll change the world, that report will. Front page of the Prophet, I expect, cauldron leaks," Ron shot back.

"You might sneer, Ron, but unless some sort of international law is imposed, we might well find the market flooded with flimsy, shallow-bottomed products that seriously endanger—"

"Yeah, yeah, alright," Ron stated as he began leading them up the stairs again.

"I'm going to go finish my room," Stella told the others. "See you all later."

Stella's room was actually done but she had some work to do, ledgers to keep up with, and inventions to secretly help the twins with. It was half an hour later that she heard a large bang outside her window, causing her to jump. She ran to her window, finding Bill and Charlie making two old tables ram into one another in the air. Stella cheered along with Fred and George as Charlie's table lost a leg before Percy began yelling at them. She rolled her eyes, grabbed her broom from the closet, and flew down to the yard.

By seven o'clock, the two tables were groaning under dishes and dishes of food. The nine Weasleys, Stella, Harry, and Hermione had settled down to eat beneath a clear, deep-blue sky. At the far end of the table, Percy was telling Dad about his report, still hinting at knowing something that the others at the table didn't. Stella had ended up beside Mum somehow (she guessed it was Bill and Charlie, trying to get the two speaking again after having figured out that something was wrong but no one willing to give them information) and the two were looking anywhere but at one another. Instead, Mum got onto Bill for his appearance.

". . . with a horrible great fang on it. Really, Bill, what do they say at the bank?"

"Mum, no one at the bank gives a damn how I dress as long as I bring home plenty of treasure," said Bill patiently.

"And your hair's getting silly, dear," said Mum, fingering her wand longingly. "I wish you'd let me give it a trim. . . ."

"I like it," said Ginny, who was sitting beside Bill. "You're so old fashioned, Mum. Anyway, it's nowhere near as long as Professor Dumbledore's. . . ."

Stella could hear Fred, George, and Charlie talking spiritedly about the World Cup.

"It's got to be Ireland," said Charlie thickly, through a mouthful of potato. "They flattened Peru in the semifinals."

"Bulgaria has got Viktor Krum, though," said Fred.

"Krum's one decent player, Ireland has got seven," said Charlie shortly. "I wish England had got through. That was embarrassing, that was."

"What happened?" asked Harry eagerly.

"Went down to Transylvania…"

'Did you finish your room?' Sirius asked.

'I did. Harry's here now. He looks better than he did last summer. I think the food that I sent him helped,' she responded.

'Food?'

'Yeah. His aunt and uncle are stingy about food,' Stella told him, not wanting to lie but also not wanting to tell Sirius any of Harry's secrets; Harry could tell Sirius when he was ready.

Dad conjured up candles to light the darkening garden before they had their homemade strawberry ice cream, and by the time they finished, moths were fluttering low over the table, and the warm air was perfumed with the smells of grass and honeysuckle. Stella loved it, remembering a happy childhood before she'd been sorted. The scent of honeysuckle still clung to her skin whenever she left the house for school, her clothes smelling of it until a few weeks in. She hoped her room would smell like it, too, since she left the windows open, the smell comforting her as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, a small smile on her face.

Mum was staring at her when she opened her eyes. Not judgingly or angry for something Stella hadn't done. Just staring at her with a soft smile. Stella smiled back, wanting to mend the bridge but not knowing how since it was Mum that was constantly taking an axe to it. The two turned away from each other, Mum going back to trying to convince Bill to let her cut his hair and Stella back to talking to Sirius a bit.

As everyone wondered off to bed, Stella went to the kitchen. She began washing dishes as they floated in, humming a tune to herself as she did so. She'd told the twins that they could sleep on her floor rather than Ron's if they wanted to and they'd agreed, stating loudly that Ron snored. It was quiet and peaceful in the kitchen now as Mum walked in last, moving around the kitchen and wiping down countertops with a wash rag. She tucked some of Stella's hair behind her ear as Stella dried her hands.

"Oh, my dear, I really do wish you'd stop wearing that," Mum sighed, staring at Stella's ring.

"I like it," Stella shrugged.

Mum sighed before heading to leave the kitchen.

"Mum?" Stella asked and she stopped, turning back to Stella, who had finally gotten the courage to ask the question that had been heavy on her heart since she'd been sorted. "Why are you always mad at me?"

"Well, Stella, what did you expect?" Mum asked, angry again. "You got yourself placed in Slytherin and then you started getting in trouble at school the next day. You went off with Narcissa Malfoy, as well, to get a ring that represents a dark family. You keep getting into trouble and dragging your brother into it and helping the twins prank people."

"I didn't get myself put in Slytherin," Stella spoke up. "And Ron and the twins find trouble all on their own. You've yelled at me and grounded me for things I've had no control over multiple times now. You're even mad at me for getting hurt last year—"

"Well, you riled them up!" Mum had started yelling again. "Those good Gryffindors all got in trouble because of you! You probably were spouting off about that dark family of yours!"

"I thought I was your family," Stella countered.

"So did I!" Mum yelled, face red as she glared at Stella.

Stella took a step back, shock clear on her face. Molly seemed to have figured out what she'd just said and looked horrified. Stella went to move pass her but Molly grabbed her arm, forcing her to stay in the room.

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley?" Stella asked, voice void of any emotions.

"Don't speak to me like that!" Molly said, releasing Stella's arm. "You have no respect for me anymore!"

"Earn it," Stella repeated the words she'd said to McGonagall her first year.

Stella's head snapped to the side and Stella didn't quite understand what had happened for a moment before a hot pain flashed across her skin. She brought a shaking hand up to her face, touching her cheek gently and flinching before she turned, wide mouthed and eyed to Molly. Molly's hands were covering her mouth, tears clear in her eyes. Stella ran pass her then, thundering up the stairs and tears falling down her face. Percy poked his head out of his door to complain but saw Stella's face, a bruise forming on her cheek and tears running down her face and changed his mind.

He tried to follow her, but Stella was faster than him. She ran into her room and shut the door quietly. Tiptoeing around the twins, Stella made it to her bed, crying silently into her pillow.