Bittersweet

Chapter Two:
And Then There were Two

"Felicity, are you in there?" the voice Felicity recognized as Sirius Black's asked.

"Uh-yeah, j-just a second," she called thickly, while trying to get her face looking normal again and the tears dried from her eyes. "I just need to tidy up a bit."

"Are you okay in there?" he called again. "You sound upset."

"No, I'm fine, just allergies from all this cleaning I've been doing," she lied quickly. "Dusty, you know?"

Lying had always been a strongpoint of Felicity's. She didn't especially like lying but sometimes it did help when convincing lies came right off the top of her head so easily. She scrambled off the bed and to her feet, moving reluctantly toward the door. She could just tell him to go away, after all. But Felicity wasn't naturally an introverted person and didn't especially like being alone all the time as she was much more prone to break down like she had a few moments ago.

There were two more short raps and Sirius's hand was raised when she opened the door as if he intended to strike the surface once more.

"Hi," she said, standing in the doorway, aware that Sirius was studying her face, as he had been the previous night. "Did you need something?"

The question was accusatory, because just as soon as Felicity had decided she wanted company her mind then changed and she thought she would rather be left alone.

Obviously, Sirius Black had no intention of that.

Sidestepping her, he entered the room and looked around. "Wow," he said softly as he walked into the bathroom, "and you've only been here a day."

Felicity blushed with pleasure and closed the bedroom door behind her. "Thanks, I try."

"You'd be a real inspiration to the others," said Sirius returning from the bathroom to face her. "It takes their combined efforts quite a bit more time than this to get a room finished."

By "the others" Felicity presumed Sirius meant Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny and thought she knew where this conversation was going.

"Yes, well, it's not finished," she explained trying to bring the topic away from The Others and to something much more suitable. She couldn't exactly go and join The Others because well, her uncle had forbade her too and she suspected they might not be as friendly as Sirius presumed they would be. "I still have to put up some pictures and tapestries, and some rugs, so the floors aren't so hard and cold and I use magic."

"But you're only-"

"I'll be sixteen October thirty-first," explained Felicity, knowing she looked a couple years older than sixteen, "but the American underage restriction is a year or so younger than the British, so I'm within full right to use my magic and the fact that I've already graduated from AGT-"

"What's that?" asked Sirius.

"It's short for AGTWYA, which is short for Academy for the Gifted and Talented Wizarding Youth of America," she explained hesitantly, hoping he knew nothing about it, as she was in no mood to be admired more for her mysterious psychic and healing abilities. The blasted things...

Sirius was studying the bookcase. "Have you read all of these?" he asked curiously.

"Almost," she replied, coming to stand behind him. She was slightly overprotective of her books and it was second nature to hover behind someone who looked as though they intended to pick one up. "I think there are a couple on Arithmancy that I haven't read yet."

Sirius whistled. "And who is this fine fellow?" he asked quietly, peering into the cage of a freshly awakened Merlin. "Assuming it's a fellow, of course."

"Merlin, his name's Merlin," said Felicity stepping forward and standing side by side with Sirius. "I've had him since I was three. He's the only friend I've got now." She mumbled the last part, half-hoping he wouldn't hear.

"Don't be ridiculous," said Sirius sternly. "There are two seventeen-year-olds, two fifteen-year-olds and a fourteen-year-old downstairs, who I'm sure would love to be your friends."

"Yes, but no," said Felicity sadly. "They know who I am."

"Whatever do you mean?" said Sirius in tone that was just a tad bit too innocent.

"Don't be daft," said Felicity turning away and wandering toward the window. "Memento Draperies!"

Violet sheer drapes shot out of her wand and carefully arranged themselves over the lone bare window.

"Lovely," said Sirius sincerely. "The whole room's lovely, Ms. Parish."

"Don't try to butter me up either, Sirius Black," scolded Felicity, directing her wand at several portraits resting on or leaning against her trunks and fixing them to the walls.

"I'm just trying to compliment you," said Sirius good-naturedly. "And I'm trying to tell you that they don't even know your name, much less who you are."

"They may not know my name, but I guarantee you that they know I'm American, I'm Snape's niece, and I'm just like him."

"If that's not the biggest piece of rubbish I've ever heard, I'll eat Buckbeak," said Sirius skeptically.

"Who or what is Buckbeak?" asked Felicity, before she could stop herself, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"One of the blokes who helped me escape some dementors at Hogwarts a couple years back," said Sirius mysteriously. "He's a handsome fellow, you'd like him I'm sure."

Felicity rolled her eyes and aimed her wand at the ceiling, muttering a Anti-Apparition Ward incantation. Bright liquid light shot out of her wand and flooded the walls, floor and ceiling of the bedroom, before creeping into the bathroom to douse it with the ward as well.

"Why on earth did you do that?" asked Sirius indignantly.

"I don't want any uninvited company," replied Felicity nonchalantly, as though it was a spell she performed everywhere she went.

"Right, well, I can tell you that you're wrong," Sirius said, making Felicity feel thoroughly confused.

"Wrong about what?" she demanded, turning toward the bookcase intending to face him, but he'd wandered over to her bed and was now sitting on the baseboard.

"Wrong when you say that the others know all about you and have already cast a democratic vote and decided they don't like you," Sirius said cheerfully. "So wrong."

Felicity would have loved to point out that it was he, not her, that was "so wrong," but in doing that she would reveal that she had eavesdropped on his conversation with Mrs. Weasley earlier today. She would have to explain that she had an Invisibility Cloak and she would have to tell him that she knew the Weasley children and the girl called Hermione had also been eavesdropping. This would brand her as a nark and the others would for sure not like her.

So she simply shrugged and said, "Believe what you will, but I know better."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I can see you have no intention of socializing anytime today, do you," he asked.

"No, I don't," Felicity said carefully avoiding his gaze. "I'm going to finish putting up my tapestries on the walls, the rugs on the floors, and hang a few lights, then I'm going to bed."

"It's not-it's only-you can't possibly go to sleep this early," spluttered Sirius.

"I intend to read until I fall asleep," said Felicity thoughtfully. "Or maybe I'll take a nice hot bath. Oh I've got it! I'll read a book in my nice hot bath and sleep when I get out."

Felicity was somewhat pleased to see that Sirius looked slightly abashed that she had so blatantly informed him of her desire to read in the bath.

"So you see it really is a good thing I put up an Anti-Apparation Ward," she said, rummaging through a trunk and pulling out a collection of multi-colored furry rugs to be placed on the hard wood floor. "Wouldn't want someone to Apparate into the bathroom while I was enjoying myself with my book and bubbles."

"Er-no I don't suppose you wouldn't," Sirius agreed, nodding his head as if to show how firmly he agreed with her. "Well, I'll let you get to it then, shall I?" He got to his feet and strolled purposefully toward the door.

"Oh, you can leave whenever you'd like," said Felicity with a casual wave of her right hand whilst she enlarged rugs with her wand in her left. She was ambidextrous, but preferred her left hand. "But goodbye if you intend to leave now."

"Goodbye and goodnight, Felicity," said Sirius exiting and closing the door behind him.

Felicity shook her head at the closed door. It had been easier than she had expected it would be to get rid of him, she thought as she positioned the rugs upon the floor and fixed the two tapestries that had belonged to her father to the wall on either side of the window. But she knew he would be back.

There was nothing extraordinary about the tapestries. One depicted a castle by a lake and a forest and the other showed a Veela clan dancing by the light of a fire. They didn't even move. But Felicity's father had refused to part from them.

"Felicity Faye, there's something about them that compels me to keep them," her father had said, when they had refurbished his office once and the tapestries had been the only articles to remain.

"Daddy, what does 'compels' mean?" asked a six-year-old Felicity, curiously.

"Means there's something about them that makes me feel as though I must keep them," he explained gently.

"Does it remind you of Mamma?" Felicity asked shyly, gesturing toward the dancing Veela.

"Why, it sure does, Miss Fee," her daddy had exclaimed, picking up Felicity and twirling her around once before setting her back on her feet and studying the picture once more. "It reminds me of when we first met and how beautiful I thought she was."

"Mama is beautiful, isn't she?" Felicity asked, wistfully.

"It's where you get it from, Lissie," her father said kissing her on the forehead. "How else would you explain you being so beautiful as well?"

"Well, you're beautiful too, Dad," said Felicity bashfully. "I mean handsome, you're handsome, Daddy, sure enough. Maybe I get from you too."

"Maybe," said her father, smiling slightly. "Maybe..."

Those tapestries had hung there forever it seemed and there wasn't a day that Felicity didn't study them closely to see what "compelled" him to keep them. She began to realize how he had felt though, and when it had come time to pack up and move to Britain, Felicity hadn't been able to leave them behind.

Not allowing herself to sit and mope about this little memory, Felicity fixed her green, blue, scarlet, and violet paper lanterns to the corners of the ceiling and stood back to admire her work.

Everything was finished and everything looked strikingly like the bedroom she had back at home. The only difference she could really name were the portraits of her best friends and the picture she had of herself, Annie, Candy, Bernard, and Mrs. Trinket, her surrogate family. In her old room, these pictures had been smaller and stuck in the edges of her large mirror. Mirror! She had forgotten her mirror!

Rifling through the only trunk with anything left in it, Felicity soon found her lovely full-length mirror, she intended to hang in the bathroom, beside the wardrobe.

The mirror had been given to her by her mother just months before she'd died. The glass itself was framed in curling pewter, much like a vine of ivy and at the top there was a silhouette of what Elizabeth Parish said had been her mother. Felicity's grandmother had only seen Felicity once just weeks after she had been born and Felicity hadn't the faintest idea what sort of grandmother she would be. But the lovely silhouette of a woman with long straight hair and what appeared to be very delicate features was loving and kind and Felicity liked to imagine that's what her grandmother would be like.

"There, that's better," said Felicity, after hanging up the looking glass. "Sorry I forgot about you."

"That's quite alright, deary," her mirror responded fondly.

Felicity smiled and studied herself in the mirror. She did need a bath.

"Everything looks lovely, Felicity," the looking-glass said sweetly. "Much like home, except you seem to have forgotten something."

"Forgotten something?" Felicity asked curiously, looking around her room as though for a sign that read "YOU FORGOT THIS -->". "What do you mean? What did I forget?"

The mirror coughed and it sounded faintly like "your broomstick."

Felicity slapped herself in the forehead. "Geezums, mirror! I can't believe I forgot to unpack my Nightstreak!" she said, shaking her head and scowling at herself as she drew the sleek ebony broomstick out of her trunk. It trembled in her hands for a moment then jumped to attention, hovering just below her waist height.

"Sorry, love," she said gently to her beloved broom, "now's not the time for a fly. Actually-" she strode across the room and drew the violet hangings aside to stare down at what optimists would call a backyard and what Felicity called a stretch of concrete littered with the neighbors trash-"actually I don't even think there is a place to fly around here."

Her broom seemed to deflate and dropped a good four inches to hover somewhere around her knees at this news.

"We'll have to wait until we get to Hogwarts before we can fly," she said consolingly. She picked it up and leaned it against the wall beside her bed. "Now for that bath..."
A few moments later, Felicity was up to her chin in her delicious honeysuckle-scented bubble bath. She sighed contently and closed her eyes in pure relaxation. The first she'd had since she'd left her home country and came here....

"Much better," she murmured before her whole head sank beneath the frothy suds.

* * *

Dear Diary,
I just got out of the bath and let me tell you, I feel much better. I slept in far too late; Merlin woke me up around one and I was so happy to see him.

I went downstairs today, under my Invisibility Cloak, of course. I was hungry and none of the food I had brought sounded good so I went downstairs and was rewarded with roast beef and further information on the tenants of this place. There are five teenagers living here, four of them are Weasleys and their fifth is probably Ron Weasley's best friend, Hermione. Isn't that a cool name? I've never heard it before. It reminds me of how I've never met anyone named Felicity either. Sirius visited me today, asking me to come down and meet them.

He said two of them are seventeen and I'm guessing that's Fred and George, the Weasley twins; two of them are fifteen like me, Hermione and Ron; and Ginny, the youngest Weasley teen and only girl is fourteen. Evidently even though I'm just three months short of turning sixteen, I'm still going to be in classes with the fifth years when I go to Hogwarts this term.

Apparently the famous, Harry Potter is coming to Grimmauld Place sometime before term starts. Ron and Hermione were asking about it today. I wonder what he looks like? All I've heard is that he looks just likes his father, which the exception of his eyes. It doesn't really tell me much, since I've never seen his father and I shouldn't really care, because I've sworn off serious boyfriend/girlfriend relationships. But I do... isn't that strange? It's probably just because I'm a girl and he's a boy and it's normal for one to wonder about the other, right?

Anyways... I'm sleepy, Diary, I'll write more tomorrow.

Always,
Felicity

P.S. I finished my room! It looks almost exactly like mine back home. Home. I miss home...

* * *

Over the next few days, Felicity talked herself out of venturing out of her sanctuary and therefore was able to talk her way out of Sirius's persuasive coaxing. The man simply would not leave her alone and began visiting her twice a day, demanding, begging, pleading, hinting, or ordering, her to leave this room and greet the others of number twelve Grimmauld Place. To which she would respond with a haughty, condescending, apologetic, disgruntled, or weary, no thank you.

They became quite good friends in the days that followed and Felicity came to look forward to Sirius's visits. She had always been an only child and had sometimes longed for a big brother or sister to talk to and thought she had found this in Sirius. He often brought her a plate from lunch and dinner, asked about her school and her friends, asked about her former boyfriends, asked about what she planned to do with her life....

He wanted to know everything about her and she found it quite enjoyable that someone actually cared about her former life. She told him about her healing and clairvoyant powers, her sudden unexpected trances she had no control over, the Veela in her that when set loose drained her of all energy and caused windstorms, the fire she could conjure in her hands and how she hated it all. In turn he told her about his life. Or most of it anyway. How his parents drove him crazy with pureblood nonsense and his escapades with James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, how they became Animagus and used to use the Marauder's Map to sneak into Hogsmeade, a village outside of Hogwarts. How he resented being back in this house after he'd ran away. Quite often their conversations included Sirius venting his anger at the Dumbledore, the head of the Order of the Phoenix, for keeping him locked up in this house, even though he knew he couldn't risk leaving it.

One afternoon when Sirius had brought his lunch upstairs to share with her, Felicity told him about her parents and how they had been killed when she was nine years old as some morbid test of a Voldemort supporter. She had only ever talked about this to Tyler and Anne, no one else. In a detached sort of way, Felicity was pleased that she had found someone abroad that she could talk to about literally everything.

* * *

Dear Diary,
Sirius came to visit again today and I told him about my mother and father. It felt funny to be telling someone else about it, but good at the same time, you know? Like this burden had been lifted off my chest. I almost cried, but I held it back until he left. I think he sensed that I was feeling upset and I wasn't about to cry in front of him. Sirius understands me. He's the first one in a while. I wish he was my godfather, instead of Snape, who I still haven't had any word from. I'm afraid he's just going to show up here one day when I'm totally unprepared for him.
You should hear some of the crap Sirius had to go through when he was younger. I feel really bad for him because even though he had parents, they seemed to be a pain in the arse to him most of the time with all their pureblooded nonsense. You'd think they were part of a cult the way Sirius said they valued it. I know he hates it, being back here in this godforsaken house and I really feel sorry for him. It makes me forget to feel sorry for myself for once.

-Felicity Faye

* * *

Felicity soon grew bored with her surroundings and ventured out of the bedroom under the cover of her Invisibility Cloak, observing and studying the inhabitants of the house.

One rainy afternoon she had her first encounter with Ginny, Fred, and George Weasley.

She had been trying to find Sirius's room and had accidentally come upon what appeared to be the room Ginny Weasley shared with Hermione Granger. Knowing she would hate it if Ginny or Hermione snooped through her room, Felicity made to exit as quickly as she had entered but before her hand could reach the doorknob it began to turn and she had to jump back to avoid being bashed in the head by the door.

A very flustered looking Ginny Weasley stalked inside and slammed the door behind her, muttering, "How dare he... trying to read my letters..."
Felicity noticed she was holding a handful of crumpled papers with untidy handwriting upon them.

Ginny trudged across her room, still fuming, and sank onto her bed, trying to smooth out the creases of the letters.

"Honestly, having to wrestle my own letters away from him," she said with a scowl and presently began to read the notes clutched in her hand. A small smile formed and she laughed out loud occasionally.

"Honestly, Michael," she murmured once.

Felicity sincerely hated eavesdropping on Ginny, because she knew how she would hate to be eavesdropped on, but unfortunately she really couldn't see how she could get out of the room without Ginny realizing that she had been there in the first place. And putting her fingers in her ears and humming wasn't really an option.

Then a loud banging on the door, which startled both Felicity and Ginny so much that Felicity's cloak slipped a bit and the letters fluttered out Ginny's hand. "Ginny, are you in there?" Fred called through the door, pounding on it again.

"Yes, what do you want?" she called back, hastily picking up the scraps of paper that had drifted to the floor and shoving them into a drawer of Hermione's bedside table.

"We just wanted to apologize for not stopping Ron-"

"Not stopping me-you were trying to get the letters too-"

There was a short scuffling from the other side of the door and someone, presumably Ron, said loudly, "Damn, Fred, that hurt!" Someone cleared their throat and George's voice sounded through the door. "Gin, can we come in?"

"No, you can go away right now," said Ginny, hurrying to the door in attempt to lock it. She was too late, however, and Fred, George, and Ron came pouring in, Fred holding Ron by the back of his sweater. Ginny glowered at them in a very Mrs. Weasley-like fashion.

"What do you think you are doing?" she asked with her hands on her hips. "I told you to go away."

"We ah... we thought," began Fred casting around for some excuse.

"We thought Ron should have to give you a hug," said George and Fred pushed Ron forward.

While Ginny was glaring at Fred and Ron, George was silently sneaking toward Ginny's bedside table.

"As much as I appreciate the sentiment, dear brothers," said Ginny rolling her eyes, "I am not falling for it and I resent that you all think I have no brain."

"We don't think that at all, Gin," said George, now rifling through the second drawer of the table. "We think you're very intelligent."

Ginny turned her penetrating glare on George, who stopped intently rummaging through the drawer and said, "She's staring right at me, isn't she?"

The other two nodded and George pulled his hands away from the drawer as though he had just been burned.

"Ginny, we are just worried about you, that's all," said Fred looking sincere for the first time since he had entered the room.

"Yeah, we don't want you going out with some freak," said George.

"We don't want you to get hurt," said Ron after removing himself from Fred's grasp.

"I'll have you know I am not going out with anyone!" said Ginny, who did not look at all pleased with her brothers' excuses. "It's just a letter from one of my good friends."

"You mean you don't have a boyfriend," said Ron, looking confounded. "But I thought I heard you talking to Hermione about-"

Ginny's eyes blazed and Ron changed tact at lightning speed. "But I guess I was wrong, so sorry to bother you, Gin, I for one believe you."

He backed away from his little sister and exited the room at top speed, shutting the door behind him too fast for Felicity to slip through.

"You're our baby sister," said George putting a protective arm around Ginny.

"We don't anyone to hurt you," said Fred. "Because then we'd have to hurt them--"

"--and it's hard for us to accept that you've stopped drooling over Harry and have moved--"

"Oh, I knew you were going to bring Harry up, I knew it!" shrieked Ginny furiously. "Yes, I used to like him. No, I don't anymore. End of story!"

And with that she strode over to the door and opened it wide, gesturing them to make themselves scarce. Felicity took this as an opportunity to escape and lunged out the open door, pausing to watch what would happen next.

With a defeated look on their faces, Fred and George trudged out and kissed Ginny on the forehead as they went by. Ginny shrieked angrily and slammed the door.

Felicity trekked back up to her room feeling extremely warm toward Fred and George Weasley. It had been heartwarming to witness the twins express their concern for their little sister. But it also brought forward a sense of loss and Felicity wondered how different life would be if she had an older sibling...

* * *

Dear Diary,

I accidentally eavesdropped on Ginny today. I couldn't help it. I was just wandering around the house and I happened to go into Ginny and Hermione's bedroom. Then Ginny comes in, reading this letter from a guy that she apparently likes, or he likes her and slams the door behind her so I'm trapped.

Then Fred, George, and Ron come in and are trying to distract Ginny so George can find letter. And I still can't get out because they shut the door behind them too. Anyways, they start being all big-brotherly to Ginny and she wouldn't have any of it. It was actually sort of cute/funny. It made me wish I had a big brother... to be all overprotective of me, you know? I bet I never would have had to come here if I had a big brother to tell Snape off... Oh well, you can't have everything. Or in my case, you can't have hardly anything. At least not anything you want. You can have hoards of stuff you don't want.

Poor me,
Fee

* * *

"So I was thinking," said Sirius on the fourth day after her arrival, "you might want to come down tonight for dinner. Molly is making a big nice meal and Remus, Tonks, Bill, and Dung will be there and you could meet them as well as everyone else."

"Hey," said Felicity brightly, nodding as though she was seriously considering coming down, "how 'bout no."

Sirius's face fell.

"Sirius, dear, I hate to disappoint you, you know I do, but I refuse to show myself, I'm way too scared," she said, grinning sarcastically. "Weasley's startle me and anyone with a name like Dung can't be that enchanting, can he?"

"His whole name is Mundungus Fletcher," said Sirius rolling his eyes, "and no he may not be the most 'enchanting' conversationalist, but-"

"Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, be gone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers--"

"SIRIUS!" they heard Mrs. Weasley screech above the din of Sirius's mother's curses.

"I'm off, Felicity. Sure you won't join me?" he asked hopefully.

"Would if I could, but I can't," she said smiling at him from her seat upon the four-poster.

Sighing exasperatedly, he hurried from the room. Mrs. Black's shrieks still saturating the air.

I wonder what that's all about, Felicity thought curiously and before she knew it she had donned the Invisibility Cloak she'd received as a thirteenth birthday present from her Veela grandmother and was creeping down the stairs.

There was a small congregation of people in the hallway outside the kitchen including, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Sirius, Remus Lupin, and three wizards Felicity didn't know.

The first wizard had a heavily scarred face, a clawed leg that clunked when he moved, and an odd pair of mismatched eyes, one large electric blue eye that rove around incessantly and the other a squinted dark beady eye. Felicity recognized the larger eye as one that could see through anything-including Invisibility Cloaks. She stood there for a moment while an internal battle took place inside her head: curiosity against fear of acknowledgement. In the end curiosity won and Felicity crept closer to the scene of disruption, deciding that it looked like the strange man was far to interested in the discussion to take any notice of her.

The second unknown wizard was a tall old man with long silver hair and beard, a slightly crooked nose and bright blue eyes behind half-moon spectacle. He looked as though he would be a very kindly man if he wasn't so perturbed at the moment; well perturbed really was an understatement. Livid was a more fitting description. He towered over the third wizard and said in a cold harsh quiet voice, "Mundungus Fletcher, what on this planet possessed you to leave Harry, when it was another fifteen minutes before your duty was up?"

"Well, you see, Professor Dumbledore, sir..." The wizard launched in a long-winded explanation about a business contact of his selling cauldrons and he had only meant to leave for a moment or so, the whole while, Mundungus looked terrified. He finished and Professor Dumbledore looked slightly disgusted, but said, "Well, it can't be helped now, but if you ever, ever disappear like that again I will expose you for the criminal you are."

"Yes, sir, it'll never 'appen again," Mundungus said beseechingly. "I apologize righ' away to 'arry when he gets 'ere."

Dumbledore nodded and turned to Mr. Weasley who looked up from a small scrap of paper he had his quill posed over ready to begin scribbling furiously if need be.
"What can we do, Professor Dumbledore?" asked Mr. Weasley patting his wife gently on the hands she was wringing in worry.

"Inform Harry that I'm sorting this out at the Ministry," Dumbledore said in a calm voice. "Due to certain circumstances I presume they will have already sent him a letter of expulsion-"

"Expulsion!" echoed the voices of Ron and Hermione who apparently had been eavesdropping in the kitchen along with Fred, George, and Ginny.

"Professor Dumbledore, he can't be expelled!" cried Hermione, looking tearful as the five of them spilled into the chamber outside the kitchen door. Hermione and the others continued to make heated exclamations until Dumbledore silenced them by raising his hand.

"Calm and collect yourselves," he urged. "I'm on my way to the Ministry to pick up the pieces. In the meantime I suggest you return to the kitchen or your rooms and be prepared for letters from Harry. I would rather if you didn't respond to these letters. I expect you'll see him soon enough."

The tone of Dumbledore's voice told them clearly they had best make themselves scarce and fast if they knew what was good for them. Ron looked like he would have liked to stay and argue some more, but Hermione placed a hand on his arm and led him out of the room.

Dumbledore turned to Mr. Weasley. "Under no circumstances is Harry to leave his aunt and uncle's house, nor is he to surrender his wand to anyone or do any more magic. Do you have all of that?" he asked.

Mr. Weasley reread the short note he'd written and nodded.

"Good, send that immediately," he said with satisfaction then with a swish of his emerald green cloak and a quiet "Goodbye," he was gone. Arthur Weasley hurried off, presumably to find an owl.

Meanwhile Remus Lupin and the wizard with mismatched eyes had been explaining the situation to Sirius and Mrs. Weasley.

"Dementors, two of them" he said distastefully. Felicity's heart clutched with fear. She absolutely hated dementors, hated them so much more than any corporeal thing she could think of. The things they made her relive were... terrible. "Figg said they just showed up out of nowhere," the man continued. "Potter would be worse than dead if Lupin here hadn't taught him the Patronus Charm in his third year."

"Oh dear!" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley. Sirius said nothing, merely stood there looking grim.

"As it is, Harry's now facing criminal charges from the Ministry of Magic for using underage magic outside of school and in the presence of a Muggle."

"What Muggle?" asked Sirius. "How are they accusing him of criminal charges if he just saved himself and some blind helpless Muggle from dementors.

"That's where we've hit a snag," said Lupin bitterly. "The Ministry is refusing to believe that the dementors were there. How did Arthur say they worded it? 'Another attempt of Potter's to try and draw attention to himself.' Yes, I believe that's right."

"They refuse to admit that the dementors are beyond their control," said the wizard, with the wooden leg.

"But they must be, You-Know-Who must have sent the two of them after Harry," said Mrs. Weasley clutching at her heart and looking terrified and tearful. "What else would they be doing in Little Whinging?"

"And Voldemort"--everyone apart from Lupin and Sirius flinched--"must be watching Harry," Sirius said looking more worried than Felicity had ever seen him. "Otherwise how would he know that Mundungus left his duty early."

"He wouldn't," said the wizard darkly. "It's worse than we feared."

"Now, Moody, let's not rush to conclusions, we don't know how much surveillance Voldemort"-another round of flinches-"has over Harry," said Lupin hurriedly. "We don't even know if it was Voldemort-"more flinching-"directly or one of his followers or someone completely different."

"What does it matter?" asked Mrs. Weasley. "Harry is still in danger and he could be expelled."

"He's safe in his aunt's house," Moody said glumly. "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named can't harm him there."

"I suppose you're right," she said quietly. "I am going to go lie down. Tell Arthur, won't you, Remus?" She nodded to the others and passed Felicity up the stairs.

"I've got to write Harry," said Sirius, nodding to Lupin and Moody. "You'll come get me if there's any news."

The others nodded and Sirius departed at high speed up the stairs. Felicity then felt it was high time she got the heck out of Dodge as well before Moody saw through her cloak and quickly climbed the many staircases back up to her bedroom where she promptly collapsed upon her bed.

Dementors had to be the most horrible creatures known to mankind and Harry Potter had fought off two of them. Felicity could scarcely handle one and his memories had to be ten times worse than her own. He had been there when his parents died; he could have probably heard their last words. She had only seen her parents' bodies; she hadn't been there when they were killed. She had been at school celebrating her ninth birthday and enjoying a Halloween banquet. But the memories of their blank faces and wide staring eyes as their lifeless bodies lay cold on the floor of her father's study had plagued her since she was nine years old and still haunted her in her dreams and in the presence of dementors.

Thunk, thunk, thunk.

Three knocks, that would be Sirius.

She got to her feet and opened the door. He came in and flung himself upon her bed, like a distraught teenager.

"Sirius, dear, what ever is the matter with you?" she asked in a deliberately curious voice, even though she knew what must be troubling him. She shut the door behind her.

Sirius had told her all about Harry Potter, his godson. He's the Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, picked in his first year, the youngest in a century, flies just like James, he looks just like him too but with his Lily's eyes, Ron and Hermione are his two best friends, he could produce a Patronus when he was thirteen, he saved my life in his third year: all told with a sort of glowing pride.

Felicity could tell that the news of his attack had come as a disturbing shock.
Sirius had never said so, but Felicity was exceptionally skillful at reading people and she could tell from the tone Sirius's voice took and the way his face lit up when he spoke of Harry that he loved him very much. She wished with a heartfelt longing that she had an adult to love her this much. The maids and housekeeper at home had cared about her, but it wasn't the same sort of care that a family would care. A few of her professors from school had admired her competence and skills at witchcraft, but that wasn't the same admiration that a family would have for her.

"It's Harry," he said, his voice muffled and inaudible through the comforter.

"I beg your pardon?" said Felicity, coming and sitting down on the bed as well.

"It's Harry," Sirius repeated, sitting up and putting his face in his hands.

"What's happened, Sirius?" Felicity asked gently.

"Dementors, they attacked him and Dudley," said Sirius. Sirius had also explained to her about Harry's Aunt Petunia, a woman with a lot of neck and a nosy disposition, Uncle Vernon with hardly any neck and a magnificent mustache, and fat cousin Dudley, who was wider than he was tall, and to Felicity they had sounded a lot like Briana's family demeanor-wise: Intolerant of magic in any form.

"He's alright, though, isn't he?" she inquired. It felt horrible to be drawing these questions from Sirius like this, when she already knew the answer to them.

"He's fine, but the Ministry has expelled him," said Sirius quietly.

"Expelled..." Felicity breathed convincingly.

"Well, Dumbledore thinks they have because of how the Ministry is responding to Voldemort's return," Sirius said despondently.

"How's that?" she asked curiously. Sirius usually refrained from mentioning the Britain's Ministry of Magic in their conversations because it strayed so close to the work that the Order of the Phoenix did, which were top-secret.

"I don't want to talk about it right now," said Sirius, placing his face back into his hands, so that this long shaggy hair fell around them. "I know exactly how Harry's feeling at the moment, because I've felt that way the last fifteen years..."

"Oh, Sirius..." she said softly. She really hated to see him like this, especially when he was usually so chipper.

"Him, locked up in his aunt and uncle's house all summer, one brief shining moment of freedom when he used magic, and now accused of something he had no control over," Sirius continued miserably. "Me, accused of something I had no control over, locked up in Azkaban for thirteen years, brief shining moment of freedom, then locked up in my mother's house again..."

"It'll work out though, Sirius," Felicity said reassuringly, patting him gently on the back. "Everything will be okay."

Tap, hesitation, tap, tap, tap. Someone was knocked at her door. Sirius and Felicity looked up.

"Sirius," called Ginny's voice. "I don't know if you're in there, and I'm terribly sorry to whoever is in there if he's not and I'm disturbing you." She paused and cleared her throat. "But there's been news from Dumbledore and Harry's not expelled, he just has to go to a Ministry hearing the twelfth. Dumbledore also says that he's going to send a group from the Order to go and get Harry in a few days."

Sirius startled Felicity by jumping up with a resounding whoop and she heard Ginny laugh from behind the door.

"Thanks, Ginerva," said Sirius happily.

"I thought you'd be pleased," she said. "And Mum says to tell you that she's making goulash for dinner. And it's Ginny."

They heard Ginny's footsteps grow fainter and fainter as she descended back downstairs.

"Well, how 'bout that," said Felicity, grinning at Sirius. "Everything sounds like it's working out, doesn't it?"

Sirius could simply grin weakly. Now was one of the times when it clearly showed how much he loved Harry. Felicity stood up and before he knew it had embraced him in a hug.

"I'm so glad you're happy again," she said. An intense longing to be loved by someone like Sirius the way he loved Harry had overwhelmed her and something itchy was steadily creeping up her throat. "Now get outta here," she said, pushing him out the door. "Go help with the goulash."

He paused outside the door. "Are you sure you don't want to come down and have dinner?" he asked appeasingly.

The pricking feeling was almost to her eyes now. "No, I'm fine right here," she said, and with a soft smile shut the door in his face.

The tears rushed from her eyes and a loud sob was smothered as she dumped herself onto her bed, her face in her lavender pillow. An irrepressible desire to be loved by someone had knocked the breath from her lungs. A heartbreaking longing for her parents had washed over her. A painful throb of jealousy hit her hard right in the heart.

She heaved a huge sigh of discontentment, pulled the covers up around her, and cried herself to sleep.

* * *

Dear Diary,
Just woke up and it's one o'clock a.m. I'm exhausted, but I know I forgot to check Merlin's food and water and write in you before I (accidentally) went to sleep, so some how I woke myself up. Don't you hate it when that happens, Diary? It makes me feel like I've got an alarm clock stashed somewhere in my upstairs.

Anyway, guess what I found out today? Harry Potter got attacked my two dementors and fought them both off, saving himself and his cousin, Dudley. He fought off TWO dementors, by himself and he's only fifteen, I think. Isn't that insane? I hate dementors! I can't stand the things they do to me and I know they must do the same to him and he fought off two of them! Do you know how powerful he must be?

At first the Order thought he was going to be expelled. Apparently Harry Potter's already got in trouble for using magic outside school before while he's still underage, so this was his second offense. You'd think since a dementor was coming at him and his cousin they could make an exception, but apparently the British Ministry of Magic is all out of whack and they are denying that the dementors were ever there. But Dumbledore, the leader of the Order, fixed 'em and Potter just has to go to a hearing sometime in August.

You should have seen Sirius! He was so happy. It's hard to believe that he cares about Potter so much. I'm sure my parents did when they were alive, but I can barely remember them and since then no adult has really loved me that much. Potter is lucky to have a godfather like Sirius, who cares about him so much. I wish I was that lucky. My godfather hates me and I don't even know how my parents knew him. Figures... I'm never told anything!

I met, well not really met, I saw three new wizards today. Dumbledore, this wise old guy with a long silver beard and long silver hair, the founder and head-honcho of the Order of the Phoenix. He is so powerful. I can feel it. I can sense/feel the power radiating off of him; it's crazy.

Mundungus Fletcher, the guy that was supposed to be watching/ following Potter is the other wizard I hadn't yet met. He smells like a boozer and I know he's a criminal. I think they said he left his watch to pick up stolen cauldrons. But from what Sirius has told me about him, he's not really bad at heart. And Sirius likes him so he can't be that bad. I thought Dumbledore was going to skin him alive today though.

The other guy, Mad-Eye Moody, I think they called him, was all scarred up and has a wooden club thing for a leg and a large chunk of his nose missing! It's gruesome, but after a while you don't notice it so much. The thing you really notice is his eyes. One of them is all beady and black, like a birds, and the other one is huge and bright blue, like well I don't know what it's like, and it swivels around EVERYWHERE! Constantly looking. It's one of those fake eyes that can see through everything. I was lucky he didn't see me at the top of the stairs in my Invisibility Cloak.

You have no idea how sleepy I am, Diary dear. I am going to check on Merlin and then I'm going right back to bed.

Everlastingly,
Felicity

* * *

The next couple of days the whole house was in kind of a fervor of excitement. Harry was coming to stay at last. Felicity ventured out of her room (under her Invisibility Cloak of course) and was immensely entertained by everyone's anxiousness, but Ron, Hermione, and Sirius were the worst by far and Mrs. Weasley seemed to be receiving the brunt of the inquiries.

"Have we heard anything from Dumbledore yet, Molly?" asked Sirius eagerly, one day at lunch. Ron and Hermione looked up hopefully.

"Not yet, Sirius," said Mrs. Weasley, not looking up from her plate of steak and kidney pie. "But you'll be the first to know when we are notified."

"Did Dumbledore say exactly when he was going to send-" began Ron. They were in a small room on the first floor, cleaning as always.

"No, Ron," said Mrs. Weasley exasperatedly. Felicity could tell she was looking forward to Harry's arrival, in part because she genuinely cared for the boy, in part because it would mean getting Ron, Sirius, and Hermione off her back. "He said he'd notify everyone when they were to leave to go get him."
Ron and Hermione exchanged beaten looks and sighed.

"Um, Mrs. Weasley, I know I've asked you a trillion times, but has Professor Dumbledore sent anymore word," asked Hermione the following day at breakfast. "We're-Ron and I-are just worried about Harry, that's all."

"Hermione, dear," said Mrs. Weasley, nearly at her wits end, "you will most certainly know if there has been any word from Professor Dumbledore, but sadly there has not and the next person to ask me about it will spend the day scrubbing the cellar!"

Hermione gave Ron a look that plainly said, "Well, I tried," and he nodded sympathetically.

"Harry's not going to be happy when he gets here," said Hermione, as she and Ron exited the kitchen leaving Ginny, Mrs. Weasley, Sirius, Fred, and George. It was the third day after the dementor attack and the inhabitants of Grimmauld place were becoming increasingly restless.

"Tell me about it, Hermione," said Ron as they made their way upstairs.

They walked in awkward silence and once Ron's hand accidentally brushed Hermione's which made them both blush like fools. Felicity had to clamp a hand over her mouth to keep from squealing with pleasure.

She had studied Ron and Hermione very closely since she had arrived. They were always together and there was always a flustered silence when they were alone. It didn't take much to realize they had enormous crushes upon each other and that neither of them were aware of it. Felicity desperately wanted them to realize they were in love with each other. The whole ordeal was beginning to wear on her nerves, even if she thought it was completely adorable.

Finally, as they entered Ron's room, he cleared his throat. "Er--d'you want to play chess or something?"

Hermione looked sincerely relieved the humiliating muteness had disappeared and nodded. "Yes!" she said enthusiastically as though she had just scored a goal in quidditch, not as though her "best friend" had asked her to play chess with him.

She blushed again.

Ron pulled out his chessboard and they began to play seated on his bed. It was dreadfully boring to watch the games progress but delightfully amusing to watch them steal furtive glances at each other when they didn't think the other was looking. After Hermione's fourth spectacular defeat and Ron began to set the board up again, Hermione crossed her arms in front of her chest and assumed a mutinous expression.

"If you think for one moment I'm going to play and lose another game to you, Ronald Weasley, you are sorely mistaken," she said with a dignified air.

"Guess you better win this one then, Mione," he said simply, and moved a pawn across the board.

Dignified air apparently forgotten, Hermione swept the pawn across the board and to the floor. For a moment the only sound came from the pawn's indignant shouts as they stared at each other. Hermione's rebellious behavior appeared to be wearing off under Ron's penetrating gaze.

Then without any warning Ron pushed aside the chessboard and tackled her, tickling her unrepentantly. Hermione let out a squeal of surprise, then began giggling violently and squirming away from him, gasping, "Ronald Bilius Weasley-you stop that-this instant-hey now!"

Ron of course did nothing of the sort and soon was sitting on top of her, holding her small hands away with one of his larger hands and viciously tickling her ribs with the other. Tears seeped from Hermione's eyes and she writhed and tried to twist away from Ron, still giggling madly.

Felicity quietly removed herself from the room, scarcely able to control her own laughter. Sometimes she wanted to thump Ron for being so obvious and Hermione for being so retarded when it came to Ron.

She wandered aimlessly back toward the room the others had been cleaning and arrived the same time Sirius did. Panting heavily, he pushed the door open and Felicity followed closely behind him.

"Molly, a word please," he said hurriedly, gesturing for her to accompany him back out into the hallway.

"Of course," said Mrs. Weasley calmly, though there was a faint gleam in her eyes as though she knew exactly what Sirius needed a word about. She whipped around and glared at her three children, two of which were taller than her and the other almost eye level.

"Fred, George, Ginny," she said sternly. "You are to remain here until I give you permission to leave or you have cleaned this room in its entirety-without magic! Do you understand me?"

The twins and Ginny nodded meekly. Mrs. Weasley gave them another suspicious glare and nodded resolutely before she turned on her heel and trotted toward Sirius and the door. The moment her back was turned. Fred, George, and Ginny exchanged mischievous looks and understanding nods, which surprised Felicity none.

Sirius held the door open for Mrs. Weasley to exit ahead of him and nodded to the remaining teenagers, who were now innocently scrubbing away at a stubborn stain in the carpet.

Felicity dashed out the door behind Mrs. Weasley, eager to know what important news Sirius had for her. For the Animagus ex-con was looking exceptionally thrilled and was scarcely able to contain himself before the door swung shut again.

"They've arrived," he said breathlessly, "all of them. We're all waiting in the kitchen. The meetings about to begin and Dumbledore says now's the time to fetch Harry. He's going to pick the group when we get back to the kitchen." He looked positively alight with enthusiasm.

"Sirius, dear, you know the chances of Dumbledore allowing you to be part of the retrieval team are very slim," Mrs. Weasley said very gently.

Sirius appeared to have missed this bit of information on Mrs. Weasley's part for he continued to spout off the names of the people most likely to be sent out.

So they were finally going to get Harry. It was about time, she conceded reluctantly. She wasn't interested in him, she assured herself, no she was just bored with the people of Grimmauld Place and a new person to study and watch would be interesting, certainly one such as the famous Harry Potter. And she had a feeling it would improve Sirius' mood greatly, having his godson home with him, which was always a plus.

She followed the pair down the stairs, thinking. Several thoughts were floating around in her head, each more troubling than the next and all to do with the arrival of this new person too dear to Sirius Black, her only friend and confidant.

Would he ignore her now that his beloved godson was coming? Would he abandon her now that his best friend's son would be arriving soon? Or would Sirius expect her to greet his Harry Potter? And become the best of best friends? She didn't know which she would prefer. But she knew that things certainly would not be the same, something deep down inside of her told her so.

Mr. Weasley was waiting for them at the kitchen door.

"Are we all present and accounted for, Arthur?" asked Mrs. Weasley, stopping before her husband.

"Yes, everyone who was expected is here and then some," Mr. Weasley said cheerfully. "And all are ready for the meeting to begin."

"Let's get on with it then, shall we?" Sirius said eagerly, and he strolled forward into the kitchen. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley followed and Felicity aimed to do so too, but the moment she put her foot over the threshold into that kitchen, Albus Dumbledore's bright blue eyes landed directly on her own and she froze. The old man was staring straight at her with a benign smile upon his ancient lined face.

Felicity did an about-face and marched herself right back out of that kitchen without a backward glance. The man could see through Invisibility Cloaks, who knew what other powers he possessed and the gaze behind those half-moon spectacles had told her clearly that this was no place for her.

But she did not hurry off to her room, instead she perched herself at the top of the first flight of stairs, where she had a clear view of the kitchen door below her. For a long time, Felicity sat there, barely aware of her surroundings, thoughts of how life would proceed after Harry Potter entered number twelve Grimmauld Place consuming her once more.

Then the kitchen door opened and a small troop of people filed out one by one, clutching broomsticks in one hand and their wands in the other. There was a young woman with spiky violet hair and certain punk-ish edge about her that delighted Felicity, a tall black wizard, a little man who sounded as though he was suffering from a cold, a wizard wearing a tall black top hat, a witch draped in a green shawl, who held herself majestically like a queen over her court, the first blonde person Felicity had seen since her arrival in England, and a witch with long black hair and brightly rouged cheeks.

Felicity recognized Remus Lupin and Mad-Eye Moody, but the other half-dozen or so people she had no recollection of ever seeing. Alas, poor Sirius hadn't been allowed to retrieve his charge as Dumbledore, himself was the last person to exit the kitchen.

"Alastor, Remus," he said addressing the only two wizards, Felicity knew of, "you will be in charge of the party. The rest of you, if something should go awry, you are to heed their every word. The plan is a very simply one and there has been no unusual activity around Little Whinging since the dementor attack, but do not let your guards down for once. However capable Harry has proved himself, his life is in your hands. Is all this understood?"

The huddle of witches and wizards nodded seriously. Dumbledore clapped Remus Lupin on the shoulder and looked around at the members of the order grouped around him. "Be safe, I should be back before you return," he said, before he was gone with a swish of his sparkly violet cloak.

Alastor Moody immediately took charge of the situation and set to giving out directions that appeared to have already been set because the group didn't seem to be paying too close attention to what the wizard was saying. Some of them here conversing quietly and some were checking their wands or their broomsticks. Apparently sensing he was loosing his authority, Moody gestured for them to depart and crack after crack sounded in the entrance hall as the advance guard Disapparated.

The sun was setting through the grimy windows of the foyer and some time after the retrieval squad had Disapparated, Mrs. Weasley hurried from the kitchen and extinguished the dim lights in the hallway and entry room. Felicity had no idea why, she only assumed it was some sort of set protocol they had agreed to. She also had no idea how long she sat there at the top of the stairs, waiting, unable to move for reasons beyond her.