𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐍 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒 // George Weasley

𝟕𝟔. 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧

Elle knew that if anyone understood burdens it was Lupin. After all he had to deal with turning into a werwolf every month. She however didn't bring this up, he never liked to talk about it.
"I wish the dream had been clearer" Elle sniffed "so I could have prevented it"
"You mustn't do that to yourself" he stated immediately "if there was any way that you could have prevented it then you wouldn't have seen it"

His words were confusing but made sense. The future was a complicated aspect to wrap ones head around however she knew that one small change in time would have a dozen effects. It could be catastrophic. Her only experience with time travel or time bending was when Hermione had explained to her the purpose of a time turner and how she'd used it, that was confusing enough.

"Your parents wish to speak with you" Lupin smiled "they're worried Elle" he continued noticing the look of indigence on her face. He was right.
Elle followed Remus down the stairs to find Heather and Samson sat nervously at the kitchen table.

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She was reminded of the time they had greeted her with awful news about how she actually had a brother. It had seemed horrendous at the time however know she knew her brother wasn't a psychopath, it wasn't so bad. Her parents however still thought that her brother was an escaped dangerous criminal. Elle believed it would be fruitless to try and explain the truth to them, they didn't understand magic after all.

"Remus told us everything" Heather gushed as Elle and her uncle took seats opposite the couple,
"We're you and the Cedric boy close?" Samson enquired Elle nodded quickly,
"Yes we we're friends" Samson stiffened slightly causing Heathers eyes to dart towards him,
"She said friends for god sake" Heather sighed, Elle frowned slightly surely that wasn't his biggest worry.

"We are so sorry Elle" Heather continued "to go through that... well it must have been awful I can't comprehend how you must be feeling"
"It gets easier" Elle smiled sadly "I was worse when it first happened... every day it gets better" Elle nodded to herself. She'd been trying to convey that message everyday in hope one day her heart would listen.

"Our first reaction was going to be to keep you here" Samson admitted "away from magic" Elle looked up in horror imagining a world without magic, without Hogwarts, without her friends, without George.
"But then Remus talked some sense into us" Samson sighed "you'd never forgive us if we did that to you"
"No I wouldn't" Elle muttered sourly.

"We've decided you can go back to school, although apparently you're of age now so I guess we don't make decisions for you anyway" Heather grinned,
"Yeah I can do magic at home now" Elle felt slightly better at the prospect before noticing the bitter expression on Samson's face. He was a squib after all.

"I also assume that there are places you'd rather be other than here" Heather sighed. Elle frowned yet again wondering what she was on about, where else was she supposed to go?
"Remus mentioned that you might want to go stay with him"
"Not with me" Remus corrected before turning to Elle, "it's a lot to explain but there is a new place set up called head quarters of an organisation we're re-putting together called the order of the Phoenix, some of your friends will be there"

Elle felt for the first time in a while, a small batch of happiness. Would she actually be able to spend summer with her friends. It wasn't as though she had any problem with her parents however she didn't have as much fun with them as she knew she would with her friends.

"Fred and George?" Elle beamed excitedly. Remus, Heather and Samson felt better seeing Elle genuinely smile again,
"Yes Fred and George" Remus smiled,
"This Fred? Is he.." Samson began causing Heather to roll her eyes.
"No" Elle retorted causing Samson to sigh in evident relief "George is my boyfriend".

The scene was like one out of a comic. Samson dropped the glass he was holding which promptly shattered all over the floor. Heather clapped in excitement while Remus just froze in shock.
"That's great Elle, when can I meet him?" Her mother beamed,
"Mum you've met him".

Elle's parents had met the twins and their father when the three of them had come to pick up Elle via floo powder to take her to the World Cup.
"Yes but I didn't know he was your boyfriend then did I?"
"Well he wasn't then"

Remus had seemed to gather himself now whereas Samson was still sitting with shock on his face. In his eyes his daughter was still young and he hadn't realised how fast she was growing up. He'd missed a lot of it considering she was at the school the majority of the time.

"So when can I go to headquarters?" Elle turned back to Remus who mad muttered a spell to repair the glass hoping Samson wouldn't notice right away.
"Next week" he smiled "that's when the twins will be getting there".

✰✰✰

The next week was a lot better now that she had something to look forward to. It still wasn't good. This small piece of exciting news hadn't washed away the depression and grief she was burdened with but it had made it slightly more bearable.

She spent as much time as she could with her parents as she felt guilty for barely spending time with them over the past few years. She caught them up with the happenings of Hogwarts leaving out the final task of the tournament as she couldn't think of that again, it hurt too much.

Elle tried her best to resist the urge to use magic for everything. The first time she'd done it was to summon the tv remote which was on the other side of the room. Samson had just walked into the room as she did it and had a shocked expression on his face. Elle made a mental note to not do magic around her dad.

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Soon the week was up and Elle awoke early to get ready for going to headquarters. Spending the holidays with the twins was something she'd always wanted to do but had never done. She was surprised her parents were allowing it. They always liked to keep her to themselves. She was especially surprised they let her after she'd told her dad that one of these twins was her boyfriend. The look on his face would stay imprinted on her brain forever.

What felt like hours later, Remus showed up to take her. They'd be travelling using apparition since Elle had mastered the art of it. She wore her usual baggy jeans and black boots this time with a smaller top considering the weather outside was still warm. She stood holding her suitcase along with Moon's cage (the owl was now in it) waiting to go.

She hoped more than ever that she didn't splinch this time. She couldn't imagine how much her parents would freak out of a part of her was left at the house. She hugged both her parents goodbye and told them she could apparate home now whenever she wanted. As long as she wasn't in Hogwarts.

After that she linked arms with her uncle and braved herself for the short journey ahead.

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