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"You're joking!"
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After having left the Gringotts Bank, they had decided to stroll around the various shops in Diagon Alley. Betelgeuse had opted for Amanuensis Quills shop for some new squills and ink, while the twins and Lee had made their way to Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop. Fred and George had said they needed to stock up on Dr Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start and some No-Heat Fireworks. Betelgeuse had promised to join them after she had brought what she needed.
The girl walked towards Twilfitt and Tattings, a wizarding clothing shop located on South Side in Diagon Alley. It was an upscale shop favoured by wealthy pure-blood families. She chose the shop solely because only there she could find the Castleton green silk that he loved so much for his cravats. After having managed to escape from the clutches of the too obsequious owner, she headed towards Flourish and Blotts.
She met the twins outside the bookshop.
"Where have you been, Bel?" George asked, grasping her hand, and trying to make his way through the large crowd jostling outside the doors.
"An overzealous witch tried to sell me her entire stock of silks. I had to distract her to escape," Betelgeuse huffed, trying to get in the shop with Fred and George. "Why are we even here?" Betelgeuse groaned, nearly falling over because of an excited fan of Lockhart. "Watch it!" The girl seethed, flashing an angered glare to the enthusiastic witch.
They finally arrived at the front of the crowd in the shop and Betelgeuse heard Hermione Granger squeal, "we can actually meet him!"
"Salazar's balls," Betelgeuse muttered, making the twins laugh.
"Oh, there you are, good," Molly said. She sounded breathless and kept patting her hair. "We'll be able to see him in a minute," she added dreamily.
Gilderoy Lockhart came gradually into view, seated at a table surrounded by giant pictures of his own face, all winking and flashing dazzlingly white teeth at the crowd. The real Lockhart was wearing robes of forget-me-not blue that precisely matched his eyes; his pointed wizard's hat was set at a rakish angle on his wavy hair.
"He looks like a massive peacock," Betelgeuse critically said, examining the wizard. George laughed as Fred nodded, annoyed. "Loads of bull."
Betelgeuse watched as Gilderoy Lockhart stared in their direction. Then he leapt to his feet and boldly shouted, "it can't be Harry Potter?" The crowd parted, whispering feverishly; Lockhart dived forward, seized Harry's arm, and pulled him to the front.
Betelgeuse could not stifle a laugh seeing the horrified face of Harry as Lockhart shook his hand for the photographer, who was clicking away madly, wafting thick smoke over the Weasleys.
"Nice big smile, Harry! Together, you and I are worth the front page."
"Poor Potter, he will forever be remembered as the boy who was kidnapped by the most humongous peacock that ever walked on Earth," Betelgeuse said flatly. Fred and George had tears in their eyes because of how hard they were laughing.
"Bel, you are terrible," Fred commented throwing an arm over her shoulders.
"The most wicked," George added, doing the same.
The three of them watched with amusement as Harry tried to sidle back over to them, but Lockhart clamped him tightly to his side. "Ladies and gentlemen," he said emphatically. "What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time!"
"When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography — which I shall be happy to present him now, free of charge —," The crowd clapped again. "He had no idea," Lockhart continued, giving Harry a shake that made his glasses slip to the end of his nose, "that he would shortly be getting much more than my book, Magical Me. He and his schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"
"YOU ARE JOKING!" Betelgeuse yelled outraged, earning nasty glares from two witches nearby. She looked to Fred, then to George, but they were gaping at the flamboyant wizard before them.
This is a nightmare.
Betelgeuse made her way to the front of the shop, trying to untangle herself from the numerous infatuated witches. Fred and George followed her swiftly. They stood with Ron and Harry waiting for Molly when they were joined by another person.
"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?" Draco Malfoy said with his usual sneer. "Famous Harry Potter," Draco continued. "Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page."
Betelgeuse observed with attention the interaction, ready to step in and stop her infuriating cousin.
"Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!" Ginny said, glaring at Malfoy.
"Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend!" Draco drawled.
"Draco," Betelgeuse warned the boy with a calm voice. He did not even acknowledge her.
"Oh, it's you," Ron said. "Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh?"
"Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley," Malfoy retorted. "I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for all those." Ron went as red as Ginny as he started toward Malfoy, but Harry and Hermione grabbed the back of his jacket.
"Ron!" Arthur called out, struggling over with Fred and George. "What are you doing? It's too crowded in here, let's go outside."
"Well, well, well — Arthur Weasley." Betelgeuse heard a voice say. It was Lucius Malfoy, she presumed. He stood with his hand on Draco's shoulder, sneering in just the same way.
"Lucius," Mr Weasley greeted, nodding coldly.
"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," Mr Malfoy commented. "All those raids. I hope they're paying you overtime?" He reached into Ginny's cauldron and extracted a very battered copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration. "Obviously not," Mr Malfoy added. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"
Arthur Weasley flushed darker than either Ron or Ginny. "We have a very different idea of what the disgrace of the name of a wizard is, Malfoy," he said.
"Clearly," Lucius Malfoy drawled. Betelgeuse saw his pale eyes straying to a couple, who was watching apprehensively. She did not know who they were. "The company you keep, Weasley. And I thought your family could sink no lower —"
He did not have the opportunity to finish his speech, Mr Weasley had thrown himself at him, knocking him backwards into a bookshelf.
Betelgeuse watched horrified the always calm and collected Arthur Weasley keep Lucius Malfoy from his shirt collar.
"Get him, Dad!" She heard Fred or George holler.
Mrs Weasley was shrieking. "No, Arthur, no!"
"Gentlemen, please — please!" Cried the assistant, and then, louder than all — "Break it up, there, gents, break it up —"
She exhaled in relief as she saw Hagrid pull Mr Weasley and Mr Malfoy apart. Mr Weasley had a cut lip and Mr Malfoy had been hit in the eye by an Encyclopedia of Toadstools, his eyes glittering with malice. Pulling himself out of Hagrid's grip he beckoned to Draco and swept from the shop. Betelgeuse followed with her eyes as the two Purebloods move out of the shop.
She hurried up the street, following Mrs Weasley, "A fine example to set for your children, brawling in public! What Gilderoy Lockhart must've thought —"
"He was pleased," Fred muttered bitterly. "Didn't you hear him as we were leaving? He was asking that bloke from the Daily Prophet if he'd be able to work the fight into his report — said it was all publicity —"
Betelgeuse put a hand on Fred's shoulder, trying to comfort him. He smiled at her, as the two were joined by George. They headed back to the fireside in the Leaky Cauldron, where they would be travelling back to the Burrow using Floo powder.
Betelgeuse learned that the two strangers who had so far followed them were Hermione Granger's parents. Betelgeuse studied them keenly, she had never been so close to Muggles before. Mr Weasley started to ask them how bus stops worked but stopped quickly at the look on Mrs Weasley's face.
Betelgeuse directed her attention to the twins and with them, she stepped in the fireplace.
What a day.
☆☆☆
The end of the summer break came quickly. Betelgeuse was eagerly anticipating getting back to Hogwarts, even though she knew she would not learn much in DADA this year.
Bloody Peacock.
Betelgeuse had sent numerous letters home during the two weeks at the Weasleys. Currently, she was sitting on the porch, writing a birthday card. She wanted to attach it to the small package she had neatly done. It contained the elegant silk cravat she had purchased for him in Diagon Alley. Castor was patiently waiting for her perched on her left shoulder when Fred came sitting beside her.
"What are you doing, Bel?" He asked, petting the beautiful Eagle Owl.
"Writing a letter home. I need to send a late birthday present."
Fred eyed the small package wrapped with vermilion paper and enclosed by a gold ribbon. "The proud Slytherin will approve?"
Betelgeuse turned to him, surprised he remembered the nickname she used the year prior. "Oh, he will grumble about it for hours."
Fred grinned. "He will definitely send you a Howler!"
Betelgeuse laughed, throwing her head back. Her laugh was like tinkling bells, Fred thought.
The girl finished her letter, sealed it, and gave it with the package to Castor, who took off. Betelgeuse and Fred watched the owl till he became a little dot in the sky, enjoying the comfortable silence.
On their last evening, Mrs Weasley conjured up a lavish dinner, ending with a mouth-watering treacle custard.
Fred and George rounded off the evening with a sample of Filibuster fireworks; they overflowed the kitchen with red and blue stars that bounced from ceiling to wall for at least half an hour. Betelgeuse was honestly surprised Molly let them set the fireworks off in the house. It was fantastic and heart-warming.
Then it was time for a mug of hot chocolate around the fireplace. Arthur was telling funny stories from work, making Ron and Harry laugh. Ginny was a ball of energy, chatting Molly's ears off about Hogwarts. Betelgeuse sat beside the twins against the sofa, drinking her hot chocolate in silence.
"Fourth year, mates. Another year until our O.W.L.S," George grimaced.
Betelgeuse signed. "It seems only yesterday that we met on the train."
"Don't go all sappy on us, Black," Fred joked.
Betelgeuse rolled her eyes, leaning her head against Fred's shoulder before he placed his on top of hers. They stayed in the same position till Molly forced them up to bed.
It took a long time for the Weasley Family, Betelgeuse, and Harry to get ready the next morning. Molly was dashing about in a severe mood looking for spare socks and quills; Fred and George kept colliding on the stairs, half-dressed with bits of toast in their hands. Arthur almost broke his neck, tripping over a chicken as he traversed the yard carrying Ginny's trunk to the car he had magically expanded.
Betelgeuse was distracted by the typical chaos that seemed to follow the family. She chose to wait outside, bathing in the morning sun of September.
Tempers were already running high by the time they had finally reached the highway. George had forgotten his box of Filibuster fireworks; five minutes after that, Fred had announced he had left behind his broomstick, and then, Ginny had cried that she had left her diary.
Mr Weasley kept glancing at his watch, "Molly —"
"Absolutely no, Arthur."
"No one would mind — this little button here is an Invisibility Booster I installed — that'd get us up in the air — then we fly above the clouds. We'd be there in ten minutes, and no one would be any the wiser —"
"I told you no, Arthur, not in broad daylight."
They reached King's Cross at a quarter to eleven. Mr Weasley dashed across the road to get trolleys for their trunks, and they all raced into the station. Betelgeuse followed the twins.
"Percy first," Molly urged, glancing apprehensively at the clock overhead. Percy strode quickly forward and disappeared.
"Fred, George, Betelgeuse, you next!"
Betelgeuse ran through the platform when she emerged, she saw the steaming train still waiting for them.
"Hurry up, Bel!"
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