The burrow was never like the estates that Finley stayed throughout her years, by her years, she meant the many mansions she's been in her life such as the Zabini's mansion, the Thorns' Estate, and briefly, the Nott's Manor. Unlike the one mentioned, the burrow was small, barely had a room with all the people in the house at present. Of course, it wasn't built for many people, but Molly Weasley somehow managed to make it liveable for all of them for the holidays. It was as impressive as the tents and all that, and she managed to get Finley to room in with Ginny and Hermione.
Ginny's room surprisingly held up a single bed and two sleeping bags, a nook by the window that Finley called dibs on to sleep in. Hermione slept on the floor near the vanity mirror just at the foot of the nook where she slept, while Ginny took the bed. It was small, too cozy, but it was warm, and it was alright. Added the fact that it had the best view of the field outside, it gave her peace of mind as she had Cassian, who stayed with the Weasleys while she and Mirelle were away, on her lap in the evenings.
Only the difference now was that it was Christmas eve, and everyone was downstairs while she was alone in the room. Wearing a pair of skinny trousers and a green Weasley sweater that Mrs. Weasley gave them as an early gift. She tucked the white dress shirt that she borrowed from Theo a while back, having the collar stick out from under the jumper. The elegant knuckle-sized cursive 'F' was embroidered to the right of her chest. She didn't know what to do during these holidays, contemplating whether to go after the night and do whatever, but the risk of that was too much.
"Ginny!" She heard Mrs. Weasley's yell from downstairs, causing her to sigh as she took that as a cue to go downstairs. She sat back down on the nook, petting Cassian who purred under her touch, she didn't feel all comfortable in this house. Usually, she would be, the burrow had always welcomed her, but in the back of her mind, something told her that something bad was going to happen soon. She didn't know what.
"Finn?"
"Yes?" She replied turning to the door to see Mirelle who peaked by the door.
"Come downstairs, love. Everyone is getting ready to eat," the woman informs the girl, opening the door wide as she got inside. Seeing the hesitation on the girl's face that it was worrying, sure she had not been in the girl's life in some time, but it didn't stop her worry for her. After all, Mirelle Thorns did take care of her when she was just a child, and she loved the girl as if she was her own. "Is something bothering you?"
"Nothing," Finley replied with a tight-lipped smile on her face, picking up Cassian who in her defense weighed a ton but did so as the cat himself was a baby for her. She also didn't have the heart to tell Mirelle that she had seen Sebastian in Hogwarts, not that the woman wouldn't know at all, he was her brother after all.
Walking down the steps to the main house, skipping over the last step as she knew the twins placed a joke in there. She entered the kitchen where Mrs. Weasley fussed with the food, the twins horsing around and all that. She turns to the living room where she saw Remus and her brother with a few others in a heated discussion, leaning against a pillar as she watched the distress in Harry's face.
"Voldemort has chosen Draco Malfoy for a mission?" Remus asks Harry skeptically as he looked at Harry with wariness, something that Finley knew was frustrating to Harry as she had been shooting down his claims that didn't know was right or wrong. By now he was going to seem like he was insane as he had repeatedly accused the Malfoys in the past, but the problem was, this time Harry was right, and now she doesn't know if she was the insane one of the two.
"I know it sounds bad," Harry replied, hopeful that Remus would believe him, glancing up slightly to see Finley leaning against the pillar, he sat straight.
"Has it occurred to you, Harry, that Snape is simply pretending to offer Draco help so he could find out what he was up to?" Remus asks, trying to piece up a logical explanation.
"That's not what it sounded like."
"Perhaps Harry's right, Remus," Tonks spoke up, glancing towards where Finley stood. "To make an unbreakable vow—"
"Comes down to whether or not you trust Dumbledore's judgment," Remus interrupts. "Dumbledore trusts Snape, therefore I do."
"You forget Uncle Mooney, that it was Dumbledore who kept me away from you, giving me a way to Snape in the first place," Finley spoke out, catching the man's attention, startled by her sudden inclusion in the conversation.
"Either way, Finley, even if he did give you to me, I wouldn't be able to take care of you," Remus tells her, sour at the part that he was admitting that Snape was right about not being able to care for young Finley while he couldn't even protect himself. "He made the right choice to give you to him—"
"Bullshit, he could've given me to Aunt Petunia's like Harry was, and he kept me away from my brother for so long. Dumbledore isn't perfect Mooney, he makes mistakes too, critical ones—"
"You are blinded by hatred," Remus snapped at Finley, surprising the girl as it had been the first time that he did so.
"No, I'm not—"
"Yes, you are," he tells her, exhaling to release tension, not wanting to yell even if he doesn't intend to. Looking up at Finley who had her shoulders slumped, upset, he could see that she was indeed upset, he was too. "People are disappearing, daily. We could only place our trust in a handful of people, if we start fighting amongst ourselves, we're doomed," Remus explained, glancing back and forth in between Harry and Finley who both looked at the floors, taking in what he was saying.
"Ginny!" Molly Weasley's voice boomed from the kitchen, causing the people in the room to glance towards the source. With Tonks standing up first, Remus and Mr. Weasley followed in after, leaving the siblings to their own devices.
Wary for a solo conversation with her brother, Finley crossed her arms over her chest, biting her lip as she thought of ways to start the conversation. Walking up so painfully slow until she reached the love seat that Harry sat on, leaning forward, still avoiding Harry's burning gaze on her.
"You know I'm right, right?" Harry asks her, tone frustrated and vulnerable while he had his thumbs shuffle. "You heard what Snape and Malfoy talked about, you know what he is."
"I do," Finley replied quietly, "but it doesn't mean that it was the whole story."
"What more proof do you want Finley?" Harry frowned, "Malfoy admitted that he was a death eater, you heard it with your ears, he's planning on killing Dumbledore!"
"Don't you think if someone was out to assassinate Dumbledore he wouldn't know about it?" Finley argued. "Draco is a student, a student learning under his school, do you think Dumbledore is that dense?"
"No, but—"
"But what Harry?"
Both fell silent, both confused. More on Finley than Harry, she was the one who had both Snape and Malfoy involved in her life longer than Harry had. She has a whole other perspective of what Snape and Draco are and of they are up to, and Harry could never understand that.
"You see us as monsters, assume of what we are because of the reputation our house has," Finley sighs, "but have you ever thought about what we truly are Harry? What kind of people the Slytherins are apart from the prejudices you placed on us for years?"
"Of course I do—"
"No you don't," she pursed her lips. "I will always be Harry Potter's Slytherin sister, the one who died at 14 and was miraculously brought back to life. But apart from all that what else do people know about me?"
Harry went quiet, despite being her brother, and at least spent some years with her in Hogwarts he didn't know what hat Finley was like. What her favorite colors were, her favorite song, her favorite subject even.
"When the Slytherins pledged their loyalty to you after I died the first time, what have you done to honor it?"
'Nothing,' Harry shamefully thought.
"To this day Harry, the snakes lay waiting. When are you going face the fact that this is not just Slytherins and purebloods against the rest of the wizarding world?" Finley asks him one last time before standing from the seat, leaving him alone to his thoughts as she walked out of the burrow. The burrow's loud chattering was heard from outside, letting herself take all the cool winter's air she could take in one breath.
The conversation she's had with Harry was something she felt like he needed to remind him, there were 4 Hogwarts houses, not 3 but 4. His mind drowned with the idea of Slytherins being bad fogged the fact that the Slytherins were human too. Humans who grew up with the belief that their pureblood quality was the pride they all needed, no honor, nothing else. Unlike Harry, those within her house had no choice.
No choice on how to act, to love even.
"Everything is so fuck isn't it," she says to herself, releasing a rigid breath.
Remembering the time she spent in the last year after she was dug up by her friends, spending the first few days with him and Remus, the man took her on the Grimmauld place rooftop and pointed at stars. Practically telling her the names and the stories, snidely trash-talking the stars that his family members who had their namesake from.
She missed Sirius. That was a fact, other than Remus, he was the closest she had to her dad. She needed him. Harry needed him. And even if the Order of the Phoenix denied it, they needed Sirius as he would know how the pureblood prejudiced society worked. He was the reason why she didn't trust Dumbledore anymore. Sirius would've still been alive if Dumbledore arrived in time, he would still be around guiding both her and Harry.
"If you stare at that rock any longer, it will melt," a familiar voice spoke.
"Hey, Cedric," Finley greeted, standing up from where she sat, coming in face to face with her good Hufflepuff friend whom she trusts with her life other than her snakes.
"I came in as quick as I could, Hades is in my loft—"
"It's alright," Finley tells him, pulling out a piece of paper from her jacket and the compass that Dumbledore gave her.
"What's that?" Cedric asks her, curious as to what she was giving him, taking it in his hand he saw that the compass stopped turning around and just pointed the opposite of North.
"The compass is going to help you find me, and the map is another thing," she explains. Taking out her wand, with good intention as she was legal to not have a trance in her anymore. Muttering Latin words to see multiple places in one small piece of paper.
"I didn't have time to cast an enlarging text spell, but it will do," she sighed.
"What do you want me to do with this?" Cedric asks her. Not that he had anything bad to do, aside from the Order and that he was tasked to recruit more people on their side, he was curious as to what these items meant.
"This is going to be a lot to ask from you Ced," Finley bit her lip, contemplating if this was the right thing to do. "I want you to find something for me," she tells him.