Book: Courage
Chapter 59
Word Count: 3546
During summer, Layla had pleasantly enjoyed her time with her dad and Sirius, but when the middle of August came around, Remus, Layla, and Sirius were joined at Grimmauld Place by a whole other family. The Weasleys.
Layla had always loved Grimmauld Place's decor and its messy interior. It made it more homely in her opinion. Mrs Weasley, however, didn't share the same view. Layla thought that Mrs Weasley would have a heart attack upon seeing the state of it. On the other hand, Layla had never seen Fred and George so happy; from the moment they laid eyes on the troll's leg umbrella stand in the hallway, they had set about exploring the house with great gusto. Mrs Weasley bustled towards the kitchen, muttering under her breath darkly and looking around at the walls as if they had personally offended her.
The house wasn't exactly the epitome of comfortable, but it was Layla's home and it was comfortable for her. Mrs Weasley would have to deal with the fact that it was her home and had been for the past year, Layla thought rather bitterly.
After Layla greeted everyone, she headed up to her room without another word. She had to admit, she wasn't the best welcoming committee, but it was nothing new. Ever since she had arrived back at Grimmauld's Place, she barely said a single word.
She sat on her bed with her legs pulled up to her chest as she gazed out of her window into the drab London alley. Since it was the middle of August, it was sweltering hot. As she watched a thin tabby cat try to break into the neighbor's rubbish bins, she sighed and reached into her bedside table drawer, pulling out a single Polaroid picture. The picture of her and Cedric. The only thing she had of him. The only way to still be able to see his face. She looked at it every day, hoping that she wouldn't forget what he looked like.
Suddenly, Layla could hear the door downstairs opening with a bang, and then moments later, the wailings of Mrs Black, Sirius' mother, in her portrait, echoed throughout the dusty house. Even with a whole floor separating them, Layla still winced at the extremely loud wailing.
"SCUM! TRAITOR BRATS INFESTING THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS! ROTTEN FILTH!"
Layla's brown eyes narrowed in intense dislike; she knew perfectly well that the 'traitor brats' was referring to the Weasleys. She placed the Polaroid safely back in her drawer before exiting her room, stomping angrily downstairs and towards the portrait.
"Shut the hell up, freak!" and with that, Layla pulled the curtains over the portrait, muffling the woman's screeches.
"Thanks, Lay," came a voice behind her. "So sorry. I don't know why I don't just dodge the stupid leg..."
"It's fine, Tonks, honestly. That woman has quite a big mouth on her, though, doesn't she?" said Layla, turning to face Tonks, one of her newest friends.
"Tonks," Mrs Weasley greeted, walking over to them. "I daresay you'd like a cup of tea?"
Tonks (today with dark brown curly hair) walked into the drawing room and sat down on one of the sagging chairs.
"A Gillywater would do me if you've got it," she said, leaning back more comfortably in her seat. At that moment, Snape strode in with an annoyed look on his face; his robes had the look of black robes smothered with chalk dust.
He nodded slightly to Layla, who managed a small bob of her head in return. Behind him, Tonks was crossing her eyes wildly and morphing her mouth into tiny baby lips, full pouty lips and a drab fish-like mouth in rapid succession. Snape lazily drew himself a chair with his wand and sat in it prominently.
"A spot of tea for you as well Severus?" Mrs Weasley called from the kitchen.
"No thank you," Snape replied smoothly.
Layla walked over to sit in beside Tonks, taking in the scene carefully. Snape's visits were rare, and always very hushed. All of the Weasley siblings must have been up in their rooms. Mrs Weasley interrupted Layla's musings as she burst out of the kitchen slightly rosy-faced, a small glass goblet filled with Gillywater in one of her hands, a cup of tea in the other.
"You did hear me say—?" Snape started to inquire, but Mrs Weasley interrupted him as well.
"I did. This is for me," she sank into a chair, handing over the Gillywater to Tonks as she did so.
All of a sudden, a man with long black hair walked into the room. Layla cracked a small smile as she looked at the door to see Sirius.
"Hey, Siri," Layla stood up to hug Sirius, who smiled widely and hugged the young girl back.
"Hello, Lays."
Layla then returned to her seat.
"Sirius!" Tonks cried jovially, also getting up and giving him a hug, too. He grinned happily and patted her on the back, sitting down and carefully avoiding Snape's presence, who was doing exactly the same to him.
"Cheers, Tonks," Sirius greeted her, nodding to Mrs Weasley.
"Nice to see you, Sirius..." Mrs Weasley said quietly. It was obvious she only half meant that statement. "Tonks and Severus just came back from a meeting with Mad-Eye and Remus."
"Well don't let me interrupt then," he said, jumping up. He was about to leave when Tonks said something that made him stop in his tracks.
"It's about Harry."
"Well then," Sirius said quickly, pivoting and sitting quickly back down in his chair. "I just might have to interrupt now."
Layla, however, tensed up and glared bitterly in front of her at nothing as she always did when Harry's name was mentioned. She wrote letters to Hermione, and to the Weasley siblings before they joined her home, but hadn't wrote a single letter to Harry and had burned the ones that he had wrote to her. Layla had never been one to hold a grudge, but that was the old Layla, she supposed.
"So?" Mrs Weasley asked after a moment's pause, in which Tonks loudly slurped her water and Sirius hummed a tuneless tune. "Anything?"
"Yes," Tonks said after she had swallowed a gulp of water. "Harry's gotten himself into a spot of trouble, it seems."
Mrs Weasley looked up as sharply and Sirius stopped humming immediately.
"Is he all right?" Mrs Weasley breathed anxiously. Snape let out an odd sound, halfway between a snort and a snicker.
"Of course," he said. "He always manages to get himself out of these situations."
Mrs Weasley diverted her gaze to Layla, who sat perched stock still on the ledge.
"Are you sure she should be in here?" she asked the two in front of her in hushed tones.
"Layla knows about everything that takes place in this room," said Sirius. "She lives here after all. I told her all about the Order of the Phoenix right away when she returned home this summer."
Mrs Weasley nodded, gave Layla another worried glance, and then looked back to Tonks.
"What happened?"
"To make a long story short, a few unexpected guests, dementors, showed up at his aunt and uncle's place — almost killed him and his cousin. But he's fine," she added quickly as Mrs Weasley clapped her hands to her mouth. "Really, he's fine. A little shaken I can guess, but as far as we can tell, no permanent damage. Mrs Figg found him afterwards and reported to Dumbledore immediately."
"Thank God," Mrs Weasley said, a hand to her chest. As soon as her worried face had gone, it was replaced by one of equal suspicion. "Who was on duty?"
Tonks shifted uncomfortably in her chair, apparently steeling herself for the worst.
"Dung Fletcher," she said, in a would-be casual voice. Mrs Weasley's face turned a dangerous red. Sirius bit his lip, obviously trying to conceal his laughter at the indignant look on her face. Snape examined his fingernails impassively.
"Are you telling me," Mrs Weasley began angrily, "that on the one night Harry really needs protecting, Mundungus decides that something is more important?!"
Tonks visibly gulped. Quietly, Layla stood up and began making her way silently out of the room in hopes that she'd be out by the time Mrs Weasley exploded. Giving Sirius a quick kiss to the cheek and giving Tonks a quick hug, Layla headed for the door quickly, but it was too late. Mrs Weasley began screaming.
"IF YOU TELL ME THAT HE WAS OFF DOING ONE OF THOSE CROOKED DEALINGS OF HIS, I WILL LET HIM HAVE IT, MAKE NO MISTAKE! HARRY COULD'VE BEEN KILLED—"
By the time Mrs Weasley had started on her unfavorable description of 'Dung' Fletcher, Layla was safely up the stairs and into the peace and quiet of her own room.
Sitting on her bed, Peaches snuggled onto Layla's lap while Willow was wondering around the room and Apollo was hooting happily in his cage. The door to the room opened soon after, though, and Ron walked in.
"Me, Ginny, and Tonks are going to get Hermione," he said. "Do you want to come?"
Layla thought about it. She fiddled with her hair, staring at the brown strands, and inwardly smirked as she thought about how she wanted to spend her day.
"No, that's okay. I'll see her when she gets here."
With a nod, Ron left the room.
As soon as she heard the front door open and close, meaning that Ron, Ginny, and Tonks had left to get Hermione, Layla made sure that everyone else was either in the dining room or their bedrooms before quickly heading to the bathroom.
She rummaged through the medicine cabinet until she found what she was looking for and smirked.
Hair dye.
After an hour, Layla was sat in her room with a mirror held up, admiring her new hair, when her door opened.
"Hey, dear, are you hungr— oh," it was Mrs Weasley, who took in Layla's new appearance with widened eyes. She looked as if she had no clue what to do. "Sirius! Come look at this!"
"What is it?" Sirius walked over, looked from Mrs Weasley to Layla, and laughed. "Your hair! It's pink!"
Layla had used the hair dye she'd found to place pink highlights in her brown locks. The pink strands matched perfectly with her hair colour.
Mrs Weasley hurried off and Sirius walked over to Layla, sitting on the edge of her bed.
"It suits you," he commented with a grin. "But when your dad sees this, be prepared for a whole lot of yelling."
"I turn sixteen this year. I should be allowed to do what I want," Layla shrugged. "I like it and it's staying. I needed a change anyway. New me, new look."
"Good on you, kiddo," said Sirius with another laugh. He stood up and kissed Layla's head before exiting the room. Layla admired her hair for another few seconds before hearing the door downstairs open again. She sighed and went downstairs to greet Hermione.
"Hey, 'Mione," she greeted once she spotted Hermione speaking to Mrs Weasley and Tonks. Hermione turned towards Layla with a smile but her eyes widened once her eyes had travelled to Layla's hair.
"What did you do?"
"It's new," Layla smirked, twirling stands of pink and brown hair around her finger. "You don't like it?"
"It's nice," said Hermione. "Just... different."
"I love it!" Ginny walked over, staring at Layla's hair with a grin. "It's amazing!"
"I know," Layla shrugged, her smirk widening.
"It looks great," said Tonks before morphing her hair to match Layla's. "There! Now we're twins."
The next few days consisted mainly of Ron, Layla, Hermione, Ginny, and the twins doing their bit for the Order; that is, cleaning up the house. Sirius would pop in and out to help occasionally, but they all knew too well that he'd rather be doing the 'important stuff' with Order members, seeing as he couldn't leave the house.
After cleaning out a particularly nasty Callous Cupboard, all anyone could think about was one of Mrs Weasley's homemade lunches.
"Done!" Layla said. The others replied with an exhausted, but happy, cheer. "That was weak," she said mischievously, ducking the feather duster that Fred chucked at her. "Better," she amended. Fred rolled his eyes fondly and messed up her pink and brown hair with his hand. She squealed and shrank in her seat trying to get away, but it was a lost cause.
"You're not getting away, Little Devil!" Fred growled teasingly, rumpling up her hair more. Ron, George, and Ginny were all laughing hard, with Hermione looking disapproving but amused, when Mrs Weasley came in with a tray of sandwiches.
"Here we are — why are you grinning like the Mad Hatter, Fred?" she said sharply, noticing Fred's triumphant expression.
"Just a friendly little game, Mrs Weasley," said Layla, sorting out her messy new hair.
At that moment, a thin red-haired man came through the door. Ginny sprang up as the boys yelled happily.
"Dad!"
Arthur Weasley laughed jovially as Ginny attacked him in a huge hug as his sons stood grinning behind her. Hermione was smiling and Layla cracked a small smile herself. Mr Weasley was a man everyone could love, whether it be for his wacky notions or kind nature. Mrs Weasley smiled and walked over to her husband, giving him a kiss on the cheek and a turkey sandwich.
"I've made lunch, do have something before you go rushing off again," she said. Everyone grabbed sandwiches except Layla, who, despite all of the cleaning she had just done, didn't feel like eating anything.
"I've just received confirmation from Dumbledore," Mr Weasley said. "We'll get him out of there and I can take Harry to the hearing from here—"
"That's enough. Arthur," said Mrs Weasley sharply, looking round at her children and Hermione, all of whom had stopped laughing immediately to listen. Layla already knew, and frankly, she couldn't care less.
"Harry's got a hearing?" George asked curiously. "Why, what'd he do?"
"It's none of your concern," said Mrs Weasley, sending her husband a furious glance.
"It's not like they won't find out love," he said wearily.
"Oh fine," snapped Mrs Weasley, picking up the now-empty tray and huffing out of the room.
"So...?" prompted Fred. Layla noticed that Hermione was clutching her dirty cleaning rag as if it were a teddy bear, and Ron had a curious look on his face. Mr Weasley looked at Fred.
"Harry's got a hearing with the Ministry of Magic in a couple of weeks," he said, setting down the sandwich. "He used the Patronus charm on the Dementors, and they want to expel him from Hogwarts."
"WHAT?" Ron roared in disbelief as Hermione gasped.
"Are you joking?" Ginny asked her dad, and he shook his head.
"But they can't!" said Hermione shrilly, making George, who was standing next to her, jump. "I'm positive there's a Decree somewhere that says life threatening situations are different."
"Which is why I'm sure Harry will get off," Mr Weasley cut in smoothly, smiling. "Don't worry, Hermione, really."
Hermione didn't look completely convinced by this, but she bit her lip and didn't say anything after that.
For three days, all Hermione and Mrs Weasley did was rant about the hearing. Ron always looked incredibly angry whenever the subject came up, making the Harry Potter Possible Expulsion rival that of the Percy Weasley Fiasco. Layla seemed to be the only one acting as if it was just another day. She felt like Ron did the year before: Everything was always about Harry. He was the centre of attention, as usual.
Layla and the twins successfully ridded a small, dingy room of the Fretwart birds nesting in the clothes shelves while Hermione and Ron did more work in the kitchen than anywhere else. Although the previous night's turkey was burnt almost beyond recognition (Layla couldn't help but notice Ron's flaming ears as he and Hermione brought it into the dining room), they weren't doing such a bad job of it.
The Lupin girl was in a good mood the next evening. She'd had a lie-in that morning, so she was rested and the bags under her eyes had decreased slightly. Looking down at the door to the dining room, she saw Fred and George untangling long pieces of the flesh-colored string they called 'Extendable Ears'.
"Hello, boys," she said from behind them, making them jump and then shush her violently.
"We want to get these under so we can hear," George informed her in hushed tones after clapping a hand to her mouth.
"Snape's in there," added Fred, smirking.
Layla didn't want to let them know that she had heard a conversation involving Snape; it would kill all their careful planning. Instead, she nodded with feigned wide and curious eyes, prying off George's hand as she did so.
"Anyway, we—" George stopped mid-sentence.
Faraway echoes of footsteps had interrupted their whispered conversation.
"Who's at the door, do you reckon?" Fred asked, looking as though he was listening with all his might.
Layla shrugged as George said, "Dunno."
"Looks like we may have to investigate, LayLay," said George, tucking the Extendable Ears in his robe pocket.
"Cheers," said Fred with a wink, and the two of them disappeared with a 'crack'.
"Idiots," Layla mumbled, slumping down and hugging her knees against the door. She looked behind her at it absently. "What is going on in there?" she murmured, getting on her knees and trying to peek through the keyhole. No use; it had been covered with a piece of parchment and Spellotape, no doubt by Mrs Weasley.
A package of Dungbombs lay at the bottom of the staircase.
"Fred and George," Layla muttered grinning, crawling over and picking it up. A flash of a conversation with Tonks flew through her head.
"Those two are wasting their time. Molly will probably have put an Imperturbable Charm on that door. Tell you what though, Lay; a good flick of a Dungbomb and you'll know if it has one on it."
Layla's grin widened as she quietly opened the package and placed a ping pong ball-sized ball in her hand. Clinging a little further up the steps, she silently flicked it at the door with her fingers deftly. It soared towards the door with a tiny whistle, and then it bounced away on contact. Layla giggled; Fred and George weren't going to be happy about that.
The hushed voices had stopped and no one was coming down, so Layla found that flicking Dungbombs was the best way to use her time at the moment. Before long, the entire package was laying in shredded piles at the foot of the door.
From above her, there came the sound of a portrait's voice that Layla knew as Whiny William Black, a short brown haired wizard who didn't do much besides complain.
"Honestly, if Madam Black were up and about, she'd be appalled — harboring Harry Potter in her house? It's a scandal... and I'm thirsty!"
Layla's heart almost stopped as she scowled bitterly.
Harry? Here? In her home?
Layla held her breath and tried to be as quiet as possible so she could hear. Her ears craned for a sound, any sound, that could prove Whiny William right. If he was, she knew that the summer would be undoubtedly more different than it had been, if that were possible.
Her ears were rewarded when she picked up the faraway sounds of yelling. At first, she thought it was Mrs Black, but upon hearing the word 'Dursleys' in the rant, she knew she had struck gold. Layla stood up and carefully put the empty Dungbomb box near the banister. Looking down at the door, she had to giggle; the floor was littered with Dungbomb leftovers.
She quietly climbed the steps towards the yelling voice. It seemed to be coming from Ron's room, which would make sense. If Harry were to sleep anywhere, it would be in the unoccupied twin bed Ron had.
The door to Ron's room was black and sturdy, with a serpent's head for a knob. Ron hadn't been too happy about that, and Layla suspected it was because of a certain blond haired boy they all loathed so much. Layla was about to knock when she heard two loud 'cracks' inside the room that could only mean one thing, or two things; Fred and George.
"Stop doing that!" she heard Hermione say behind the door.
A couple minutes of conversation passed about Fred and George's Apparation tests, but as Layla had heard about as much as she could ever hope to know about them, it wasn't that interesting. But as she listened, she heard a bit about the Extendable Ears. Time to let the twins know their attempts were useless at this point. Layla drew in a deep breath, reminding herself to not even look in Harry's direction, and allowed herself to turn the doorknob, walking into the room.
Sure enough, Harry Potter was standing there.
And, of course, a whole new wave of hatred washed over Layla.