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FOUR
——AS YOU ARE
"FOR SHIT'S SAKE, PANSY—!" Ginny snapped for the nth time as Pansy flicked white paint at her, that landed in her hair. The three girls had tasked to try and paint the walls where Effie kept her art supplies—her paintings and papers were kept in another room for this reason.
While new sets of duvet, curtains, and some more bedroom accessories had arrived (Pansy's were more clothes, most of the bedroom stuff was Effie's), they decided they would save it for the night so it would be uninterrupted.
"If you two could stop painting each other," Effie said, amused as she added accents of ochre in her own painting—supposed to be for Pansy's tenacious and curly locks. She had painted caricatures of the three of them on the wall, and had only finished herself and Ginny.
"Nonsense, we have you for that," Pansy snorted, although she was awed with Effie's painting. Effie thanked heavens that they'd changed into three of her old dungarees—at least those three, she wasn't afraid to ruin. Paint hardly ever come out of most fabrics. "Besides, we're trying to better each other."
"If I wanted to be a human canvas I would have volunteered for Effie, not you," Ginny snapped, smearing red paint over Pansy's face. Then, Ginny faked a gasp, "Oh! I'm so sorry I got all my Gryffindor dirt on you!"
"You fucking gollum," Pansy snarled— "I just had a facial!"
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Really? I couldn't tell the difference!"
"God, Weaslette, you make me mean and being mean all the time can give me premature wrinkles!"
"You're welcome."
Oh lord, Effie sighed. Of course Pansy and Ginny would never stop bickering—it's like she's been voted super-nanny unanimously, for Merlin's sake.
They considerably tensed up when a loud pop erupted in the living room. Effie knew for a fact that only her dad could get inside the household other than her, but still.
"Is this the part where we do a weapon role-call?" Pansy says in a hushed whisper as they tiptoed out of the art room. People would think they were crazy if they saw them; a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead, all of whom were covered in an assortment of colored paint.
Creeping near the stairs, Pansy grabbed a random aluminum bat. . . there only happened to be two—since Eleazar was an abled wizard, and the girls under his tutelage were underaged.
"Give me the other one," Ginny hissed.
"What?" Effie snapped her head to Ginny. "What am I supposed to protect myself with?"
"You don't need magic to hurt someone," Pansy said to Effie. "Just do your muggle combat dojo or something."
"I'll protect you," Ginny shrugged.
Effie shut that down immediately, "Absolutely not. Ginny, this is my house, I'm supposed to be protecting you."
"We're protecting each other, okay?" Pansy said irritably, her eyes wide in panic. "Save the old-couple-bickering for later."
"Any words of encouragement?"
"Don't trip," Came from Pansy.
"Don't die," Effie said in unison.
"Why are you so morbid?" Pansy hissed.
"We're all bloody inspired," Ginny rolled her eyes. "Now shut up, I'm pretty sure we're not supposed to have chattering while confronting a possible intruder."
Effie started down the stairs, before Ginny yanked her back, "Will you at least let the ones with weapons go first?"
"Merlin," Effie rolled her eyes, grabbing Ginny's arm and dragging her down with her. Footsteps sounded toward them after her sentence. Someone's coming, she mouthed at Ginny.
Pansy disappeared into a bathroom, which left Ginny and Effie. "All it could take is a homenum revelio and we're done for," Ginny whispers, running to a closet after an incessant push from Effie.
This is a bad idea, the moment someone rounded the corner, Effie ran at them. She dropped last minute, swiping their legs from under them and grabbed their wand-wielding hand, forcing their hand to put the point beneath the chin.
"Merlin," The person grunted—Effie let out a snort when she sees it's her dad. "I should've expected that."
"As the person who taught me, yeah," Effie commented. "Yes you should've."
"Oh, thank merlin," Mrs. Weasley sighed in relief when Eleazar and Effie emerged. "You're both alright."
Effie smiled slightly, amused at Remus, Sirius, and Mrs. Weasley. "Whomever it were, they wouldn't have done any damage anyway. This house protects us—besides, if anyone uninvited finds it, stepping in here disables their magic temporarily if they had any malicious intent."
"Wicked," Sirius commented. "And the floo network is unplottable and could be blocked at will?"
Eleazar smirked, "There are certain advantages being influential within the French Ministry."
"Any threat wouldn't have found us anyway," Ginny says with a grin. Remus raised an eyebrow. "How do you think you know about Mulciber and Avery?"
"Pretzel," Effie says with a nod. Pansy remains silent over this, still used to being hostile to Ginny's family and sticking to her beliefs. She explained that rather. . . fiercely to them, not stopping until they understood.
It wasn't Pansy's fault what she was raised into, it's not like she had free reins. She was still her parents' daughter, after all.
Everyone was relieved once they got back to Grimmauld Place, in which Ginny excitedly reiterated and bragged about the safety of the place while Pansy stuck to Effie's side, uncertain. "You know we're still covered in paint, right?"
"You are," Effie said back, and then looked at her paint-covered hands.
"That counts," Pansy scowls at her. "We didn't bring paint thinners!"
Effie snorted, "Whose fault was it when someone forgot to order a dozen bottles?"
Pansy pinched her thigh lightly, "I assumed you had some stocked up!"
Effie rolled her eyes, "So what's really the reason you chose to come back? I know it can't be me, you'd choose snogging over me."
"Who knows? It might be to snog you," Pansy humored, snorting. "But to answer that, I professed my love to Draco—tried to, at least."
"And you left out of embarrassment because he didn't reciprocate it? What do you mean tried to?"
"Merlin, no. I accidentally said I love you, Theo, of all things," Effie's eyes widen in surprise, pressing a hand to her mouth as they sat down to muffle her laugh. Pansy glared at her, "Mildly your fault—you chose him to come with me at the ball."
"At least he showed up," The blonde shot back, before snorting (a tad too loud) and everyone went quiet, looking at her. Effie tried to stop laughing behind her hands, Pansy glaring at her as if to say I bloody hate you. "What Freudian timing."
Effie couldn't stop laughing the whole dinner, but it was funnier when everyone didn't know what the hell she kept laughing about that Pansy glared at her for. "God, why do I know you?"
Ginny suddenly started laughing, catching everyone by surprise as they looked between the three girls. "Alright, what is the joke?" Fred said jokingly. "Must be funny if it has our noble Phemy laughing."
"She's not that innocent," Pansy muttered under her breath with a roll of her eyes.
"One time in World Literature, Pansy kept messing up Effie's notes—she cursed once too loud, and Professor M—Manson heard," Ginny said between laughs, clutching her sides. "And then Effie said, Merlin, Pansy, watch your mouth."
"I hate both of you."
"Serves you right, you Freudian goblin," Effie said, and laughed harder, producing a wheezing sound.
"What on earth is Freudian?" George said, bewildered.
"A Freudian slip, interpreted from muggle psychiatrist Sigmund Freud," Effie explained when almost everyone looked at her expectantly, even Granger. "The slip is explained as the emergence of the contents of the unconscious mind. It's a psychological theory that says when a person misspeaks, they inadvertently reveal repressed or secret desires."
Everyone still looked confused except Ginny finally got the gist and beat Granger to it, while Eleazar watched Effie with unmistakeable pride. "For example, Pansy might mean to tell Effie she loves Malfoy, but says Nott's name instead," Ginny said. Effie started laughing again, causing Ginny to turn to her with wide eyes as Pansy glared at the ceiling.
Effie nodded at Ginny profusely, causing the redhead to laugh as well. Eleazar snorts quietly, glancing at Pansy and whispers, "If it's any consolation, I do think Theodore's a better blond than Draco."
Not a second later, Effie muffled a yawn. Ginny looked at her with a shy smirk, "Yeah, being pretty must be tiring."
"Then you must be exhausted," Effie said with a raised brow.
Ginny blushed heavily, most of her redheaded family smirking at her. Pansy sighed out of frustration and rolled her eyes, "Effie's a literary freak, Weaslette, did you really expect she wouldn't turn that on you?"
All of a sudden, Kingsley Shacklebolt appeared at the kitchen doorway, almost breathless. His eyes are alarmed, causing the joyous atmosphere to tense up instantly, "Harry Potter has been expelled."
✨
THEY WERE GOING TO GET POTTER TOMORROW. Effie, Ginny, and Pansy had gone back to the Stark household for the time-being.
So instead of retreating to respective rooms, the three girls decided to take refuge in Effie's room, setting up piles of Effie's and Pansy's random duvets, throw pillows, and a stack of movies.
When 8AM hit, Effie was the second to wakeup—surprisingly, there were no nightmares or any parasomnia—and Pansy had woken her by standing above her like a bloody goblin.
Effie wrapped a hooded open front, lamb wool coat around herself, the gray-black material acting like a warming coat as she padded to the kitchen. Since someone might pop by, she couldn't just waltz in in only shorts and a plain tank.
"What an unwelcome surprise," She grumbled, walking in the kitchen to find Remus, Sirius, and Eleazar lounging around in the kitchen. Coming here felt like a breath of fresh air for Sirius—which Effie didn't blame him for, Grimmauld Place was suffocating.
Eleazar snorts, "What an unsurprising welcome," He scanned her from her bunny slippers up to her hair, which was still in braids from when Pansy forced it in. "You look comfy, sleep well?"
"Finally," She mumbled, stifling a yawn. "I ordered a bunch of stuff for my bedroom but I can't find inspiration to do it. Speaking of, dad, could you get the braids off?"
"I was wondering when you'd ask that," Eleazar chuckled as she sat down, swamped in her coat. He stood behind her, gently yanking the hair tie out and kneaded his hands through the tight braid. "Merlin, does this not suffocate your head?"
"Ask Pansy," Effie rolled her eyes. "If only I could drown in this coat. That Freudian goblin stood over me like a freaking sleep paralysis demon—it's a miracle Ginny hadn't woken up."
"Everything around here is cool," Sirius said with wide eyes, eyeing the toaster. Avocado toast was the only thing Eleazar could properly make without the threat of burning down the kitchen.
"Muggle inventions are cool and lifesaving," Eleazar adds, combing his fingers through Effie's extremely fluffy and curly hair, before frowning worriedly. "You were all camped out in your room?"
"Hm, we'll never get out if it was Pansy's," Effie's muffled hum of assent came from her head buried in her arms. "Pansy ordered a lot of clothes and made Ginny and I try them out—you know how she is. With Ginny around I'd have thought she'll let go of the interest about turning me into her barbie. Apparently not. She made us give her a runway show at freaking 3AM, dad."
"And I suppose your coat is a part of those?" He says, amused as he put a plate of Avocado Toast in front of her, transfiguring a spatula into a brush so he could run it in her hair.
Being a single dad to one. . . no, two (because Pansy was always around) girls wasn't easy, but Eleazar managed, forcing a hairdresser to teach him how to style and braid hairs in case his daughters needed it.
"Hm, no. . . ?" Effie rubbed her face, looked down at her open front coat. "I liked it, so I ordered about three pieces. You know I'm a sucker for cardigans. When're we getting Potter?"
"We are, this afternoon," Remus says, amused as he pointed at himself and Eleazar. "However, we were hoping you could help Tonks forge something to draw out the Dursleys."
"Dursleys. . . " Effie zoned out for a moment, wracking her mind. Dursleys—where did she first hear that—oh. "The horrid muggle family Potter's staying with?" Not waiting for a response, she shakes her head. "Merlin, parental abandonment that young could mess up a kid, but then, so could familial abandonment. Did Dumbledore not think about that?"
Remus and Sirius shared a look, before trying to speak but Effie glowered. "Excuse you, I'm not finished, gentlemen. I'm aware Dumbledore's always been glorified, but there has always been something tragic underneath all that. Instead of a family that despised him—in regards to his mother's sacrifice and protection—why didn't he put Potter with a family capable of loving him whole? Building him up?"
"Of course, he's safe. He's alive, but he didn't live. He's going to have psychological problems and just. . . Potter could've stayed with the Weasleys," Effie said. Where was this coming from? Sure, Potter and her are friends, but. . . ? "Potter could've stayed with us, and he wouldn't be so awkward with his love life."
. . . Right, because Effie never trusted Dumbledore. She realized that, and pondered over thoughts silently. She didn't trust him, he was too trusting, he was manipulative (like you, the voice in her head says) and if it meant for the greater good, he'd pull you in and turn on you (like you, the voice repeats), most of all. . . most of all, Effie did feel like there was tragedy before he was revered.
There had to be. She didn't have any interest trying to find it but she there was. For the greater good had always been his intention.
"That. . . reminds me," Effie turned to her father so fast she swore her neck cracked. "I've almost got mum's letters," She took the frayed parchment out of her jacket, laying it out on the dinner table.
Eleazar's eyes nearly went cross-eyed, and furrowed his brows. "You understand all—all of it? Phemy, sweetheart, I'm aware you have a certain affinity for languages, but this is. . . "
"It's not language, not a simple letter either," Effie explained, trying to get her point across. All this pent-up knowledge in her brain was just spilling out and she didn't know how to control it, but Ginny tells her she didn't need to. Control was overrated, after all.
"So it's a code," Eleazar reiterates himself, looking at his daughter carefully. Sometimes it amazed him how her mind works, sometimes he couldn't understand it, other times he got used to it. "Is it one of those where you have to figure it out with a computer and several long nights on coffee?"
Effie hummed affirmatively as appalled expressions dawned on Sirius and Remus's faces when they scanned it. "Smart too, nearly none of the Wizarding races used computers—or actually know how to work with one."
She gently pointed on the first line, "Mum must've tried very hard to put each word, each letter, even in the right order."
Eleazar looked kind of proud—usually, Effie would casually show her knowledge before lapsing back to a calm and nonchalant facade. She wouldn't outwardly show this. . . whatever Ginny was telling her, Eleazar hoped it would keep up because Ginny achieved something Eleazar couldn't in all fifteen years of Effie's life.
They were good for each other, really.
Then, Effie pulled out a pencil, started rearranging the letters. Intrigued, the men leaned over in amazement as Effie explained, "This steganographic method would allow her to write letters that don't appear enciphered. The real message would be hiding in plain sight."
"I'll leave you to crack it then," Eleazar rubbed her shoulder affectionately. The married couple across them looked at him in surprise, causing him to shrug. "Hey, it's an all-women household. They're the ones with the say, I'm just the advisor. . . they're the queens, if you would say."
"Dad's a hardcore feminist," Effie shared with a slight chuckle. "He even went by a saying once, the men fight the dinosaurs, but it's the women who inherit and rule the earth."
Sirius placed his hand on his hip, saying sassily, "Well firstly, we don't know what exactly a dinosaur is."
Eleazar took out his wand, "Expecto Patronum!"
This was the coolest part as a bright corporeal animal burst from the tip of his wand, resembling a pterodactyl. (Effie casually drummed the Jurassic World tune with her pencil on the countertop.) Sirius's mouth fell open, "That's one of the dinosaurs," Eleazar enlightened him, watching with an amused smirk as the pterodactyl flounced around the kitchen. "But that is a pterodactyl."
"We get it, Uncle Eleazar, your patronus is cool," Pansy announced her presence that way. "It's blinding me."
"Oh get a sunscreen and shades upstairs, Pansy, why don't you?" Ginny snapped at her, plonking herself down beside Effie.
Effie snorts, hiding it with a cough. "How'd she wake you?"
"That bitch—"
"—language," Eleazar coughed.
"That goblin—" Ginny corrects herself. "—bloody smacked me with pillows over and over like an idiot. I swear one of them still has her cake face all over it when I hit her back."
"Be thankful I didn't pour cold water all over you, Weaslette," Pansy scowls back.
"Think you're a right saint, aren't you?" Ginny snaps back.
"All right, ladies," Effie intervened, amused. "Calm down, you're both beautiful."
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