\ wherein he tries to win her back /
We all split up and headed to our bedrooms, although by the tone Fred used to say goodnight to Ron, it sounded like they were just going to go and meet up again. Instead of going straight to bed, however, I slipped upstairs to the Black home library I had discovered when we first arrived.
Apparently being Pureblood and rich meant you had to have either signed copies or the first edition of almost every book.
"I'd recommend, er, this one," said a voice behind me while I was looking through the shelves as I spun around to see Harry holding out a book to me.
"Romeo and Juliet," I read out, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "You haven't read that."
"Of course I have! It's the best romantic novel of all time, and ends with everyone living happily ever after!" I rolled my eyes, and spun back to the shelf of books I had been studying.
"They both die in the end."
"Fuck, really?" Harry muttered under his breath. "...is it too late to say I was testing you?"
"mm..." I said, finding 'Othello' and taking a copy of 'Pride and Prejudice' for Hermione gingerly as I pushed past him. "Fuck off." I said irritably as he followed me to my room. "You said you weren't going to wait forever. So don't." I went into my bedroom and shut the door tightly. I highly considered locking it before getting onto my bed.
"Did you get Pride and-"
"Hardcover, first edition," I grinned, handing it to Hermione. She beamed and took it carefully, setting it on her bed. She said something about taking a shower before bed and disappeared into the bathroom we shared. I stood up nd went over to the wardrobe, picking out my favorite sweatshirt and pulling my shirt off-
"I'm not giving up, you know," said Harry's voice as I heard the door swing open. My eyes widened and I tried to pull on the sweatshirt quickly, but the sleeves were inside out.
"Can you fucking knock?" I said loudly, turning so my back faced the door and desperately trying to fix the sleeves, but somehow it was even more difficult than usual.
"What are you-" Harry stopped abruptly as I winced, struggling to make the sleeves back to normal and internally swearing that I would never leave them inside out again. "I'm- I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come in without knocking-"
"You're right," I said, "so get- fuck, what is wrong with-" I suddenly realized that the sweatshirt I was trying to fix was actually pajama pants. And my shirt had been tossed into the wardrobe, which I couldn't turn to reach without facing Harry, who I didn't feel like talking to. Who still hadn't left. "Why're you still here?" I said, glaring up at the ceiling.
"Because I want to talk to you, and I know the second I leave this room you'll lock me out and then ignore me for the rest of summer."
"You're correct. Get out." For a second, I considered just using my wand to Accio a shirt, but then realized I also didn't want to talk to go to the Ministry for a Hearing about Accio'ing my shirt.
It would be extremely difficult to explain, I could already imagine it.
"So, Miss Black, why did you use magic out of school when you know underage witches and wizards are forbidden from doing so?"
"Er...well...I needed a shirt, and Harry Potter was right there."
I shuddered to myself.
"Can you at least turn around?" I said desperately. "I literally don't have a shirt." Harry tossed a hoodie over to me. I sighed and pulled it on, realizing it was warm and...smelled like Harry. I raised an eyebrow and turned around to see Harry grinning at me.
"It suits you, you know." I frowned and looked down, realizing it was his Quidditch sweater.
"Oh. Thanks, but you can have it back in a second, I'll just grab a-"
"Keep it, it suits you." I sighed and was about to grab my own shirt, but then I realized that the smell of him was actually kind of comforting, so I didn't say anything and strode over to my bed, grabbing 'Othello' and pulling the covers over my legs.
"Can I help you?" I asked, looking up and seeing that Harry was still standing there.
"Yeah. I'm really, really sorry, Pheobe, you know me, I say bullshit when I get mad-" he paused and furrowed his eyebrows. "You used to say reading before bed was how you calmed yourself down," he said suddenly.
"Yeah, it's calming, and you're still an arse."
"You still have nightmares, don't you?"
"No-"
"Don't lie." I scoffed loudly and set my book down, meeting his gaze.
"You can't do that, Harry. You can't tell me you won't wait for me, that you're so willing to go find another girl, and then come back the same night begging for forgiveness, and assume I'll give it to you." I said, forcing myself to not start crying, and cleared my throat. "You can't do that to me. You told me you loved me, you made me feel like I was the only girl you cared about." I sighed shakily as his gaze found his feet.
"And then the second you're annoyed about something, you throw it all away?" I looked down to my book, tapping the cover. "Words hurt, Harry. You know I still don't know bullshit, you know that I've been struggling to figure things out with my dad, but on top of that, you just had to start something else, didn't you?"
"How can I apologize?"
"You can't." I said, shaking my head. He looked up, guilt all over his face. "Harry...maybe this is for the best. Maybe we're better off as-"
"Don't say that," Harry said desperately. "Please, Pheobe, I love-"
"Harry, I'm not quite sure you know what that means either," I said quietly, looking away. "So maybe you should stop throwing it around as if it doesn't matter."
"I do know what it means," Harry said, "and you are the only person I have ever felt comfortable saying that to. And I don't care if you don't know what it means yet, I want to be the one to teach you what it means, and I will wait as long as you need." I met his gaze unsteadily.
"Then you're going to have to wait more, Harry," I said softly. "I can't forgive you yet. You said all that so- so carelessly," I said, the sadness in my voice definitely evident. "You told me you wouldn't wait as though you were saying you didn't want a biscuit, Harry, you said it and you threw away everything we had. And I don't care if you're sorry. You hurt me." He sighed.
"As long as it takes, Pheobe. I will always wait for you. I promise." I didn't look at him and turned in my bed, switching off the light and slipping off my glasses, setting it and the book on the nightstand beside my bed. It wasn't long, however, before I felt someone lay down next to me, Harry's scent filling my nose, and he pulled the covers over himself too.
I was too tired to object as I felt his arm wrap around my waist protectively, my eyelids feeling heavy, but I could've sworn Harry said 'I love you' before I drifted off to sleep.
Hermione's POV
I pulled on some pajamas and wrapped my hair in a towel to dry, exiting the bathroom and ready to rant with Pheobe about how stupid boys were, but the lights were off already. I frowned and switched on a small light and saw Pheobe sleeping peacefully...
But right next to her was the boy she supposedly hated, although it definitely didn't look like she hated him. His arm was around her waist and the covers were over them both, and I raised my eyebrows as I switched the light off.
He really must love her.
pheobe's POV (the next day)
"Pheobe," whispered a voice, "Sirius is coming up here to wake you up, and Ron's outside holding him off, but he won't be able to much longer." I blinked groggily, looking up at Hermione who kept glancing at the door.
"Okay," I yawned. "I guess he's still trying to be my dad."
"Pheobe. Harry is right next to you."
"What?" I twisted around in my bed to see Harry peacefully asleep, his arms around me protectively.
"You've got to wake Harry up and tell him to hide!" Hermione whisper-exclaimed.
"OH HI SIRIUS, HOW ARE YOU THIS FINE MORNING?" said a loud voice.
"Oh hey, Ron, I'm great- would you mind moving out of the way so I can go get Pheobe-"
"Quick!" Hermione exclaimed quietly. I groaned and flicked Harry's forehead.
"Idiot," I whispered, "wake up. Hey, idiot- wake the hell up."
"I'm up," said Harry, opening his eyes with a grin, his green eyes glowing. "Morning."
"Not morning, nearly noon, and get up!" Hermione hissed, "Sirius will murder you!"
"He can't murder his Godson-"
"He can ground you for eternity, he's still got the power to do that," I whispered back. Harry groaned and turned over on the bed--
falling right onto the floor with a loud 'thud'.
"What was that?!" asked my dad's voice from outside the door. "Ron, let me in, please."
"Harry, get up!" I whisper-exclaimed, glancing anxiously back to the door. He finally got up and started frantically looking for a place to hide, until Hermione face-palmed and pointed to the wardrobe.
"YOU WANT TO GO IN? OH, WELL, I SEE WHY YOU WOULD WANT TO GO IN," boomed Ron's voice just as Harry slipped into the wardrobe and Hermione shut the door tightly, before striding over to the door and pulling it open just as my dad seemed to be reaching for the doorknob over Ron standing there in front of where the door was, blocking him.
"See? You can totally go in!" said Ron, stepping to the side as my dad furrowed his eyebrows, looking around.
"I thought I heard voices in here."
"Me and Hermione," I shrugged, sitting up and stretching my arms.
"Not a girl's voice," he frowned, looking at me. "Have you seen Harry?"
"Harry? No, not at all. Haven't seen him, don't want to see him."
"Are you sure? Because Ron said Harry woke up early and Molly went through the entire house searching for Boggarts, and said she didn't see him either- this is the only room left, and for some reason, Ron was blocking it..."
"No! No, Sirius, what happened is, uh, Harry...is in the loo! Yes!" Hermione said desperately.
"For hours?" Sirius raised an eyebrow.
"He's probably constipated." I tsked. My dad raised his eyebrows.
"...er, okay. You know what, I'm just going to-" the three of us froze as we heard a loud 'thump' from inside my closet, followed by loud swearing. Hermione and I quickly swapped looks before glancing at the door. "What was that?"
"My...clothes...fell?" I said hesitantly, walking over the wardrobe and opening it slightly. "Yep, it was my clothes," I said quickly, slamming the door shut.
"Pheobe," my dad started with a frown, "lying's bad." I stared at him with my jaw dropped.
"You hypocrite! Oi, Lupin, come up here please!" my dad's eyes widened.
"No! No- I didn't mean that- please-"
"Whaaaaat?" groaned my godfather. "Why'd I have to walk allll the way up here?"
"Y'know what dad just said?" I grinned, ignoring my dad's pleading look. "He said lying's bad."
"GODDAMN IT PHEOBE-"
"HE WHAT?"
"I DIDN'T MEAN IT-"
"YOU FUCKING LIAR-"
"I'M SORRY MOONY-"
"ABSOLUTE HYPOCRITE-"
"IT JUST SLIPPED OUT-"
"YOU LYING PIECE OF-"
"I'M SORRY OKAY-"
"NO IT'S NOT FUCKING OKAY-"
"DON'T BE A SWEAR-WOLF-"
"GODDAMN IT SIRIUS YOU LYING LITTLE-"
"IT WAS A FUCKING ACCIDENT-"
"I DON'T GIVE A SHIT-"
"SHUT UP!" bellowed a voice from downstairs, and the two men instantly stopped yelling at Mrs. Weasley's voice, before the horrible screeching of Mrs. Black began.
"MUM SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY!" Sirius yelled out the door, and, to our surprise, she swiftly went silent.
"That was lucky," said Remus, shaking his head.
"Well, as entertaining as that was," Hermione said with a hint of a smile, "Pheobe needs to get changed, and two grown men in her bedroom aren't going to help with that." both of them murmured something under their breath before walking out of my room and Hermione shut the door.
"Holy shit," sighed Harry's voice as I pulled open the door to my wardrobe.
"I didn't see that coming."
"Hey, they're the Marauders," I grinned, "you think back when they were our age, they were perfect kids and got perfect grades?"
"Unlikely," chuckled Harry. I suddenly realized that beside yesterday when Harry had stopped his yelling for a half-second to look at me, I hadn't really seen him without being irritated with him, and it hit me that he was so much taller than I was, with much shorter hair and a sharper jawline, along with glowing emerald eyes.
"Like what you see?" smirked Harry, catching me staring at him, and I shook my head, looking away.
"You wish."
"I do."
"What?"
"What?"
.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*.
We spent many more days of exhausting decontaminating, Harry's hearing looming over our heads, which was to be tomorrow morning.
Speaking of Harry...
apparently he had been having nightmares as well, so I suppose that was something to bond over: the two chaotic people who have nightmares about all kinds of creepy shit every night, and one of them loves the other while the other's furious with and heartbroken by the first one.
I still haven't fully forgiven him, because I don't know if the next time he gets mad this will all repeat all over again. He knows I've been careful around him the last few days, and if what he says is true, he'll wait until I'm ready.
I told him a few days back that I thought it would be better if we stayed just friends for a while, mainly because I knew it would take a long time for me to be able to forgive him for what he said, and he had been a little upset but agreed nonetheless, and I could tell he agreed just so I would be comfortable.
"Harry," said a soft voice as I snapped back to reality. "I've ironed your best clothes for tomorrow morning, Harry, and I want you to wash your hair tonight, too. A good first impression can work wonders." said Mrs. Weasley quietly, looking at Harry, who seemed to have fully lost his appetite.
"How am I getting there?" he asked, obviously pretending to be unbothered as Hermione, Ginny, Ron, Fred, me, and George all watched silently.
"Arthur's taking you to work with him," said the woman gently.
"You can wait in my office until it's time for the hearing." said Mr. Weasley.
Harry looked over at Sirius, but before he could ask the question, Mrs. Weasley had answered it.
"Professor Dumbledore doesn't think it's a good idea for Sirius to go with you, and I must say I--"
"--think he's quite right," said Sirius through clenched teeth.
Mrs. Weasley pursed her lips.
"When did Dumbledore tell you that?" Harry said, staring at Sirius.
"He came last night, when you were in bed," said Mr. Weasley.
Sirius stabbed moodily at a potato with his fork. Harry lowered his own eyes to his plate.
"Speaking of," said a voice as my godfather stepped into the dining room, "when you all finish eating, I need to speak with you, Pheobe." all the kids glanced up instantly.
"What happened?" I asked instantly. Remus glanced at Mrs. Weasley, hesitating.
"Is this about what Dumbledore said last night, Remus?" she said calmly.
"What'd he say?" I asked.
"Yes, Molly, it is- right, I, um, I'll wait until you're done eati-"
"I'm done," I said quickly, pushing my plate away at once. "What happened?" Remus sighed and sat down at the table.
"Well," he started, "you all know that now, thanks to Barty Crouch Junior, everyone knows that you...are a Black."
"And?" I said with a frown.
"And apparently there are people still out there, looking for me," said my dad with a small grimace, leaning forward on his elbows. "Dumbledore has a theory that the Ministry set the Dementors on Harry, and, if the Ministry did do that, the Dementors went to Little Whinging because they have information that you are close with Harry and were, in some way, hoping to get information of my...whereabouts."
"But- who said I even knew where you were?"
"They're assuming," said Mr. Weasley with a sigh, "the Ministry obviously is in denial that Voldemort is back, so to go away from that topic, they had to direct the news to you and Sirius."
"Oh. But- it's just news, right-?"
"And now," Remus continued, "the Ministry wants to bring you in for questioning about your father."
"They what?!" multiple voices exclaimed alongside mine.
"Are they just targeting everyone?" I said with a frown, "first Harry, now me-"
"Just the people who have the biggest influence on the news at the moment. Now," Sirius sighed, "here comes the main problem: they want to use Veratiserum on you."
"That's got to be illegal!" Fred and George exclaimed.
"It's the Ministry," said Mr. Weasley grimly, "they make the laws."
"Dumbledore wrote back to Fudge," said Remus, "saying that he doesn't think it right that you should be forced to use Veratiserum. But Fudge sent back a response today."
"And?"
"And unless Sirius is found before it, they will still bring you in for a small interrogation-type thing. Fudge claims that if you have nothing to hide and know nothing about where your father is, the potion won't harm you in the slightest."
"What? But- what am I supposed to do- Obliviate myself?"
"That's where we've hit a snag," said Mr. Weasley, "Obliviating you has been our only idea so far, but there is so many things that can go wrong- there's a huge risk that instead of erasing a specific memory, all of your memory will..." he trailed.
"But- there's a spell to get her memory back, right? Even if we erase all her memory?"
"Yes, but...few wizards have been able to do it in the last thousand years. Even Dumbledore isn't great enough to perform it correctly." everyone went silent.
"There must be some kid of anti-Veratiserum potion-?" suggested Harry desperately.
"No. And unless Sirius is willing to take the risk which comes with Obliviating-"
"No," said my dad firmly.
"Then we...are at a loss of ideas."
"Well...when do they want the interrogation?"
"Tomorrow."
"What?"
"Well.." I sighed, "we've got no other choice, have we?"
"No!" my dad exclaimed at once. "Pheobe- absolutely not-"
"What else am I gonna do, tell them I know where you are?"
"I'll- I'll hide."
"Where could you possibly hide? They're so desperate they're setting Dementors on people! Besides, say I lose my memory..." I grimaced, cracking my knuckles anxiously.
"Lockhart," Ron breathed, "he's still there- St. Mungo's. And it's been three bloody years."
"He's a permanent member," said Remus gravely. "Which is why it's such a huge risk."
"What other option do we have?"
"Well," I started, counting off the reasons on my fingers, "if I die, if I go back to the future, if I...no, I think that's it."
"You're not going back to the future, and you're definitely not dying." said Harry firmly.
"Well-"
"Shut it, Pheobe, neither of those will happen." Hermione said briskly.
"Well, then, we're going to have to Obliviate me! We have no choice!"
"Let's have a vote, then," said Ron grumpily, "who votes-"
"There's no other option!" I exclaimed. "I'm not risking dad get caught, at all!" It was strange, the word 'dad still felt weird in my mouth, felt weird when I was referring to him, but I realized it didn't matter he abandoned me for years, he still stuck around when my mother left us.
He stuck with me for a few years when nobody else did.
"But you're risking your own memory?"
"Dumbledore is the smartest- okay, not smartest- the only person who knows a lot of spells really well that I know. He's plotting dea- he's holding together a whole school which must be cursed- if he can handle that, he can handle a simple un-Obliviation spell, right?"
"I'm not saying I'm for it," Remus started, "but firstly, there's nothing else we can do, and secondly, we can't do a thing until we have your dad's permission."
"No! There's got to be something else! Someone can take Polyjuice Potion and-"
"All of us know where my dad is!" I said. "And who would lie to the Minister of Magic for us?"
"I...need to go." my dad got up from his seat and swiftly walked out of the room, all eyes falling on me.
"That's code for 'I'll think about it'," I explained, "trust me, ten years of living with him and you'd understand his little signals too. Usually, though, when he says he needs to go...it ends in no."
"And what's his signal for yes?"
"If he comes back and says 'maybe'. That almost always means yes."
"Doesn't maybe mean yes or no-"
"Yeah, but if I asked my dad if I could have an ice cream and he said maybe, that would pretty much mean I could have one." Remus leaned forward with the corner of his lip twitching.
"I am just realizing that for over ten years, Padfoot was a father and I never even knew." he grinned, tilting his head up and leaning back in his chair. "Merlin's saggy left-"
"Remus!"
"Right, right," he said hastily, straightening up. "Apparently they think Padfoot and I are adults," he whispered to us with a side look at Mrs. Weasley. "All of the Order. It's weird, especially when they ask us if we want something to drink, and there's a bottle of Firewhisky a good three feet away but Dumbledore's there so we've got to get tea."
I laughed faintly and, out of the corner of my eye, saw Harry smile, and Remus raise an eyebrow, looking between us.
"Are you two alright?"
"Oh, there is no two," I muttered, staring determinedly at my glass of water. Remus cracked a smile.
"It's uncanny, you know, the resemblance between you two and James and Lily- Merlin, even the resemblance between Sirius and Monica, for that matter.
"You knew my mother?" I asked, looking up. He smiled tightly.
"Of course. Your mother was my sister."
"You know what, I have had just about enough bombshells dropping on me," I said finally, smiling humorlessly. "First my dad's Sirius Black, then my dad went back in time, then my mum fucking faked her death, then my mum's a witch who can defeat the Cruciatus curse, and now this? Absolutely bloody fantastic. Is there anyone else who would like to tell me some huge secret about my life? No? Anyone?" I said mockingly, looking around. Remus pursed his lips.
"I don't know the full story, you'll probably have to get that out of your dad one day. I do know you both came here from the future, of course. Everyone here does. I'm just sorry I haven't seen my sister since."
"I know where she is," I said cautiously. His eyes widened.
"I'm...I'm sorry? She died, did she not-?"
"That's what he thinks. She's alive right now. She...she went back in time and was Obliviated, so she could start her own family." Remus raised his eyebrows.
"Huh."
"She had another kid, too," I blurted out. "You have another niece."
"Do you know her?"
"I know her very well," I laughed, "she's the girl sitting right next to me." Hermione looked up from her book sheepishly and waved a hand. Remus smiled, a real smile.
"You look like her, you know," he said. "Both of you."
"I get that a lot," Hermione said bashfully.
"How's she doing? Monica?" Remus asked curiously.
"She's great. She talks about how she had a twin brother once, Pheobe and I have a theory that the Obliviation spell didn't fully work on her."
"Well," Remus sighed contentedly, standing up. "I hope one day, when the war is done and gone, all of us can sit down and have a nice chat together."