\ wherein they take a risk /
"HEY," I SAID, GENTLY rapping on the half-opened door upstairs. "dad, you in here?"
"Yeah- yeah, I'm in here," he responded. I pushed open the door to see my dad sitting on the floor of his old bedroom, staring at the walls.
"You okay?"
"No. Stupid Fudge, and the ministry, and your thing-"
"Hey, it's okay," I said, sitting down beside him. "The chances of me losing me memory are-"
"Too high. Way too high."
"But I'm not risking letting them send you to Azkaban," I said firmly. "Besides, if I lose my memory...it's okay."
"How is it okay?!" he exclaimed, meeting my gaze.
"Because the year I've had so far here has been amazing, and I couldn't ask for anything better. And, I won't have every detail about my future memorized, so it'll be like I'm learning about this all for the first time. Besides," I shrugged. "We could have a do-over."
"You always know how to look at the glass half full, Pheeb," sighed Sirius, shaking his head.
"Dad, please. Let me do this for you. You'd do the same for me." he hesitated.
"Pheobe, I'm so sorry," he said, meeting my gaze. "I was a shit dad. I always wanted to be nothing like my own dad, but hell, I wasn't around these last couple years."
"Yeah," I nodded, "and I was really pissed at you for the last few months-"
"And you had every right to be."
"But now...it's not your fault. You're just...more of an uncle- type guy than a dad," I shrugged. "Kinda figured I was a mistake or something along those lines."
"No, Pheobe, don't ever think that of yourself," he said firmly, his hand fiddling with the charm of a dove on his neck. "You're right, I'm not a good dad at all. If you really want..." he sighed, looking away, before saying, "Molly's been asking if she could adopt you, if I wasn't up for...quite frankly, I think she and Arthur would make brilliant parents, Pheobe." he sighed, "and don't think it's because I don't love you. I think your life would be a shit load better if they were your parents."
"Pheobe Weasley," I smiled faintly. "I like that."
"Yeah?" said my dad, and it wasn't like he was disappointed that he was passing me on to someone else, it was more hopeful. "We could have a second chance together, too. I'd be your cool uncle."
"You'd be my second dad," I said firmly. "And hey...you're only, what, thirty? Forty? If you fell in love with another woman and adopted a kid or something, this would prepare you for that." I paused, before adding, "also, were you ever going to tell me my mum was your best mate's sister? That's low, dad, going for the little sister." I mockingly shook my head as he laughed and stood up.
"You really want to obliviate yourself for me?"
"Oh, it's not want, I'm doing it whether you like it or not."
.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*.
"Pheeeeeeeeeeebbb wake upppppp I'm fucking lonelyyyyy-"
"Then go be lonely by yourself," I muttered into my pillow. "Idiot."
"I've got my hearing today!"
"Stop whining, doofus, I am fully aware of your hearing- besides, I've got that stupid interrogation thing today-"
"We've got to go to the Ministry!"
"Okay!"
"Then get upp!"
"I'll wake up in five minutes!"
"You said that yesterday and woke up an hour later- your dad's calling for you!" I groaned throwing my pillow at him as I opened my eyes and saw Harry, fully dressed, pretty much just bugging me to wake up.
"Tell Fudge for me that he's a bi-"
"I can't, he'll break our wands."
"Then-"
"Can't do that either."
"You didn't even hear what I was-"
"But I read your mind!" I yawned and sat up finally.
"Do I have to go? I like my memory!"
"Well hey, this gives me an opportunity to get a fresh start and maybe this time you'll accidentally fall in love with me!" I chucked a pillow at him.
"You don't get it, Harry, what if I become this whole other person? What if I've got this whole new personality and, I don't freaking know, maybe I'll, like, fall in love with James or some shit-"
"You won't," Harry said firmly as Ron entered the room, yawning tiredly. Hermione had woken up before me and was now sitting on my bed. "And James? Your date to the Yule Ball?"
"Yeah, him."
"Oh, James McCoy?" said Hermione with a playful nudge, sitting down beside me, "the boy with the green eyes, right?" Harry frowned.
"I've got green eyes-"
"Yeah," I nodded. "He's a really nice person- sixth year, now, though- but still-" Harry chucked a pillow at me as I laughed and hugged it close to me. "What? He's just a friend!"
"Don't make me throw another one at you."
"He is, though!"
"At King's Cross he asked me if I'd seen you but you'd already left by then- that's not very much friend behavior-" Hermione said. I rolled my eyes.
"Yes it is-"
"No, it isn't!"
"That came out of nowhere!" exclaimed Ron. "I've never even heard of this guy before!"
"Stop being dramatic, Ron, he went to the Yule Ball with me. You met him."
"What came out of nowhere?" said Fred and George, popping into my room all of a sudden.
"James McCoy and Pheobe!" Harry exclaimed, clearly expecting Fred and George to be furious, but to all of our surprise, they did the exact opposite.
"James McCoy! Your date to the Ball? You pulled a guy like him!? Of course, you did- you're Pheobe! James McCoy's a brilliant Beater- we met him once and he told us he thought our skills were fantastic- we even helped him train for his next match against Slytherin!" Harry scowled.
"No, I didn't! He's a friend-" I huffed irritably. "A friend."
"Whatever," Hermione sighed. "Moving on from James McCoy..." Fred and George popped out of the room with a wink at me. "How're you feeling?"
"Like I want to go back to sleep," I said exhaustedly.
"Yeah, well, you can't. Besides, your interrogation is later in the day, but dad says you're still going early because he can't come home in the middle of the day to get you, and he's leaving for work in half an hour."
"Damn," I muttered, "I despise the ministry."
"Speaking of," Hermione said with a small smile, "your dad-"
"Oh, he told you?" I yawned, rubbing my eyes. "I was gonna wait to tell..." I paused at the looks on their faces. "Annd you're talking about something else, aren't you?"
"What were you going to wait to tell us?" Hermione asked suspiciously, but Ron had a knowing grin on his face
"You said yes?" I nodded and he beamed. "You said yes! She said yes!"
"Said yes to what?" Hermione asked, quieting Ron before he woke up everyone in the house.
"Mrs. and Mr. Weasley want to adopt me," I said brightly. "Dad thinks it's a good idea, too." Hermione's and Harry's jaws dropped.
"You're going to be Pheobe Weasley?"
"Well, nothing's signed yet or anything, but soon, yeah," I said brightly. "Fred and George don't know yet- don't you dare tell them, I want to be the one who breaks the news."
Harry and Hermione laughed and celebrated with Ron, and it was hilarious but also brilliant knowing that soon, I'd have a family that really loved me.
Sure, my dad was great for the first ten years of my life, but I got the feeling he still wasn't ready for the responsibility of a kid. Harry, Hermione, and Ron of course knew how I felt about him being my dad, and so obviously they were going to celebrate with me, because they knew how much I had suffered and how much of a win this was going to be for me.
"All you've got to do now is dye your hair red," Ron said happily.
"Right..." I said, still fighting a smile. The news hadn't really sunk into my brain yet that I was going to be a part of such a big family. Fred, George, and Ron were already like my brothers, but it was something else knowing that Mrs. and Mr. Weasley wanted me to be their kid. "Anyway, what had you been about to tell my about my dad-?"
"Oh, yeah, he apparently got you something new to wear to the questioning- Mrs. Weasley says you've got to make a good first impression and Sirius found out you've got no fancy clothes beside your Yule Ball dress-"
"How'd he find out?" I frowned.
"No idea," the three of them said quickly. I furrowed my eyebrows but didn't press any further.
"Okay. I'll go and get ready, then-"
"I'll go bring up your new outfit," Hermione offered.
"Thanks," I said, standing up reluctantly.
"See you in five minutes," said Harry with a weak smile as he and Ron headed to their bedroom.
"I'll go get that outfit," Hermione said encouragingly as she left my room, and I headed to my bathroom to put some light makeup on and make myself look decent before brushing through my hair just as Hermione brought a package up.
"Why's there a whole box?!" I said with wide eyes, tying up my hair into a messy bun hastily, figuring I would finish my hair after getting changed. "Do you know what's in there?"
"I may or may not have helped in the process of picking it out," Hermione grinned sheepishly.
"What is it?"
"Well, it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you." I rolled my eyes and eagerly opened up the box, revealing a sage green pantsuit and black flats to go with it.
"Holy shit," I breathed, "it's- it's perfect."
"Right?!" grinned Hermione, "I got the idea since Harry's wearing a suit, and I remembered you had this shade of eyeshadow...see, it was a surprise!"
"It's definitely a surprise," I beamed, holding up the pantsuit. "I'm going to go get changed," I said excitedly, striding to the bathroom and getting dressed into the pantsuit which fit me perfectly, adding some sage eyeshadow on my eyelids as a finishing touch, before stepping back out to see Hermione, doing a small spin to show her the full look.
"How does it look?"
"You're beautiful," breathed a different voice and I spun to the doorway to see Harry staring at me as if he was in a trance, before shaking his head. "I mean-" he paused. "No, I do mean it, you're beautiful. C'mon, let's go." and with that, he set off down the hall with Ron, who shot me a thumbs-up.
"Here, love," said Molly Weasley, handing me a plate of pancakes, "something to eat before you go."
"Thanks," I said, forcing a smile as I took them and set them on the table, not having a single intention to eat them. "Ron, are you hungry?"
"No, not really," he said weakly.
"Really?" exclaimed Hermione as i grinned and rolled my eyes. "I can't believe this- Ron isn't hungry!"
"Oh ha, ha," he scoffed. "What if- what if Harry gets expelled? Or Pheobe loses her..."
"Hey, it's okay," I said as calmly as I could manage, "if I lose my memory, all you've got to do is hand me a plate of Beef Wellington, okay? Oh- and remind me to be mad at Ginny, and probably Harry too every once in a while." he grinned.
"Sure."
"Mad at me for what?" said Harry with a frown. I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't know- I mean, if I've got no memory, I'm out of the way and you could be with Ginny without any doubt, so I'd be mad at you for that-"
"Very funny," he said sarcastically. "You're insecure, how sweet. For your information, I don't like Ginny, so can we please stop talking about that?"
"I'm not insecure-"
"Are the pancakes not good?" asked Mrs. Weasley hurriedly, glancing at my untouched plate.
"Oh- no, they're delicious-" I took a bite and forced myself to choke it down, shooting her a thumbs-up. "Yum!" she smiled proudly and walked away. "Holy shit," I gagged after I was sure she was gone, gulping down some water, "those taste like you grabbed a whole bag of sugar and ate the whole thing in a few seconds."
"As sweet as you." Harry grinned cheekily. I rolled my eyes and "accidentally" spilled a few drops of water on his suit. Harry swore loudly as I smirked.
"Pheobe," said a voice, "it's time."
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"You ready?"
"Hell no."
"You don't want to do this?"
"No- yes- I want to do this," I said firmly, Remus and my dad standing in front of me along with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and a few other order members, the twins, Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny, who was leaning against Harry with a wide grin. "Okay," I sighed, "I'm ready." Remus glanced at everyone else, his wand still aimed at me.
"Any last minute things you want to say to Pheobe just in case her memory is erased? Like, well, a declaration of love, perhaps? Possibly?" I rolled my eyes.
"Moony-!"
"No, there's no declaration of love," I huffed.
"Harry, jeez, c'mon, this is your cue!"
"Oh, shush, Ron."
"O...kay. If nobody's going to say anything... are you ready?" asked Remus finally.
"Ready," I nodded. I held my breath as my godfather cast the spell and I heard footsteps run- my dad leaving the room, most likely.
"Obliviate!"