F I F T Y - O N E

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The next day at Grimmauld Place was spent thoroughly cleaning the rooms of the townhouse that hadn't been touched in so long. Adeline and George – along with Ron and Hermione – had been assigned to the library, so the four teenagers spent most of their day going through old and moldy books and ridding the room of dust and small creatures.

Well, Adeline spent about half her time trying to keep George from teasing Ron about how he was constantly trying to pair off to work with Hermione.

Adeline pulled out a book and flinched back, letting out a small scream when a beetle-like creature came flying out from the space. George jumped forward and sprayed something at the creature, causing it to fall to the floor before he picked it up and pocketed it.

"Why are you pocketing that?" Adeline questioned. "What even are they?"

"Doxys," George explained, pulling the unconscious creature out of his pocket to show it to her briefly. "They're poisonous pests that can infest a place, but I've got the antidote if we need it."

"Oh, so they're like cockroaches if they were poisonous!"

"What roaches?"

"Cockroaches," Adeline repeated with a small laugh. "Stop being inappropriate."

"I don't know how I couldn't be," George responded in a teasing tone. "It's in the name."

Adeline swatted his arm and decided to change the subject before George said anything else that would get him in trouble with Mrs. Weasley if she overheard. "Why did you pocket it anyways?" Adeline asked again.

"Fred and I need the venom for the Puking Pastilles," He explained as the couple turned back to continue dusting off the books. "This is a lot better than shelling out the Galleons to buy them."

"Puking Pastilles? Is that a product for the joke shop?"

George nodded, an excited gleam beginning to appear in his eyes. "It's like a little candy with two halves. You eat the orange half, you start throwing up. But once you eat the purple half, you're completely back to normal again."

"I'm guessing they're for skipping out of lessons?"

"Precisely. Problem is, Fred and I end up puking so much that we can't eat the second half."

"George!" Adeline exclaimed in horror. "You're making yourself vomit endlessly? Are you two alright?"

"I'm standing here, aren't I?" When Adeline couldn't seem to formulate a response, George grinned as he leaned down to kiss her temple. "Always the worrier, aren't you, Addie," He laughed. "I'm pretty sure Mum and Dad like you so much because they think you'll keep me in line."

"I don't think anyone could keep you in line. I can try my best, but you'll always find a way."

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The news of Harry using underage magic and getting put on trial spread quickly around the townhouse. Adeline, George, and Fred were hanging out upstairs in the twins' bedroom when they heard loud yelling from downstairs in Ron's bedroom.

"But why should I know what's been going on? Why should anyone bother to tell me what's been happening? Can't have wanted to that much, can you, or you'd have sent me an owl, but Dumbledore made you swear! Four weeks I've been stuck on Privet Drive, nicking papers out of bins to try and find out whats' been going on! I suppose you've been having a real laugh, haven't you, all holed up here together–"

"Well, looks like Harry's here," Fred said with a raised brow, staring down at the floor. "Should we go and see what's happening? Make sure Ron and Hermione aren't dead?"

"I feel awful for Harry," Adeline sighed. "We should probably go check in on him."

"Since you don't have your apparition license yet..." George extended his arm out to Adeline. "Want to join me, m'lady?"

Adeline laughed as she placed her hand on top of George's arm, and he apparated the pair down to Harry's room. Harry jumped in surprise when Fred and George appeared on either side of him. "Hello, Harry," George said with a beam. "We thought we heard your dulcet tones."

Fred clapped him on the back as he told him, "You don't want to bottle up your anger like that, Harry. Let it all out. There might be a couple of people fifty miles away who didn't hear you."

"You two passed your Apparition tests, then?" Harry asked in a grumpy voice before he noticed the girl sitting beside George. He brightened up a little when he saw her, as she might be the only one in there who could really understand what he might be going through right now. "Adeline! How are you? How was your summer?"

"It was okay," Adeline shrugged. "Can we talk outside really quickly though?"

Even though he was confused, Harry nodded and stepped outside into the hallway. Adeline turned her head to look back at the Weasleys and Hermione, mouthing, "Let me try and talk to him," before walking out to join them and shutting the door behind her.

"Harry, I know you've been through a lot this summer, but none of it was their fault. You can't take out your anger on them."

"It's not fair though!"

"It isn't! I know that! My friends were barely able to contact me, and I spent most of the summer alone in my home before George invited me here."

"But they still sent you letters? Why didn't Dumbledore cut you off too?" Harry cut in, his anger starting to grow again. "Why did I have to spend my summer cut off from the wizarding world with no one to talk to? We were both in the graveyard that night."

"I don't know..." Adeline responded quickly, trying her best to calm down as quickly as she could. "Maybe it's because I'm not as much of a target. In the grand scheme of things, I'm not as important as you. If it makes you feel any better, my best friends haven't been able to contact me either, you know. It's been hard for them to send letters throughout the summer. But I don't blame them at all for that."

Harry was quiet as he took a few seconds to really think about what Adeline had said. "You have every right to be angry about what you went through this summer and the year before that," She continued. "Frankly, you have a right to be mad about everything that you've been through. But don't direct that anger at Ron and Hermione or any of the Weasleys. Alright?"

Feeling much less angry but a little bit guilty, Harry nodded. "I just...hate being so in the dark about all of this," he grumbled. "I want to know what's going on. I feel like everyone seems to know what's going to happen to me. but I don't know anything at all. It's not fair."

"It isn't fair," Adeline agreed. "I didn't really know what was happening until I got here. Even then, we're not even allowed to know anything important. We try listening in, but the Order keeps putting these protective charms over them so we can't know what they're talking about. Can't even trust the Prophet anymore for reliable information with the stuff they've been printing."

"What have they been writing?"

"The Prophet's been calling me crazy, saying that I haven't been 'quite right' since the night of the Third Task. Apparently what happened to my eye was a 'tragic accident'. They haven't spoken to me even once, and they seem to think I've gone off the deep end. All I've done is confirm what you and Professor Dumbledore are saying."

Harry's facial expression morphed to one of shock, but Adeline wasn't done. "The Ministry's saying that Professor Dumbledore's going senile, and they've stripped him of almost all his titles. And you...they've treated you like this giant joke. Like all your fame has gone to your head, and you're spouting out a bunch of lies."

"But we both saw what happened!" Harry protested in disbelief. "Why won't people take our word for it?"

"I don't know why, but the Ministry doesn't want to believe that You-Know-Who's back. And they're going to do everything to discredit our words to make the wizarding world not believe us."

Harry was quiet for a few moments as he processed all the information. After a few seconds, Adeline asked, "Do you want to head back in now? And not yell at your friends this time?"

A small, sheepish smile appeared on Harry's face as he nodded, causing Adeline to crack a grin and push open the door once more. All the teenagers jumped up from the floor as Fred tried to discretely pocket something. "We weren't listening in," Ron said quickly, trying his best to keep a straight face.

Ginny rolled her eyes and groaned loudly. "Merlin, Ron!"

Adeline laughed as she sat down on the bed next to George, who then wrapped an arm around her waist. "Don't worry about it. Although, you could've probably heard us just as well without the Extendable Ears."

The brief conversation was then cut short by Mrs. Weasley yelling up the stairs. "Kids! Time for dinner!"

Fred and George exchanged a wicked grin. "How badly do you think we can scare Mum by apparating down the stairs?"

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a/n:

hi guys!!

i really haven't got that much to say this time around, so i hope you all enjoyed the update, and i'll see you at the next chapter!!

- g ♡