𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐁𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 ◜➴ 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫

𝟑|𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐊

꧁꧂ ꧁꧂ ꧁꧂

❐❑ 𝐊𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐘 ❒❏

        ― MOLLY HAD COOKED A wonderful supper, and I ate in silence as not to provoke anyone. Others made small talk, but after what happened when I arrived, no one was really in the mood for conversation.

        Molly had introduced everyone at the table, so at least I knew their names. I hadn't looked at James all evening, and I didn't really have a good feeling about this Order thing anymore. I flinched a bit every time someone reached across the table, I felt like a wuss. Suck it up, I told myself, You're fine. Stop being such a pussy.

        Mr. Weasley cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the table, "So, Kitty, how was your experience in France?" I gave him a shaky smile before looking back at my plate of food.

        "It was wonderful there. The difference in culture is pretty cool. The only thing that sucked was learning French, there's a lot of spitting and hacking in the accent." This made a few of the children laugh, which made me smile a bit. Mr. Weasley was chuckling as well, which prompted his next question.

        "What do you do now that you're back in England? Did you miss it?"

        I grinned, "Yes, I missed it terribly. Although France is beautiful, it never really felt like home." I took a minute to take a sip of water, "I own a craft store in Diagon Alley. It's called Kitty's Krafts. I make just enough to get by, but I also get to inspire people to create things. It's wonderful, really." Molly's daughter perked up at the mention of this, turning to me excitedly.

        "Do you do art? Or do you just sell the supplies?" I smiled at her sweetly, she was a very pretty girl, one that could hold her own.

        I cleared my throat, "I'm not amazing at anything, but I do have a knack for sculpting. I commission for people sometimes, as a side job. Otherwise I just sell to people." This caught the attention of the other young lady in the room, Hermione.

        She smiled at me, "That's cool, you'll have to show us sometime. I'd be very interested to see what you've done."

        I laughed a bit, "That's very sweet of you. If you haven't gone supply shopping for the school year yet, you could stop by, if you want. I've done a few small things to show off the quality of a few of the clays we have in stock." Ginny and Hermione nodded giddily before starting their own conversation about school. I was about to welcome silence again when a voice from across the table spoke up.

        "Peter never had an artistic bone in his body." I turned towards the voice, finding Sirius Black grinning at me. I gave a shaky — albeit awkward — smile, rubbing the napkin on my lap between my forefinger and thumb.

        "I-I don't really remember much about Peter." I confessed, suddenly feeling eyes bore into me. I turned to find James glaring at me once again. My frugal attempt to seem unbothered slipped as I gulped nervously at his stare. I faced the table again.

        Another voice spoke up, "We might not like him, but we can tell you about him. If you'd like." I looked up once more, the scarred man — Remus — was speaking now. I pursed my lips in thought. I was curious, sure, but I didn't want to upset anyone.

        I gave what I hoped looked like a grateful smile, but it probably was more of a grimace, "Thank you, but maybe not tonight. I feel as though my arrival opened some wounds." I quickly looked away, clearing my throat before standing up, "Thank you for cooking Molly, but I best be getting h—"

        I was cut off by Sirius, "No need. You can stay in one of the guest rooms. It's very dark out, it's not really safe for you to leave by yourself until day time. You know, they can track apparition..." I was shocked to say the least, my mouth opening and closing as I thought of what to say.

        "I d-don't want to be a burden—"

        "Nonsense," He scoffed, "Follow me. I'll show you to a room. You're welcome to stay here anytime. You're a part of the Order now. It's the least we can do." I reluctantly set my napkin down before straightening my skirt and following behind him, waving goodnight to everyone else. I was nervous. Would James be staying the night? If he were, I hoped he wouldn't kill me in my sleep. I didn't want to be on anyone's bad side, but it seems as if this was inevitable.

        Sirius sighed as we climbed the stairs, "I'm sorry about James. He was affected greatly by Peter's betrayal..." I halted slightly, wondering if it would be wrong to pry.

        I mustered up a small bit of courage to ask, "What did Peter do? If you don't mind telling me. My mother never said why he was sentence to Azkaban for the rest of his life." I watched as Sirius faltered in his steady steps, his head hanging slightly.

        "Peter... he was a good friend of ours. Throughout all of Hogwarts, he was a part of our close circle. We had grown distant from everyone when we joined the Order, always on missions and such. Somehow, he got recruited as a Death Eater. He was a spy, telling them everything we discussed. Before Neville, they thought James' son Harry was the one in the prophecy. One night, James and I were on a mission, and Peter was their secret keeper. He told of their location and Voldemort killed his wife and son." My heart broke. My arrival must have surely provoked James. I felt terrible, and I was furious with Peter. How could he do that to someone he supposedly cared about?

        We stopped in front of a door on the third floor. Sirius turned and gave me a taught smile, giving a curt nod before starting to walk away, "Sirius," I called out, making him stop and turn to me, "I'm really sorry. I didn't know Peter was such a horrible person." I let out a sigh, "If it would make James feel better, I would be fine with not joining the Order. I really want to help in this war, but if it's too much for him, I wouldn't think twice about leaving."

        Sirius grinned at me, letting out a small chuckle, "We sure could use someone like you on the team, Kitty. But, I'll bring it up to James. It's just a sore spot for him, I'm sorry about what happened tonight."

        And with that, he left. I let out a sigh as I unpacked all of the events that happened that night, walking into the bedroom and collapsing on the bed, falling asleep within a few moments.

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