the gentle moon / george weasley

i'd do it again.

Jade sits on the porch one warm afternoon, watching as Remus and Sirius bother August sitting under the tree in the front yard. Remus and Sirius, sitting on both sides of her trying to get her to laugh and Jade thinks, should she have named her August Moon? Because August was the sun, she was warm and bright. Everything revolved around her. And she wonders if August realizes how important she is, how she gives life to people who once had no reason to. Because Jade is witnessing two men, who were ready to give up on life, completely change when she's around.

And then Harry walks out the front door, the screen door swinging shut behind him causing it to slam. And when Harry first arrived this summer, after August had kidnapped him in the middle of the night without anyone even noticing she or the car was gone, he would have jumped at the sound of the slam. He would have apologized profusely for the sound, but now he waits for the slam because he knew August would look up at the sound of it, searching for him. And she did, and the smile on her face grew when Harry came walking towards the trio under the tree. Jade can't help but shed a few tears when her daughter was surrounded by a Black, Lupin, and Potter.

Maybe it was the change in scenery or the way the summer air drifts through them all, but August was not the same girl she was last summer. She was more alive. Her normally hollow eyes, lit up when any of those three people walked into a room, or the sound of the door being knocked on because that meant a Weasley was stopping by. And as the days went on, Jade saw a change in Harry.

She felt bad the first night he was there because she had yelled at August for doing something so reckless. August had stolen the car with Ron and went to Privet Drive. August made sure Harry took everything with him, even if it meant he wasn't going to take it to school because he was going to live with her now. Jade saw fear and disappointment in his eyes when she scolded August for doing such a thing, but then she saw happiness when Jade told August, she would have gone with her if she had just asked. Harry was an interesting boy, so much like his parents, yet so different at the same time. She saw more of Lily and James when he got comfortable, much to August's doing. Sirius tried his best to get him to open up, as well as Remus did, but Harry hovered near August for the first few weeks he was living there. He would jump at the sound of a glass breaking when August accidentally dropped a dish or cup. And then it later turned into a brotherly scoff, and he would scold her for being so clumsy and then offer Jade advice about how they should just have plastic stuff in the house. He once spilled a cup of tea, and before he could apologize, August and Sirius were pounding their fist on the table in a rhythm, chanting 'PARTY FOUL' over and over again until August saw Harry smile. And then finally Harry was the one to start conversations at the dinner table, and he was the one chanting with Remus or Sirius when August would drop a glass.

And Jade watches August with awe because August is so oblivious to the love that surrounds her. She doesn't see how Harry is the one catching the glasses slipping off the table when her elbow hits it now. She doesn't see how Remus has perfected her toast. She doesn't see that Sirius watches the clock waiting for her to come home from her morning jog and switching on the telly so he could spend time with her. And Jade can't help but smile when she sees a little red fox run up the driveway, sneaking past the kitchen window and transforming into a tall teenage boy throwing rocks at August's window at night with an identical boy running up behind him out of breath, trying to get her to sneak out.

If there was one thing in Jade's life that made her immensely proud, it was her daughter. She gets it. She understands why everyone is so obsessed with her, and so infatuated with her. There was this look in August's eyes that you couldn't say no to, or the way the corner of her lip curls when she wants something because no one can simply say no to that look. No matter how much they fought, Jade couldn't let her go to sleep upset. No matter how many times August snapped at Harry, he couldn't care less because there was something about watching her connect with her emotions that made it worth it. There was no stopping Remus from giving her the world when the word 'dad' slips from her mouth. And when August tells everyone she's too tired to go out that day, Sirius' smile lasts for days because he got to spend that afternoon with her. And Jade can't pinpoint what exactly August does that makes this George Weasley so happy. Exist, perhaps. But no matter what she does, or says, or even looks at him, George is practically on his hands and knees for the girl.