Lumos

29| Veritaserum Vials

If you would've asked me what I wanted, I'd answer with this: all I wanted to do was sit down with the lovely twins and just have a nice laugh at their immature but hilarious jokes, and listen to tales of their latest pranks and shenanigans on innocent passersby.

But noooo.

No one cared what I wanted. All they needed was to see Hermione and Ron's wands raised and everyone raised theirs. Well, not everyone. Just Fletcher. But still. Their looks said it all.

"Wands down," Harry ordered. "Nice to see all of you, but no one's attacking anyone." The three of them reluctantly lowered their wands.

"Harry, a word," Hermione said through clenched teeth. She glanced at me. "Privately." Harry seemed almost fed up.

"Make it quick," Lupin said, his eyes meeting mine, and then flickering back to Harry. "We've got things to discuss."

When the golden trio disappeared, I headed towards the kitchen to be alone for a while.

Why did they need so many people just to move Harry from one place to another? I tried to map out a plan, but nothing made sense. The only logical explanation would've been that they'd brought a large number of people to fight off possible Death Eaters, but it just seemed to easy.

"What have you done now?" two voices said in unison, on either side of me. I jumped, startled, nearly dropping the glass of water in my hand.

I let out a sigh of relief when I realized it was just the Weasley twins.

"What do you mean?" I asked, seeing the glass down on the counter. I turned to face them.

"Ron's been pissed every time Mum mentioned you at home," Fred (or so I guessed) explained.

"She grew fond of you. Said you were a good example of a not-gone-bad Slytherin', she said," George continued for his brother. I sighed.

"Harry blames me for Dumbledore's death because I technically could have stopped it. I mean, why hide it now. The three of them despise me anyways."

"They do not,"they said in unison, frowning. "Snape killed Dumbledore. Everyone knows that. "

"Yeah, but I could've-"

"What, fought a professional Death Eater-slash-former-teacher-slash-current-headmaster of Hogwarts off singlehandedly?" Fred raised an eyebrow.

"Nuh-uh, we didn't think so," they said.

Oh God. I loved them.

"Thank you. I don't feel nearly as horrible anymore," I said gratefully. "One day, I'll repay the two of you for all the joy you brought into my miserable life."

"Nonsense," they batted their hands as if waving the silly idea away.

George leaned closer to my ear, as if telling me a secret. "What kind of a payment?" he whispered. Fred elbowed him. "I was joking!" George held up his hands. I laughed, and he winked at me.

All fell silent when Ron, Harry, and Hermione walked into the kitchen.

"We'll see you later," the twins said, giving me a little wave and walking off to leave me alone with the golden three.

"What's the verdict?" I asked, leaning forward, my arms resting across the table.

"Look, Elvira," Hermione began first, stepping forward. "Ginny said-"

I hadn't even thought about Ginny, the day I'd left her stranded and apparated away with Malfoy. I hadn't even explained myself, partly because I didn't think I'd ever see them again.