Finding Neverland | George Weasley ✓

Chapter Forty

Thea arrived back at Grimmauld in the very early hours of the morning. A very tired Sirius greeted her, making sure she was alright. Her arrival had woken most of the people in the house and unbeknownst to Sirius and Thea who continued their hushed conversation, many people were listening in, trying to work out why the girl they had last seen extremely upset was there talking to Sirius and most importantly why she had been at St Mungo's with their mother but they hadn't.

"Are you alright, Thea."

"I'm alright, Sirius. Just tired."

"How was St Mungo's?"

"A blur, if I'm going to be completely honest."

"I can relate," Sirius replied with a slight chuckle.

Thea tried to stifle another yawn but didn't do a very good job. "Do you want to go upstairs?" Sirius asked Thea. "Get some sleep? It's not like you could have many conversations with everyone else here." Sirius continued gesturing to the supposedly asleep kids in various positions on the couches and floor.

"I'm alright. I slept at the hospital for a bit. Anyway, I'm not entirely sure that they are actually asleep."

Sirius looked over at everyone before agreeing with Thea. "Yeah, you are not wrong there."

It didn't take long for Sirius to make some hot chocolate and Thea sat in the kitchen clutching the hot mug tightly in her hands talking to Sirius when Mrs. Weasley finally returned much to the delight of the Weasley children.

Ginny had startled everyone in the household with her shout alerting everyone of her mother's appearance and Molly Weasley quickly found herself being drowned in hugs and questions.

Thea watched on, slightly in the shadows trying not to draw attention to herself. Sirius and Harry were talking to each other in hushed whispers however Thea found herself suddenly in a conversation with Hermione Granger much to her surprise.

"It's lovely to see you, Thea."

"Um...you too, Hermione," Thea replied at a loss of words for a few seconds.

"It's an awful thing that happened to Arthur, isn't it?"

"It is. But I know that he will be fine, he is in good hands."

"Oh, of course, you were there, weren't you?"

"I was. It was a bit of a shock, to be pulled out of bed at Remus' and to find myself suddenly at St Mungo's, it was quite confusing."

"If you don't mind me asking, of course. Why were you at Remus' and even here now?"

Thea's smile faltered for a bit before she responded. "My parents didn't deal with everything very well." Thea started stopping herself to make sure Hermione knew what she meant.

"Yeah." Hermione smiled sympathetically.

"So they went away, to clear their heads a bit I think. So now I'm here with Sirius and Remus as temporary guardians."

"I hope they get better soon."

"Me too, Hermione. Me too, Hermione."

Thea found herself back at St Mungo's for the second time that day watching as the Weasley children reunited with their father.

Mr. Weasley although still looking quite bruised and battered was in quite good spirits as he greeted everyone happily. However, that didn't stop questions from being asked and both Arthur and Molly looked quite uncomfortable and quickly put an end to them. Despite it though everyone was still overjoyed that Arthur had been alright because during the earlier hours of the morning, Thea had discovered just how close it had been, that the emotions on the Weasley's faces could have been quite different.

The next days passed by everyone trying to entertain themselves at Grimmauld. The wizard chess board was used frequently as was the pack of exploding snap. However, after the initial shock and relief that Arthur was alright, the attention quickly turned to Thea and why she was there in the first place.

"Why are you even here, Thea?" Ron Weasley blurted out one afternoon which was accompanied by Hermione's responding kick.

"I'm so sorry, Thea. Some of us have lost our manners." Hermione started, staring pointedly at Ron. "What he means to ask is, what brings you here?"

Thea chuckled nervously not completely happy how the attention was suddenly put on her. "Um..this is a um.. temporary arrangement."

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked.

"My parents didn't cope well with um...everything that happened so they had to go away. So, I'm left with Remus and Sirius as my temporary guardians and as this as my temporary home." Thea said rather quietly but was startled by the overwhelming response to her little story. Apologies filled the air as well as several people getting up to give her hugs. It was just like Hogwarts, everyone offering their condolences, hugging her, looking out for her. It was getting too much, Thea could feel the panic start to rise in her chest as she quickly looked for a way out.

"Um...excuse me," Thea said quickly before running out of the room. She didn't exactly know where she was going but quickly found herself slammed against a solid something. She looked up to see Sirius, looking quite concerned but still maintaining his typical humor.

"Now, where are you going at such a speed?"

Thea ignored him before continuing to run into the bedroom she was borrowing, tears already obscuring her vision as she slammed the door behind her.

Hugging her knees close to her chest, Thea breathed out startled how shaky her breath seemed.

A knock sounded at the door accompanied by Sirius' concerned question.

"Are you alright, Thea?"

"I'm not exactly sure."

"Can I please come in?"