NOIR - [Fred Weasley]

18. Everyone gets poisoned on their birthday, right?

✻ When cleaning becomes a rather convenient detention.

February 1997

Harry was quite pleased with himself. A couple of lessons in, he had finally succeeded in apparating. Hermione had shot him a supportive smile, and Ron had given him a big thumbs up — even though he himself had not succeeded yet.

The only thing that kept bothering Harry, was his failed attempt at getting Slughorn to tell the truth. Dumbledore had asked him to retrieve a memory — one very crucial to the fight against Voldemort. Harry however, had managed to freak the professor out, and all the boy was left with were questions on a form of magic that no one — not even Hermione — knew anything about. He couldn't even understand why that specific memory between Slughorn and Voldemort was important.

Walking out of the Great Hall — alongside his friends — after concluding that day's apparition lesson, Harry spotted a group of seventh years walking back from class. One of them happened to be probably the only student, apart from Hermione, that could have the answers he needed.

With a short goodbye to his friends, he jogged towards the girl.

"Lizl! Elizabeth, wait!"

The girl turned around, clearly annoyed by the interruption.

Truth being told, she hadn't been herself since Christmas.

After the Christmas Eve debacle, Lizl returned home, ignoring her mother and friends, and locked herself in her room. Maggie's heart broke when she heard her daughter's sobs coming from down the hall. But every time she tried to approach the door to her bedroom, a snake would crawl on the door, twisting its body around the lock. The only way the witch could enter, would be by either hurting the snake — and in the process her own child — or by apparition. But Maggie decided to do neither. If it was space her daughter wanted, then she would give it to her.

On the days that followed, Lizl's friends would all visit — at least once a day — but no one was allowed in the room. In the end, they all gave up on getting inside, and each developed their own little ways of talking to Lizl. Liam would lean against the door and recount the days' events before dinner, Caitlin would pop by on the windowsill every morning with random news about their neighbourhood, and Jonathan would sit on the floor in the middle of the hallway and read her passages from his favourite books.

It was on New Year's Eve, a little before dinner, when Lizl finally made an appearance. She had pulled herself from her bed, showered, but on her favourite black pyjamas and fuzzy Christmas socks, and made her way down the stairs. She bypassed the door that led to the store, and headed down the hallway to the kitchen. There, her mother was waiting for her, a big dinner with all her favourite dishes beautifully displayed on the table.

It's odd really, how food can play such a big part of a child's life. When Lizl had first moved in with Maggie — back when her mother was still alive, though gravely sick — she had refused to eat anything the older witch had prepared. Maggie though, never missed a single meal. Whether Lizl wanted to eat or not, the table was always set, and her favourite snacks were always there, on the kitchen counter. It took years for Lizl to realise it was a way of building trust. But it worked. Because no matter what mischief the young girl was up to, she always knew her mother would be there, waiting for her with a warm plate of food.

Truth being told, it was Maggie that brought Lizl out of her room. The thought of leaving her mother alone on New Year's Eve was killing her. It was their tenth New Year's as a unit, their eighth as mother and daughter. And Lizl didn't want Maggie to have to spend it alone just because she was sad.