another love; harry potter

thirty-five

\ wherein the family grows stronger /

"COME ON, KIDS, LET'S hurry up!" said Arthur Weasley, counting us all as we got onto the Knight Bus. "We're late to reach headquarters!"

"Headquarters?" Ron repeated. "Headquarters  for what?"

"You'll find out when we get there. Come on, come on!"

"Arthur- do we have all the kids?! Fred, George, Pheobe, Ron- where's Ginny?!" Mrs. Weasley yelped. We all froze.

"Shit."

"YOU FORGOT ME!"

"WE DIDN'T MEAN TO!" Fred yelled back as Ginny stormed into the Knight Bus, her face matching her hair color. 

"Sorry, Ginny, we forgot about our other little sister!" George said apologetically. Ginny scowled, snapping her head towards me. 

"And you! You- I used to like you! I thought you were cool, that you were nice, but no!" she snarled, "you're evil! You're taking my role in the family that you haven't known a year, whereas I've been the little, abandoned sister my whole life, and suddenly, you come along, and everyone's all 'oh, you're the daughter we always wanted!' For fuck's sake, you've even got Harry damn Potter head over heels for you! Everything I have ever wanted, you came along and took within five months. I despise you with every fiber of my being." I stared at Ginny. 

"I'm sorry, Ginny," and I saw a flash of guilt flash across her face, which confused me but I didn't mention it, "I'll step back a bit. I'm sorry."

"We're here," Ginny said when the bus had jerked to a stop. "Pheobe... can I talk to you when we go inside?" her voice had dropped and her tone was suddenly significantly different. I frowned but nodded, slinging my backpack over my shoulder and exiting the bus with the other Weasley's.

"Alright, come in, come in, kids," Arthur said, ushering us all into the house one by one. "Ginny, you're here- yes, good, very good...now, you can all go upstairs and pick out rooms, there's..." he kept talking but eventually I tuned him out, slipping past them to go to the dining room, where my dad and Remus Lupin were talking and chuckling casually, the worry lines on their faces slightly less evident than the smile lines. They must have heard me come in, because both men immediately snapped their heads to me. 

"Pheobe!" my Dad exclaimed, rushing to me and throwing me in a hug. I smiled tightly. 

"Hey, dad," I said. I knew he was trying to make up for not being a father all those years, so I was willing to try too. 

"I haven't seen you in so long!" he said in a shocked tone as he released me. "You're so tall! And- I'm sorry, when did your hair magically go from brown to red?" I frowned and picked up a strand of my hair. 

"Have you finally gone colorblind?" I asked suspiciously, tucking my brown hair behind my ear and walking over to where he had been sitting to see what was in his cup. "Are you drunk?" I narrowed my eyes and looked at Remus. "Has he been drinking? Oh my God, Dad, has old age finally caught up?!" I said mockingly, pretending to be concerned. He rolled his eyes. 

"No, dramatic child, I was just saying you're practically a Weasley at this point." his face fell slightly. "Just as well, the Blacks won't help you any better than they helped me."