RED SPARROW ➼ George Weasley

[𝟎𝟎𝟓] - the sparrow's return

        Perhaps Sirius had been exaggerating slightly when he had boasted about what an incredible chef he was. He'd managed to find an old recipe in one of the few cookbooks lining the shelves of the Black family library, but the meat inside the pelmeni dough hadn't really been cooked properly, and he hadn't listened when she'd specified 'vegetable' broth, so it wasn't particularly up to her standards.

        But between the food and the furniture in the attic, he was trying. He was really trying, and maybe she was just feeling sensitive after her conversation with Dumbledore, but she felt ridiculously grateful that there were still people in the world willing to tolerate and try for her.

Lupin was acting strangely. Perhaps that was her fault. No, it was definitely her fault. She shouldn't have lashed out at him. She shouldn't have been so blunt about the whole werewolf thing. She'd gotten off on the wrong foot with him, and of course she felt guilty, but at least she was perceptive enough to understand her mistakes. Being sensitive towards other's feelings would most likely come in handy when surrounded by hundreds of emotional and sheltered teenagers, and though she was uncomfortable with this rising sense of guilt in the pit of her stomach, she decided to think of it as training. She would develop her emotional intelligence further and strategies about the best way to apologise to Lupin. If she thought about it as a mission, then it would be easier.

She left the table with the intent to sleep for the first time in what must have been at least five days. She had been quiet at dinner. Clearly Sirius and Lupin went way back. Conversation seemed effortless between them, and it made Magdalina feel distinctly out of place when the attention was focused on her – her words were stilted and unsure; she hadn't figured out how to talk to these people yet. Sirius had a charismatic presence, but she still felt the need to choose her words carefully.

        As she alighted the stairs on her way to bed, it dawned on her that not only did she not quite trust them yet, but she also didn't know if she could truly trust anybody every again now that Pavel had died.

        Despite its enchanted lighting and thick curtains, the attic still felt cold. She slept with the jumper over her new pyjamas. Perhaps it would make her act oddly around this 'George' when he arrived at Grimmauld place with his family, but she didn't really care. She hated herself for admitting it; it felt shameful and stupid, but she had already grown attached to it.

        The next two and a half weeks followed in each other's footsteps quite ordinarily. It felt like the beginning of any new mission for Magdalina. Subtly snooping around, trying to keep out of the way, gathering intel, slowly constructing a new character to play for the next however long. She killed a lot of time in the library, and once the weather got slightly warmer at the height of the British summertime, she listened through Sirius's extensive record collection with a portable turntable on the roof.

        The Order began meeting every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday night. With each meeting that passed, their ranks grew larger, and more than twenty people passed through the ground floor corridor every week. Upon Dumbledore's next arrival, he invited her to sit in on the meetings. She respectfully declined, deciding that it would be smart to remain on the same level of cluelessness as the other teenagers that were due to arrive – she wouldn't want them to harbour any resentment or jealousy towards her.

        Besides, Sirius updated her on what was going on after every single meeting anyways. Every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday, he raced up the ladder to join her for a smoke and excitedly recall all of the key events that had taken place. It got to a certain point where she had to ask him to leave out specific details to keep her in the dark about certain things.

        He was like an excitable child with a new little sibling to play with and spent many an hour helping her root through wardrobes and dressers in various bedrooms in Grimmauld Place to find new clothes for Magdalina. They'd found a box belonging to Sirius's cousin Andromeda, who was apparently "the only Black in the last century who isn't completely deranged - including myself".