Brooklyn and the Boy Who Lived

Wizard Wheezes and Draco's Detour

Mrs. Weasley fussed over both Brooklyn and Harry as they sat down, King Arthur sitting next to Brooklyn.

"So, noble Brooklyn, how did your mission with Dumbledore go?" Brooklyn grinned back at him.

"Well, we at least made it here in one piece, and Dumbledore managed to rehire an old Professor named Horace Slughorn to teach again."

Arthur nodded. "Sounds like quite the quest, indeed. But your friend looks too underfed. Don't they feed him over in Privet Drive?"

The gargoyle frowned recalling the time the Dursleys had locked Harry in his room and tried to starve him, and shook his head.

"Sometimes, but they only give him scraps of their meals from what I've seen when I stayed at that house," he said in an angry tone. Arthur looked pretty outraged.

"That shouldn't be the kind of relatives he should be living with! Harry deserves a better life than that!"

Brooklyn looked down. "I wish, but he can't leave until he turns 17, which is when the protection spell breaks, and he doesn't have to live with them anymore." Arthur thumped his back.

"Cheer up, lad. Everything will soon be okay for your brother. He just has to be able to keep facing that dragon of a family until he is free." Leo nodded in agreement.

"Uh, sure," Brooklyn responded back, as he suddenly saw somebody come down, carrying a tray of soup, sandwiches and butterbeer. It was Fleur!

"Anybody hungry?" Fleur called in her flowery voice, smiling at the sight of Harry and Brooklyn before her. He grinned, rather nervously, since he tried to get friendly with her once, but it didn't quite work.

"Whoa, Fleur, it's been a while!" He exclaimed. Brooklyn was pleased to see her, it had been ages since the Triwizard tournament. She smiled at him, setting down the tray and giving the two boys a hug.

"But what are you doing here?" Harry asked. Her smile widened.

"Oh, You two don't know? I'm visiting my fiancé, Bill. We're going to be married!" Brooklyn's mouth fell open, her and Bill? For real? He remembered how the two met during the Third Task, and Bill at one point said he was going to give her lessons to improve her English.

"Er, congratulations, Fleur," Harry said, as he took a sandwich, Arthur also congratulating her, too, making her blush from being complimented by the famous Arthur Pendragon, though Mrs. Weasley didn't seem at all pleased for some reason, her lips pursed. Una had given Fleur a hug of her own, pleased about her marriage to such a fine young man.

Brooklyn supposed by now that he could see something happen between her and Bill. Fleur even asked them to be at their wedding, and he couldn't turn it down, for the gargoyle had never been to a human wedding before, after seeing them on tv many times. He just felt so lucky to be included in a lot of these human rituals. Maybe if his Clan ever made it here, they could drop in on the wedding, too!

After a lighthearted meal and catching up, hearing news of Mr. Weasley being promoted and the Twin's joke shop doing quite well, the brothers said goodnight, going upstairs to bed, for it was practically 1:00 in the morning and Brooklyn now wondered, how did King Arthur stay up that late to greet them? Sure, gargoyles are nocturnal, but he guessed that Arthur must have some kind of magic to help him stay up as long as them.

They got Fred and George's room, and Brooklyn gratefully lay in the bed, after pulling out a Puking Pastille from the pillowcase, dropped off almost immediately, curled under the covers.

....

The next morning he was rudely awakened by a loud noise, he shot up, eyes still flickering with tiredness, seeing figures of people in front of him.