𝗷𝗮𝗻𝗲, harry potter

˗ˋ 89

CHAPTER EIGHTY NINE
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-: fifth year :-

── IN WHICH MOODY PROVIDES A TREAT

. . .

Jane didn't know what she had gotten herself roped into, but after a muttered confession of the twins' plans to Harry she distracted herself through filling her plate with a mix of normal and wizarding food her old self would have marvelled at, had she not seen tables of it since arriving at Grimmauld Place three weeks prior. 

She was eating some kind of pie with a fork carved into the odd shape of a raven's wing whilst Ron blabbered on about his new broomstick - a topic that she knew very little about - and ended up nodding enthusiastically with every bursting compliment he came out with. Bill ended up requiring her help in convincing Molly that his hair didn't need cutting (to which she ended up convincing the woman that longer hair was all the rage) and then found Tonks and Kingsley talking about being Aurors which saved her from yet another burst of Ron's babbles about his new broom. 

That was a certain area that Jane's reading hadn't covered. She had heard some of the descriptions of magical jobs - including things to do with potions, herbology and magical creatures - but she hadn't exactly delved into the area of Aurors and that kind of jobs. It sounded dangerous, but yet filled a certain part of her imagination with all kind of sequences that matched with the action of many films she had seen yet with the element of magic involved. However, that being said, Jane got the feeling that if she found out about the dangers and the reality of the job, it wouldn't seem so exciting. And so, she tried her best to keep the conversation on the lighter aspects of the job, most of which consisted of her asking how they were keeping Sirius off the rader of the Ministry as opposed to any duels they had coming up. 

"Potter - Everleigh... er - Jane." A gruff sounding voice broke through the conversation and she jumped out of her skin, her eyes sliding over to Mad-Eye, who was beckoning the young couple over. She might find herself particularly unnerved in front of a wizard who had truly seen it all - and she knew that Alastor Moody really had - but Jane was nowhere near rude, and she sidled over, finding Harry once again. 

"I've got something that might interest you both." Mad-Eye said in the same tone. Harry glanced at Jane, knowing just how nervous she could feel around him and reached for her hand as the man pulled out a small folded slip of paper from his pocket. "The.. Original.. Order of the Phoenix." He finally managed to get out as he unfolded it with calloused fingers. "Found it last night when I was looking for my spare Invisibility Cloak, seeing as Podmore hasn't had the manners to return my best one... Thought people might like to see it."

He held it out in front of them, creased and folded so much holes were almost wearing in the corners. Harry held it carefully at the edges, his eyes flickering over it and holding it closer to Jane. She scanned it and witnessed a small crowd of people, some waving at them, others lifting their glasses but all looking back up at them. 

"There's me." He announced, peering over the top of the photograph. He pointed himself out, quite unnecessarily. The Moody in the picture was unmistakable, thoughhis hair was slightly less gray and his nose was intact. "And there's Dumbledore beside me, Orson and Dedalus Diggle on the otherside... Madam Vera and her neice, Marlene McKinnon, she was killed two weeks after this was taken, they got her whole family other than Vera - you've met her, I think. Flora and Angela, of course, and that's Frank and Alice Longbottom-"

Harry swallowed, adam's apple bobbing uncomfortably; Neville was a name they both recognised, however he was the one far more aware of the reality of that statement. Frank and Alice had been tortured to the point where it wasn't worth living - their minds completely addled by the overuse of the Cruciatus curse. 

"Poor devils," growled Moody, words in alignment with Harry's thoughts.. "Better dead than what happened to them... and that's Emmeline Vance, you've met her, Benjy Fenwick, he copped ittoo, we only ever found bits of him... shift aside there," he added, poking the picture, and the little photographic people edged sideways, so that those who were partially obscured could move to the front.

 "That's Edgar Bones... brother of Amelia Bones, they got him and his family too, he was a great wizard." Moody continued, as though he hadn't completely addled the arrangement of the photo. "Sturgis Podmore, blimey, he looks young, Caradoc Dearborn, vanished six months after this, we never found his body. Hagrid, of course, looks exactly the same as ever, Elphias Doge, you've met him, I'd forgotten he used to wear that stupid hat, Gideon Prewett, it took five Death Eaters to kill him and his brother Fabian, they fought like heroes - Molly's brothers, twins as well, where Fred and George got their middle names.. and I suppose their initials...budge along, budge along..."

For a moment, Jane paused and looked away, flickering over to where the twins were slipping back into the kitchen after disappearing with those seeds they had acquired from Mundungus. She hadn't imagined that Molly to have also had brothers like that, but it somewhat made sense. 

The little people in the photograph jostled among themselves, and those hidden right at the back appeared at the forefront of the picture. "That's Dumbledore's brother, Aberforth, only time I ever met him, strange bloke. That's Dorcas Meadowes, Voldemort killed her personally. Sirius, when he cut his hair short that one time, and Lupin of course... and... there you go, thought that would interest you both!" 

Jane's heart turned over as she stared down at the faces staring at her. She knew them, implicity, because the features were her very own. Wendy and Edward Everleigh had their arms around each other, James and Lily Potter next to them. Harry felt an odd lump in his throat that he didn't quite understand; he had seen pictures of his parents plenty of times, but he believed it had something to do with the thumb and finger tightening on the corner of the photo that made him feel a little more guilty. 

"Have you seen many pictures of your parents?" Moody asked, not so unsensitive but more.. unaware. Jane shook her head.

"Just one or two." The ginger replied, examining the photo. As it moved, James threw an arm around Edward and Sirius and somehow Remus too, accidentally pushing Lily into Wendy and Pettigrew and disrupting the rest of the balance. "Yeah. Just one or two."

"Eh?" Moody smiled, heavily scarred face brightening as Jane handed the photograph, smile appearing wide on her face.

"Thank you, Mr Moody." She smiled. "But - um - I've just..."

"I've forgotten to pack my - er - " But try as Harry might, he was just as useless at coming up with an excuse as his girlfriend, and it was Sirius who came to the rescue, asking about the photo as Jane and Harry slipped out of the corner they had been pulled into and finding themselves making their way out of the kitchen, wanting as much time as they could alone before the very next day, where the summer would come to a definitive end. 

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