Coup de Foudre [Fred Weasley] [5]

⚡️ Chapter 9 ⚡️

"Not just yet, Molly," Sirius said, pushing away his empty plate and turning to look at Harry. "You know, I'm surprised at you. I thought the first thing you'd do when you got here would be to start asking questions about Voldemort,"

The atmosphere in the room changed with the rapidity Harry associated with the arrival of Dementors. Where seconds before it had been sleepily relaxed, it was now alert, even tense.

A frisson had gone around the table at the mention of Voldemort's name. Lupin, who had been about to take a sip of wine, lowered his goblet slowly, looking wary. Vega's hold on her spoon tightened a bit, and she glanced around at them uncertainly. She had not expected this to be brought up – she had not done all that to make people comfortable only for this topic to be picked.

"I did!" Harry exclaimed indignantly. "I asked Ron, Vega and Hermione but they said we're not allowed in the Order, so –"

"And they're quite right," Mrs. Weasley interjected. "You're too young," She was sitting bolt upright in her chair, her fists clenched upon its arms, every trace of drowsiness gone.

"Since when did someone have to be in the Order of the Phoenix to ask questions?" Sirius asked. "Harry's been trapped in that Muggle house for a month. He's got the right to know what's been happen –"

"Hang on!" George interrupted loudly.

"How come Harry gets his questions answered?" Fred asked angrily.

"We've been trying to get stuff out of you for a month," George continued on, turning to his mother. "And you haven't told us a single stinking thing!"

"'You're too young, you're not in the Order,'" Fred said, in a high-pitched voice that sounded uncannily like his mother's. "Harry's not even of age!"

"It's not my fault you haven't been told what the Order's doing," Sirius said calmly. "That's your parents' decision. Harry, on the other hand –"

"It's not down to you to decide what's good for Harry!" Mrs. Weasley said sharply. Her normally kindly face looked dangerous. "You haven't forgotten what Dumbledore said, I suppose?"

"Which bit?" Sirius asked politely, but with an air as though readying himself for a fight.

"The bit about not telling Harry more than he needs to know," Mrs. Weasley said, placing a heavy emphasis on the last three words and Vega knew that Harry would blow up about that, too.

Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George's heads turned from Sirius to Mrs. Weasley as though following a tennis rally. Ginny was kneeling amid a pile of abandoned butterbeer corks, watching the conversation with her mouth slightly open. Lupin's eyes were fixed on Sirius. Vega and Dora shared a weary look with each other.

"I don't intend to tell him more than he needs to know, Molly," Sirius responded. "But he was one of the two individuals who saw Voldemort come back. Vega gets told about stuff by Dumbledore – Harry also has more the right than most to –"

"Dumbledore's decision to share things with Vega is another matter," Mrs. Weasley said. "But neither Vega nor Harry's a member of the Order of the Phoenix! They're only fifteen and –"

"– and he's dealt with as much as most in the Order," Sirius said loudly. "And more than some –"

"No one's denying what he's done!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, her voice rising, her fists trembling on the arms of her chair. "But he's still –"

"He's not a child!" Sirius said impatiently.

"He's not an adult either!" Mrs. Weasley said, the colour rising in her cheeks. "He's not James, Sirius!"