The Queen of Vipers || Fred Weasley

III.XVIII

The Weasleys and co. were already at St. Mungo's by the time she arrived at Grimmauld Place with Mad-Eye as her escort.

Sirius met them at the door of the drawing room. "Finally," was all he said when he crushed Electra against him in a hug. Mad-Eye took her trunk and large platter of cookies from her hands, allowing her to hug her father back just as fiercely. He smelled like her menthols and aftershave.

She hummed. "I see you found my secret stash."

Sirius chuckled and let her go. "Not so secret when you tell your old man where they are. Though, I don't know how you smoke those." He made a sound of disgust.

"I like mint," she pouted.

"You must to enjoy those things," he teased. He pressed his palms into her cheeks, gazing into her face and grinning in content. "Did you have lunch yet?" She shook her head. Sirius let her face go. "Come on, let's have lunch and a cuppa. Shall we?"

Electra nodded and followed him out of the drawing room and into the kitchen. The kitchen was by far her favorite room in the house; it was the only one that felt just a little bit homey.

Sirius flicked his wand lazily and two flames in the gas stove came alive. He settled a large skillet on one while on his way to the sink to fill the kettle. He turned the tap off and with a rap of his wand against the metal of the kettle, it went gently sailing over to the stove and settled over the flame.

Electra sat in one of the chairs as Sirius worked. He turned to the fridge and stuck his head in. "Tell me, is that Umbridge woman still bothering you?"

Electra snorted very unlady-like. "Her presence bothers me."

Sirius chuckled as he ducked his head out of the fridge, an assortment of items in his hands. He dumped them on the table and grabbed a plate of meat before turning his back on her to place them on the hot skillet. "Harry's been filling me in," he said over his shoulder. "She sounds like a right piece of work."

Electra grumbled as she looked down at her ruined hand. "That's putting it nicely."

He let out another gruff chuckle, the smell of bacon filling the air. "Yeah, well I like the sound of that Defence Against the Dark Arts group you've got going on."

Electra shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I'm not a part of it."

Sirius's head snapped around. He made a sound in pain as he gripped his neck with his hand and quickly massaged the crick out. "What do you mean you're not a part of their group? Didn't they ask you to join?"

Electra's brows puckered and rose, clearly reading as 'you can't be serious'. Sirius placed a fist on his hip in a very dad-like manner. "They excluded you?!"

Electra shook her head. "No. Fred invited me. But I didn't think it would be very constructive to have me there at recruiting."

"Why?"

She waved a hand in indifference. "I've made a name for myself in school."

"Oh? What name would that be?"

"Bitch," she said with an unruffled shrug.

Sirius laughed as he took the kettle off the stove. Electra reached behind her and pulled two tea sets and spoons off the hutch. Sirius filled both up and asked which tea she'd like. "Uncle Moony's." He smiled and reached up, handing her the tin of Remus's tea off a higher shelf for her. "Regardless, you're family to Harry," Sirius said as he set the kettle back on the stove over an open burner. "I'll have a talk with Harry when they get back from St. Mungo's—"

"Don't bother," she said as she spooned tea leaves into her cup, "I'm already on it."

He raised one of his brows. "You are, are you?"