Astrophile [J.P]

Chapter 47

~ I'm living on borrowed time right up to the end of the line,

But every light that flickers and shines will come together in the glory time. ~

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When Felicity gained consciousness and had recovered from the fatigue considerably, James and Esther explained the whole situation to her. Esther had agreed to go to Italy and contacted Stefan as well who was waiting in the other room, having returned from his business trip immediately after hearing about the attack at his house.

He had also agreed with Dumbledore's suggestion and had made the preparations of taking Esther with him to Italy, even though it had been on incredibly short notice.

And though Fel did not want to leave her mother, she knew it was better for Esther to go to Italy or else she could be in danger as well. And the least she wanted was her mother to get hurt due to her or any of the chaos that surrounded her due to the fact that she was a witch.

As for Felicity, it was decided that she would shift back to Alphard's house at Magnolia Crescent while Marlene was supposed to stay with her with James checking up occasionally on the two. 

The next day after Esther and Stefan had left, Felicity and Marlene departed for Magnolia Crescent as well. 

Throughout the bus ride to Magnolia Crescent, Felicity kept silent while Marlene supplied most of the conversation. Her mind was whirring with a thousand thoughts and though she had initially not wanted to join the Order, the current events had made her think otherwise.

She was thinking that if James had not come to their rescue with the Order, she and her mother would not even be alive by then. And she couldn't help but wonder of many other people who were threatened by the Dark Lord and how the Order was the sole ray of hope for them. Those thoughts had encouraged her to finally join the Order of the Phoenix herself as well.

They got off the bus as their destination arrived and Felicity led the way down the street to house number seven. Taking out her key she twisted open the lock and stepped inside along with Marlene, locking the door securely once they were both inside.

"This is where Sirius lives?" Marlene remarked as her eyes curiously took in the surroundings.

"Yes," she answered knowing that she would have to answer a lot of questions because Marlene did not yet know of her relation to Sirius and Alphard.

Alphard's room was kept under a lock but other than that the whole house seemed rather inviting with the slight touches of redecoration Sirius and Fel had done earlier adding a pleasant feel to it. Flower pots were placed at regular intervals throughout the living room and a few photo frames were put up by the fireplace as well.

"But looks like you've been here often too," she was observing the photo frames placed in the living room which had both Sirius and Felicity along with Alphard in many of them.

"I have. Me and Sirius are cousins," Felicity mumbled, finally letting her know though she kept her gaze averted from her curious green eyes, "this used to be my father's house.

"Oh," she seemed quite startled at the sudden discovery and her shock was rather expected, "who would have thought...? I mean... It's a bit shocking. You and Sirius are way too opposite."

"I know. I still can't believe my cousin is such a walking disaster," she mumbled, making a slight attempt to lighten up the atmosphere by a joke, "that's exactly why I don't tell anyone we're related."

An awkward silence gripped them but Felicity busied herself in starting the fire in the hearth, knowing full well that her companion's eyes were focused on her.

"First things first, we have to put up a few protective enchantments," Marlene spoke up breaking the silence at last, "then you are going to give me a tour of this house. It sure looks real comfy."

"Of course. You'll like it a lot," she smiled softly at her.

After the protective enchantments were set up and Felicity had given her the requested tour of the house, the two had retreated to the kitchen in order to fix up dinner. Thankfully Sirius had not eaten up all the food supplies and there was still enough for them for that night's dinner and the next day's breakfast. Though Fel knew she would have to stock up on the groceries soon.

Marlene had perched up on the counter, taking out the crockery from a cabinet, "it's surprising the kitchen is still intact considering that Sirius has been using it before us."

"He's slightly less of a hazard at Muggle work," Felicity replied, "but one can never be certain."

"And I'm absolutely useless at doing things the Muggle way," she admitted sheepishly, "I'm glad we can use magic now or else everything would have been a huge mess here."

A slight smile crept over Fel's face as she took the dishes from her, "don't worry, you'll get used to it soon."

Her olive green eyes widened in alarm upon hearing that, "what? Am I not going to use magic here?"

"Not in the kitchen. I prefer to cook normally," Fel replied, "it will be good practice for you too."

She held her hands in retreat dramatically, "no no no, when Sirius will return he will blame me for exploding his kitchen."

"He will not."

"Oh yes he will and trust him to even get out some kind of reimbursement fee as well."

A short chuckle escaped her as she spoke, "we'll see about that."

Though Felicity knew one thing for certain, her companion was never going to let her get bored and was quite adept at distracting her from the bleak thoughts of war. And at that moment she was really grateful for her presence and knew that having Marlene McKinnon around was going to definitely make the whole staying undercover slightly more interesting than she would have ever expected.

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