March To The Sea - George Weasley ✔️

- 1 2 7 - PLANNING

GEORGE AND FRED SET UP THE FIREWORKS, AND LORELEI SET THEM OFF. They hid in the tapestry where a hole was. George had to muffle his laughter when he heard Umbridge try to stun the fireworks, an explosion going on right after. The fireworks could not be removed that easily. Suddenly another body slid into the tapestry. Lorelei grinned when she saw it was Harry.

"Impressive," he said quietly. "Very impressive...You'll put Dr. Filibuster out of business no problem..."

"Cheers," George said, wiping tears of laughter from his face. "Oh, I hope she tried Vanishing them next... They multiply by ten every time you try."

The fireworks continued to burn and spread all over the school that afternoon. Umbridge spent her first day as Headmistress chasing the fireworks around when teachers would summon her. None of the teachers could do it themselves, as they said they didn't know if they had the authority to do so. Some, like McGonagall, liked to watch Umbridge struggle.

That night, Lorelei's hand was cramping from how much she was writing. So many people wanted to order the fireworks. Fred and George were heroes that night. Lorelei beamed at the happiness on George's face. She loved seeing him so happy.

"They were wonderful fireworks," Hermione said admiringly, shocking all three of them.

"Thanks," said George, looking both surprised and pleased. "'Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-Bangs. Only thing is, we used our whole stock, we're going to have to start again from scratch now..."

"It was worth it, though," said Fred, directing another Gryffindor to Lorelei so she could write their name down. "If you want to add your name to the waiting list, Hermione, it's five Galleons for your Basic Blaze box and twenty for the Deflagration Deluxe..."

Hermione did give Lorelei five galleons and made sure her name was on that list. Lorelei beamed at the bushy-haired witch.

Harry watched from afar, Lorelei grinning at everyone. He hadn't seen her smile so much since the holidays. Sirius seemed to always make her happy, and he was glad to see she was somewhat content without him around. She caught his eye and gave him the smile reserved for him, making him grin back. She hadn't given him that particular smile in a while.

"Seems happier," Ron noted, glancing at the mermaid. "I don't know what it is."

"I suppose it's because she finally gets to leave. You heard Fred and George. She didn't even want to come back here," Hermione said, sitting down in front of them.

A few days later after the Easter holidays, Harry came up to Lorelei asking if he could talk to her about something that had been eating him alive. When he sat down with her in the Room of Requirement that was now a little sitting area, almost like another common room, he put his head in his hands.

"My dad was an arrogant idiot when he was my age," he started, making Lorelei laugh only because she hadn't expected it.

"What?" she asked, stopping all trace of laughter when she saw him look at her with a pained expression.

"I was at my lesson with Snape, and he had to leave for a moment. I walked to his Pensieve, not realizing I would get sucked in so easily... I went back in time to when they were fifteen..." Harry trailed on, recalling Snape's memory. Lorelei listened intently on how his father hexed Snape because Sirius said they were bored. How Remus sat there and did nothing, even if he had a frown on his face. How Lily hated James, and then Snape called her a Mudblood.

Lorelei frowned and grabbed Harry's hand. Giving him a smile, she said, "You cannot judge your father or mother based on their childish selves. They were fifteen--"

"I'M FIFTEEN!" he bellowed back.

"And I understand that, but you are not your father. James, from the pictures and memories from Sirius, was an arrogant piece of work. He grew out of it. If he wouldn't have matured, Lily would have never agreed to go out with him, nevertheless marry him! Your father was a great man, and you can't judge him based on that memory. Especially if it was Snape's," she said, tugging him back down when he tried to get up angrily.

"I want to believe you, but I need to talk to Sirius. Ginny said she would help me find a way, but I don't know," he said with a frown.

"If you need Sirius, then we'll find some way for you to talk to him, Harry. I promise," she said with a smile. He felt his nerves ease a bit when she said that.

Fred, George, and Lorelei found Harry, Hermione, and Ron sitting in the Gryffindor common room with the career advice pamphlets around them. Fred leaned down to Harry's ear and whispered, "Hey, Ginny and Lor had a word with us about you." He sat down, stretching his legs on the table in front of him while George sat near them in a chair, pulling Lorelei on his lap with a mischievous grin and a kiss to her cheek. "They say you need to talk to Sirius?"

"Yeah," Harry said, acting casual as Hermione yelled out a confused 'what' in the background. "Yeah, I thought I'd like--"

"Don't be so ridiculous," said Hermione. "With Umbridge groping around in the fires and frisking all the owls?"

"Well, we think we can find a way around that," said George, smiling and tightening his hold on Lorelei's waist. "It's a simple matter of causing a diversion. Now, you may have noticed that we have been rather quiet on the mayhem front during the Easter holidays?"

"What was the point, we asked ourselves, of disrupting leisure time?" continued Fred. "No point at all, we answered ourselves. And, of course, we'd have messed up people's studying, which would be the very last thing we'd want to do." He paused and gave Hermione a nod, causing her to be taken aback by his thoughtfulness. "But it's business as usual tomorrow. And if we're going to causing a bit of uproar, why not do it so that Harry can have his chat with Sirius?"

Hermione argued with Harry. Especially after Harry said he would go to Umbridge's office. Ron agreed with Harry, making Lorelei grin at him. "Spoken like a true friend and Weasley," she teased.

Fred grinned, clapping his hand on Ron's back. "Right, then. We're thinking of doing it tomorrow just after lessons, because it should cause maximum impact if everybody's in the corridors--Harry, we'll set it off in the east wing somewhere, draw her right away from her own office--I reckon we should be able to guarantee you, what, twenty minutes?"

"Easy," said George.

"What sort of diversion is it?" asked Ron.

"You'll see, little bro," said Fred, as he, George, and Lorelei got up again. "At least, you will if you trot along to Gregory the Smarmy's corridor round about five o'clock tomorrow."