black and white ✰ g.w.

CHAPTER THREE

By the next morning, it seemed that George was going to be just fine, even though he would now be missing an ear for the rest of his life. It was this and the fact that Olivia was trained in Healing that allowed Molly to come to the conclusion that George would be okay even if he wasn't in her presence. The twins constantly bringing up the shop and saying they had to get back to it probably influenced her decision as well.

And so the three of them were back in the shop working by the next morning. Athena was very happy to see them, even though Elizabeth had come round the night before to make sure she was fed. George received quite a few questions from young, curious customers about the bandage around his head, and each time, he told them some outlandish story that was far from the truth but left them walking away with their parents looking amazed.

"Lying to the customers, are we?" Olivia asked him with a grin when they had a rare free moment.

"Would you rather me tell them what really happened?" he asked her, knowing that he couldn't; they couldn't have anyone outside of the Order knowing where Harry was, and the real story would probably invoke fear in the children anyway.

"Of course not, but now there are going to be a million different stories about what happened to you."

"Exactly. No one will know which one is true. It'll be like one big mystery that no one can figure out about how George Weasley lost his ear."

"So you want to be an enigma among schoolchildren, is that it?"

"Sounds about right."

Olivia just looked at him for a moment and laughed. "You're so annoying."

"You love me."

"Yes, but that doesn't make you less annoying."

.｡❅*⋆⍋*∞*｡*∞*⍋⋆*❅｡.

Later that day, in the evening after having closed the shop for the day, Faustus stopped by with Rosalia. As Rosalia had never been to the shop before, they allowed her to have a look around. In the meantime, Olivia turned to Faustus.

"Seems like you took my advice," she said with a smirk. "Good thinking."

"Shut up," he grumbled in response.

"How's Grandpa?" she asked him once the group of five had gathered upstairs in the flat.

Faustus just shrugged. "I'm not sure. Probably not well, but you know him, he'll never admit that. All I've noticed is the increase in the amount of firewhisky in the house."

"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me," Olivia said, sighing and remembering how her mother had been after Sirius died. "And he hasn't been bothering you about being 18 and unemployed?"

"He did at first, but then I joined the Order and he sort of let it go; I suppose he sees it as me having more time to help."

"Was that your intention? Or do you have something else planned?"

At this, Faustus looked to Rosalia, and the two seemed to have a silent conversation among themselves before turning again to the other three.

"Yes, actually," Faustus said.

There was a moment of quiet before Fred asked, "Do we get to know what this plan is, or...?"

Again, Faustus looked at Rosalia, and this time, she was the one that explained.

"We're leaving," she told them. "We don't know when exactly, but we're ready to go at a moment's notice. After the wedding, of course."

"This doesn't have anything to do with Ron, Harry, and Hermione leaving Hogwarts, does it?" George questioned.

"No," Faustus answered. "We don't know anything about what they're doing, we're just as in the dark about that as everyone else is."

"You're sure?" Olivia asked, knowing that Harry and Faustus were close.

"I'm sure."

"Do we get to know what you're doing or where you're going?"

"I'm afraid not."

"I must say, I'm quite surprised Hermione is leaving school," Rosalia said. "She seems like the last person that would do something like that. And the fact that they're not taking Arabella with them..."

"Yeah, no kidding," Fred said. "Trust me, we're all as confused as you are. But it's obviously important, otherwise they wouldn't be doing it."

"I don't blame them, though," Faustus said, "even if they weren't doing something important. If I were younger, I wouldn't be going back this year, either. Not with the way things are going." When the other four agreed, he added, "Uncle Henry and Aunt Amelia are considering keeping Fraser and Duncan home this year. Same with Uncle Aaron and Aunt Natalia with Evelyn. I mean, don't get me wrong, they're going to send them back, but I've heard them talking, and for the first time it sounds like they don't want to. Especially since Aunt Amelia's Muggle-born and all, and they don't want anything to happen to Fraser and Duncan because of that."

"But Professor McGonagall is headmistress, isn't she? She won't let anything happen to them," Rosalia pointed out.

"That's if she's still headmistress by the time term starts," Olivia said. "We have reason to believe the Death Eaters are actively working to take over the Ministry, and who's to say they won't go for Hogwarts once they accomplish that?"

"And even if they let McGonagall remain as headmistress, remember Umbridge?" George said. "Dumbledore was headmaster for most of that year, yet Fudge and Umbridge still found ways to cause problems from day one."

"Exactly," Fred agreed. "Once they have the Ministry, it's pretty much a given that they'll have Hogwarts, too. There's no way You-Know-Who would pass up that opportunity."

A silence fell on them all in which they realized the true weight of the situation, and felt extremely concerned for their young family members that would be returning to Hogwarts in just over a month.

[word count: 966]
[written: 10/31/20]
[published: 10/31/20]
happy halloween everybody!!