Closer To The Stars || Fred Weasley

7. Family Reunion

Saturday came faster than ever. Soon enough, Lorette found herself panicking on what to wear and how to talk to her mother.

They arrived at Hogsmeade around 11:30 a.m. and immediately left for Madam Paddifoot's tea shop. Professor Lupin had decided to go with them, he hadn't seen Lorette's parents in years.

"LorLor, darling, how are you?" Her father asked, bringing her into a gentle hug.

"Just fine father, thank you for asking. And yourself?" Lorette replied.

"Very well, very well. Though I'm a bit worried about all these attacks" Vittorio's tone implied he knew why they had come. "Tell me more about them."

"Well, as you know, on Halloween, a dog broke into Hogwarts and attacked Ron Weasley. Very weird, he said the dog seemed to want his rat more than him." Lorette said as she spoke quietly to her parents.

Amira looked around the shop, realizing there were a lot of people, specifically men, staring at her and her two daughters. "Perhaps, Vittorio here is not the best place to discuss this. We don't exactly have...privacy." She said, darting her eyes at all the men fawning over her.

They nodded and left the shop. They saw no one near the shrieking shack and decided to go in. They knew no one would go in it or near.

"I saw him on Halloween night. We talked." Lorette said, making sure no one else was there.

Vittorio's eyes widened and Amira's mouth fell open. Remus was not as surprised because Lorette had told him before everyone else.

"What did he say?" Vittorio asked.

"That he missed us and that he's working on killing the rat."

"How did you manage to get away from Dumbledore? I was told he was keeping a very close watch on all the students." Vittorio said. Amira's and Remus's heads tilted.

"I went to the bathroom and got lost and Uncle Sirius found me." Lorette's cheeks turned pink as she was once again reminded of her kiss with Oliver. With all that had happened since their kiss, she kept forgetting about it.

"He let you go by yourself?" Amira said.

"No, she should've gone with a group of girls and never left their side." Remus said.

"I did go with a group...I just didn't stay by their side. What does it matter? It's Uncle Sirius for God's sake! It's not like he was going to murder me!" Lorette argued.

"But if there was a real murderer you would've been in danger! And I know the dementors have been sneaking onto school grounds and attacking students." Amira said.

"They got onto the ground once and attacked one student, Harry Potter," Lorette said, raising her voice.

"Aria, why were you alone?" Amira asked.

"Lory was with Oliver Wood." Lucia snickered.

"Lucia!" Lorette yelled.

"Oliver Wood? He's a pureblood, isn't he?" Amira asked Remus, who nodded.

"Yes, and he's the quidditch captain for Gryffindor," Remus smirked.

Amira raised an eyebrow and smiled, happy that her daughter had found someone who she thought "appropriate".

Vittorio, however, was not as happy as his wife. "What were you doing with Oliver Wood?"

"Ah, just a wee bit of good old snogging." Lucas said, as he turned around and wrapped his arms around himself to mimic the kissing.