#i get my civ fix watching one of my brothers though. it's all he ever plays

[videolover]

i can tell i'm in a really bad mood when i start wanting to play skyrim again

[twoidiotwriters1]

Written In The Stars CIV (Harry Potter xF!Oc)

A/N: Not to toot my own horn but this fic really is one of the best things I’ve ever written -Danny

Words: 3,498

Series’ Masterlist

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Listen to: ‘Enemies’ -by Lauv

Chapter Two: Expected Mishaps.

"You may think he doesn't like you, but he's got a knack for interrupting your flirting with others," Fred smirked.

"Shut up," Mel groaned.

It was chaos in the kitchen. A bunch of people trying to discover why and how Harry had seen himself in the position of having to use unauthorized magic. Mel chuckled bitterly as she entered the living room.

"This is why I don't worry, I've been acquainted with my uncle's ways for far too long to even bother– Harry was being watched, wasn't he?"

Hermione gave her an irritated look.

"You're talking about your best friend!"

"He's alive, isn't he?" She sat on a chair lazily. "Explains my headache..."

"Your headache?" Ginny asked.

"The point is," Mel brushed it off, "Dumbledore will find a way to fix it."

"They'll give him a hearing on August twelfth, he won't be expelled just yet!" Her mother's head peered from the doorway before disappearing again.

"See?" The girl smiled sarcastically. "Harry Potter and his bloody luck..."

'I've just been attacked by dementors and I might be expelled from Hogwarts. I want to know what's going on and when I'm going to get out of here.'

She'd been glaring at the piece of parchment for days. The nerve! No letters whatsoever to ask about how was she doing and the first time he writes is to demand things! As if they knew more than him...

The moment she'd gotten the letter she locked herself in her room and refused to think about it. Everyone downstairs couldn't stop talking about Harry and she just wanted a nap.

Her mother walked in with a very grim expression, holding a cup of tea.

"You missed dinner."

"M'sorry," Mel said hoarsely, rubbing her eyes. "My head was hurting..."

"Was it Harry?"

"I guess," She sulked. "This connection is a pain..."

"You must be dead worried–"

"I never said that," Mel replied promptly. "It annoys me, that's all."

"I know it hurts when things don't happen the way we want to, but I hope you know better than to treat someone poorly because of it, especially when they're not to blame."

Mel let out a short and dry chuckle. If only her mother knew...

Harry wasn't to blame on his trauma, that much was true, but when it came to the way things ended between them, that was a different story. If he'd handled things differently they'd be together. Mel would be waiting for him, he would have someone to come home to.

He messed up and yet he still had twenty people running around doing everything in their power to help him, she was allowed to be a bit shitty.

"I know," Mel replied, but it sounded condescending. "Is he coming tonight?"

"Yes. He's coming guarded."

"Because he's bloody Harry Potter..."

"Language," Her mother warned her, standing up and taking the empty teacup with her.

Ginny came in and sat down next to her, an anxious look on her face.

"What?" Mel grinned. "Why're you looking at me like that?"

Ginny inched closer.

"I promise I won't ask again, you'll have me off your back..."

"What's going on?"

"Are you avoiding him because of me?"

She didn't need to explain herself. For almost a year Ginny and Mel had kept their mouths shut about their feelings for a certain dark-haired boy in order to keep a good friendship, but tonight the wall was falling apart. They had to be clear in order to move forward.

"Not at all!" She smiled tensely. "I'm so sorry if you thought I was, I didn't mean to worry you."

"Oh!" The girl turned scarlet. "I was starting to feel guilty, especially now that..."

She stopped and sent a furtive look to the door, Mel cocked her head to the side and smirked.

"What's the matter?"

"I'm dating someone."

Mel let out a short gasp.

"Who?!"

"A Ravenclaw from your year," Ginny responded happily. "I met him during the ball, his name is Michael..."

"I know him!" She exclaimed. "Quiet boy, kinda looks like he's falling asleep all the time?"

"Yes," Ginny laughed. "He's really nice, though..."

"I'm happy for you!"

The girl beamed at her, but her eyes grew shy as she continued.

"Why did you stop talking to Harry, then?"

It'd be easier for everyone if she just started lying. Ginny knew her enough to know she wasn't being entirely honest, but Mel was determined to work on it until it was true. She wasn't going to feed a stupid illusion, by the end of the year, Harry Potter would have no place in her heart.

He was going to have a place in her life though, he proved as much three seconds later, when his voice echoed from the second floor:

"SO YOU HAVEN'T BEEN IN THE MEETINGS, BIG DEAL! YOU'VE STILL BEEN HERE, HAVEN'T YOU? YOU'VE STILL BEEN TOGETHER! ME, I'VE BEEN STUCK AT THE DURSLEYS' FOR A MONTH! AND I'VE HANDLED MORE THAN YOU TWO'VE EVER MANAGED AND DUMBLEDORE KNOWS IT — WHO SAVED THE SORCERER'S STONE? WHO GOT RID OF RIDDLE? WHO SAVED YOUR SKINS FROM THE DEMENTORS?"

Ginny and Mel shared a look.

"Sounds delighted to be here," Mel said sarcastically.

"Should we go check on him?"

The older girl changed her posture awkwardly.

"Dunno Ginny, things kinda went sideways last time we spoke..."

"It's Harry! He can't be mad at you!"

"I'm mad at him," She corrected.

"Don't be a baby," Ginny stood up. "He'll be happy to see you..."

They continued to hear his yelling as they went downstairs.

"WHO HAD TO GET PAST DRAGONS AND SPHINXES AND EVERY OTHER FOUL THING LAST YEAR? WHO SAW HIM COME BACK? WHO HAD TO ESCAPE FROM HIM? ME! BUT WHY SHOULD I KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON? WHY SHOULD ANYONE BOTHER TO TELL ME WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING?"

"He's out of control," Mel rolled her eyes, starting to feel a bit annoyed. "I'm sure everyone's listening downstairs, I'd be embarrassed if I were him..."

"CAN'T'VE WANTED TO THAT MUCH, CAN YOU, OR YOU'D HAVE SENT ME AN OWL, BUT DUMBLEDORE MADE YOU SWEAR — FOUR WEEKS I'VE BEEN STUCK IN PRIVET DRIVE, NICKING PAPERS OUT OF BINS TO TRY AND FIND OUT WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON — I SUPPOSE YOU'VE BEEN HAVING A REAL LAUGH, HAVEN'T YOU, ALL HOLED UP HERE TOGETHER —"

"...What kind of idiots does he think we are?"

"He's stressed, I mean, he's been alone hasn't he?"

"Four weeks!" Mel exclaimed. "Barely a month! Sirius spent a whole year hiding just to be sure that twat was okay!"

A loud cracking noise came from Ron's room followed by Hermione's scream, Mel chuckled.

"Your brothers have arrived at the crime scene..."

"At least that way Harry won't be able to snap at us," Ginny smiled.

When they reached the door, she hesitated. Mel stood behind her, her smile vanished completely and her palms were awfully sweaty.

"Whatever the fight was about..." Ginny said. "I'm sure you'll make things right."

"Yeah..." Mel said weakly. She really, really wished she could've avoided Harry for a few more hours. "Let's just..." She gestured vaguely to the door, which Ginny opened.

"Oh hello, Harry!" She heard her say. "I thought I heard your voice." She walked in, Mel following with a quiet groan. "It's no go with the Extendable Ears, she's gone and put an Imperturbable Charm on the kitchen door."

"How d'you know?" asked George.

"Tonks told me how to find out– You just chuck stuff at the door and if it can't make contact the door's been Imperturbed. I've been flicking Dungbombs at it from the top of the stairs and they just soar away from it, so there's no way the Extendable Ears will be able to get under the gap."

"Shame. I really fancied finding out what old Snape's been up to."

"Snape? Is he here?" Harry asked.

"Yeah," George walked past, giving Mel a funny look before carefully closing the door. He sat down and Fred and Ginny followed. "Giving a report. Top secret."

"Git," said Fred.

"He's on our side now," Hermione reminded them.

"Doesn't stop him from being a git," Ron replied. "The way he looks at us when he sees us..."

"Bill doesn't like him either," said Ginny matter-of-factly.

Harry was skinnier than ever, he had dark circles under his eyes and his hair was even more unkempt than before. But what really hit her, what made her realize how long they'd been apart, was the fact that he'd finally surpass her in height by at least six inches.

"You've grown," She stated, a mix of sadness and outrage.

"I know," Harry replied. His voice was no longer angry, and his eyes had softened at the sight of the girl.

"Good."

Mel tried not to think about the way he was looking at her. Was she supposed to hug him? To ramble about how happy she was? She didn't even know if she was happy...

The group was looking back and forth with increasing interest.

"Well," She cleared her throat. "Welcome..."

"How's Emily?" Harry stepped further.

"Fine. So is Sirius and Buck–"

"How're you?" He looked positively anxious now, eager to get closer.

For some reason, that irritated her.

"I'm having nightmares and headaches, thank you very much... You would know if you had written to me."

Harry's face fell.

"You didn't write to me either!"

"So?" She responded.

Harry looked like he wanted to reply, but Fred moved and that caught his attention, he remembered they weren't alone.

"So... Bill's here?" He asked, clearing his throat and looking away from her. "I thought he was working in Egypt."

"He applied for a desk job so he could come home and work for the Order. He says he misses the tombs, but," Fred smirked, "there are compensations..."

"What d'you mean?"

"Remember old Fleur Delacour?" said George. "She's got a job at Gringotts to eemprove 'er Eeenglish —"

"— and Bill's been giving her a lot of private lessons," Fred grinned.

"Charlie's in the Order too," said George, "but he's still in Romania, Dumbledore wants as many foreign wizards brought in as possible, so Charlie's trying to make contacts on his days off."

"Couldn't Percy do that?" Harry asked.

Mel sat down, feeling ten times heavier than an hour ago. She let Hermione silently rub her back as a way of comfort.

"Whatever you do, don't mention Percy in front of Mum and Dad," Ron said quickly.

"Why not?"

"Because every time Percy's name's mentioned, Dad breaks whatever he's holding and Mum starts crying," Fred said.

"It's been awful," said Ginny.

"I think we're well shut of him," said George darkly.

"What's happened?"

"Percy and Dad had a row. I've never seen Dad row with anyone like that. It's normally Mum who shouts..."

"It was the first week back after term ended," said Ron. "We were about to come and join the Order. Percy came home and told us he'd been promoted."

"You're kidding?" said Harry.

"Yeah, we were all surprised, because Percy got into a load of trouble about Crouch, there was an inquiry and everything. They said Percy ought to have realized Crouch was off his rocker and informed a superior. But you know Percy, Crouch left him in charge, he wasn't going to complain..."

"So how come they promoted him?"

"That's exactly what we wondered. He came home really pleased with himself — even more pleased than usual if you can imagine that — and told Dad he'd been offered a position in Fudge's own office. A really good one for someone only a year out of Hogwarts — Junior Assistant to the Minister. He expected Dad to be all impressed, I think."

"Only Dad wasn't," said Fred.

"Why not?" said Harry.

"Well, apparently Fudge has been storming 'round the Ministry checking that nobody's having any contact with Dumbledore," said George.

"Dumbledore's name's mud with the Ministry these days, see," said Fred. "They all think he's just making trouble saying You-Know-Who's back."

"Brilliant," Mel said bitterly. "More people thinking we're mental..."

"Dad says Fudge has made it clear that anyone who's in league with Dumbledore can clear out their desks," said George.

"Trouble is, Fudge suspects Dad, he knows he's friendly with Dumbledore, and he's always thought Dad's a bit of a weirdo because of his Muggle obsession —"

"But what's this got to do with Percy?" asked Harry, confused.

"I'm coming to that. Dad reckons Fudge only wants Percy in his office because he wants to use him to spy on the family — and Dumbledore."

"Bet Percy loved that." Said Harry.

"He went completely berserk. He said — well, he said loads of terrible stuff. He said he's been having to struggle against Dad's lousy reputation ever since he joined the Ministry and that Dad's got no ambition and that's why we've always been — you know — not had a lot of money, I mean —"

"What?" Harry spat.

"I know... And it got worse. He said Dad was an idiot to run around with Dumbledore, that Dumbledore was heading for big trouble and Dad was going to go down with him, and that he — Percy — knew where his loyalty lay and it was with the Ministry. And if Mum and Dad were going to become traitors to the Ministry he was going to make sure everyone knew he didn't belong to our family anymore. And he packed his bags the same night and left. He's living here in London now."

"Bastard..." Harry swore quietly. She would've laughed at his outburst hadn't been because she was upset about Percy too.

"Not that he deserves being in your family right now," Mel grumbled. "That idiot..."

"Always thought you were his fan, Lady..." Fred teased.

"If he's stupid enough to stand behind Fudge, then I clearly had the wrong impression."

"Mum's been in a right state," Ron continued. "You know — crying and stuff. She came up to London to try and talk to Percy but he slammed the door in her face. I dunno what he does if he meets Dad at work — ignores him, I s'pose."

"But Percy must know Voldemort's back– He's not stupid, he must know your mum and dad wouldn't risk everything without proof —"

"Yeah, well, your name got dragged into the row. Percy said the only evidence was your word and... I dunno... he didn't think it was good enough."

"Percy takes the Daily Prophet seriously," said Hermione.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked.

"Haven't — haven't you been getting the Daily Prophet?"

"Yeah, I have!" said Harry.

"Have you — er — been reading it thoroughly?"

"Not cover to cover. If they were going to report anything about Voldemort it would be headline news, wouldn't it!"

"I haven't read it at all," Mel didn't want anything to do with the world for as long as she could, that included the newspaper. The rest would discuss it during breakfast, but her brain would sort of tune out whenever that happened.

"Well, you'd need to read it cover to cover to pick it up, but they — um — they mention you a couple of times a week."

"But I'd have seen —"

"Not if you've only been reading the front page, you wouldn't. I'm not talking about big articles. They just slip you in, like you're a standing joke."

"What d'you — ?"

"It's quite nasty, actually," said Hermione, Mel could feel her tensing. "They're just building on Rita's stuff."

"But she's not writing for them anymore, is she?"

"Oh no, she's kept her promise — not that she's got any choice, but she laid the foundation for what they're trying to do now."

"Which is what?"

"Okay, you know she wrote that you were collapsing all over the place and saying your scar was hurting and all that? And that Mel was a dangerous loony that would do anything to keep you happy?"

"Yeah?"

"Clear as day," Mel grumbled.

"Well, they're writing about you as though you're both deluded, attention-seeking people, they say Harry thinks he's a great tragic hero or something. They keep slipping in snide comments about you. If some far-fetched story appears they say something like 'a tale worthy of Harry Potter' and if anyone has a funny accident or anything it's 'let's hope he hasn't got a scar on his forehead or we'll be asked to worship him next —'"

"I don't want anyone to worship —"

"I know you don't," said Hermione. "I know, Harry. But you see what they're doing? They want to turn you into someone nobody will believe. Fudge is behind it, I'll bet anything. They want wizards on the street to think you're just some stupid boy who's a bit of a joke, who tells ridiculous tall stories because he loves being famous and wants to keep it going."

"And they want me to look like a blind follower?" Mel asked. "A desperate, mental girl?"

"I didn't ask — I didn't want — Voldemort killed my parents!" Harry continued heatedly. "I got famous because he murdered my family but couldn't kill me! Who wants to be famous for that? Don't they think I'd rather it'd never —"

"We know, Harry," said Ginny.

"And of course, they didn't report a word about the dementors attacking you. Someone's told them to keep that quiet. That should've been a really big story, out-of-control dementors. They haven't even reported that you broke the International Statute of Secrecy — we thought they would, it would tie in so well with this image of you as some stupid show-off — we think they're biding their time until you're expelled, then they're really going to go to town — I mean, if you're expelled, obviously, you really shouldn't be, not if they abide by their own laws, there's no case against you."

The sound of steps came from outside the door. Fred grabbed his Extendable Ear and both twins vanished. Mrs Weasley appeared.

"The meeting's over, you can come down and have dinner now, everyone's dying to see you, Harry. And who's left all those Dungbombs outside the kitchen door?"

"Crookshanks. He loves playing with them," Ginny said.

"Oh... I thought it might have been Kreacher, he keeps doing odd things like that. Now don't forget to keep your voices down in the hall. Ginny, your hands are filthy, what have you been doing? Go and wash them before dinner, please..."

When the four of them were left alone, Mel had a hard time avoiding Harry's gaze.

"Look..." He started, but Hermione quickly interrupted.

"We knew you'd be angry, Harry, we really don't blame you, but you've got to understand, we did try and persuade Dumbledore —"

"Yeah, I know... Who's Kreacher?" he asked.

"The house-elf who lives here. Nutter— er," Ron looked at Mel with a bit of fear. "I mean, never met one like him."

"He's not a nutter, Ron —" Hermione started.

"His life's ambition is to have his head cut off and stuck up on a plaque just like his mother... Is that normal, Hermione?"

"Well — well, if he is a bit strange, it's not his fault —"

"I found him on the cupboard during my first morning here, he followed me for days thinking I was going to steal the cluttery–!"

"He's just doing his job!"

"Hermione still hasn't given up on spew —"

"It's not 'spew'! It's the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, and it's not just me, Dumbledore says we should be kind to Kreacher too —"

"Yeah, yeah– C'mon, I'm starving."

Ron and Hermione walked out first, a hand caught her wrist and dragged her back inside. Mel growled loudly, snatching her hand away.

"I'm not a ragdoll, you know?" She snapped.

Harry stepped back, raising his hands in surrender but looking rather decided.

"I want to talk to you."

"I'm glad you're okay but there's nothing to talk about."

"I didn't want you to react like this, I didn't want to hurt you–"

"I don't believe you," Mel replied bluntly, starting to leave. "After all we went through and you had the nerve to tell me you didn't want me close! You told me you didn't like me! Fair enough, for the first time in our lives I think I'll listen and leave you alone."

"You know it was the right thing to do, you're safer this way!" Harry rubbed his neck. "Look, I don't want you to be angry at me– I... I've missed you."

She stopped at the door, looking over her shoulder one last time.

"That's not my fault, is it?" Mel asked coldly. "Oh! And you did a splendid job with the dementors, by the way..."

'Just another thing you no longer need me for...' She thought, conscious of how all of her happy memories had to do with him.

Next Chapter —>

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