Blessed With Iridescent Wings

Fred Weasley pushed open the women’s washroom door. A girl standing alone near the doorway tried to correct him, tried to explain he was going in the wrong entrance but he ignored her. She figured he was drunk and would realize sooner or later he was in the wrong place only Fred wasn’t drunk anymore, or at least he didn’t feel like it. The sight of Mad-Eye and Lupin had sobered him and his brother up pretty quickly, enough that he knew they didn’t have time to waste.

George had disappeared into the men’s room. He was to apparate home and once Fred had gathered Lianna, they would meet him there.

The women’s room was a lot nicer to look at, in the sense that the walls weren’t all scribbled on and the colours weren’t so dark and dingy. Though just as the men’s, used up paper towels laid on the floor and all three sinks seemed to be dripping. Mariah, the bubbly blonde, was standing in front of one of the crack mirrors trying to fix her disaster of a hairdo. In one of the stalls hummed and giggled Lianna. She had kicked her shoes off before stumbling into the toilet as they lay limply in front of her door.

“Oh hello!” Mariah cried. She turned to look at him with glassy eyes, “This isn’t the boy’s room, you silly bloke! Lianna! Lianna! It’s one of the ginger twins!”

There was a slur of giggles followed by the sound of the toilet flushing, “What are you doing in – in here?”

The stall door slammed open before Fred could reply and the patter of bare feet on cold flooring sounded out. Lianna stumbled from the toilet, her tiny bag in her hand as she nearly tripped over her own shoes trying to wander towards the tall redhead. He gathered her shoulders in his large hands when she slipped again, giggling as if she was on some carnival ride.

“Merlin, you’re a mess,” Fred murmured. Mariah was too busy fluffing the crow’s-nest upon her head to hear them. Lianna could only laugh, swaying to the dull pound of the screeching song outside, “C’mon, Lianna, we gotta go.”

“Go?” Fred watched her head tilt like a dog, “We don’t need to go now, Fred!”

“Yeah!” came Mariah’s voice. She began wandering over, her hands still in her messy hair, “I thought you like dancin’ with me, Freddie?”

Lianna snorted, “You were dancing with George, silly! I got Fred.”

Mariah appeared confused, “Oh. Well where’s Georgie then?”

“Still dancin’,” Fred lied and Mariah took it upon herself to go out and search for the boy, her hair a wild mess.

Lianna was still confused as she watched Mariah disappear behind the swinging door, “Why does he get to dance and we don’t?”

Fred snorted, “He’s not dancing, Lianna. I lied.”

“Oh!” Her happy face twisted into a surprise, a somewhat upset look, “That’s not very nice, Fred.”

“I’ll make it up to her but until than we have to apparate on home!”

“I can’t go home!” Lianna muttered, “I am way too drunk to go home!”

“No one will notice -”

“No, no, I need to sober up first! Let’s go outside!”

Lianna had made a move towards the door, her bare feet slapping as she happily tried to rush back into the crowded pub. Fred gathered her with strong hands before she got far, an amused smile lingering across his face. Lianna, on the other hand, looked discouraged as the tall Weasley boy began to pull her towards a stall.

“I have an even better idea,” Fred explained, shuffling them both in. The thin stall door closed with a bang that was drowned out by the pounding bass outside.

Lianna didn’t look pleased, “This is better?”

He snorted again, “Take my hand -”

“Oh! My shoes!”

A disgruntled sigh fell from the boy’s lips but, sure enough, Fred stepped out to quickly gather the long forgotten black heels. When he returned to the stall Lianna was beaming happily and rapidly wrapped her arms around his waist. Holding on tight to the shoes, Fred pulled the drunken girl through the tight tube feeling she cursed when sober. With a crack, the two landed upon a dewy lawn in the middle of an apartment complex’s courtyard. George and Fred had broken into it a couple days before Lianna had arrived.

To the redhead’s surprise, Lianna didn’t seem affected by the apparition as she released him with a joyful smile. The air was cool compared to the bar and it felt easier to breath. Fred welcomed the feeling from the thick, sweltering atmosphere of McKellen’s Pub. Lianna, who was rather curiously staring around the large park like area, seemed pleased as well. She was delighted to see a rather large abundance of trees littering the courtyard and the cool feeling of the grass beneath her toes was absolutely amazing.

“Why – Why’d you let me get so drunk?” Lianna slurred, stumbling around the lawn in a graceless manner. Her clutch was still in her left hand and Fred was still holding her shoes.

“Why’d you let me get so sober?” He teased.

“Pfft! You’re not sober!” and she laughed happily, staggering around the dew covered grass. Fred trailed behind her slowly, laughing as she stumbled or tripped. Lianna decided she was done walking, if walking was what you could call it, and plopped down upon the lawn. Her skirt road high about her hips and she shifted it down awkwardly, pulling out the wand gripping to her thigh in the process. Her clutch fell beside her while she waved about the wooden stick carelessly.

Fred sat beside her, gathering her wand from her hand before she could yell some half-hearted spell and nearly destroy part of the building. She went to argue that it was hers but Fred promised he’d take care of it and placed it within his pocket, joining his own wand.

“So, my drunken little Anna, would you care to tell me how you can George and I apart so well? Even our own mother can’t and she’s known us for 17 years.”

Lianna giggled, that lazy smile hanging off the corner of her lips, “But it’s a secret.”

Fred beamed, “I won’t tell anyone!”

There was no wind blowing, no sound except the nearly constant giggling beside the wizard. Lianna’s feet were squirming, happily digging as deep as they could into the grass. The heels she once wore were sitting beside Fred, forgotten and wet by the dew.

Debating with her drunken self, Lianna appeared to be concentrating but it wasn’t for long. Fred, once more, said he wouldn’t tell anyone and the joyful girl seemed to be swayed, “Okay but you can’t tell George.”

“George won’t know.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

She snickered, her eyes dancing with the bright moonlight pouring down upon them, “It’s your eyes. Yours are farther apart than George’s and you’ve – you’ve got a wee little scar just there!” She pointed to his eyebrow with another giggle.

“Ah, nicked my head off the shed,” He grinned, “You must’ve been watching me pretty closely than, Anna.”

Lianna flopped back into the grass, throwing her arms behind her head, “Well you are nice to look at.”

“Really?” and he peered over at her. She had a silly look on her face, a joyful, dumb gaze and Fred wondered what was going through her fuzzy mind. It couldn’t have been much but whatever it was she was quite happy about it.

“But George is the more attractive one.”

Fred faked a horrified gasp, pretending to be offended. Lianna released another loud laugh, sitting up and proceeding to tell him she was kidding. He made a comment he was too hurt and with a sloppy throw, she grasp him in a tight hold, squeezing to his waist. When he went to forgive her Lianna leapt back determining she was hungry.

“We should go eat! I am so hungry! I think – I think burgers would be a good idea,” Lianna said, flailing her arms about her head, “Do you think there’s a burger place open?”

Fred laughed, “How ‘bout I take you home and we steal some of Mum’s cooking downstairs.”

“Oh gosh, that’d be great!” Lianna flopped back over again, the dew sinking into her orange tank top, “Your Mum is the best cook!”

“C’mon than, you sloppy girl.”

“I’m – I’m not sloppy,” but when she stood, she tumbled down to her bottom making Fred laugh loudly, grab her hand with his free one and pull her back up to her feet, “Okay, maybe just a little bit.”

“Only a little,” He teased back, gripping to her hand, “If you’re ready than.”

“Go!” She cheered, clinging to his hand and her clutch, and Fred pulled her through another tight tube like experience that she barely seemed to feel. They landed in a pitch darkness, a yelp as Lianna’s build fell upon another. It squirmed beneath her knees, gasping as they dug into its stomach.

“Oi, Anna, get off, would you?”

“Oh! I’m sorry, George,” and she stumbled off the bed, hitting the hardwood with a pound. The twins snickered at the loud sound, the girl responsible following suit nearly instantly.

“Where the hell have you two been?” George asked, grabbing his wand and whispering lumos. Lianna was beaming up from the floor. The soft glow bounced off the walls and its inhabitants and lit up the area as well as it could.

“I had to sober up first!”

“Did a good job at that I see,” laughed George.

His reply was a stupid giggle as she pushed herself up off the floor. Lianna used Fred’s bed as a support and when she was standing, dirty feet covered in wet grass, she threw herself upon it, bouncing with the thin mattress.

“I’m so hungry,” gushed the girl as she stared up at the dark ceiling. George’s light aided but did little for details or maybe that was just Lianna’s eyes getting blurry. She couldn’t be sure but she wasn’t bothered by it, either way. Lianna was far too happy to be bothered by anything.

Fred, who took the time to disappear into the kitchen, returned before Lianna even noticed he was gone. In his hands were various items from dinner. Lianna snatched the pieces of bread, happily curling up against the headboard while the twins devoured the remaining food.

“This bread is flippin’ amazing!” whispered Lianna as she shoved the last piece into her mouth.

The twins snorted, “You’re going to be so hung-over tomorrow.”

She brushed off the comment, sliding down into Fred’s bed with a yawn, “Pfft! I’ll be fine. I’m a champ!”

The reply she was given was another string of hushed laughter as Fred tossed himself upon the bed, lying right beside her. Lianna went to make a comment about getting more food but her eyes had shut and another loud yawn sang out. She fell asleep just after Fred muttered for her to move over.

-----

In the morning, despite Lianna’s determined judgment, she was far from fine. There was a pounding, a rather horrible, horrible pounding that wouldn’t stop inside her head. Her stomach felt as though it was on fire and every inch of her body ached like she had been run over. A loud moan dragged out of Lianna’s throat, her eyes tightly closed as they tried their hardest to hide from the morning light. Her face was plastered to a rather hard surface. It was warm and as Lianna allowed the world around her to focus, she realized it was breathing. Her eyes slipped open, wincing as that horrid headache grew and she found that her cheek was plastered to Fred’s bare chest.

The pounding continued and for a moment she wasn’t sure where it was coming from. Was it her head or was someone actually smashing their fists against the bedroom door?

“Fred! George! Wake up!”She heard a familiar voice yell. Lianna groaned as she pushed herself up. Fred was still fast asleep, his arms high above his head while his legs mimicked the motion. His mouth was open, his breathing loud and deep. Lianna pushed at his side, the blanket covering both of them falling to her hips. Fred answered her with a grunt.

“Open the door,” and Lianna was certain it was Ron. Discouraged by the headache and the lack of peace the 5th year was giving her, she shuffled about the bed and began searching for her wand. It appeared as through Fred had taken it from his pocket as it lay happily between both of the twins’ wands on the small bedside table. She gathered it, breathing a quick alohamora and the door unlocked.

“Took you long enough,” Ron snarled, the door pushing open, “Lupin wants -”

Lianna was displeased, a hand plastered to her forehead. Her face radiated pure pain, “What the hell Ron? It’s early.”

“What – What the bloody hell are you doing in here?” cried the boy, his face turning red as Lianna rubbed her tired eyes. Apparently that orange tank top she had been wearing had shifted in the night and laid rather low about her chest, “Don’t tell me you actually slept with -”

“No, no, of course not,” She snarled, wincing at her stomach. It felt as though something was inside clawing at her stomach’s walls. A hand shot to her gut, gasping at the pain. Fred made another groan and he twisted to his side.

“Than what are you doing in here?”

“Shut up Ron!” snarled George’s voice. Lianna looked over to see him grabbing at his pillow, trying desperately to shove it over his head.

“We were drunk,” Lianna said, a yawn breeching through, “and I guess I figured his bed was a good enough place to sleep. What are you doing here anyway?”

“Lupin’s looking for you three.”

George shot up, “Lupin?”

“Yeah, he asked me to come get you,” Ron shrugged.

“And Mum? Where’s Mum?”

“She didn’t have enough for dinner so she went out with Mrs. Walden.”

Lianna watched as George nodded, falling back into his pillow, “Right, well be down once Fred gets up.”

The door was shut in Ron’s face before the boy could even ask his brother what this was all about. Lianna winced at the sound, her body aching as she flopped back beside the snoozing redhead.

“Get Fred up, would you?” George muttered as he slid out of bed and began to look for a spare pair of pants to pull over his boxers. Lianna’s reply was a groan but she followed soon after, straddling Fred’s waist and began to violently shake the boy. He awoke with a dazed look on his face to find the girl wincing as another drill beat at her brain.

“Well hello there,” Fred said with a yawn, “Hope I didn’t miss something last night.”

Despite the pain in her head, Lianna winked, a teasing smile across her face, “You’ll never know, will you?”

George gathered his brother’s jeans, tossing them at the foot of his bed, “Fred get up, Lupin’s downstairs.”

Before Lianna could move, Fred had sprung up, knocking the girl backwards. The movement did nothing for her situation and she found herself swearing beneath her breath while her head spun.

“Why does it matter if Remus is here?” Lianna asked, gasping, “God, I’m so hung-over! How much did I drink last night?”

George couldn’t help but snort, “Quite a bit, Anna. You held that alcohol pretty well until the end of the night.”

“And to answer your previous question,” Fred took over, slipping out of his bed, “Lupin happened to come into the pub while we were there. Him and Mad-Eye, actually.”

There was a moment when both boys watched Lianna’s face. It looked like she was processing everything, her eyes thinning as she concentrated until a horrified gaze took over, “Merlin, he saw us, didn’t he? Your mother doesn’t know, right?”

“Haven’t heard any yelling,” George muttered.

Fred nodded, “Safe to say she hasn’t, at least not yet.”

Panicked and hung-over, Lianna struggled to get off the bed. She muttered that she should probably change while the twins replied that they’d gather her after they came up with some form of excuse on the slight chance Lupin said he was going to tell Mrs. Weasley.

Lianna sighed.

They had covered their asses quite well by throwing her under the bus last time they went out for the afternoon. George had explained Lianna had been pretty upset and they both decided it’d be better to take her out of the house. Molly had still been furious but she had seemed to calm enough that the three of them got away with barely any punishment. All they had to do was finish cleaning the room they skipped out on by the end of the night. Lianna had enlisted Oceana, the Water Faerie, to aid and they had been completed before anyone could complain about hard labour.

Quickly making her way to the first floor, Lianna pushed opened her bedroom door. Ginny was still snoozing but Hermione looked awake and well as she bustled about the area, grabbing some clothing to change into.

“Don’t tell me you just got in,” Hermione sighed, watching as Lianna whipped her wand about, grabbing some clothes for the day. Jeans and a pretty lacy top her mother had bought her long ago fell into her open arms.

“No, no,” Lianna muttered, “I passed out in the twins’ room.”

“You three are so lucky,” replied Hermione, “Both your mothers went out for more groceries.”

Lucky, Lianna thought, that probably wasn’t the right word.

“Ron told us,” She said, gripping to her forehead as another wave hit her, “I’m going to go change.”

“Brush your teeth too. You smell like alcohol.”

“Beautiful...” Lianna muttered, sarcastically, and she wandered out with her clothes gripped in hands. Once changed, she began to meander back to her room when two loud cracks sounded beside her. Her head throbbed, “Please... please don’t do that to me anymore today.”

“Awe is our little Lianna that hung-over?” George teased.

Lianna moaned, “I feel like my head’s been kicked by a hippogriff.”

“Sorry, love,” Fred said with a laugh, “I don’t think we’ll be able to blame it on Buckbeak.”

Buckbeak was the hippogriff in the master bedroom two floors up. He had been the reason Sirius had been able to escape going back to Azkaban, or so Ginny and her brothers’ had explained.

She sighed, “So either of you two got a plan?”

“Nope,” both replied, seemingly not a care hanging in their voice.

“What do you mean nope?”

“Exactly what we said,” Fred laughed, “We don’t have a plan.”

“So we’re screwed?”

“Probably,” George replied with a shrug. Lianna just released another loud sigh, following both boys down to the kitchen.

It was empty except for Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. George and Fred were having a grand time talking far too loudly and Lianna was wincing as she tried whacking at both of them. Her reflexes were slow as her headache took over and she had yet to hit one of them.

“Would you both just shut up?” She snarled, “My head is killing me!”

“Awe poor little Lianna,” Fred teased, looping an arm around her shoulders. The girl fell into his side, groaning into his shirt.

“Fred, George, Lianna,” They turned to see Lupin, a rather disappointed look on his tired face. He was a pale man, riddled with premature wrinkles that Hermione explained were due to his transformation every month. His hair was a fair brown, etched with greying strands.

Beside him sat Sirius Black who seemed to be trying to hide his laughter. He looked rather pleased, even more so when Lianna released another groan at the pain in her head. According to Lianna’s mother, Sirius had been a naturally handsome man in his youth but due to his imprisonment not only in Azkaban but also in his old house, he appeared grim with an unshaved face and straggly dark hair.

Subconsciously, Lianna was gnawing at her bottom lip while the twins looked unfazed, both standing tall beside the tired and rather pain filled girl.

“Can either of you tell me why we found you three in a Muggle pub last night?” Lupin asked, calmly.

“We got invited,” Lianna muttered, “When we were out the other day -”

“Didn’t think it’d be much of a problem,” Fred cut in, “No one would’ve known.”

“Well wouldn’t have,” George continued, “If you and Mad-Eye hadn’t come in. Why was that exactly?”

Sirius was amused but then again, anything the twins did Sirius seemed amused by. Most people excluding Hermione, Molly Weasley and Lianna’s mother, Cheri, seemed to thrive off the twins’ antics.

Lupin released a sigh, “Regardless of why we were there or not, neither of you three should have been. You’re not even of age in the Muggle world yet and sneaking into a pub -”

“We didn’t sneak in,” said Fred, “Lianna here did some brilliant magic and got us in.”

“Nothing on the Muggles,” She quickly cut in, firing Fred a rather dirty stare, “I just fixed a few I.D. cards, that’s all. We won’t do it again.”

“I should hope not. Alastor thought we should’ve told your mother,” said Remus Lupin, looking far more relaxed than before, “I convinced him not too but if he catches you three out of this house again, I won’t be stopping him, understand?”

Lianna felt herself nodding rapidly, nervously as she stood under Fred’s arm. Her head was throbbing and her stomach was craving food, anything that would give the claws inside something to scratch at.

“You’re being too hard on them, Moony,” Sirius said with a chuckle, “I don’t think they need any more punishment than what little Lianna over there is dealing with.”

She completely agreed. Her hang-over was enough for all three of them.

Another sigh fell from the werewolf’s mouth, “One more time and your mothers hear about it, got it?”

“Completely,” George said with a grin, “Now if that is all, we’ll be off!”

And before Fred even bothered to think about warning the hung-over girl, both boys apparated, bringing the tired female with them. Lianna felt her feet hit the hardwood floor of their room, gasping as her head spun and a wave of nausea crashed over her.

“You both suck,” she snarled, stumbling to the bed she had awoken in and dropping upon its covers. Never again, thought the girl, as she tried slipping her eyes closed. The twins’ laughed as they shuffled about their room. For awhile she cursed the noise of moving boxes and loud chuckles until an ever so tiny smile slipped across her lips and she felt herself relaxing.

The morning after had been a killer but as Lianna felt herself drifting off in a quiet sleep, she was absolutely certain it had been worth it.