Pranking hearts

Everything seemed to be changing once again in Rhea's life. One would have thought that she would be used to it but this seemed to be by far one of the worst summers she ever experienced. She was asked to pack all her things from her room as soon as she came home. They moved houses. Or at least they moved Rhea. She was now living with her father. Not that she minded too much but it was certainly a change. Remus would occasionally stay over but most of the time he was Merlin knows where which was worrying Rhea to no end. She was annoyed that she couldn't be at her house anymore and had to be in Grimmauld's place.

The house of the Black family surely wasn't as inviting as she was used to. Stuffed heads of House-elves littered the walls. Terrible paintings of scowling old men and women. The old smell of mould was soaked up in the walls. She hated it there. And what she hated the most was the giant portrait of her grandmother. Walburga Black was definitely getting on the nerves of the young witch.

In this house, Rhea resided in a very nice bedroom. It was on the topmost floor. There were only two rooms. Her father let her choose which one she wanted. It was a decision between a large, spacious room, decorated in Gryffindor colour or a slightly smaller room decorated with green colours, newspaper clippings and a large Black symbol over the bed. Surprisingly Rhea chose a room which was smaller and green. She didn't know why. It was obvious the latter one used to be Sirius' room. If it weren't for the Gryffindor decor, the half-naked girl posters on motorbikes and band posters said it clearly. It was strange but the room that she chose pulled her in more. It felt right to be there. Even if the sign of the threshold read: 'Do Not Enter Without the Express Permission of Regulus Arcturus Black.'  She found herself pretty comfortable in there. Feeling like she could really be close with her uncle Regulus if he was still around.

To say the least, the room quickly became her favourite part of the house. It was quiet and far from everyone else. Since her father preferred to sleep anywhere else but his old bedroom for some reason. And because Rhea wasn't in the ideal mood for most of the time she was in the house it was the best place for her. She also did some research on her late uncle. Finding some interesting things about him made her wonder just how much of a Dark Lord supporter he actually was when he had all these things he found out about him.

It was just the start of the summer holidays it was maybe just a week of Rhea roaming the halls of Grimmauld Place. She is getting used to the house. Though it can't be said she was exactly enjoying it there. But she found a lot of things that she really liked. Like an old gramophone that Regulus had hidden in his room which was quite strange since the old thing had her father's initials on it. It was great to listen to music from it, it made Rhea relax during the night. Her father didn't mind the noise, which might be also because he couldn't hear it all the way to where he was in the house.

Rhea spent most of the days of her summer break in the old green room. It slightly worried Sirius. She would only ever come down to eat or when Remus came from his mission for the order. Overall she only spent like six hours in total with them. Which was weird since Rhea was a rather social person. One morning when Remus and Sirius were in the kitchen, they were waiting for Rhea. The girl must have been up already since it was late. But she still hasn't graced them with her lovely presence that morning.

"She's worrying me," Sirius muttered, sitting on the kitchen counter. Remus eyed him from his place behind the table, sipping on his tea. The way he was sitting there made him realise that Sirius hadn't changed at all from their Hogwarts years. He was still the same rebellious teenager he always was. He just looked older now. "What? Aren't you worried about her? You always worry. You are the Worrywolf," Sirius fussed when he received no answer from his friend.

"It's pronounced Werewolf." Remus corrected absentmindedly taking a sip from the tea. Sirius huffed in annoyance as loudly and theatrically as he only could.

Remus sighed, shaking his head. Of course, he was worried. He raised Rhea on his own for so long that she was practically his. And he saw her as his. He worried more than Sirius could even imagine, but he wasn't the father figure anymore. He was reminded of that more than once last year when he and Sirius were co-parenting together. The two of them had very different ideas of how they should parent a teenager, which led to the two of them always being at each other's throats. Remus wasn't ready to step down from the role. And Sirius was not allowing him to give him advice. But Uncle Moony wasn't backing out of his position without a fight. Not yet anyway until he was sure Sirius was doing a good job.

"Well, maybe someone should go up there and talk to her," Remus suggested, bringing the mug back to his lips to drink.

"You're right," Sirius said, nodding to himself. "Tell me how it turned out." He said to Remus with a smile. The werewolf boy stared at him with a glare.

"Mhm, how about you go up there and see what's wrong with your daughter," Remus said pointedly. Sirius sighed.

"Yeah, okay I'll go." The older man said defeated. Remus expected him to jump from the counter and move upstairs. But Sirius didn't move an inch. Remus stared at him with an annoyed look. "What? Like right now?"

"Sirius!"

"All right, okay, keep your wig on. Merlin's beard you are such a bossy wolf." Sirius muttered to himself while he walked out of the kitchen. Leaving Remus to calmly drink his tea.

It took the disowned heir of the Black household almost an eternity to climb up the stairs. He was cursing the house with every step he took. Also, he was scolding himself for letting Rhea choose one of the rooms so high. But what wouldn't he do for his little girl? He was already on the top floor, hearing loud rock music coming from one of the rooms. If his mother had heard it she would have been so furious, he knew that. And that's what made him smile. Like father like daughter.

He walked over to the room. Glancing at the door. RAB. His little brother. Regulus Arcturus Black. It's been too long since he heard any noise coming through that door. It was refreshing, though he never heard those sounds coming out of that room. His brother always called it a horrendous racket, sounding always like an old man in a teenager's body. It always made Sirius laugh. He missed the bond they used to have as kids. It disappeared once they set foot in Hogwarts, from that day they were just roommates over the summer holidays. It was terrible to remember that the last time he spoke to Regulus was when...he died a week after. Leaving Sirius zero time to say goodbye. Or that he was sorry.

He sighed heavily, pushing the door open without knocking. Exactly like he had done all those times before. Although he didn't expect to be greeted with a loud annoyed sigh just like every other time he came in.

"Oh sure, come on in. Everyone else in the world usually knocks before entering but that doesn't apply to you apparently." Rhea muttered in an annoyed voice. Sirius was taken aback by such an attitude.

"That's not funny," Sirius said in a warning tone. He used to scold his friends sometimes, maybe on a few occasions even his little brother. But he wasn't good at scolding his daughter. His warnings just came as a weak statement to the girl's ears. Rhea scoffed.

"I wasn't being funny. I was being sarcastic," Rhea snapped. Sirius thought back on all those times he had said the same thing to his parents. She was so much like him and right now he hated it. He sighed and turned to close the door, walking more into the room. Taking in the dark green decor that Rhea had left on the walls for some reason. It looked almost the same as when Regulus lived here.

"I am here to fulfil my fatherly duties," He stated standing by the foot of the bed where Rhea was lying. He reached forward to stop the music coming from the gramophone.

"Please don't," A groan left the girl as she turned herself around so she was facing away from him. Sirius rolled his eyes, sitting down on the soft bed, being careful not to sit on the girl's legs that were covered by a fluffy blanket.

"Too bad." He groaned whilst sitting down. "I already climbed the stairs up here and Remus will kill me if I don't spend at least 10 minutes trying to solve your teenage drama." Rhea rolled her eyes. "All right, come on. Tell me what's wrong?" Sirius prodded, nudging Rhea's leg. She moved her feet out of the way, pulling them towards her chest. She kept quiet, staring at the wall that held many moving pictures.

Sirius followed her eyes towards the wall with pictures stuck to it with Sticking Charm. He recognised almost all the people in the pictures. He even was there when some of them were taken. But one was so foreign to him yet the people there were familiar. The question was when the picture could have been taken. His heart raced a tad bit faster at the thoughts he had in his mind. He pushed them to the back of his head so as to not lose his temper in front of his daughter for no valid reason.

"You know your uncle used to be quite a solid Quidditch player," Sirius said to his daughter while staring at Regulus' picture from one of the Quidditch practices. He had a bit of a bitter taste on his tongue saying it. But it was something he needed to admit. "There wasn't a game when he wouldn't end up in the Hospital Wing."  Sirius chuckled at the memory.

"That doesn't sound so good," Rhea muttered under her breath, face pressed against the pillow.

"Yeah, but he caught snitch almost every time." Rhea looked up slightly, gazing at the picture of her uncle tossing his broom from one hand to another, while the other two boys were cheering next to him. Evan Rosier and Barty Crouch, his brother's friends. Oh, how he hated them. "As much as I envied him for it he really did have the chops to be a professional player." Rhea nodded to herself at her dad's words. "So did your mum." When he said that Rhea looked up, sitting up in the bed.

"Mum?"

"Yeah."

"No one's ever talked to me about Mum," Rhea said sadly. "Not even Moony, it's always just how much I look like her." Sirius looked over at her with a sad smile.

"You do. She was exactly as beautiful as you are." At the statement the young Black looked away, staring off into the distance somewhat disappointed look on her face. Sirius thought for a moment before he adjusted himself on the bed. "Maxwell Lorelle McKinnon." He spoke suddenly. "She was a little sister of a friend of mine. Gryffindor." Rhea moved a little closer to him making him chuckle under his breath. No one had ever told her about her mum. Honestly, until today not even her name was mentioned. Everyone was always able to stop themselves before the information got leaked.

She would take any information about her. Anything other than looking like her was a valuable addition to her picture of her mother. Sirius stood up from the bed and walked over to one of the pictures on the wall. He waved his wand and the picture fell from the wall and into his hand. Walking over, his eyes never leaving the moving figures on it. He sat back down showing the Polaroid to his kid. The girl took it in her hands, tilting her head to the side.

"Is this her?" She asked staring at the picture of a young woman. She had long flowing hair, sticking in every direction. A pair of pale green eyes twinkled with excitement and a contagious smile. Her sun-kissed skin was littered with faint freckles. "This doesn't look like you," Rhea stated, tapping her finger against the surface of the photo over the face of a young man who was hugging her mum from behind. She was being embraced by a boy with raven hair that was going past his ears, his face was rather pale and his eyes were shut in laughter. Both of them looked rather happy.

"S'not me," Sirius revealed with a sigh. "That's your mum's best friend. And your uncle."

"Uncle Regulus?" Sirius nodded.

"They were the best of friends." He said staring at the picture with a sad smile. "Your mother and I got together in my seventh year, her sixth. It was a joy to be with her finally. She was the sunshine. Everybody called her that. She could brighten the room just by walking in." Sirius laughed at the memory. "I really did love her." He sighed.

Rhea was quiet for a moment. Letting her father relive the moment. She was getting sentimental, something she didn't want right now. There was a feeling inside her that told her she needed to do something. Since her father had to go through memories that apparently hurt him.

"I told Fred I love him." She said out of nowhere. Sirius froze. Letting the information sink in.

"I see." He choked out of himself. He knew this day would come one day. But he didn't expect it to be so soon. He wasn't ready yet. Then again when could he be ready for something like this? "And how did it go?" His answer came when Rhea threw herself back on the bed with a groan. "Oh," He mumbled, grimacing.

"He used truth serum to get me to confess."

"Oh no he didn't."

"Yeah. Worse is that I still love him. And we wouldn't be having this problem if I hadn't been petty or if I hadn't confessed to him at all." Rhea whined. Sirius looked over at her, then at the picture that had fallen on the ground.

"You know, I used to have the same problem. So did your mum."

"Huh?"

"You know, I used to have a crush on someone. I was totally smitten by them. Unfortunately never brought myself to confess my feelings. And when I finally could it was already too late for me. The person had drifted too far for me to reach."

"Do you regret it?"

"Every day," Sirius said sadly. His mind travelled to the person that he loved and quite frankly still loves. "But I've been overthinking everything and I've said some things I shouldn't have. I've pushed hi...I just lost them."

Rhea stared at him for a moment. Trying to figure out who her dad was talking about. It wasn't her mum that's for sure.

"I think you did nothing wrong. Telling him. Of course, the way he made you say it wasn't right but at least you told him. You won't have to live the rest of your life thinking what if."

"I guess you are right." Rhea nodded.

"I always am kiddo." He ruffled her messy hair causing her to whine.

"What happened to Mum's person? Did she tell them?" Rhea asked curiously. She didn't mind her parents having feelings for someone else. From what Sirius told her they loved each other anyway, and they had her in the end. So what if they had a love for someone else in their life as well? Sirius shook his head.

"They...died before she could."

"Who was it?" Rhea asked, too invested already. Her dad didn't answer her. He bent down to pick up the picture, standing up from the bed. He laid the photo in his daughter's lap. He gave her a wink before walking to the door. Rhea looked down at the photograph, seeing again the sight of her mum and her uncle.

"Oh, by the way, how did you manage to drag that old thing over here? It's quite heavy." Sirius asked, pointing towards the old gramophone that lay on the chest of drawers near the bed. Rhea shrugged.

"It was already here when I came into the room. Also, this was under the pillow." Rhea showed him a necklace that had a big glimmering star as a charm. It seemed to be made from the same material as her moon necklace that she got in her fifth year it, unfortunately, got lost somewhere in the halls of Hogwarts while she was on one of her adventures with the twins. It looked to be the same just this star had a bit more shine to it. Sirius' breath hitched as he stared at the glittering pendant. He couldn't believe it was still there. And that Regulus had kept it, even after everything. "What is it, dad?"

"Nothing darling, i-it's just an old trinket. Here," He said walking back over to her and clasping the necklace around her neck. Where her old necklace used to be before. "Keep it, 'kay. It's the brightest star, so the brightest girl should have it." He stroked her hair gently and walked back to the door. "Come down to get something to eat soon, okay dear? Or your uncle Moony will bite me. And it is not even full moon yet."

"Yeah, okay. Thanks, Dad."

***

Fred and George were in their room. Both of them were fed up with the whispers around. The adults have been having meetings. Talking in hushed voices in the living room. Ushering them out of the house each time someone from the Order came to visit. It was irritating the two already off-age wizards. Both of them think they should be able to join.

So they were in their room now, while their parents talked to one of the Order members that came in about an hour ago. They didn't know who it was. Had to leave before the person even came. They decided to occupy themselves with developing their love potions. They had to alternate the formula so it wouldn't be that strong and would be usable for the students of Hogwarts for pranks and whatnot. They didn't want anyone to get seriously hurt while drinking it. They also developed an antidote. But surprisingly that was easier done than the potion itself.

"All right Georgie, I'd say just a smidge more of pearl dust and we'll be done with this one," Fred commented, stirring the purplish liquid in the cauldron they dragged into their room. Luckily since they could do magic outside Hogwarts now, making fire was not as dangerous as it used to be before. George added a speck of dust to the potion. He leaned in closer to the cauldron, not helping himself but to smile when he caught a whiff of a familiar smell that seemed to just pull him in. It was like heaven.

"We did amazing dear brother, it even smells like the true love potion is supposed to," George concluded happily. The other twin pulled out the spoon from the potion since he refused to use his wand for stirring. For some reason, Fred was never comfortable with putting his wand anywhere near the potions he was making, so usually, George had to use his.

"How would you know?" Fred asked accusingly while clearing the spoon with a towel. He wasn't sure whether he used his or George's to be frank he didn't care.

George looked away a blush starting to hint on his cheeks. He rubbed the back of his head avoiding eye contact with his brother. Even if he knew his twin was staring him down from the other corner of the room.

"I...might have helped Angelina with her essay about the potion," He confessed causing Fred to smirk. He had his suspicion that his twin had the hots for Angelina. He just wasn't sure yet. "Um, Ange said that the love potion will smell to you like the thing you are attracted to." Fred grinned even more at that.

"What did you smell then?" He asked teasingly, coming closer to his brother.

"Not you, that's for sure." George snapped, and the other twin rolled his eyes, clapping a hand on his brother's shoulder. "All right fine. But you gotta smell it too after I tell you."

"Deal." The two brothers shook hands before the younger one sighed.

"I smelled the broom wood, parchment and cocoa butter," George confessed, rolling his eyes because all those smells strongly resembled Angelina Johnson. Fred grinned. "Go on then Freddie, smell the damn thing." Fred rolled his eyes at the urgency in his brother's voice.

"Don't have a fit, I'm going." He said with a chuckle. Walking over to the cauldron and leaning into it to get a whiff of the potion.

His eyes closed in an instant as the scent hit his nose, spreading through his body and flooding him with happiness all of a sudden. A warm feeling settled in his heart as he felt like he could fly. He felt so at ease. Before he could fall into a trance more and give in to the smell he pulled away, shaking his head to get rid of the slight infatuation.

"Well, what did it smell like to you Freddie?" George asked, nudging his brother from the side.

"Ah, where to begin?" He didn't really know how to explain it, or where to categorise the aroma he smelled. "It was mostly fruity smells I'd say. Quite refreshing and lively. There definitely was a raspberry in there, that one was quite strong. Then a breeze of mint I'd say. And...you know the chapsticks girls used to wear all the time?" George nodded. "Well, I felt the cherry flavour. It was as if I could almost taste it. Felt so real."

"Sounds oddly specific," George commented, a smirk growing on his lips. He had put two and two together. Unfortunately, his brother wasn't as bright. He seemed clueless which was getting on George's nerves. "Say, why don't you take some time to think back on all the times you could have sensed the scents and then think how they can connect?" George suggested forcefully.

"Fine then," Fred answered confused. He sat down on his bed and started thinking. Mint. There weren't many times he smelled mint. He knew no one who would use perfume that would smell of mint. But the mint tea was quite a hit with their group. And they always drink it at home nowadays. It became some sort of a new mania in their house for some reason.

The cherry, he was sure it was the chapstick. Many girls in their year had chapsticks. Cherry ones were pretty basic. He is sure he had tasted it once. What was strange was that none of his previous girlfriends had cherry chapstick. His longest girlfriend Lydia practically hated the taste of it. And the others, they just didn't fit.

The raspberry, at first he thought it was one of the cakes or pastries. But the scent didn't appear to him like any baked good he had ever tasted. It smelled so edible yet he knew it wasn't for eating. His eyes closed as he focused back on the smell. He had it again. His mind took him places. A picture was being painted in front of his eyes. He knew what it was. He knew the times he smelled it. And it connected him to one person...

Raspberry shampoo scent from the long blond hair, the soft pink lips covered with cherry chapstick. And she drank mint tea ever since someone told her it helped ease stress and headaches. It all made sense now. He smelled Rhea.

His eyes opened wide with realisation. He looked startled and out of breath. He couldn't believe it. Eyes travelled around the room to stare at George who was lying on the bed opposite him. The younger twin already had a smirk on his face.

"Finally figured it out, have you?"

"You knew?!"

"I'd say most everyone knew except you. It was quite sad to watch. And especially painful it was when you started destroying it all," George commented, turning his head to look at his brother. The older boy sighed.

"Bloody hell," He muttered under his breath. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"My suggestion is that you should talk to Rhea, tell her how you feel and hope she won't hex your head off while doing so," George said matter of factly, not giving Fred much hope. "You really were stupid mate. I wouldn't be surprised if she would still be pissed at you."

"I know, I know. But I need to fix it."

"No shit," George mumbled, before getting hit by the pillow. "Hey!" He groaned, putting the pillow down from his face and glaring at his twin. "I'd be nice if I were you. I'm the only one of us that she isn't mad at. You might need my help." Fred suddenly shot up from the bed. Getting an idea.

"Of course! You are going to help me, you will get Rhea to talk to me, or at least stay in the same room as me. So I can persuade her not to be mad and date me." George just stared at him unimpressed, blinking a few times.

"Brilliant, and how do you wanna do that?"

"I don't know yet but I still have about two months before we see each other at school. Easy as pie."

"Kids, come downstairs please!" Their mum yelled from the living room. The twins smirked at each other, using their wands to apparate downstairs.

"Bloody hell." They startled their younger brother by apparating right next to him out of nowhere. Both grinned with accomplishment until their mother scolded them.

"Boys, behave." She told the two before turning to the rest of the children, "Kids you might need to pack your things. In a few days, we will be leaving the house. Please pack your school things as well, the ones you have we might not be getting back by the end of summer," she instructed.

The room echoed with the loud questions and whines from the Weasley kids. Neither of them understood why they had to move out of their house. And where even would they go?

"Settle down now." Their father called coming into the living room with another man next to him. All of them recognised him as Remus Lupin, their former professor and Rhea's uncle. Twins stared at him with wide eyes, Fred scaredly looking around if Rhea would come out of somewhere as well. Fortunately, she didn't.

"I'll be taking you to a secret hideout that the Order has established. It's a place where Order meetings are taking place and it is to my knowledge the best-secured building in the whole of London. I'd imagine not even Azkaban has that much protection." Remus explained.

Twins both looked at each other, not liking the idea of being locked up somewhere for the whole summer. They had plans. They wanted to go for a swim in the lake and go to the forest not far from their house. Maybe visit London and meet up with Lee Jordan there, since they wanted to go search for a free place where they could open their shop.

"Sounds like a prison then."

"Fred!" His mum scolded him for his comment, worried the werewolf would get offended. But Remus just chuckled.

"You seem to share Rhea's opinion on the place. She's been complaining about being there since the start of the summer." Remus stated with a chuckle. Mrs Weasley smiled as well. 

Ron seemed to be far more reluctant to go now that he knew Rhea was there as well and Ginny was about to go to her room and pack her things, anxious to see the girl. George was also happy, the only one nervous was Fred. The ginger seemed to freeze once the name was mentioned. 

"I need to get back. Sirius' been trying to cheer Rhea up with something and I have a terrible feeling they demolished the house by now," Remus said causing the adults to chuckle. "I'll come in three days to take you to the new house," He said before walking towards the door.

"See you then Remus."

"Bye, Mr Lupin."  Remus apparated from outside. And everyone got to their work. Packing things. George and Fred walked upstairs having their younger siblings in front of them.

"Seems like your two months shortened to three days, dear brother."

"Shut up."