The Dogfather

Will was surprised to be awakened by a ray of sunshine, she had retained the habit of waking up at dawn because of the Dursleys, she was thus always the first standing, which also suited her well. It seems that this time she was the last one. It was a first. It took her a moment before the events of the evening came to her mind, and she was surprised to find herself indeed in her bed.

She remembered explaining the events surrounding Sirius' escape, and bonding with Dobby, and then nothing. She had so many questions, first being what the bloody hell was that light, was that how bonds normally worked, or was that yet another of the freakiness that followed her everywhere. Anyway staying here would not answer any of her questions she thought as she went to prepare. She was still happy that it was the weekend, and that she didn’t have to worry about classes anymore. Unfortunately, she only had a week left in Hogwarts to find a solution to live elsewhere and find a way to exonerate Sirius. It seemed an impossible task right now.

She was surprised to see one of the twins waiting for her in front of the staircase, he quickly straightened himself when he saw her, and did not say a word before swallowing her in a tight embrace.

"Thanks Merlin, you’re fine." He mumbled, Will wasn’t sure if she was supposed to hear it.

Fred -she was fairly sure it was Fred- but didn’t really had time to look at him before he jumped her, barely let her hug him back before he threw her on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes which made her make a very embarrassing squeak. "And what exactly do you think you’re doing, put me down right now!" But the redhead ignored her and continued his way to Merlin knew where.

 Will struggled a while before giving up, she should know better than to try to oppose the twins when they had an idea in mind. She couldn’t be happier wearing trousers though otherwise the situation would have been way more mortifying. When Fred -Will was pretty sure it was him-, decided to finally put her down, she made sure to glare at him, but he only replied with an innocent smile. He even had the audacity to give her a quick kiss on the cheek before running away to the table where George was reading a letter.

She took the time to observe her surroundings, as she didn’t recognize this place. It seemed that she had discovered where Dobby had spent the year. She was in the kitchen of Hogwarts, where there must have been a hundred house elves swarming and moving like a kind of magic ballet where pots and pans flew in the air. They stopped all together when they saw her in the entrance.

One second everyon froze and the next second an army of house-elves rushed in her direction, offers of food being shouted at her from all sides, until the arrival of Dobby who hastened to drive them away, claiming his right to serve her. Will was afraid for a moment, she wasn’t sure if the Elves would burst into tears or try to kill Dobby. So, she made sure to show her appreciation for the offer and their kindness. She also took the opportunity to thank them for all the meals they had prepared, she knew after all what it was like to have to cook every day, three times a day. Unfortunately, Will made the situation worse by thanking them and now the house elves couldn’t stop talking about what a "great witch Will Potter was".

When she finally succeeded in calming down the little creatures, she joined the boys. They had an identical smirk and seemed to have enjoyed the spectacle of her misery. George also greeted her with a brief but just as tight hug as Fred’s.

"Not that I’m against hugging, but what happened last night that made you react like this?" Will was starting to get a little worried about their reaction, what exactly happened last night. Hearing from boys that she had fainted and started to literally sparkle for much of the night, remaining unconscious so much longer than Dobby, she understood the hugs.

She couldn’t hold back a tender smile when Dobby reported that he and the boys remained by her side until the glow faded. They were just lucky they only shared the dormitory with Lee, who had also shown concern for her but promise to keep what he saw to himself. It was Dobby who brought her back to her dorm, making sure he didn’t disturb the other girls. The boys' anxiety had grown when she had only woken up very late in the morning, way past lunchtime.

They decided to send a letter to Bill asking for his advice. It might have been easier to ask their father, but they didn’t want to put him in a complicated position with his work. And since Bill had returned to England and thus more easily reachable, he was most likely to help them in this situation, without asking to many questions, not right away at least. That’s the letter George was reading when Fred and Will came in.

"So, she asked with a little excitement in her voice, what did he say?"

"Yes, I didn’t tell him the whole plot, but I still asked him who to contact and how to make sure that your request is listened to. And what we need is political power." 

Will felt completely discouraged. She didn’t know the first thing about politics. She kept a sour memory of her meeting with the Minister who had spoken to her as if they were friends after the incident with Marge but had subsequently been so quick to say that she was disturbed and confused when she revealed that Sirius was innocent.

And small detail that had its importance, she was technically still a child that few adults would be willing to listen to, even less politicians who would probably want to use the reputation of The-Girl-Who-Lived for their own profit, exactly like the Minister.

Will could not hold back a bitter smile at this thought, she couldn’t even use her stupid fame when she needed it the most. She was the Survivor when it worked out for others, but at the first opportunity she was an outcast or a troubled child. The second year had shown her that and so did the Minister

She shared her thoughts to the twins who exchanged a hesitant look.

"What is it?" she asked puzzled.

"Well, that’s not what we meant, we don’t need to convince anyone because you have the power we need."

Fred understood the situation much more than she did because he continued the explanation.

"Will, the Potter family, like the Black family, are an old pure-blood family. Even though, unlike the Blacks, they never really followed their beliefs, they have-You have seats at the Wizengamot. And since you’re the last Potter you should probably be able to claim the title for yourself."

Will felt like an absolute moron at the time. A title, seats, how could she not know that kind of thing. She honestly hated this kind of situation, exactly like in first year. Did everyone know what there was to know about her family except her? Like come on, if her family were magical nobility, she would have known...right? She felt a little dizzy, how come nobody ever cared to tell her this…

No, she scolds herself, now was not the time to spiral. And it was her fault in the first place, she had been in the magic world for three years after all and she had not sought to find out more about her family, it was her mistake.

Alright so apparently, she was a noble. It was good news, right?! It meant that if she could take or claim or whatever it was called, her title, then her testimony of Sirius' innocence would carry more weight, and it would be more difficult to relegate her as just a child victim of a Confundus.

"Okay, so a noble, this is crazy, but okay. We can work with that..." The boys seemed slightly worried at her nervous laughter, but she didn’t pay attention to them. “So how exactly does it work?"

"Well, the truth is", began George,

"we don’t really know"

"anything about"

"titles and stuff,"

"since the Weasleys"

"lost their seats"

"years ago."

"But we can find out."

"We just need to"

"do some research" finished Fred with a contagious smile to which Will responded with her own, smaller but a little reassured by their confidence.

Will went ahead to start her research at the library, not without first finishing the plate that Dobby had prepared for her. Her three companions did not take their eyes off her until she finished eating. It was at times like this that Will really had proof that Fred and George were indeed Molly’s children, they had the same expression when they felt she wasn’t eating enough.

The boys had assured her that they would join her later because they had something to do first, so she left the kitchen wondering where to start her research.

Fred and George waited to make sure that Will had left before heading to the infirmary, where their target should be alone right now. They had the confirmation that Ron was better, since he was back to his usual self at breakfast and lunchtime, putting as much food as he could in his plate. And indeed, in a happy coincidence, even the matron was out, but their target was nowhere in sight. They took a look at the room reserved for contagious patients and were surprised to hear a voice calling them

"Hello boys, would you care to join me?”  he asked calmly.

Although caught off guard, the twins made sure to keep a expressionless face, so opposite to their playful nature. They had a werewolf to question.