After Voldemort's demise, life in the wizarding world was starting to return to normal. Diagon Alley once again was bursting with life, and even Ollivander's had reopened for business. Hogwarts had reopened, and tons of new students were finding their supplies for their first year. With all this business, the Weasley Twins had more business in their joke shop then ever before.
The whole Weasley family had now attended and finished their schooling at Hogwarts. With this and Voldemort's demise, some of the family had been feeling rather bored. Mrs. Weasley decided to take them to Diagon Alley so they could go to Fred and George's shop. Hermione and Harry were going as well, because they had spent the summer at the Burrow. Hermione and Ron were now dating and so was Harry and Ginny. They decided they wanted to all spend their one last summer together before going out on their own for jobs.
In fact, for that whole year after Voldemort's demise, they had been busy clearing up the true story at the Ministry by doing interviews and answering fan mail. Now that it was over, the whole group wanted to spend as much time together as possible before being separated, therefore the reasoning for visiting Fred and George. Even Bill and Fleur were coming along. They had spent a couple of weeks visiting the family as well.
The whole family was now in the store and looking around. Ron and Hermione were looking at some joke books. Hermione giggled while reading one of them. "What is so funny?" Ron asked curiously.
"This joke. It says, 'what do you call a man who huffs and puffs?' The answer is Hufflepuff." Hermione explained.
"Well that's not funny at all. It's actually really lame." Ron said.
"I know. It was so lame it made me laugh." Hermione snickered.
"You're a silly one. I will admit that." Ron smirked, and then he leaned over and kissed her gently.
Meanwhile, Harry and Ginny were playing with the fake wands and pretending to be Death Eaters who were putting hexes on each other. "Could you just imagine if one of those Death Eaters we had fought had come across one of these? The look on their face would be priceless." Ginny said, smiling at the thought.
"Well it would have been nice if their wands turned into a rubber chicken when they performed all of those hexes on us. Although, I can picture the looks on their faces if their wand turned into a rubber chicken. I imagine they would have just settled for strangling us to death then." Harry explained, putting a lot of thought into it.
"You are so morbid!" Ginny exclaimed.
"Well isn't that why you love me?" Harry asked with a smirk on his face.
"Of course." Replied Ginny returning the smile.
Mrs. Weasley was up front talking to Fred and George. Bill and Fleur were somewhere nearby. "You two have really done well for yourselves. I was always so worried when you didn't finish your schooling and spent so much time making jokes and pranks." Mrs. Weasley explained, always having her concerns about her troublemaker boys.
"We know mum, but we're even giving Zonko's a run for business now. With how things are returning to normal, we could probably put everyone in Diagon Alley out of business." George said, sounding like an overachiever.
"I don't know. There is a new store that went up right by yours called Sara's Shockers. She could give you a run for your money." Mrs. Weasley explained.
"Yeah right, mum. I don't think she even went to Hogwarts." Fred said as if it made some kind of difference that she didn't.
Fleur then spoke. "Ze did not attend Hogwarts. Ze went to Beauxbatons wiz me although, ze vas not French. Indeed ze vas English. Her jokes vere known and even Madam Maxime thought zey were hilarious." She explained.
"That seems weird. An English wizard who didn't attend Hogwarts? Seems suspicious to me." George said.
"Well venever ve vould ask her why ze was vere, ze vould simply zey her parents moved. It vas considered rude to question her so ve didn't zink much of it." Fleur explained.
"Poor thing must be all alone with no friends. Fred and George, I think the both of you should go over there and welcome her." Mrs. Weasley suggested.
"We're not going to fraternize with the enemy!" George exclaimed.
" My dear, stop talking like Ron. She is not your enemy. She is competition. Now don't make me drag you two over there by your ears!" Mrs. Weasley threatened.
"Well, no harm ever came from a little competition. I'm sure we could bring her some candy from our store. Can you say Puking Pastilles?" Laughed George.
"If I find out that you two were up to no good, and you make life horrible for that poor girl, I will come over here and make sure you can never test any new products ever again!" Mrs. Weasley threatened being serious.
"Oh we won't." Fred and George lied in unison both smirking at each other.
Once the family had left, Fred and George decided to welcome Sara to Diagon Alley with a nice box of Puking Pastilles and some flowers which causes the person to sneeze every time the person smells them. Fred carried the flowers, and George carried the Puking Pastilles disguised as a box of normal chocolates. They both went inside with a huge grin on their face. Upon entering, they saw a beautiful girl with long, wavy, brown hair who was dressed very well in a black skirt and top. There were some people looking around in the store at Farting Fangs, but Fred and George didn't pay much attention to them. They were focused on their competition.
Sara saw the two of them walk in. She walked up to them and greeted them both. "Welcome. May I help you?" She asked politely.
"Oh we're not here to shop. We own the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, and we just came to bring you these chocolates and flowers to welcome you to Diagon Alley." Fred explained and the both of them handed the items to her.
She took them and smiled. "That is so sweet!" Sara exclaimed with joy. She smelled the flowers and right after, she let out a huge sneeze.
"Bless you!" George exclaimed, trying to hold back a laugh.
"Thanks." Sara said before moving to the chocolates. She opened the box, picked one up, and slid it into her mouth. She ate it and thought it tasted wonderful, so she ate a couple more. "These are really good."
"They sure are." Fred said also trying to hold back a laugh.
Then, Sara clutched her stomach and looked really sick. She ran to the bathroom and threw up in the toilet. She was so loud that customers could hear her and started to leave the shop.
Fred and George left as well, and congratulated each other on a job well done. "I didn't expect her to eat three of them. I figured she would eat one and get sick, but at that rate, she will be puking all day." George said, busting out with laughter.
"We will have her closing her store in no time at all!" Fred exclaimed as he also burst out in laughter.
The rest of the day, Fred and George was laughing and coming up with ways to be horrible to their competition.
The next day, Fred and George were outside of the shop, and they noticed someone else was tending to Sara's shop. "Let's go see what's up." George suggested. Fred just nodded, and the two of them walked over to Sara's Shockers, leaving their shop completely unattended. "Who are you and where is Sara?" Fred asked.
"Oh. I'm Stacy. She had me run the shop today because she's at St. Mungo's. Apparently, she ate something really bad and couldn't stop puking." She explained.
"Is she going to be ok?" Fred asked. George then nudged him. "I mean tell her we said well nothing I guess."
While Fred and George were in Sara's shop, Sara had snuck out in the alleyway and into Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. She used her wand to make a large noise to scare all of the customers away. Then, she flicked her wand, said a few words, and everything on the shelves became scattered everywhere. The place looked like a tornado had come thru and messed everything up. Afterwards, she placed a special box of candy on their table, and only she knew what the candy did. Then, she used her wand to carefully put a bucket of green goop above the door. The first person to walk in would get slimed with it. When finishing, she hurried back and snuck into the back of her shop.
Fred and George were now returning to the shop when they noticed their brother Ron approaching the front door. Sara had went and thanked Stacy for tending to the shop while she was away, and then she went outside her front door to watch as everything she had planned was about to unfold. "What are you doing here?" Fred asked when he saw Ron.
"I got bored. Thought I would come hang out with you two in the shop for a while." He explained.
"Well, okay. Just don't mess anything up." George said seriously.
With that, Ron opened the door. He stepped inside and the bucket of green goop tipped over and spilled onto him. He became covered in it. "YUCK! Is this how you greet your customers now!?" Ron shouted, feeling absolutely disgusted.
Fred and George were stunned. They thought it was funny their brother had been slimed, but at the same time, they saw how their store looked. "We didn't do this!" Fred shouted.
Just then, the twins looked over at Sara's Shockers. They knew it was her, especially when they saw her standing outside her shop laughing. The twins just glared at her, but Sara was still laughing when she went inside her shop. "Come on Ron. Go take a shower upstairs in our flat to get cleaned off and borrow some of our clothes." George suggested.
"Alright." Ron said as he went upstairs to get cleaned up.
In the meantime, Fred and George were starting to get angry. Cleaning up the shop was easy. It only took a few flicks of their wand to put everything back in its place, but they knew they had to come up with a way to get back at Sara. "That was horrible. At least we didn't do anything to ruin her shop!" George exclaimed.
"Well don't worry. We will get her back really good. I do have to admit, that was some pretty clever stuff she came up with." Fred said with a grin on his face.
"It was not. She just got lucky was all." George said all fed up.
A few minutes later, Ron came downstairs. He was in some of the twin's clothes which actually fit him fairly well. His hair was all wet, and he had a towel around his neck. "So what was with the slime?" Ron asked.
"Our competition, Sara, probably meant that slime to fall on us." George answered.
"Well it would have been funnier if it had fallen on you two." Ron said before turning his attention to the box of chocolates on the table. "Hmm. Who left this candy here?" Ron asked, picking one up and placing it in his mouth.
"What? We didn't leave any candy out. Oh no!" Fred shouted.
"You did not just eat some of that Ron!" George exclaimed.
"I did, and it was good, but not as good as you two. I love you guys. You're both so sexy, handsome, and so good with business." Ron said, like he was in love with them.
"What?!" Fred and George both shouted in shock.
"Oh, I love you two so much. We should get married!" Ron suggested as if he were under a spell.
"Ewwww. It must be the candy." Fred explained.
Fred then stormed over to Sara's Shockers. He stomped right in there with his face as red as Santa Clause's suit. He stormed right up to Sara. "What have you done to my brother!?!?!" Fred shouted angrily.
"What do you mean?" Sara asked, keeping her cool even though Fred was shouting in her face.
"He ate some candy and now he's all lovey dovey for me and my brother! He's even mooning all over us and batting his eyes at us like a crazy person in love!" Fred shouted while explaining the dilemma.
Sara burst out laughing. "Wow. That turned out better than expected. That candy is supposed to make whoever eats it, fall in love with you and your brother." She explained. "I didn't expect your other brother to eat it!"
"Well! This means war!" Fred shouted as he stomped out of her shop.
The war between the two shops continued on. Sara still laughed at the thought of her good prank she pulled on the twins. She had no idea their brother would get involved and make it even more of a priceless memory. The twins were sitting in their shop discussing the prank. "I'm just glad Ron turned back to normal within a few hours. If mum had seen him in that state, she would have definitely killed us for this little war we are waging." Fred explained.
"Well, she will get what is coming to her." George said, smirking. He knew what the two of them had done that night.
Meanwhile, Sara was sitting in her shop waiting for customers to come in and look around. She thought it was strange when no one had been in the shop all day. She decided to go look outside, but when she reached for the doorknob, it was locked. "What the?" She thought to herself. She tried to twist and turn the knob, but no matter what, it wouldn't budge. She decided to pull out her wand and she pointed it at the doorknob. "Alohamora," She said, speaking the incantation. She tried the knob again, but it still did not budge. This time she pointed the wand and tried something else. "Bombarda!" She shouted, and the door flew away from the building.
Sara stepped outside to look at the mess. Not only did she just have to ruin her door, there was also a large sign on the window that read, "Closed due to rat infestation." Sara was furious, and she knew who had done this. She knew just how she would get them back, and she kept thinking about it while putting her door back in place. "Reparo." She said while pointing her wand at the door. The door stood in place and looked like it had been before she had to blown it off the building. Then, she tore down the sign which was placed upon her window. She glanced over at The Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and saw Fred and George standing outside, laughing at her.
Sara went inside her shop and threw away the sign she tore down. She sat in a chair and devised up her plan to get them back.
The next day the twins were inside their shop awaiting customers. "Did you see the look on her face yesterday? It was so priceless!" George exclaimed while laughing.
"It sure was. I just wonder how she is going to get us back." Fred wondered.
"Who cares. I bet after that, she will give up and leave!" George exclaimed again, still laughing.
Just then, the twins noticed a group of Hogwarts students outside their shop. The students were pointing at something and giggling. Then, they scampered off and went elsewhere. "What is that all about?" Fred asked.
"Beats me. Let's check it out." George suggested.
The two of them walked outside their shop and saw what the students were laughing at. The sign above the door for their shop now read, "Lesley's Lazy Lizards." There was also a huge sign on their window that read, "This store steals ideas from Zonko's." The twins stood there shocked for a minute. George tried to fix the sign but had some difficulty since a really strong hex was used on it. Fred ripped down the sign on the window. "I've got to give her credit. It seems as if she gets us back better." Fred said.
"She does not!" George exclaimed, finally fixing the sign after multiple tries.
"She comes up with way better stuff and it's just her. There is the two of us. You think we could come up with something really good to get her back with two brains instead of one." Fred explained.
"No way are her pranks better than ours. Anyways, her shop looks dark and it says it's closed. Maybe she gave up." George wondered.
"That seems odd. After a good prank like that, we would never give up. Maybe something is wrong." Fred suggested.
George gave Fred an angry look. "Merlin! What has gotten into you!? Why don't you just marry her then too!?!" George shouted before storming off into the shop. The rest of the day Fred and George did not talk to each other.
Sara's Shockers remained closed for a couple of days. The twins went back to talking to each other, but Fred could tell the tension was still there between them. "Maybe she did give up. Couldn't take it or something." Fred questioned.
"That's what I've been saying, but let's just play it cool because mum is supposed to come into the shop today. You know she will ask what has been going on when she sees Sara's shop is closed." George explained.
Fred nodded, and in the meantime, Mrs. Weasley was walking down Diagon Alley. In fact, she stopped in front of Sara's Shockers and noticed a light was on. She walked up to the door and turned the knob. It was unlocked so she decided to walk in. "Hello, my dear. Have my twin boys been giving you t-," Mrs. Weasley said, but she paused when she saw Sara.
Sara was sitting in a chair. She had a black eye, a fat lip, and there was a cut on her arm. She sat there quietly, looking down at the ground as if she was going to cry but couldn't at the same time. Mrs. Weasley assumed one of boys pranks had caused this. "Oh my dear! Did one of my boys' pranks do this to you!?" Mrs. Weasley asked with a voice of concern.
"No." Sara replied, still looking down.
"Then what happened dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked, who went to sit by her, placing her hand on Sara's shoulder.
"Someone beat me up. Apparently, they didn't like one of my jokes from the shop." Sara explained, even though it seemed hard for her to explain.
"That is horrible, my dear. You should be resting. Come on. We'll put you to bed." Mrs. Weasley said sincerely.
Sara stood up, and Mrs. Weasley helped Sara up to her room. Sara got into bed, and Mrs. Weasley pulled the covers over her. "You rest now dear. Someone will be by to check on you later." Mrs. Weasley said.
Sara drifted off to sleep and Mrs. Weasley left the shop. She walked over to see her sons. When she walked in, a look of sorrow was on her face. The twins saw her and knew something was going on. "Mum? What's wrong?" George asked.
"That poor girl in the shop next to yours. I saw a light on, so I thought I would go see her and make sure you two have not been torturing her to death with pranks. I saw her, and someone had beaten her." Mrs. Weasley explained, disgusted with the thought of someone doing that to an innocent girl.
"I bet she said it was our fault." George guessed.
"She said no such thing. She said someone beat her because they didn't like a joke bought in her shop, but if I find out you two were involved in anyway!" Mrs. Weasley threatened.
"It wasn't us mum." Fred said, somewhat stunned with a look of sincerity on his face.
Mrs. Weasley looked to Fred, and when she saw his face, she knew not to question him again. "Yes, well I want you two to go check in on her later today and invite her to our home for the weekend." Mrs. Weasley demanded.
"I'm not going over there! I'm sure this is just another one of her pranks so she can sneak over here!" George exclaimed.
"That is not something someone jokes about George Weasley! You will go over there!" Mrs. Weasley shouted, furiously.
"I'll make sure he goes mum." Fred said.
"Thank you dear, and I better see her at home for dinner tonight. If she isn't, I will personally come back and apparate you two to Antarctica!" Mrs. Weasley threatened.
With that said, Mrs. Weasley apparated out of the shop and back home. "Let's go over and check on her then." Fred suggested, getting up to walk over there.
George just rolled his eyes and followed Fred over there. When the two walked inside, they heard a loud whistling noise. It was coming from the back of the house, and Fred ran back there. The noise was coming from a tea kettle that was set on the stove. Sara looked startled when she saw the both of them. Sara took the tea kettle off the stove and placed it on an opposite burner that wasn't heated up. She turned the stove off and turned her attention to the twins. "Let me guess, your mum sent you two over here?" Sara asked.
"She sure did." George answered.
"Shut up George." Fred said, giving him a mean look.
George decided to sit down and keep quiet, although he rolled his eyes some more at the whole situation.
"Well technically she did, but I wanted to come over and check on you." Fred said, telling the truth.
Sara looked at Fred, showing her face so he could see what had been done to her. He looked at her with compassion, and then raised his hand to her face and placed it under her chin. He tilted up her head gently, and then he spoke. "Whoever did this to you, deserves to be hexed."
With that, Sara began to cry. "Oh please don't cry." Fred said, sincerely. He had no idea what to do. His instincts were telling him to hug her, and so he decided to. It was awkward for him at first. After all, George and him had never really been that great with girls, and this one was supposed to be their competition. He rubbed her back gently, and in this sense, he was comforting her. At the same time, he felt a sense of comfort and he also felt something else. Something he hadn't felt before. It startled him a bit so he pulled away. "It's okay. Mum wants us to bring you home with us for the weekend. We can pack some stuff for you and then apparate there." Fred explained.
Sara was sniffling a bit, but she felt better. She was surprised that Fred even cared at all, considering they were having this war against each other. "Okay." She said, and the two of them went up to her room to pack a bag.
George just sat there. He was shocked at what he just witnessed from his brother. He felt as if he was being ripped in two. Fred was his other half, and yet he felt as if his other half was being torn away from him. He didn't want anyone to come between him and his brother. He decided if things got worse, he was going to have to do something about it.
A few minutes later, Sara and Fred came back downstairs. Sara had a backpack full of clothes and was ready to go. "We can apparate there now." Fred explained.
George just nodded and apparated himself to the Burrow. "Here. I got you." Fred said, grabbing onto Sara and apparating them both to the Burrow.
All three of them had arrived safely. The Weasley family was short a few members upon arrival, but Mrs. Weasley was there to great Sara. "Welcome to our home dear." Mrs. Weasley greeted.
"Thanks." Sara said.
Sara looked around. She noticed an older gentleman with red hair. She assumed this was Mr. Weasley. She also saw two young girls, one with red hair, and the other with brown, who were playing Wizard's Chess. "Where is everyone?" George asked.
"Well, Ron and Harry are away on Auror business. Bill and Fleur are visiting Fleur's family in France. Charlie is busy with dragons, and of course, Percy isn't here because he chooses to not talk to us still." Mrs. Weasley explained.
"I see the girls managed to make it though." George said, looking over at Hermione and Ginny.
"Yes. They are training at St. Mungo's to become Healers, and since they're still in training, they have weekends off, but never mind that," explained Mrs. Weasley. "Let's show Sara to her room so she can settle in before dinner. She can have Percy's old room. Girls, why don't you go show her where it is?"
"Alright. Follow me." Ginny said as her and Hermione both stood up and started walking upstairs.
Sara followed them both, and they entered a room that was a fairly decent size. She could tell no one had lived in it recently because in one corner was a bunch of boxes stacked on top of each other. She assumed they had been using the room for some storage. "Here we are." Ginny said, showing her the room.
Sara just sat down on the bed and threw her bag on the floor. She didn't really know these two girls who were younger than her. Everyone in this family or who knew this family, seemed to be really nice to her. She figured it was because of what had happened to her, and she just decided to sit there and be quiet. "Here. Let me help you." Ginny offered, pointing her wand at Sara's black eye.
"Alright." Sara said.
"Episkey." Ginny said, pointing her wand at the black eye. She did the same for the fat lip and cut on Sara's arm.
Sara got up and looked in the mirror that was hanging on the wall. She had healed thanks to Ginny. She now looked beautiful again. "Thanks!" Sara exclaimed with excitement.
"No problem. It's what we're being trained to do. Anyways, we'll leave you alone and we'll be downstairs. Dinner should be soon." Ginny said, before walking out the door with Hermione.
Since Sara felt so great, she decided to wear something nice. She put on a black skirt and a pink top with sequins on it. Once she was ready, she walked downstairs. The rest of the family was sitting at the table except Mrs. Weasley. She was setting the food onto the table. Mr. Weasley was sitting on one end. The twins were sitting on one side while the girls were on the other. "Oh how wonderful dear. I see Ginny fixed you up just as she had said. Well sit down. We will be eating dinner now." Mrs. Weasley said as she sat at the other end of the table.
Fred was staring at Sara. He thought about how beautiful she looked, and he couldn't take his eyes off of her. The girls had noticed this, and they both smiled while trying to hold back giggles. Sara sat down next to Fred, and they all began to eat.
After dinner, Fred had asked Sara to go for a walk with him. They strolled along outside. He told her all about the gnomes in the garden, how they would play Quidditch, and even about the pond they went swimming in during the summer. Sara smiled at all the wonderful things he told her. Sara looked up at the stars. "They're so beautiful." Sara said.
"They sure are." Fred agreed, although he wasn't looking at the stars, but he was looking at Sara.
Sara turned her gaze to his. They looked into each others eyes for a moment. Fred wanted to kiss her so badly, but he was scared. He even leaned in slightly, but then backed away. "We should head back before it gets too late." Fred said, chickening out.
The two of them headed back and went to sleep that night. The rest of the weekend continued on with all of them having fun, except for George. Hermione and Ginny had each other to talk to. Fred and Sara were hanging out and even talking to the girls. Even Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had each other, but George felt like a third wheel. His brother barely talked to him the entire weekend. Fred was too wrapped up into Sara to even notice George existed.
George wanted his brother back. He came up with a plan to get rid of Sara and he would do it on their last day there for the weekend. He wanted to make sure she enjoyed herself and then made it horrible for her at the last minute. This way it would spoil the whole weekend for her, and she would never want to come back. He set up his prank in her room while everyone was downstairs waiting for the last dinner of the weekend.
George walked downstairs and saw Sara, Hermione, and Ginny all talking and giggling at the table. Mr. Weasley was reading The Daily Prophet, and Mrs. Weasley was preparing dinner. George couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Fred helping his mother make dinner. George sat at the table and almost didn't make it in the chair because he was in such shock. "Since when does Fred help with dinner?" George asked. Ginny just shrugged as if she didn't know.
Fred was helping his mother peel potatoes and cut up vegetables for a stew. "Since when do you help me make dinner dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked curiously.
"Well, I wanted to talk to you." Fred answered.
"About what my dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked, becoming even more curious.
"Well…I..I think I've fallen for Sara." Fred explained.
"So that's what you do to girls you like? You pull pranks on them, and then if they pull pranks on you, you like them back?" Mrs. Weasley asked, with a grin on her face.
"I'm serious. I think I love her." Fred said, feeling better now that he had told someone.
Mrs. Weasley looked at her son. She saw a look on his face she had never saw before; a look of love. She felt as if her son had changed somehow during this weekend, and yet she didn't know quite what it was, and now she knew. "My dear you must tell her." Mrs. Weasley said, looking at her son with compassion.
"I know. I'm just not quite sure how." Fred explained why he hadn't yet.
"Well you will know the right time when it comes along." Mrs. Weasley explained. "Now go sit down. I will finish with the dinner."
Fred sat down next to Sara, but he was quiet the entire time. He didn't know when or how to tell her. He just kept thinking about it over and over again in his head. Finally, it was dinner time, and even then, Fred didn't feel much like eating. Mr. Weasley sat down his paper and was going to eat, but thought of something to say. "Sara, I hear you attended Beauxbatons even though you're English?" He questioned.
Sara had a spoonful of stew raised to her mouth. Once Mr. Weasley had asked the question, she paused and set the spoon back down. She took a deep breath and spoke. "You all have been so nice to me. You deserve the truth. My parents were Death Eaters who ended up betraying Voldemort, so he killed them. Dumbledore found me and decided it was best to put me in Beauxbatons so when I got older, Voldemort or any Death Eaters wouldn't come looking for me and want to kill me." Sara explained.
Everyone just stared at her in shock. "That's horrible my dear!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed.
"Well, what made you return to England then?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"I figured with Voldemort gone, it would be okay." She explained.
"There are still Death Eaters out there." Mr. Weasley said, looking concerned.
"Yes, but with Voldemort gone, I figured they wouldn't really know about me." Sara said.
"Well let's hope not." Mr. Weasley said.
The rest of the dinner was ate in silence. No one really knew what to say and everyone was pretty shocked. Fred was even shocked a little bit, but it didn't bother him. After dinner, Sara went up to her room and was going to pack when she saw a box on her bed. There was a bow around it, and she decided she was going to open it. She took off the bow and then slowly opened the box. WHAM! Before she knew it, she had been punched in the nose by a fist that came out of the box. Her nose was bleeding and she screamed in pain. She ran downstairs to where everyone was at, blood gushing out of her nose and all. "How could you do this!?!" She shouted, looking at Fred and George.
"Do what? What happened?" Fred asked, looking at Sara in concern.
"You put that box on my bed, and it had a fist come out of it, and it punched me! Someone beat me up, and then you have the nerve to do it yourself through a prank!" She shouted angrily and in pain.
George just stood by and was laughing. His plan had worked. "We didn't do it!" Fred shouted.
"Yes you did! You thought it would be funny to be nice to me all this weekend and then get me back! Didn't you!?" Sara shouted, blaming them.
"No…I….You're just like your parents!" Fred shouted, not realizing what he was saying.
Sara just stared at Fred. She couldn't believe what he had just said to her. No one had ever said something so hurtful to her. She tried to form words, and she even opened her mouth, but nothing came out. A single tear ran down her cheek while looking at him, and then she pulled out her wand and apparated out of the Burrow.
Mrs. Weasley watched in anger. "Fred and George Weasley! You should know better than to act like that! Go apologize to her this instant!" Mrs. Weasley shouted.
"I'm sure she doesn't want to talk to me." Fred said extremely upset, and then he apparated back to his shop.
George apparated to the shop as well. Mrs. Weasley was back at home, furious with the two of them. She knew Fred had feelings for Sara, and yet to see him treat her like that, infuriated her.
The next few days passed with complete silence at the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Fred and George did not speak to each other at all. They simply ran the store in silence, and Fred moped around the store in sadness. George finally became tired of it. "I can't stand you moping around here anymore! You know I did that prank. Now go talk to her!" George exclaimed.
"I know you did the prank." Fred said.
"What? You knew?" George asked in shock.
"Of course. You're my brother, and I knew the only person who could pull off such a prank, was us, and I knew I didn't do it. I noticed how you had been acting when I was around her. I understood what was going on, but I figured it would just pass." Fred explained.
"I'm sorry. I can't stand to see you like this. Just go talk to her." George demanded.
"If she will even talk to me after what I said." Stated Fred.
"If she likes you back, she will forgive you." George said, making the situation better.
Fred decided it was time. He walked over to Sara's Shockers, but noticed the place was completely dark. No lights were on, and there was a sign on the door saying the store was closed. He tried the door, but it was locked. He walked back over to his shop feeling even more sad than before. He figured he lost his shot with her. He lost his one shot to apologize because he waited too long to do so.
When he walked into the shop, he saw his father inside talking to George. They looked as if they were talking about something serious, and when they saw Fred, he knew something was wrong. "What is it?" He asked.
"It's Sara. She's in St. Mungo's." Mr. Weasley explained.
"What? Why? What happened?" Fred asked, becoming extremely upset.
"Death Eaters. They found her and she barely made it out alive," explained Mr. Weasley, walking up to his son and placing a hand on Fred's shoulder. "It doesn't look good. She's in a coma and they're trying everything they can, but they're not sure if she will come out of it."
Fred looked down. He was so upset now that he could barely hold back tears. "I want to see her." He demanded.
"Yes. Go on then son. I'm sure George doesn't mind staying here and watching the shop." Mr. Weasley said.
Fred apparated to St. Mungo's. He was greeted by a secretary at the front desk. He quickly explained the situation and the woman told him where to go. Fred went to Sara's bedside. He couldn't believe what he saw. She was bandaged up on several places of her body. She was just laying there with her face all bruised. Fred pulled a chair to the bedside and placed his head in his hands. He sat there and cried. This beautiful girl he didn't have the guts to tell he loved, was now laying there in a coma, not even a resemblance of herself.
He looked up and took her hand in his. He stood up and leaned over, kissing her on the forehead. He moved his mouth to her ear and whispered in it, "I love you." Then, he sat back down. He had finally said what he had wanted to say, and now he had no idea if she could hear him. A healer came over to check on Sara and spoke to Fred. "Are you a friend or family member?" She asked.
"I love her." Fred replied with tears in his eyes.
"I'm sorry. It doesn't look good, but I hope she pulls out of it." She said, and then she walked away.
A couple of months had passed and yet Sara had not come out of the coma. Although time had healed her wounds, she did not awaken. Fred made sure to come and visit her at least once a week, but it was nearing Christmas and the shop was becoming busier, so Fred did not have time to visit that week. What he didn't know, was within that week he didn't visit, Sara had come out of the coma. She was given a clean bill of health, but she didn't want any of the workers to inform anyone she had woken up. In fact, she wanted to surprise Fred since it was Christmas. She had heard everything he told her while she was in the coma. She even heard about how sorry he was for what he said, what had happened to her, and how much he loved her. He was the one thing that kept her alive. He was able to tell her everything, and yet she wasn't able to return that. Now, she was going to be able to.
It was now Christmas day, and the Weasley family was all settled around the tree unwrapping presents. Once everyone had finished, there was a little, black, velvet box still under the tree. "Who is that for?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"I bought it for Sara. I thought she would have come out of the coma by now." Fred explained, looking down with sadness.
Mrs. Weasley walked over to her son and placed her hand on his shoulder. "She will come out of the coma. We must believe she will." Mrs. Weasley said reassuringly.
"Thanks mum." Fred said.
Meanwhile, Sara had apparated herself outside of their front door. She knocked on it and took a deep breath. She was scared and nervous at the same time.
"I'll get it." Fred said, still kind of upset, so he thought he would answer it.
Fred walked to the door and when he opened it, he froze. He just stood there in shock when he saw her. He thought he was dreaming. Sara stared at him and waited for him to respond. "Am I dreaming?" Fred asked, still staring.
"No." Sara said.
"But how? When?" Fred asked, still not believing.
"This week. You kept me alive. I heard everything you said, and I held onto it. I was so close to letting go, but you saved me. I couldn't let go knowing you loved me without letting you know I love you too." She explained, starting to cry.
Fred then grabbed her, picked her up, and spun her around. "I love you!" He exclaimed, like he was telling the whole world. The both of them cried in happiness.
The whole Weasley family looked on and smiled. Even a smile came across George's face. He was so happy his brother would not be moping around anymore. He wanted his brother to be happy, and it took him a while to realize it.
Fred finally brought Sara back to the ground. "I got you a present." Fred said, smiling.
"But I didn't get you anything." Sara said.
"You coming out of that coma is my Christmas present. It was all I wanted." Fred explained, pulling the tiny, black box out of his pocket that was once under the tree.
Fred got down on one knee. "Sara, I've loved you since that first time you got us back for a prank. I didn't really think much of it then, but I did. To find someone who challenged me, made me love you. Then, I held you that first time you cried in my arms and comforting you also comforted myself. That night we walked and looked at the stars, I wanted to kiss you because you were more beautiful then the stars themselves. Then, you ended up in that coma and I thought I had lost you. I finally told you how I felt, even if you couldn't hear me. I would have stayed by you even if you never woke up. Time was stolen from us, and now that you have woken up, I don't want to waste any more if it. Time is ours." Fred explained, spilling out his love. He then opened the box to reveal a small diamond ring. "Sara, will you marry me?"
Sara was in tears now. They seemed to flow out of her like a river. "Yes!" She exclaimed, and Fred stood up and placed the ring on her finger.
The whole Weasley family cheered and shouted with joy. "A Weasley twin to be married! I'm so happy!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed with joy.
***
Later that year, Sara and Fred had gotten married. Now that Sara was a Weasley, they decided to take the jokes and pranks from Sara's shop and place them in the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. She became a part owner, and George didn't seem to mind. George had even hooked up with Stacy, the girl who once had tended to Sara's shop. She was in their wedding, and George and her ended up getting together. Even the Death Eaters that attacked Sara, had been put into Azkaban by Harry and Ron.
Everything was peaceful once again. The Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes was busy and full of students again. Hogwarts was going to have new first years, and they were fascinated with all the jokes inside the shop. Fred knelt down in front of Sara and placed his ear against Sara's five month pregnant belly. "I'll make sure you twins never accidentally eat any Puking Pastilles." Fred said to Sara's belly and the growing baby twins inside.
Sara looked down to Fred and smiled at him. He smiled at her, kissed her belly, and stood up. "I love you so much." Fred said.
"I love you too." Sara said, and then the two of them kissed.
