Turning Back Time
"Riley…? … RILEY?" the cries were becoming more increased and desperate by the second. I did my best to ignore them and snuggled further in to my covers when I heard Hermoine finally sigh.
"Oh fine, George."
I heard two whoops for joy and my heart suddenly froze, along with the rest of my body. Next thing I knew, my warm bed was being doused by ice cubes. I yelped and jumped up, glaring at the cheeky culprits- who happened to be two of my favorite gingers.
"Fuck you Fred and George!" I shrieked.
They both chuckled and looked rather pleased with themselves. God, I was getting so sick of those pranksters. Thank god it was almost Summer, because those damn Weasley's needed to be taught a lesson. And who better to do that than Molly Weasley herself.
"Think you're so funny? Well I'm sending an owl to your mum and telling her that you've been picking on me again!" I said, enjoying the color start to drain from both boys faces.
Their demeanor changed instantly, and both boys were immediately on the ground, begging for forgiveness. You see, Molly adores me and there is nothing more fearful than the wrath of Molly Weasley. After my dad went to Azkaban, she and Arthur took special interest in making me feel at home. And Molly HATES when those boys pick on me.
I grew tired of their whining so I finally interjected. "FINE! Just shut up you! As long as you kiss the ground I walk on over break, I won't tell her. But if you slip up ONCE, I promise you she'll hear about it. And trust me, I'll make sure my side of the story is ten times worse."
The twins exchanged a glance, and then muttered "Bloody hell. FINE."
Hermoine, as impatient as always, started rushing me around.
"Get ready! You're scheduled to tour the first years who will enroll this fall!" she screeched. "AND YOU HAVE TO SET AN EXAMPLE ON HOW TO ARRIVE ON TIME!"
I grumbled to myself as I shoved the boys out of Hermoine and my room. I grabbed my robes and fixed my hair, applying a little make up so I didn't look like a zombie. Then I ran down the staircase just in time to meet my first years. SO adorable.
"Ah! Here is our fourth year Gryfindoor, Riley Black. She will be showing you around the castle," Dumbledor announced as I ran up.
"Hi guys! I'm Riley and like Dumbledor said, I am a fourth year Hogwarts student. You guys are going to love it here. You can learn Quidditch, Potions and learn how to develop your magic!"
I chattered on about fun things at Hogwaarts and then finally gave them a tour of the great hall. To give them one final farewell, I turned their goblets of water into Pumpkin Juice just before Dumbledor walked up. I winked and walked off, remembered what it was like my first few years here.
When I first met the Weasley family, I was very young. Molly and Arthur were in the order with my dad, Sirius, and my god-brother Harry's parents, Lily and James. I was only two when Voldemort killed Harry's parents and the deaths were blamed on my father. I was too young to understand why he was being sent away. My mum, who was a muggle, was heartbroken after my father was taken. It was her and I against the world until she passed away three years ago, right after my first year at Hogwarts. Ever since, the Weasley's have kept me under their wing. Molly and mum were really close so she has always been like a second mother to me. She hated that after mum died, I continued live in dad's house all by myself, but there were too many memories to leave.
I did really well on my own, I had the house elves to help out and I've always been really good at taking care of myself. But now that dad escaped from Azkaban, he is putting the order back together and is back at the house. Now Molly is a little more at ease.
Snapping out of my daydream, I ran back up the marble stairs to the Gryfindoor coordoors and back up to my room. Tonight we were headed to the Weasley's for summer and then back to my dad's. Dad is still technically a "convict" so instead of going straight to my house, we pretend to have me stay at the Weasley's for the summer. I continued to back when I heard a knock on my bedroom door. Harry and Hedwig were standing there.
"Harry!" I said smiling, as a hugged my god brother. We both had no siblings so we considered each other to be so. Harry stopped living with the Dursley's for the summers and started to live with dad and I. After all, the three of us are a family.
He helped me finish packing, until Percy, the twins and Ron barged in.
"Hurry up!" Percy scolded as we shuffled downstairs. With a flick of his wand, we blinked and were at the Weasley's house.
I struggled to get my luggages up the winding staircase as Fred and George stood there, with stupid smirks on their faces.
"Hey assholes, can I get a little help?" I squeaked as one of the suitcases fell down three steps.
"Nah, we just wanna watch you fall" Fred responded.
"Oh yeah? Mollyyyyyyyyy?" I yelled.
Faster than you could say "Hogsmead", Fred and George dashed towards my suitcases and promised they would unload them. Molly happened to walk up just as they were scampering off.
"Riley! It's so good to see you! And who possessed Fred and George? They are never this helpful!" Molly said, astonished.
"Oi! Mum! I heard that!" Fred holled down the stairs, "And frankly, that's offensive. I mean, I'm always eager to help a lovely lady such as Riley. Georgie and I love her!"
"But Riley isn't a lady!" George laughed hysterically. "Oomf! Ouch Freddie! What was that for?" George demanded as Fred cuffed him on the head.
I chuckled as I heard bits of the conversation which included "Riley" "Tattletale" and "Mum's wrath." I followed Molly into the kitchen and helped her set the table. I couldn't wait to see dad tonight.
After dinner we all cozied up in the Weasley's living room and listened to dad tell us a story. Harry and I were right at his feet, hanging on every word. Dad talked about the order and how brave the Potters and Longbottoms were. My thoughts trailed to Neville and how he was doing at his grandma's. I reminded myself to send him an owl to see if he and Luna would want to spend a few days here for summer. Dad yawned and stretched and then told us to get to bed.
"Arthur, Molly? Meet me in the kitchen when you have a moment..." Dad requested and my head popped up and I looked and him curiously. He winked and kissed me on the top of my head.
"Daddy, I really missed you" I said, hugging him close before I followed Ron and Harry up the stairs. I kept thinking about what our parents had to discuss and why dad was being so secretive.
As soon as I reached the bedroom, I smiled. It was a tradition of ours to every summer, get all of our pillows and blankets and make a gigantic fort that we all would sleep in. Everyone except Percy joined in, who muttered something about us being "childish" before we heard him close his bedroom door.
I flicked my wand and said "Insulato" to soundproof the room. Over the years, we'd gotten smarter about making a ruckus and this definitely allowed us to be noisy teenagers.
I moved my sleeping back in between Fred and George and settled down.
"Let's play a game!" Ginny suggested.
I groaned inwardly. The last "game" we played ended up with me getting thrown into the pond by the twins. Fuck games.
Everyone else seemed excited and George pinched my in the arm. "Oi! Try to look a little more enthusiastic Riley! You're with your favorite people."
I sighed and finally decided to play. "FINE. But I go first. Let's see how brave Georgie is. George, I dare you to apparate to Luna's house and serenade her with a love song" I stated.
George's face turned as red as his hair. "No way! Totally unfair. Make Fred do it! He's the one who has eyes for her!"
I felt an unfamiliar tug at my heart as I snuck a peek at Fred. He looked totally oblivious to what George had said and was humming a familiar tune.
"I got it! George, you have to sing "Candy Shop" to her" Fred grinned.
George grumbled, knowing he was outnumbered as Hermoine, Harry and Ron egged him on. He quickly apparated and we waited around, each making bets on how Luna would react. Luna, of course, would know that it was all fun and games, and I secretly hoped that she would do everything in her power to make it as uncomfortable for George as humanly possible. I was lost in my thoughts when I heard Molly's loud shriek.
All six of us rushed downstairs to see what the commotion was about. We raced there just in time to see Molly screaming at George, who clearly apparated back into the wrong room, scaring poor Molly half to death.
"GEORGE FABIAN WEASLEY! WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU! WHAT WOULD POSSESS YOU TO APPARATE IN THE KITCHEN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT? Where did you even GO?" Molly ranted, storming around.
I giggled and Molly suddenly looked up at us, glaring. "Off to bed with all of you! Hooligans! I know it is summer, but it is also dangerous to be sneaking around in the middle of the night! I better not hear another PEEP out of ANY of you!"
We scampered back upstairs and dove under our covers. None of us wanted to fuel the fire of Molly Weasley. I changed into my nightgown and pulled the covers up to my chin, shivering. Fred turned around to look at me questioningly.
"It's like 80 degrees out Riley. Bloody hell. How can you be cold?" He said incredulously.
"Dunno. Something just feels eerie tonight, like when mum died" I said quietly.
His face instantly softened from his typical teasing smirk and he opened his blankets up, revealing that he was shirtless, sporting abs that I never would have guessed were there. Damn. Quidditch does this boy good. I snuggled up to his adorable freckled chest and felt safe with every rise and fall of it. It wasn't uncommon for Fred and me, or George and me, or any friends and me to snuggle for that matter. We were that close, so nobody thought anything of it. Fred was always like a brother to me. Picking on me, pranking me, but he was also one of my best friends. I felt a blush creeping up to my cheeks when I thought about his toned body and felt relieved that no one could see in the dark.
I rolled over to face him and felt his breath on my face. "Freddie" I whispered, but gained no response. Stupid lug had already fallen asleep. He looked so adorable laying there, completely content and perfect. I brushed away some of the hair that had fallen in his eyes and felt butterflies in my stomach. This was Fred we were talking about. Granted, ever since I had met the Weasley family, I had always been attracted to him, but lately… All I feel about him is different. I looked around to make sure that no one was watching, and my fingertips slowly traced over his lips. God, I'm lucky he is a deep sleeper. I turned back around and closed my eyes and let sleep overtake me.
What the HELL is wrong with me.