"What do you mean arranged marriages?" Abbye yelled at her parents. "Who is it?"
"Abbye, dear, it's for the best." Her mother, Dani, narrowed her eyes at Abbye, as if daring her to object.
"Who is it?" Abbye hissed, "I have a right to know who I'm being forced to marry."
"Abbye!" her father, Parker, snarled, "Don't talk to your mother that way!"
"This isn't fair to me and you know it! Ever since I was a little girl I've always dreamed of finding the perfect love story and now that dream just flew off on a bloody broom! Who is it?"
"George –"
"George who?" Abbye interrupted, knowing if it ended in Weasley she would go off like a time bomb.
"Weasley." Her father finished.
"What?" She yelled, furious "He's stalked me since my first year at Hogwarts! I absolutely hate him! You know that! How could you do this to me?"
"They've got good connections...Abbye, we had no choice." Parker looked squarely in Abbye's eyes.
"No you just want your baby girl to be miserable the rest of her life..." Abbye said, in an attempt to hurt her parents, while she knew that wouldn't probably happen.
"Abbye. We already signed the papers. There's no going back." Dani said shortly
"I hate you. I hate you all!" Abbye yelled furiously before running up to her room, and slamming her door.
[] [] []
"Rachel!" Her mother, Elizabeth said, calling her daughter into the parlor.
"Yeah mum?" Rachel called down.
"Come down here please."
Rachel ran into the parlor where her parents sat primly on a settee.
"Rachel, were going out later tonight." Elizabeth said.
"Where?" Rachel asked curiously."
"We're going to a dinner with your fiancé." Her father Michael said in more of a boss like tone, not a father like one.
Rachel stared at her parents, looking for any signs of a practical joke. There was none. "What?" She screeched
"You have been engaged to Fred Weasley since you were born." he mother said.
"Why?" Rachel asked in despair
"So you'll be taken care of. Now go get ready." Michael said.
Rachel quickly got up, ran into her room and slammed the door so hard the house rattled.
[] [] []
"Seth Ferguson?" Julie gasped, "I have to marry him?"
"Yes." Lindsay, her loving mother said coldly
"Why an arranged marriage?" She asked coolly.
"So you can have a future." He mother looked Julie up and down, "I would be surprised if anyone would want to marry you." she sneered
Now Julie wasn't ugly per se, she was actually very pretty, one of the prettiest in Hogwarts, her mother just hated her.
"I'm surprised anyone would want to marry someone as evil as you are." Julie sneered. "You don't even care about me! Have a good day Mother." and with that Julie stormed into her room.
"You also have to get ready for the dinner we're going to!" Lindsay's high pitched voice echoed in the house.
[] [] []
Fred and George Weasley were floating on cloud nine. They had just heard the news that the girls they had fancied for years were engaged to them.
"Well you took an arranged marriage better than I expected you would." Molly, their Mum said.
"This is the best news ever!" Fred grinned, he and his brother and repeatedly tried to get Rachel and Abbye's attention for years with no luck, but now they were engaged.
"Fred, there's just one problem. They hate us." George sighed, wishing that Abbye at least would like him before they were married.
"At least they have to marry us now..." Fred grinned at George.
There was a loud crack and there stood their best friend, Seth. "You'll never guess what I just found out." He grinned widely, like a young child on Christmas day.
"I bet you can't beat our news." Fred smirked.
"Try me." Seth said.
"I'm engaged to Rachel!" Fred exclaimed, "And George's engaged to Abbye!"
"That's freaky! 'Cause I'm engaged to Julie!" Seth said with excitement.
"Are you serious?" George asked, "You've been after her since third year!"
"I am! You must be happy that you're marrying Abbye, mister first-year-stalker." Seth smirked.
"I wasn't stalking her!"
"You followed her around like a love sick puppy."
They were so blissfully happy that they didn't even realize that they would have to face the wrath of three furious girls eventually.
[] [] []
Abbye, Rachel, and Julie were in Abbye's room getting ready for the dinner they were 'invited' too.
"Of all the people!" Abbye exclaimed, "Why George Weasley?"
"I swear," Julie said angrily "I'm going to rip Ferguson's limbs off his body! And then I'm going to chop off his bits and –"
"I think that's enough Julie." Abbye hushed
"Ugh, we better get over there before our parents disown us even more than we already are." Rachel sighed.
"Rachel, your parents actually sortalike you." Abbye said, "Julie and my parents hate us."
"Let's get this nightmare over with." Julie said.
[] [] []
The dinner actually started off better than expected, no injuries yet.
George, Fred, and Seth were sitting at the restaurant with their parents, across from the girls.
Abbye was wearing a gorgeous light green cocktail dress with a darker green sash as a belt that complemented her green eyes perfectly. Julie was wearing a strapless purple bubble dress that hugged her thin waist just right, while making her pale skin seem like it was glowing, making her look exquisite. Rachel was wearing a deep red crimson floor length dress that was close to the color of blood. It had golden treads running through it that made it very elegant.
"Abbye, dear you've hardly touched your food, are you feeling alright?" Molly asked, concern filling he voice something Abbye rarely heard from her parents.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Abbye said shortly, on her right side, Julie snorted,
"Yeah right." she muttered under her breath. Rachel jabbed Julie in the ribs.
"Abbye, are you sure you're fine?" George asked, "You look pale, I can take you home if you want me too." he offered, hoping he could at least get her to like him.
"I'm fine." Abbye repeated, not wanting to lose her cool, as if to prove it, she shoved a couple spoonfuls of food into her mouth. A knot started to form in Abbye's stomach; honestly she didn't feel well at all. She put her head in her hands as if that would help things. She prayed that she wouldn't throw up.
Julie looked over concerned, "You okay Abbye?"
Abbye hated admitting she wasn't feeling well, but she gave into it. "Not really."
Rachel looked over from the other side of Julie, "Do you want us to take you home?
"No, you guys stay here. I don't want to ruin your night. I'll be fine." Abbye waved their concerns off.
Julie looked over at Rachel, "Our night was already ruined. C'mon Abbye, we're going home."
Lindsay looked over sharply.
"Julie, you are not going anywhere." Lindsay ordered, "You are staying her until dinner is over."
"That goes for you too Rachel." Michael said firmly
"I could take Abbye home." George offered.
Abbye's parents smiled, 'This may work out after all...'
"Okay." said Molly, "Be careful."
"We will be." George smiled, and offered Abbye his arm which to his surprise she actually took. They then headed out of the restaurant. She stopped suddenly, and looked at George.
"Why'd you offer to take me home?" Abbye asked.
"You're sick, you need to be home."
"Why are you so nice to me?" She asked, "I've been a bitch to you since the day we met."
"It's like Helena and Demetrius, the more Demetrius hated Helena, the more she loved him."
Abbye looked sharply at George, "Loved?"
"Uh, I didn't mean that..."
"Then why'd you say it?" Abbye asked, "And whose that?"
"You've never heard of Shakespeare?"
"I have, but when I hear Shakespeare I think Romeo and Juliet." She smiled, "I love that play so much."
"A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of my favorites."
"What's that one about?"
"Four crazy, young lovers, a fairy kind and queen, a mischievous fairy, and 6 terrible actors."
"So back to what you saying, how is the story anything like us?"
George blushed, "Well, the more Demetrius hated Helena, the more she was attracted to him..."
Abbye raised an eyebrow, "Didn't you say loved just a few minutes ago?"
"No!" George said quickly
"Alright." She said, "Oh Merlin I wish I felt better."
"Why?" George asked curiously, "You, Julie and Rachel seemed to want to get out of that hellhole."
"I wasn't faking the sick thing. I feel horrible and my charming parents just made things worse."
"I'll bet." George suddenly remembered something. "Why was only Julie's mum there? Where's her dad?"
"Business meeting I think, I wish mine hadn't been there. Only reason I actually put up with my parents is they only care about how I look so I get any dress or outfit I want. They've never loved me, or at least they don't show it."
"Really? They didn't seem all that bad to me..."
"Ok, You can say there horrible its fine. I honestly hate them."
"No, really, they didn't seem that bad."
Another knot formed in Abbye's stomach. "Ow, curse my stupid stomach. It hates me."
George suddenly froze. "Oh yeah! I'm so sorry! I'm supposed to get you home!"
"It's fine. I'm used to everyone forgetting about me, by now." She sighed.
"I -" George started.
"Let's just go."
[] [] []
Julie and Rachel were trying to find a way out of this dinner. They were so miserable.
"Mother? I don't feel well." Julie lied, praying her mother would believe her.
Her mother looked at her, as if trying to see if she was lying or not. Finally, she sighed and nodded.
"C'mon Julie I'll take you home." Rachel said, and they dashed out the door before her parents could say a word.
Outside, Rachel blew out the breath she'd been holding. "Thanks, I almost died back there..."
"Yeah, think oh poor Abbye feels. She didn't get to ditch George." Julie said, feeling very bad for her friend.
"Well George is just dropping her off."
"Don't you think he would have been back by now?" She asked, "Want to go by her house, and check on her?"
"Sure!"
[] [] []
The three girls' parents were completely and utterly disgusted with their daughters, which wasn't much of a surprise.
"Molly, please excuse my rude daughter." Elizabeth said apologetically, "She will definitely be in big trouble when we get back."
"The same goes for Rachel." Her father said. "Wait, why don't we just continue this get together at Dani and Parker's house? That way the rest of the arrangements can be made."
"That will definitely work; because we know Rachel and Julie had to come to our house." Parker scoffed.
"Let's go." Dani said.
Fred, George, and Seth's parents all nodded secretly wishing that the girls' were nothing like their parents seemed to be.
[] [] []
When Abbye and George got back to her house, Abbye barely made it to the couch. She fell onto it and nearly passed out form exhaustion and her stomach ached. She hadn't felt this week in a long time.
"Are you alright?" George asked, real concern filling his voice.
"I'll be fine, it's just a stomach bug." About a second later Rachel and Julie popped into the living room.
"Abbs, are you alright?" Julie asked, reaching over to feel her forehead.
"Yeah, just a stupid stomach bug." She grunted.
"Okay. Do you want anything to eat? Soup?" Rachel offered
"Oh please Rachel, you couldn't cook to save your life." Julie scoffed.
"Ever heard of a microwave?" Rachel laughed.
"Uh...no...?" Julie said, confused
"Oh, yeah you three are pureblood." Rachel said then she turned to George. "Why are you still here?"
George was intimated by two death glares turned toward him. "Uh, I'll be leaving now..."
But before he could leave, he was stopped by multiple cracks.
"Abbye get up!" Her mother hissed, sending her daughter an evil glare.
"No!" Rachel shouted at them, "Can't you see she's sick?"
"She's faking it." She snapped, "Abbye get up, you know what happens when you don't listen to us."
"What?" Molly asked confused, "What happens?"
"She gets punished just like every other stupid teenager out there." Parker said, hiding the truth.
"Oh." Molly smiled, "Okay."
Abbye grunted and sat up.
"Now back to business." Parker said, "We have to set the the dates...maybe sometime later this month?"
"Dates?" Julie asked "For what?"
"The weddings, dear" Molly smiled.
"What?" Three voices shouted in unison.
[] [] []
Julie smiled a triumphant smile, she was able to put off her wedding until July, yes, that was only next month, but it was better then June. Abbye had talked her way into an August wedding, even though she'd always wanted a spring one. Rachel however, was the lucky one, she didn't have to go though the torture of getting married until the end of August.
Flashback
"Please mother?" Julie pleaded, she rarely begged her mother for anything, but she knew this would help her change her mother's mind.
Elisabeth stared coldly into her daughter's eyes, "Fine. But you have to corporate with me - or else."
End Flashback
Julie bit her lip, how was she supposed to pull off a wedding in four weeks?
[] [] []
"Abbye Black get down here now!" Her angry mother yelled causing her to jump out of bed.
"Coming!" She yelled, and trudged down the stairs to see her angry parents.
"Yes?" She asked, still half asleep.
"How dare you embarrass us like that!" Dani hissed, "You made us look awful leaving dinner early!"
Abbye flinched knowing what was coming, "I'm sorry I can't help I felt bad." She said kindly.
"Don't back talk your mother!" Parker yelled, and slapped his daughter across the face very hard causing her to fall to the ground. Abbye was used to her abusive parents by now. She'd lived with it for seventeen years and soon would be escaping it. It was the only thing she liked about the arranged marriage...or was it?
[] [] []
Rachel sighed, soon the wedding preparations would begin. She would much rather be fighting dark wizards then, marring Fred Weasley. She stared at the ceiling of her room and slowly fell asleep.
[] [] []
"So...what did you guys think?"
Fred, George, and Seth were lounging around the twin's bed room reflecting on the night.
"They're...okay...Julie's way more snarky with her folks them at Hogwarts." Seth mused
"Abbye acts different around her parents. She changed in a instant once we were out of the restaurant, a she was...nice."
"Rachel...seems a bit off with her parents..." Fred paused, "It's weird. The girls all seem to have different personalities at home then at Hogwarts."
[] [] []
Julie and Rachel apparated to Abbye's house first thing the next morning, only to find a huge bruise on her cheek.
"Abbye what happened last night?" Rachel asked, while casting a concealing charm, knowing the truth about her parents.
"Nothing out of the ordinary, they said I embarrassed them, I tried to explain how awful I felt. They said it was back talk and dad hits me across the face." She sighed, "See nothing out of the ordinary."
"Abbye, you need to tell someone else about them!" Julie pleaded, "Abbye, please talk to someone else."
"I'll be away from it soon enough, don't worry." Abbye sighed, "C'mon I was ordered to go start looking at possible dresses today. Wanna come?"
"Sure." They smiled.
[] [] []
George was laying awake in his bed, waiting on Fred to get up. He started reflecting on the previous evening. There was something off about Abbye when she was with her parents, but he couldn't figure out why the sweet girl from Hogwarts was a completely different person around her parents.
[] [] []
Julie and Rachel were mindlessly staring out the window waiting for Abbye to come pit them up, when suddenly a loud Crack! came from outside.
"She's here!" Julie and Rachel ran downstairs only to be greeted by, Seth, Seth Ferguson.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Julie narrowed her eyes.
"This nice young man has invited you to go with him to the Arboretum." Elizabeth stared straight into Julie's eyes as if daring her to refuse.
"The Arboretum? What's that?"
"But, we already have plans!" Rachel said meekly
"Cancel them." Julie's mother glared at her.
Crack!
"Hey!" Abbye said, "Ready to go?"
Rachel silently motioned at Seth and Elizabeth.
"...or maybe Rachel and I will just be going..."
[] [] []
Rachel was helping Abbye try on dresses in some fancy boutique when Abbye got a call from her mom.
"Hello?" Abbye asked, wishing her mother wouldn't bother her when she's in the middle of something.
"Abbye, come home now. Someone's here to see you."
"If it's George I don't care!" I said.
"You will come home now." Her mother hissed, "Or else."
"Fine." She hung up the phone angrily.
"I have to go home, he's there." Abbye grunted, "I suspect Fred will be at your house any second."
[] [] []
Sure enough, soon after Abbye was called home, Rachel also got a call from her parents saying to come home. "Fine." Rachel hissed into the phone, "I'll be right there."
When Rachel got home, her mum was already waiting for her.
"It's about time!" She dragged Rachel inside.
Inside, Fred was nervously sitting in the Parlor tapping his foot.
"What do you want?" Rachel asked rudely.
"Rachel!" Her mother hissed.
"What?" She asked, "What did I do?"
[] [] []
Abbye apparated home and landed in her living room, where George sat with her parents.
"Now, why did I have to go home?" She asked, "I was in the middle of something."
"George came over to invite you to go on a picnic." Her father said, "Which you are going on."
Abbye was honestly surprised, she'd never gone a picnic before, sure she had heard of them before, but never gotten to go on one thanks to her wonderful parents. 'This might actually be fun'She thought.
"Alright." She smiled grimly. George was secretly shocked that she wasn't putting up that much of a fight. Maybe he could get her to like him after all. ..
[] [] []
Seth watched as Julie bent down again to closely examine another flower. Apparently, Julie loved flowers. 'How could I have missed that?'He thought to himself.
Julie seemed to fit in perfectly with her surroundings. Her flowing black hair and sparkling hazel eyes made her look almost like a fairy flitting around a magical garden. Seth was entranced by the lovely sight.
"So…have you been here often?"
Julie looked up surprised, as if she had forgotten someone was there "No…My parents would rarely take me anywhere."
"Really? You seem to fit right in." At this Julie blushed prettily, "My parents used to take me here every day."
Silence fell over them.
"You hungry?" Seth asked, Julie looked down sadly at the flowers, "Don't worry; the flowers will still be here when we get back." Finally, Julie smiled a full smile.
[] [] []
Abbye hated her parents. She couldn't believe that they made her miss out on picnics! They were wonderful; she couldn't believe no bugs had invaded to swarm the yummy smelling food.
"I'm guessing you haven't ever been on a picnic?" George asked Abbye while dishing out a slice of Shepherd's Pie onto Abbye's plate.
"No, my parents never really let me out of the house." 'Because of my bruises.'Abbye finished in her head.
"Why?" George asked curiously.
"Oh…no reason..." Abbye racked her brains for a good reason, "...I would always be getting hurt...tripping all over the place, you know?"
George was suspicious, Abbye wasn't that clumsy at Hogwarts...but he let the topic drop, he wasn't going to ask any personal questions.
Abbye seemed to notice George's silence, "Uh, thanks for setting this up."
"It was no problem."
[] [] []
Fred had taken Rachel to a nice restaurant in Muggle London.
"This place is very...nice" Rachel said while looking around.
"It's one of my favorite places." Fred smiled.
"I've never really been to Muggle London before." Rachel looked around
"You haven't?" Fred asked confused, "You're a half-blood!"
"My parents never took me. They were really uptight about money."
"Well that's a shame. Is the anywhere you'd like to see here?" He asked considerately.
"I dunno...I know!" Rachel said brightly, "Can we visit some stores? I wanna get a surprise presents for Julie and Abbye."
"We can as soon as we eat." Fred smiled, "What are you going to get?"
"I dunno yet...do you have any ideas?" Rachel asked.
"For what?" Fred asked.
"The presents?" Fred was shocked; Rachel rarely asked his opinion for anything.
"Uh.." Fred said, "I don't know them very well. You three never really would talk to us at Hogwarts." Fred saw something flash across Rachel's face, but seconds later it was gone.
"Oh yeah." Rachel said mutually
"Maybe, if you told me a little about them I could help." Fred offered kindly.
"It's okay, I'll find something."
"I don't care to help." Fred said with a smile. "It'll be fun."
"No, it's fine."
"Alright." Fred sighed, wondering of Seth or George was having any luck.
[] [] []
"Bloody hell."
Seth smiled as Julie looked around in wonder. They were in a clearing in the middle of a forest; little did they know that they were in the same spot where Harry, Hermione, and Ron would be camping later on their run from Voldemort.
"This place is amazing." Julie smiled brightly.
"Yeah, it really is." Seth said agreeing, "Would you want to have the wedding outdoors?"
Julie smiled a genuine smile; she loved the sound of that. "I'd love that."
Seth smiled thinking maybe just maybe this was going to go better than he thought it would.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Read our other story too :)
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Cupcake-Chms-Serpentine