YAY! I got my first review! Thanks Ironhide and Lennox :-)
Sorry for such a long wait! So...I think I'll either make my chapters shorter or update twice a week :(( because my school starts soon...HW! Hope you're enjoying the story so far...maybe if you review more i'd know :PPP...I used a phrase from HP7 that JKR wrote, but I don't claim it one bit.
Chapter 4
Introduction to Magic
Fred
Fred swore several times, causing onlookers to snigger at his new-found pain. Jo had run away from him, after taking the time to laugh at his expression. He heard her yelling for a taxi and telling the driver her address. Ha! At least I know where she lives! he thought. Wait a second...I sound like a stalker. Fred, get a grip on yourself.
He hopped around on the spot, afraid to try anything with his wand while amongst so many Muggles. Whenever he tried to open his eyes, they watered up and burned, so he kept them closed for a couple of minutes until most of the pain wore off. Fred walked swiftly to a dark alleyway to clear up his eyes. He made sure that no one was near before turning on the spot and reappearing in front of Jo's apartment building. Fred walked in and looked at the column of mailboxes until his eyes fell upon J. Auclair. Her room was on the second floor. He decided to go the Muggle way, and take the stairs. When he reached her door her non-verbally unlocked it and entered.
Her flat was relatively empty compared to the cluttered and cramped Burrow. There was a small sitting room, an even smaller kitchen and her bedroom and bathroom; just enough for one person to live in happily. Fred examined the sitting room, picking up the three or four coffee books on her table and looking at the motionless pictures. He was about to sit himself down in one of her chairs when he heard the lock clicking. Hastily, he put a Disillusionment Charm on himself and shivered quietly at the odd sensation creeping down his neck. He leaned against the wall next to her door right as Jo opened it.
Jo
Jo was glad that it only took ten minutes to get to her apartment. She still kept looking around her to see whether Fred was anywhere near. Jo hadn't noticed anything strange by the time she'd reached the building.
Jo checked her mail and was starting towards the stairs when she caught the faint smell of something familiar, but unusual. She inhaled deeply and frowned. Pushing it aside, she started up the stairs. The scent was still there on the staircase. It smelled like a combination butterscotch and a fresh, woody smell. Jo kept trying to figure out what smelled like that when she walked towards her flat. She unlocked her door right as she placed a name on the smell.
Fred! But why does the building smell like him? Jo thought. Wait...my room smells like him too...that's weird. My door was locked and everything looks fine. Wait...how do I know what Fred smells like? Jo was disturbed by this revelation. Positive that there was something fishy going on, she picked up her fire extinguisher from and walked quietly around her house, looking for a burglar. Jo crept around her sitting room, and her other rooms, examining every inch.
There weren't any suspicious changes or noises, so Jo was convinced that she was imagining the "intruder." Her grip on the extinguisher loosened, and she was about to put it back in the corner next to the door when she heard someone clear their throat.
Jo turned around with the fire extinguisher still in hand and whacked the person behind hear with a satisfying-
Fred
THUD! Fred's knees buckled, and he fell to the ground, yelling in pain.
Jo
Jo dropped the extinguisher and grabbed a chair from the sitting room to place Fred in. Fred was struggling to stand up, so Jo gave him a hand up and shoved him into the chair.
'Don't even think about moving, Fred,' Jo warned. She grabbed a roll of duct tape from her kitchen drawer in case he tried any tricks on her. At the moment, she wasn't afraid of that, since he was gasping in pain, tears streaming from his eyes. It took him a minute before he could talk normally.
'You, Jo, have a flair for causing immense pain,' he said with a grimace.
'You, Fred, have a flair for deserving it,' she replied, not at all buying his pained looks.
She walked over to her extinguisher, picked it up and weighed it in her hands. Jo tapped it against her leg and raised her eyebrows at Fred.
'Quite a weapon, eh?' she smirked. 'Tell you what...I'll give you a pain-killer to make you feel better.'
'What?...Those are two words that I really don't like, put together,' Fred said alarmed.
'Oh, don't be ridiculous, Fred, it's a pain - killer, not a crazy ax-man who's going to kill you!'
Jo took a couple of liquid tablets and handed them to Fred. 'Give me one sec,' she called from the sink, getting him some water.
She heard a strangled cry as she left the kitchen with a glass in her hands. Fred was standing up with his mouth open, fanning his tongue, while his face turned as red as his hair. Jo took the cup of water and pushed it towards him, forcing some down his throat.
'Did you seriously chew them?' Jo shrieked. Fred nodded, still panting from the burning sensation. 'God, you are idiotic. Don't you know that pills are supposed to be taken with water?'
She knew he was fine and couldn't help laughing at his scarlet face and dramatic puffing. He seemed to be recovering, and his face lightened considerably.
'I'm going to go get a pen and some paper, and you are going to explain to me,' Jo said. 'And don't move a muscle.'
Confident that her captive wouldn't try leaving again, Jo swiftly walked to her bedroom to grab a pen and notebook. When she returned to the chair, no one was there.
'Damn!' Jo said loudly. I should have taped him down! Jo thought furiously.
She returned to her bedroom with her Mace and saw a grinning Fred sprawled with his legs crossed on her bed.
Fred
Jo looked murderous, but all Fred could think was: If looks could kill!
'What are you d - get off my bed!' she shouted. He blatantly refused by putting his arms under his head and wriggling into an even more comfortable position. Jo pulled up a chair and pointed to it, looking at Fred.
'Why bother with the chair, Jo? Come on the bed!' Fred said, as if it was his house. 'Feel free to...get comfortable...' he said waggling his eyebrows.
Jo raised the bottle of Mace threateningly and Fred cringed dramatically. Even in her anger, Jo couldn't help laughing at Fred's theatricals again.
The sight of Jo smiling at Fred caused him to get hypnotized before he caught himself staring again.
'God, you Muggles are really a lot tougher than we give you credit for,' he said impressed. Jo frowned at the term, and Fred remembered why he was there. 'So, I seriously am going to tell you what that was all about the other day.'
'You mean why those men in cloaks tried to bibbidi-bobbidi-boo me into oblivion?'
'Ye-What?'
'Never mind, it's from Cinderella.'
'Sounds like a disease.'
'Fred, you're hopeless. Go on with your story.'
Jo crossed her legs and put her face in her hands.
'You know all those tricks George and I showed you when we visited the shop?' Fred asked. Jo nodded. 'Well, those weren't any old tricks.'
Jo laughed. 'Of course they weren't! I'd never seen anything like them before!'
'No, seriously.' Fred said unusually sober. 'Those things...well...I dunno how to put this to you...it was magic.'
Jo raised her eyebrows, but more out of surprise than skepticism. 'Magic,' she repeated.
'Yeah, but not the kind of magic that you Mug- people talk about. I mean the real deal. Like wands and spells and potions, etcetera,' Fred said. 'It actually exists, but Muggles, which means non-magical people, don't really know about it.'
Jo gaped at him. 'Okay...so you could make someone float in midair?' she asked.
Fred felt like laughing. Learning how to make something fly was part of the first-year curriculum at Hogwarts. 'Yes, but there's much more than that.'
'More? Could you make love potions, and understand animals, and ride on broomsticks?' Jo chuckled at the last one. Fred was amazed at how everything she had mentioned was actually real, but she didn't know anything about them.
'Seems like you wouldn't need me to figure out what else you could do,' Fred said, intrigued by her insight of the unknown. Jo grinned.
'When I was a kid, my best friend and I used to steal Matron's broomsticks and pretend to ride around on them like witches. It was quite fun then, but when I was older, it seemed like a lot of tosh. And now you're telling me that it's real?'
'Really?' Fred laughed, trying to imagine Jo at five, running around on a broom.
'So, do you people go to some sort of school to learn this stuff?' Jo asked curiously.
'Yeah...It's called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It's a huge castle, but it's enchanted so that Muggles can't see it.'
'But why not?'
'Well, what do you think would happen if everyone in the world knew that magic existed, really?'
'Er...okay, never mind.'
'Exactly. Actually, our school's a lot like Muggle school. We start on the first day of September, and have Christmas, Easter and summer holidays. There're four houses that we get sorted into, and they are like family...' Fred went on and on for a couple of hours, explaining about Hogwarts, a little about the Ministry and his family. Jo would interrupt and ask intelligent questions and exclaimed in amazement about the ghosts and moving portraits. She laughed at Fred's description of his brothers and Ginny's Bat Bogey Hex.
When he'd finished, Jo said: 'Wow! That was a lot to take in. But is it all right? You telling me all of this stuff? I feel like I shouldn't know about it,' Jo said uncertainly.
'Well, you shouldn't,' Fred smiled. 'But do you understand it?'
'Sort of...You know...it's late, and I have to job hunt, make dinner, and do all of that evening stuff...could you give me some time to mull this over?' Jo asked.
'Yeah, absolutely!'
'Cool.'
'Okay, I'd best be going too. See you later?'
'How about this. I'll get another job, then we'll meet over the weekend sometime.'
'Okay! Sounds like a plan.'
And with that, Fred disappeared with a crack.
So, how do you like this chapter? Much shorter, b/c the next one is very full :) School starts in a week, so twice a week posts sounds reasonable. I know this one was ten days, but that's not going to happen again!
REVIEW PLEASE!
Sammy-U out
