"Rach? Rach, is that you?" Elizabeth's frantic voice came through loudly on the phone.
"Yeah, Liz." I yawned, "What's going on? It's four in the morning."
I was surprised to get a call from my sister this early - especially since it was still dark outside and she liked to sleep in. Needless to say, I was pretty grumpy.
"I'm so glad you're okay." She said, her voice cracking a little, "I was so worried."
"What are you talking about?" I pressed.
"You didn't see? It's all over the news!"
"No!" I answered, my patience wavering. I had never quite gotten over the fact that she had left me, even though I knew she was happier now. I was so selfish.
She took a deep breath from the other side of the phone, clearly keeping herself from going into full hysterics. "Dave saw something on the news- the neighborhood where your job is has been attacked!" There was a voice in the background, probably Dave. "I'm on the phone with her right now!" Elizabeth called back, and then said to me. "The media thinks it's been some sort of gang-related violence, but I'm pretty skeptical about that. That's a safe neighborhood, you know!"
What Elizabeth had told me hadn't even registered in my mind. "Wait... but we're all okay, right?" I asked groggily, still not quite awake. "Nothing really... happened?"
"Oh, Rach." Elizabeth said, "They said there's been a lot of damage, but it's fairly new, so there's nothing for sure about it yet."
"Listen, Liz." I said. "I'm going back to bed. I'll call you in the morning when I figure things out."
I hung up the phone, despite her protests. I really hated being woken up early.
It wasn't until I slipped back into my warm bed that I received another phone call. After contemplating for a few seconds whether to even answer it or not, I finally picked up the phone to find-
"Rachel!" A familiar voice wailed, for some reason I was having problems putting a face to a name that morning.
"Who's there?" I answered unhelpfully.
"Lydia!" The voice answered shrilly. Lydia was my boss, the owner of our cafe and the place where I had been working since I was sixteen. "Rach, you're the only one who I could get to answer the phone this early. I've just gotten news from the police that the restaurant has been destroyed." That last bit came out slightly muffled.
My stomach sank. I had been hoping that the call from Elizabeth had been just her overreacting.
"What do you mean?" I said quietly.
"I mean something happened - some terrorist or gang-related thing happened and completely blew it up!" I could tell that she was on the verge of hysteria. Her words were almost incoherent.
"Lydia, where are you right now?" I said, hoping her husband was nearby.
"At the cafe." She said weakly. "The police are here as well."
"Okay. Stay there, I'm on my way over."
Abandoning any hopes of getting a good night's sleep, I quickly pulled on some clothes from the floor of my closet, and stepped outside. Making my way to the cafe, I found myself hoping that it was all just some crazy nightmare I was having - that everything would be okay.
I was so preoccupied that I completely forgot Fred requesting me not to leave the house without his protection. Thankfully, I made it to the shop okay.
What I saw completely shocked me.
It was hard to see in the dark, but a few streetlamps lent enough light to get a gist of what had happened. The small line of shops where my work had been located looked like it had been blown up. What was left of the poor cafe was a pile of rubble. A few pieces of something smoldered against the debris, looking like cinders in a long abandoned bonfire.
I was met by Lydia and Amanda - Violet must have still been sleeping. Lydia was openly sobbing. The tiny restaurant had been like her baby, the first step to her dream of being a pastry chef. I felt numb.
"They say it was a freak accident." Amanda said, her arm still around Lydia. Lydia's husband Andy was nearby, still talking to the police.
"That's bollocks." I said, under my breath.
Lydia's sobs died down as it got lighter outside. I noticed the media gradually beginning to appear and attempt to interview us. While Amanda and I opted out of it, Lydia did one interview to a local news station.
Violet appeared an hour later, and we had to explain what had happened.
I remember feeling at a loss of what to do that day. Amanda and I made sure Lydia had gotten home safely (Andy had stayed behind to take care of things - his wife was too devastated), and then parted ways there.
"Please call the others, won't you?" Lydia said to Amanda before we left, meaning the few other employees that worked with us. "I don't want them turning up when there's nothing left."
I returned back to my flat, still feeling numb. I couldn't help thinking, now what? That one thought revolved in my head repeatedly, until it consumed me.
To my astonishment, I met Fred on the way back.
"Hey." He said, suddenly at my side. It was hard, at first, to get used to him always appearing and disappearing when we first started dating, but I had gotten used to it. Well, some of the time. "I heard about what happened."
After everything that had happened, I still felt a mixture of emotions: despair over losing my job (at least until it was rebuilt- if it could be rebuilt that is), pity for Lydia, whose dream had just gone up in flames (literally), and worry. What was I going to do now?
"Are you okay?" He asked.
I shrugged. "Dunno. I didn't get much sleep last night." The emotions that had felt overwhelming at first were now starting to disappear, replaced by numbness.
He took my hand in his. It felt warm and reassuring. "C'mon, I'll walk you home."
I allowed him to lead me to my flat, and when we reached the doorway I surprised myself by saying, "Do you want to come inside?"
His eyes widened a little, but he nodded, and came inside.
Exhausted, I made us some tea, and then we sat at the dingy kitchen table. I remember suddenly realizing how tired I was, my eyes could barely stay open, and Fred's voice as he was talking to me became unintelligible. Before I knew it, I drifted off to sleep.
When I woke up, I was in my bedroom. For a few minutes, I just stared at the daylight streaming through the lace curtains on the window. Pretty, I thought vaguely.
"You're awake." A voice said, startling me. I looked up and saw Fred sitting in an unfamiliar chair (he must have conjured it up) reading a book.
Memories of what had happened that day flooded into my head, and I sat up quickly. "What time is it?" I said, "What-"
"It's five o' clock." Fred said, looking amused. He closed the book, after folding one of the pages as a bookmark. "I brought you home and you fell asleep while I was talking to you at the table."
"Five o' clock." I repeated. I had slept the whole day away. "Wait," I said, "Does that mean you've been here all day too?"
"Yep." Fred grinned. "George can handle the shop for one day. Besides, I wanted to make sure you're okay."
I sighed at the mention of the poor cafe where I was employed.
"It couldn't have been a freak accident." He continued, "Your work, I mean. What with everything going on. I talked to Dad and he said that it was most likely the work of dark wizards."
I blanched. "Dark wizards? But they don't... they don't care about muggles, do they?"
His expression was sad. "It's not safe for anyone anymore. That's why I asked you to let me walk you to work, just in case."
I nodded, feeling distressed, even though I wasn't really surprised.
Fred stood up and came to sit at the side of my bed; his hand lightly brushed mine, and he smiled. He was close enough that I could count the freckles on his face, and see the tiny bit of gold in his brown eyes. "I'm glad I met you." he said softly, still playing with my hand.
I leaned forward and kissed him. His lips were soft, and he kissed me gently and then pulled back, grinning now. "If I knew you were going to do that I would have said it sooner."
"I've never met anyone like you, Fred Weasley." I answered, half exasperated, the other half feeling like I was floating.
He kissed me this time, gently at first, but becoming more intense. As we kissed, he pushed me back on to the pillows, so that he was on top of me, kissing even fiercer. Somehow, his shirt was off and the buttons on my blouse were undone, and we were snogging heatedly.
We kissed for awhile, until the sun went down. After all that time I had spent worrying and stressing out that day, it was a nice thing to do to get my mind off things, in addition to the fact that I really enjoyed it. I can't say how far we would have gone, only that it was interrupted by my phone ringing.
"Ignore it." Fred muttered against my lips. I seriously considered it, and then groaned and disengaged myself.
"I can't." I sighed, "It might be Lydia, or worse, Elizabeth."
Fred's eyes followed me as I reached for the phone. "Hello?"
"Hello Rachel, is my dear brother there?" A voice sounding identical to Fred's came through the phone - George.
"Yes, he's right here." I said, and then held the phone out to Fred. "It's for you."
It took a minute to explain to Fred how to actually talk into the telephone - really, for someone who was capable of conjuring up objects it was almost comical how inept with technology Fred was - but he got the hang of it and was soon conversing with George.
"No, I had Verity put them on the shelves by the door." Fred said, answering something George said, "She must have misplaced them then-"
Sighing, I started to re-button my blouse. I figured that Fred would have to go soon, and then I would have to return to reality. Like start thinking about what I was supposed to do for a job.
I waited patiently for Fred to finish his conversation, and then had to help him hang up when he was done talking to George.
"How in the world did he learn to use a telephone like that?" I wondered out loud.
Fred shrugged, "He always did better in Muggle Studies than I did, I was too busy-" he broke off. "You've been sleeping all day, you must be starving. C'mon, I'll buy you dinner."
"You have a class about Muggles?" I asked, in my curiosity forgetting that he had suddenly changed the subject.
He smiled, "Yep. And it didn't bloody well help anything. I still don't understand how you use that eklectic stuff."
"You mean electric." I corrected automatically. He took my hand, and I accepted it, letting him lead me into the darkness.
A/N: So, I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. It sort of went out of control at the end haha, but oh well! I'm pretty happy with how it's going so far! Thank you so much for the reviews, they're awesome! Please review, and I will be so happy and grateful! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
