25 chapters, whohoo! This is one of the longest fics I've ever written, and though I've been busy with school and extracurriculars and all, meaning the writing process has slowed down, I have no intention of stopping this fic.
Your continued support means the world to me and I honestly cannot thank you enough. Reviews are my lifeblood here on and really do brighten my day, so please don't be afraid to drop one off!
Alright, I'll shut up now. Enjoy :)
On the following Saturday morning, the morning that Fred and George finally turned seventeen, all of the Slytherins entered the Great Hall for breakfast, and they were all, well most were, covered in a thick, green, slimy substance. They all looked rather flustered, trying to scrub away or vanish the gunk off of them, to no avail. Even Snape, who was trying his hardest to get it off Draco Malfoy, wasn't having any luck and starting to look rather angry.
Obviously, the Slytherins weren't amused with whatever was happening to them. But, most of the other students were highly amused, snickering and pointing and whispering jokes.
"Brilliant, just brilliant," Lee commended, as he sat down across from the twins. "You two just get better with age, I suppose."
"Wasn't us, mate," Fred said. Holding a hand up as if he was testifying in court, he added, "Prankster's honor."
"Seriously?" Lee asked disbelievingly, as he raised an eyebrow.
"Seriously," Fred and George nodded in unison.
"But….who else would be brilliant enough to cover all the Slytherins in a green slime that's spell-proof?" Lee asked, looking extremely interested in knowing the answer.
"That'd be me, Lee," Amelia chimed in. She approached him from behind, and laid a hand on his shoulder. Her sweater was mustard colored, with a black band across the chest, Hufflepuff-style. "I'm honored you think I'm so brilliant. Really, it's just a variation on a Muggle hair-dye. Added it to their showers last night. Should wear off by this time tomorrow….if not, oh well….I can make some money, have them pay me to counter-curse it off of them, I'm the one one who knows how….oh, and happy birthday, Fred, George."
With those words and a slight nod, she vanished into the Hufflepuff table, where she was greeted by Herb, Phoebe, Leanne and Cedric, all who were having quite the hoot over what she'd done. She was welcomed like a queen, and gave her subjects a sarcastic bow before gracing her seat.
Shaking his head, Fred mumbled, "Blimey, I knew there was a reason why I liked her."
"You sure know how to pick 'em, mate," Lee nodded, gazing towards the Hufflepuff table. "Not hard on the eyes either….hell of an arse….y'know, if we'd been introduced sooner, I'd…."
Lee was cut off in the middle of his sentence, being hit in the side of the head with hard-boiled egg.
"Watch your mouth," Fred warned him, half-playfully, half-seriously. "That's my girlfriend you're talking about."
"Your future wife, more like it," George joked, poking at his scrambled eggs. "Hm….Amelia Weasley…."
"Come off it," Fred responded, punching George in the shoulder. He gazed back over to the Hufflepuff table, and mused, "I think I'll take her out tonight."
"That's a bit backwards, Fred," George replied. "Its your birthday, our birthday, not 'Melia's."
"It's a birthday present to myself, George," Fred responded.
"Oh, just trying to get some action, eh?" Lee joked, as he and George chuckled. "Don't blame you there, mate….like I said, she's got a hell of an arse….bet she's a great snog too, I'd put money on that…"
"You're just asking to get your arse kicked now," George said with a half grin, nodding his head at Fred, who was not amused.
"Yeah, stop looking at her like that," Fred said, rising to his feet. With just a shadow of a grin, he added, "That's my future wife you're talking about."
"Stop!" Amelia shouted, swatting Leanne's hands out of her hair. "Will you leave me alone, for Merlin's sake?"
Pouting a bit, Leanne replied, "I was only trying to fix your rat's nest of a head of hair so you could look decent tonight."
"Perfectly happy with my hair, thanks," Amelia mumbled.
"Rats' nests don't look like that," Phoebe said dreamily, from where she was sitting on her bed, with plenty of rats crawling over her. "And I think your hair already looks nice, Amelia."
Leanne rolled her eyes, looking at Phoebe's own hair, which was adorned with feathers, twigs, beads, and god knows what else.
"You're one to talk," Leanne grumbled under her breath. Either Phoebe didn't hear, or, being herself, just didn't care.
"I like my hair," Phoebe said. She didn't sound angry, she was merely replying and adding to the conversation.
"Good for you," Leanne sighed.
"I'll be leaving now," Amelia said. Standing up, she headed for the door, and looked at Leanne, and warned, "Play nice."
Amelia then exited the Hufflepuff dorms and common room, and went to meet Fred by the Hogsmeade exit. She was glad that he and George seemed to get a laugh out of the prank that she'd played on the Slytherins that morning, which was their birthday gift to them, though she immensely enjoyed doing it almost as much as everyone else - besides the Slytherins - enjoyed the results. Besides, it gave her the opportunity to stop worrying about Cedric and the final task of the tournament and thinking about that fact that she was the last in line in a family of Azkaban-entrapped Death Eaters.
Though it was indeed her boyfriend's (she wasn't a huge fan of the word) birthday, she wasn't all that dressed up. Jeans, and her cleanest plaid flannel shirt, which was actually buttoned, over a crisply ironed white t-shirt. Her hair was down, messy as always, but she'd at least taken the care to wash it the night before, something she often couldn't be bothered to do. On her feet were her usual Chuck Taylors, but she only had those and a pair of combat boots….she figured, in some way, the Chucks were more appropriate. And, she topped things off with her denim jacket, just in case she got a bit chilly while she was out. It was always a possibility.
"Ah, there you are, love," greeted Fred as she approached him, arms open for an embrace.
"Happy birthday, again," Amelia said after Fred had released her just a tad.
She was still in his arms, though, and she wasn't complaining. She could've kissed him, with that stupid half-grin of his on his stupidly adorable face, but George was right there, leaning against the wall, smirking.
Clearing her throat, she added, "You too, George."
"No worries, I realize I'm only chopped liver here," George replied with a shrug and a smirk. "Thanks, though, 'Melia. I'll let you go now so you can give Freddie some birthday fun."
Eyes widening Amelia asked, "We're not all going out together?"
"Course not," George said, as if it should've been obvious. "Have fun, kids. Just remember - I don't want to be an uncle any time soon, alright?"
"George!" Amelia exclaimed, rather embarrassed.
Fred, of course, was unphased, and only chuckled as he pulled Amelia closer to him by her waist.
"C'mon," Fred urged. "We've got a castle to sneak out of."
Amelia only followed along, as Fred dragged her through the corridors and ultimately outside the castle. He dragged her all the way to the infamous Whomping Willow, which was where she dug her heels into the grass so that she came to a screeching halt, and refused to go any further.
"No," Amelia said, shaking her head. "I'm not going in there."
She wasn't stupid - she knew the tunnel led to the Shrieking Shack, and if you didn't make it into the tunnel, the tree would kill you.
"What, are you scared, Honeycutt?" Fred inquired teasingly. She wanted to punch the stupid grin off of his face.
"No," she piped up promptly and defensively. "...It's just….it's against school rules."
Fred snorted, rolled his eyes, and then asked, "Since when are you afraid of going against school rules? C'mon, live a little. Do it for me, Honeycutt, it is my birthday."
"Fine, Weasley," Amelia retorted, rolling her eyes. "Only for you."
"Good choice," Fred nodded. "Now, take notes on this…."
She watched, as he approached the monstrous old tree fearlessly in true Gryffindor fashion, and poked the center of one particular knot on the tree, which caused the tree to freeze completely. Now that it wasn't going to kill anyone, Fred seized her hand once again, and before she knew it, was dragging her town the tunnel towards the Shrieking Shack. Her heart was pounding, but she didn't know what was causing it more - the Shrieking Shack, or being alone with Fred. Either way, it was.
In all of her years at Hogwarts, Amelia had never been inside the Shrieking Shack, or even near the Whomping Willow, for that matter. Now she was inside, and she couldn't say it wasn't what she expected. It was old, dilapidated, and rather dusty. She merely wandered about the room that appeared to be the old sitting room, as Fred kneeled by the old fireplace and lit a fire. When he turned back to her, he had a bottle of firewhiskey and two glasses in hand. He poured the liquid into the glasses, and handed one to Amelia, and they clinked them together in a toast.
"Happy birthday, Weasley," Amelia winked, raising her glass. "Thank Merlin you can legally buy me firewhiskey now."
"Mm, true," Fred nodded, after taking his sip. "Don't get used to it, though. I'm limiting you, Honeycutt."
"What do you mean?" Amelia inquired.
Taking her glass and setting it along with his atop the mantle, he slyly replied, "I mean that I'm not going to let you get drunk, Miss Honeycutt. Because the next time we snog, I can't have you blaming it on being drunk again."
Rolling her eyes, Amelia crossed her arms, and inquired, "What makes you think I'll ever snog you again, especially if I'm sober?"
"Because I've got you better figured out than you think I do," Fred informed her, taking her into him by the waist once again.
"Yeah?" Amelia asked, laying her hands on his chest, through his homespun sweater. "I don't believe you."
"Test me," he challenged, smirking again. "Go ahead, ask me a question about yourself."
She pondered for a moment, and then decided to ask him something he couldn't possibly know - her favorite musicians, all of whom were Muggles.
"Who are my favorite musicians?" she then asked.
For a moment, judging by the stumped look on his face, she thought she had him, until she just realized that he was just an impressive actor, as he said, "Hm, let's see….bunch of Muggles, right? I'm going to have to say….that American Muggle, Jimi Hendrix, who plays guitar as if he were a wizard….the usual, the Beatles….the late, great American set of Muggles, Nirvana….shame there, killing himself and all….and some obscure little 'punk' band called X-Ray Spex from London….correct, love?"
Though she had a hard time believing it, she gave Fred a well-deserved round of applause, but she wasn't giving him a pass just yet.
"Where am I from?"
"Eastleigh."
"Favorite color?"
"Please, Honeycutt, I know you well enough to know such trivial things as favorite colors don't concern you."
"What am I afraid of?"
"Now you're just insulting my intelligence. Heights and water."
"You've been stalking me, haven't you, Weasley?" Amelia asked playfully.
"Not at all, love," Fred grinned in response. "I believe it's called 'paying attention,' though I wouldn't know. There isn't much I pay attention to, besides a certain Hufflepuff."
"Now you're just trying to flatter me, aren't you?" Amelia grinned. "Too sweet."
"Sweet enough to deserve a snog?" Fred inquired, just as playful as ever.
"Only because it's your birthday," she shrugged, grinning brilliantly. "Usually, I hate you."
"Don't worry, I hate you too," he assured her with a wink.
Then, Amelia found herself kissing Fred once again, not exactly snogging, but kissing, and it was the kind of kiss that made her heart race and her knees weak. And it was at that moment that she knew there was no getting out of the fact that she was falling for Fred Weasley.