Lovers and Laughter
Thanks so much to CountryGirl14 and LovelyBones1551 for reviewing, you guys are the best! Hope you enjoy this chapter.
"Finally!" Raye cried as she stepped out of the castle, "I could kiss the ground."
"Please don't." Sarah snorted, her arm wrapped around Lee. Raye couldn't help but notice that she was the only one in their group alone. Kat was also with them holding hands with Sam. But even as she thought this Raye felt a small tingle in her stomach, she wouldn't be alone for long, only a few days and she would finally be able to see Fred again.
"I'm almost sad the NEWTs are over though." Kat said, gazing out over the lawn.
"Are you crazy?" Lee asked as though she had just said she thought it would be fun to go have a picnic with Umbridge.
"Well that was our last thing we'll do as Hogwart's students."
"Correction, the last thing we'll do as Hogwart's students is relax and enjoy our last day's of freedom." Raye grinned.
"Cheers." Sam said and the group headed out to soak up the sun that shined merrily over the lake. They laughed and talked until the sun began to dip over the horizon and their stomachs began to grumble.
"Come on let's go get dinner." Lee said, pulling Sarah up from off the grass.
"Agreed." Kat said and they made their way back to the castle. As they headed into the dining hall Harry Potter and Hermione Granger walked by followed by an angry Umbridge.
"She looks mad." Lee commented.
"Good." Raye said as they sat down at the Gryffindor table, Sam heading back to join his friends at Ravenclaw. Everyone stayed extra long at dinner that night, enjoying the weight of exams lifted off of them. The house elves seemed to have worked extra hard, knowing how hungry students would be after exams. However, although no one knew it then, that that would be their last night of tranquility for a very long time.
The next day the school was abuzz with the news of the break in of the Ministry of Magic. As soon as the news arrived on the post owls, the whole school went into frenzy.
"I don't know why everyone is treating this like some huge surprise; we already knew that You-Know-Who was back." Raye muttered as they passed a group of whispering second years leaving the great hall from dinner.
"Yeah but it's different now that the Ministry admits it. Now everyone who didn't believe it before has to." Kat said.
"I guess that's true, but you would think more people would be surprised that Sirius Black is actually innocent and that he died fight You-Know-Who." Raye argued.
"Yeah, it's really sad that he's finally admitted to be innocent but can't enjoy it." Sarah said.
But despite what any of them said, the news that You-Know-Who was admitted to be back was chilling. It meant that there was no doubt, no hope that it was all a mistake; it meant that the Dark Lord was really truly on the rise.
"So what are we doing tonight?" Sarah asked as they walked down the corridor, "It is after all our last night at Hogwarts."
"Aren't you going to be with Lee?" Raye said and then turned to Kat, "And you're having one last night with Sam, right?" Raye didn't like the idea of spending her last night at Hogwarts alone but she was sure her friends would want to spend it with their boyfriends. That was until Kat and Sarah exchanged a smirk.
"I told you she would think that." Kat said grinning.
"Think what?" Raye asked.
"You don't honestly think that we weren't going to spend our last night here together, do you?" Sarah said smiling.
"Um, yeah?"
"After seven years of knowing us you would think that we wouldn't want to spend our final night with our best friend in the whole world?"
"We need to commemorate our seven years of friendship."
"But, but what about Lee and Sam?"
"They understand and hey, sista's before mista's right?" Kat grinned.
"You guys are the best friends in the whole world." Raye said and threw her arms around them, "Group hug." They stood arm in arm in the hallway ignoring the wolf whistles of the boys that past for a few minutes until they heard shuffling footsteps.
"Just because you lot are leaving tomorrow it does not mean you can stay past curfew." Filtch wheezed, "If only the Head Mistress was still here, then you would be hanging from your ankles in the dungeons, how's that for you last night?"
Raye glanced at Kat and Sarah, both of whom were trying to hide their smiles, "RUN!" She yelled and the three sprinted off down the corridor, running through the dark castle. They flew upstairs and around corners until they all collapsed in a fit of gasps and giggles at the foot of a suit of armor whose hood creaked down to gaze at the giggling bodies.
"Did you see the look on his face?" Sarah chortled, wiping the tears of laughter off of her cheeks.
"He looked like he was going to kill someone." Kat gasped.
"Do you think we lost him?" Raye asked grinning.
"Probably, unless his scrawny muscles are deceiving."
"Excellent." Raye said standing up.
"Uh, where are we going?" Sarah and Kat said in unison.
"Come on, it's our last night, let's give our favorite places one last goodbye." Raye said with her eyes sparkling as she led them down the corridor.
"You know Fred really has had a horrible influence on you."
"Funny he said the same thing about you guys."
"By the way, where are we?" Sarah asked as Raye led them through a tapestry and down a flight of stairs.
"You're kidding, how can you possibly get lost here after living here for almost half your life?" Raye asked incredulously.
"Not of us have dated a Weasley twin." Kat grinned, "We can't all know every single passage around Hogwarts according to the weather, time, and year of the zodiac." Raye just laughed.
"Speaking of the twins isn't that the swamp?" Sarah pointed to the roped off area of green slime they were passing in the hall.
"Yup" Raye said, "Flitwick did it in all of two seconds, I'm surprised he didn't leave a plaque."
"I'm more surprised you didn't." Kat said, nudging Raye teasingly.
"Shut up." Raye said, but she blushed a little. "Come on let's go down to the kitchens." The castle was empty as they made there way down to the dungeons. Passing by the vacant dining hall was almost eerie. But as soon as they entered through the painting to the kitchens they were greeted with the homey crackling of a fire and the smell of baking bread.
"Do they ever take time off?" Raye whispered as they were whisked inside by a mass of elves.
"I guess not." Kat replied as their arms were laden with mugs of hog chocolate, cookies, and pastries. The house elves were eager as always to provide them with more food than they could possibly eat.
"You know it really is a good thing that Lee has been in love with you, for like, ever or else last year he never would have told us how to get down into the kitchens." Raye grinned.
"That's not true!" Sarah protested before shooting back, "I'm sure Fredy-kins would have told you anyway."
"I'll right break it up you two." Kat grinned before adding, "Come on, let's go down to the grounds."
The night had taken away the scorching heat of the day, leaving only a pleasant warm breeze that played with the three girl's hair as they walked down to the willow that had been their spot to study under at goof off at for so long. They remained there, laughing, and talking late into the night.
It was long past midnight when Kat finally yawned, "You know if we want to be awake at all tomorrow we probably should go."
"Yeah. I think the sugar has finally worn off." Sarah said struggling to get up from the grass where she had been lying before turning around to help Raye up.
"We'll stay in touch after we leave right?" Raye asked as they walked through the halls.
"Of course! Why would you even ask that?" Sarah said disbelievingly.
"Just checking." Raye said with a smile, "You know there is some serious death eater butt we have to kick."
"Are you guys, you know," Kat lowered her voice, "Joining the Order."
"Yes!" Raye and Sarah said, a little too loudly and the three jumped when and owl hooted outside of the window.
"Maybe we should talk about this another time." Kat whispered.
"Yeah," Raye said, "But one thing is for sure, nothing is going to keep us apart. Not even bunches of smiley inbred pureblood lovers."
Fred paced on the platform, his feet hitting the ground harder and harder as his impatience grew.
"Shouldn't they be here by now?" He asked George who was watching him with a bemused look on his face.
"They aren't scheduled to be here for another ten minutes." He replied, Fred could see the amusement in his eyes, "And that's if no one caused any trouble on the train."
"Yeah well with us gone I doubt that would happen." Fred couldn't help but grinning. "Do you remember that time in second year when-"
"-we invaded that Slytherin compartment and set off about a million dungbombs, yeah that was great! You could smell them as they got off of the train. And then there was that time fifth year when we snuck-"
"- a sleeping draft into all the seventh year Slytherin's food and they didn't wake up in time to get off of the train." Fred laughed.
"You know if you think about it we weren't very nice to them, maybe we should apologize." George said with a glint in his eye.
"You're right George, we were awfully immature. We should make up for all of our rude behavior with a little welcome home present. Do you happen to have any of those-"
"Whiz-bangs? Coincidentally I do." George grinned and the twins were in fits of laughter as the train came puffing down the track.
Fred instantly straighten up, his stomach felt like it was going to fly away. "There's no reason to be worried." George said echoing the voice in Fred's head as the train came to a stop.
"Yeah why would I be worried?" He said as he scanned the stream of students as they flowed through the doors but Raye was no where to be found.
"There." George nudged him and Fred turned to see Lee, Sarah, Kat, Sam, Alicia, Angelina, and finally Raye exiting from the end of the train. They were all laughing and at first Raye didn't notice him. They all looked so happy like they didn't even care that Fred and George weren't with them. But as Raye looked up a huge smile spread across her face, vanishing all of Fred's worries as he broke into a run.
They met in the middle of the platform as her arms flew around his neck he breathed in her wonderful smell.
"I missed you." She whispered just before there lips met, making Fred forget everything. He didn't notice the cat calls that erupted around them, the explosions of fire works, undoubtedly courtesy of George, or the howls of the Slytheirns. For the time they were alone in their own personal world.
"I love you." Fred whispered as their lips finally broke apart.
"Oh love you too, mate." Lee broke in, appearing from behind Raye and thumping Fred on the back and as he led them back to where George and the others were, exchanging greetings as well as laughs about the newly singed Slytherins. Fred kept his arm around Raye the entire time.
"By the way is this dragon skin?" Raye asked, running her hand up his arm.
"Uh yes." Fred replied nervously, but he guessed it was a testament to how long they had been separated that she just rolled her laughing eyes with out bothering to mention that dragons were endangered beasts, or as she would put it, creatures.
Unfortunately he then caught the eye of a very impatient Mrs. Weasley. He nudged George and nodded in their Mum's direction before turning back to Raye.
"Tomorrow, 12:00, meet me in the Leaky Cauldron; there is something that I have to show you."
"Can't wait." Raye grinned and Fred gave her one last kiss before heading over to an impatient Mrs. Weasley with George at his side, already excited for the day to come.
Raye smiled as she scanned the Leaky Pub, it was always easy to spot Fred with his bright red hair. He was sitting at the bar with his backed turned to her talking with Tom the barman, who left as Raye approached.
"Hey." Raye said kissing Fred's cheek as she snuck up from behind. Fred caught her chin and moved her mouth from his cheek to his lips. "Hey." He smiled when he finally released her. "You ready?" He asked, taking her hand as he led her out of the Leaky Pub.
"I don't know am I?" Raye grinned, she was having a hard time not smiling whenever she was with Fred, something about him just always made her want to smile. They walked effortlessly through Diagon Alley, it seemed as if they had never been apart.
"We're almost there." Fred said and he waved his wand to make a black clothe appear around Raye's head, covering her eyes.
"Is this really necessary?" Raye felt around the back of her head, trying to untie the knot, but a pair of warm strong hands intercepted hers.
"Yes it is." Fred said as he took her hands and began walking backwards down the alley gently pulling her after him.
"How do I know you aren't going to lead me into a wall or something?"
"Raye your lack of confidence in me is insulting." Fred pretended to be hurt but Raye could hear the laughter in his voice.
"Fine, how do I know you aren't going to walk into a wall?"
"Geez, once again with the confidence blows, it like you don't have any faith in me what so ever, anyway we are almost there." Fred said, letting go of her and pulling out his wand. "One, two, three." He said and flicked his wand, causing the bandana around Raye to disappear.
Raye blinked at the sudden bright light and then gasped, the shop was incredible. Bright lights lit up the windows, the miniature puffskins Raye had secretly developed were playing in the window like puppies. Inside the store Raye could see sudden bursts of colorful lights and smoke. The whole placed was like something that you would only see in a dream; something only Fred and George could possibly pull off.
"I'm judging by your inability to speak that you like it." Fred joked.
"It's incredible…" Raye breathed.
Fred grinned, "You haven't even seen the inside yet, come on, let's go." He said taking Raye's hand and leading her into the crowded store. Some of the things on the shelves were products she had already seen, like the bins of skiving snack boxes, but others were completely new.
"Reusable hangman?" Raye grinned, nodding at the display.
"In tribute to wonderful History of Magic classes past." Fred grinned. "But the real magic is back here." Fred said, tugging Raye to a room in the back.
"What-" Raye broke off as she entered the darker room. Instead of the bright boxes, this room was more subtlety colored.
"What is all of this?" Raye ran her hand along the rack.
"Well we decide to start a more uh, practical line. It started as a joke, you know, bet someone that they can't jinx you and have a laugh when it just bounces off. But the ministry bought a ton so we decided to expand. And this way we can help people with more than just laughs."
"That's such a good idea." Raye exclaimed.
"Good because I have something for you." Fred said, drawing a box out of his robe's pocket.
"What, you shouldn't have gotten me anything, I don't have anything-" Raye protested but Fred waved her aside.
"Raye, it's okay. It's only natural for a boyfriend to spoil his girlfriend, especially after he ditched her at school. Just think of it as a welcome home present."
Raye was about to protest again but Fred smiled, "Here Raye, just take it." He said, placing the small red flat box in her hands. Raye smiled when she opened the lid, inside was a beautiful silver locket.
"Fred, it's gorgeous." Raye gasped, "What's inside of it?"
"Open it and see."
Raye undid the clasp with a click and smiled, inside was a picture of Fred and Raye. It was taken underneath the willow. Fred's arm was around her and they were laughing and waving at the camera.
"Turn it over." Fred whispered.
As Raye turned it over she saw in flowing script words printed on the back.
Lovers and Laughter
"Fred, I…" Raye tried to put words to how much she loved his gift.
"Wait, that's not even the best part." Fred said as he took the necklace and fastened it around her neck. "Now open it." He instructed as he took out his wand.
"Augamente." He said and before Raye had time to react a jet of water was shooting towards her. But as soon as it came within in an inch of her body it fell to the floor.
"What? How did that happen?" Raye asked, her shock turning to disbelief.
"It's a spell I put on the locket, it's like the shield hats and gloves. As long as the locket is open minor hexes and curses won't touch you."
"That's incredible. Thank you so much." Raye smiled before stepping into Fred's embrace. "I'll wear it all the time."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
So I hoped you like it. Now that's its summer break I'll be able to update more often, if you review. The more reviews I get, the more encouraged I will be to update faster. Thanks.
-LayRay