"Hey!"
My head snapped up and I looked over the back of the sofa where I was sitting. Fred was standing just inside the living room, probably having just left the kitchen. He was holding a sandwich in both hands above his head, staring down at his feet. On each leg he had a cat clinging to his pants. Calypso, now a good 2 pounds more than when we first got her and with less of a chubby-kitten look, seemed to have already climbed up to his knee while Crookshanks was still sitting on the ground with his front paws wrapped around Fred's leg, his claws hooked into the fabric.
I snorted, covering my mouth with my hand.
"Let go, you bloody hairballs!" Fred shouted, trying to shake his legs without hurting them.
"Fred, what kind of sandwich did you make?"
"Turkey."
I shook my head. "You dolt! You know they love turkey! You're just asking for trouble." I scolded, mostly just to tease him.
He glared at me, still keeping his sandwich above his head. However, he faltered when Calypso scooted herself up his leg a bit more. "Alright, whatever, just GET THEM OFF!"
Laughing, I rolled my eyes and stood up. "Mione! Your cat's trying to eat your husband!"
I barely heard her yell a 'what' back but I was already approaching my kitten. I crouched down and gently pried her little claws out of the fabric of Fred's pants without hurting her claws or Fred's leg. Once she was free I cuddled her to my chest and held her tight in case she tried to take a swipe at Fred again. He eyed her warily in my arms as Hermione entered the living room.
She paused, took in the scene, and immediately had to fight a smile.
"It's not funny!" Fred whined like a child, "Get your bloody cat off my leg!"
She laughed as she approached him. "Sorry, Fred." she kissed his cheek before crouching down and scooping a grumbling Crookshanks into her arms, cradling him like a baby. "Crooks is just hungry, that's all. Aren't you sweetie?" she cooed down at him.
Fred eyed them both warily as he slowly lowered his sandwich down, keeping it close to his chest while I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing.
The front door to the flat opened and we all looked up to see George enter. He paused, taking in the scene in the living room.
"Um, did I miss something?" he asked in confusion.
"Only both of their bloody cats trying to climb up my legs to get my lunch!" Fred grumbled, glaring back and forth between the two cats, who were staring unblinking at his sandwich.
George blinked before he smiled in amusement. "Aw, they like you, Freddie!" he teased.
"Shut it, Forge. Wasn't there a reason you're here?" this time it was Fred's turn to smirk.
George's grin barely faltered, his eyes flicking nervously in my direction. "Yeah, right. Just, um, remember to head back down to the shop when you're done to help Lee. And I should be back to help you close so he can leave early." I was briefly confused before I remembered Lee and Verity had some last minute, family-related wedding planning to do tonight. Their wedding was literally a month after mine and George's, on April 2nd. They'd originally wanted April 1st, you know, since it's April Fools Day and they're both really into pranks and stuff, but realized that'd be awkward to have their anniversary on Fred and George's birthday.
"Sure, no problem." Fred smirked.
"Wait, 'be back', where are you going? You didn't mention having anything to do today." I asked curiously, tilting my head a bit.
George smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, uh, about that,…I didn't mention it because it's a surprise…and you're coming with me."
"Oh." I blinked a few times, "Okay?" it came out as a drawn out question, my brows furrowing a bit.
George chuckled, looking at my expression with amusement. "Come on." he waved me over as he headed for the fireplace.
I placed Calypso on the floor. "Will I need shoes?" I asked.
George looked over his shoulder at me and nodded.
I slipped my tennis shoes on and followed him to the fireplace.
Standing in front of the fireplace, George turned to me and placed both hands on my shoulders. "Do you trust me?" he asked gently.
"Yeah." I answered like it was obvious; which, by now, it was.
His smile grew. "Then close your eyes."
"What?" I asked incredulously.
"Please? I'm taking you somewhere and I want it to be a surprise. Pretty please?" he begged, giving me a pout with his wide, brown eyes.
I sighed in defeat before I closed my eyes.
I heard some moving around before I could hear the fireplace burst to life. George muttered something quietly, which sounded like "Snow Cottage," before I felt his hand close around mine. I was gently pulled into the fireplace and we were swept away.
We stumbled out of the fireplace and George steadied me before I could fall, his hand covering my eyes in case I was tempted to open them.
"Okay, you ready?" he asked in my ear. He had one arm wrapped around my waist and stomach, his other hand over my eyes.
"Yeah." I breathed.
I felt him kiss my cheek before his hand vanished. I blinked my eyes open and took in my surroundings.
We were standing inside a fairly empty-looking cottage. We were in front of the fireplace in what appeared to be the living room, the front door and entryway to our left, a small kitchen across from us, an open space to the left of it by a large window that would be perfect for a dining room, a staircase in the far back right corner in the kitchen, and a closed door to our right.
I turned and looked up at George, my mouth a bit open in wonder, my eyes silently questioning him.
He was watching me the whole time, a gentle smile gracing his face. "What do you think?"
"It's beautiful." I answered honestly, looking around me again before turning back to him. "But…I don't understand. George?"
He grinned, his hands moving to hold my waist, stepping directly behind me and resting his chin on my shoulder so he could speak right in my ear.
"Well, right now we're obviously in the living room, the front door's to our left, and the kitchen and dining room are right in front of us, and there's a bathroom over there to our right," my eyes followed everything he mentioned as he spoke, drinking in everything, "and those stairs lead up to the second floor. Up there we've got another bathroom, three bedrooms, and a Master bedroom with a window seat." he leaned in and kissed my cheek again before whispering against my skin, "This is our home."
My head snapped around to stare at him. Obviously the thought had occurred to me as he was explaining everything, but to hear him confirm my thoughts…
"Really?" I breathed in wonder.
He smiled, looking relieved as he nodded. He stepped around me to grab my hand, leading me toward the front door. Before we stepped outside, he covered my eyes again with his free hand. I laughed.
"Seriously, George?"
"What? There's a few more surprises involved here and I don't want them revealed before I'm ready." he laughed back, leading me outside. The wind was brisk and chilly as it hit my skin, and I was grateful I was wearing my Weasley sweater and jeans. We walked for a few moments before George turned us around and uncovered my eyes.
I blinked them open again and took my first look at the exterior of our home, my mouth falling open in amazement.
It was a cobblestone cottage, snow still covering the roof. The front door was a dark wood, and I could see through large window into the dining room and a slightly smaller window into the living room, and the chimney traveled all the way from the ground, up the right side of the house until it peaked a couple meters over the rooftop. There were two second story windows on the front of the house, probably looking into a couple bedrooms. Just seeing the front of our new home, I knew it was perfect. Everything I didn't even know I wanted in a house.
"George, it's perfect." I breathed, my breath barely coming out in a fog from the chill.
"And that's not all." George whispered in my ear before taking hold of my shoulders and slowly turning me around.
There was a large expanse of snow in front of us with a stone path leading up to the back door of another cobblestone building, which was in a line of similar buildings.
George kept me close with his arm around my shoulder. He pointed to the building that was next to the one in front of us. "Right there's Gladrags Wizardwear," he skipped over the building in front of us and the next one before pointing a couple buildings down, "there's Honeydukes," he stood on his tiptoes and pointed over the next building, "waaay over there you can just see the roof of The Three Broomsticks across the lane," he pulled me closer and leaned his mouth down near my ear.
"Over there, in the distance," he turned me just enough and pointed to a familiar castle peaking out above the trees and rooftops, "is Hogwarts castle."
Before I could get excited, or fully register what this meant, he turned us back to the other buildings. "And lastly, right there," he pointed at the building that had a path going straight from our home to the back door, "is the new, soon-to-be Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes."
My mouth hung open as I tried to register what all of this meant. We were in Hogsmeade. After several moments of silence, George turned me to face him, his arms wrapping around me and holding me close to him.
"You know what that means?" he asked gently. I just continued to stare up at him in shock. "It means that now you can live with your soon-to-be husband, in a house, while still being only about ten minutes away from your new job, and I can run the new shop and live with my soon-to-be wife while being only a minute away from work. The perfect outcome, wouldn't you say?"
I gaped at him like a fish out of water for a moment before I could finally find my voice. "How-how did you come up with this?"
George shrugged with a grin. "Well, it kinda started that day you came running into the shop without your shoes to tell me McGonagall had written to tell you that you got the job. Fred and I thought of the idea for us to find a home in Hogsmeade so that I could run the shop here and you could accept the job without us having to be apart. I wrote to McGonagall and asked if there was any way we could work something out for that and she mentioned there were some cottages available to live in.
"This one wasn't originally in this spot," he glanced back at our new home before looking back at me, "it was in a different part of the village. But when I saw it, I knew it was perfect, and moving it wasn't a problem with magic." he smirked down at me.
"So,…I really can accept the job?" I asked quietly, almost too afraid to believe it was this simple. George nodded. "And it won't affect or ruin your life at all?" I double-checked.
George sighed patiently. He leaned down and pressed his forehead to mine, his hands coming up to hold my head, his thumbs in front of my ears and his fingers in my hair as he held me still. "Absolutely not. Misty, even if it would've been difficult I want you take this job. It's something you love and makes you happy. Nothing makes you light up as much as when you talk about all the animals here. And it actually works out perfectly. While I can travel to and from here in a heartbeat, I'd feel better actually being near the shop in case I needed to get there. It literally couldn't have worked out any better."
"So, are you going to run the shop by yourself?" I asked doubtfully.
George smiled, pulling back a few inches and shaking his head. "Nah. I mean, I'll be here on my own most of the time, but on weekends and stuff someone'll come down and help me out."
"But there's only four of you. Will you need to hire someone else?" I asked curiously, my hands coming up to hold his wrists with his hands still on my face, my thumbs stroking his hands.
"Actually, Ron's decided that being an Auror isn't all it's cracked up to be. He said he's basically been fighting Dark wizards since he was eleven and he'd really rather not do it for the rest of his life. So he's going to be helping us. Though, we'll have to work on his social skills, Merlin knows he needs it." he muttered the last sentence more to himself, his eyes looking up.
I smiled. "This is really happening, isn't it?" I questioned quietly, still unable to believe it.
George smiled down at me, leaning down to kiss my forehead. "Yeah, it is."
I grinned excitedly, bouncing on my toes. "Well, come on then. Show me around our new house!"
George laughed at my excitement as I began dragging him back toward the cottage. "Yes, Love."