Two days later, I nervously stood at the dining room window, peering out from behind the curtain at the front gate. It was Saturday. The Saturday. The Weasleys were going to be here any minute for dinner and I was a nervous wreck.
At first, I had apologetically suggested that the Weasleys Apparate into a clearing in the woods behind my house as a method of transportation. I felt terrible about it-making them hike through the woods to get to our house wasn't all that polite. But luckily, they had actually worked out another way. Mr. Weasley was supposed to arrange for a Ministry car to take them. That had been a great relief. It was normal enough for my mother and for the neighborhood without having to make our guests hike through the woods.
The one major downside to tonight was that Sam was here. Honestly, I didn't need him to join us. That would just make things weirder. But then again, maybe he'd be a good influence on my mother. It was weird. She was different around him. Not a whole lot different, but a bit. She still worked all the time and she still didn't have much time for me and Julian. She still had us cleaning the house every week too. And it was obvious that she still wasn't the biggest fan of the Weasleys. But she hadn't made any rude remarks about them tonight. At least not yet. She hadn't said no to this dinner. She hadn't called it off. It was this strange mix of her still being my same old mother, just quieter. And that was usually only when she and Sam were together. If he wasn't around, then forget it.
Also, on the subject of Sam, he was cooking dinner tonight. Of course he could cook. Just another thing to add to how seemingly perfect he was. He was going to cook the whole meal, but I had insisted on making the dessert, mainly because I didn't want him to worm himself completely into the Weasleys good graces too. I just didn't want them to like him. I was still unsure and I didn't want them to automatically love him just like my mother had. Even Julian seemed to be warming up to the guy. I hated it. I wanted to have some part in this night. I didn't want the whole thing to be prepared by this random...guy that the Weasleys had never even met. He had already invaded my family and my house. I didn't want him to invade something else that was mine. So, I had insisted on making the dessert. A blueberry pie-the twins' favorite.
"They here yet?" Julian asked, coming to stand beside me at the window, drinking a glass of water.
"No," I answered, shaking my head and glancing behind me. I had set the table with a gold tablecloth, placing candles at both ends and setting the dishes and utensils out perfectly straight and centered. Otherwise my mother would notice and point it out, rolling her eyes as she did so.
"They're late." Mum herself breezed into the room, checking her watch.
"By how much?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
She pursed her lips. "Forty-five seconds," she said. She had already poured herself a glass of wine and had probably gulped half of it down already. That's how I could tell she was nervous. Either that or dreading the night ahead. Maybe a bit of both.
I shook my head and laughed. "Mum, please, I'm begging you. Try to give them a chance, okay? Don't you trust my judgement?"
"Of course, which is one of the main reasons why I haven't said anything and why I haven't canceled it all. If I didn't want to try, I could have certainly called it all off, not allowed this, and barricaded the door."
She did have a point, even if i suspected that Sam had talked her out of calling it off. I smiled. "Thank you. Honestly. It means a lot to me…and them."
A faint smile briefly crossed my mother's face before the sound of an engine came from outside and she nervously began smoothing her dress.
I quickly turned back to the window. "It's them," I hissed to Julian excitedly.
We watched as the car's doors opened and the Weasleys began pouring out. Mr. Weasley got out of the passenger seat and the rest of them began climbing out of the back.
"How are they all fitting in there?" Mum asked. "There are…." she did a quick head count, "seven of them. Six were crammed into the back!"
"An Undetectable Enlargement Charm maybe," Julian suggested.
"Good thing Bill and Charlie aren't home yet," I said. "They're the two oldest boys. They're in Egypt and Romania, remember?"
"Egypt and Romania," Mum repeated. She paused as the Weasleys stood at the front gate, gaping up at our house. They looked stunned and I felt uncomfortable. I could only imagine how they felt, finally seeing my house when they lived in a place like the Burrow. "I only hope neighbors didn't see them all pouring out of the car," Mum added. "And I also hope they don't notice the group of people gaping at our house. They look like tourists for heaven's sake!"
I rolled my eyes as the Weasleys finally made their way up the front walkway and towards the front door. I slipped out of the dining room and into the foyer, opening the door just as the Weasleys were climbing the porch steps.
"Hi," I said quietly, grinning at them. "You're here."
"We're here," Mrs. Weasley replied, grinning. She pulled me into a hug. "It's good to see you, dear. You have a beautiful home."
"Thanks," I whispered into her shoulder before pulling away and hugging the others.
"You didn't tell me your house was this huge," Fred said when I got to him. "In fact, you didn't really tell me anything about your house."
"Julian told me about the stairs," Ginny chimed in, gazing at said stairs as all seven of them pooled into the foyer. I shut the door behind them and smiled.
"We could fit about two or three Burrows in this room alone, I bet," George whispered in awe.
"Look at that chandelier!" Mrs. Weasley sighed.
I stood leaning back against the front door, fighting back a giggle as they took everything in. Just then, they were distracted by my mother coming out of the dining room. She cleared her throat nervously.
"Hello. Joanna Matthews." She stuck out her hand and I held my breath. I watched as this time she shook every Weasley's hand without wiping her own hand on her dress afterwards. I had to fight back a cheer. "I believe we met briefly many years ago," she continued.
Mrs. Weasley nodded and grinned. "I'm sure you've forgotten our names by now—there's so many of us! But let's see…." She turned and pointed to Percy, who was standing just behind her right shoulder. "This is my third oldest, Percy. Bill and Charlie work in Egypt and Romania. Bill is a curse breaker and Charlie works with dragons. And in fact, Percy here just graduated Hogwarts and got a job at the Ministry in the Department of International Magical Cooperation."
"Is that right?" Mum asked, raising an eyebrow in interest. That was definitely a higher up department than the one she knew Mr. Weasley worked for, so of course she was impressed.
"He did outstanding on both his OWLs and NEWTs," Mrs. Weasley bragged proudly. "Earned one for every subject, both sets of exams."
"That's excellent," Mum nodded. "Congratulations."
"Thank you," Percy said, puffing his chest out and adjusting his glasses.
Mrs. Weasley turned to the twins next. "These are the twins. I'm sure you remember them. They're the jokesters of the family. They've driven me up the walls since the day they were born, but Merlin can they make me laugh. When they're actually being funny, that is, and not pulling pranks."
"Pranks," Mum said flatly, looking the twins over.
"Yes, pranks," Mrs. Weasley said, rolling her eyes. "They want to make a career out of it. We've been hearing explosions coming out of their room ever since they got home for the summer."
"Explosions?" Mum asked, her eyes widening as her eyebrows shot up.
Mrs. Weasley nodded. "But they're good boys, really. Very sweet when they want to be."
Fred and George beamed up at my mother as innocently as they could. But she was still analyzing them. I could tell. I could also tell that she was thinking that of course her daughter had to befriend the two members of the family who liked to play pranks and blow things up. She was probably wondering why, oh why couldn't her daughter have made friends with the genius of the family?
"This is Ron," Mrs. Weasley continued, pointing. "Julian's friend. He's been giving Julian a lot of pointers on playing chess from what I heard. And this is Ginny, my youngest. A year younger than Ron and Julian."
Mum nodded. "I think I've got that all down." She forced herself to smile. "Dinner should be ready shortly. Would you like to come sit in the living room? What about drinks? Does anyone want a drink?"
"Is it okay if I show Ginny my room?" I asked, glancing at the youngest redhead, who beamed. I smiled. I knew how much she wanted to see my bedroom. And the balcony.
"And the twins," Fred added with an innocent smile. "Ginny and the twins."
"Erm," Mum said. She hesitated before putting on a smile. "You know the rules. No boys allowed in your bedroom."
"That's never been a rule," I said.
"Only because you've never had boys over before," Mum said with a nervous laugh as she fixed her hair.
"Oliver's been here," I said.
"Once. At the Christmas party that he showed up to unexpectedly. And that was before you were dating!"
"We'll all be up there together," I shrugged. "We won't be long. Plus, come on, it's Fred and George." I rolled my eyes and pretended to gag.
"We're offended!" the twins gasped, gaping at me.
"We'll have you know," Fred said, "that the two of us are very handsome. Besides our talent for jokes and pranks, our looks are our second best attribute."
Mum stared at the twins with pursed lips for a moment before glancing at the rest of the Weasleys and then back at me. "Fine. But not long, okay?"
I smiled and nodded before leading Ginny and the twins up the stairs, Julian hot on our heels.
"This staircase is a princess staircase," Ginny said with a sigh, pausing at the top and looking down.
I smiled and leaned against the wall outside my bedroom. "I told Oliver that I used to slide down the banister as a kid. Julian used to do it too. Remember?" I glanced at my brother, who grinned and nodded.
"When we'd help Dad clean, he'd start it and then he'd encourage us to do it," he said. "And we would, with a little help from him."
"A Balancing Charm, I think," I added.
"When's the last time you did it?" Fred asked, passing me and pausing in my bedroom doorway. "Is this your room?" he asked, without waiting for an answer to his first question. When I nodded, he walked right in, leaving the rest of us to follow him.
"Did what? Slid down the banister?" I asked, taking a seat on the edge of my bed.
Fred nodded as he began making his way around my room, examining everything. I saw Ginny eyeing the balcony doors and smiled.
"Go ahead," I said to her, tilting my head towards the French doors.
She all but ran outside and I saw her taking in the view. "This is beautiful!" she cried.
"I have to admit, it is pretty snazzy," George said, following his sister and letting out an impressed whistle. "Ah, look!" I heard him exclaim. "There's even a tree in the vicinity for the perfect opportunity to sneak out."
I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Sure," I answered, "I suppose." I looked at Julian, who smiled apologetically at me.
"Wait until you hear the story of the time Dad climbed up the tree and banged on the windowpanes of the door," he called out to George, following him and Ginny outside. "Lilah screamed so loud, Mum and I thought something bad had happened to her. Mum was not happy when she found out it was just Dad.
I laughed and smiled appreciately at his slight change of subject from me sneaking out to dad sneaking in.
"So," Fred prompted. He was standing at my desk now, running his finger along the few quills I had laying out. "You never answered my question. When was the last time you slid down the banister?"
I shrugged. "Years ago, I suppose. Before Dad moved out."
"Why not since?" Fred asked curiously, sitting down on the edge of the other side of the bed and looking at me.
"I'd fall off," I snorted. "With no one to help me balance..." I trailed off and shrugged.
"There's always the option of sliding down on your stomach," Fred countered. "If you want to do it, there's always a way to do it."
"Who said I wanted to?" I asked with a smile, raising an eyebrow.
Fred shrugged and lay back on my bed, resting his hands behind his head and putting his feet up.
"Seriously?" I asked, nodding towards his feet.
He smirked, but didn't answer. "Do you want to or not?"
I was quiet as I picked at a loose thread on my comforter. Finally, I met his eyes. "Yeah, I'd like to."
"Then do it," he whispered.
"Fred," I said, giving him a look.
"Lilah," he said, widening his eyes at me.
I laughed as I stared back at him. He and George never ceased to amaze me. They were so confident and comfortable with almost everything. I mean, they hadn't even been in my house five minutes and Fred was already making himself comfortable on my bed. And he was telling me that I should slide down my banister again, something I hadn't done since I was about ten, but still kind of missed doing sometimes.
"I'll fall," I said. "I told you. Even if I did go on my stomach...I've never done it on my own before."
"Don't be a wimp," Fred laughed. "You have to learn to take some risks, Lilah."
"Well if I'm going down on my stomach, how can I see anything? The only thing I'll see will be the banister. Won't it be less exhilarating and fun that way?"
Fred just stared at me, studying my face with an amused smile on his face. "Maybe you're right," he said. "That is actually a good point."
"Even still," I said. "I will fall. I'm not confident in being able to do that without the aid of magic, which I can't do legally until October."
Fred shook his head. "And? The worst that'll happen is you'll break a bone."
"You don't know that," I told him. "Why don't you test it out now and we'll see what injuries you get?"
Fred laughed. "Fine, but when you turn seventeen...I want you to slide down that banister."
"But my mother-"
"Doesn't know what fun is," Fred answered swiftly, waving a hand around impatiently. "Besides, shouldn't there be something...amazing about seeing your child do something that makes them happy, even if you disagree with it?"
I laughed again. "I suppose...But we're talking about sliding down a banister here, Fred."
"It's the little things," he replied with a smile, his eyes searching my face again.
I looked away and stared back down at my bedspread. It was kind of making me nervous the way he was staring at me. Directly at me with that amused smile and his hands casually tucked behind his head while he lounged beside me on my bed.
"So, is Sam here?" Fred asked after a second.
"He's cooking," I said, wrinkling my nose.
Fred raised his eyebrows. "Why is that a bad thing? It smells delicious, Lie."
"I know," I said with a sigh. I hated to admit it. "I made dessert, though." I looked up at him with a smile. "Blueberry pie."
"My favorite," Fred said, smiling back.
I nodded as his smile faded a bit. I just stared back at him for a moment, wondering what he was thinking. Here he was, catching up on all the bits of my life he had wanted to discover nearly five years ago. I wondered if it was what he had expected so far.
"You don't like him," he finally stated. "Sam."
I shrugged. "I don't know yet. Still deciding. I just...don't want him to replace my dad. I know he really can't. Not technically. But I don't want him to even try. I don't want people to act like he has."
"No one expects you to act like he's been your dad all along," Fred said thoughtfully. "Especially not right away. That would be mental."
I bit my lip. "I just...I don't know, Fred. I don't know if I trust him. He seems...too good. He's seemed to tone my mother down a bit. He's cooking dinner. He's winning Julian over and he's already won over Mum. He'll probably win your family over as well by the time the night ends. I don't know. I still feel like it's too soon. I feel like having another man around is a betrayal to my dad. And like I said, he seems too good and too perfect so far."
"So that means there's something terribly wrong with him?" Fred asked. "He doesn't have to have anything wrong with him."
"I don't know what he wants," I said. "Dating a divorced woman with two kids?"
Fred laughed and sat up. "Maybe he wants a family." When I shrugged, he laughed again. "Lie, people do that all the time. It's not unusal or a dealbreaker for a lot of people." He paused. "It's kind of normal."
I shrugged again, hating the way he was making me feel stupid, however unintentional it may have been.
"You really don't trust him yet?" Fred asked, scanning my face seriously again.
I shook my head. "No," I whispered. "Maybe I'm crazy, but-"
"No," Fred said slowly, shaking his head. "You're not."
"It all seems too good to be true. I don't want everyone to get their hopes up only for it to end again."
"So it really has nothing to do with Sam?" Fred asked.
I shrugged again. "It does and it doesn't, I guess. I don't really know him. He hasn't given me a reason to not trust him, sure, but he hasn't really given me a reason to trust him either. Despite him being...helpful, I suppose, he hasn't proven himself yet. At least not to me."
Fred was quiet, but I could practically see the gears turning in his head. He was thinking.
"What's going on in that head of yours?" I whispered with a small smile. "Do I want to know?"
He grinned and stood up, stretching his arms above his head. "No, it's nothing. So what was with that look on your face when George said your tree was perfect for sneaking out?"
I hesitated. "Erm, well...I don't think now's a good time."
"As good a time as any," Fred said, turning to face me and sticking his hands in his pockets as he grinned.
"The night my parents decided to divorce," I said slowly, "was my birthday. It happened after I was punished for getting a bad grade on a quiz that my private tutor gave us. Dad convinced me to sneak out and go trick-or-treating. I did so using that tree. When we got back, there was a huge argument and my parents decided to split that night. I've always kind of felt a bit guilty about that. I mean, I know it's not my fault, not really. But I feel like I was the final straw. My mother makes me feel like that sometimes at least. She always brings that night up..." I shrugged. "I didn't mean to ramble, but I just thought you should finally know. I'm working on this thing where I actually let the people who care about me know about the parts of my life that I'm insecure about."
Fred grinned. "I'm honored," he said. "And you're right. It's not your fault. If it didn't happen on your birthday, it would've happened another day. Actually, if you want my opinion, I'm glad you snuck out. I'm glad you didn't listen to your mother. She's too uptight anyway. Not letting you go out because of a bad grade? Merlin, if my mother did that, George and I would never be allowed to leave the Burrow!"
I smiled. "Thanks for the reassurance."
Fred nodded and held out a hand to me to pull me to my feet. "Anytime, Liles." He hesitated again and smiled. "Thank you for trusting me enough to let me in. It only took five whole years."
I giggled. "Shut up."
We sat down to dinner shortly after. We managed to make it through without any issues, which I was thankful for. Once everyone's plates were empty and nothing had happened, I sighed with relief. Now we just had to get through dessert.
One thing I did keep noticing, though, was the way the twins kept looking at each other and silently communicating. I could only hope they weren't going to do anything that would get me in trouble. But I couldn't say anything during dinner so I kept my mouth shut. They had seemed to be on their best behavior so far. They had offered help numerous times and had even offered to refill the adults' wine glasses. Part of me was skeptical of their behavior, but another part of me pushed the doubt away. They wouldn't do anything that would get me in trouble with my mother. They knew how things were. I was just being silly.
"So, Sam," Mr. Weasley began, "do you work at the publishing company with Joanna? Is that how you met?"
"No, I actually work for the Daily Prophet as a photographer. I'm the one who took the picture of Joanna and Phillip Hamilton at St. Mungo's when they introduced the new reading program. After we were done, I told her no newspaper photo would do her beauty justice."
Mum blushed as I fought the urge to drive the candlestick in front of me straight into my eye. This guy was so corny.
"That's gross," Julian said, wrinkling his nose as he expressed my sentiment.
Everyone laughed at Julian's comment, though, except Mum. She sent him a look, but when she saw everyone else laughing, she plastered a smile on her face and pretended to think everything was hilarious as well.
"You really do have a lovely home," Mrs. Weasley said, looking around the room.
"So do you," I said with a smile.
"Oh, thank you, dear. But your house..." She sighed. "I would've loved to have a house like this, but we just couldn't afford it." She smiled widely and looked around at her husband and children. "But I wouldn't trade our family for anything. I love them so much more than I ever could love a house. The Burrow works. It gives us everything we need. Sure, it's cramped, but we all have room and we all have shelter. We have food. We can't buy extravagent clothes and the younger children get a lot of hand-me-downs, but we manage. And we can't have a lot of extras, but we have each other. I know it sounds cliché, but it's true. And we have a lot of land for everyone to make use of. There's the makeshift Quidditch pitch, the pond...like I said, we manage."
"But if you had less children," Mum began, "you could afford so much more, don't you think?"
"Well, sure," Mr. Weasley shrugged as I fought back a groan. "But we love having a large family. We're all so close and there's always someone to turn to. Always someone to play with."
"But don't things get chaotic?" Mum asked, staring at Mrs. Weasley over the top of her wine glass. In fact, she was kind of squinting at her, as if she couldn't focus. I suddenly wondered if she'd been drinking before dinner. It would explain why she suddenly couldn't stop talking. Instead of realizing she should continue being polite and keeping her mouth shut about anything involving money, she had to go into the off-limit topics. She didn't sound accusatory or disgusted, just curious, which I suppose was good in some way. But still, I didn't like what she was implying—that the Weasley's had way more children than they could afford. I didn't know if she would've done that anyway, wine or no wine, but it was definitely playing a part.
"Of course," Mrs. Weasley answered politely. "Especially with these two around." She pointed at Fred and George.
"But you must have known," Mum said, looking confused.
"Known what?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"Well, you must have known that the more kids you had, the more you'd struggle to make ends meet. Maybe you should've thought more about what you'd be able to afford."
"Mum," I said, sending her a look. "Don't. Please, don't."
"I just think," she said, "that it was some poor planning. Things could've been so much different if you hadn't had so many children. Or if you both worked."
"Mum, stop, don't go there," I said.
"I just—"
She was cut off by a sudden poof from Sam's place at the table. And just like that, he was gone. I blinked for a moment, but then my mother happened to look down at Sam's chair and shriek. She jumped to her feet and we all peered at the chair to have a look, some of us half standing up to do so. Sitting there on the seat was a brown, bumpy toad. It croaked once before there was another poof and Sam was sitting back in his chair, looking shell shocked.
Fred and George were shaking with laughter, but doing their best to hide it. I, on the other hand, sat there in stunned silence. I wished someone would do or say something. I knew this wouldn't go over well with my mother, but I had no idea how Sam would react.
"What was that?" he asked slowly.
"Our sons," Mrs. Weasley whispered, her face white and her eyes wide. "We've said they like jokes, but we never thought-we've raised them to-we thought they'd know better-"
"Toad Tablets," Fred said, his shoulders still shaking with laughter. "They can be slipped into people's drinks and they dissolve clear so that no one notices. They're tasteless and odorless, too. George and I just finished testing them on ourselves and we needed someone else to try them on."
I buried my head in my hands. The twins had mentioned the Toad Tablets to me, but they hadn't said they were finished with them. And they hadn't said they wanted to test them out yet. When I looked up, my mother was glaring at me, practically smoking at the ears.
"Lilah," she snapped. "Can I see you in the kitchen, please?"
"Now Joanna," Sam said, holding up a hand. "Before you get angry...I actually think it was kind of amusing myself. I mean, no one's hurt, right?"
"Not the point," Mum hissed, standing up. "Lilah, kitchen, now."
I gulped and stood on shaky legs, all eyes on me as I exited the silent dining room after my mother, taking my dish and Julian's with me as I went. Once we got to the kitchen, I watched as my mother immediately emptied the rest of the wine bottle into her glass and took a sip.
"How much did you have before they got here?" I asked, looking at her redder than usual cheeks.
"I don't remember," she answered, teetering a bit. "But that's not the point. The point is that those two hooligans you call your best friends just had the nerve to pull a prank in this house! On Sam no less!" She hiccupped and pointed a shaky hand at the dining room.
"Oh, Merlin," I whispered. I was beginning to panic. Mum never did things like this. She never got drunk or even really that tipsy. She always knew how to control herself because being drunk made people look like fools, according to her. And of course, she had to do this now. "Why?" I asked as she turned towards the sink and put all the dirty dishes inside of it. "Why are you like this?"
"I needed something to help me relax if we were going to have those people in our house." She gestured over her shoulder with the hand that was still holding the wine glass.
"Those people are my friends, Mum," I whispered, my voice cracking. I was on the verge of tears. "I thought tonight was going to be different. I thought you might've actually been giving them a chance. But you were nice and buzzed and relaxed when they got here and now you're just getting more and more drunk and spewing insulting nonsense everywhere."
"They're polite, sure, and they seem like nice people," she said. "But that Percy boy seems to be the only logical one out of the whole lot. I mean, look at the father. Obsessed with Muggles! He collects plugs! And did you hear what they were saying about their oldest? The long hair? The earring? And their second oldest working with dragons? How reckless! And those twins…they're the worst of the lot! Besides what they did to Sam-which was completely disrespectful and rude, by the way-they spend their free time sitting in their room blowing things up and pranking people! They want to open a joke shop!" She laughed, hiccupping as she did so. "Come on, Lilah, that's ridiculous! And their youngest son must've eaten more than all of us combined!"
"So?" I asked, tears burning my eyes and rolling down my cheeks.
"And it's such a shame that the girl is going to end up the same way as her brothers…reckless and crazy. Probably dying her hair bright blue or getting fang earrings." She shook her head and downed the rest of her wine. "They clearly have too many children to handle and way more than they can afford. And then they have the nerve to say their life is better than ours!"
"They never said that!" I exclaimed. I wished she'd stop talking. I wasn't sure what she truly meant or not. All of it? None of it? Half of it? She was well on her way to being completely drunk, so I didn't know if she even realized what she was doing. "Don't you care about how you must look to them?" I practically spat. "Getting drunk? You look silly."
She let out a bitter laugh. "I don't care how I look to them. They mean nothing. Like I said, they're completely illogical! They think they're fine the way they are, but they don't know what they're missing out on. Food, better clothes, a better house."
"They're happy!" I argued. "So much happier than we are! I'd take their family over ours any day!"
"How dare you!" Mum slapped her hand on the counter and I backed away slightly, tuning my head away from her. "I know I raised you better than this, Lilah Fitzgerald," she said. "I've wondered what's gotten into you and now I wonder if it's them." She pointed over my shoulder towards the dining room. "You've been spending so much time with them that they're…brainwashing you! Maybe they know how to behave for the most part, but I can see that they're all pretty wild. Fang earrings, joke shops, working with dragons….it's all reckless and wild and careless and you're turning out just like them."
"Good," I whispered.
Mum frowned at me before turning back to the sink. "This is why I wanted your father out of the picture," she said. "He's a lot like them. He's different than us. They're different than us. But maybe you're different, too. Maybe you're like him. Like them."
"As I said…good." I answered.
"They're trash, Lilah. And if you want to throw your life away to choose them. If you want to choose them over me…the one who raised you, then go right ahead. But don't come crying to me when you end up just like them. Because I certainly won't be giving you any handouts."
"I don't want or need any handouts from anyone. Especially you," I hissed, curling my fingers into fists.
"Then I hope you enjoy living like them. In a dumpy rickety shack with barely two Sickles to rub together." She paused. "And stop crying. You're the one who looks ridiculous."
I heard a noise from behind me and whirled around to see Mrs. Weasley standing in the kitchen doorway with Ginny and Julian.
"We came to see if you needed any help with clean up," Mrs. Weasley said briskly, practically shooting daggers at my mother. "But you seem to have it under control."
"How much did you hear?" I whispered, looking at Ginny.
"Erm…." She looked at me guiltily. "Pretty much all of it. Your voices got kind of loud…."
I let out a watery, bitter laugh. Then, before I could stop it, a sob escaped my throat. I couldn't stand there any longer, so I swiped at my eyes and ran from the room.
There was a wooden swing in our backyard, hanging from a tree branch. Dad had put it up for Julian and me years ago so that we'd have something to entertain ourselves with when we did get the chance to play outside. We'd take turns pushing each other for hours. After a while, we used it less and less frequently, but it still hung from a sturdy branch of a tree at the back corner of our yard. Mum had never taken it down.
So that was where I sat now, lightly gripping the ropes with my hands as I stared down at my bare feet. My shoes had been kicked off somewhere along the way as I ran through the yard to escape the kitchen.
I hoped the Weasleys were gone by now. I hadn't said goodbye, which would have normally bothered me, but I was mortified. Not like I'd see them again anyway. I'd probably be too embarrassed to ever look them in the eye again, first of all. And secondly, they probably hated me beyond belief. I even hated me right now. How could I let this happen?
"Need a push?" I looked up to see the twins making their way towards me. The moonlight was currently casting half of their faces in shadow so I couldn't see their expressions.
"Only if you think you can push me so hard that I fly up to the moon," I answered, wiping a hand across my cheeks to get rid of the few remaining tears that were left behind.
The twins looked at each other, before one of them came to stand behind me and pressed his hands into my back, gently propelling me forward a bit.
"We're sorry, Liles," the twin pushing me whispered. When he spoke, I knew it was Fred.
"Why are you sorry?" I asked.
"This whole thing was our idea," George said, lowering himself to the grass a few feet in front of me. He set two objects down in front of him that I realized were my shoes. "I found your shoes, by the way."
"Your whole family heard everything," I whispered, staring at the ground and shaking my head. "My mother was getting drunk. It's embarrassing." I paused. "She never does that, just so you know. She hates looking like a fool in front of people."
"But she doesn't care what she looks like in front of us," George said. "We heard."
"I'm so sorry," I said. "I don't know what to say."
"Don't say anything," Fred said from behind me as he kept pushing me gently. "You don't have to. You don't have to apologize or explain. You warned us and we wanted to come here anyway."
"We're happy we met your mother," George said. "Sure, she was rude and insulting and now Fred and I totally understand your warnings, but…at least now we know firsthand. It's better this way. No secrets. No holding anything back. We never wanted that kind of relationship with you. We came here tonight mostly because of you, not because of your mother."
I swallowed as more tears silently cascaded down my cheeks. "Does your family hate me?"
"No," Fred whispered. "We all heard you defending us. Thank you, by the way. It means a lot."
I shook my head. "I told you I would," I said. "I told you I'd defend you."
"You don't have to do that, you know," George said. "If you want to drop us, we get it. You can salvage your relationship with your mother."
"No," I answered firmly. "I don't care if my relationship with my mother falls to pieces. She's wrong about you. She's wrong and I'm not going to side with her when I so strongly disagree."
The twins were silent. Finally, Fred grabbed the rope, his own fingers closing over it just above mine, gently dragging me to a stop. He came to stand in front of me. "Lilah, look at me," he said.
I looked up at him, not even bothering to hide my miserable expression. My eyes were wet, red and puffy and my cheeks were also wet with tear tracks.
"Don't cry," Fred whispered, reaching out and wiping away the tears on my cheeks. "If anything, this whole night is our fault. You told us something like this would happen, but we insisted. Like George said, I'm glad we did it because now we know firsthand what your mother's like…but knowing firsthand is kind of rough. Besides, we're the ones who pulled the prank on Sam and started the whole thing."
"Why'd you do it?" I asked.
"You said you didn't like him," Fred asnwered simply. "It seemed only fair that we prank him if he makes you uneasy." He paused. "He actually seemed kind of cool with it, though, which is strange. I, personally, haven't had any reason to think he's untrustworthy, but if he bothers you..." he shrugged.
"My mother will never let me live it down," I sighed. "She'll never let you live it down. In fact, you might have ruined your chances of her ever liking you."
"We'll live," Fred said with a quiet laugh. "She'll live. Actually, having her hate us is worth it if we can contribute to teaching her a very valuable lesson."
"Which is?" I prodded.
The twins looked at each other before looking at me again.
"The thing about life, Lilah," Fred whispered, meeting my eyes. "Is that it goes on. So, George and I think it's best to just go with it instead of trying to fight it tooth and nail like your mother seems to do."
I smiled. "She won't see this as you teaching her a lesson though. You know that, right?"
"We do," George said.
"And do you think we care?" Fred added.
I let out a quiet laugh. "No, of course not."
Fred grinned and suddenly knelt down. He grabbed one of my shoes with one hand and my foot with the other. And then he began to put my shoes back on for me in silence.
"Is the rest of your family still inside my house?" I asked, suddenly wondering what was going on in there if the Weasleys hadn't left yet. For all I knew, the house could be getting destroyed from the inside out in a huge brawl between my family and theirs.
Fred nodded as he finished with my shoes and sat back on his knees. "Sam came in and brought your mother upstairs and the rest of my family decided to clean up.
I gaped at him. "After all that happened?"
Fred smiled and nodded again. "Not so much for your mother, but for you and Julian."
I let out a watery laugh. "Still friends?" I asked. "No hard feelings?"
"None," Fred answered, crossing his heart with his fingers.
"At all," George agreed, doing the same.
Fred stood up and held out his hand to me. "Come on, let's get you back inside."
I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet. His skin was warm and callused on mine and it practically sent waves of comfort through my entire body. I felt immensely more relaxed. The Weasleys didn't hate me. Maybe what had happened tonight hadn't ruined everything like I thought they had. It looked like things could turn out all right after all.
