Chapter 35 – The Cottage
George and I pranced up the stairs into what was now my bedroom.
"Would you come with me to my house in Ireland?" I asked him. "I want to see it and try and bring some of my stuff."
"Of course I'll come with you and I'll help you the best I can. We can apparate over there." George answered shuffling over to me and wrapping his strong arms around my waist pulling me close to him.
I stood on my tip toes and wrapped my arms around his neck and planted a small kiss on his lips. I pulled away.
"Thank you so much for everything the past few days." I said smiling eternally grateful.
"It's no problem at all sweetie." George replied.
I went over what I wanted to do in my head first so that it made sense. First we'd go to the little cottage where we went into hiding in and get all of our stuff from it. Technically we were still supposed to be living in that cottage. Then once we got all of that sorted out we'd go to our old house. I informed George of my plans and he agreed that they sounded good. I went down and informed everyone else. Sarah wanted to come too so her, Luna and Fred all also coming.
We all gathered in the empty living room and apparated to the small cottage which was hidden away in a secluded area of the Irish countryside, surrounded by trees and roaming fields, in the middle of nowhere even more so than the burrow.
"How on earth did you find this place to hide in?" Fred wondered eyeing up the small one story white stone cottage that was just about seen amongst the trees.
"Someone my grandparents know owns it and let us stay in it." I answered.
The five of us walked down the little stone path to the front door. Fred and George slipped on ahead getting their wands out.
"Just to be on the safe side." George spoke.
All of us copied the twin's actions and took out our own wands.
"Alohamora!" George stated pointing his wand at the front door, it unlocked and the twins entered.
The cottage only had two bedrooms, a small kitchen/dining area, living room and a bathroom.
"All is clear. You're safe to enter." Fred stated.
The three of us entered the little cottage. It felt strange entering it after everything that had happened. I did like the cottage but I really missed my old house when we went into hiding. When we moved we didn't know what was going on, we were totally switched off from the wizarding world. I didn't know if my friends were dead or alive or what all was going on at Hogwarts. They couldn't contact me for fear of their owls being intercepted. I felt very isolated at that time but it brought me closer to my family, especially Sarah and I who only had each other.
I walked into the room Sarah and I had shared, the two single beds lying unmade with some of our belongings scattered around. My parents obviously couldn't bring everything to London with them. I spotted my Hogwarts trunk which was peering out from below my bed. I shuffled over pulling it out and opening it. All my old books and even my robes were packed neatly in it. I spotted some photos too one in particular caught my eye. It was from the Yule Ball and was me with two of my friends along with Cedric and two of his friends. I was hit with a pang of sadness.
"To think months after this was taken he'd be gone." I sniffed.
George who had followed me into the room moved closer and sat down on the bed beside me. I did know Cedric with him being in the same house as me and he was very popular and charming. George moved closer to me and wrapped a supportive arm around my shoulder. I smiled weakly at my boyfriend then set the picture back in my trunk.
"Let's get started in here." he spoke.
The two of us stood up and took out our wands. First we packed all my belongings into my trunk using an undetectable extension charm on it so everything would fit. George did the same with Sarah's trunk. Fred, Sarah and Luna were currently doing the same in my parent's room. Once completed George and I moved into the living room followed by the backroom. Surprisingly it only took us about an hour to pack everything. Magic definitely made life a lot easier.
Once everything was packed we gathered in the hallway with two huge trunks and two suitcases which were impossible to carry. George waved his wand and transfigured them into rucksacks and made them lighter so we could carry them.
"Don't worry everything inside will be fine." Fred reassured us.
There was no doubt about it that Fred and George were brilliant wizards who knew their stuff. After giving the cottage a finally once over we were ready to leave. I took one last look at the little cottage I once called home, feeling quite emotional. Living there may not have been a happy time in my life but it meant that I kept my family safe. George slipped his hand into mine squeezing it tightly.
We then all apparated back to the new house where Mum an Dad were sat on some chairs looking through an Argos catalogue looking for items for the house. They couldn't believe their eyes as I dropped the rucksack on the floor which made a huge clunk as it hit the wooden floor.
"We got everything." I stated looking down at the bag.
"Everything? In there?" Mum gasped eyeing the bag with greatest excitement.
After a well-deserved break for lunch which was from the local chippie, Mum and Dad went into town to get a few things. George and I went up to my room to begin decorating it.
"You know I want to have some fun and paint it the muggle way." George spoke looking around at the cold looking white walls.
"Come on Laura, it'll be a right laugh." George was now looking at me with pleading eyes which I couldn't resist so I agreed.
With a flick of my wand I conjured a tin of fuchsia pink paint, some brushes, rollers and a tray.
"Right we'll need some old clothes so these ones don't get ruined." I said.
Another flick of my wand a both of us now had overalls on.
"Brilliant." George chirped excitedly clapping his hands.
We both started off taking the painting seriously but after about 15 minutes our attention spans wavered and of course George Weasley was anything but serious. I was stood humming along to a song that was playing on the radio, when I felt something cold hit my arm. I looked down and spotted a splat of pink paint. I looked over at George who was trying to smile innocently. I flicked the brush sending paint in George's direction which hit him on the leg.
"Oh no you didn't!" he gasped.
This of course started a full blown paint war with pink paint flying in all directions. Soon my hair, face and clothes were covered in pink splats.
"My parents will kill us." I gasped admitting defeat and sitting down on the cold wooden floor.
"It was bloody good fun though." George said.
It really was. George kindly cleaned up all the mess with his wand and we got back to painting the muggle way. I was really impressed by our work. We had the room painted in no time. We even had it done by the time my parents came back. George being the brainbox that he is put a drying spell on the walls to make it dry quicker. I got rid of the cold looking wooden floor boards by covering them with a soft grey carpet which had a sprinkle of pink on it. I now needed a bed, a double one was perfect. My bedroom was coming along nicely.
Sarah and I had both given ourselves huge walk in wardrobes. The house in general was coming along perfectly. The bathroom was complete and was made bigger so we could have a bath and a shower. The kitchen was fitted with loads of storage space and brand new appliances which my parents had bought when they were out. Sarah's bedroom too looked lovely with lilac walls with a music note border and lilac carpet. She too had opted for a double bed.
All in all it was a very busy afternoon and it flew in. As we sat in the newly furbished kitchen a white silvery horse appeared startling us all. I knew instantly that it belonged to Ginny.
"Dinner will be ready at the burrow in half an hour." it spoke.
Mum nearly jumped a mile off her chair then composed herself.
"Thank you everyone for all your help today. We couldn't have did it all without you." Mum spoke.
I had informed Mum that the five of us would be returning the next day to our old house to get our other belongings. Mum insisted that she come too.
"We need to visit your Aunt Sadie's house too at some point. She might have a fit if we just randomly appear." Mum said.
None of my family other than my parents knew about Sarah and I being witches. They were always told we were away at boarding school at that was it.