The Burrow was just as warm and inviting as it looked, and dare I say just as dangerous too. Enchanted utensils cooked dinner off to the side and cleaned up after themselves startlingly fast, and a television blared to the right.
"Oh, are you cold? Kick off your shoes and come warm up by the fire. Ginny, dear, move out of the way for our guest."
A small girl with long red hair rolled her eyes but moved regardless. My coat was suddenly hung up on a coat rack and before I could thank their mother she had me wrapped in a fleece blanket with a mug of cocoa between my hands.
"She'll mellow out once you've had dinner," George whispered reassuringly as he passed behind the couch quickly, ordered to help with the cooking by his mother.
"Fred, be a dear and go grab some more firewood." The plump woman weaved her way through the cluttered and cramped house toward me again, prodding at the fire in front of me.
"Sorry about all the bustle, what's your name?" She asked, turning to face me and fussing over the blanket.
"Thomas Soot, thank you for having me," I replied politely, taking a modest sip from my cocoa.
"Thomas, care for Tom?"
"Tom does just fine," no one had ever really bothered to give me a dedicated nickname. Glinda only called me Tom or Tommy when I was acting especially stupid.
"This is my husband, Arthur," she gestured over to a man who waived from the dining table, "And my name is Molly. You can just call us Mr. and Mrs. Weasley if you want, though."
"Ah, thank you-"
"No need to thank me, deary. Just drink your cocoa until dinner's piping hot." Just as fast as she had approached me, she waddled her way into the kitchen.
I almost felt bad as I watched the twins scramble all over the house doing whatever their mother said. Almost. Then I remembered the car ride here and I snuggled into my blanket a bit more.
"Tom, dinner's on the table soon. Go ahead and take your seat." She nodded to a very out of place looking chair that had been pulled up to a corner, with its own mismatched placemat and everything.
I unearthed myself and placed my lukewarm mug on the coffee table, making my way around the living room furniture to the dining table tucked away by a large bay window.
Plates of food covered the table, and I didn't even know where to begin. Lucky for me, Molly didn't care at all and heaped pretty much everything onto a plate before putting it in front of me.
"Eat up, you'll want to be full to keep yourself warm." She ducked back into the kitchen and talked to the twins quietly. "We don't have a bed, you know I hate making guests sleep on the couch."
Personally, I didn't mind sleeping on that couch for the rest of my life. It let you sink into it and smelled just like Fred and George, nothing to complain about on my end.
"He and Fred are real close. They can sleep top and tail," George suggested, making my blood run cold.
No way. Was this his plan? I knew Glinda had to have something to do with this. Of course Fred didn't think of this on his own, George must have suggested it and it lead to here.
Those horrible G's are always two steps ahead, I swear.
"Oh, good. Fred that's alright?"
"Fine by me," I could see his shoulder shrug just behind the corner, and the three of them entered the dining room like they hadn't just talked about me.
"I see you haven't touched your food, everything alright?" Molly coddled me, sitting across the table by Arthur.
"Oh, no, sorry. I was thinking," I bashfully muttered, picking up my fork and beginning to eat some meat.
"Gosh, you don't hear that excuse around this household much."
"So they get to bring a friend, but Harry can't come?" Ron whined from my left.
"I would have loved to have Harry back, but you know it's hard for him to get permission to go places."
"I don't think Tom got permission," he grumbled, giving me a dirty look.
All I could muster was a tight smile at the family politics. No matter what drama unfolded at this table I could only focus on the fact I'd be sharing a bed with Fred tonight. That was good, right? Exciting, even. Then why did I feel so hesitant?
Perhaps it was because a simple piggy-back gave me a heart attack, or merely being within a few inches of him made me sweaty and nervous like it was the morning of an exam. Now I have to shove my feet in front of his face and act like that isn't the most unattractive thing I could possibly do.
"Now, Tom, Fred tells me you usually stay at Hogwarts year round?" Arthur asked, shoveling a forkful of food into his mouth after asking.
"Oh, yes," I replied, unsure about where this was supposed to go. My hands fidgeted under the table and my stomach swirled uneasily.
"Mm, must be rather lonely in that cold castle," Molly butted in, frowning a little, "You'll need to come back next holiday as well."
I didn't know how to respond to that, only feeling a deep warmth bloom in my chest as I put a roll in my mouth and nodded in polite agreement.
"Harry should also come next holiday," Ron stated with his eyebrows raised in annoyance. "Dumbledore even said he's a hero. Heroes are good company, you know."
"I'm telling you, he's a magnet for trouble," Percy complained. "Never have I seen such a troublesome kid get so much praise, and from the Headmaster himself!"
"Harry's not a magnet for trouble...he just always stumbles into it."
"Sort of like a magnet," Fred chimed in.
"Mm, yes I would say so," George stroked his chin in mock thought.
Mostly I stayed quiet and enjoyed the food and atmosphere, it was a treat to be surrounded by such a caring family. Soon, dessert was served and my stomach was just about bursting with delicious food. I could barely spoon three scoops of the delectable cake into my mouth before I clocked out, struggling to keep my eyes open.
"Looks like Tom there is about to pass out, did you happen to give him a concussion?" Arthur asked.
"Ooh, might have with the way George was driving," Fred laughed.
"I'm fine, really," even I wasn't convincing myself. My words sounded far off, like I was sleeptalking.
"Inspires confidence, doesn't he?" Fred joked, grabbing my shoulder and standing up. "Let's go get you washed up, then. Excuse us."
I followed him, or more like stumbled in his wake, up some stairs, to the left, and then up some more stairs. This house sure was twisty turny, kind of like my thoughts as I followed behind Fred. Has his back always been so...muscly? Even through a sweater I could see them shifting beneath the knit.
"Go ahead and shower in there, use whatever soaps you want. Try to stay away from Ginny's stuff though, she'll beat you up."
"Ah, my clothes..."
"I'll grab some from your suitcase. I bet I'm smart enough to guess what's pajamas and what's trousers."
"Mm," I hummed in agreement, shutting the bathroom door and stripping my clothes off.
The warm water felt amazing, they must use enchanted pipes because the pressure and temperature felt amazing against my skin. Nothing like the creaky, leaky bathrooms at Hogwarts.
I made sure to steer clear of the neatly arranged, floral scented stuff, because I definitely didn't want to get on Ginny's bad side if Fred was scared of her.
"Hey, leaving your clothes on the counter," Fred's voice followed the creak of the bathroom door. "I'll take your dirty ones to the wash."
"Oh, you don't have to," I peeked around the curtain, watching him pick up my clothes regardless.
"Nonsense, must have our guest in clean clothes. How are you expected to stay clothed the whole week?" He avoided looking in the direction of the shower, instead walking out without even turning around.
Ugh, talk about embarrassing. Distraction, immediately. A body wash was off to the side, sitting separately from Ginny's selection. I glanced down to wash my body and noticed thin, white lines beginning to show across my skin.
My stomach sank, and I eagerly looked into the bathroom to look for my wand, immediately panicking when I noticed Fred must've taken it with my dirty clothes.
"Shit, shit, shit," I whispered under my breath, reaching up to my face and feeling a known rip on my lip begin to slowly fade in. Okay, first thing's first, I need to finish showering.
After quickly scrubbing myself down, I stepped out of the shower and grabbed a fluffy yellow towel that had been left on top of my clothes. My wand was nowhere to be seen, and I was feeling the scary emotion of fear as I looked in the mirror to see the scars back in their solid forms.
"Merlin's beard," I muttered, horrified to find a pair of plaid briefs tucked between my shirt and pants. I hadn't packed them that way, meaning...
I planted my face in my hands at my oversight, now very much awake compared to when I simply agreed to everything in front of me. Nevertheless, I decided to enact a plan that usually worked with every problem: ignore it and pretend its normal.
Fred had brought me clean, dry clothes, and I was going to be appreciative and put them on. Plain gray trousers and a loose fitting sweater were good enough choices, nothing really to complain about other than the fact I hoped I didn't get too hot.
I peeked into the hallway, making sure to hide the bottom of my face behind the door. "Fred?" I called weakly.
"Yeah?" He replied faintly from around the corner, peering around the wall to see my eyes looking distressed. "What's wrong?"
"Could you get my wand?"
"Oh," his eyebrows knitted in confusion as he left my line of sight to go get it. "Here, what do you-"
I closed the door with a quick thanks, casting the bedazzling hex rather quietly over my face and arms. There was no way I'd allow him to see me like that, and I got dressed quickly to meet him outside.
"Hey, so-"
"Dibs," George shoved past me as I bumped into Fred's chest, barreling his way into the bathroom.
"Dammit," Fred mumbled. "Follow me, I will do the honors."
And I quietly followed to the place that was filling my stomach with butterflies...the twin's bedroom.