Chapter Three:
Dealling with
Mum!
Fred felt nervous about talking to his Mum. He was
afraid she would read too much into things and realise he was lying
to her. He didn't want to lie, but he had to. How was he going to
tell his Mum he was in love with a girl that George also loved and
that he had impersonated George just to be near her? He looked over
at George as he started to reach for the Floo powder. "Would you
mind if I talk to Mum alone?"
"She is all yours. I
already had to deal with her once tonight, did you honestly think I
was going to stick around for more? I'm going to hop in the shower,
and then it's off to bed," George said as he got out of the
chair in the living room and made his way to the bathroom. He still
didn't understand what Fred was thinking, but he was glad that Fred
had realized he liked Jenna.
Fred grabbed some of the Floo
powder once he was sure that George was out of earshot. He also
wondered what George had said to Mum, that is did he tell her about
Jenna? Fred really didn't want to talk to his Mum right now, he just
wanted to go to bed and dream about Jenna, but knew if he didn't talk
to Mum, she would be extremely mad at him, and he didn't want that on
top of everything else. " Mum, are you there? It's Fred."
All of a sudden, his mothers face filled the fireplace.
"Where have you been? I was so worried about you. Where is
George?" Molly was almost screaming.
"Mum, George
just went to take a shower. He said he had already talked to you, so
he decided not to stick around," Fred said wishing this
conversation would end soon.
George walked into the bathroom and started the shower.
He still thought it was a little weird that Fred decided they needed
time apart from each other. George decided it was just Fred's way of
getting out of the way so to speak, so that George wouldn't feel like
he couldn't go out with Jenna. George just hoped that Fred would be
able to find someone as special as Jenna. George couldn't believe he
was thinking this way. He had only spent a half hour with the girl,
but still, he couldn't get her out of his mind. He stepped into the
shower, letting the hot water run over his face. With his eyes
closed, he could see her and that beautiful smile.
"That still doesn't explain where you have been!
I've been worried about you. You know with Voldemort out there
somewhere, he could have gotten you or worse, you could've died!"
Molly was upset. She was worried all the time now that the Death
Eaters wanted revenge. She was happy that Malfoy had been caught, but
for how long?
"It was a nice night out, so I thought I
would go out for a nice walk."
"George said he
offered to go with you, but you said no! Why wouldn't you go with
George?"
" I just wanted some time alone, Mum. You
know if you want us to get married some day, we need to start
spending time apart." He hoped this would get her to back off.
He knew she wanted more grandchildren and was always harping on Bill,
Charlie, and Percy about it all the time.
"Well, I guess
I never thought about that. So, did you or George meet anyone yet?"
asked Molly with the hint of curiosity in her voice.
So
George didn't tell their mum about Jenna. He wondered why. Maybe
George wasn't as much into Jenna as Fred thought he was. Fred felt a
little relieved until he remembered what George had said about liking
her.
"No, Mum, neither one of us has met anyone yet."
He hated the fact that he had to lie to her. He figured it was up to
George to tell their Mum about Jenna if he wanted her to know. He
actually liked the fact that their Mum didn't know. He didn't feel
quite so guilty. "It's getting late, Mum. I think I will go to
bed. We have a busy day in the shop tomorrow." He couldn't stand
looking at his mother knowing how she would feel if she ever found
out what he had done. She had always told them to never pretend to be
the other and that they should be their own person.
"You
mean to tell me that girls don't come into THAT joke shop of yours?"
she said with a lot of distaste in her voice. She still hadn't gotten
used to the boys leaving Hogwarts to start a joke shop. They had been
running the store for seven years now, but it still bothered her that
they hadn't tried for their N.E.W.T.S. She also still wondered where
they had come up with the money to start the shop, in addition to
getting their own place to live. She figured she would never find out
how that had happened.
"Yes, Mum, girls come into the
shop all the time. I just don't think we were ready before,with
opening the shop and every thing," he said wanting to end this
conversation with his mother.
"Well then, what
changed?" she asked, trying to get more information from her
son. She thought something had to have happened today for them to
suddenly decide to spend time apart. She slao had noticed that Fred
wasn't acting like his normal self. He wasn't giving her a hard time
as was accustomed for the twins to do. She decided no to worry to
much about it. Maybe there was a girl and Fred just wasn't ready to
tell her about it yet.
"Mum, I really need to go and get
some sleep," Fred said as he gave a big yet fake yawn.
"All
right! I'll let you go for now. I expect to hear from one of you if
you do meet someone," she said as she disappeared from the
fireplace.
Fred was glad that was over with. He could also
hear George getting out of the shower. Fred started to walk to his
room, but George stopped him.
"I'm sure there is someone
out there for you too. Plus, it's not like Jenna and I have started
to date or anything. I hope you don't mind if the next time she comes
in, I leave work early to go and spend some time with her ?"
George said with a big grin on his face.
"Uhm, sure that
won't be a problem." Fred had to look away. "Well, if you
don't mind, I'm off to bed." Fred had to get away. He had never
lied to his brother before, and it was starting to tear him up.
"I'll see you in the morning!" George said as he
headed to his own room. He was so excited about the idea of seeing
Jenna again and being able to take off from work to spend the day
with her.
Fred got ready for bed. He really wanted to escape
into a deep sleep. As he crawled into bed the thought of Jenna's lips
on his cheek flashed in his mind. He drifted into a deep sleep only
to have the worst dream of his life. Everyone had found out what he
had done, and no one, including Jenna and George, would talk to him.
George was so outraged that he told Fred he could keep the store and
the apartment and that he didn't want anything to do with him. Fred
woke up with sweat running down his back and across his brow.
"What
am I going to do?" he mumbled still half asleep. He tried to lay
back down and get more sleep, but sleep wasn't in the cards for him
that night.
