It was one of those days where if you look at the sidewalk as you're walking, all you see is worms. Well, worms and your own feet. George says that's unequivocally the worst beginning sentence he's ever read. I question the number of stories George has ever read, much less tried to write.
And maybe I'm a bit ahead of myself with describing the day. I supposed maybe I should go ahead and be slightly egotistical and write about myself.
My name is Fredrick Bayard Weasley. That's Fredrick, with no spare "e" between the Fred and the Rick. Not that it really matters anyway, because I go by Fred. Unless you're my mother or mad at me. Or my mad mother. Mostly the last. I am 18 years old and a recent graduate of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Yes, witchcraft and wizardry. I fall under the wizard category. And I'm fully certified. This thought scares some people. Most people, in fact.
I am the middle child of Molly and Arthur Weasley. Middle usually implies three children. That means I have an older brother, Percy, and a younger by 15 minutes twin brother George. I mentioned him up there. This doesn't account for Bill and Charlie, the brothers older than Percy, or Ron, the brother younger than George. It especially doesn't account for Ginny, the almost 15-year-old baby sister.
Being one of seven kids can be interesting, but being a twin is even more so. George and I were famous and hope to become legendary at Hogwarts for our practical jokes and mischief making. But more on that later.
Our own trouble making prompted us to start inventing joke products. As it turns out, we're actually okay at it. A wonderful woman named Niamh Zonkovich has agreed to carry our line of products, aptly named Wesley's Wizard Wheezes, in her line of joke shops. She owns a five soon to be seven store chain of Zonko's Joke Shops. In our spare time, George and I will play professional Quidditch. We signed contracts at the end of our Hogwarts career to play as the starting beaters for the Chudley Cannons. The Cannons are quite possibly the worst team in the league. Quite definitely, actually.
On a completely different topic, I'm about 158 centimeters tall. I'm not as tall or skinny as Ron, and I'm not as muscular as Charlie. Of all my brothers, I look most like George. Could be cause we're identical. All of us kids have bright red hair, blue eyes and freckles. Ron despises his. If I had a nose like his, I might hate it too.
George is my best friend. How stereotypically twinish of us, right? After George, out best friend is Lee Jordon. Lee, George and I had always planned on moving in together after Hogwarts. Then Lee went and got himself engaged to our sister Ginny's friend Jae's older sister Marissa. Alternately, our friend and year mate, Marissa Lucas. This was great for Lee and Marissa. Unfortunately this put me and George back to moving in with mum and dad. Then our third best friend saved us. Our best friend number three is the chasers. Okay, so maybe they're our third, fourth, and fifth best friends At least they're mine. George, well, George is more fond of one of them. I can't rank them. And I've lost you.
The chasers are three girls that we've played Quidditch with for six years. Their names are Angelina, Johnson, Alicia Spinnett, and Katie Bell. George is most fond of Katie. They've been dating for six months. Angelina's the only one I've dated, if you can consider one date to a school sponsored ball a date. George dated her for a year after that. Surprisingly enough, everyone involved in this extremely weird situation is still close enough friends with everyone else that we've all volunteered to share an apartment.
Which brings me full circle back to the worms. You have to know the kinds of days I'm talking about, when it rains so hard that the earthworms seek refuge on sidewalks. Then when the rain stops and the puddles dry up, so do the worms, which causes them to look like bird droppings. I wonder if it's better for them than actually being bird droppings. When George and I were little, we used to put earthworms on strings and dangle them down gnome holes to try to get the gnomes out. Mum put an end to our game when we decided we needed bigger bait because worms just weren't cutting it. I still don't think she would have had problem if we'd chosen something besides Ron as bait.
But I digress. The day we chose to move into our flat was a cold, wet, rainy day in June. We live in England. I'd be more stressed by warm, dry and sunny. Our brother Bill and his wife Arabella picked out the flat for us, and Mr. and Dr. Johnson paid the first months rent, which was nice of them. Because of this, Angelina thought this gave her the right to....
"MY ROOM!" Angelina announced, tossing her broomstick down on the blue carpet. The five of us had walked through the substantially sized living room to a small hall in the back right corner of the room. The corridor had three doors leading off of it, one on each side, and one at the back. 'Lina had lead the way through the door at the end and promptly declared it her own. Such a typical girl. But her broom was on the floor first. Leesh and Katibell knew better than to argue.
Back when we were little first years, first years were allowed to bring brooms to school. They were also allowed to pick their own beds in dorm rooms. The chasers all had brooms. The chasers all also wanted the same bed in the dorm room. I don't know the exact specifics of what happened, but the gist is that they all tried to claim the same bed and ended up in a fight that involved several people getting hit with broomsticks. If the girls had been older, less clothed, and the fight had involved mud or something, I might have been interested in seeing it. Angelina won the altercation, but not before Dani Carmichael ran for the prefects. The prefects had to tell McGonagall and as a result, first years aren't allowed brooms or to pick their own beds, and the girls have been best friends ever since.
As soon as Angelina's broom hit the floor, Katie and Alicia backed down, but George spoke up.
"Who says?" he asked. I love my twin brother, but he has the type of Gryffindor courage that the rest of the world terms sheer stupidity. Angelina was his size and a force to be reckoned with on the Quidditch pitch, who proved long ago that she wasn't above giving a friend a good sound whack with a broomstick over challenges of sleeping space. She was also his ex girlfriend.
"I do," Angelina declared.
"What gives you the right?" Before George could finish his question, or Angelina could drag the rent matter into the argument, Katie grabbed George by his left elbow.
"Do you want to stay in here with Angelina?" she asked. George shook his head.
"Do you want me to stay in here with Angelina?" she continued. George answered the same way.
"Do you particularly care if Fred or Alicia stays in here with Angelina?" George shook his head once more.
"Then don't argue with her," Katie advised. George nodded dumbly and stepped back towards the door. The effect Katie has on that boy is amazing. I'm still the smarter of the pair though.
"Guys, the four of us who are still bedless have a problem," Alicia called from the left bedroom.
"What's that?" Katie asked. She let go of George's arm and hurried to find her friend. George and I followed her.
"Four people, three beds," Alicia explained. The room we had moved our gathering to held bunk beds. According to Alicia, the other room held a double bed.
"Not a problem, Leesh," I said. I slid my arm around my brother's shoulders. He placed his around my waist.
"Fred and I can sleep together," George offered. Having someone who can finish thoughts and sentences for you can be nice. It's also dead useful when lying to get out of trouble.
"We've always wanted bunk beds," I agreed. I moved past Alicia and stretched myself out on the bottom bunk. George lay to my left and tossed his left leg over my hips.
"Guys, seriously," Alicia insisted.
"Wait, we're now fully credentialed witches and wizards. We could make enough beds for everyone to sleep in a different bed for every hour of every night of every year!" Katie cried.
"Sleeping might be difficult if we were to change beds every hour of every night," George said.
"Or we could just be reasonable human beings," I suggested from where I still lay with my brother.
"I'm not sure you can use Weasley twins and reasonable in the same sentence," Alicia mused. I glared at her.
"I didn't!" I insisted before plowing on. "Alicia, would you like to be my roommate?"
"Sure," she agreed.
"Great! I get top bunk!" I declared, disentangling myself from George. I scrambled to the top and peered down at my friends.
"I think this is the part where you move your arse from my bed, George Weasley, and the pair of you go to your room," Alicia guessed. She was head girl the past year. She's truly the smart one of us. George jumped to his feet and headed out the door. Katie began to follow him, but Leesh stopped her and tossed her a bottle. Katie easily caught the bottle and turned it around in her hand until she could read the label.
"Prophylaxis Potion," Katie read. She looked back up at Alicia with a playful glared.
"Thanks Leesh, nice to know you care so bloody much," she joked.
"'Lina and I just don't want any little Georges or Katies running around here," Alicia said.
"Neither do I," I called. Katie rolled her eyes and stomped out of the room.
"So wait, are they sleeping together?" I questioned. Alicia shrugged.
"We don't know for sure but if they aren't, then they spend more hours talking than any couple I've ever met," Alicia joked. I laughed and rolled my eyes at her.
"George wouldn't tell us and I decided it wasn't worth using my Veritaserum," I said.
"How did you get Veritaserum?" Alicia asked, moving onto the more important question at hand. See, I told you George and I frighten people.
"What half of the closet do you want?" I asked, nodding towards the room's one closet. I can change subjects and avoid questions as well and probably much better than Alicia.
"Where'd you get Veritaserum, Fred?" So Alicia is better at staying on topic than me. She'd make a great McGonagall if she wasn't so Quidditch obsessed. She got a job in the Ministry of Magic's Magical Games and Sports Department's Quidditch Division. So the five of us all have Quidditch related jobs. Angelina's a starting chaser for the Holyhead Harpies, and Katie's in training to be Puddlemere United's Team trainer. I don't fancy being in Alicia's shoes the first time any of us have to play anyone else.
"Where'd you get Veritaserum?" Alicia asked once more.
"I bought it," I finally answered. This was the truth, but it was far less daring or sketchy than I would have preferred.
"Legally?" Alicia questioned. So evidently the idea of a Weasley twin obtaining something legally is as hard for people to grasp as it is for me to admit.
"Yes, legally," I replied. "I'm thinking of trying got build up a resistance so people don't try to steal my joke product ideas. Because we all know I'm the brain behind the operation." Alicia smirked and nodded. The look on her face said quite clearly she didn't believe me.
"The fact that there's a war on...," I paused and shrugged. "Well, you know."
"Yeah," Alicia said. "I know."
I guess I forgot to mention that. The wizarding world is at war. There is this guy, Voldemort, who is set on ridding the world of all non magical people, and magical people who are descendents of non magical people. My family is as pureblooded, or as thoroughly descendant of witches and wizards as any. This doesn't, however, mean that I agree with the fruit basket. Quite the opposite actually. I think he's the one who needs to die. Besides the fact that he wants to kill innocent people for something they can't control, he messed with and nearly killed my baby sister. Harry saved her though. That's because, as savior of the wizarding world, saving people is his job.
No really. Harry is my brother Ron's best friend. He defeated Voldemort when he was 14 months old, 11 years old, and 12 years old. He escaped him when he was 14. But Voldemort just won't stay defeated and now he's got a personal vendetta against Harry and anyone close to him. Lucky us. Hopefully Harry will defeat Voldemort. Hopefully.
And on that cheerful note.
The first day in our flat passed relatively peacefully, with all of the unpacking and everything. Angelina went out to fly in mid afternoon, and Katie and George spent most of the day in their room. The amount of unpacking they actually did is questionable.
Later that night, things at the Casa De Amor De Quidditch got interesting.
George called our flat the house of love at dinner. Alicia immediately decided the name sounded better in Spanish, and Angelina tacked on the of Quidditch bit. We've always joked that 'Lina liked her broomstick better than any boy. Those jokes can get kind of... off colour... too put it nicely. If dirty jokes about ones best friend and her broomstick can be put nicely. And "her broomstick" makes Lina sound like some kind of... so this is where I stop, turn around, and head back to the plot.
Tolp eht ot kcab daeh dna dnuora nrut, pots I erehw si siht os... fo dnik emos ekil dnuos aniL' sekam "kcitsmoorb reh" dnA. ylecin tup eb nac kcitsmoorb reh dna dneirf tseb seno tuoba sekoj ytrid fI. ylecin ti tup ot ffo ... fo dnik tea nac yob yna naht retteb kcitsmoorb reh dekil aniL' taht dekoj syawla ev'eW .tib hctiddiuQ fo eht no dekcat anilegnA dna hsinapS ni retteb dednous eman eht dediced yltaidemmi aicilA .rennid ta evol fo esuoh eht talf rou dellac egroeG
In case you didn't catch that, it was my turning around and backing up. I crack me up sometimes.
So that night, things got interesting. I was lying in my top bunk and I had decided something felt weird about the whole place. Then it finally hit me what it was and I rolled over to try to get comfortable. I felt what seemed to be a pair of feet pressing into my lower back through the mattress.
"What Leesh?" I snapped.
"Quit moving around up there," she commanded
"Sorry," I grumbled.
"What's the problem?" she questioned. She could hear something wrong in my voice.
"I just realized that for the first time in our lives, George and I aren't sharing a room," I said. Alicia was silent for an odd moment, then I heard covers rustling. A minute later, the ladder at the foot of my bed creaked. Seconds after that, Alicia's head appeared over my bed.
"What are you doing Leesh?" I questioned. She climbed the ladder until she was visible from her knees up. Even though Alicia is one of my best friends, I must admit that the sight of her wearing satiny pale purple pajamas consisting only of a thin strapped tank top and short shorts was just a bit unnerving. Of the chasers, Angelina is the jock, Alicia is the brain, and Katie, even though she's my brother's girlfriend, is the cute one. But the way Alicia was standing there at the foot of my bed with her long chocolaty hair all down around her shoulders and her pajamas that didn't leave much to the imagination made me realize that maybe I have a thing for smart girls. My ex-girlfriend is actually the smartest witch at Hogwarts since Minnie McG herself. I can call her that now that I've left school. But not to her face. Never to her face. Maybe even since Rowena Ravenclaw.
"Thought maybe," Alicia paused. "I dunno," she finally admitted. Now I should probably explain that by the time we left school, my group of friends learned to deal with the tough stuff by laying on the floor in a big pile and talking it out. It's in fact, what we were doing between finding out that Laurelai Finnegan had been murdered and Ron starting a brawl that Lee, George and I ultimately had to save him from. So Alicia's next move shouldn't have surprised me.
She stepped onto my bed and laid right down next to me. She lay on her right side, facing me, and tossed her left leg over mine. She laid her head on my arm and her hands on my chest. Surprised was an understatement.
"It's okay," she said, ad closed her eyes. "I'm cooler than George anyway." If Alicia was planning on sleeping in my bed just because I was weirded out by George's having a roommate that wasn't me, then she most certainly was cooler than George anyway. More attractive too. Besides a random night in fifth year when we all had two much butter beer and fire whiskey, George and I hadn't slept in the same bed since we were five or something. I ran my hand over Alicia's chocolaty hair.
"I feel better now," I announced.
"That's nice," came Alicia's sleepy reply.
"Night Leesh," I said. I felt her lips against my chest for a brief moment.
"Night," she whispered.