The Weasleys knew how to do a lot of things, but if there was one thing they really seemed to know how to do, it was throw a party.

Ginny's wedding was fantastic. Dinner was delicious and by the time I was done eating, I was so full, I thought I'd burst. I wasn't sure if I'd even be able to move after I ate, but there wasn't any time for resting. Not around the Weasleys and especially not around Fred. Shortly after we'd finished eating, he'd pulled me to my feet and dragged me to the dance floor. George and Katie followed not far behind us.

Rachel, Kayla, Allie and Lee weaved their way over to us a moment later and Rachel grabbed my hand as she twirled me around, still bouncing around to the music herself.

"You, Sophie McConnell, look gorgeous," she said.

"Thank you...so do you," I told her.

"I also have a very important question," she said, glancing over my shoulder. "Would you happen to know who that guy is over there?"

I turned to see who she was looking at and saw one of Bill's coworkers from Gringott's standing across the tent, talking to Bill and Fleur.

"Bill works with him at the bank," I said. "I only met him once or twice. I think his name is Patrick."

"Is Patrick single, by chance?" Rachel asked coyly.

I laughed. "As far as I know, yes. But why don't you just go ask him yourself?"

"Soph, you can't just go directly ask people if they're single," Rachel said. "Not if you have any tact."

"What about if you do it indirectly?" I asked with a smile.

"That I could do," Rachel said thoughtfully.

I laughed again as she headed across the tent, snagging a firewhiskey as she walked and taking a long sip.

As the night wore on and the sun set, a lot of the younger guests and even some of the older ones reached various levels of drunkenness and therefore, various levels of rowdiness. Fred, George and Lee spent a good amount of time in the middle of the dance floor, jumping around wildly and singing loudly to every song. Half the time, they even had a drink with them as they danced.

I danced for a while, but then took a break, heading back over to the table I'd been sitting at and kicking off my heels in the process. My feet were absolutely killing me.

When I reached the table, I dropped my shoes down by my chair and grabbed my firewhiskey off of the tabletop. I took a sip from it as I surveyed the crowd of wedding guests.

It was completely dark by now and the lanterns and string lights that had been hung up around the tent were providing warm, glowing light to the dance floor and surrounding tables. There were also some lanterns hung on the trees around the tent, where some people were hanging out in order to get some air and space from the crowd. It looked really beautiful.

I stood at the table for a bit longer, sipping on my drink and watching the people on the dance floor. Eventually, the song switched to a slow one and a good amount of people cleared off of the dance floor to take a break, while others paired off to dance to the new song.

Fred fought his way through the crowd towards me a moment later, his hair and shirt rumpled and his skin dewy with sweat. I shook my head and smiled at his undone bow tie. It had been undone since dinner and was now hanging loosely around his neck.

When he reached me, he pressed a hasty kiss to my forehead, putting a hand on the back of my head as he did so in order to keep me steady. He set his firewhiskey down on the table before grabbing my own drink and setting that one down, too. And then he held out a hand to me, a charming grin lighting up his face.

"I couldn't help but notice that no one has asked the most beautiful girl here to dance," he said as I placed my hand in his. He brought my hand to his lips and kissed it, his eyes remaining locked with mine. "So, as the most handsome guy here, I thought I'd ask you myself. It's only fitting."

I smiled softly. "You're asking? Not telling?" I whispered.

Fred laughed. "I'm asking you now, but if you say no, you'll leave me no choice but to demand a dance out of you." He tilted his head and smiled wider. "So, what's it gonna be, McConnell?"

Instead of answering, I just sent him a smile and started to walk towards the dance floor, tugging on his hand as I went and pulling him playfully along with me. "Come on, Weasley," I said. "Try not to step on my foot."

I led Fred to a spot on the dance floor that was towards the middle but not quite in the middle, and then turned to face him as he slid the hand that wasn't holding mine around my waist. He pulled me to him and tilted his head down so his chin was hovering above the crown of my head.

"I love you," he whispered, just loud enough for me to hear.

I tilted my head back and looked up at him. He was looking down at me with one side of his mouth turned up in a loving half-smile. I couldn't help but smile back at him.

"I love you, too," I answered, my voice quiet.

Fred leaned in and rested his forehead against mine as he smiled wider and leaned in to give me a quick kiss.

"The wedding really was lovely," I said. "Despite all of Ginny and your mother's stress, they really did a great job with it."

"They'll be glad to know you think so," Fred answered. He let out a long sigh through his nose and looked around the tent. "It feels really good to be here, doing something like this," he said. "After all we've had to go through, to finally be celebrating something good. To actually feel this good."

"I know how you feel," I answered. "I really never thought I'd make it to this. You have no idea. If anyone had come up to me five, ten years ago-or even just over one year ago-and told me this is where I'd be, I wouldn't have believed them. If anyone had told me I'd be this happy..." I shook my head. "I wouldn't have believed it. I'd try and tell myself for so long as a kid that it just had to get better one day. It just had to. But for a while, things seemed to get worse. Until one day, they did get better. If only everyone could be this lucky."

Fred didn't answer, but he leaned down and pressed a gentle, lingering kiss to my forehead as my eyes closed at the touch.

As the song that was playing faded into another fast paced one, Fred and I stopped moving, ignoring the people crowding around us again to dance. Fred smiled and took my face in his hands as he gave me a quick kiss. "Well, I hope you believe all of that stuff now," he said. "Because it's real. And if you feel lucky, I feel twice as lucky. I've got the most incredible girl in the entire country as my date. Tonight and every night." He took my hand and twirled me around as I giggled.

Just then, George appeared at Fred's elbow, nudging his side surreptitiously. "Ready?" he asked, his voice low.

"Yeah," Fred answered, turning to George with that look in his eyes-the one I'd come to know as the look he got when he was planning something or had an idea.

"Ready for what?" I asked.

"Fred and I just have a little something planned," George said with a smile. He reached out and playfully nudged my shoulder. "He'll be all yours again within ten minutes."

Fred gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and told me he'd be back in a bit before he and George squeezed their way through the crowd and off the dance floor. By the time I made it through myself, I couldn't see them anywhere.

I tracked Katie down over at one of the tables. She had one of her bare feet resting on her opposite knee as she massaged her fingers into the arch of her foot.

"My feet are killing me," she groaned as I sat down beside her. "And I've been barefoot tonight more than I've had my heels on. Maybe I was wrong to stop George from using them to concuss the garden gnomes."

I let out a breath of laughter. "I'm afraid to know how dirty the bottoms of my feet are at this point. I'm just glad Fred didn't step on my toes when we were dancing."

"Do you know where he and George ran off to, by the way?" Katie asked, glancing over at me.

I shook my head and leaned back in my chair. "I was hoping you would know. They said they had something planned, but I don't know if I should be worried or not."

"I'd say not," Katie shrugged. "They wouldn't do anything to ruin their sister's wedding."

"Their definition of ruin might not be the same as other people's definition," I pointed out.

"True," Katie sighed, lowering her foot to the ground before lifting the opposite one and starting to massage that one. "Well, whatever it is they're planning, I expect we'll find out eventually."

I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as I stared out at the people dancing. I smiled when I saw Rachel with Patrick. If I had to guess, I'd say Patrick was single after all.

"Having fun?"

Ginny had appeared beside me, dragging over an extra chair and sitting down heavily in exhaustion.

"I am," I said, smiling over at her. "Are you?"

"I'm having a blast," she sighed.

"It's been a great wedding, Gin," Katie said as I nodded in agreement.

"Really, you and your mother did a great job. And I know all your bridesmaids were a big help, too."

"I don't know what I would've done without them." Ginny was quiet for a moment before she looked at me, then at Katie, her expression thoughtful and a little skeptical. "Where are Fred and George?"

"Um," I began, sharing a look with Katie. "They ran off somewhere. Said they had something planned."

"Bloody hell," Ginny sighed. "Whatever it is, I hope it doesn't end in disaster."

Just then, there was a loud popping sound, followed by a few whistling noises and more loud pops. Just outside the sides of the tent, I could see flashes of color. Fireworks.

Ginny, Katie and I looked at each other, as most of the guests froze, looked around in confusion, or both at the sudden noise. A second later, Lee's voice shouted above the music. "Fireworks show out in the yard!"

No one moved for a moment. And then, everyone seemed to move at once, hurrying to get out from under the tent in order to watch the fireworks. Ginny had shot up so fast, it was almost like she were a firework herself. And then she had darted across the tent to Harry, excitedly tugging his hand and pulling him through the crowd.

Katie and I looked at each other again and rolled our eyes before laughing and following everyone outside. We weaved our way through the people until we were at the front of the crowd. Everyone had gathered at the back of the tent, where there was a large stretch of lawn that eventually met the small thicket of trees that led to the pond. The fireworks were lighting up the sky just beyond the trees, where the pond was. It looked as if Fred and George had set them off from the dock, or had maybe even had them hovering above the water until they were ready to shoot off into the sky.

There were a ton of them. Big ones small ones, some shaped like stars, some shaped like hearts. And the colors. There was every color imaginable. Purple, green, orange, pink, blue, red, gold.

A light breeze blew through my hair as I stood there, looking up at the fireworks in awe. I didn't even notice Fred appear beside me, and George beside Katie, until Fred spoke.

"Impressive, aren't they?" he asked, looking down at me.

"They're beautiful," I breathed. I couldn't even tear my eyes away from them to look at him as I talked.

Fred laughed. "I thought you'd like them."

I felt the side of his hand bump against mine before he reached over and intertwined his fingers with mine. I turned my body into his side and nuzzled my cheek into his shoulder as I continued watching the fireworks. Eventually, Fred dropped my hand and slid his arm around my waist instead, his fingers coming to rest on the small of my back, right in the dip of my spine. Using his fingertips, he dug them just slightly into my back as he moved them upwards along my spine and then back down again. I shivered involuntarily and finally turned away from the fireworks to look up at him, my eyebrows raised.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked.

"You weren't paying enough attention to me," Fred whispered teasingly. "You wouldn't even look at me."

"You set off the fireworks, you know," I said. "It's your own doing."

Fred nodded. "I'm aware."

I leaned up and took his chin between my fingers as I kissed him, deepening it slightly as he dug his fingertips into my spine again. I let out a sigh as I pulled away slightly, my eyes still closed. Fred leaned in to kiss me again and I could almost feel him smirking as his fingertips slowly moved further down until they were at my tailbone.

"Aren't you afraid that Tom will see you?" I joked, pulling away a bit.

"No," Fred murmured. "See, that was my real intention behind the fireworks. A distraction."

I laughed. "You're a liar, Fred Weasley. You did it to surprise your sister, even if you don't want to admit it."

"Maybe," Fred answered, shrugging his shoulders playfully.

"Definitely," I said back, smiling as I leaned up to kiss him while the fireworks continued to explode above us, lighting up the yard with bright bursts of color.


"Someone already wants to buy one of your photos."

Martha whispered the words to me on Monday afternoon as she breezed into the kitchen.

In response, I almost let the tray of drinks that I was levitating in front of me drop to the floor.

"What?" I squeaked.

"Yes," she nodded exuberantly. "The one of the ice rink in New York."

"Really? Who?" I asked. "Who wants to buy it?"

"Go see for yourself. He's standing out by the bar, waiting to pick up some food for lunch. Why don't you go talk to him? He was curious about the photo. Wanted to know if you were a good ice skater, actually." She smiled and fought back a laugh as she walked away, leaving me standing there confused.

I peeked my head out of the kitchen and looked towards the bar to see who the person was. When I did, I let out a breath of air and rolled my eyes. Fred.

"You are such a pain in the ass!" I hissed as I walked over to him. He was leaning on his elbows on the bar, staring at the bottles of alcohol Tom had on shelves across the back wall. He seemed lost in thought, but when I approached him and leaned backwards against the bar beside him, he turned and smiled at me.

"Why's that?" He asked cheekily.

I made a face at him. "Martha told me a customer wanted to buy my ice rink photo and that they asked if I was a good ice skater. And then I come out here and see that it's you!"

Fred laughed. "Am I your first buyer?"

"Fred, you don't really want to buy it, do you?" I asked.

"I do!" He nodded. "And I'm not taking no for an answer." He reached into his pocket and pulled out some coins. He quickly counted them out before taking my hand, tipping the coins into it, and closing my fingers around them. "There," he said with a grin.

"Fred," I said quietly, looking down at my hand.

"Like I said, I'm not taking no for an answer. I'm telling you I'm buying it, not asking. And I won't let you argue with me."

I smiled and let out a breath of laughter as I jingled the coins in my hands slightly before sticking them in my pocket. "Well, thanks. Do you want the photo right away?"

"Yeah, that's typically how making a purchase works," Fred answered.

I rolled my eyes. "I meant as opposed to me bringing it by later."

Fred shrugged. "I still want it now."

I stared at him for a second longer before I rolled my eyes, turned rapidly on my heel and crossed the pub to the wall where the framed photo of the ice rink was hanging.

"You know, your customer service could use a little work," Fred added lightly as he followed me. "I saw that eye roll."

"You get the best customer service out of anyone here," I told him as I stretched up to take down the photo. I turned and handed it to Fred with a smile as I lowered my voice and smirked. "I don't kiss any of the other customers."

"You don't even kiss me when you're on the job, so how fair is it really?" Fred argued. "At least I kiss you when you visit me."

"Not out in the middle of the shop when it's crowded with customers!"

"Not true," Fred argued. "I have done that a few times."

"Maybe quickly," I said. "Nothing serious. And we do enough of that when we're off work. I still don't kiss any of the other customers whether I'm working or not."

"I would hope not," Fred laughed. "Anyway, my point was that you barely let me kiss you at all while you're working. You're always trying to shoo me away."

"You own your shop, Fred," I sighed. "I don't own the Leaky Cauldron. That would be Tom and he would lose his head if he caught us."

"We could always use your lunch break to sneak into one of the empty rooms upstairs," Fred said, reaching out to run his fingers down my arm. "Even if we got in fifteen minutes of snogging, you'd still have fifteen minutes to eat lunch." He smiled. "If you're up for the challenge, that is."

I looked down at my arm, watching his fingers as they moved along my sleeve, and then I looked back up at Fred thoughtfully.

"What do you say?" He asked.

I continued to look up at him in consideration. "Hmm...I don't know," I said slowly.

Fred let out an exaggerated sigh as he grinned. "I know you want to. Come on..." he tugged on my arm and began pulling me towards the stairs.

"Fred, I'm not officially on break for another five minutes."

"They'll get by without you for a that amount of time," Fred answered as he kept tugging me forward.

I looked around over my shoulder to make sure Tom and Martha weren't anywhere in sight, and that no one else was taking any notice of me and Fred. And then I smiled and turned back to Fred as I untied my apron with my free hand.

"Okay, you win. Let's go." I tossed my apron at his face before starting to pull him towards the stairs.


By the time the Leaky Cauldron was closing that night, three more of my photos had sold in addition to the one Fred had bought. In total, I'd sold four, which was four more than I had braced myself for. I'd been prepared for the worst-for none of them to sell. Or to only sell to people I was close to, like Fred. It was nice that he wanted to support me, and I knew he really did like my photos, but he also happened to really like me.

"You could make a career out of this if you really wanted to," Fred said later that night as we stood back and admired his newly hung photo of the ice rink. We'd hung it up together, right above the mantle, and it looked great.

I snuggled into Fred's side as he put an arm around my shoulders. "I'd like to," I said.

"George and I could help you. We know a thing or two about starting a business from scratch, you know."

"What, like gambling away all your money?" I asked with a laugh.

"We thought we'd be doubling our savings!" Fred exclaimed. "How were we supposed to know the guy was broke and would pay us in leprechaun gold?"

"Because not everyone is trustworthy," I replied.

Fred let out a breath of air. "Yeah, you're right. I know that. George and I may have gotten a little too over eager. But it worked out in the end."

"I'd say so," I whispered, gazing up at the photo above the mantle.

Fred gave my shoulders a squeeze and kissed my temple. "I'm proud of you," he whispered.

"Thanks." I smiled to myself as I turned a light shade of pink.

"By the way," Fred went on, letting me go and dropping down onto the couch, putting his feet up on the coffee table as he did so. "The Sophie's Wings potion has been doing really well in the few months since George and I started selling it."

"Has it?" I asked, sitting down beside him and putting my own feet up on the coffee table next to Fred's.

"It has," Fred replied. "I figured that it would. There were unfortunately plenty of nightmares to go around after the war." He shrugged. "I honestly don't know why I didn't think of a product like this sooner. Especially after I was having nightmares of my own while I was in St. Mungo's."

"I'd think you were too preoccupied with just getting through them to work on a solution," I shrugged.

"Yeah, but after that," Fred said, shaking his head. "Maybe I just didn't like the thought of making a profit off of someone else's literal nightmare. I knew how it was. I went through it myself and I went through watching you deal with having them. But the potion actually helps these people, which feels pretty great knowing that it's because of me."

"It's very impressive that you thought of it. Not only that, but we're able to make it a reality."

Fred nodded and we were quiet for a moment. My gaze went back to the photo above the fireplace again. I couldn't stop looking at it. It felt surreal. A photo that I had taken was hanging above someone's fireplace. Granted, it was my boyfriend's fireplace, but it was a fireplace nonetheless.

"Did I tell you my mother has Elizabeth Proctor's old potion book?" I finally asked.

"What? No!" Fred said, surprise evident in his voice as he looked at me.

I nodded and tore my eyes from the picture of the ice rink in order to look at Fred. "I only found out a few days ago myself. On the morning of Ginny's wedding."

"Where'd she get it from?" Fred asked. "Or has she had it all along?"

"No, it was in the basement room of the Proctor house," I said. "It wasn't there when I got there, so she must have found it beforehand." I shrugged. "My mother says she's been testing some of the potions in it. Out of curiosity. She also says the book is mine one day if I want it."

"Do you?" Fred asked. "Want it, I mean."

I was quiet for a moment. "Yeah, I think I do. It could be really useful. And I suppose it's kind of a family heirloom. Just like the diary and the necklace."

"What kind of potions are in there?" Fred asked. "Do you know?"

"No, I don't." I refrained from mentioning that I already knew what one potion was and that I knew for sure it worked. I wasn't supposed to mention anything about Fleur yet.

"Ah, well, I'm sure they're useful, like you said. They must be. I'm actually curious to see it, so if your mother is willing to let me have a look through it one day, I'd love to. Maybe it could give me some ideas for a new product. Or a way to modify a potion for an existing product."

I smiled at the excited look that had come over his face. "You know, I never knew Percy at all, but from what I've heard, it seems to me that you're sounding a little bit like him. Getting all hot and bothered over a Potions book."

Fred grabbed one of the couch pillows and swatted me over the head with it as he laughed. "I'm not hot and bothered. I've never been hot and bothered over a book."

"Could've fooled me," I giggled as Fred lightly shoved my shoulder.

"What I'm really thinking about," he said teasingly, "is being able to make more money off of new products. A life of luxury doesn't come cheap, you know." He looked at me as he tried to fight back a smile.

"A life of luxury?" I asked with a smile of my own. "Is that the life you're living?"

"I am," Fred insisted. He gestured to the new addition to the wall above the fireplace. "As you can see, I've just purchased a photograph from the absolute best photographer in all of England. Hell, in all of Great Britain. Her photos are in very high demand and considered an item of luxury."

"Oh, shut up," I scoffed. "Hardly!"

"It's true," Fred said, leaning over to poke me. I whined and tried to push him off, but Fred pinned my arms down as I laid back onto the couch cushions and he hovered above me.

"You're being an ass," I said through my laughter as he held my arms above my head with one hand and continued to poke me with his other.

He finally stilled his movements and propped himself up above me on his palms. "I've also got a dragon hide jacket, you know," he said as he caught his breath.

"Do you really?" I asked curiously, peering up at him.

Fred nodded and smiled. "One of the first things George and I bought after we opened the shop."

"Why haven't I seen you wear it?" I asked.

"Dunno," Fred shrugged. "I don't wear it all the time-it's too nice to hide under my work robes and also too nice to wear to the Burrow for Quidditch. But every so often I do like to wear it to show off a bit." He grinned down at me as I wrinkled my nose.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that it's not nice to flaunt your wealth?" I asked.

"Mum has," Fred shrugged. "But when have I ever listened to her?" A playful smirk suddenly lit up his face. "You know, I also didn't take you for a dragon hide kind of girl. If I thought you'd be impressed by it I would've made sure you saw me in it.

"I'm not," I said. "Not really. I mean, I've never worn anything like that. Obviously."

Fred smiled as he leaned down and kissed my jaw, his nose brushing slowly along my skin as he trailed another two kisses upwards until he was by my ear. "Well, if it makes a difference, I have heard I look really good in that jacket."

"Who told you that?" I whispered curiously.

"No one important," Fred answered, pulling back and smiling at me. He gave me a quick kiss on the lips and pulled back completely as I sat up

"Well, okay, then," I told him, "go put the jacket on."

"Now?" Fred asked.

"Now," I replied. "You can't just say something like what you just said and not let me be the judge on if it's true or not." I glanced at my watch. "If you put it on and come back within ten seconds, maybe I'll be willing to help you take it back off." I looked at him innocently and shrugged.

Fred's mouth dropped open in surprise and he stared at me for a second before jumping up. "Oh, Merlin, yes," he said, running off towards his room, already pulling off the corduroy jacket he'd been wearing over his t-shirt.

"Five more seconds!" I called back to him, laughing harder as he bumped into the doorframe of his room in his hurry. "Don't hurt yourself!"

I leaned back into the couch and smiled as I chewed on my thumbnail. My eyes wandered back to the photo above the fireplace and I smiled wider. Fred had told me he was proud of me, and I was glad to hear him say that. But what made me probably the most happy, was how proud I was of myself.


My twenty-second birthday fell a few weeks after Ginny's wedding. Tom, Martha, and the Weasleys all worked together to throw me a party at the Burrow.

Everyone was invited-Rachel, Kayla, Allie, Lee, Katie, Alicia, and even Angelina and Oliver. Plus, all the Weasleys were naturally there, and of course Tom, Martha and my mother. Tom, Kayla and Allie would be at the pub until a few hours after the party would start, so they would be showing up late, but everyone else was already gathered at the Burrow by the time I showed up with Fred, George, and Katie.

Even though we were planning to spend most of the day outside, the Burrow was decorated almost as crazily as the twins' flat had been for their birthday.

"Was all of this your doing?" I asked Katie, Fred, and George with a laugh as we entered the living room, which was filled with streamers and balloons.

"Partly," Fred said. "We had some help, so it was really a team effort."

I smiled as I looked around the room. And then my eyes fell on the banner over the fireplace and I burst into laughter.

Happy Retirement!

"Are you kidding me?" I asked with a smile, swatting Fred's shoulder.

"It's all they had!" He exclaimed, laughing as he cowered from my hand.

"Like hell," I said with a laugh of my own. When I turned to look at Fred, I saw him glancing over my shoulder with a sly smile on his face. "What are you-?" I began. But before I could turn around, I heard the sound of laughter as George and Katie appeared behind me, dumping confetti over my head. I let out a squeak as I squeezed my eyes shut and reached up to cover my head with my hands. Not that it did much.

"You didn't think you'd get away unscathed, did you?" George asked, stepping back and tossing his now empty bag of confetti onto the couch as Fred practically howled with laughter from beside me.

"No, of course not," I replied. "I just hoped maybe you wouldn't dump confetti over your mother's floor. You've made quite the mess."

"Normally, I'd agree with you," Fred said, reaching out to gently pull confetti from my hair. "But we can clean it up in a second." He grinned and began quickly tugging me out of the room. "George and Katie agreed to do the honors."

"Liar!" George and Katie called after us as Fred and I both laughed.

We found Mrs. Weasley and Martha were in the kitchen, preparing dinner-Martha's chicken pot pie, to be exact.

"It smells amazing in here," I commented as I inhaled through my nose.

"Sophie!" Mrs. Weasley said, setting down the pan she was holding and coming over to give me a hug. "Happy Birthday, dear. We thought we heard someone come in." She looked at me curiously as she pulled more confetti from my hair and brushed a few pieces odd my shoulder.

"George and Katie poured confetti all over her," Fred announced. He looked at me in mock-sympathy and clucked his tongue. "Poor thing. She might never recover."

"Don't be so dramatic, Fred," I laughed.

"And don't act as if you weren't in on it," Mrs. Weasley added, raising an eyebrow at him.

"He was most likely the ringleader of the whole thing," I pointed out as I went to say hello to Martha. She wrapped me in a tight hug and wished me a happy birthday, even though she and Tom had already wished me a happy birthday several times that day. Martha had made me a special breakfast that morning, just as she had the year before.

"Everyone's out back already," Mrs. Weasley said as George and Katie finally entered the room. Mrs. Weasley hugged each twin and gave them a kiss on the cheek before hugging Katie as well. "I think they're looking to start a game of Quidditch."

"Excellent," the twins said, making a beeline for the back door.

I followed them out to the area that the Weasleys used for their makeshift Quidditch pitch. Everyone else was already there, setting up teams for a game.

"Birthday girl!" Rachel cried when she saw me. "You're just in time!"

"Oh, I'm not going to play," I said, shaking my head. "I can't."

"You have to!" Rachel said.

"Rach, I haven't really been on a broom since probably my first or second year at school."

"You never flew while you were here?" She asked. "In all the times you've come here, the Weasleys have never put you on a broom?"

I thought about that. "Once, I think. Last year. But I don't think I liked it much."

Fred suddenly appeared at my side with a broom in his hand. He swung one of his legs over and then gestured to the space in front of him. "Get on," he said with a smile.

I looked from the broom to his face in apprehension.

"I'm not going to let you fall off," he said with a slight laugh. "What do you look so scared for?"

"How are you going to play a game of Quidditch with me sitting on the front of your broom like a useless bump on a log?" I asked.

Fred laughed. "I can manage. I swear. Now, get on the damn broom."

Sighing, I walked over to him and swung my leg over the broom. Fred adjusted himself so he was right behind me and then adjusted my hands on the front of the broom handle so that he could comfortably place his own hands just ahead of mine. Or, rather, just one hand. In his other hand, he was holding a Beater's bat.

"If I get hit in the face with a Bludger, I will push you straight off of this broom," I said.

"Well, see, the thing is," Fred said quietly, a slight laugh coming out of his mouth, "it's my job to keep Bludgers away. The other thing is, we don't have any real Bludgers. We have apples with charms on them."

"I'd still imagine it would hurt if I got hit in the face with one."

"I've just said it's my job to keep them away from people, so I'm not going to let that happen."

I inhaled through my nose and let it out before relaxing against Fred as much as I could. "Okay," I said, squeezing my eyes shut. "I'm ready."

Fred chuckled and shook his head. "You don't look ready."

"I am, just fly," I said.

Fred laughed again and I felt his chest moving against my back. "Whatever you say, Soph."

And then he'd pushed off from the ground and I was letting out a squeak as we soared into the air.

"Relax a little bit, Soph," Fred said as I stiffened.

"Easy for you to say!" I answered.

The match started not long after. I wasn't sure I found it all that fun-not at first anyway. I would flinch every time one of the apples got near me and flinch again every time Fred smacked it away with his bat. I gripped the broom handle so tightly in my hands that my knuckles were white.

Fred seemed to struggle slightly trying to fly the broom and actually play with me sitting on the broom with him, but he managed, just like he said he would do. Even though he couldn't fly as fast as he normally would, or take too many sharp turns. And even if he couldn't swing the bat in the same way he normally would due to me now sitting in front of him when normally he would have that extra space.

A few times the broom wobbled or tipped slightly while we were flying, and I'd immediately let out an involuntary gasp and squeezed my eyes shut every time. Fred would quickly apologize and right the broom, but my heart would still drop every time it happened.

"I'm not used to playing with someone else on my broom," Fred said once the game was over and he was landing us back on the ground. "Sorry if it was a little bumpy up there."

"I didn't fall off, that's all I really care about," I said, immediately climbing off the broom and backing away from it.

Fred laughed as he watched me in amusement. "We really need to work on your nerves with flying."

"You mean you're going to make me get back on that thing?" I asked, pointing to the broom.

"Not now, but soon," Fred answered, propping the broom up under his arm and leaning on it slightly as he grinned at me. "You made me practice ice skating several times between coming back from New York and when the ice on the pond melted. Now it's my turn to make you more comfortable with flying."

"I suppose that's fair," I answered slowly.

"It is fair," Fred laughed, reaching over to ruffle my hair as I whined and swatted him away.

Everyone wanted to get a second game underway, which I was perfectly happy to sit out. Besides, now Fred would be able to play at his best. Our team had lost the first game and I couldn't help but think we wouldn't have been as awful if I hadn't been in the way.

I made my way over to the outskirts of the orchard, where Hermione and Fleur were sitting under a tree. Hermione was reading and Fleur was staring aimlessly up at the leaves overhead as she leaned back on her hands.

"How are you?" I whispered, sitting down beside her as everyone who was playing in the Quidditch game began picking teams-and then arguing about who was picking who for their team.

Fleur snapped out of her thoughts and turned to look at me. She smiled. "Wonderful...thank you for asking."

"Feeling okay?" I asked, glancing down at her stomach. She obviously wasn't showing yet and still hadn't told the rest of the family the news, but I knew she had planned on telling Bill after Ginny's wedding.

"Yeah, I'm feeling great," she answered. "Bill and I started making doctor's appointments. We have one next week actually."

"How did Bill react?" I asked with a smile. "I bet he was thrilled."

"He was," Fleur laughed. "A little surprised, but yes, he eez very happy."

I smiled wider as I glanced back over at the others, who had now seemed to agree on teams. But now Ron and the twins were arguing because Ron wanted to play a Beater position this game.

"We always switch positions every game," Ron said. "So that it's fair. We're all the best at different ones, so we can't always play those same positions. That's why we agreed to switch things up."

"You're awful at playing Beater, though," Fred said.

"Possibly the worst," George added. "Why don't you play Chaser? You're fair at that position. And that's the only one open now anyway."

"I was a Chaser last game, just like you two were already Beaters!"

"Oi, one of you just give him your bat," Bill cried from where the other team was gathered and waiting for the twins and Ron to finish arguing. "We don't have all day."

The twins looked at each other before Fred sighed and pulled a Sickle out of his pocket. He asked George to pick a side-the side with the numerals on it or the blank side. George picked blank side and Fred flipped the coin into the air. He caught it and slapped it down onto the back of his hand as he and George peered down at it.

"Ah, shit," George grumbled in annoyance. With another heavy sigh, he handed Ron his Beater's bat and turned away to mount his broom.

The match was underway shortly after and I could tell that the twins had been right about Ron. He was a very clumsy and awkward Beater and wasn't good at aiming the charmed apples that served as Bludgers after he hit them.

"Ron, get your shit together, will you?" Fred yelled as he flew past Ron.

"Shut up!" Ron yelled back.

"Ooh, good one," Fred retaliated sarcastically.

I could see Ron's ears turn red from where I was on the ground and he made a rude hand gesture at Fred, who made one back.

"Both of you focus!" Ginny screamed. "You're going to make us lose!"

"Ron's going to make us lose with his awful aim!" Fred shouted, expertly beating an apple away with his bat, grunting slightly as he did so. He smirked at Ron. "That is how it's done, Ronald."

Ron scowled and took aim at another apple that was flying to close to Rachel.

I turned away from watching the match to look at Hermione and Fleur. "Do they get this competitive every time?" I asked.

Hermione looked up from her book and shrugged. "Nearly." Her eyes widened suddenly as she noticed something behind me. "Look out!"

I had just started to turn my head when something hard collided with my nose and I let out a shriek of pain as my hands flew to my face.

"What the hell was that?" I cried.

"Ron swung too hard at the apple he was aiming for," Fleur said, pushing herself to her knees and reaching out to try and lower my hands from my face as Hermione came to kneel beside me as well.

"I think he broke my nose," I groaned. I could feel blood dripping down my face and covering my hands as my nose throbbed with pain.

"Soph? Sophie!" I heard footsteps rushing through the grass towards us and a moment later, Fred was hurriedly kneeling in front of me, replacing Fleur as she moved out of the way. "Are you alright?" Fred asked, dropping his bat and putting his hands at the sides of my head. "Let me see."

"No, there's blood everywhere," I said, my voice coming out muffled and nasally.

"Let me see-I can fix it," Fred said urgently as Ron and George appeared behind him, everyone else following close behind as the match came to a screeching halt.

I lowered my blood covered hands from my face and saw Fred wince. Everyone else had caught up to Fred by now and they were all surrounding us, looking down at me in horror.

"That bad?" I whispered.

Fred turned and glared up at Ron. "You idiot! Look what you did! I told you that you were awful at playing Beater! And now you've gone and broken her nose!"

"I'm sorry!" Ron cried. He looked at me. "I didn't mean it."

"Sorry doesn't erase the fact that you've broken her nose!" Fred roared. "Couldn't have been your own damn nose, could it?"

"Fred, it was an accident," I said, wincing in pain as I spoke. "Don't yell at him."

"She's right, Fred," Bill said. "Come on, just relax."

Fred scowled up at his brother. "Don't tell me to relax! If it had been Fleur-"

"Just shut up," Bill said firmly, shooting his brother a look. "Why don't we get Mum? She's the best at healing spells."

"She should be, after all the injuries we've gotten over the years," George pointed out.

Fred let out a sound that was a half-scoff and half-laugh. Then, he sighed, stood up, and leaned down to scoop me into his arms.

"Fred, I can walk, you know," I said. "I broke my nose, not my legs."

"Your face is the color of snow," he said. "Your nose is bleeding everywhere and your eyes are starting to bruise and swell. It's easier if I carry you."

He started for the house, his strides long and swift as he moved as quickly as possible without running or even jostling me in any way. I simply sighed and rested my head on his shoulder as I clamped my hand back over my nose to try and stop the blood. A moment later, I looked up at Fred's face. His jaw was clenched as we walked, and he still seemed upset.

"Fred," I said quietly. "It really was an accident."

"It wouldn't have happened if the stupid prat had just listened to me and George and been a Chaser."

"No one could have known this would happen," I whispered. "Ron didn't ask to play Beater just so he could break my nose. And it's just broken. Your mother will fix it in a second."

"Soph, your face looks awful."

"Thanks," I muttered, rolling my eyes. "But it's still not serious. I'll be fine. Besides, you have to admit that it was some hit. I know you charmed the apples to fly around just like Bludgers would-at the same speed and everything. So that combined with the force of the hit was what did it. But Ron really gave that apple a good whack. It was kind of impressive. And you say he's not a good Beater."

"If he was a good Beater, he would've had better aim," Fred argued.

I sighed and closed my eyes. I didn't have the energy to keep arguing with him. My face was in so much pain and it was only getting worse as the adrenaline and shock from being hit started to wear off.

When we reached the Burrow, Fred carried me through the back door and into the kitchen, where Martha and Mrs. Weasley we're just finishing up dinner. Tom was there too, having just arrived with Kayla and Allie.

"Great," Fred muttered. "Tom's going to kick my ass."

"It was an accident, Fred," I told him. I sounded like a broken record at this point. How many times was I going to have to remind him that this wasn't anyone's fault?

"Just in time-oh Sophie, what happened?" Mrs. Weasley cried as Martha's hands flew to her mouth and Kayla and Allie stared at me in shock.

"Ron broke her nose," Fred said as he passed them and brought me into the living room, where he lowered me to the couch.

"What do you mean he broke her nose?" Tom asked, as everyone piled into the living room.

"I didn't mean to," Ron said as he made his way into the room. He glared at Fred. "He's acting as if I wanted to do it."

"Well if you weren't such a shit Quidditch player-"

"Alright, enough! Move out of the way." Mrs. Weasley was back and she shooed away the gathering of people surrounding the couch so that there was a clear path for her to get to me.

Fred shifted over slightly to give his mother more room and she knelt beside him as she looked down at me with a soft smile.

"You're going to be fine," she said gently. "You don't know how many times I've done things like this for my own children."

"I'm not worried," I said quietly, a slight smile on my face as I looked up at her. "Fred is the one who's worried."

"He should be worried!" Tom exclaimed. "Look at your face!"

"Tom, I can fix it," Mrs. Weasley said. "She'll be as good as new in under a minute."

"Still doesn't mean Ron isn't a shit Beater," Fred mumbled.

Mrs. Weasley shot a look at Fred before turning back to me as her expression softened. "Tilt your head up, dear," she whispered, lightly putting her fingers under my chin and guiding my face upwards. She held up her wand and looked at me sympathetically. "This might hurt for just a moment when your nose repairs itself."

I nodded and closed my eyes. "Go ahead."

Mrs. Weasley tilted my face slightly towards her before aiming her wand at my face. "Episkey," she said.

I winced and gasped in pain as my nose cracked and healed instantly. My fingers went to my face to feel it. It felt completely normal. As good as new, just as Mrs. Weasley had said.

She waved her wand again to clear up the bruising around my eyes and then she smiled down at me.

"All finished," she whispered. She sat back and turned to Fred. "Why don't you take her upstairs and get her cleaned up?" Then, she turned to Ginny. "Do you have any of your clothes left in your room?"

Ginny nodded. "I do." She smiled wryly. "I guess putting off moving all your things out has its perks after all."

Mrs. Weasley laughed. "Well, go in and grab a clean shirt for Sophie to wear. I'll wash out the blood that got onto the one she has on."

Ginny nodded and headed for the stairs as I sat up on the couch.

"Thanks," I said to Mrs. Weasley with a smile. "My nose has probably never looked better."

She laughed and leaned over to kiss my forehead. "Go get cleaned up," she said. "We'll eat dinner when you come back downstairs."

I nodded and stood up. Fred did the same and took my hand before leading me towards the stairs.

"I'm really sorry," Ron said sheepishly as we passed him.

I smiled slightly. "Don't worry about it-I know it was an accident." I paused and gave him a teasing look. "But maybe in the future you should keep in mind that breaking someone's nose isn't the greatest birthday gift."

Ron laughed and nodded as I patted his shoulder. Then, I let Fred continue leading me towards the stairs. We went into the bathroom and Fred pulled a washcloth out of the closet. He ran it under the faucet and squeezed out the excess water before turning to me.

He placed one hand at the back of my head and tilted my chin up with a finger of his other hand. And then he began gently cleaning the blood off of my face.

"I'm sorry this happened," he whispered as he worked. "And on your birthday, no less."

"It's okay," I said. "It's going to take more than a broken nose to phase me. Or even ruin my birthday."

"You are pretty tough," Fred admitted with a smile.

I smiled back and rolled my eyes slightly. "Of course I am."

Fred laughed and tilted my face back and forth as he examined it.

"How do I look?" I asked.

"Beautiful," Fred whispered, grinning down at me. He leaned down and gave me a quick kiss before pulling away and studying my face again.

I turned away from him and began washing away the blood that had gotten on my hands. Just as I was drying them, there was a knock on the door and Ginny stuck her head in. She had a clean shirt in her hands and she passed it to me.

"How are you feeling?" She asked as I took the shirt from her.

"As good as new," I responded. I hesitated only slightly before pulling off my blood stained shirt and replacing it with the shirt Ginny had given me. If anything, hesitating was simply an action of habit. A habit of being worried about my scars. But I didn't have to be anymore. Ginny and Fred had both already seen them.

"You're having quite the day so far," Ginny said. She smiled at me wryly. "A broken nose while we're just trying to celebrate your retirement."

I shot her and Fred a look as they laughed and high-fived.

"Ha," I said dryly. "You two are hilarious. I'm only twenty-two. I'm not that old. Certainly not old enough to be retired."

"We're just going off of that lovely banner Fred picked out," Ginny said innocently. "Don't tell me he bought the wrong one!" She began laughing and nudged Fred, who nudged her in return.

I tossed my dirty shirt at Fred's face. He flinched and caught the shirt against his chest as he wrinkled his nose.

"Stick that in the laundry for me, will you?" I asked with a smile. "I'm retired. I don't do any work whatsoever for myself anymore."

Ginny and I laughed and headed back out into the hall and down the stairs.

"That's not quite what retirement means, you know," Fred called from behind us.

"Not sure if I do know," I called back over my shoulder as Ginny and I continued to giggle.


Martha and Mrs. Weasley seemed to have completely outdone themselves for dinner. It was quite possibly the best chicken pot pie I'd ever eaten. It just felt extra special today.

We'd eaten outside, all of us surrounding a bunch of tables that Mr. Weasley and Bill had set up end to end so that we could all fit comfortably. The weather was warm and there was a slight breeze. It was pretty perfect, actually.

After dinner, Mrs. Weasley and Martha brought out an amazing looking chocolate cake. They'd actually fit twenty-two candles in the top of it, which were all lit as Mrs. Weasley placed the cake in front of me. Everyone sang Happy Birthday as I blushed a deep red and squeezed Fred's hand under the table. When everyone was done singing, Fred leaned in to kiss my cheek, and I then took a deep breath and blew out the candles in two puffs.

After dinner, I opened gifts. I got various things ranging from new clothes and jewelry to a few new books and some new film for my camera. I got some Honeyduke's chocolate and a new quill and ink bottle set. Fred and George even gave me my own wizard's chess set, which was amazing and unexpected, despite the fact that Fred had been teaching me how to play.

The party began to wind down sometime after that, and things got a bit quieter, which gave Fred and I the opportunity to take a walk down to the pond. We walked hand in hand all the way to the end of the dock, where we sat down, removed our shoes, and dangled our feet in the water.

"I have something else for you," Fred said after a moment. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small rectangular box. He stared down at it for a moment before handing it to me. "Happy Birthday," he whispered.

"Fred, you didn't have to-the chess set was more than enough."

"I wanted to," he answered. He tilted his head towards the box. "Go on, open it."

I shifted my gaze down to the box and began unwrapping it. Once I'd pulled off the paper, I removed the lid of the box and let out a breath of air when I saw what was inside.

It was a necklace. A dainty silver chain with a circular pendant hanging from it. The background of the pendant was a shimmery deep blue that sparkled with several specks of silver that almost looked like stars. And in the center of the pendant were two silver angel wings.

"Fred, it's beautiful," I whispered, carefully pulling the necklace out of the box.

Fred gently took the necklace from my hands and began to unclasp it. Realizing what he was getting at, I turned my upper body so that my back was facing him. I swept my hair out of the way and held still as Fred placed the necklace around my neck and clasped it.

I tilted my chin down and looked at the glittering pendant as I touched it with my fingertips.

"I thought of you immediately when I saw it," Fred said.

I turned back to face him and smiled. "I love it," I said.

Fred reached out and picked up the pendant, his fingers brushing against my collarbone as he slid his fingers underneath the necklace so that the pendant rested against his hand. He tilted it back and forth so that it caught the light from the setting sun.

"I had a really great day," I said, as Fred continued to study the necklace.

He smiled and dropped his hand, letting the pendant fall back against my skin.

"I'm glad," he whispered. "Even though you did break your nose?"

I laughed. "Yes, even though I broke my nose. There's never a dull moment with you people, though, is there?

Fred let out a breath of laughter and leaned back on his hands as he shook his head and slowly dragged his feet around in the water. "I couldn't even believe that happened. I heard Ron hit the apple and the next thing I knew, you screamed. Scared me shitless, actually."

"It was just a broken nose," I told him. "And just to reiterate, it was an-"

"Accident, I know," Fred sighed, staring off into the distance.

"Well, then take it easy on Ron, okay?" I asked, fiddling with the pendant of my necklace. I picked it up between my fingers and slowly slid it back and forth along the chain. "It was an accident when you hit me with a door and stepped on my foot, too. Nobody called you an idiot for that."

"George did," Fred said with a laugh, looking over at me. "And so did Charlie when he found out about it."

I let out a laugh of my own and shrugged slightly. "Well, still..."

"Besides, I didn't break any of your bones," Fred on. "You didn't even bleed either time."

"Yeah, but I got a nice bump on my head after the incident with the door."

"I got you ice for it," Fred responded.

I giggled. "You did. You were very nice about it, I'll give you that."

"Ah, well, it was the least I could do," Fred said quietly as he gazed over at me with a slight smile on his face. "I think I was just completely dazzled by you. I couldn't focus on what I was doing."

I made a face as I groaned. "Oh, please, is that your excuse?"

"So what if it is?" Fred asked.

"It's not a very good one."

Fred let out a curt breath of laughter. "I was distracted, but not necessarily by you," he admitted.

"Thanks, you really know how to make a girl feel special," I quipped with a playful roll of my eyes.

"Shut up," Fred responded, lightly shoving my shoulder. "I tell you that you dazzle me and you didn't like that, but you don't like it when I say I wasn't distracted by you."

"The first reason was a load of crap," I said. "But that doesn't mean that I wouldn't like to hear how dazzling I am." I sent him an angelic look as I batted my eyelashes.

"Okay...noted," Fred replied with a laugh. He inhaled through his nose and let it out slowly. "But in all seriousness, I still had a lot on my mind back then. I wasn't completely back to my old self. When I hit you with the door, I was preoccupied with Angelina and Oliver being at the Three Broomsticks with us." He let out a scoff and shrugged his shoulders. "Such a waste of time, really. I sometimes can't stand how much time I wasted being angry. I continued to sacrifice my friendship with them and I continued to sacrifice my own happiness and ability to move on."

I reached over and put one of my hands over his. "It's just one of those things that you only realize in hindsight," I said. "The whole waste of time thing, I mean. But everything you were feeling at the time was still valid. Just because your reactions may have been wrong, doesn't mean your feelings are."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Fred sighed. He smiled at me again. "But sometimes they're both correct."

"What do you mean?" I asked slowly.

"I had feelings for you, didn't I? And then I acted on them. And right now, from where I'm sitting, they both feel like some of the most correct things I've ever done."

I couldn't help but smile. "That's sweet," I said, coyly fiddling with the pendant on my necklace again.

Fred let out a quiet laugh. "Come here," he said, leaning over to kiss me. He slid a hand to the back of my head and threaded his fingers in my hair. He pulled away and smiled before leaning in and giving me two more quick, playful kisses.

I giggled and swatted him. "So..." I began, glancing over at him with a smirk. "Since you gave me my own chess set, does that mean you really do think I can beat Ron?"

"I'd love for you to beat Ron," Fred said. "But how well can you throw a punch?"

"Fred!" I exclaimed. "I meant in chess!"

"I know what you meant," he laughed. "And, still, I said what I said."

"I don't want to punch him, I want to kick his ass in wizard's chess," I said defiantly.

"Then you'd better keep practicing," Fred said. "So far, it's still looking like it'll take you years to be good enough."

"I hate you," I muttered, kicking my foot through the water and splashing some into Fred's legs.

In response, Fred leaned over and tried to push me into the water, but I squealed and tried to fight him off.

"No! It's my birthday! You can't!" I exclaimed.

"Fine, fine, I'll excuse you just this once," Fred answered. "But only this once."

"And on every birthday hereafter," I said loftily.

"You planning on sticking around that long?" Fred asked with a teasing smile.

"I plan on being here for a while. Quite possibly even forever." I sent him a challenging grin. "Do you think you can handle that?"

Fred laughed. "I'm planning on it."

"Good answer," I whispered with a smile as I pulled my feet out of the water and turned so that I was lying down with my head in Fred's lap. He began playing with my hair and I turned my head so that I was looking out across the water. I let out a content sigh and my hand went back up to my necklace again as I closed my eyes.

Everything felt completely perfect. This had been my best birthday yet, and every birthday that came after this one was going to have to fight to compete with it.