.

Chapter 24.

There's a surprise in the kitchen

Awaking the next morning, Lara felt groggy. Her eyes were heavy and her limbs were numb, especially her fingers. Without opening her eyes, she stretched before covering her face with her hands, her expression pinched. When Molly said the pain potion would knock her out, she hadn't expected it to work quite to efficiently. She felt like she'd been run over by the Knightbus.

Her eyes peeked open. Looking around, she saw she was in a bedroom with two single beds, the walls painted blue, the furniture made of white wood. The other bed was unmade, and she guessed Walter had slept there last night to keep an eye on her. But where was he now? Probably downstairs eating or talking to Order members about catching Death Eaters, if he was sticking to his usual character.

Lara sighed and flung the sheets back. Although she had no idea where she was going, she searched the upper floor for a bathroom, which she eventually found. After using the facilities, she cleaned her mouth out with some minty mouth wash, mostly to get the taste of the pain potion off her tongue, before leaving. As she walked across the landing, she saw Lupin heading up the stairs.

"Oh, hey," she smiled towards her old Professor.

"Hello Lara," he greeted her politely. "Are you feeling better?"

"Much better, thanks," she eyed him for a moment, noticing the bags under his eyes and his unkempt facial stubble. "You look exhausted."

Lupin let out a small laugh. "I feel exhausted. I was on a mission for the Order last night, I only got in an hour ago. I'm just on my way to bed."

"Oh, I'll let you go, then."

"Before we part," he said and Lara turned back towards him as she made her way to the stairs. "I think it is only polite of me to tell you there's a surprise in the kitchen."

"A surprise?"

Lupin grinned mysteriously. "A surprise I think you may like very much. Anyway, goodnight, Lara."

"Night Professor—I mean, Lupin," she grinned innocently, bounding down the stairs (and determinedly looking away from the house elf heads), as he teasingly scowled at her.

She made her way to the kitchen faster than she usually would, intrigued about the 'surprise' waiting for her. She wondered if Walter had gotten her chocolates and sweets to help her recovery, or if Tonks had gotten her some wonderfully weird present to make her feel better.

Coming to the bottom of the stairs, Lara saw Molly cooking away at the stove. "Morning Mrs Weasley," she chirped before looking to the table for her brother, excited to see what was going on—

She stopped dead in her tracks. The usual people were sat at the table—Sirius, Tonks, Mr Weasley, Bill; all the people that were living at Grimmauld Place most of the time (obviously, minus Lupin) plus Walter, who was sat beside Bill—and another two heads had joined them today. Two ginger, identical heads.

Fred and George.

"What're you doing here?" Lara, Fred and George all asked at the same time, the twins' questions directed at her, while hers was towards them. They all looked as shocked as each other.

"Are you apart of the Order?" one of them asked, his mouth dropping open.

Lara stared at him, then the other. To her horror, she realised she was having difficulty telling them apart after nearly a year of not seeing them. They both looked older, with more freckles and bigger shoulders. Their hair was cut shorter than she remembered and their faces had lost all signs of adolescence.

"It's May," she spluttered, ignoring the question completely. "You're supposed to be at school."

The twins glanced at each other. "We, eh…" the one on the right started, shrugging a little. "Well, we decided education isn't for us."

"Oh Merlin," Lara whispered, grabbing her head with her hands. "What have you done?"

"Let's just say we put your firework presents to very good use," the left twin grinned.

"And magically charmed, they were particularly powerful," said the right one.

Lara glanced between them as they grinned at her. Suddenly, her stomach flipped and goose bumps erupted over her skin—the left twin was Fred, she could tell by his stupid, goofy grin…and the way he was looking at her.

"You idiots," she sighed, her eyes unable to look away from Fred. His grin widened as he realised Lara had figured out which twin was which. "You're not going to get any N.E.W.T.S."

"Don't need them," Fred shrugged, and George nodded his head. "If anything, they'll hinder our progress."

"Yeah, they'll make us look like nerds and no one will want to come to the shop."

"Well, at least you haven't changed too much," Lara sighed, crossing her arms over her body, for Fred was staring at her and she felt rather hot all of a sudden.

There was a moment of silence, in which Lara and Fred stared at each other, bitten lips and secret smiles, and George glanced between them and rolled his eyes. Sirius let out a barking laugh and reached over to Fred, who he was sat next to, and pushed him in the back.

"Go hug her, you git," he said, making the other people at the table laugh.

Fred scowled towards his friends and family before standing. He loped over to her and Lara was suddenly reverted back to a giggly teenager, stealing kisses in the Hogwarts kitchens and sitting at the lake with this crazy, wonderful boy. She could feel herself blushing all the way from her hairline to her chest.

"Hey," Fred murmured as he reached for her.

"Hi," she grinned just as he wrapped his arms around her waist and her arms gripped his neck and shoulders.

She had to reach on her tiptoes to embrace him properly. He still smelt like tangy aftershave and floral laundry detergent, and the familiarity of it caused a warm, fuzzy feeling in Lara's chest. She hadn't let herself think of him for so long, afraid she wouldn't be able to stop, and now he was here, hugging her. And he was done with school.

Lara pulled away before she lost control and grabbed his face to snog him senseless in front of everyone. Throwing him a grin, she quickly stepped around him to bound over to George, who she brought into a tight hug. "Hi to you, too," she grinned, ruffling his hair.

"Don't give me a pity 'hi'," he mumbled into her shoulder, for he was still sat down.

"It's not a pity one. I missed you, you dolt."

"I knew I was secretly your favourite," he smirked as she pulled back, squeezing his shoulder. "So, anyway, you're part of the Order?"

Lara huffed and glanced towards Bill. He shrugged in a way that said 'it's up to you, kid'.

"Well, sort of," she replied, as Fred came up behind her. "And by sort of, I mean yes, since November."

"November?" scoffed Fred. "That's…one, two, three, four, five—six months!"

"Well, I've been away for most of them," Lara shrugged, glancing at him over her shoulder. "With work and stuff, but when I'm in England, I've been helping out."

"We got attacked in Sweden," said Walter, his mouth full of scrambled eggs. "By Death Eaters. They tried to set us on fire."

The twins' eyes widened as they said, "Wicked."

Lara rolled her eyes.

"We're joining, too," George said loudly, glancing determinedly at his mum. "Now we've left school."

"I can't believe you've left school," Lara said, for Molly looked like she was about to argue George's point. "What did you actually do?"

"Well, first off all we let off some Weasley's Wildfire Whiz-bands," Fred began.

"Which were possible from yours and Erin's present, so thank you for that," added George.

"Yeah. Then, after another million detentions—"

"And almost a bucket of blood—"

"—we decided we'd outgrown education—"

"—built a giant swap in the Entrance Hall—"

"—got our brooms—"

"—ignored Filch crying about not being able to whip us—"

"—and left," Fred chirped, plopping back down onto his seat. "And, voila, here we are."

The only thing Lara could think to say was, "Bucket of blood?"

At the same time, down the table, Arthur yelped, "Whip you?"

"He didn't actually whip us," George waved off his dad's concern. "He just threatened to. So did Umbridge, now I think about it…but anyway, the rest of the guys won't get into enough trouble for a whipping, will they, Fred?"

"Absolutely not," Fred agreed, though he didn't sound as convinced as Lara would have liked. "Just us. We've been pissing her off for months."

"Blood?"

Fred looked up at Lara and grinned sheepishly. "Well, she used these things called Black Quills—"

"She did not," Bill gasped and grabbed Fred's hand, dragging it towards him. Fred almost fell into Sirius' lap. "Merlin, she did. That's illegal."

"Not according to the Ministry," George hummed. "She used them all the time in detentions."

Bill's mouth dropped open and he let go of Fred. When he was sat back in his seat, and not half on Sirius' knee, Lara gently took Fred's hand and looked at it. On the back of his left hand was a thick, white scar that read; I must learn how to behave.

"My God," Lara gulped, her thumb running over the injury. The skin felt bumpy and rough. "That's not right. She shouldn't be allowed to do this."

Molly looked close to tears. "My poor babies," she murmured, rushing over to drop heavy, wet kisses on Fred's cheeks before moving onto George.

"We're gunna pretend that didn't happen," Fred said to Lara, his nose scrunched. "And never talk about it, agreed?"

"But it was adorable."

He prodded her in the ribs and she giggled before catching herself, dropping his hand and chewing on her bottom lip. She was nineteen now; surely she shouldn't be giggling and blushing around boys! She had a job and she worked for the Order and…

Bloody hell, he was as cute as she remembered.

"Can we show you some new products?" George asked. It took a moment for Lara to realise he was talking to her. "Or do you have to get away?"

Lara glanced over to Walter. He was talked animatedly with Arthur and Bill about the Ministry, but he subtly sent her a wink as he took another bite of his food.

"I can see them," Lara nodded. "I'm not busy until tonight."

"What have you got tonight?" Fred questioned as he stood up.

"Patrolling the Prophecy room with Tonks at the Ministry," she replied, beaming up at him. Her excitement didn't match her conversation subject, but she was just so happy they were back. She couldn't wait for them to be at Order meetings, making jokes and smiling at everyone. They were going to make everything so much easier, so much better.

"Cool," George murmured as they climbed the stairs.

The twins led her to the second floor of the house, where she hadn't been before. It looked the same as the first floor—a dark landing, a few doors, a raggedy old rug leading up the stairs and across the landing floor. George threw open the second door on the left, showing a medium-sized room decorated in reds and greys with twin beds and a large wardrobe. The twins' trunks were in the room, thrown open with things haphazardly scattered across the room.

"Dobby brought them for us," grinned George. "He's a great elf."

"Aw, I liked him," Lara smiled as she glanced around the room, imagining it back in the day with its shiny wooden flooring and ornate ceiling. Briefly, she wondered whose bedroom this had been, once upon a time. "He told us off, remember, Fred?"

"Of course," Fred said as he entered the room, kicking aside a few odd boxes on the floor. "Poor thing was traumatised."

"Speaking of being traumatised," smirked George, still stood by the door. "I'm going to leave before I need therapy. Have fun—but not too much fun. I'm not ready to be an uncle yet."

And then he walked out, closing the door softly behind him.

"Eh…" Lara mumbled in confusion. "I thought he wanted to show me some new products."

"That was a rouse, Culpepper," Fred grinned widely. "To get you on your own."

"That sounds very passive aggressive."

He pouted. "Didn't you want me on my own?"

"Well, George is my favourite…"

Fred gave her a flat look, which made her snigger as she rocked back onto her heels. His lips slowly stretched into a smile and he walked towards her, stopping once they were feet-to-feet. Gently, he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her towards him. Lara took a deep breath to calm her thumping heart before she reached for his neck.

Their lips met. Lara's stomach flipped and her toes curled; dear Merlin, she'd missed this. Missed the way his hands tangled in her hair, the way he squeezed her against him, the way he nibbled on her bottom lip and bent her back to deepen the kiss and made her head spin and…

She cupped the side of his face, trying to anchor herself to him (to the world), because she could feel herself spinning out of control. After nearly a year apart, kissing him so freely, so easily, was overwhelming. She had to pull away to catch her breath, though she kept her hands on his face and their foreheads pressed together.

"I missed you so much," she whispered, her chest aching from the emotions coursing through her body. "Things are extraordinarily boring without you."

"From what I've heard, you had a pretty interesting year," he grinned back, running his fingers through her hair.

"I have…it's just better when you and George are around, for everyone. People smile more and we bloody need that right now."

"I've made it my personal mission to make Moody laugh before this war is over."

"Good luck," Lara smirked. "You'll need it."

"You underestimate my powers," he grinned, his eyes glinting mischievously, his grip on her waist tightening. "Hey, Lara?"

"Hmm?"

"I missed you, too."

For the rest of the day, Lara couldn't stop smiling; when George attentively knocked on the door and walked in, his eyes covered and screaming, "YOUR TROUSERS BETTER BE ON," she was grinning from ear-to-ear, and she continued while the twins showed her their new products, when she went home with Walter to shower and have a nap, while she met up with Erin for lunch, and while she guarded the prophecy with Tonks at the Ministry.

In fact, her smile stayed so wide for so long, that in the early hours of the morning in the darkness of the Time Room, Tonks laughed from her perch against the wall and said, "Your cheeks must be aching by now, Lara."

"Only a little," Lara replied with a snort. "Erin's already told me I look like a drugged hyena. I tried to stop, but…"

"It's kinda nice," Tonks shrugged as she dangled her wand at her side, her right knee pulled up to her chest as the other stretched out before her. "I don't think I've seen anyone as happy as you for a long time."

"I'm sure it'll wear off in a few days."

"From what I saw, I'm not so sure. You were gone a suspiciously long time to be looking at joke products."

Lara let out a nervous giggle. "In my defence, I haven't actually seen him for nearly a year. I was caught very off guard."

"It was cute."

"That's really gross."

"You're almost as bad as Bill and Fleur," Tonks grinned teasingly. "And I thought no one could be as bad as those two. I've literally watched her feed him before."

"Thankfully, Fred's pretty adept with a knife and fork."

"But not the spoons?"

"The spoons could use some work. He spills soup down his top all the time."

Tonks laughed and her hair changed from its usual bubble-gum pink to a colour and style Lara had never seen before; mousy brown, mid-length and straight, hanging messily around her robe-covered shoulders. "I think it's wonderful, you know," she said wistfully. "I've always been a sucker for love. Probably too much of a sucker, when I think about it. I fall for the wrong people."

Lara hesitated for a moment, wondering if that was her cue to push for more details. Despite her and Tonks spending a lot of time together recently, they rarely talked about their personal lives, sticking to matters of the Order and the upcoming War. Figuring she had nothing to lose, Lara said, "The wrong people?"

"People that don't like me back."

"Who wouldn't like you?" Lara blurted out awkwardly. "You're great."

"Stupid old werewolves with hero complexes, that's who." Tonks huffed, rolling her eyes irritably.

Lara was stunned into a moment's silence. "You like Professor Lupin?"

"Well, he's Remus to me. It would be a little creepy if he'd been my teacher," Tonks smirked. "But…yeah."

"That's…" Lara paused, her brain scrambling for the right words. "That's…unexpected, but it's great! He's always so sad and lonely, you'd really cheer him up, y'know?"

"That's what I said," Tonks snapped and Lara felt like she might've hit a nerve. "But he didn't think so. I'm too old and poor. I don't deserve you. You don't know how difficult it is to be with someone like me. I'm a stupid dung-head who has a furry little problem that turns me into a stupid toad."

"You…" Lara coughed, holding back a laugh. "You do a really good impression of Lupin."

"Thanks. Sirius and I have been working on it."

"I think you just need to grab him and kiss him," Lara said. "Wait, have you kissed already?"

"Have we hell," Tonks scoffed. "He scrambles into the corner when he's in the same room as me…all because I got a little drunk and happened to mention I find him marginally attractive…"

"Well, I think you should corner him one time and make him talk to you—properly talk, that is. And then when he starts with his I'm too old and poor shit, you just grab his face and kiss him, which will not only shut him up, but also make him unable to forget you."

"What if I freak him out?"

"Oh, you'll totally freak him out," Lara hummed, waving her hand dismissively. "He'll be like a scared little mouse for at least a month afterwards, but then he'll realise he can't stop thinking about you and voila."

Tonks eyed her slightly suspiciously. "Fred really has rubbed off on you."

"I know," Lara replied slowly, for this time last year, the very thought of giving advice like this would've made her stomach churn. "But when you're friends with the twins…you sort of realise that some risks are worth taking, you know? Even if you're going to feel stupid afterwards…you don't want to regret not doing it in the first place."

"You're such Gryffindor's."

"Maybe…but I think we're all a bit Gryffindor, aren't we? And we're all a bit Hufflepuff and Slytherin and Ravenclaw…certain situations call for certain reactions, and it just so happens that snogging the life out of a former DADA professor requires a little bit of Gryffindor bravery."

"What if he doesn't want to kiss me?"

"Well, you obviously have to sense the mood," Lara said and Tonks leaned forward, her eyebrows knitted in concentration.

Lara felt slightly strange; Tonks was at least four years older than her and Lara wasn't exactly an expert on dating (David Brentford had been a disaster and she and Fred hadn't actually been on a proper, official date before), so she felt like she shouldn't really say anything at all (Amanda, Lara thought sadly, would have been the perfect person to talk to). Tonks, however, seemed grateful for the advice. Maybe she was even more awkward with boys than Lara was…or maybe she just really liked Professor Lupin. Something about the latter made Lara's heart feel warm and full.

"If he seems totally against it and unresponsive, then you'll just have to walk away, 'cause you can't force yourself on him," Lara continued with a small smile. "But…if he's doing that thing where, like…he's saying all the stupid stuff like we'll never work or I'm too old, but he's not physically saying it…you should go for it."

"Physically?"

"Like…he's not walking away from you, or he stays in the room even though you've given him space to leave. Or he stares at you a little too long and he doesn't move away from you when you try to get closer. You know…just the things that give you butterflies. It's all instinctive."

Tonks nodded understandingly. "Okay, that makes sense. Butterflies…"

"You'd be so cute together," Lara grinned into the stillness, watching as Tonks fell back against the wall in thought. "And you'd make the most adorable babies."

"Yeah," Tonks said distractedly, then she seemed to realise what Lara had said and a pensive, content sort of smile suddenly came to her face. "Yeah we would, wouldn't we?"

As always, thanks for the love! Hope everyone had a lovely christmas and new year, if you celebrate them, and that everyone's doing okay. been feeling a lot lately and one of my favourite quotes has been helping me out, so i thought i'd share just in case anyone else is struggling the same way. i know it won't resonate with everyone but...here. hope you all find some happiness in any way you can.

"The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves."

― Alan Wilson Watts