Ch 5- Still Sunday, June 20th

I wish I could say that things went back to normal after the incident around the side of the Burrow, but they didn't. It was immediately awkward, surprise, surprise.

As James led me back around the house to the garden, I can't help but wish that we had settled the issue more. I mean yeah, I was a sucky friend when we were 11, but why is he so angry that I'm here? And he doesn't know that I'll be here for the entire summer, or why I'm here at all.

"I was wondering where you two got off to! Avoiding cleanup?" Grandmum Weasley jokes when she sees us re-enter the garden area.

"Sorry, Molly," I say, smiling warmly at the woman.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're back, dear," she says, coming in for another hug and squeezing me tightly, "And so is everyone else, I see." She winks. I might as well transfigure myself into a tomato, I spend so much of my time with my face bright red. She disappears into the house, levitating a stack of plates and silverware ahead of her.

I spot Dom and Finn mulling around out in the yard and I make my way over to them, sensing James trailing behind me. Dom is sitting in a hammock tied between two trees and Fred is leaning up against one of the trunks. I plop down in front of Dom while James hovers a few feet away.

"What a happy sight, Finn and Jamie back together again!" Fred laughs obnoxiously, clapping his hands together. James moves towards him menacingly, but Dom beats him to it with a swift kick to the rib cage. "Umph!"

"Are you guys cool now?" Dom asks, eyes flitting between us as James sits in the grass between Fred and I.

I look over at him and meet his burning gaze. He nods slightly, and I mimic the action.

"Okay well now that that's settled…" Dom trails off.

"Do you have any big summer plans, Finn?" Fred finishes.

I shake my head, tugging at one of my braids. "Not really. I honestly didn't know that I'd be spending my summer here until a few days ago."

"Perfect, because ours is going to be epic. We've got Muggle amusement parks, parties, beach days, and loads of other stuff planned out already."

"Its us, James, of course, and a few friends from Hogwarts," Dom further explains.

"You could try asking if she even wants to join us," James scoffs, tearing a handful of grass out of the ground and tossing it at Dom.

I chuckle. "It's not like I have anything better to do. I'm working at the Leaky on Mondays, Wednesday mornings, and Thursdays, so I have plenty of free time," I reassure James.

"I'm surprised she lets you work at all," James replies. "I applied there and she said that she was afraid she'd treat me differently than her other employees."

"She's a sweetheart," I shrug. "Wait, do you have a job?"

"I work at Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour."

Fred snickers, "Yeah, he wears a pink apron and matching hat."

"Shut up, Fred, you work at a joke shop. Your life is actually a joke."

The boys continue to throw insults at one another and Dom rolls her eyes, ignoring them. "So anyway, we're having a bonfire at James's place on Wednesday around 8. What time do you get off of work?"

"Noon, I believe," I answer slowly, trying to remember the exact schedule that Hannah and I had discussed a few nights ago.

Dom claps her hands together with excitement, asking, "Want to hang out beforehand? We can grab dinner or something?"

"Of course!" I exclaim, extremely grateful for the offer. When I had arrived a few days earlier I had assumed that I'd be spending my entire summer bored and alone, using my free time to write letters to Emma and Angelica. While it's not exactly what I had in mind, reuniting with old friends and maybe making new ones in the process wouldn't be all that horrible.

"Okay, I'll meet you in the Leaky at some point. I'll owl you."

"Wait, are you making plans without us?" Fred interrupts, pouting slightly. James stops throwing pebbles at him to listen to our response.

"Yeah, loser, we're hanging out Wednesday," Dom says quickly.

Fred looks disgruntled at that. "I want to come!"

"Sucks for you, I call dibs on Finn!"

"That's not fair! I didn't know that we were doing that!" he argues.

"Shut up, Fred. I'm sure they're both coming to the bonfire anyways. Right?" James directs the last part at me, reaching over and placing his hand on my arm. I can't help but feel a sense of familiarity wash over me at his touch, and I have to remind myself after a second that he had asked me a question.

"Yeah," I say eloquently.

"Okay, then chill, Fred," James states simply, retracting his hand. I hold back a sigh of relief.

"Hey, I think Hannah is waving at you, Finn," Dom says, pointing behind me. Sure enough, my aunt is standing at the back door, waving for me to come in. I hold up one finger and smile apologetically and she nods with a smile, turning and going back inside.

"That's my cue," I remark, and stand up and brush myself off. The others stand also, and Dom leans in for a hug.

"Okay, so I'll send my owl to the Longbottoms, correct?" I nod, and she steps back and allows Fred to give me a quick hug also.

"I get Finn time soon, right?" He questions, laughing a bit.

I place my hands on his shoulders and hold him at arm's length, and affirm in my most serious voice, "Yes, Fred, we can hang out in the near future. Probably Wednesday."

He nods and takes a step back, smirking slightly when he realizes what he's done by hugging me also. See, if only Dom had hugged me, I wouldn't have been obligated to hug James. But since both of them had, James had moved towards me and awkwardly wrapped his arms around me for the second time that day.

"See ya," he mumbles, releasing me almost as soon as I had embraced him.

"Bye everyone," I reiterate, heading back to the house. As weird as today's encounters had been, I don't think I'd change the way everything had turned out.