.:Chapter 13:.
I stood up when I was done with my tea, and stretched. Mrs. Weasley went back to kitchen. She was making breakfast.
"Is everyone else still asleep?" I asked when I noticed the empty kitchen. Mrs. Weasley nodded, not turning away from her work. She was making pancakes from scratch. The smell of the already cooked pancakes filled my nose. "I'll go wake everyone up," I said, running to the stairs. I went to Fred and George's room first. My hand was on the doorknob when my encounter with Bill floated back into my mind. I wanted more than anything to tell Fred I felt the same way, but the possibility that Bill could be lying to me was too real. Instead I went to Ginny's room to wake her and Hermione. I didn't open the door the whole way when I heard them talking.
"Do you think she knows yet?" Ginny asked, "I mean, it's clearly obvious."
"I dunno," Hermione answered. I opened the door as loudly as possible.
"Good morning," I said, smiling. There was no need to be angry when I already knew.
"Good morning," Ginny said, while Hermione said, "You heard that, didn't you?"
"I did," I whispered, "But, I already know." I sat on the edge of Ginny's bed, pulling my knees to my chest. I didn't look at either of them, my eyes were focused on Ginny's floor. "Bill kinda told me earlier."
"I see," Hermione said, grinning. I nodded, trying not to smile or be too giddy. "What are you going to do?"
"I don't know…" I said, "I don't think there is anything I really can do. I don't want to make the first move."
"So you like him back?" Ginny asked, scrunching her nose. I nodded, making Ginny smile. "I'm glad. You two would make a cute couple.""Sure," I said, feeling a lump rise in my throat, "But if Fred only told Bill because he knew Bill would tell me, so he could mess with me, I might die."
"Fred didn't tell us that he likes you," Hermione consoled, "And so be so dramatic. You won't die." I smiled. She was right, as always.
"We need to wake everyone else up," I remembered, "Breakfast is almost ready." Hermione went to wake Ron and Harry, while Ginny went to Percy's room. "Lovely, I get to wake the twins.." I said, dragging my feet. I took my time walking up to the next floor. I counted the steps, dragging out the numbers as I counted.
I couldn't drag it out any longer. I had to go into the room. For a normal girl, knowing the boy she likes, likes her back would be the best thing in the world. But for me, this spelled my doom. Now that I know, I won't be able to be around him with out turning a million shades of red or embarrassing myself. This is just wonderful.
I opened the door, praying Fred and George were both asleep so I wouldn't over hear another conversation. I was in luck. Fred was still on my cot, one leg hanging off the side. George was in his bed, laying with the blankets on the floor. Stepping over cloths and the stuff for the joke shop, I picked George's blanket up, and placed in over him. With a loud snort, he rolled back over.
"HEY! WAKE UP!" I shouted, jumping up and down on Georges bed, then moving to Fred. They both sat straight up.
"Where's the fire?" George asked, jumping off of his bed. I couldn't come up with something funny to say, so I just laughed. I didn't want to be in the same room with just Fred and George, so I left, almost tripping over a box of joke shop stuff. 'Great, it's already starting..' I thought. I almost ran into Percy on the way out.
"Oh, hello, Marie," he called as I ran past him, and down the stairs.
"Hi, Perce," I called back. Mrs. Weasley was almost done with breakfast when I made my way to the kitchen.
"Is everyone up, dear?" She ask, putting a plate of pancakes and bacon on the table. I nodded, sitting down. Percy was the next to join us, followed by the girls. Ginny gave me a strange look, I just stared back at her. "We will start your lessons today after breakfast." Again, I just nodded. I was afraid to speak. Embarrassing myself was a lot easier said than done. Wait. Scratch that, and reverse it. I'd probably pronounce something wrong, which the twins would make fun of, causing me to freak out more. No. There was no reason to open my mouth with the twins in the room.
Breakfast passed quickly. Everyone had left except Fred, George, Mrs. Weasley and I. George was standing up, Fred following him. "Good luck with you lessons, Sun Shine," George said, walking up the stairs behind his brother. I didn't even nod. I was nervous about my first real attempt at magic, that I couldn't move anything, let alone speak.
Mrs. Weasley waved her wand, and the table started to clean its self. I followed her into the sitting room. She asked me to show her what I knew. I levitated the Daily Profit that was on the table. Mrs. Weasley smiled.
"This will be a bit easier than I though," She smiled. The lesson was just simple, basic spells. I did very well. It was almost noon when Mrs. Weasley stopped the lesson so she could start lunch. I decided I didn't really want to help, so before she had the chance to ask me. Again, almost tripping as I ran up the stairs. 'Damn it,' I cursed to myself. I was headed for the twins room, when I remembered my conversation with Bill. I passed the door and went to Ginny's room.
"How did your first lesson go?" Hermione asked, putting a pile of clean, folded cloths into her trunk.
"Very well, thanks," I said, sitting on Ginny's bed, "Where is Ginny?" I asked, looking around.
"She's with Harry and Ron."
"Why aren't you with them as well?"
"My laundry was done," she answered. We talked for the next hour or so. Mrs. Weasley popped into the room to tell us lunch was ready.
"I'm not hungry," I lied. I wasn't in the mood to embarrass myself. I hid some sweets in my trunk for such occasions as this. I just had to wait for a little bit until I knew the twins were downstairs before I could get to my things. I heard what sounded like a herd of elephants run down the stairs, so I knew I could get to the room with out a problem.
The hallway was completely silent, a noise I never expected to hear in the Weasley house. The twins room was quite, another sound I was not expecting. A nap sounded like a better idea than the sweets. Fred had closed the window last night, but the cot was still cold. I decided to sleep on Georges bed. Too many things were on the floor to move the cot, and could feel myself getting sick at the thought of sleeping in Fred's bed.
The nap lasted longer than I would have thought. It was after three when George woke me. "Wake up, love," he said, shaking me slightly, "We have something to show you." I sat up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. Everything was blurry. I must have been really tired. I didn't seem to have the strength to move, so I laid back down. I didn't have a chance to close my eyes, George was pulling me out of his bed by my foot. "Get up!" He said, grinning.
"Alright, alright!" I all but shouted. I stretched, yawning.
"What were you doing sleeping in the middle of the day anyways?" Fred asked.
"I woke up early," I said, not feeling like explaining what had happened. "What is it you would like to show me?" George grinned, looking at Fred. Fred turned his back to us. When he faced us again, he had his hands clasped in front of him. He smiled, and I smiled back. He walked toward me, holding his hands out to me. I also held my hands out, waiting for him to drop whatever he had into my hands. But when he opened his hands, nothing fell out. "Huh?"
"We wanted to show you nothing," George grinned. I laughed, more because I was angry than out of joy. I pulled the blanket back over my head. Fred sat down on the bottom of his brothers bed, pulling my legs onto his lap. Both boys stayed quite, waiting for me to fall asleep. But there was going to sleep with both Fred and George, awake, in the same room. I knew better than that. After about twenty minutes of complete silence, the twins must have thought I was asleep. So they started talking.
"What are you doing, Fred?" George asked. His voice sounded different, but I couldn't place my finger on it.
"Huh?" was Fred's answer. He shifted his weight, as if he did know what George was talking about.
"I'm talking about Marie, Fred," George all but shouted. I felt Fred jerk, as though he was putting his finger to his lips to shoosh George, but I couldn't really tell. "She's only been here three months and you're already fancying her!" Fred made the movement again, so George brought his voice down to a whisper.
"What doe it matter?" Fred asked, "We all get along very well. So what does it matter if I fancy her?"
"What happens if she leaves?" George whispered. I completely understood where he was coming from. I didn't want to hurt Fred, either.
"Then she leaves," Fred bluntly said, "I don't want to lose my only chance to be with her. I'd regret it if I didn't at least try." I could feel his hand rubbing my leg slightly. He picked my legs up and set them on the bed, as he stood up. I heard George suck in his breath, as if he was going to yell again. "Stop it, George. You're really starting to sound like mum." I had to stick my hand in my mouth so I wouldn't laugh. They both dissolved into silent giggles. I went to say some smart remark, but I remembered I wasn't supposed to be listening to this conversation, so I just rolled over.
"But, really, Fred. What if she does leave?"
"I'll find some way to get her back," Fred said, I could almost hear the smile in his voice. He must have thought about this a lot to have an answer to all of Georges questions. I felt the bed shift as he sat down again, this time he sat closer to the top of the bed. His hand was on my should, and I could feel him shake me slightly. "Marie?" I couldn't move, even if I wanted to. Was he going to ask me to be his girlfriend? I kept my eyes shut, trying to make it seem like I was in a really deep sleep.
"Ask her later, mate," George said, "She'll be pissed if you wake her up again." Fred didn't answer, but he didn't move either. 'Thank you, George,' I thought. I listened to the two of them talk about the Joke Shop for what seemed like a long time. Instead of listening to what they were saying, I listened to the differences in their voices. Fred's was deeper, but not enough to notice during a normal conversation. George was a funny 'sh' sound every time he said a 'c.'
After what seemed like three hours, I decided I needed to get up. I slowly sat up, stretching and rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. "How long have I been out?" I said, making my voice sound tired.
"Only about half an hour," George answered. Instead of sitting with the twins, I went down stairs. Being alone with Fred, even with George in the room, was still the last thing I wanted to do. Some how, I managed to make it out of the room with only tripping on a box of Tongue-Ton Toffee.
I could see Harry, Ron, and Hermione sitting outside by the field. Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were walking out the back door, probably going to talk with the trio. With the whole Burrow to myself, for the most part, I decided to explore. I never had the chance to truly look around, what with being with the twins and all. The first thing I wanted to see was the Grand Father clock that shows where the Weasleys are. Mr. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, and Percy were all at work. Everyone else's hand pointed to 'home.' All of them were smiling and laughing. Fred and George seemed so innocent.
'What if Fred is right?' I though, 'What if I don't have the choice to stay? I need to make the most of what I have now.' "Who care's if we fancy each other," I said out loud, " I will not make a fool of myself anymore. This is my only chance." I went back upstairs, and into the twins room. I smiled at them both, and made my way to Fred's bed with out tripping.
"Hey, Marie," George smiled, as did Fred, "What's up?" I shrugged, trying not to push my luck.
"We're writing a letter to Ludo Bagman. He gave us Leprechaun gold by mistake," Fred said, his quill scratching on the parchment. Once the letter was written, we talked for a long time about Hogwarts. "This year'll be fun. We have another member of the team. Think of all the more mayhem we can create." Fred sighed.
"Yeah, it'll be lovely," I said, sighing as well.
George suddenly got up. "Loo," he muttered, leaving the room. Fred and I sat in silence. I heard him fake cough.
"Marie," He said, "I've been meaning to talk to you about something." I mentally slapped myself in the head. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. "Umm… George and I have been talking. I dunno how to say this, but um.. I was wondering if you would like to-" George walked into the room. "Umm, we'll talk later."