Emma Swan and the Cursed Dagger

Chapter 5

Fred Weasley trudged across a muddy field, breathing in the cool air. It smelled... green. Like trees and the thousand weeds that were growing everywhere, trying to take over. There were trees in the city, but he never smelled those. At home the air smelled of cars and people. This was definitely not the city. Looking around, he could only see rolling hills of grass, a lake and more mud than he'd ever seen in his life. And there was a rough outline of what was supposed to become a house. The stone bricks were mortared together well enough, but didn't form a smooth wall at all. It was about the height of the bar at the Leaky Cauldron. The concrete floor base at least looked like it was solid and up for supporting whatever the project would eventually turn out to be. Still, the whole endeavour seemed to be doomed for failure already.

"It's a disaster," someone said behind him.

Fred turned around, smiling broadly at the blond boy that came sauntering over. It was hard to tell that the two boys were related. Not only was Louis very blond, with almost unnaturally blue eyes and a small nose, he was also very lean and tall. Fred, on the other hand, was rather short for his age, muscled and broad shouldered, with dark brown eyes, black hair and a skin tone that his mother always described as 'caramel'. The result of the combined genes of his dark skinned mother and shockingly pale father.

Fred didn't look like any of his cousins. Neither did Louis.

"Why are you wandering around here so early?" the boy asked Fred, "I'm not used to seeing you awake and functioning at this hour."

He was the same age as Fred, but looked much younger. Combined with the thoughtful smile he wore now, it was a confusing mix, as that made him look a lot older. Probably the non-human blood in his veins.

"Sometimes I hate having a sister," Fred answered the question.

Louis chuckled. "You are telling me. I have two."

"True. You win."

There was a short silence, in which the boys walked over to the infant wall and - tempting fate - leaned on it.

"So," Louis eventually said, "What did Roxanne do this time?"

Fred shrugged, feeling uncomfortable. "She was making fun of a friend..."

"Really? That doesn't..."

"Sound like her?" he interrupted Louis, "Yeah, I know. But she did. She was downright mean. Waited for mum to leave the tent too. In don't like her being so sneaky."

"Gosh, that sucks."

"One year of Hogwarts... One year amongst Slytherins and my sister turns into a brat."

"That is not fair..."

"Oh come on, you know it is true! Mum says that we can't judge an entire House for the actions of a few members, even when those members were freaking dark lords, but you know what those bullies are like. What they did to Dom... I can't even..."

He fell quiet when he saw the look on Louis' face.

"Dominique doesn't hold a grudge," the blond boy muttered softly, averting his eyes.

Fred moved restlessly. He hated awkwardness more than anything in the world, especially when he was the cause of it.

After a while, he forced a grin on his face. "Gosh?"

"What?" Louis looked up, confused.

"You say 'gosh'?"

The other boy's cheeks turned scarlet. "Yeah, so?"

"Nobody says 'gosh'! It sounds so stupid."

"Oh, shut up."

"Oh gosh, Louis is being rude to me!" Fred said with a high pitched voice, putting his hand to his mouth like a shocked lady from some costume drama.

Louis snapped something at him in rapid French and launched for him.

Fred jumped the low wall, onto the concrete floor, and now put the back of his hand to his forehead. "He is speaking in tongues! He cursed me!"

Louis swung himself over the wall too, agile as a cat. Like his sisters and mother he moved with stunning grace at all times. Fred laughed heartily and ran away from him.

"Dammit, Fred! It is too early for this," his cousin called after him.

"Then why are you chasing me?"

"Watch out!"

Alerted by the yell of his grandfather, Fred skidded to a halt only an inch away from a bucket of grey goo. Arthur frowned at him before scooping some of it up with a Muggle tool and patiently applying it to a brick.

"Sorry, grandpa... You are up early."

"So are you, my boy." He sounded distracted. Like usual. His tongue stuck out of the corner of his mouth as he put the brick on the rest of the wall, sandwiching the concrete that oozed out.

"Good morning," Louis said, appearing next to Fred.

"Morning, morning," the man muttered, not looking up from his handiwork.

Fred chuckled.

"Come along, Freddy. I need breakfast right about now," Louis laughed, "Is Granny awake, grandpa?"

Arthur, who had been scraping at the concrete, looked up and smiled sheepishly. "Yes, definitely. Probably at our tent with Bill and George."

"Dad is here?" Fred asked startled.

"Arrived about an hour ago," his grandfather said, already distracted by his project again, "Took us all by surprise..." His voice trailed off.

Fred exchanged glances with his cousin before he dashed towards the field adjacent to the building site. Tents were scattered across the grass and mud, like strange multicoloured mushrooms. They currently housed all the Weasleys, earning the field the quickly improvised nickname "Weasley Field".

Fred frowned as he saw his grandmother leave the blue tent, looking worried. What was his dad doing here? He was supposed to run the store. Business was always at its high point around this time, when young witches and wizards from everywhere visited Diagon Alley for their school supplies. No reason not to stuff a Smart Answer Quill in with your other writing tools.

"Good morning, dears," Molly said as soon as she spotted the two boys.

"I heard dad was here," Fred said. He felt a bit embarrassed about how excited that made him feel.

"He's inside." She gestured to the tent behind her. When Fred moved to walk past her, she placed a hand on his arm. "Come, lets have some breakfast."

Fred hesitated. His first instinct was to gently shake her off and push her aside, but he resisted it. Something was not right here, he felt it in his gut, and his curiosity flared. He needed to be smart about this.

"Did you happen to see grandpa?" Fred asked his grandmother.

She nodded. "He left a short while ago. Probably experimenting with those Muggle tools again. Did you know he tried to use one yesterday that Hermione swears is for removing wallpaper?"

"He is, he is," Fred confirmed in an overly patient manner, "I have also noticed he is very pale. Probably forgot to eat."

"Well, isn't that just typical?" Molly huffed, "Would you be a dear and fetch him, Freddy?"

Grandma Molly never called him Fred.

He shook his head. "We just tried to make him join us, but he is too caught up. No success."

When she looked over at Louis, his cousin gave a helpful shrug and apologetic smile.

"Leave it to me," she said and strode off with determination.

Louis grinned. "Very smooth."

"Thank you," Fred said with a wink, before looking around. Except for the colourful tents, Weasley Field was empty. He gestured his cousin to follow him and sneaked towards the blue tent his father was in. He pressed his ear to the cool canvas.

"...but why at Hogwarts?"

Fred frowned. That was his father's voice and it sounded angry. Very angry. Which was odd, because his dad was rarely angry.

"Trust me, it was not my decision." Uncle Bill sounded strained. Tired.

"Couldn't you at least stop them? Didn't you tell them what happened the last time?"

"No and yes." Uncle Bill was getting angry too.

Fred and Louis exchanged glances. Louis looked as unsure and worried as Fred felt.

"I can't believe this!" George Weasley's voice was almost a roar.

"Calm down," Uncle Bill snapped, "I am just as frustrated as you are, but..."

"But? What do you mean, but? There is no 'but'! They are about to put our children at risk."

There was an undertone to his father's words now that made Fred's heart clench. Bill must have noticed it too, because when he spoke again, he sounded gentle.

"I know, George, I know. They haven't heard the last of it yet, I promise."

There was a deep sigh.

Then Fred's father said: "Do you know what the object is, other than something for dark magic?"

Uncle Bill must have shaken his head, because after a short silence he added: "Well, whatever it is, it must be very important to cause such a stir..."

"Lets not mention it to anyone for now," Uncle Bill said hesitantly.

At this point, Fred pulled Louis to his feet. They did not want to get caught crouching this near to the tent. He dragged the boy with him in the direction they had come from and straightened his back.

"Act like we were just walking over to them and laugh as if I said something silly," he hissed.

"You just did," Louis remarked dryly.

Fred burst out laughing.

"And what's so funny over here?" said Uncle Bill as he stepped out of the tent and smiled warmly.

"Good morning, dad," Louis chuckled, "Uncle George."

Fred's father had more trouble acting like everything was fine, though somehow he conjured up a smile. It looked somewhat painful.

His son tried to feign surprise. "Dad! What are you doing here?"

"Are you not happy to see me? I could leave again..."

"No, no! Good morning!" Fred ran over to him and gave him a tight hug.

"Aren't you getting a little old for that?" Uncle Bill teased, which resulted in him being tackle hugged by his own son.

George untangled himself first, clearing his throat. "Okay, boys, that is enough now. We get the point."

The four Weasleys walked over to the tent at the centre of all others and went inside one by one. The little structure looked far too small for all of them and any Muggle would have frowned at this, probably assuming it was some kind of trick, but Fred just strolled inside and stretched. He found himself in a huge canvas hall that was dominated by the longest table he'd ever seen, surrounded by countless chairs and covered with as many plates.

From the far end, someone shouted. "Freddy!"

Fred's smile grew wider and he prepared to catch the boy who came running at him at full speed. It took him quite a lot of effort to stay upright when the kid collided with him in a painful hug.

"Careful there," he said breathlessly, "You are growing in sprints."

The boy's mother had now reached them too and lifted him up, off of Fred.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to run inside the tents, Hugo?" asked Aunt Hermoine.

"Considering he is his father's son, probably a couple of hundred times more."

She hit George on his shoulder. "You are one to talk."

Soon after that moment, Arthur and Molly entered. And then Hugo's father Ron with Hugo's sister Rose. And Louis' sisters, both of them, giggling and softly chatting in French until their mother Fleur came in and told them not to be rude. Weasley's kept trickling in and fairly quickly the tent was chaos. There were 26 of them all together, counting the ones that bore the last name "Potter". Well, 25 today, because Uncle Harry was out on Auror business. It made the dining tent loud and crowded, but Fred felt very happy and content. He loved having his entire family around.

Fred ended up sitting between his sister Roxanne - who refused to talk to him - and Victoire - who looked gloomier than ever.

Victoire looked a lot like Louis. They had the same stark blond hair, the same strikingly blue eyes and the exact same nose. Had Louis been older, they could have been twins. Her hair was longer though. It flowed down her back in such a way that made all the girls in the family jealous. She was very tall and had a lovely figure, of which she was annoyingly aware. Fred never wanted to humour her when she was in one of her bad moods, but... she looked so sad.

"Sleep well?" he asked her casually.

She shook her head, her hair falling around her face like a curtain.

"I take it that means you don't want to talk about it..." He reached for the milk.

Victoire tucked the strands of her hair curtain behind her ears and... pouted. Fred instantly regretted asking. She might be the oldest of his cousins, but she rarely acted that way.

"So... What's up?" He tried to keep his face straight, neutral.

"I am just sad." Her French accent was heavy. He suspected she did that on purpose. With Louis and Dominique he could barely hear it.

"She misses Teddy," Roxanne sneered from his other side.

Fred glared at his sister, before shrugging. "When does he arrive, then?"

Victoire hid behind her curtain again.

"He is not coming," Roxanne said. She seemed bummed out by that too. "Nobody wants to say why."

Fred sighed. "Well, that is none of our business, is it?"

"But now we won't see him for an entire year," Roxanne exclaimed.

Victoire's shoulders sagged. Fred knew why. Pretty much the entire Weasley clan was elated when they found out she and Edward Lupin were in love with each other.

"He'll figure something out," Fred said quickly.

"But we will be at Hogwarts soon and then..."

"Roxie!" Fred glared at her.

She groaned angrily, grabbed her plate and stalked away.

Fred sighed and grinned.

Yeah, it was great to be with family...