Muggle Magic – Chapter 2

A/N Disclaimer – I own nothing.

Been a bit slow updating this one – for which I apologise. Am getting my backside in gear now. This Fred's POV – it will alternate.

Chapter 2

The suffocating darkness vanished and Fred Weasley blinked in the sudden sunlight. It took a second to orientate himself, it always did after apparating. He'd been doing it now for two years, but he still wasn't quite used to the feeling.

He stood on a slight rise, and below him, smoke curling from a chimney, was the familiar crooked shape of the Burrow. A slight smile appeared at the sight. The little flat above the shop was great, but the Burrow would always be home.

Shifting his bag slightly more securely onto his shoulder he started off down the slope. It only took a few moments to reach the back door but when he turned the handle it wouldn't open.

He frowned. Molly Weasley never locked the back door. He lifted one fist and rapped his knuckles against the wood. He heard a frantic conversation inside.

"It's George…"

"You know the rules, Molly. Safety first."

"But it's George…I know my own son."

"We have to follow the Ministry's safety guidelines. Ask him the question."

"But its George…" Molly's voice was insistent.

"Actually," Fred called through the wood. "It's Fred…"

Arthur's voice answered him. "Alright. Now then, what was the last thing your mother said to you and George before you left for Hogwarts?"

Fred grinned. "Get expelled and I'll kill the pair of you."

"That wasn't the last thing I said…I'm sure I said to take care of yourselves," Molly muttered.

Arthur meanwhile had already pulled open the door, smiling at Fred. "Come on."

Fred stepped over the threshold and was immediately swept into a bone-crushing hug from his mother. She pulled away to frown up at him.

"Are you boys eating properly? You've lost weight. You're all bones…"

Fred laughed as he glanced down at his muscular chest. "Hardly all bones, Mum. But…if you feel like cooking me something…"

Molly beamed and bustled away towards the cooker, leaving Fred and Arthur to sit at the table.

"How are you?" Arthur asked, and Fred was surprised by the sudden seriousness in his father's eyes. "We worry about you…Diagon Alley…isn't as safe as it used to be."

"Nowhere is as safe as it used to be," Fred replied with a grin. "Relax, Dad, me and George are just fine. Business is great…"

"So why are you here then?"

Arthur's eyes narrowed when Fred flushed a little and glanced away.

"Can't I just come and see my loving family?"

"No. What are you up to Fred Weasley?" Molly had just stepped up behind him.

"Why do I have to be up to anything?" He protested innocently. "Honestly, I just wanted to come and see you both."

Molly seemed slightly appeased, but Arthur didn't look convinced. Luckily for Fred, there was no time for further questions, as Molly brought over a steaming bowl of soup and fresh crusty bread.

*

A little later that afternoon Fred finally escaped from his mother's fussing and headed out the back door only to be hailed by his father.

"Are you going already?"

"Uh..um..no. I was just going to take a wander down to the village."

"Any particular reason?" Arthur asked suspiciously.

Fred thought fast. "Well…it's a muggle village…and it is someone's birthday very soon…"

Arthur's face lit up. "Oh…well…we'll see you later."

As Fred set off down the winding road to the village he congratulated himself on an excellent excuse. Of course, it would only work the once.

The truth was if he was completely honest, he wasn't sure why he was going down the village either. He'd only been there a few times in his life. Once when he went with Molly to order taxi's to take them to King's Cross, and the second time in the summer just because he and George were bored. But both times he had seen the girl. The girl who he kept thinking about even when he went out for dinner with Angelina. The girl with the gold-flecked hazel eyes, and the dimples in her cheeks. He knew her name was Ally, but that was about all he knew.

He knew she was a muggle. He knew that life was complicated enough without involving himself with her, but he couldn't seem to help himself. He'd been thinking about her ever since the summer, and today he had finally acted on it.

The village came into view before him, and he shook himself out of his musings. Despite the sun, it was a cold day, and most of the muggles were wrapped up in big winter coats. It was early afternoon, so all the kids were still at school, and the streets were quiet as Fred wandered down towards the paper shop.

He paused just outside and glanced at his reflection in the window. He'd done his best with what little muggle clothing he had. The jeans were a little ripped on the knees, and he had no idea who or what 'Metallica' was, but the t-shirt he had brought from the little market stall just on the other side of the Leaky Cauldron had only cost him a few muggle pounds, and he was fairly sure it didn't mean anything rude. The long dragonskin jacket on the other hand had cost him a fair bit, but it looked enough like leather to pass casual inspection.

He ran his fingers through his mop of red hair and pushed open the door.

There was a customer at the counter. A little old muggle lady was buying a pint of milk, counting out all the little copper pennies the muggles used.

Fred's eyes slid instantly past the lady to the girl behind the counter, and his heart gave a little skip. He had been worried that she wouldn't be there. She was watching the woman with a resigned expression on her face.

"That's sixty-four pence, sixty five, sixty seven, sixty…oh…where was I?" The woman laughed and swept the coins back into a pile. "Right, one, two…"

The girl looked up and saw Fred. Her dimples appeared as she smiled.

"Hey…"

They stood for a moment in silence, grinning at each other, but the moment was broken by the old lady pushing her coins across the table.

"There we go, dear. See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow, Mrs Brown." Ally watched the old lady climb down the steps and turned back to Fred. "You're back then?"

He lifted one shoulder in a shrug, "I was visiting my family…thought I'd come say hi…"

He noticed her gaze taking in his clothes and then she wrinkled her nose.

"You like heavy metal then?"

Heavy metal? His brain whirled as he tried to work out what on earth she meant by that. Was she asking him if he liked steel or iron?

She must have noticed his confused expression. "Heavy metal music…you are wearing a 'Metallica' t-shirt…"

"It's my brother's," Fred said quickly. "Uh…he likes…heavy metal…"

"Glad to hear it," Ally said with a grin. "I was starting to worry that you had no taste at all."

Relaxing slightly he came over to lean on the counter. "I have taste…"

"So what sort of music do you like?"

Damn. Now what was he going to say? "I…well what kind of music do you like?"

She giggled. "You're not supposed to turn the question round on me…besides…you'll probably accuse me of having no taste now…I'm a bit of a country girl…"

"Well…yes, living round here…"

She burst out laughing. "You're…you're not really like other guys are you?"

"Me? Course I am…like other guys I mean. Why…why would you say I'm not?"

Ally looked confused for a moment. "Hey, that's meant to be a compliment. Normal is boring, especially around here." She glanced out of the window where a light rain had started to fall. She turned back to him, flashing her dimples. "So…you got any more of those magic tricks up your sleeve?"

"You like them?"

"Yeah, I can't quite work out how you're doing them. If I didn't know any better, I'd think it was real magic…"

Fred laughed and pulled a piece of rope out of his pocket. "Ok…take a look at this one…"

A/N Argh – I'm not sure about this story yet. I know where I want to go with it, but I'm not sure it's working yet. At the moment I just want to get across the awkwardness between them, with him not knowing what she's talking about half the time, and so on. Hmm, maybe the next chapter will get better.