Chapter 20 :

Do you remember, we were sitting there by the water?
You put your arm around me for the first time.
You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter.
You are the best thing that's ever been mine.

-Taylor Swift

Fred sat in the Burrows kitchen early that morning. The sun was shining through the window and the chickens were cackling lightly. For the hundredth time in the past week, he read the letter Nora had sent him.

Dearest Fred,

I'm writing this letter to you as I'm watching the sun set with the Eiffel tower in the background. I've finally found a moment of quiet as Niko and the twins are staying at our father's house. Nat and I are still with our Aunt and our two cousins. As much as I love them and France, I really wish you were here. Life feels boring without you. I miss your laugh and that crazy grin you get whenever you're up to something, which means the one you wear pretty much all the time. This is getting quite sappy and lovesick, which Nat insists I am. I might be...just a wee bit. Anyway, I was writing this letter to tell you that I'm actually staying another week in France, we're going camping near the beach...Which will be quite special with Nat and my cousin Fleur who is kind of high maintenance and overly girly. I can't wait to get back to England, back to you. I'll be missing you Freddykins and I'll see you in a week.

Always,

Nora.

After reading the words he now knew by heart, Fred folded the letter and set it on the table next to him. He put his head in his hands and sighed.

"Missing your other half?" Ginny teased as she came into the kitchen and sat down next to him. "They're coming back today right?"

"Yes they are." He said ruffling her hair making her scrunch her nose.

"Are you reading her letter again?" Ginny said pointing piece of paper and grinning.

"Maybe." Fred laughed.

"Of course he's reading it again, he hasn't put it down since she sent it." George said yawning from the doorway. "Where's Mum?"

"I have put it down and she went out to feed the chickens." He said rolling his eyes.

"Sure, you put it down when you shower and when you sleep." George laughed. "At least Nora will be back today and you can stop moping around."

"I haven't been moping." Fred sighed.

"You kind of have." Ginny said matter-of-factly.

"Fine, I'm glad she's coming back." Fred grinned.

"We know." George and Ginny said as Mrs. Weasley entered the kitchen.

"We're home." Nora said as she pushed the front door open and dragged her luggage inside.

"You're back!" Adeline screamed as they she ran towards them and collided into Meggan.

"Welcome home." Brooke said as she entered the lobby and hugged them all. "We've got lunch ready." She smiled. They all left their luggage in the lobby and headed into the living room where Ella was sitting in her high-chair next to Sirius.

"I forgot he was here." Nataleigh whispered to Nora who snorted.

"Hey everyone." Sirius greeted them.

"Hey..." They all answered as they sat down.

"How was France?" He asked.

"Really great. The weather was amazing and the beach was perfect!" Nora answered.

"And Versailles is amazing!" Megg said as she started to ramble about the castle and France in general.

"Nora, you're supposed to pick Aveline up today, do you want to go tonight or after lunch? She asked for you to send an owl to tell her what time you'd be there." Brookelle said as she joined them.

"I'll go after lunch." Nora smiled.

"You're not directly running to Freddy?" Nataleigh grinned.

Nora laughed. "I'll be running to Fred after saving Aveline from her bickering parents."

"You two are like a romantic comedy." Nataleigh rolled her eyes.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Nora laughed as Niko snorted. "What are you laughing about? You can't stay in a relationship for more a month!"

"At least I'm not lovesick and pining over a Weasley." He retorted.

"Niko..." Brooke said warningly.

"It's fine Mum. We can stay civil for at least a few hours." Nora said innocently.

"You can?" Neil said raising his eyebrow.

"If they don't see each other they might be able to." Megg laughed pulling herself from her conversation with Sirius and Adeline.

They all finished their lunch before heading upstairs to get their things in order. Nora quickly changed into a simple white blouse and navy shorts before going to get Aveline at her house. Thirty minutes later, they flooed back into Nora's living room.

"I'm so glad I'm out of there." Aveline grinned. "And you are so tanned!"

"Why thank you." Nora grinned.

After catching up with everyone and bickering with Niko, Nora went to help Aveline get settled in the room adjoining to her own.

"Are you ready to meet all the Weasleys?" Nora grinned.

"I think so." Aveline sighed.

"Don't worry, Percy's the worst and Charlie and Bill won't be here for another few weeks."

"Alright." She said taking a deep breath.

"Come on we'll walk, you can have fifteen minutes to calm down." Nora teased as they went down the stairs.

"Mum, we're going over to Molly's!" Nora called.

"Alright, see you girls after supper, Molly will probably insist on feeding you two so we'll see you later!" Brooke called from the kitchen.

They walked down the road towards the Burrow for five minutes without talking. Nora was wearing a grin for ear to ear while Aveline was staring at her feet and muttering to herself.

"Do you really think his parents will like me?" Aveline asked.

"Of course they will!" Nora laughed. "As long as you're not a pureblood supremacist Arthur will like you and Molly likes pretty much everyone. She did raise Percy." She grinned.

"Alright. You're way too happy." Aveline said trying to conceal a grin.

"That I am." Nora grinned. "Aren't you happy to see George?"

"Of course but I'm not one to meet the parents. He's kind of the first relationship I've been in. I only went on a few dates with Roger and that's it. I'm not exactly experienced in the whole dating thing." She said rolling her eyes.

"Aww poor inexperienced Ava." Nora teased nudging Aveline as they walked.

"Oh shut up." Aveline said finally laughing. "Is that it?" She added pointing to the Burrow.

"Yep! I know it's kind of weird looking but it's probably one of my favorite places in the world." Nora smiled. "Ready?" She asked as she knocked on the door.

"You didn't exactly give me time to answer now did you?" She hissed making Nora laugh even more as Ginny came to open the door.

"Nora! You're back! Fred is going to be thrilled he's been moping around for weeks." Ginny grinned as she let them in. "You're Aveline right? George talked about you quite a bit."

"I'm not surprised about our dear Freddy moping. And yeah, I'm Aveline. Nice to meet you officially. I mean I've seen you around Gryffindor and all." She said looking down.

"You ramble like Nora does. It's kind of funny." Ginny smiled.

"Where are Molly and Arthur?" Nora asked.

"They went in town to get some stuff." Ginny smiled. "I'll get the twins down here. Ron and Percy are upstairs too." They entered the living room where Nora and Aveline sat down as Ginny went to the bottom of the stairs before shouting. "Fred! George! You've got visitors!"

They heard a door slamming before hearing precipitated footsteps and a loud bang as one of the twins tumbled down the stairs.

"Real smooth Fred." Ginny laughed.

"Oh damn it." Fred said rubbing his head and trying to stop his nose from bleeding. Nora jumped off the couch and crouched down next to him.

"Are you alright? What the hell happened?" She asked with a worried tone. George appeared in the staircase doubled over with laughter making Fred roll his eyes.

"I fell." Fred said matter-of-factly. "You're back." He smiled.

Nora chuckled. "I am back. And you're bleeding all over the place." She said assessing the damage to his nose.

"Is it broken?" Aveline said with a expression of slight disgust as George came over to her and put his arm around her waist. "I hate blood."

"We know Ava." George grinned as he pulled her closer.

"Alright. Why don't you come with me in the kitchen so I can take care of you? And you three can stay here and laugh at Fred all you want. Can you walk?" Nora asked Fred with a sympathetic smile.

"Sure. I think so." He said as he put his arm around Nora for support. He sat down on a chair as Nora went to get a cloth.

"Come on, put your head down." Nora said as she held the cloth up to his nose. "Are you alright?" She added brushing the hair from his face. "You're hair looks good. It's a little shorter, I like it."

"Yeah, I'm kind of an idiot. I'm becoming a klutz like you." He chuckled.

"Why thank you Freddykins. And you've always known how to make an entrance." Nora grinned.

"I'm sorry. I might have been a wee bit anxious to see you." He laughed.

"Don't worry I think you're kind of cute." She teased before taking the cloth to change it. "It stopped bleeding." She smiled giving him a clean cloth to wipe the dried blood from his face. "It would have been easier if I could have just used a spell but we still have to wait a year."

"It's fine. You did a good job. And I got blood all over both of us. Sorry again." He laughed rubbing the back of his neck.

"Am I making you nervous Freddykins?" Nora grinned as she sat down on his lap.

Fred looked at her and smiled as he put his arms around her waist. "Maybe so Freckles."

"I missed you." She said with a smile.

"Trust me I missed you too Freckles." Fred said brushing his thumb along her jaw line before kissing her softly. Nora sighed into the kiss as she put her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her.

The kitchen door opened and Nora jumped back falling to the floor and bumping the back of her head on the table.

"Well hello there Nora." Arthur said suppressing a smile.

"Hey." Nora said rubbing the back of her head as Fred who was wearing a large grin helped her up.

"We're really glad you're back! You look like you spend a lot of time in the sun...But you need to be eating more." Molly said as she put down the groceries and went to hug Nora. "Why are you both covered in blood?"

"Fred fell down the stairs because he was overly excited." Ginny answered coming into the kitchen.

"Something like that." Fred mumbled as George and Aveline came into the doorway.

"Oh you must be Aveline!" Molly said with a smile. "We've heard so much about you!" Molly said as she went to hug her. After Molly had vanished the blood from Fred and Nora's clothes, Ron and Percy came down and everyone started to catch up and joke around.

"Do you want to get out of here?" Fred whispered into Nora's ear after a while of chatting with everyone. Nora looked up at him and nodded.

"Alright, we'll see you lot later." Fred said as they both got up.

"Be back for supper." Molly smiled.

"We will be." Nora called back.

"I really missed you." Nora said as they walked towards the lake midway between their houses.

"I missed you too Freckles." Fred chuckled as he pulled her closer to him.

"I saw that when you almost broke your nose rushing down the stairs." She grinned.

"I might have been a little...intense." He laughed. "I really did miss you." He added kissing the top of her head.

They sat together in a chair on the dock and simply looked out at the lake for a while. Nora rested the back of her head on his chest and sighed.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked absentmindedly playing with her hair.

"I was just thinking that I'm really glad to be back." She smiled.

"I'm really glad you're back too. Don't ever leave again." He chuckled.

"I'll do my best." Nora laughed as she shifted herself to face him. "Don't leave me either." She said in a more serious tone while fiddling with her hands. He understood that she meant it in a different way. After being her father leaving and disowning her and after losing John, Nora had serious trust and commitment issues.

"Hey." Fred said lifting her chin up so she would look at him. His dark brown eyes started into hers which were a dark shade of gray that day. "I'm not going anywhere." He said seriously before pressing his lips to hers lightly. He pulled away for a moment before kissing her again, firmer this time.

"You know, I think I might be in love with you." He said resting his forehead to hers.

"You think?" She chuckled nervously feeling her previous issues resurfacing.

"So maybe I know, I don't want to frighten you." Fred said moving a strand of hair from her face.

"You don't frighten me Fred Weasley." She said looking into his dark eyes.

"Well then I love you Norabel DeBordeaux."

Nora smiled and pressed her mouth to his with great passion. At that moment, she felt safe and nothing other than the both of them mattered.

A/N : Another chapter! It didn't take me over two weeks to update! I hope you enjoyed this chapter even though there wasn't much going on. I hope you guys are still enjoying the story, if you are, PLEASE review so I know because I kind of feel like people don't like it anymore...And if you don't like it, review to tell me what I can improve on! I love you all and thank you so much to those who've taken the the time to review. I enjoy them alot even though they aren't many, they feel even more special :) Anyways, I LOVE YOU ALL. Xoxo.

QUESTION FOR YOU ALL : My sister was thinking about writing a spin-off with some of the OCs from my story and we were wondering which characters you enjoy the most. Nat, Niko, Megg, Neil, their mother Brooke, Sirius, Aveline, George, Erik, Wood, Cedric, OR ANYONE ELSE! :)Tell me in the reviews! Xoxo.

To ThatCharmspeakingGirl : I hope you liked the lenght of the chapter. I enjoy writing at least 1500 to 2000 words for each so I think I'll stick to that. I hope you keep enjoying the story and thank you so much for taking the time to review. Xoxo.

To 12141998 : Thank you so much for taking the time to review. I hope you enjoyed the lenght, it was long-ish but I still uploaded pretty quickly. I hope you keep enjoying the story and keep reviewing. Xoxo.