18 October 1996
"From Hermione?" George asked, walking into the flat and unwinding the scarf from around his neck as he toed off his boots.
Fred nodded, perched on the arm of the couch by the fire and reading her newest missive with a troubled but unsurprised expression. "Yeah. Hogsmeade trips are cancelled for the rest of the year."
George grimaced sympathetically. "Sorry, mate."
"'S'alright. As much as I love seeing her, I'd rather she be safe – or, at least as safe as anyone at Hogwarts ever is." He got up with a sigh, tossing the letter on the low table in front of the hearth and following his twin into the kitchen. "How's Angie?"
"She's holding up. Wants to stay with Alicia for another few nights, though."
Though they'd received confirmation several days prior that Katie was going to be okay, she was being held in a magically-induced coma and it was taking a heavy toll on her girlfriend. "Mum wrote earlier and said that she made a casserole to take over. I can pick it up tomorrow."
George chuckled. "Mum seems determined that the cure to all the world's ailments involves a roasted chicken and a few potatoes."
The Order had tightened up security even more if possible that week. Between Amelia and Emmeline over the summer, the uptick in dementor activity, and now the attack on Katie, it was clear the Death Eaters were mobilising in service of some sort of plan, it just wasn't clear what the plan was yet.
"So, I've been thinking – "
"Dangerous, that," George cut in, grinning overtop the door of the icebox. Fred pinned him with a glare and George wilted a bit, declaring with an unsettled look, "Blimey, you look like your witch when you do that."
"Good," Fred replied dryly. "As I was saying, I've been thinking about last year. About Harry and the DA."
"Have the sudden urge to go back for your NEWTs, do you?"
"Hardly. But there are enough of us finished with school and kicking around London… why not start up again?"
"What, like a dueling club?"
"Why not? We could clear out part of the basement storeroom, put up a few wards so nothing blows up. Figured it wouldn't hurt to stay sharp so we don't immediately die when faced with conflict; last a few minutes, at least."
George leaned against the counter and tossed a grape into the air, catching it in his mouth and chewing thoughtfully.
"Not a half-bad idea, twin-o-mine," he finally declared. "Who all were you thinking?"
"Alicia, Angie, Lee, Verity… I heard Ollie's back in the city too, with the leagues on hiatus."
"Could see if Tonks and Kingsley want to drop in, share some of that almighty Auror knowledge."
"Bill and Fleur, too, now that they're just out on the coast. Reckon he could show us a thing or two, lolling around Egypt all that time."
They nodded thoughtfully at each other for a moment. As much time as they all spent lolling about and worrying about what might happen next, it felt good, planning to actually do something proactive rather than reactive.
"Right, good," George said, backing slowly out of the room and nodding enthusiastically. "So, you see to dinner, I'll start making floo calls."
"Oi! Why do I have to make dinner?"
"Because I said it first!" George called over his shoulder, skidding into the hall and taking off toward the fireplace like a shot.
Fred shook his head, turning to the cupboard to dig out a box of dry pasta and muttering, "I should have absorbed you in the womb when I had the chance."
oOoOoOo
"Alright, how many unforgiveable curses are there?" Kingsley asked their assemblage a week and a half after Fred had proposed the idea.
"Circe's tits, Kings, I wouldn't have asked you to come if I knew you'd be quizzing us on OWL-level theory," George remarked from his position near the front of the room, arms crossed and grinning.
The basement of 93 Diagon Alley stretched nearly the entire length and width of the building. Fred and George had constructed a veritable maze of shelves and crates leading back to a large clearing that ran the length of the room. They wrapped the area tightly in wards so bystanders that weren't actively dueling wouldn't get hurt, in addition to protecting their merchandise.
"All of you, save for Fleur and Verity, have had an education in defence that is patchy at best and non-existent at worst. Now, how many are there?" Kingsley repeated, leveling a firm stare around the room that brokered no further objection.
"Three," everyone present intoned in a chorus, including Tonks, who was standing near the back and looking somewhat amused despite her otherwise subdued appearance.
"Good," Kingsley said, bobbing his head. "And how many spells can kill someone?"
"One," Lee declared confidently from his position near the front, turning around with a dumbfound expression when he was the only one to wager a guess.
"I appreciate the enthusiasm, Lee, but that is incorrect. Anyone else?"
"Well, zere are 'undreds, no?" Fleur posed when nobody else spoke, earning an affectionate smile from Bill. Fred felt a dim flicker of jealousy toward the sheer coupley-ness of them before quashing it.
"That there are," Kingsley affirmed. "Ten points to Beauxbatons. The killing curse, while efficient in that it is incapable of being shielded by magical means, is merely one of many ways to end a life, should a duel escalate to that extreme. Examples?"
"Blasting spell," Oliver volunteered.
"Severing charm," Angelina chimed in.
"Reductor curse," Fred added, cringing a little internally at the idea of what that spell might do to a living thing.
"Levitation charm?" Lee offered hesitantly. Kingsley arched a dark brow at him, and he added quickly, "You know, drop something heavy and squash them..."
Everyone laughed and Kingsley shrugged and nodded in an 'I guess' sort of way.
They chattered for a few minutes, becoming increasingly creative in their methods of extermination until Kingsley finally raised his voice and regained control of the room.
"Now, this is not my way of saying that you should immediately jump to lethal methods of defending yourself, but the fact of the matter is that in the not too distant future, you may very well find yourselves in a position where you do not have an alternative." The demeanor of the room changed a little then. Became weightier, more serious as they remembered that this wasn't recreational. "Death Eaters generally do not take captives unless they have a vested interest in doing so, and even then, you'll very likely end up wishing that you had died. Unfortunately, this is especially true for you witches present. As repellent as it is to consider, there are several among their ranks that would like nothing more than a muggleborn or half-blood witch unconscious and bound at their feet."
Fred glanced sideways and saw Alicia and Angelina both had fierce expressions on their faces, and he couldn't help but think about Hermione and Ginny.
"As an auror I have had to see and do many things that I later wished I hadn't. But when it comes to saving your own life, or protecting the life of someone you care about, be it friend, family or partner, you'll find it doesn't matter as much as you think it will in the moment." Tonks made a sound of agreement. "Bearing that in mind, I'm going to pair you off and we'll see just how much you managed to retain."
"To be clear, we aren't supposed to kill one another now, correct?" George asked, smiling a little nervously when he was unwittingly matched with his girlfriend, who was twirling her wand between her knuckles and looking rather eager.
"To be clear, yes," Kingsley replied. "Please refrain from doing anything that we can't easy heal or reverse. I'd like to avoid a trip to St. Mungo's if it can be avoided."
Other couplings included Alicia with Lee, Oliver with Fleur, and Verity with Bill. Tonks finally approached Fred as the odd man out.
"I'll take it easy on you," she remarked. She smiled, but it didn't seem terribly genuine. And he noted with a troubled expression that her hair was still a dull, mousy brown rather than one of its customarily vibrant shades. In truth, her demeanor reminded him a little of Hermione that past summer, which, given the cause behind that, was more troubling than he cared to think about.
The actual dueling went about as well as could be expected. Out of practice though he was, he managed to catch Tonks with a stunner as well as a full-body bind, the latter a result of him transfiguring the floor and tripping her first.
George and Angie were relatively well-matched, as were Verity and Bill to everyone's surprise; Verity, who'd attended Ilvermorny in the U.S., had been something of a dark horse. Alicia, on the other hand, put Lee on his ass repeatedly, and Oliver, in another shocker, overcame a rather frustrated Fleur with relative ease, though she put up a truly impressive fight.
"I do not understand," Fleur hissed at Bill when they regrouped, rubbing her arm where a stinging hex had landed a moment prior. "My alure 'ad no effect on 'im!"
Fred had been vaguely aware of her powers, but, to his relief, it wasn't anything he wasn't able to block out. George seemed to respond similarly, but Fred suspected Alicia had beaten Lee as badly as she had because he was directly beside to the part-veela during his trial.
Kingsely gave them each feedback and things to work on; in Fred's case it was defensive charms, which was none too shocking. While Hermione had quite the knack for them, shields had never been his forte. They broke up shortly after that, Kingsley departing and most everyone else going up to the flat to have a drink. Fred planned to join them a bit later, citing that he wanted to get a start on inventory instead of waking up early the next day to do it.
Tonks went upstairs to use the loo but came back down while he was still behind the counter. The shop was quiet and dark then, save for a few lamps speckled about the cavernous showroom.
"Hey, Tonks, do you have a second?" Fred blurted after considering for a beat.
She turned around in surprise, having been headed for the back door and the apparition point after waving goodbye. "What, not bruised up enough? Fancy another round?"
Fred smiled but shook his head, uncertain about how to lead off. He delayed for a moment, fiddling with the quill he was holding. "Look, we aren't that close, and I don't know how to ask this without it seemingly completely rude or intrusive or what have you, so I'm just going to ask and you can tell me to sod off if you want, okay?"
"Okay…"
"Are you – are you doing alright?"
"What do you mean? I'm fine," she said quickly, shrugging unconvincingly and snorting like it was absurd he'd even ask.
"Are you sure? Because you don't… seem fine. Like yourself, I mean."
Tonks started to wave him off again but then, as if a switch flipped, she sighed heavily and scuffed the toe of her boot spitefully at the floor. "All you of bloody Weasleys, too perceptive for anyone's good. Redheaded blight on Wizarding Britain…"
He assumed she was referring to Charlie, one of her best friends from school. Or perhaps their mum.
"Have you ever been in love?" Tonks asked abruptly, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed tight across her chest, eyes fixed at a distant point behind one of the shelves. He couldn't tell if she was lost in thought or simply uncomfortable with the subject matter.
"Yeah," Fred said without hesitating. "I have."
"And did they love you back?"
"Yes. She does." He knew it as certainly as he knew his own name.
Tonks smiled softly at his use of present tense and nodded, but didn't pry. She was quiet for another long moment before speaking in choppy starts and stops, like the words themselves pained her.
"Then you can imagine what it might be like to have that inside of you, to feel all of those things, and to have the other person turn you away. Make you feel foolish, even."
He could. He'd had the barest hint of it in those seemingly endless weeks earlier that year. And it had been torture.
"This isn't about Charlie, is it?" he asked, suddenly struck by that horrifying possibility.
She barked a laugh and shook her head. "No. Good Godric, no. You know as well as I do that your brother finds me about as attractive as a tea cosy."
He sighed in relief, enormously glad that he didn't have to tiptoe around outing his sibling.
"Is it worth asking who?"
Tonks pondered for a moment, glancing up the stairs as if to make sure they were still alone, and then whispered, "Expecto patronum."
From the end of her wand burst an enormous silver wolf.
"Oh," Fred puffed in surprise, eyebrows hitching up before he could think to school his expression. The room immediately felt a little warmer.
"Yeah," Tonks said miserably, a grim smile twisting her features. She held her hand out, the wolf approaching to nuzzle against it before disappearing a second later. She stared at where it had been with a vacant expression. "He doesn't love me, he's made that much crystal clear. Frankly I'm not even sure he's capable of love after losing… well, everyone really. It doesn't matter, though; my pitiful little heart belongs to him anyway. Bloody stupid is what it is."
Fred thought back to New Year's Eve, nearly a year prior, and he knew that had Hermione said no, had she never entered the drawing room, had she simply thrown the note away and gone to bed, it wouldn't have changed a thing for him. He'd have kept his distance, respected her wishes, even watch her love someone else if he had to, but there wasn't any getting over something like that. Not really.
"I'm really sorry," Fred said quietly. He wavered before adding, "I don't think you should give up, though. Don't press, but don't give up. Nothing in our lives is certain, especially now. Wounds heal. People change their minds."
Tonks nodded and grew silent before making a sort of disgusted noise in her throat and sniffing loudly. "Ugh, Circe's tits, aren't you supposed to be one of the funny ones? I'm ready to string myself up with my fucking bootstraps over here."
Fred grinned and dipped his head, feeling a bit pleased with himself. "I'd venture to say I've gained a bit of depth lately."
"Yeah, well, knock it off," Tonks said, rolling eyes that were just a little bloodshot. She started to head for the door again before pausing and turning to look at him, eyes considerate and fingers flexing around the knob. "You're lucky, you know. That she loves you back. Don't take it for granted."
He nodded, picking up the inventory sheet again and smiling inspite of himself. "Trust me, I know. I think about it every single day."