IT WAS A DAY LATER when Freya was finally allowed out of the infirmary. Will, who had been eating with the Weasley brothers for the time, had already told them all about their adventures so when Freya strode out of the doors the twins couldn't hide their impressed grins and Percy failed to disguise his horror.
"Freya!" Fred called as she spotted them and walked over.
"My brother's, William?" Freya asked him scrunching her nose as she sat down next to him and began piling food onto her plate. "You couldn't find anyone else to sit wi-"
"Will told us everything, Fickle!" Fred interrupted her excitedly as she looked at her brother, blinking in surprise. "That's bloody amazing, sis!"
"Yeah, did you actually let that chess piece hit you?" George asked grinning, "Will said he and Harry would have died without you."
"Um, well...they do suck at chess," Freya replied grinning slightly, her face flushing with slight embarrassment. "But you know, it was just a game."
"Well, that was rather foolish of you, even if it was brave," Percy added at pointed looks from the twins. "Seriously Freya, do you know what would have happened if you had died?"
"But I didn't Percy!" Freya replied happily as she glanced at Will grinning wider, "None of us did."
After she had retold the story quickly once again, from her perspective they all had to get to class. Ruffling her hair one more time, the Weasleys all dispersed to their other classes. Freya was smiling full-on as they walked to class and after a moment of silence she said quietly, yet happily, "That was the first time they've ever looked at me like that, you know."
"Looked at you like what?" asked Will, curious.
"Like I was something other than their younger sister or someone they thought could follow in their footsteps...they looked at me like I was someone who could be something better than they were...It'll last a day or two I suppose but coming from a family full of boys who've done great things, it was pretty nice.
"That's because you are something, if not better than something just as good...You're a Weasley,you know." Will noted as an afterthought, offering a small smile, "and looking at your family, I think that's a pretty brilliant thing to be."
They both paused, looking at each other curiously, as Will started to become sort of embarrassed by her stare. Then-
"I knew it." Freya grinned at him, her eyes lighting with amusement."I knew you had to be at least slightly jealous of me."
"Come off it, I just gave being a Weasley some praise," Will scoffed, rolling his eyes even as he smiled.
"but being a Granger is far better."
"I'll let you convince yourself of that, I'm sure it's your coping mechanism for not being born a red-head," Freya laughed, bumping into him playfully as she walked a little ahead of him, a new bounce in her step. "Come on, William, let's head to class."
We're still missing of this trio, Will thought as he caught up to her, thinking of Harry still sleeping. But isn't necessarily terrible either.
He remembered the beginning of the year then, which seemed like a long time ago now, how he used to watch Harry and her laugh from far away in front of him - trying to convince himself he didn't want to know what was so funny.
But he was glad he finally found the answer as he looked sideways at Freya who was making a joke-which he had missed half of-but when she reached the punchline and began laughing herself, he had too as well.
Because it turns out you don't laugh at times because you find something funny.
Sometimes you laugh just because you're genuinely happy about how life is just...fun.
With company, of course.