Raven (Fred x oc)

32. Reconnecting

"Time to wake up, girls," Mrs. Weasley said, shaking Ginny and Hermione awake. I sat up, rubbing my eyes. With a small yawn, I grabbed a white tank-top and some black jeans from my trunk and changed. After slipping on some converse and grabbing my wand and a sweatshirt, I left the room and began to head downstairs.

"Morning," I greeted, spotting Mr. Weasley and the boys at the table as I slipped into my hoodie. With a yawn I sat down next to Fred and lay against his shoulder, shutting my eyes.

"Why do we have to get up so early?" Ginny yawned, interrupting my attempt to fall back asleep against Fred's shoulder.

"We've got a bit of a walk," Mr. Weasley explained.

"Walk?" Harry repeated. "What, are we walking to the World Cup?"

"No, no, that's miles away," Mr. Weasley replied. "We only need to walk a short way. It's just that it's very difficult for a large number of wizards to congregate without attracting muggle attention. We have to be very careful about how we travel at the best of times, and on a huge occasion like the Quidditch World Cup-"

"George!" Mrs. Weasley cried, causing me to jump off Fred's shoulder and my eyes to shoot open.

"What?" George asked, faking innocence.

"What is that in your pocket?" Mrs. Weasley demanded. Paling, I subtly reached into Fred's pocket and grabbed a couple of the toffees to stash in my own pocket.

"Nothing!" George cried.

"Don't you lie to me!" Mrs. Weasley yelled. "Accio!" My heart sank as several of the toffees shot out of his pocket. "We told you to destroy them! We told you to get rid of the lot! Empty your pockets, go on, both of you!" Only the few I'd managed to snatch weren't discovered.

"We spent six months developing those!" Fred cried indignantly as Mrs. Weasley threw the toffees away.

"Oh a fine way to spend six months!" Mrs. Weasley scolded. "No wonder you didn't get more O.W.L.s! Even Valerie Black did better than you two combined!" I paled, all sleepiness gone.

"I'll be outside," I muttered, getting to my feet.

"Val!" Fred cried, but I was gone. I could hear him shouting as I left. "Seriously, Mum? Have a go at me all you want, but leave Valerie alone! She gets enough crap from the rest of the wizarding world. She doesn't need it from you to."

"Her father is a murderer!" Mrs. Weasley shouted back.

"That doesn't make her a bad person, Mum," Ginny said quietly. I heard a loud scoff from one of the twins before the door opened. I was sitting on the ground when Fred and George appeared a few moments later. "Come on," Fred said, holding out his hand to me. Shakily, I grabbed his hand and got to my feet. We set off with the others trailing behind us.

Glancing back to make sure Mr. Weasley wasn't looking, I reached into my pocket and drew out the Ton-Tongue Toffees I'd stolen from Fred. With a small smirk, I held them out to the twins. "You saved some?" George gasped, taking them from my hand. "How?"

"Nicked some from Fred when she found yours," I explained.

"Merlin, you just saved us another six months," Fred said, looking at me in awe. "God I love you." Without a thought, Fred quickly kissed me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

"I guess I love you too," I laughed, pulling away slightly.

"Shut up, you know you do," Fred retorted.

"I think I'm going to vomit," George said. "Who knew. My very own brother all disgustingly cute."

"Shut it, Georgie," I chuckled.