Just Say Yes || Fred Weasley

Chapter One Hundred and Four

Shuffling into the kitchen, I sneakily watched Sirius and Harry reunite in the corner of my vision, a small smile on my face.
"This will be good for him" Remus said, noticing where my attention was, "for both of them. Sirius has been worrying about him all summer"
"I think Harry will just enjoy being around family that don't hate him for once" I agreed, making sure I looked back at him as I said it, "I think that both of you will really help him"
Remus offered me a hesitant smile, fond eyes dragged back to the two. Patting him on the shoulder, I continued further into the kitchen, watching the twins and Lee poking at Bill.
"Stop it before you lose your arms" the oldest sibling warned, a small smile building on his face.
"You couldn't take all four of us" Fred grinned, raising an eyebrow challengingly.
"You're children" Bill countered, pausing slightly before smirking, "and I've got back-up"
"Oh hell yeah" Tonks laughed, running to Bill's side, "now this is something I can help with"
Before the little challenge could go any further, Mrs Weasley's exasperated voice cut through the room.
"For the last time, Mundungus, will you please not smoke that thing in the kitchen, especially not when we're about to eat!"
"Ah," said Mundungus. "Right. Sorry, Molly."
"And if you want dinner before midnight I'll need a hand," she continued, brandishing the ladle like a sword, "No, you can stay where you are, Harry dear, you've had a long journey —"
"What can I do, Molly?" said Tonks enthusiastically, abandoning Bill's side instantly.
Mrs. Weasley hesitated, looking apprehensive.
"Er — no, it's all right, Tonks, you have a rest too, you've done enough today —"
"No, no, I want to help!" she said brightly, knocking over a chair as she hurried towards Ginny who was collecting cutlery from the drawer.
"We better help" Bill said, moving over to help his dad with the chopping.
"We could speed this up" George suggested, twirling his wand with a cheeky grin.
"I mean... it's what your mum asked for, right?" Lee agreed, a similar smile on his face.
I scoffed, withholding my conspiring smile as I spoke, "I doubt you could set the table just with magic"
"Bet" Fred growled. 

"Fred — George — NO, JUST CARRY THEM!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked.
I withheld my laughter as Harry, Sirius and Mundungus had to dive away from the dining table as the items the twins were levitating started hurling themselves down. The large cauldron of stew and heavy wooden breadboard came to a crash on the table, cauldron skidding across the length of the table and coming to a halt just before the end. I spotted the flagon of butterbeer that George was levitating was about to spill, saving it before it fell over.
Lee reacted similarly quickly beside me, stopping the breadboard in time, but not quick enough to stop the knife from flying off the board and landing where Sirius' head had been seconds before.
"FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!" screamed Mrs. Weasley. "THERE WAS NO NEED — I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS — JUST BE- CAUSE YOU'RE ALLOWED TO USE MAGIC NOW YOU DON'T HAVE TO WHIP YOUR WANDS OUT FOR EVERY TINY LITTLE THING!"
"We were just trying to save a bit of time!" said Fred, hurrying forward and wrenching the bread knife out of the table. "Sorry Sirius, mate — didn't mean to —"
Harry and Sirius were both laughing. Mundungus, who had toppled backward off his chair, was swearing as he got to his feet.
"Boys," Mr. Weasley said, lifting the stew back into the middle of the table, "your mother's right, you're supposed to show a sense of responsibility now you've come of age —"
"— none of your brothers caused this sort of trouble!" Mrs. Weasley raged at the twins, "Bill didn't feel the need to Apparate every few feet! Charlie didn't Charm everything he met! Percy —"
She stopped dead, catching her breath with a frightened look at her husband, whose expression was suddenly wooden.
"Let's eat," said Bill quickly.
"It looks wonderful, Molly," said Lupin, ladling stew onto a plate for her and handing it across the table.
I grasped Fred's hand under the table once we had sat, giving it a reassuring squeeze. The uncharacteristic quietness of the room had made him tense, no doubt feeling guilty for bringing up the Percy-sized-elephant in the room.
As soon as Molly broke the silence by engaging Sirius in conversation about the next room to clean, I turned to fully face Fred, speaking low and under my breath.
"I'm sorry I goaded you into doing that-"
"We probably would've done it anyway" he said, dismissing my apology, "Just wish that prick wasn't brought into it. Dad won't even look up from his plate"
I could recognise growing anger in his voice, beginning to rub small circles on to the back of his hand in an attempt to calm him.
"It's not your fault"
Fred just nodded, taking a breath and turning nodding towards Lee, George, Ron and Mundungus who all seemed to be in deep conversation. Getting the hint, I leaned in as well, both of us joining in listening to Mundungus' dodgy business deals.
In only a few minutes, the six of us were laughing so hard that tears were rolling down our cheeks.
". . . and then," choked Mundungus, "and then, if you'll believe it, 'e says to me, 'e says, ' 'ere, Dung, where didja get all them toads from? 'Cos some son of a Bludger's gone and nicked all mine!' And I says, 'Nicked all your toads, Will, what next? So you'll be wanting some more, then?' And if you'll believe me, lads, the gormless gargoyle buys all 'is own toads back orf me for twice what 'e paid in the first place —"
"I don't think we need to hear any more of your business dealings, thank you very much, Mundungus," said Mrs. Weasley sharply, as Ron slumped forward onto the table, howling with laughter.
"Beg pardon, Molly," said Mundungus at once, wiping his eyes, "But, you know, Will nicked 'em orf Warty Harris in the first place so I wasn't really doing nothing wrong —"
"I don't know where you learned about right and wrong, Mundungus, but you seem to have missed a few crucial lessons," said Mrs. Weasley coldly.
We all buried our face in our butterbeers to try and contain or laughter, but George's sudden onset of hiccups just made us laugh even harder.