Orange Trees | Fred Weasley

Chapter Two

Jericho huffed as he strained to carry the large pile of wood in his hands, stopping every few seconds to readjust his grip. His back slightly ached from the weight of the wood, and it was times like this he wished he was more muscular. Jojo meowed as she walked at his side, seeming to encourage the young boy as he struggled to move.

"I appreciate the thought, Jojo, I really do, but you're 'meows' are honestly not helping." He told her through breaths, which only earned another 'meow' in response.

Jericho battled against the unforgiving heat of summer as he wrestled with the weight of the planks. Beads of sweat dripped down his furrowed brow, mingling with the dust kicked up by his weary footsteps. With every ounce of strength he could muster, Jericho tried to press on, his brown locks dampened by exertion. The weight, however, seemed to grow. Pressing on the inside of his forearms like the sky sat on top of them.

No longer able to go any further, he dropped them on the floor after taking a few more steps, putting his hands on his head to allow the air to fill his lungs. He hoped he put some distance between his house, as he didn't think he would be able to go on for much longer. Much to his dismay, as he turned to look in the direction of his home, he found that he had really only made it a hundred meters from the back door.

He groaned as he realized he hadn't made it that far, before plopping on the ground to give himself a break. Jojo brushed against his leg, before sitting herself next to the tired looking boy. She looked at him with curious eyes, secretly wondering if the boy would really be able to make it by himself. She meowed at the boy one last time, before turning and sprinting toward the direction of his house.

"So much for your support!" Jericho shouted after her.

He reached into his bag and pulled out a canteen, taking a large swig of water to quench his thirst. With one last deep breath, he collected the wood from the floor and assembled them into a pile. Carefully, he held out his arms as he adjusted them on top. Jericho bit the inside of his cheek as he concentrated, making it a few feet only every 30 seconds. He thought frequently about how easy this would be if he could use magic, but knew his parents wouldn't approve of him using it outside of school. He stumbled a bit more before a voice broke his silence.

"Finally building yourself a hut outside, eh? I knew it wasn't long before you were living with the gnomes." The person said from behind. Jericho jumped slightly at the sound of the voice, before turning his body slightly to find his older brother smirking at him, Jojo sitting directly next to him. Jericho rolled his eyes at his brother's comment. "Although, after last night, I was positive mother was going to transfigure you into one and have you live outside with them anyways."

"They're not for me," Jericho said as he made himself comfortable to properly retort back, "they're for the fairies; I'm making them some little houses."

"How thoughtful of you, a proper gentleman, really." Cedric teased him, causing the younger boy to roll his eyes again.

"If you're done being a twat, I'm going to get back to taking these to the tree. " Jericho sassed, before turning around and adjusting himself to carry the planks once more. Before he could take any steps, however, the pieces of wood floated suddenly out of his grasp, levitating a few feet off the ground. Jericho turned to his brother behind him, who was smirking as he held his wand toward the wood. "I didn't need your help." Jericho huffed at him, as Cedric wiggled his wand in his brother's face.

"Clearly. You left the house to take these to the tree, what, a few hours ago? And you haven't even made it halfway. You're lucky Jojo came and got me, or you'd be out here for days." Cedric told him, walking a little past his brother as he smiled at him. "Coming?"