The Curse-Breaker

A Quick Trip Home

I stayed lay in Bill's lap for a while, listening to him hum a tune his mother had sang to him as a child. As the waves crashed closer, Bill nudged me, unsure if I was even still awake. I opened my eyes and looked into his, he smiled down at me. "We should probably get going." He said, the smile not leaving his face. I nodded and sat up as Bill stood up, he took my hands and pulled me up, letting his arm rest around my shoulders. I held my shoes in one hand and put my other hand in the back pocket of Bill's jeans. We walked back through the streets, avoiding a group of teenagers hanging outside a corner shop. We slipped back into the alley we'd arrived in and Bill apparated us back into Diagon Alley.

The streets were quiet, apart from a few wizards stood outside the Leaky Cauldron smoking cigarettes. We walked through and up to the run down shop Harli and I lived above. "I'd invite you in but I'll probably go and check on my dad." I said, smiling sadly up at Bill. "That's ok. Here-" He said, taking my hand and fishing a pen out of his pocket. He wrote his phone number on my hand. "-Call me if anything goes wrong. Or if you just want to." He said, smiling. I nodded, "Thanks. I'll call you tomorrow." I said, leaning my head back to look up at him. He took my face in his hand and leant down, placing a gentle kiss onto my lips. The feeling sent a sharp sensation in my chest, butterflies in my stomach which flipped as soon as he'd touched me. I lifted my arm and hung it around the back of his neck, pulling him closer to me, the kiss quickly changed from gentle to more passionate, his hand running up through my hair and his other on my waist. "Oi oi! Who's your boyfriend Riley?" I heard Fred's voice from my window. I pulled out of the kiss didn't let go of Bill's face to hide it, I pulled him, walking backwards into the wall and out of Fred's sight. "Fuck off Weasley!" I shouted, half laughing. Bill giggled and untied his hoodie from around his waist, he dropped it into my hands. "I think it'll suit you. Call me soon." He whispered, placing one last gentle kiss on my lips before apparating away.

I opened the door to the stairs that lead up to my apartment. Fred fell forwards, making it obvious he'd tried to listen through the door. "Forget your extendable ones?" I said, pulling him up by his ear. He pulled his head away, "they're all at home." He said, rubbing on his ear and trudging back up the stairs. I followed after him, leaning down to smell the hoodie Bill had given me, the same scent of butterscotch, ginger snaps, and his strong cologne. I smiled as we reached the top step, Fred turning to look at me and catching me smile, which made my smile drop. "Who is he then?" Fred said, a huge grin on his face and gesturing towards Bill's hoodie. "None of your business." I smiled sarcastically and he furrowed his eyebrows, "Come on, you told George!" He said, tilting his head to the side slightly. "Because I trust him." I said, walking past him and opening the front door seeing Harli sat on the sofa. "Hi!" I called through as I threw my shoes down by the door. "They still wont tell me Harls." Fred said, clearly in a strop. "Hi hun! I told you they wouldn't!" She called, turning round to smile at me. "I'm gonna go check on my dad, you know, because of tomorrow night." I said as I walked round to the sofa where Harli was sitting. "Ok love. You want me to come with you?" She smiled at me. "No it's ok. You got anything you want me to give Padfoot if I see him?" I asked. "No, I don't think so, I only spoke to him last night." She said, looking back over to the TV. I nodded and walked back into my bedroom, changing into a pair of baggy jeans and Bill's hoodie which was way too big for me, but it was comfortable. I scribbled Bill's number onto a piece of paper and put it into my purse, stuffing that back into a bag. Grabbing onto my wand, I walked back through into the kitchen, stuffing some chocolate frogs into my bag and apparating myself onto the grounds of the small farm house I grew up in.

I opened the door and called in, "Hello!" slinging my bag onto the kitchen table. Tonks came running through into the kitchen, a glass of red wine in her hand and wearing some sweet blue and white striped pyjamas. "Riley! Hello love, what are you doing here?" She said, embracing me in a warm hug. "I thought I'd just call in, see how dad was doing." I said as she pulled out of the hug and holding onto my shoulders. "He's doing ok, in a little bit of pain tonight bu-" She was cut off by my father coming into the kitchen. "My darling!" He exclaimed, pulling me in to a tight hug. "How are you doing pup?" He said, holding onto my cheeks with both hands, rubbing his thumb across my cheekbone. "I'm ok dad. How are you?" I said, looking up at him. He smiled softly, I could tell he was in pain, tomorrow night would be horrible for him, but he always said the comfort of having me there made things better. I followed him and Tonks through to the living room, small, with red squashy arm chairs, and walls lined with books. They asked me questions about the apartment, and how the decorating was coming along. More questions followed about my job, how Harli was doing, and of course, Tonks brought it round to my romantic life. I tried to convince them that nothing was going on but my father's heightened scent and Tonks knowing my hoodie was not mine, didn't manage to slip past them. I was forced to tell them I'd been on a few dates with someone, they didn't pressure me more as to who it was. "As long as you're happy!" My father said, smiling at me. "Yeah, exactly! How exciting!" Tonks said, sipping on her wine as I agreed with her. Absolutely not about to tell her that I was seeing her friends brother, who was older than her.