Bumblebee (A Fred Weasley Fanfiction)

- CHAPTER THIRTEEN -

The Portkey

That night Ginny and Emmie stayed up talking about Fred and the boy she liked called Michael Corner; they soon went to sleep though as Hermione kept waking up and telling them to be quiet. Emmie felt as though she had barely lay down to sleep when she was being shaken awake by Mrs Weasley.
"Time to go, Emmie, dear," she whispered, moving away to wake Ginny.
They dressed in silence, too sleepy to talk, then, yawning and stretching, the three of them headed downstairs into the kitchen.
Mrs Weasley was stirring the contents of a large pot on the stove, while Mr Weasley was sitting at the table with Fred, George, Ron and Harry, checking a sheaf of large parchment tickets. He looked up as the girls entered and spread his arms so that they could see his clothes more clearly. He was wearing what appeared to be a golfing jumper and a very old pair of jeans, slightly too big for him and held up with a thick leather belt.
"Are your parents wizards Emmie?" He asked her, "my mum is, my dad's a Muggle," she replied, "perfect, what d'you think?" He asked anxiously, "we're supposed to go incognito - do I look like a Muggle?"
"Erm yeah," said Emmie smiling, "I suppose."

"George!" Said Mrs Weasley sharply and they all jumped.
"What?" Said George in an innocent tone that deceived nobody.
"What is that in your pocket?"
"Nothing!"
"Don't you lie to me!"
Mrs Weasley pointed her wand at George's pocket and said, "Accio!"
Several small, brightly coloured objects zoomed out of George's pocket; he made a grab for them but missed and they landed right into Mrs Weasley's outstretched hand.
"We told you to destroy them!" Said Mrs Weasley furiously holding up what were unmistakably more Ton-Tongue Toffees. "We told you to get rid of the lot! Empty your pockets, go on, both of you!"
It was an unpleasant scene; the twins had evidently been trying to smuggle as many toffees out of the house as possible and it was only by using her Summoning Charm that Mrs Weasley managed to find them all.
"Accio! Accio! Accio!" She shouted and toffees zoomed from all sorts of unlikely places including the lining of George's jacket and the turn-ups of Fred's jeans.
"We spent six months developing those!" Fred shouted at his mother as she threw the toffees away.
"Oh, a fine way to spend six months!" She shrieked. "No wonder you didn't get more O.W.L.S!"
All in all the atmosphere was not very friendly as they made their departure. Mrs Weasley was still glowering as she kissed Mr Weasley on the cheek though not nearly as much as the twins who had hoisted their rucksacks onto their backs and walked out without a word to her.

It was chilly and the moon was still out. Only a dull, greenish tinge along the horizon to their right showed that daybreak was drawing closer. Ginny ran to catch up with Emmie and Fred who were walking hand in hand. "What's it like having a Muggle dad?" She asked, "like before Hogwarts were you homeschooled like us?"
"No, my mum wanted to homeschool us but my dad got his way and me and my sister went to a Muggle school," Emmie replied, "you have a sister?" Ginny asked, "yeah, her name is Mel. She's coming to Hogwarts this year."
They trudged down a dark, dank lane towards a village. Emmie's hands and feet were freezing. They didn't have breath to spare for talking as they began to climb Stoatshead Hill, stumbling occasionally in hidden rabbit holes and slipping on thick black tuffets of grass. Emmie started to struggle so rode on Fred's back for the rest of the journey.
"Whew," panted Mr Weasley taking off his glasses and wiping them on his sweater. "Well we've made good time - we've got ten minutes..."
Hermione came over the crest of the hill last, clutching a stitch in her side.
"Now we just need the Portkey," said Mr Weasley replacing his glasses and squinted around at the ground. "It won't be big... Come on..."
They spread out, searching. They had only been at it for a couple of minutes, however, when a shout rent the still air.
"Over here, Arthur! Over here, son, we've got it!"
Two tall figures were silhouetted against the starry sky on the other side of the hilltop.
"Amos!" Said Mr Weasley, smiling as he strode over to the man who had shouted. The rest of them followed.
He was a wizard with a scruffy brown beard and he was holding a mouldy-looking boot.
"This is Amos Diggory, everyone," said Mr Weasley. "Works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. And I think you know his son Cedric."
"Hi," said Cedric, looking around at them all.
Everybody said "hi" back except Fred and George who merely nodded. They had never quite forgiven him for beating Gryffindor in the first Quidditch match of the previous year.
"Must be nearly time," said Mr Weasley quickly pulling out his watch. "Do you know whether we're waiting for any more, Amos?"
"No the Lovegoods have been there for a week already and the Fawcetts couldn't get tickets," said Mr Diggory.
With difficulty, owing to the bulky backpacks, the ten of them crowded around the old boot held out by Amos.
They all stood there, in a tight circle, as a chill breeze swept over the hilltop.
It happened immediately: Emmie felt as though a hook just behind her navel had been suddenly jerked foreward. Her feet had left the ground; she could feel Fred and George on either side of her, their shoulders banging into hers; they were all speeding forwards in a howl of wind and swirling colour and then -
Her feet slammed into the ground and the Portkey hit the ground near her head with a heavy thud.

Everyone stood up and dusted off their clothes, "are you alright my love?" Fred asked Emmie as he grabbed her arm to stop himself falling over from the dizziness, "yeah," she smiled.

They trudged up the misty field between long rows of tents. They had reached the very edge of the wood at the top of the field and here was an empty space with a small sign hammered into the ground that read "Weezly."
"Couldn't have a better spot!" Said Mr Weasley happily. "The pitch is just on the other side of the wood there, we're as close as we could be." He hoisted his backpack from his shoulders. "Right," he said excitedly, "no magic allowed, strictly speaking, not when we're out in these numbers on Muggle land. We'll be putting these tents up by hand! Shouldn't be too difficult... Muggles do it all the time..."

All of them stood back to admire their handiwork before having a look inside. The outside looked like a tiny two man tent but inside looked like an old-fashioned, three roomed flat, complete with bathroom and kitchen; the girls tent was slightly smaller.

- Princexiero xx