Sarah Copper made Fred Weasley's pulse race. There was something about the confidence that did it for him.
* * *
"So, Sarah - " George began.
"We were hoping we could have your help?" Fred continued, draping an arm on the back of the sofa.
"Sure...
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Fred and George had done a fair bit of thinking recently. The pair had made an offer upon a shop in Diagon Alley.
"93 Diagon Alley is ours!" George announced to Fred, dropping their confirmation letter on the table.
A smile lit up Fred's face, "Really?"
George nodded enthusiastically. Fred let out a delighted laugh as he leapt to his feet, enveloping George in a hug.
"This is great!" Fred exclaimed, receiving a few looks from passers-by.
"Yeah! There's one issue though," George pulled away from Fred.
Fred, too high on euphoria, rolled his eyes with a smile, "What issue could there possibly be?"
George frowned slightly, "The real estate agent needs us to sign some papers."
Fred laughed, waving his hand dismissively, "We can do that. No sweat!"
George let out an annoyed huff, "Yeah, but we need to go there in person. The real estate agent is moving to Bali in the next two weeks, so if we don't go there and sign these papers, we'll lose the shop!"
The smile slipped from Fred's face for a moment, before it appeared again, "Then we can go. It's no issue."
There was uncertainty laced in his voice, and George could sense it.
"You really think Umbridge is going to let us go?" George asked, as the pair took seats at Gryffindor Table.
Fred frowned, "I'm not letting her take this away from us."
"Well, I don't want her to either, so we have to think of something," George replied firmly.
There was a moment of silence, the pair glaring at the table, racking their brains for ideas.
"We can't just temporarily leave," Fred stated softly.
George looked at him, brows furrowed in thought, "What?"
Fred straightened up from his slouch, letting out a groan, "If we leave, we can't come back."
George's gaze softened, "That's - that's big."
Fred nodded, "I think it's our only option."
"Mum's going to hate us," George frowned, fidgeting with his sleeves.
"Really?" Fred ran a hand over his face, his mind racing with thoughts.
"Yeah - " George began, " - She wanted us to get some grades and go work some 9 to 5 job -"
" - A fat load of good some failed NEWTs are going to do for us, George!" Fred snapped in reply, sitting up sharply once again.
George let out an annoyed "Urgh!" before saying, "Don't get all pissy at me just because I don't want our own mother to disown us -"
