Safe With Me ~ Fred Weasley

Harry's Arrival

Cassidy

The rest of the house was a flurry of movement as the minutes ticked closer to five pm. Hermione and I sat along the couch watching Ginny on the edge of her seat, eyes glued to the fireplace as if Harry was going to simply find his own way here and pop up at any second. Molly had agreed that the twins could accompany Ron and Arthur to pick Harry up, so they sat squished into the arm chair nearest the fire, whispering between each other in voices too low for me to hear, try as I might. Ron however was nearly bouncing off the walls in anticipation of seeing his best friend for the first time in months.

"Ron, now settle down. If you need something to do, you can help me straighten the kitchen. Honestly, no idea how muggles keep anything clean without magic, I can barely keep up with the lot of you-"

"Never mind, Molly, you do great. It looks perfect." Arthur said and I caught a smile surfacing on my face as he kissed his wife. "I'll be back in a bit. Sit down and relax."

Molly ignored his words, continuing to scrub down the kitchen table as the rest of us watched the four red heads line up in front of the fireplace.

"Alright, boys, you all know the drill. Speak clearly." Arthur stated as he grabbed a small handful of powder from the pot on the mantel.

He took a step into the flames and we watched his body twist in a few circles before disappearing from our sight.

"Fred, what have you got in your pocket?" I asked, catching a smirk being exchanged between the twins as Fred shot me a wink, his body too spinning into the flames.

Just as George reached for his handful of powder, throwing it into the fire and watching the green flames lick at the air, we heard a scuffle from where the two Weasley's had just disappeared.

"Ouch! Fred, no - go back, go back, there's been some kind of mistake - tell George not to - OUCH! George, no, there's no room, go back quickly and tell Ron-"

The three of us left on the couch were now all at the edge of our seats, listening intently to the words of Arthur carrying back through the flames. Ron looked at each of us in turn as if we would have the answer to his questions.

"Maybe Harry can hear us, Dad - maybe he can let us out -" Fred's voice carried to my ears and I held back a chuckle at the fact that he sounded so amused in this situation.

Ron shrugged and threw his floo powder into the flames, stepping in to join his brothers.

"What are we doing here? Has something gone wrong?"

"Oh no, Ron." Fred remarked sarcastically. "No, this is exactly where we wanted to end up."

My hands shot to cover my mouth as I laughed, Hermione joining me while Ginny sat still seeming quite stressed.

"Yeah, we're having the time of our lives here." said George.

"Boys, boys." Arthur's voice interrupted the boys banter. "Alright, it's the only way. Stand back, Harry!"

The three of us jumped as a bang echoed through the stone of the fireplace, and then the voices were gone.

"They must have gotten through. Don't stress, Ginny." Hermione offered the youngest girl a smile and her previously tense shoulders relaxed slightly.

We sat in near silence for a while, I for one straining to hear Fred's voice again through the flames.

Finally, Fred's tall frame spun into view and tumbled out easily back into the room before us, pushing a pack of brown toffees into his pocket and wearing a dangerous grin.