Found AIAOY 4

Chapter 2

Arthur climbed the stairs with a slight groan.  They seemed to grow with every passing year, that had to be it.  Two hours before the sun would even begin to glimpse above the horizon, there seemed to be even more stairs than usual.  

But, the day had to start.  They would be hiking to Stoatshead hill in Devon after the Diggory father and son--Amos and Cedric, respectively--arrived at the Burrow.  Nearly each bedroom Arthur woke up reacted in the same way, groaning and pulling of blankets over their heads as if it would hide them from the day's early start.

When Rebecca finally forced herself to get out of bed, it was largely because Hermione had taken all of the blankets and she was too cold to lay there any longer.  Changing quickly, the smell of breakfast urged her down the hall more awake than she had been.  It had become routine to leave the bathroom door open if you were only brushing your teeth, so that others could as well.

Rebecca normally had no feelings about this, though she was left conflicted that morning.  Fred and George tumbled into the bathroom to brush their teeth as well...shirtless.  Rebecca hadn't ever found herself noticing something like this before, certainly not noticing how she was keeping her eyes focused everywhere else.

Wishing them a good morning, Rebecca finished in the bathroom fairly quickly and headed down the stairs to see if she could help with anything.

George, now in the bathroom with just his twin, nudged Fred and gave him a cheeky grin.  "Was I right or was I right?"

"Right about what?"  Fred asked, his face still feeling warm.  He'd never felt embarrassed in front of Rebecca before, but he had felt so exposed in such close quarters with her half-clothed.  "Why couldn't we brush our teeth dressed?"

George's smile dropped and he grew serious.  "Fred, fifth year starts in a week and a half.  We need to up your game!"

Fred rolled his eyes.  "I'll worry about my 'game.'  You worry about the fact that you've dribbled toothpaste down your shorts."

George didn't look until after Fred had left to keep his brother from any satisfaction, but he had, in fact, drooled.  "Damn!"

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"Bathrooms empty if you two hurry."  Rebecca warned, finding Ginny and Hermione to be sitting up sleepily.  "I'll see you downstairs, yeah?"

Rebecca received a chorus of grunts in response.

Harry and Ron were already downstairs, talking about who they thought would win between Bulgaria and Ireland again.  "Ready for a hike?"  Rebecca asked as she stepped between them to get to the kitchen.

"No."  Ron grinned.  "But we're ready for the match!"

"Morning, sweets."  Molly said, not looking over her shoulder but knowing who was coming in as mother's do.  "Open the door, would you?"  Massive quantities of breakfast foods were on plates ready to be dished out and eaten, levitating in the kitchen and waiting for the door to the garden to open.  Tables had been laid out by Charlie and Arthur minutes earlier, too many people in the house to cram into the dining room.  "I've made some muffins, too."

"I'm not that predictable, am I?"  Rebecca asked with a laugh.

Molly laughed as well, but didn't answer.  There was too much to do as she was moving straight from breakfast into packing lunch foods for Arthur to bring for everybody as well.

Fred walked down the stairs, fully dressed for the day.  Rebecca felt a sense of...resignation at the sight.  Shaking her head to clear any remaining thoughts of feelings on the topic.  "Someone told me breakfast is outside."  She said sing-songily.