Daisy Potter and the Wedding (Book 8, Harry Potter ff)

Chapter 28 - Happy New Year

When George and I came back downstairs, it was to a mixed reaction from everyone. They'd all relocated to the living room, where our family was strewn about on sofas, chairs, and the floor.

Harry was glaring at George; Suzanne was giggling at her boyfriend; Ron's ears were bright red again; Hannah was giving me a thumbs-up; Ginny had her gaze pointedly in a book; Luna was gazing dreamily at us; Percy and Blaise were talking, avoiding looking at us; Bill was showing Fleur something on his phone, throwing an amused look over his shoulder at George; Mrs Weasley was scowling as she knitted in the corner; Mr Weasley had his face buried behind a newspaper; Terry was sniggering; Draco was shaking his head; Sirius was grinning; Emily had an eyebrow raised; and Fred was just chilling as if this was a normal situation. Well, I guess for us three it was.

"You need any help, Softpaw?" Terry called across the room. "Yanno, walking, or anything?"

"I'm walking perfectly fine, thanks, Hopper." I said. "As you can see."

"Aww." Terry pouted at George. "Don't you know Softpaw likes it rough?"

Mr Weasley choked on his tea, and one of Mrs Weasley's knitting needles clattered onto the floor.

"Anyway." I said. "Budge up, Freddie, you're taking up half the sofa."

"Oh, my apologies." Fred swung his legs off the cushions. "You can just become my footrest then, babe."

And he plopped them back down in my lap when I sat down.

Bill was thumping his father on the back as he spluttered; George perched on the arm rest next to me, glancing around awkwardly at everyone's facial expressions.

"What?" He asked defensively. Everyone turned back to what they were doing, though not before sending me a quick glance.

"So," I turned to Fred, who raised an eyebrow at me, "George refuses to tell me, so I'm hoping you will. What did you say to your mum to make her so excited earlier?"

"Oh." Fred immediately went bright red. "Er - Mum - she -"

"Fred was just telling me about how you all exceeded your quarterly bonuses." Mrs Weasley said promptly. "Well done, all four of you! You've put in a lot of work to your business."

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. Fred was mouthing, 'thank you' at his mother, and George was letting out a sigh of relief. They all clearly thought they were being sneaky, but I didn't believe them at all.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I took it out. Terry had texted me:

'yo wtf do you think they told her? it defo wasnt anything about the www, thats for fuckin sure 😮‍💨😮‍💨'

I shrugged at him across the room and texted back.

'Literally no clue. I don't believe any of them lmao'

He responded with a joint bitmoji where our two avatars were assassins, and I snorted, pocketing my phone again.

"Ugh, it's too warm in here with that fire, Mum." George groaned, tugging his Weasley jumper up and over his head. I turned. My eyes widened.

George's shirt had rode up underneath his jumper, and the deep red scratches all down his back were on show for everyone to see. I'd left those. I glanced around discreetly, gulping.

"Woah, what happened to you there, George?" Bill called across the room. Everyone immediately turned to look.

Terry started laughing again. Harry slammed his phone down face first onto the table in front of him, turning away and folding his arms. Percy and Mr Weasley were gaping at George's back.