The Perfect Crime || Fred Weasley

02. The Afterparty from Hell

Deafening, roaring cheers filled every pair of ears from the bottom row of the stadium to the very top, where Jude, Katie, Jessie, and all their new Weasley friends now stood pumping their fists and jeering at the opposing team in victory. Jude lead the pack at the front of their box, leaning over the railing waving the Irish flag with one hand and shaking Jessie excitedly with the other. 

Fireworks exploded overhead with loud booms that shook the stands dangerously, not that anyone seemed to notice from the jumping and rejoicing of the fans that already seemed to make the whole structure tremble. The twins, with their faces painted half-green, danced and skipped around their box in glee, making all of their companions laugh at their usual antics. This was hardly atypical for Fred and George, Jude was coming to learn. 

--

The whole party made their way back to the Weasley tent after the match in a herd of green and Irish flags, discussing every move made and Ireland's incredible win-- Jude could hardly believe their good luck! Or how the twins had managed to bet that Romania's seeker would catch the snitch but Ireland would still win for that matter. But they wouldn't give anyone their reasoning so they were all left to wonder how they managed it no matter how much begging Ginny did to get them to tell. 

Upon her entrance to the Weasley's chaotic, busy tent, she was greeted with their cheers and singing and an immediate rough arm around her shoulders that pulled her into an uncoordinated dance filled with giggles and spins. Normally, things would not end well for a stranger pulling something like that with Jude, but the red-headed careless grin that spun her around the chaos that was the Weasley tent somehow charmed her into a reluctant but not unpleasant little dance. The whole thing lasted for about a minute before the twin (Jude wasn't sure who at the time) finally let her go and introduced himself as Fred Weasley.

"You're Jude Mitchell," Fred stated casually over the other excited voices in the tent to a slightly surprised Jude.

"And you're Fred Weasley. I didn't think we've been formally introduced yet" she stated matter-of-factly as they rejoined Katie and Jessie, who were busy talking to Ron and Harry Potter, who Jude hadn't gotten to know at Hogwarts much.

"Oh, we haven't, really. But everyone remembers the top of our year and how she set Angelica Finbarragh's exam on fire after she cheated off of your answers last year," he said with a mixture of mischief and... was that respect she heard in his voice? 

"That was YOU?" came an identical, impressed voice to Jude's right. George. "Nice work, Mitchell, dazzling performance!"

Jude gave a mock curtsey with a wide grin, and the rest was history. They got on like wildfire in a dry prairie. Jude, Katie, and Jessie didn't have a single problem finding things to discuss with the twins as they celebrated, green hats and green-shaded sunglasses and all. 

More singing and dancing commenced as the volume outside of the tent grew louder and louder with fireworks, cheering, yelling, and singing. Ron stood up on a table and all but professed his love for the Romanian seeker, Viktor Krum, to the delight of his siblings, who of course teased him to no end, not that he seemed to mind. That didn't stop him from gushing about Krum's skills on a broom or his amazing catch tonight, all while being 'the youngest seeker in a century-- except you of course, Harry!' Harry just shook his head and laughed, enjoying the light-hearted abuse immediately received on Ron's part by Fred and George. 

A little while later, the twin's friend Lee Jordan stopped by and they all excitedly relayed the match once again from their different perspectives. Finally, Jessie began to really participate in the quidditch discussion much more than before, though Jude suspected it was because Jessie had began to fancy Lee at the end of last year studying for the Charms exams together. But Jessie would never admit it. Not yet, anyway, Jude thought with a small laugh as she saw Jessie put a hand on Lee's arm as she laughed a bit too hard at a joke he had made.