Love Isn't Easy: A Fred Weasley Story

Chapter 4

Chapter 4      

“And let there be light!” I shouted with glee.  We could see again, and what we saw…well…it wasn’t so pretty.  There was rubble and debris from the blasted apart fireplace, and in the middle of it were myself and the Weasley boys.  Fred threw me onto his back, yet again, so that I was a little more comfortable.  I clung tightly to his neck so as not to fall.

            “That’s better,” Mr. Weasley panted, brushing some dust from himself and straightening his glasses.  “Ah—you must be Harry’s aunt and uncle!”  He walked towards the pair, arm outstretched in an attempt to shake hands, but the two merely backed away frightened.  They seemed to be at an utter loss for words.  “Er—yes—sorry about that.  It’s all my fault.  It just didn’t occur to me that we wouldn’t be able to get out at the other end.  I had your fireplace connected to the Floo Network, you see—just for the afternoon, you know, so we could get Harry.  Muggle fireplaces aren’t supposed to be connected, strictly speaking—but I’ve got a useful contact at the Floo Regulation Panel and he fixed it for me.  I can put it right in a jiffy though, don’t worry.  I’ll light a fire to send Maddie and the boys back, and then I can repair your fireplace before I Disapparate.”

            There was dead silence.  The Dursleys had clearly not understood a word that had come out of Mr. Weasley’s mouth.  I decided to break the awkward silence.  “Hey Harry!  Long time no see.  How you been?” I asked, poking my head out from behind Fred’s.  Harry’s big cousin Dudley, if I remembered what Harry had said correctly, just gawked at me open-mouthed from where he stood.  I’ll admit, it made me feel highly uncomfortable and suddenly became aware of the fact that my legs were wrapped around Fred and I was in a skirt.  Fred gave my legs a little squeeze which made me feel better.  It told me he noticed too and wasn’t going to let that pig anywhere near me.

            “Yes, hello Harry!” Mr. Weasley piped in.  “Got your trunk ready?”  

            “”It’s upstairs,” Harry grinned.

            “We’ll get it,” Fred offered.  He, George, and I left the room to get the trunk.  Well…I was more carried out than anything else.  We knew where Harry’s room was from the last time we had come to rescue him.  Fred put me down when we got to Harry’s room so that he could help George with the trunk.  “I swear to God, if we weren’t using the Toffee I would beat the ever loving shit out of this Dudley kid,” Fred growled as he and George lifted the trunk.

            “Umm…why the violence?” I asked, puzzled.

            Fred looked at me like I was crazy, “Didn’t you notice he’s looking at you like you’re a piece of meat?  I, for one, won’t stand for that!”

            “Oh look at Freddie getting all protective!” I gushed jokingly.  “And yes, for your information, I noticed him creeping.  That’s a pretty amazing feat, seeing how fat your head is.”

            “Oi watch it Love, that hurts,” Fred fake pouted.

            “Your chariot awaits, milady,” George laughed and nodded towards the trunk.  I beamed at the two of them and took a seat.  The three of us laughed as they carried the trunk, along with me, back to the living room.  Everybody just turned and stared as the three of us made our way back into the living room.  Upon seeing Dudley looking at me once again, Fred’s and George’s faces cracked into their identical Weasley twin grins. 

            “Ah, right.  Better get cracking then.”  Mr. Weasley rolled up his sleeves and lit a fire in the newly exposed fireplace with a flick of his wand.  “Off you go then, Fred, Maddie.” he offered the two of us a small bag full of floo powder.