Mischief | Fred Weasley

Three

July soon turned into a very dark and rainy August after an uncharacteristically warm summer. There were very few days in the weeks that Elaine became more and more familiar with her new job at the joke shop where she had the privilege to see the sun for more than a few minutes, with the days ranging from cloudy to complete downpours. The dreary weather kept many in London indoors, with weekdays being slower than they had been. It wasn't until the middle of August, when early shopping for school had begun, that business began to pick up again on the weekends, but many were still unsure if they were ready to return to the rebuilt Hogwarts for the year. 

During one particularly slow day, Elaine was spending her time wandering around the shop while Fred and George were just finishing setting up a new display of potions on the second floor alongside the others. 

"What are these?" Elaine asked, picking up a pink-stained glass bottle. 

"New love potions," Fred explained. "More intense than the others, but don't last as long." 

"Open one up and give it a smell," George said. 

"I know how amortentia works," Elaine said, but opened the bottle anyway, mostly out of her own curiosity. "It smells like rain and cheap cologne and cigarettes," she made a face toward the end as the smells hit her in order. 

"Sounds like Elaine is looking for a real rebel to society," George laughed. 

"No, thank you," Elaine said, placing the cap on the bottle and setting it back down on the shelf. 

-

Elaine's evening walks and meetings with Fred outside of the shop became more of a regular occurrence throughout the weeks, with each meeting and conversation slowly growing in minutes, especially compared to their short interaction that first night. Eventually, they began to take walks around the quiet Diagon Alley rather than just standing by the front door of the shop, talking about business or George and Lee or old memories from their time at Hogwarts before the twins left school and the war began. 

"I still haven't figured out how you two managed to open a whole shop here just after dropping out of school," Elaine said one night when they were stopped to sit on an iron bench a few blocks away from the shop. 

Fred leaned back on the bench, looking off into the distance like he tended to do when he spoke to her. "Harry gave us his winnings from the Triwizard Tournament. He couldn't bear to keep it for himself after... what happened." 

"I can't blame him." 

Fred glanced at her sitting beside him for a moment. "You had been friends, right?" 

Elaine nodded. While she couldn't say that they were exactly close since he was older, she had considered Cedric Diggory a friend, especially during the Triwizard Tournament when he got the help of her and many of her housemates to understand the tasks. His death had been the first of many of her experiences with loss. 

"I'm sorry," Fred said when she did not speak again. 

The two sat in silence, watching as the sprinkle of rain danced across the cobblestone street, the only thing keeping them dry being the spell that Fred placed around them. Good to know when setting off messy pranks, he had told her. 

"What about you?" Elaine finally asked after several minutes. "I can tell you're still haunted by ghosts of the past." 

Rather than answer her question, Fred instead said, "Let's go have a drink." 

Elaine glanced down at the watch on her wrist. "It's two in the morning. Any place respectable would be closed by now." 

"I meant back at the shop," Fred said. "You did say that we should find healthier ways of coping."