My Mind Never Sleeps (Part Three of the Weasley Trilogy)

Tell Her You Love Her

I had been on edge all week, knowing my surprise from Fred and George would be coming at any moment since they're the most devious people I know. Almost more than me. Almost though. Xyla and I had been staring each other down for the past hour, obviously thinking the same thing.

"What the bloody hell are they doing? They never take this long to prank us," Xyla said, biting her nails in a nervous fashion.

I shrugged and shook my head, my growing fringe falling in my face. "I have no idea. I've lived with them for ten years. I've never seen them act this way."

We watched as the boys rode around the store on broomsticks, playing Quidditch in the middle of the store on a Friday. Friday was the busiest day of the week for us, and they were up in the air, playing freaking Quidditch.

"IT'S OKAY GUYS. XYLA AND I CAN JUST RUN THE STORE," I yelled up at the twins, laughing and screaming as they hit the Bludger back and forth. It was nice watching them play, though. It had been awhile since they'd had any fun like that. "I'm not pregnant or anything," I said, under my breath. Xyla didn't even notice. She just stared wide-eyed at the air, her mouth hanging open.

I rolled my eyes at my friends and walked away. It's weird that me, Anabelle Tobias,...well, I guess Weasley now, was actually doing work. A lone box sat in an aisle and I moved to pick it up, standing the way that I have to now, to grab things over my growing torso. In the box was a bunch of broken knick-knacks and defective pranks. I sighed and lugged the heavy box over to a counter as fast as I could. No one was in the back room, so I kicked the door closed and set the box on the flat surface. A stool was sat in front of it, and I climbed up as best as my short legs would let me.

My fingers roamed the box for a while, finally resting on a wind-up toy of a soldier with a gun in his hand. It was supposed to shoot out spit wads at random times, but instead, the gun was oozing white goo and falling over the rest of the objects in the box.

So, I began fixing it. The Muggle way.

I've had a lot of time lately to do things slowly. I have the rest of my life ahead of me. Fred might have grown up quickly and too soon, but that doesn't mean I have to. I can take things at my own pace.

"She'll tell you secrets. You'll tell her secrets, too." I didn't even think about it. I was just singing without a care, coming up with lyrics off the top of my head. "She'll tell you all her hopes and dreams. You'll tell them, too..."

I sighed and looked down, past the fragmented object in front of me.

"When she says she loves you, tell her you love her too." And with that, I was shaking my head in disbelief. I never wanted to grow apart from my friends, but that's exactly what we were doing. And it hurts more than I ever imagined. Our whole lives are messed up and I feel like it's my fault. I know that seems selfish, like I believe the world revolves around me, but I can't help but feel like I have everything to do with this.

With another sigh, I set down the trinket and opened my notebook to a fresh page. And I started writing.

*

The door slammed open about three hours into my daydream, making me jump and almost crash to the floor. I slid off of the stool and onto my feet in one swift movement, staring at Fred in the process.

"Hey," I said bluntly.

He nodded his head at me, a smile not even crossing his lips.

He fucking nodded his head at me and walked away into another aisle.

I raised my eyebrows and hummed a low whistle through my teeth. "Okay, then." I sat back up on the stool and picked up the soldier again, winding up the key in the back and testing the product. It was such a stupid idea for a prank. Spit wads are for Muggles. My chest heaved up down with each twist of my wrist. I had a frown on my face, obviously irked by Fred's movements a few minutes ago.