Bound Together (Fred Weasley)

Chapter 5 - The Store

For two solid years Scarlet avoided the woods at all costs. After that night- waking up in her treehouse with no idea how she got there, constant nightmares of a rabid man-beast chasing her through the trees, and scant visions of red headed boys and moving paintings- she had vowed to never step foot into the woods again.

Not even in the middle of a bright summer day when Dom begged her to play in their treehouse with him.

She wasn't exactly sure why she had suddenly become so terrified of the woods. The nightmares were only just that, right? Nightmares? There were no such things as a rabid man-beast... Were there?

The most dangerous thing Scarlet had seen in the woods were snakes. On occasion she had heard howling late at night emanating from somewhere deep in the woods where no child dare venture. Not even Scarlet, as adventerous as she was.

The howling that had been heard she had always assumed it was wolves. Or maybe a neigborhood dog.

But deep down, she knew there was something wrong with the howls. They were too high-pitched. Almost, human like.

The morning after the mishap in the woods, Scarlet's mother had gone out onto the back porch to drink her morning tea, and upon reentering the house, found the back door to be covered with deep tooth and claw marks, and the window and side of the house were covered in blood and saliva. After calling animal control, Monica had talked to Derek in the kitchen, rather loudly, about how dangerous the woods really were and that Scarlet and Dom weren't allowed to play in them anymore. She added that her husband should look into getting a fence installed  sometime soon.

Monica was convinced that there was a wolf running amuck in the woods and it had rabies.

"With the *re-wilding being such a success, I wouldn't write it off as total fiction yet. There could be wolves in our woods, and one or more could have rabies. Honey, think of the kids."

Derek's wife made a good point, and so to calm her down he suggested that she take the kids to the lolly shop on Main Street for a bit before she heads to work.

"I'll stay here and talk to the animal control guy, see what he has to say on the matter. Then I'll clean it up and see what I can do about the scratch marks."

Not entirely convinced that everything would be okay, Monica reluctantly agreed to take the kids into town.

"Dom have you ever seen so much candy in one place?!" Scarlet was speeding arond the candy store as if she were already on a sugar high.

"You guys can each choose two pieces of candy, plus an ice cream bowl to share."

"Look Scarlet," Dom shoved something into her face. "It's a chocolate frog. I wonder if it's really a chocolate covered frog. Y'know, like those chocolate covered crickets dad pretends he doesn't like." He laughed as their mom made a gagging face.

Scarlet took the frog from him.

"Maybe it is real and it's just waiting for the opportunity to jump out at you." And with that, she threw the frog at her moms face, laughing as her mom screamed.

"Scarlet Ava Lewis! That was not funny and definitely uncalled for. That is not how you behave in a store. Even if it is a candy store."

Scarlet and Dominiq giggled nonstop all the way home, eventually resulting in Monica confiscating the chocolate frogs both of them had chosen as a laugh.

"You can have these back after dinner. IF you behave. Dom I need you to go upstairs and put your laundry away. I won't ask again."

With Dom busy, Scarlet decided to head outside to play with her chalk.