Brontide

Chapter Thirteen

"I'm not sure I like this idea," Fred said from my bedroom doorway, sounding rather uneasy. I dug through the dresser that Rae and I shared, looking for something suitable to wear. I tried not to pay much attention to Fred.  Rae and Tonks were waiting in the sitting room, ready to go to the concert and I'd overslept.

"Look, you and George can worry about feeding yourselves for one night. I'm going to see The Weird Sisters and I'm going to have a damn good time," I said with finality, pulling out a black t-shirt and ripped blue jeans. I turned to look at him. "What are you so worried about anyway?"

I saw him visibly swallow. "Well, I dunno if you've been reading the newspaper at all but Death Eaters have been wreaking havoc all over the place and...well, what if something happens?" he said awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Nothing's going to happen, there'll be a ton of security, I'm sure of it." He didn't look completely convinced. "Seriously, Fred, don't think about it," I urged him. He shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, I suppose..."

He was acting weird. I narrowed my eyes at him slightly. "What's going on with you?" I asked skeptically.

"Nothing's going on," he said quickly, shrugging his shoulders again.

"I think I know you well enough to know when you're lying," I said with a roll of my eyes.

He looked about to protest when I heard Tonks yelling from the sitting room. "Can you two hurry it up? I wanna see Myron Wagtail already!"

"Whatever it is, it's gonna have to wait," I told him, pushing him out of the room so I could change.

It was now a Sunday near the end of July and we were supposed to see The Weird Sisters in concert. Ever since Rae had talked to me about acknowledging some supposed feelings I had for Fred, well, I was having a hard time not thinking about him. It was bad enough we were living under the same roof and I had to see him almost every waking moment of every single day. I didn't want to think about it, I really didn't, because it truly freaked me out beyond anything else. 

I'd always told myself that the childish feuds we'd start between each other were our way of communicating, and never had it occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, it had been flirting. It terrified me senseless but I decided to deal with it by covering my emotions in even more denial. It'd work well thus far, in my opinion.

I changed into my clothes and made sure I had my ticket, some money and my wand on me before meeting everyone in the sitting room. Tonks had altered her appearance for the occasion as one of the just-in-case-something-happens preparations. She'd made herself taller with a pointed nose and chin, her eyes a clear hazel color and her hair electric blue and spiky. She wore a black t-shirt that said The Weird Sisters on it and some ripped jeans, and she had a nose ring. It was the first time I'd seen her since my birthday and she looked excited. Rae had opted for a tie-dye shirt and pair of shorts, her short hair swept back with some clips. Fred and George stood near each other, both of them looking slightly worried.

"Are you ready to go?" Tonks asked me. I nodded my head. "Good. Do you have your ticket?"

I pulled it out of my pocket and held it up. "Yup," I replied, popping the 'p'. I turned to Fred and George. "Don't get into too much trouble while we're gone. Also, if one of you could feed Nestor and let him out sometime tonight I'd appreciate it."

Fred smirked a little. "No promises about staying out of trouble."

"It's almost pointless to ask anymore," George pointed out.