Dusk Till Dawn: A Fred And George Story

December 25, 1997

I learned that the twins were still operating an owl-order system to continue selling products. It had kept their minds off of me.

They were in contact with Lee Jordan and had started some broadcast called Potterwatch that relays news as accurately as possible. You had to have a code word to get in so it was safe. They didn't want any Death Eaters or their friends getting the whereabouts of the Golden Trio.

Every day we heard news of how students were being treated at Hogwarts. The twins' minds were constantly consumed with thoughts of their younger sister, who was undoubtedly one of the pupils who defied the new Headmaster, Snape, and his enforcers of discipline, the Carrows. In fact, I often caught them with their fake Galleons from Dumbledore's Army, either flipping them in the air or clutching them hard in their hands. They were so anxious to help, as was I.

Muriel did not really approve of my staying with boys my same age, just like Mrs. Weasley. She made sure I slept in the room next to hers while the boys had rooms upstairs so she could hear every move I made. Needless to say, she did not trust me at all.

Even so, life at Muriel's was certainly never boring. She took advantage of us "youngsters" to do things for her, sending each one of us away from the others in doing so. We had hardly any free time if any at all. At first she had us do simple tasks such as washing the dishes and doing the laundry, but then things got complicated, and the more obscure the task, all the more difficult it was to complete.

One day she asked George to tend her colony of bowtruckles, which no one knew she had. When he came back inside, all scratched up and in some places bleeding, George muttered, "Not bowtruckles. Whatever they were, they were not. Bowtruckles."

On another day, after reading some article, she, being a very opinionated old lady, had me got out and find the author and tell him about her views on the dragonpox epidemic of 1932, claiming she was too weak and it was too dangerous for her to go out. But in reality, she did not want to leave the comfort of her armchair she spent so much time sleeping in.

And a little under a week ago, she had Fred stir up a remedy to cure her aching feet which she barely used. The recipe was so outrageous Fred swore it was a recipe for disaster instead. Yes, the cauldron exploded not once, but two times.

That woman...

After yesterday's dinner, she had told me to go to the attic and fetch the boxes of Christmas decorations, which she declared must be put up on the day before and not any earlier. I dragged the twins along, who were miraculously off duty.

"Blimey," George said, coughing. "Did anyone else get a mouthful of dust, or was it just me?"

"It wasn't just you," I replied. Fred and I watched and waited as he climbed up the rickety old stairs he had just pulled from the floor above. As soon as he was in the attic, Fred rushed forward and picked up the steps. I helped him raise them back up. I pulled out my wand and muttered, "Epoximise," gluing the steps in place in the ceiling.

"Nice," Fred whispered. We rushed downstairs and crashed down on the couch, not able to hide our smiles from Muriel across the room.

"What? What is it? What is it you've done?"

"Oh, nothing," I answered. "Nothing of importance."

"We just trapped George in the attic by conjuring glue between the staircase and the ceiling," Fred supplied. We looked at her expectantly, wanting her to smile just one time.

She didn't. She said in response, "Didn't you realize he could just Apparate down here with those boxes I asked you to get?"

Fred looked at me. I was ready. "Well, good thing he's not smart enough to think of it."

Muriel scowled. "That wasn't the point, young lady. I asked you to retrieve those decorations and you haven't. That is the point."

I stood and walked out the room to avoid my yelling. I grabbed my jacket and stepped outside for some fresh air. I surveyed the land around me. There was nothing to look at but overgrown grass and weeds. We were in the epitome of nowhere.

I couldn't believe her, nor could I fathom how much she criticized me. All I wanted was to have a little fun in this quarantine of sorts, and I couldn't even do that without a snide comment from the old hag. And it was Christmas Eve, for goodness' sake! Could she not show a shred of sympathy, if not for me, for the situation?

Of course, I didn't argue with her like I usually would have with any other person. After all, it was her house. And she was Fred's family. I wouldn't dare rebuke her for fear of her telling Mrs. Weasley something nasty and horrible about me that would ruin any chance of me gaining her approval.

But she was horrible! I felt like I couldn't stand it any longer. I sat on the ground in the midst of the tall grass in attenpt to hide myself from the world, though I could still see over the top.

Fred showed up on the ground at my right. He slipped an arm around my shoulders and laid his head on me. He didn't say anything for a while. But when he did speak, he said, "George is still up there."

I didn't answer. I was too busy looking at the sun that was beginning to fade over the horizon. "Isabella, don't mind Muriel. She's an old lady that wants to die getting whatever she wishes for."

I sighed. "I suppose so. I just wish she didn't take it out on me all the time."

"I wish that, too." We sat there in the grass, watching the sun set, filling the sky and clouds with hues of orange, pink, and gold. Just then, it started to snow. It was quite romantic. I was about to lean my head on his when my necklace burned against my skin once again. I hurriedly took it off.

I heard a crash from the house.

We got up and turned around. George was looking down at us from the attic window, the shutters severely damaged. "That was nice of you," he said sarcastically.

"You know," Fred jeered. "There is such thing as Apparation." I grinned.

George fled into the attic. Within seconds, he reappeared in front of us with the two boxes of decorations. "Ha! Now you get to help me carry them inside."

"Wingardium Leviosa!" I said, and the boxes lifted up into the air with ease. As I walked to the house with them trailing behind me, I smiled after I'd looked back and saw George's face, which displayed his annoyance of being cheated out of his payback.

We spent the rest of the night hanging various items up and decorating the place. I'll admit, it did help the depressing mood leave the house for a while.

But this morning, it returned.

We all ate our breakfast of omelets and then opened our presents.

Muriel had gotten things for the boys, her family, but she had not gotten anything for me. I had even gifted her a nice new book, because she was always reading on that chair of hers.

I went to my room. I heard yelling from Fred. I heard the slamming of a door.

I decided to take a nap.