Not Alone After All

Chapter XL

"Thank you for saving us," Laura said as she sat down on one of the beds in the twin's room. "I really don't want to go back there." She whined, letting her back fall on the mattress. George sad on the next bed, facing her, and Fred sat on the ground not too far from the two.

"Why don't you go back to living with professor Lupin?" George asked her as Fred pulled a large trunk from underneath the bed Laura was laying on. He softly lifted her two legs and placed them back on the ground when he had finally retrieved it.

"He doesn't want to risk it, with his condition. And I'm sure Dumbledore wouldn't let me," she told him, sitting back up. "Are those the products?" Her face immediatly lit up when the twins showed her identical smirks.

"These are the ones that you pitched in," Fred said, pulling a relatively large bag from the trunk. "We still need to perfect them, but we needed you here with us." He started to pull them out one by one, explaining which ones they were and how they worked; the Extendable Ears, the Canary Cream, the Fever Fudge. And then they showed her the products they had invented this last summer, such as the Nosebleed Nougat and the Ton-Tongue Toffees, their weapon against Dudley. Finally, the twins showed her their selection of projects they cannot yet realise. Laura felt kind of out of place as they told her that they needed some money before being able to continue their work. Yes, she had money. Her brother and her had inherited everything form the Potters. But she knew it would be awkward to just offer them some financial help, even more since she was a good three years younger than them. She also knew they wouldn't accept any money from her, at least not before she actually decided to work in the shop with them.

"We have a plan though," Fred added. "We're going to bet on the Quidditch game."

"Yeah, we're making a bet with Ludo Bagman." Laura's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"The Minister? Head of the department of Magical games and sports?"

"That exact one," George smirked.

"Please don't tell me you're betting all of your savings."

"We are definitely betting all of our savings," Fred told her with a grin. Laura rolled her eyes. 

"This is stupid, but for some reason I completely endorse it. What's the bet?" She asked with an excited smile. 

"Well, you see, Bulgaria is obviously going to lose to Ireland. They have absolutely no chances of winning. However, Bulgaria has Krum."

"Right," Laura nodded. She had read about the Quidditch Cup, and knew exactly who Victor Krum was. "So you guys think Ireland is going to win but Krum is going to catch the snitch," she guessed. 

"Exactly!" They answered at the same time. 

"Huh, alright. Maybe I'll join in on your bet," Laura bit her lower lip, thinking of something. "What about... five galleons says Bulgaria only scores one goal." 

"Woah, little Potter, didn't think you thought Bulgaria was that bad."

"Only five galleons?" George asked her with a smirk. "Come on, Laurie. We're putting in our whole life savings. Help us out."

"Fine, ten galleons," she rolled her eyes. 

They continued to chat until it was time to settle down and go to sleep. Hermione had arrived during the afternoon, and went to sleep in Ginny's room with the two other girls. 

Barely any time had passed before Mrs. Weasley was in there, waking them up. The girls dressed in silence, too tired to speak, and after tidying themselves up, walked down the stairs to the kitchen, where Mr. Weasley was waiting for them. As soon as they walked in, Mr. Weasley dropped his newspaper and stood up, spreading his arms. 

"We're supposed to go incognito," he explained. "Do I look like a muggle?" He asked Laura and Hermione. Mr. Weasley was wearing what looked like a golfing jumper and an old pair of jeans that looked a tad too big for him. A leather belt held them up. 

"I think so, yeah," Laura said with a smile. She also noticed Ginny's red face upon her best friends complimenting her own father, and she couldn't help but laugh at that.

"It's very good, Mr. Weasley," Hermione agreed.

Soon enough, the boys arrived downstairs. 

"Where's Bill, Charlie and Percy," George asked, trying and failing to stifle a yawn. 

"They're Apparating," Mrs. Weasley explained, starting to ladle porridge into their bowls as they all sat down. 

"So they're still in bed?" Fred said grumpily, pulling his bowl towards him. "Why can't we Apparate too?"

"Because you're not of age, and you haven't passed your test," she snapped, finishing with the porridge and walking out of the kitchen.

"You have to pass a test to Apparate?" Harry asked as everyone started to eat. 

"Oh, yes," said Mr. Weasley, tucking the tickets he'd been holding into his back pocket. "The Department of Magical Transportation had a fine couple of people the other day for Apparating without a licence. It's not easy, Apparation, and if not done properly, it can lead to nasty complications. This pair went and splinched themselves. Everyone around the table except Harry winced. 

"Er... splinched?" Harry asked. They seemed to keep forgetting about Harry's limited knowledge about the Wizarding World. Mr. Weasley explained what it meant and also reassured him that the pair was okay, but they received a heavy fine for their actions. 

The group left, the moon was still out. It only took a few minutes of walking under the moonlight for Laurie to realise how chilly it was. She soon stopped in her tracks to pull out a jumper from her bag. The twins waited for her and let her catch up to them before continuing their walk.

No one had breath to spare for talking as they climbed Stoatshead hill after having walked for what felt like hours. Laura trailed behind and tried her best to keep Mr.s Weasley's pace, but the man was tall and had long legs, and Laura was comparatively very small. 

Upon arriving on top, Mr. Weasley began his search for the portkey, but they were interrupted when a pair of figures appeared on the other side of the hilltop. 

"Over here, Arthur! Over here, son, we've got it!" one of them said. 

"Amos!" Mr. Weasley seemed to have recognised the man. "This is Amos Diggory, everyone," he presented whilst shaking hands. 

Speaking of shaking hands, Laura's were very much trembling. The twins, having spotted this, pulled out a pair of mittens and Fred handed it to her with a smirk. Laura took it, but squinted her eyes at the boy. They smiled. 

"Lord, please, tell me I'm not being pranked," she mumbled, not even caring anymore. Her hands were freezing, along with her feet. Thankfully, she was indeed not being pranked. 

"And I think you know his son, Cedric Diggory?" Mr. Weasley continued his presentation. Cedric flashed a warm smile towards Laura as soon as he noticed her there. Laura and Cedric had once talked. She had assured him, a year prior, about his catching the snitch while Harry had been attacked by Dementors. She tried to assure him that it had been a fair win, and that he'd deserved it. Cedric had been thankful. Yes, Oliver had told him the same thing, but hearing it from Harry's sister had been a relief. Laura smiled back at him the same way. 

Herrmione and Ginny noticed the silent interaction with raised eyebrows, Ginny lightly nudging her with her elbow. Laura frowned at her, but blushed when she understood what they meant. Everyone waved and smiled hello at Cedric, except Fred for some reason. Even George managed a strained smile despite the events of that one quidditch game. Fred only mumbled a greeting and turned back to his brother.

They soon found the port key, which turned out to be an old boot, and before they all knew, they were all standing around it, ready to travel.