Not Alone After All

Chapter XLIV

Fred, George and Laura cheered when Viktor Krum caught the snitch. Not only were they fans of Krum, but Ireland had won, and they had all won their bets. After having recieved their money from the Minister, the group walked back to their tents, where they were celebrating their win.

"Here," Laura told the twins, handing them the money she had won. The two immediately frowned.

"What are you doing?" George asked her. None of them reached out to grab it from her hand.

"Giving you the money," she said in an obvious tone, extending her hand more aggressively at them. The two literally backed away from her. "What?"

"We can't take that," Fred told her. They weren't about to take money from a younger girl. It just felt wrong for some reason, specially since she was their best friend.

"If course you can, here," she separated the money in two and placed each half in one of their pockets. They were unmoving. Laura sighed. "Boys, I don't need it. You two are starting your own business, I'm clearely not. Not to mention you two were the ones who made me take the bet."

"It doesn't feel right, Little Potter," Fred said, reaching into his pocket. Before he could grab the 10 gold coins, however, Laura grabbed his hand which made him freeze.

"Boys, come on," she shook her head. "Take it as a 'shop-opening' gift. If you want to you can repay me when you are rich shop owners."

There was a moment of silence before Fred scooped Laura up in a crushing hug that pulled her off her feet. Laurie squeaked out a laugh as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugging him back. Before she knew, she was on the ground again and another ginger boy was hugging her. As soon as George let go, Laura smiled fondly at her boys.

"Thank you, Laurie," they said at the exact same time. Laura's face fell and she crossed her arms.

"Stop doing that or I' taking it back," she warned, and then walked out of the tent and into the other one; the girls tent where Ginny was already getting ready to settle down in bed.

"Did you give them the gold?" Ginny asked excitedly as soon as she entered. Laura smiled at her, nodding as she took her shoes off. "How did they take it?"

"I didn't give them a choice, they had to accept it," Laura told her.

"So they did object! I knew it! They'd never just take something from you, especially Fred," Ginny told her, sitting down on her bed.

"What do you mean 'especially Fred'?" Laura asked her. Ginny raised her eyebrows at her friend.

"You've got to be kidding me," Ginny exclaimed as soon as she realised Laura didn't know what she was talking about. "He totally likes you!" Laura's cheeks became as red as her own hair.

"He does not!" She argued, which made Ginny laugh.

"He obviously does. He's just too stupid to act on it. That and the fact that George is always around," Ginny explained. "Didn't you see his reaction to Cedric flirting with you?"

"Cedric didn't flirt with me - what is wrong with you Ginny!" Laura said as she threw herself onto her bed, covering her burning face with a pillow.

"Yes, he did! How are you so oblivious!" Ginny laughed. "Fred was literally angry at the sight, how did you not see it! I'm surprised he hasn't said anything about it yet." And from the silence she recieved from the other ginger, Ginny knew he had in fact, said something about it. "He did! What did he say?"

"I - it wasn't anything!" Laura protested. "He just - he said we looked friendly, that's all."

"And what did you say?" Ginny pried.

"I said we were friends," Laura told her. "That we'd become close last year when he felt bad for catching the snitch while Harry was unconscious." And then she recieved a look from the Weasley. "I just reassured him! And I told Fred the truth! What's the problem with that?"

"Oh, Laurie, Laurie," Ginny tsked and shook her head. "You have to sort your boys out."

"Hey, you get no say in this! I will not be accepting any relationship advice from you, miss I-freeze-every-time-Harry-looks-my-way!" Ginny became flustered at that.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she mumbled.

Before Laura could answer anything, the screams they thought were form the celebrations became louder, and before they knew, they were full on shrieks, and they could see people running outside.

"What's going on over there?" Ginny asked Laura, who was currently standing right next to the tent door. She saw how the celebrations were over and everyone seemed to be running away from something.

"I don't know," she admitted. "There's definetely something..."

Before they knew, George burst into their tent, making the two girls shriek in fear. Ginny was quickly on her feet. Fred walked right in after him.

"Get up, come on," Fred said, his face and voice screaming panic. "We have to get out of here."

"What's going on?" Ginny asked her brothers as she quickly grabbed her wand and purse.

"Someone conjured the Dark Mark, we have to go back to the portkey, come on!" George hurried them up, grabbing Ginny's hand as Fred reached to grab Laura's.

"Wait, where's Harry?" Laura asked him before they could follow George and Ginny outside.

"He's probably fine," Fred assured her.

"Probably?" Laura' eyes widened. "Meaning you don't know where he is? Fred, if there's Death Eaters here they're obviously after him! I have to go find him." She tried to run off but Fred held her wrist tightly.

"Laura listen to me," he pulled her back into the tent. "Harry will be fine. He's with Hermione and Dad is looking for the three of them." He waited a few seconds, watching as the girls breathing slowed down just a little bit. "And if you're right and there are Death Eaters around, they're not after Harry, they're after the two of you, so we need to get out of here. Now. Are you with me?" He asked. Laura took a deep breath, but nodded, and so they took off running, praying they wouldn't bump into anyone who would try to kill them.