Invitation Only ~ Fred Weasley

FORTY

4 months later...

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Times were dark, there was no denying it. The comfort of the apartment above Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was no longer a reality. Not after Bellatrix Lestrange and a band of death eaters had crashed the shop, demanding Fred and George to tell them where Viola Black was. That day, Viola had told them that she had errands to run and that it was a surprise, so when the death eaters fed the twins Veritaserum, they could truthfully tell them that they had no idea where she was.

After that, they couldn't return to the apartment nor the shop. Viola was in danger and they all, including Molly and Arthur, had to go and stay with the twins' great aunt Muriel. She was a peculiar witch who had a tendency of reminding everyone exactly how old she was.

Fortunately, she had a great house with room enough for all of them. To Muriel's dismay, Fred and George had to run their business by their owl-order service.

Things at Hogwarts was even worse. Snape had been appointed Headmaster and no muggle-borns was allowed at school. Every decree that was made during Umbridge's rule was reinstated. This made Viola rage above anything else.

Her and Fred's relationship was tough. They were still set on not letting anybody know beside Scott and George. Fred had to really sneak into Viola's room and they had to be awake before everyone else, so that Fred could sneak away again before anyone noticed.

Times were so dark that they did not dare to speak of the future. It was too risky to make any plans. They would set themselves up for great heartache if they made plans and those plans were ruined by the unthinkable.

Once a day, Lee Jordan stopped by to make a radio program along with various members of the Order. The program brought the real news of the world and pleaded every listener to keep their hopes up. But even after they had said their encouraging words, they gloomed together afterwards.

There had been no word of Harry, Ron and Hermione ever since they broke into the Ministry of Magic. After that, Arthur faced serious trouble at work, since he was a known associate of Harry Potter. He could no longer go into work. Every member of the Weasley family stood to be imprisoned of their traitorous association with muggles and muggle borns. It was utter torture.

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Well into November, Viola found herself down in the dining hall of Muriel's house, looking out the window as if she was trying to find an answer to all of this. She knew that Harry had some sort of plan, but it was unknown as to what it was. But Viola longed to know. To help.

Viola's hair had grown much longer. Her long blonde hair now reached to the end of her back and it fell down in cascades of beautiful waves. After living with Molly Weasley for months, Molly was no longer worried if Viola had enough to eat. Viola ate happily at every meal. She absolutely loved her cooking.

As she stood by the window with a nice cup of tea in her hands, looking out at the landscape, her thoughts were interrupted by Fred Weasley who came close to her and snaked his arms around her from behind and kissed her cheek.

"Feeling sentimental?" Fred asked and Viola chuckled. "Just thinking of Harry." She answered and took a sip of her tea.

"Yeah, I was thinking of them too earlier. Do you really think they have a plan?" Fred asked and tugged her a little bit.