Chapter 1
"Miss Potter Weasley!" Madam Malkin's voice was sharp and scolding as she looked down at the arrivals from behind her counter. "Punctuality is a stable in every respectable young witch's repertoire, not to mention a business owners! You ought-"
"That'll do, won't it?" Fred interrupted. "We're behind schedule because mum was finishing the last of these." He lifted up the basket at his side, breads and pastries of many different kinds inside from Molly's kitchen. "I hope this makes up for our," Fred glanced at the clock and tried to hide his grin that Rebecca could see fighting to shine. "Three minutes of tardiness."
Madam Malkin studied him, sensing cheek but unable to find it. "Well, it will suffice. Come, I need measurements."
Rebecca looked up at Fred with a scrunch of his nose he tried to memorise instantly. "The mystery appointment is robes?"
Madam Malkin glanced back at her and how she wasn't following to the raised dais. "Will we be doing this?" Rebecca hurried along, not forgetting how Fred ignored her question and hoping to ask the seamstress. Before she could even ask though, Madam Malkin ended her hopes. "Silence, please. I need silence for my measurements to be exact."
Rebecca did as she was told. Arm to arm, around her head, her nose, her ears...The enchanted measuring tape zipped around her and showed Madam Malkin's each measurement. Fred leaned against the counter near the shop's entrance and laughed softly to himself as Rebecca's eyes crossed to see the tape between her eyes.
"Okay, arms to the side."
Rebecca continued to follow the instructions. Around her shoulders, around her waist, around her chest. She glanced up at Fred shyly as the fabric of her shirt was held against her as a second skin, meeting his. Fred's gaze laid on her well after she averted her eyes, a weight that brought a heat to her cheeks she couldn't wish away.
Madam Malkin continued to write out measurements on the pad she kept out of Rebecca's sight, entirely unaware of the tensions rising the distance of her shop. The tape went to Rebecca's lower half, measuring from hip to ankle last.
"What's funny?" Rebecca asked. As if Fred's studious staring hadn't been enough to make her self conscious, Madam Malkin tittering at her measurements certainly was.
"Your measurements are almost exactly proportionate." Madam Malkin elaborated when an epiphany eluded Rebecca. "It's very unlikely in someone of your stature."
"My stature." Rebecca echoed.
"It's just-well, your robes haven't been raised since last year." Madam Malkin waved her hand, that being all the attention she would give the conversation. "Tomorrow evening, Mister Weasley!" She called to the door, not walking them to the exit and opting to give her pad of paper her full attention.
"And everything we talked about?" Fred asked as he slipped his hand into Rebecca's.
"I'm not daft."
"No, no you're not." Fred grinned at Rebecca. "Thank you!" The bell on the door rang as they exited and Fred hurried Rebecca along the nearly empty early-morning streets of Diagon Alley. "Come now, no more playing around. There's lots to be done!"
"I know!" Rebecca swung their arms between them, keeping his pace and eventually being the one to hurry him.
George poked his head from where he had already begun the work of the day as they entered. His face was already red and sweaty, Fred picked up the other half of the shelf George had been trying to move on his own with a wave of disgruntled mutters, not liking how George was going to hurt himself.
With the shelf exactly where George wanted it, he put his hands on his hips and nodded. "About time, slackers. I've straightened this half, but they all need tightening still."
"I'll take the other half then." Fred volunteered.
"And what will I do?" Rebecca asked quickly. "Do you want to split it in thirds? Do we need more products out here? What about-"
"Woah." George held his hand up, pausing the flood of questions. "I was almost to you." Rebecca's eyes bounced from his to the hand he held at her and he lowered it. "If you wouldn't mind," George asked nicer. "We need sweets as back up for tomorrow."
"Anything in particular?" Rebecca asked as she went to the stairs.
"Surprise us!" Fred and George called in unison.
Rebecca did as she was asked, leaving the door to the flat open so the sound of the song beginning from the record player downstairs could reach the third bedroom they had as a laboratory of sorts. Pushing her glasses up her nose, Rebecca put herself to work happily.
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"REBECCA!" George shouted up the stairs for the third and loudest time.
Rebecca jumped, startled out of her concentration. "WHAT?" She called down, not leaving her hard work.
"Does she expect me to shout all day?" George asked Fred with a look, blaming him entirely.
"We could always just--you know--go upstairs." Fred laid a hand on the bannister and began to walk up.
George sighed so heavily Fred had to look back at him to see the hand he held against his forehead. "It's so far." George opened on eye and apparated to the top of the stairs. "That's better."
Fred laughed with him and ran up the rest of the stairs and then to the supply room.
"What the hell?" George whispered, counting the stack by the door.
Rebecca had adjusted the set up so that she could have two batches of whatever at the same time and, in the few hours they had been downstairs, had managed to finish and box up Ton-Tongue Toffees, Bouncing Bon-Bons, and was nearly done with the second batch of Lying-Lollies.
"Sorry," She used the back of her hand to push away a strand of hair that refused to stay out of her eyes. "If I'd left, the sugar would have hardened and we'd have stickless lollies. Very messy, very bad for business."
"You made all this?" Fred asked.
"Yeah!" Rebecca smirked, proud of herself. "Going two at a time really helped."
"You know we don't open until Friday, right? We've got two days and plenty of time." George looked at her teasingly, but with a degree of seriousness. "You don't have to work like your hair's on fire."
Rebecca stuck the last stick in and looked at George annoyed. "Are you seriously trying to scold me for working?"
George ducked behind Fred wish his hands above his head. Fred chuckled and crossed the room to her, moving the tray behind him and sitting on the table in front of her. "Scold? Never."
"That's not what his tone said." Rebecca defended.
"We just think we've gotten enough done." Fred redirected. "Downstairs is nearly finished, only have to shelve these last things and sweep up. With all that you've made, we won't have to again until next week at least."
"But-"
"Let's go for a walk and find some lunch, enjoy ourselves a bit."
Rebecca sighed and leaned forward, putting her forehead against his chest. His tone said that he wouldn't be convinced against an outing. "But this was enjoyable! I feel like I've actually done something, I hardly helped with any-"
"SHE'S DOING IT!" George shouted, picking up a handful of wrapped candy from the top of the box nearest him and pelting it at Rebecca. "FRED!!!"
Fred took a deep breath. "He's right, love."
"Please don't." Rebecca tried to take a step backwards, but Fred's hands shot out and grabbed her waist. "Fred?!"
"It's too late. You know what has to happen." He launched forward and hooked his fingers into the sides of her stomach, tickling her ferociously. Rebecca dropped to the floor in silent screams of laughter, writhing back and forth as Fred continued to tickle her from above. "Not allowed!" He paused after another moment. "Are you done?"
Rebecca's cheeks were red and tears of laughter beaded at the corners of her eyes, but she wasn't giving in so easily. "No! I'm just trying-"
Fred tickled her again, dodging all her attempts to get him off and his hands away. When he paused, he asked her again. "Now?"
Rebecca nodded, unable to speak immediately. Fred moved like he was going to start again and she moved away from his hands. "I'm done! I'm done!"
"Good." Fred stood up and held his hand out to her, helping her to her feet.
Rebecca sighed and looked over the working and excess room. "Friday seems so close and so far."
George nodded. "Now, more importantly, what are we thinking for lunch? Three Broomsticks or something new?"
Fred's head jerked up from where he was tying his shoes. "How about a game?"
*******************************************
"If you don't bloody choose, I'm going cannibal!" George shouted, long tired of the game because of how long Fred took at every intersection. "Just pick a damned direction because I'm not starting with you!"
Fred glanced at Rebecca and pursed his lips. "Well now I can't decide; you're pressuring me."
Rebecca giggled and nodded her head to the left, curious as to what George's reaction would be.
"Left." Fred said surely, putting Rebecca between he and George just in case.
"A circle." George stopped, his heart falling into his stomach which--while this would have given him something to digest--was entirely unpleasant a feeling. "You've spent two hours taking us in a circle."
"Three Broomsticks it is!" Rebecca called out, opening the door.
George walked through slowly. "Too hungry to fight." Rebecca giggled even after George glared at her. "You think it's funny? Listen!" Rebecca promptly had her head put against his stomach to hear the growling she probably would have been able to even if she wasn't right up against him. "I'm starving to death!"
"Are you two coming or not?" Fred called from the queue. George said he just wanted whatever Fred was having and went to find a seat for them all; Rebecca passed along the same and followed after George.
Fred, after ordering three of the same, raised an eyebrow at their seating arrangement. "Really?"
"You deserve worse." George pointed for Fred to sit across from him, Rebecca by his side instead of Fred's as routine would have had it.
"So, tomorrow." Fred changed the subject as he sat down.
"Tomorrow." Rebecca nodded, tapping against the lip of the table until George's look stopped her. "Sorry." She mumbled, holding her hands together and actively trying to sit still.
"We only have enough work to fill in tomorrow morning really," Fred paused as the chippy plates came and George dug in. "I was wondering if you wanted to go somewhere tomorrow afternoon, RJ. George has a business meeting?"
"Oh, it's a business meeting now?" Rebecca grinned. "I thought it was staff training, so the clerk is knowledgeable about all the products and such."
George blushed and looked only at his lunch, continuing to eat.
Fred met Rebecca's eyes and matched her little smile. "So, with this in mind, I wondered if you'd like to spend the day exploring."
"Diagon Alley?"
"Diagon Alley, sure. London too." Fred shrugged. "We'll have the entire day."
Rebecca asked only one more question as they ate, curious about the logistics for the next day. "Should I floo to the shop and then we can just leave from here?"
"I'll get you from home." Fred said quickly. "You don't have to floo. Not tomorrow, not Friday--not any day."
"I don't mind." Rebecca raised an eyebrow. "I don't want to be-"
"You will not floo." Fred tried to sound stern, but he really just sounded like he was pleading.
"I won't?" Rebecca's jaw set in defiance.
Fred's eyes softened and he laid his hand on hers. "No, you won't. I'll be there for all your traveling needs. Please? Let me do this for you?"
George's attention flitted from one to the other, seeing the battle of wills between them both.
"Fine." Rebecca looked away. "If it means that much to you, but I think your just showing off."
"I would never."
*******************************************
"So..." Rebecca began as she sat on the chair opposite Molly. "You don't happen to know what this morning was about, do you?" Rebecca had already asked everyone else that was around the Burrow post-lunch but had gotten no hints.
"No!" Molly laughed and shook her head. "Don't come in here and pester me, I'm working."
"Muggle studies?" Rebecca asked, glancing at the Muggle novel in Molly's hands.
"Something like that."
Rebecca picked up one of the random books on the table and opened it, though she paid it no attention. Her eyes landed on the telephone on the wall in the kitchen, silent as ever. Harry still hadn't called but she didn't feel like there was anything off about this, though she missed him terribly.
"If you're going to pretend to read, you should at least make sure the book is rightside up." Molly didn't look up from her page. "Tomorrow evening will be here before you know it if you'd stop thinking about it."
"I know." Rebecca put her head back. "I'm trying."
Ginny and Ron stumbled into the doorway, knocking each other off and out of their way. "Quidditch?" They panted.
"Brilliant." Rebecca followed and caught her broom as Ron tossed it to her. Behind them, Molly considered asking why her two youngest had been breathless and shoving, but decided she would rather not know what brought them into a scuffle.
Rebecca threw her broom under as she ran out the back door, her momentum leaving her with an excellent take off. Ron and Ginny followed and took the lead, all three of them making their way to the home pitch Arthur had built years before Rebecca had joined the house.
Ginny held the quaffle under her arm, looping around Ron slowly.
"Only three." Ron noted, his tone low.
"The best three." Ginny argued. "We've got a co-captain, a keeper, and a-well, what am I now?" She tried to hide her panic, but it wasn't entirely maskable.
"Angelina's graduated now, we're down a chaser." Rebecca smiled, teasing. "If you're interested, that is."
"If I'm-" Ginny threw the quaffle at Rebecca's head and she caught it. "Of course!"
"Unofficially for now. Angelina's final request was that tryouts still be held."
"Tryouts?" Ron paled. "We have to try out?"
"It's just a formality." Rebecca reassured. "You and Ginny kick arse, you have nothing to worry about." Ron didn't look entirely placated, so Rebecca prompted them to do what they had gone for--to play. "You keeping, keeper?"
Ron took off towards the rings, intimidated by the look Ginny was giving him. "We're not going mental, are we? This is just for fun?"
Rebecca and Ginny flew towards center-pitch, taking off in blurs. Dodging around invisible opponents and looping higher and lower, Ginny had the quaffle going between them so fast Ron could hardly follow it.
"Oh no." Ron whimpered. His trepidation proved perfectly apt by the end of their playing. Ginny made it her goal to hit Ron as many times as she could with the quaffle and this only made Ron angrier and angrier, increasing his focus. Before long, neither chaser could get a single goal past him.
"You have to remember this during a match!" Ginny shouted from above Ron and Rebecca as they returned to the house at Molly's call. "We'll never lose!"
"She's not wrong." Rebecca leaned forward on her broom, urging them along faster. "You were amazing!"
Ron pushed his hair up off his forehead. "It'll be easy playing against Malfoy, his ugly mug is enough to piss anyone off."
Rebecca frowned, but didn't voice her disagreement. It was hard to argue for him any longer, to say that people could change when she couldn't help but remember his watching of Cedric's beating and the role he played in the aftermath of the fall of Dumbledore's Army.
Molly was standing in the kitchen when they tumbled in, chatting away into the phone. "These Muggles, they've certainly got a knack for communication!" She stopped every few minutes to look through the ends, wondering where Harry was to be speaking out of it. "I can practically see you!"
"Is it Harry?" Rebecca asked, kicking her shoes off at the door. Molly nodded and said her goodbye quickly, handing the phone off. "Hi Harry! How are you? I miss you, it feels like it's been ages already. How are they treating you? Are they behaving? Do we need to come get you? What about food--are they-"
"Rebecca!" Harry laughed loudly, bringing about Petunia's attention from across the kitchen. She was as far away from his as possible and would have not entered the kitchen at all, but dinner had to be started and Vernon would never have considered doing it for once. "I can't answer your questions if you never stop asking them!"
"Oh, okay." Rebecca was silent a moment and had to prompt him into answering any that he could remember. "Well?"
"I'm fine." Harry could practically see the disbelief that would have been on her face. "Really, nothing to report." Petunia relaxed at the words, remembering all of the people who had stood behind the Potter twins in King's Cross station. "I miss you too. They're being fine and I've been eating. But enough about that, what have you been doing so far? Molly mentioned quidditch--that's smart. We'll have an even better chance at the cup next year if all three of you are at your sharpest."
"Today...well, Fred and I went to Madam Malkin's first thing. No, I don't know why and no, no one will give up even the tiniest of hints." She rolled her eyes at how he laughed at her. "The three of us worked for a little this morning; I made some extra stock for the weekend and then we had lunch. Made some plans for tomorrow and then I came back here to pester everyone a little while, then ended up at quidditch which you know about." Rebecca took a deep breath, realising she had probably bored the hell out of Harry with such a lengthy description of the day nearly done. "What about you?"
Harry hadn't been bored, no in the slightest. He hung onto her every word and tried to imagine himself alongside their days instead of alone in his room. "Me? Umm, nothing much."
"Nothing?" Rebecca repeated. "I'm sorry, Harry." An idea came to her like a bolt of lightning. "What are you doing tomorrow?"
Harry turned towards the living room at how Vernon and Dudley sat watching the television exactly as they had all day. "Nothing again."
"Let me talk to Aunt Petunia."
"Rebecca, I'm not sure if-"
"Just do it?"
Harry sighed and took the phone from his ear. "Rebecca would like a word."
Aunt Petunia's face paled and she crossed the kitchen slowly. Vernon was so engrossed with his programme that he didn't notice anything amiss. "Hello?" Petunia spoke quietly.
"Hello!" Rebecca's voice dripped in enthusiasm and cordiality, speaking as if they were the best of friends and had been for years. "How are you?"
"I'm fine, thank you. W-what did you need to talk about?"
"I'm taking a tour around London tomorrow and have reserved a spot for Harry too. We can pick up him near yours or he can bus somewhere we can meet him, it's up to you whichever." Rebecca had purposefully left the only question 'where' they could get Harry and not 'if.'
"I think-"
"Or, I could stop by your house and get him there, too."
"No." Petunia's voice was as loud as she dared to make it without alerting Vernon of the prospect that the second Potter might be near their home. "He'll bus somewhere, you can sort out the details with him."
"Thank you!" Rebecca couldn't believe this was working. "We'll have him back around four, if that's okay with you?"
"Four is fine, goodbye." Petunia put the phone back into Harry's hand and hurried back to where she had been preparing dinner before Vernon noticed she had paused.
"What was that?" Harry asked quietly.
"Half past eight, Harry. Be ready." Rebecca tried to remember anything from the little time she had spent on Privet Drive. "We'll pick you up in that tunnel from last summer, remember?"
"Pick me up for what?" Harry asked, though he didn't really care. He would have watched paint dry with her if it meant seeing her before his three weeks were over. "And who's we?"
Rebecca had her hand twirling around the cord to the phone. "A cultural tour of England's capitol? And we is Fred and I--George has a 'business appointment.'"
Harry wanted to ask her what she really meant by tour of London, but didn't dare with Petunia still nearby. "Why did you say it like that?"
"Because George has just been dying to see Ced, that's why. Hardly any business there."
"Funny business?" Harry offered with a soft laugh. They talked longer until it was time to exchange their goodnights, the last of the next day's plans finalised.
The second Harry hung up, Rebecca dialed the number to the phone Molly had insisted Fred and George put in their flat.
"Hello love!"
"Wouldn't you be embarrassed if it wasn't me calling." Rebecca giggled.
"Yeah, but it was a risk I was willing to take." Fred leaned against the wall, moving the phone to his other ear. "Miss me already?"
"Of course." Rebecca turned away from where Ginny was giving her a face. "That's not it though. I hope you don't mind, but I invited Harry to come with us tomorrow too."
Fred's face fell, but he kept his voice free of any sign of it. "No, no that's great! We'll pop over and get him before we head off."
"Are you sure?" Rebecca asked, feeling something held back. "I didn't even think it through entirely before I asked, but he sounded so sad. They're not being cruel, which is a relief, but they just ignore him entirely." Rebecca and Fred went back and forth a few times, Rebecca making sure he was truly okay with Harry coming too.
"It's alright!" Fred smirked. "It's probably better anyway."
"Better?"
"Yes, better." Fred paused. "I'll behave better with a chaperone."
"Ha, ha, Fred." Rebecca's tone was level, knowing he was being cheeky again. "I see what you're trying to do."
"Trying to do?' What am I trying to do?"
Rebecca looked her shoulder at the now-emptied kitchen. "You know exactly what I'm talking about! Last night before you left, this morning at Madam Malkin's! You're...I don't know how to describe it."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Fred insisted. "Maybe if you told me exactly what I said I'd remember."
Rebecca felt her cheeks warm at the memory of his 'lap-sitting' comment and how he'd been looking at her while she was being measured. "I think you think this is funny."
Fred's smirk disappeared and his voice was entirely serious when he responded. "I think that couldn't be farther from the truth."
"Fred!" Rebecca admittedly whinged. He was being positively infuriating.
"What time tomorrow are we getting Harry?" Fred changed the subject.
"Half eight. Should I floo to the shop before?"
"We already talked about flooing."
Rebecca mocked him. "I don't know what you're talking about. Maybe if you told me exactly what I said I'd remember."
"Fine--your point has been made." Fred smiled. "I'll be there at eight on the dot and you'll be waiting."
"Patiently or impatiently?" Rebecca snapped, hating how commanding he was being.
"You? Wait patiently?"
Rebecca scoffed and reached to hang the phone up, frowning as she had to bring it back to her before she felt guilty all night. "Good night."
"Good night!" Fred sang, knowing he had properly riled her up. "I love you!"
"I love you too." Rebecca said quietly before hanging the phone up and turning towards the stairs. She showered and pulled her pajamas on slowly, pausing in front of her trunk at the foot of her bed. Neither she nor Ginny had unpacked yet because it was, in both of their opinions, horribly boring.
Ginny was on her bed already, flipping through a book. She could see the thoughts circling around Rebecca's head as she dug around in her trunk, though. "Alright?"
Rebecca didn't say anything and rummaged around the other side of her trunk, searching for something specific. When she finally felt the familiar softness, out she pulled one of the old t-shirts Fred had abandoned in her room and she had assumed.
Ginny gave Rebecca a fleeting glance as Rebecca stood back up and swapped her shirt. "Becs?"
Rebecca crawled up the length of her bed and laid down, folding her hands behind her head. "I'm alright."
"You in Fred in a spat or something?" Ginny asked.
"No." Rebecca put her glasses on the table next to her bed and then returned to her previous position. "Not really."
"Hm." Ginny said, closing her book and moving on her bed so that she was on her stomach facing Rebecca. "What does 'not really' mean?"
"He's just-" Rebecca shook her head. "He's so irritating sometimes!"
"And you're only noticing this now?" Ginny laughed, she couldn't help it. "They're both the most irritating people on the planet, more so than you sometimes!"
"I'm not irritating." Rebecca muttered.
Molly and Arthur knocked on the door, Arthur splitting off to go into Ron's bed for his goodnights while Molly began at Ginny. She pulled the blankets up around her, tucking Ginny in snugly before leaving a kiss on her forehead.
"Hand me downs?" Molly asked with a smile at the shirt she recognised.
"Something like that."
Molly brushed a hand across Rebecca's cheek, caressing her scar gently, before kissing her forehead as every other child's under the roof had been. "Get some rest. A good night's sleep is the first step to resolution."
Rebecca nodded and closed her eyes, comforted for the time being and knackered after such a day.
"Sleep, you both hear me?" Molly turned at the door. "No reading all hours, I mean it!"
"Good night!" Rebecca and Ginny chorused, not promising anything.
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Rebecca was walking in the Forbidden Forest. She was on the path to the clearing from first year, the path where they had found the hooded Professor Quirrell drinking from the slain unicorn. The path was illuminated so slightly, so barely, Rebecca knew that it was just for her eyes.
The Forbidden Forest around her was still and silent, frighteningly so.
"Hello?" Rebecca called as her feet were drawn towards the gnarled tree the unicorn had been in front of. Time had passed, that much was evident by the height of the grass and the wildflowers in bloom around her. "Hello?" She tried again, getting no response once more.
The forest was hot and damp, pressing into her lungs and coating her in a sheen of sweat. The heat was emanating up from the earth and swirling through the air, clinging to her wherever it reached.
Rebecca looked up at the branches as the leaves began to fall around her. Something was outside of the clearing, something that wanted in. The leaves fell like rain off of every tree surrounding the ancient ground she was on, the grass in a circle around her feet all that stayed green and alive.
"I don't understand." Rebecca whispered, facing the tree again.
Two eyes opened between the rivulets and grooves of the bark, a mouth splitting below. "You will." The tree answered.
*******************************************
"Damn!" Ginny hissed, knocked back painfully. Rebecca had been talking and whispering loud enough to wake Ginny across the room and, just when Ginny had leaned over Rebecca to decipher what she was saying, Rebecca opened her eyes and launched upright.
"Ginny?" Rebecca asked, holding her head where she had slammed Ginny.
"No, it's bloody Professor Sprout!" She snapped, rubbing her forehead. "Yes, it's me!"
Rebecca sat up, trying to make sense of her dream. "My head doesn't hurt."
"That's really nice because mine kills."
"No." Rebecca groped around the table for her glasses, slipping them on. "My head doesn't hurt. I didn't see a premonition." Rebecca told Ginny what had happened in the clearing, the forest and the leaves falling around her, how the tree had spoken to her.
"If your head doesn't hurt, then it was just a dream. Right?" Ginny's voice had lost the edge it had before. "That's what we've learned so far I thought."
"Maybe, but..." Rebecca sat back and took her hand from her head. "I think I'm missing something, like there's something I'm not seeing."
Ginny looked at their clock. "It's nearly five, time enough to go back to sleep for a while."
Rebecca stood and followed Ginny back to her bed. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you were there."
Ginny rolled her eyes and shooed Rebecca back to her own bed. 'I didn't think you had." Rebecca fixed Ginny's blankets and glanced towards the door. "Aren't you going to go back to bed?"
Rebecca shook her head. "Going to get a drink first, be back though."
Ginny yawned. She was too tired to argue against her and had her eyes closed before Rebecca had even left the room entirely.
Creeping down the stairs to not wake anyone else, Rebecca found herself in front of the phone. She picked it up and put it back down a couple times before giving in and dialing Hermione's number.
It rang once, twice, there times. Rebecca chewed her lip nervously. Maybe it had been a mistake to try and call so early.
"Hello?" Hermione asked before clearing her throat. There was only one person who would call this number so early. "Rebecca?"
"I'm so sorry; it's too early. I wasn't thinking!" Rebecca's words rushed out. "Go back to sleep, I'll call you later."
"No!" Hermione sat up. For Rebecca to have called, there would have been a purpose. "I'm up, probably would have been shortly anyway. What's happened?"
Rebecca put her forehead to the wall, closing her eyes. "I don't know." Hermione listened patiently as Rebecca retold what had happened in the dream, ending with the lack of pain. "If my head doesn't hurt, that means it wasn't a premonition--just a dream. But it didn't feel like a dream. That tree spoke to me, Hermione."
"If we were at school, we could do some research in the library." Hermione sighed. "Home though, I have nothing. Have you told anyone else?"
"Ginny."
Hermione bit back another sigh, managing to not sound anything but questioning. "Adults. Have you told any adults?"
Rebecca turned and put her back to the wall, playing with the cord again. "You were the first person I thought of, and I'd count you as an adult. Ginny only knew first because I slammed our heads together."
"Accidentally?"
"Of course!"
Hermione was quiet a moment, thinking. "Maybe you should talk to Sirius of Professor Lupin. They might know things about the forest that no one else does, especially if they spent so much time in there as they've said."
"That's smart."
Hermione laughed. "I can be sometimes."
Rebecca laughed quietly too. "All the time, you mean."
"You said the leaves around you fell?" Hermione asked. Now that the worst or Rebecca's worries had been eased, she felt that she could question some of the details that stuck out.
"As the grass died, yeah." Rebecca shook her head. "Everywhere except around me. It was like...I don't know." She didn't want to voice how it felt like something had been coming for her, something had crept around her.
"What are you doing today?" Hermione dropped her questions for the time being. She could feel the weight pulling Rebecca further into her thoughts the more they talked. "Maybe we could meet. We don't leave until Tuesday."
"I forgot! Where are you going again?"
"New York, Rebecca. I don't know why you can't remember that."
"Maybe it's because I don't understand why they had to name it NEW York. We have York, just York, not Old York. Why couldn't they come up with something original?"
Hermione waited for Rebecca to end her rant, continuing without comment. "Today you're..."
"Exploring London." Rebecca had an idea. "You should come, Harry's coming too!"
Hermione knew her best friend better than Rebecca could have guessed. "And you think if I'm there that I'll distract Harry."
"No..."
"You're so predictable!" Hermione laughed. "I'd love to come. Do you want to stop in Hampstead for me or meet in the city centre? Or I can floo somewhere, I have powder."
"Can I call you back when Fred comes by before we get Harry? He's taken the job of transportation organiser."
"Do you guys have a time in mind yet?"
Rebecca looked over at the clock in the kitchen, surprised to find that it was almost half six. "Eight, eight thirty." Rebecca yawned. "I'm sorry for calling you so early."
"Don't be. I'm glad you did, really. I asked you to." Hermione stretched and sat up. "I'm going to go get dressed then, wait for my parents to get up so I can ask."
"Do you think they'll say yes?"
Hermione grinned. "I'm sure of it."
Rebecca wasn't as worried as she had been when she hung the phone back up after their goodbyes. She hoped Fred wouldn't mind another person along on their day, but Hermione was right about Harry now having another person to occupy him.
Puttering around the kitchen, Rebecca set out Molly and Arthur's tea cups so that all they had to do was add water when they woke up shortly.
Rebecca eased the back door open quietly, pulling her pajama pants up higher as she stepped out into the dew-damp grass. "Good morning!" She called softly to the chickens before unlatching the gate to their coop. "Ready for the day?" The chickens streamed out into the garden to find any worms still out and then swarming around the feed Rebecca tossed out for them.
Rebecca entered the chicken's enclosure and lifted the bottom of her shirt to hold the eggs she set to collecting. Just as she bent down to check the bottom shelf of the chicken's nesting area, a squeak and a click sounded out behind her. Rebecca looked over her shoulder at the door. The closed door.
"Damn." Rebecca stood up and tried to reach through the holes of the chicken wire to unlatch it from the inside. "Damn!" Rebecca found herself perfectly stuck until someone else woke up and let her out.
Rebecca piled up the eggs outside of her shirt so she didn't have to hold them and found a stony section inside the coop's area to sit down. She looked out over the green hills and watched as the sheen of morning moisture caught the first rays of the sun peeking over the distant horizon. The birds sang sweetly in the trees and overhead as they bobbed weightlessly through the air.
There were more unpleasant places to be stuck, Rebecca decided after a few minutes.
When the sun was mostly above the horizon, the back door opened and Arthur stepped out laughing. "W-what are you doing?"
Rebecca stood up and returned the eggs to her makeshift basket. "Well, I had planned on starting breakfast because I was up but the bloody door swung shut."
Arthur laughed harder, letting her out and shooing her into the house. "How long have you been out there?" He managed to ask, though laughs split his words up.
"Long enough to tell you that it takes a lot longer than you would think for the sun to rise."
Arthur had to sit down due to the strength of his renewed bout of laughing. Molly raised her eyebrows as she poured the kettle into the cups they had found prepared for them. "It's awfully early, even for you."
"I've been yolking around." Rebecca snorted at her pun and put the eggs on the counter near Molly.
"You're horrible!" Molly cried, laughing and shaking her head as Arthur keeled over and slapped his leg, unable to breathe as his laughter threatened to send him to the ground. "Now you've killed your father."
The kitchen grew silent and Arthur's laughter was much easier to end than he could have ever imagined.
"I didn't..." Molly focused on the cup of tea between her hands. "I'm sorry."
Rebecca climbed up onto the stool opposite the counter, holding her hands around the cup of tea Molly had made for her just as Molly was. "Maybe we need to talk."
"There's no need, dear." Arthur paused. "She," He shook his head. "We, we don't want to pressure you or-"
"Pressure? There's no pressure!" Rebecca shook her head and let out a nervous laugh. "i didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable."
Molly tightened her hold on the spatula she had pulled out of the drawer, sensing something deeper. "Uncomfortable?"
"I'm not your child and...and I know I don't have parents, not anymore." Rebecca looked at both Arthur and Molly. "It's pretend thinking you're ming. It's a nice pretend, but I know I'm only pretending all the same."
Arthur turned away from Rebecca, not aware he would go from tears of laughter to tears of heartbreak in just the short time he had been awake.
Molly abandoned the breakfast tasks to wrap an arm around Arthur. "Pretend? We're not pretending--not at all. Not when we say we have eight children, not when we think about how much you've grown or how much you've brought to us. We are not pretending, ever."
Arthur turned his head, composed enough to face her. "And we are certainly not when we tell you that we love you."
"I'm not either! I love you both so much; I love you all!" Rebecca tried to explain herself better. "But-I mean, you don't want me to call you mum and dad o-or anything like that. The position does not have great track record."
Molly walked around the counter and hugged Rebecca as meaningfully as she ever had. "We want you to be happy more than anything. I know I've slipped before, referring to myself as your mum and Arthur as your dad. I would never--not in a million years--ever think I was replacing Lily, nor Arthur for James."
Arthur went to the other side of Rebecca and wrapped his arms around both women. "But as much as you are a Potter, you are a Weasley."
"It's not weird with Fred and I?" Rebecca asked softly, leaving her head against Molly's shoulder.
"Are you kidding?" Arthur shook his head emphatically. "You two are already weird though."
Molly gasped and gave Arthur a look, but Rebecca laughed and held her tighter.
"It's alright, we are pretty odd."
Molly smacked the back of her head before going back to the hob to get breakfast going. Arthur took the stool beside Rebecca, opting to leave his arm around her as he finally got to open the day's paper.
There was a popping sound by the front door, the sound of someone apparating in. "Breakfast ready y-" He looked over them all, surprised to see more than Molly awake so early. "Oh, I see. We're having a party and I wasn't invited." Fred glanced over them all a second time, sensing emotion. "What's going on?"
"A chat, you nosy beast." Molly scolded. "Why are you here?"
Fred gasped and fell to the side, holding himself up by the wall. "I'm not loved."
Arthur chuckled and turned the page, handing the Quidditch to Rebecca. "That's not true; you're very loved. But you're also very early." Arthur stood to start gathering his lunch and Fred slid into his seat.
"Am I?" Fred asked quietly. "Still loved, that is?"
"What kind of a question is that?" Rebecca asked surprised.
"I knew I left you annoyed last night." Fred shrugged. "Wasn't sure if you were holding a grudge."
"Never." Rebecca smiled and stood up. "But Hermione's coming too." Fred put his head to the counter and groaned.
"Hermione?" Molly asked. "When did you hear from her?"
Rebecca wished she hadn't said anything, especially since she wouldn't be able to get away with a lie. "I rang her...had a strange dream."
Molly knocked the pan, bringing about a crash that echoed in the kitchen's lasting silence. "A dream?"
"It wasn't like that, just strange." Rebecca raised a hand to show her honesty as Molly narrowed her eyes. "I promise."
"You could have gotten either of us." Arthur's voice was gentle.
"Or called me?" Fred offered.
"She-" Rebecca shrugged. "It probably worked out well, she's leaving soon anyway."
"York, isn't it?" Arthur remembered hearing something about this trip now.
"New York. I know, I don't get it either."
Fred grinned as Molly put the first two plates in front of he and Rebecca, pausing before his first bite to get back to what was still bothering him. "But really, what'd I walk into?"
"What?" Molly had already put his interruption to the back of her mind.
Fred tried asking again with his mouth full, but Molly understood none of it until he swallowed and tried again. "When I came in--it seemed serious."
"Sirius isn't here." Rebecca said, taking one more bite before hurrying up the stairs to get dressed for the day.
"I really, really hate that joke." Fred grumbled, still looking at Molly and Arthur for an answer.
"Merlin above, you are persistent!" Molly turned back to the cooking food, not telling him anything that didn't involve him.
Fred considered his mother's words before nodding and swapping a piece of bacon on he and Rebecca's plates--he knew how she always searched for the crispiest pieces and he seemed to get them all. "Persistently charming, too."
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