Fractured AIAOY 6

Fred was downstairs chatting with Molly when Rebecca came back downstairs.  "Finally!"  He grinned.  "I thought I'd have to wait all day."  Molly disappeared down towards the sound of Erroll slamming into the side of the house.

Rebecca rolled her eyes.  "Ten minutes?  I think you'll live."

"A kiss would increase my chances of survival, I think."

Rebecca walked up to him slowly and leaned forward as if she were going to kiss him.  "No."  She let his lips graze against her cheek as she turned her head and went to say goodbye to Molly.

"No?"  Fred echoed hollowly, hopping to his feet after her.  "Love-"

"You can't tease and then ask for a kiss."

Molly glanced up from the post.  "What now?"

Rebecca looked over her shoulder at Fred's pout and laughed.  "Nothing!"  The melodic, heavenly sound Fred loved so much--Rebecca's laugh--forced him out of his mimed sulk.  "We're ready earlier than planned though.  Could we head out?"

Molly narrowed her eyes at the two of them.  "What about Ron and Ginny?  Don't you think they'd enjoy a day out?"

"They would!"  Fred clapped his hands together excitedly.  "George needs to spend some quality time with them, I think!"  He apparated away without another word.

Molly looked Rebecca over.  "Do you have your wand?"  Rebecca opened her jacket to show it.  "What about a jumper?"

"Fred has one in his backpack."  Rebecca leaned into Molly's open arms, closing her eyes in the comfort of the hug.  "We shouldn't be-"

Fred's return interrupted Rebecca.  "George and Cedric will entertain them."

Rebecca felt Molly shake her head.  "Those boys do need to get a move on, but not today."  Molly returned to the post while Fred and Rebecca laughed loudly.

Fred led the way to the door, routine making it so he apparated from there to leave the house without immediate plans to return.  "Little what-now again?"

Rebecca slipped her hand into Fred's.  "Little Whinging, Surrey."

Fred closed his eyes and prepared to apparate them, but was too distracted by other thoughts.  He opened one eye and took a little step away from Rebecca, though she moved to follow him--making him voice his reasoning though it embarrassed him.  "Sorry, can you...take a little step away?"

Rebecca raised an eyebrow, but did as he asked.  With her not so close, he felt that they could get to their destination safely.  

The early morning sun shone outside of the tunnel near the Dursley's and, turning his wrist to see the time, Rebecca frowned.  "We're really early."

"Do you want to go get him?"

Rebecca considered it a long moment.  "If I go there, it will only cause trouble for him later."

"My troublemaker."  Fred wrapped his arms around her from behind.  "What's about then--if you don't want to destroy their front room again?"

"That was awful!"  Rebecca covered her face at the memory, but peeked out from between her fingers at him as he peered over her shoulder to see her.  "There's a playground down that way."

"I am a man, RJ.  I don't-"

"There are swings."

"Merlin, why didn't you start with that?"  Fred began to push her towards the general direction she had motioned the playground in, eventually stepping around her to run ahead when it came in sight.  "Come on, there's-"

"Fred!"  Rebecca called, speeding her walk back up to a run.  Behind him, five shadows were cast.  Rebecca only stopped when she was beside Fred, standing slightly closer than him to the gang Dudley used to torment the children of the village.

Dudley's friends were looking Fred up and down, sizing him.  He was certainly taller than them all, but there were more of them.

"Cousin."  Dudley stated blankly, his only greeting.  The tone wasn't hostile or friendly, angry or happy.  He just said the fact.

"Cousin."  Rebecca responded in like.  When nothing else came from him, Rebecca prompted for it.  "Is there something you want from us or..."

Dudley looked up at Fred one more time before shaking his head and leading his cronies off.  Without looking over his shoulder once, Dudley left the playground.  

"Is he always so talkative?"  Fred asked softly as they took side-by-side swings.

"No, he normally as much more to say."  Rebecca frowned.  "Let's be thankful."

Fred pushed himself back with his feet and brought Rebecca with him by the hand he caught and couldn't let go of.  "I am thankful; thankful for every minute with you."  Rebecca blushed and her frown disappeared exactly as Fred wanted it to.  "There was actually something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh no, that never goes well."  Rebecca laughed before seeing the serious look on Fred's face.  "What is it?"

Fred chewed at his cheek.  "I didn't want to say anything before our day out, but this I have you all to myself right now and I don't get this a lot."

Rebecca's frown threatened to return.  "Would you get on with it?  I'm dying."

"I heard something down the melon vine and-"

"The what?"

Fred glanced up at Rebecca, not sure if she was messing with him.  "Down the melon vine?  It's a saying, means I heard someone talking about someone."

"I've heard down the grapevine before, but never melon..."

"Down the grapevine then."  Fred gave her a wry look.  "All the same, I heard that you were considering professorship for the future."

Rebecca shook her head.  "We talked about it, but I don't see how it could ever work."

"Are you mad?"  Fred left his swing to stand in front of her, needing her eyes on him to see how much truth was in his words.  "How couldn't it work, love?  You've played the role of teacher before and were a natural."

"Please don't make me say it."  Rebecca grimaced, her cheeks already reddened and only growing brighter.

"Say what?"

Rebecca couldn't bear to look away from him, but she also couldn't look directly into his eyes awash with care.  She focused on how the bridge of his nose crinkled with concern, how his hair refused to sit properly after swinging, the small smattering of freckles across his cheeks.

"Rebecca?"

"How long am I supposed to live away from you?"  Rebecca's voice was far too loud.

"Oh."  It was Fred's turn to be shocked into silence for once.  He had never, ever considered that that was the issue.  

"Yes, 'oh.'"  Rebecca looked up at him, a defiant glint shining in her eyes.  "That's why I never mentioned it, there's no point.  I won't do it any longer than I have to."

Fred pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her.  "I see."  She looked up at him, doubting that he did.  "I do!"  He insisted.  "I see how that could pose a problem."

"Could?"

"Could."  Fred kissed the top of her head.  "It's not the future yet.  One day at a time."  He returned to his swing after letting go so she was propelled back.  Matching his momentum to hers, his face broke out in the goofy, crooked grin Rebecca loved so much.

*******************************************

"Ready for this?"  Fred asked as he knocked on the Granger's door.

Rebecca tightened her hold on Fred's other hand while Harry only gulped and nodded.  They were all curious to see how much of Hermione came from her parents.

Mrs Granger opened the door with hair the exact shade and curl of Hermione's while Mr Granger stood slightly behind his wife.  Immediately, questions about their plans for the day began.

"Left, ri-"

Harry intervened.  "I think Fred means to say we've left some spots open for lunch somewhere, but Rebecca had mentioned the Eye for sure."  He knew that no parent would ever want to hear that their child's plans for the day were to wander aimlessly through one of the busiest cities in the country.

"And the National Gallery."  Rebecca added, truthfully.  That was the most important detail--that she not fib and ruin their day before it could even begin.

"Oh!"  Mr Granger gasped, looking between Fred and Harry.  "So you boys are..."

"N-no!"  Harry stammered, shocked.  Fred's mouth dropped open and he didn't trust himself to say anything, not when George had yet to say anything to him despite the growing tension between the two twins.

Rebecca tilted her head back curiously.  "No that that would be an issue?"  It would be impossible, surely, for Hermione to be as smart and brilliant and kind as she was to come from a house unaccepting of all.

"Of course not!"  Mr Granger corrected himself, realising how he had appeared.  "I just worry for my little girl, especially with gentlemen such as these.  It would have been nothing but a relief to this old man."

Fred smiled, appreciating the wild turn of the conversation.  He put his arm around Rebecca's shoulders and shook his head.  "Nothing to worry about here."

"And we all keep an eye on each other, anyway."  Rebecca met Mr Granger's eyes.  He was glad to know that his 'Mione had found friends such as these.

Mrs Granger ran through the list of things needed for a day out with Hermione and then left a kiss on her daughter's forehead; she and her husband waving the children back down the stairs they had just come up.

"Do they know where they're going?"  Fred asked, trailing behind Hermione and Harry down the block.

"I would imagine Hermione had walked down her street before."  Rebecca teased.  "Besides, she's more likely to know where to go than any of us!"

Fred chuckled until Harry looked over his shoulder and saw how far behind they had gotten.  He beckoned for them to hurry up and only reinvigorated Fred's laughter.  "I guess impatience is hereditary!"

"Who was complaining about waiting ten minutes this morning again?"

*******************************************

"So..."  Harry said quietly, not sure where he should lay his eyes.  "this is art."

Hermione and Rebecca were both looking up at the piece in front of them, the gallery's newest exhibition on medieval paintings of women's bodies.  This piece in particular showcased a handful of women washing clothes along the banks of a river, including what they had been wearing.

"So it is."  Fred added, equally not looking at anything around them.

Hermione and Rebecca slowly made their way around the room, discussing each painting as they came to it.  

Harry and Fred hovered near the exit of the exhibit, both occupying themselves with thoughts about anything other than their surroundings.  Harry poked his head out the door and saw the exit from the gallery as a whole.  "Want to wait outside?"

"Brilliant idea."  Fred looked over his shoulder to the girls.  "We should tell them though."

Harry put his hands in his pockets and leaned back against the wall.  "Okay, I'll wait here."

Fred narrowed his eyes at Harry before walking through the gallery guests to where Hermione and Rebecca had circled.  "We're stepping outside for some air, it's warm."

"Is it?"  Rebecca asked with the ghost of a cheeky smile on her face.

Fred's nostrils flared and his eyes flitted up and down Rebecca's body.  "It is, we'll be out front."  Both Potters were pushing his buttons today.

Hermione laughed and turned back to the painting.  "They make it too easy."

"Definitely."  Rebecca looked at the paintings on either side of them.  "Wait, haven't we seen this one already?"

"Have we?"  Hermione asked too-innocently.

"I love you."  Rebecca breathed in awe, Hermione was torturing the boys and it had never even occurred to her.

"I know."  Hermione slowly started to steer them towards the exit. "What time do you open tomorrow?"

Rebecca had to bring her hand to her eyes as they stepped out of the carefully controlled museum lighting, the sun shining brightly and making it impossible to try to find the boys.  "Open at nine, close at seven."

"I'm not sure when in there, but I'll stop by."

Harry noticed them from where he and Fred were to the side, both boys finding their excuse of being hot true under the sun that chased them into shade.  "They're done."

"About time."  Fred grumbled.  "We have other things to do."

"Yes we do."  Rebecca kept her face serious as they formed their group again, the end of the conversation carrying over.  "The breast of London to explore."

Fred's sourness broke and he sniggered with Rebecca.

"Speaking of body parts, to the eye?"  Hermione asked, unable to keep her face entirely straight.  "I'm glad you rang me, actually.  One of the men in charge uses my dad's office so we always have tickets on hand."

Fred and Rebecca quickly took the job of walking in front while Harry and Hermione fell into step slightly behind them.  Rebecca looked up when she felt Fred's eyes on her again.  "What?"

"Nothing."

"It's something."  Rebecca laughed and put her arm around his waist.  "You keep looking at-you're doing it again right now!"

Fred brought the hand not making its way across her shoulders over his eyes.  "Is that better?"  He continued to play along with her until they joined the nearly empty queue for the massive ferris wheel.  "Wow, no one else apparently wants to see anything today."

"School is still in for Muggles."  Hermione reasoned.  "Lucky for us, we might even get our own ride." 

"Tickets?"  The man behind the counter asked dully.  

Hermione slid them under the glass divider and handed out the stubs that were returned.  The second man, seemingly related to the first man as they were identical of face and boredom, situated them into a compartment that was as Hermione had thought, their own.  "Enjoy your trip."  He intoned.

Harry was the first to burst into laughter as the door closed behind them, the rest of them right behind.  Between the utter silence that came from the men in response to their small talk to how obviously bored they were, the group was still collecting themselves as the box jerked into motion and their ascent began.

Rebecca stood up and peered out of one side, Hermione already at the other with Harry.  "Look Harry," she said.  "You can see my house from here!"  Fred and Harry left where they had been, each going to one of the girls. 

Fred put his arms on the bar on either side of Rebecca, leaning down so his chin was on her shoulder.  "See anything neat?"

Rebecca nodded, pointing out a few things.  The view was magnificent, of course, but Fred couldn't help himself from looking at her every once in a while.  "You're doing it again."

Fred didn't look away this time and he pretended he didn't know what she was talking about.  "Doing what?"

"You're staring."  Rebecca answered softly, meeting his eyes that refused to leave her.

"I can't help it."  Fred's focus drifted across her face.  "You're stunning."

"Fred-"

"Don't 'Fred' me like that, like I'm joking around.  I'm serious.  I won't hear a word against it."  He paused, making sure she wouldn't say anything like he thought she would if given the opportunity.  "All those paintings, the statues, the sculptures," he shook his head and leaned closer, leaving a kiss on her temple.  "Next to you...they're nothing."

Rebecca turned her body so that her back was to window, cupping her hands to Fred's collar and cheek to pull him into a heated kiss.

Harry and Hermione glanced over their shoulders at the sudden silence from across the car, but returned to the view quickly.  Harry made a face, but Hermione was smiling.  "When are you going to Diagon Alley?"

Harry sighed.  "I don't know.  Figured I'd get a chance after I leave the Dursleys."

"Don't forget to wish them luck for opening."  Hermione reminded.

"I-"  Harry nodded, abandoning his self-defence.  "I would have forgotten, thank you."

Rebecca crossed the compartment, realising how she and Fred had left their outing.  "I love you guys."  She put her arms around both Harry and Hermione.

"Sentimental much?"  Harry asked.  She hit his arm in response, but didn't look away from the expanse of London ahead.

Fred took Hermione's side as they watched London grow closer and closer, their return to the ground slowly coming alongside it.

Rebecca put her arm through Harry's and forced him to stay by her side as she skipped away in the direction of Hermione's house.  "It's fun!  You should try having some, sometime!"  Fred and Hermione heard her response to Harry's whinging and grinned at one another.

"Fine."  Harry hopped alongside her and eventually took her lead in skipping down the blocks.  He refused to admit that it was, in fact, fun.

"Ready for tomorrow?"  Hermione asked Fred.

"Yes, more than ready.  Just a little..."

"Nervous?"

Fred gave a sheepish smile.  "Yeah, nervous."

"You ended up going to Madam Malkin's, right?"

Fred's smile faded to a scowl.  "Yes, no thanks to you."

"You needed measurements!  How could I have helped?  And don't you dare bring up-"

"I told you just more than a handful!  That doesn't equal a size?  Bollocks."  Fred motioned to Rebecca's back where she and Harry were well ahead.  "Besides, don't you all know each others sizes?"

"No, we don't.  Not like that."  Hermione wondered sometimes what went through boys' heads.  "You needed numbers anyway, not a size."

"I still think you could have been a bigger help."  Fred insisted.  Hermione counted to three, desperately trying to figure out how Rebecca dealt with this, but lost her irritation when Fred continued.  "But it's done tonight.  The two of us'll pick it up.  I hope she likes it."

"You know she will, at least I do."  Hermione couldn't help but notice how deeply his excitement ran.  "Take a picture."

"Aren't you coming by tomorrow?  You'll be able to see it then."

"Not for me, for you."

*******************************************

"You're back earlier than I thought you would be!"  Mrs Granger called from her office, setting her report to rest so as to meet Hermione and her friends in the kitchen.  "Your father just ducked out for some groceries, but we have the odd thing.  Can I get anyone something to drink or a snack?  I remember Wendell at that age...always hungry.  Still is, now that I think about it."

Fred and Harry grinned.  "No thank you, Mrs Granger."  They answered in unison before Fred carried on.  "We're due back shortly."

"Yes, the time-keeper.  Hermione has touched on a..."  Mrs Granger's voice lessened at the look Hermione was giving her.  "Tendency to run late."

Rebecca looked to Hermione questioningly.  "You told your mum I'm always late?"

"It had been in confidence, at the time."  Hermione shrugged, trying to keep from joining Fred and Harry's poorly-covered giggles.  "It's true no matter what."

Rebecca nodded her head once, sheepish.  "Yeah, it is."

"Do I need to call you lot a cab?"  Mrs Granger asked, turning towards the phone.

"Fred can apparate, mum."  Hermione called back.

Mrs Granger popped her head around the corner.  "Really?  You hardly look old enough!"

"Thank you?"

"You will be one day."  Mrs Granger returned to Hermione's side.  "Well, on you get!  I've been itching to see this ever since Hermione told us about it."

"Here?"  Fred double-checked, looking around.  Both Granger women nodded.  Harry moved to Fred's side and Fred laid his hand on Harry's shoulder.  With a pop, both were gone.

"That is incredible!"  Mrs Granger turned to Rebecca.  "I assume it's a one-at-a-time thing?"

"For the most part."  Rebecca smiled.  "It takes lots of practise to become strong enough to take more than one.  We start to learn this year if we want."

"Have you signed up?"  Hermione nodded.  "Brilliant!  We'll never have to fly again!"

The three of them were laughing when Fred returned for Rebecca, leaving Harry for a few minutes in the tunnel they had met him in.  "Love?"

"I'll tell you later"  She said quietly, patting his arm.  

Fred nodded and gave his full attention to Hermione and her mother.  "Thank you for letting Hermione come today.  Will you and Mr Granger be coming tomorrow?"

"The joke shop!"  Mrs Granger put one and one together.  "Yes, yes, we'll be there.  Wendell is quite excited--likes to think of himself as a prankster."

"We're all pranksters in one way or another."  Fred added to his final goodbye before holding his hand out for Rebecca.

"I'll see you tomorrow and, in case we forget, enjoy your trip."  Rebecca took Fred's hand.  Pulled alongside Fred through the tube-like feeling of apparating, the world was right-side-up in a few dizzying moments.  

Harry waited against the wall of the tunnel, the heat of the day seeping into the shaded area as if they were under the sun.  He was by Rebecca's side the second he saw that something was wrong, just after Fred stumbled into the wall after they had arrived.  

"Fred!"  Rebecca stood in front of him and put her hands to his face, startled by how hot he felt.  

"Just have to-"  Fred closed his eyes, her hands cold as ice to him and comforting.  His mouth was dry and his head ached alongside his dizziness--all signs that he had apparated past his tolerance.  "Just need a few minutes before head back."

"Let's go.  A snack should help right?"  Harry was concerned.  Fred was very, very pale and Rebecca had looked to Harry with such panic, such need for help.  

Fred nodded.  "It's hard work ferrying you lot around."

Rebecca brushed the hair off his forehead.  "You did this to yourself, you do realise that."

"Love, let's not assign blame right this second."  Fred stood and kept his arm around Rebecca's shoulder, planning on her to keep him from tumbling over.  "I'm sure you'll tell me later."  Fred could feel the worry washing off of her from against his side and wanted to lessen it as much as possible.  "This is no different than playing a long match of quidditch--don't worry."

Harry looked over his shoulder and gave Fred a discreet shake of his head, telling him to stop while he was ahead.

"No, it's absolutely something to worry about."  Rebecca reached up for his face again, finding it only slightly cooler than it had been.  "Mum worried about this."

Harry's stomach jumped at the 'mum,' but he didn't say anything. He let himself have one single moment where the jealousy could flood through him and then he forced it away.  The Dursleys had been rotten, but they didn't compare to the bits of Rebecca's before-times.  And, Harry had to remind himself, he only knew the little, little that Rebecca had shared.  Even though he'd only given himself a moment, feeling jealous at all left him near sick with guilt.

"Harry?"  Rebecca repeated.  She had asked if he thought the Dursleys would be home, but he hadn't answered.

"What?"

"Did the apparating make you sick?  I know it has before."  She looked him over.  "You're kind of pale too.  I'm sorry, I should have-"

"No, I'm fine."  Harry looked down at himself.  "This is regular pale.  I'm not sure if they'll be there, but we are earlier than we said so maybe not."  Turning onto Privet Drive, Harry let out a sigh of relief.  "The car's gone.  They wouldn't have left Dudley in case I got back early so we should be fine."

Harry unlocked the front door and directed Fred and Rebecca to the table while he gathered biscuits and glasses of water. 

Fred downed his water in one go and Rebecca put hers in front of him.  Her stomach was rolling with how heavily her worry was weighing down on her and she couldn't handle more than a few sips before she thought she would be sick.  Fred's biscuits began to disappear as his water had and she put hers in front of him too.

"They don't change things much, do they?"  Rebecca asked Harry as she looked around.

"No, not really."  Harry laughed.  "Vernon hates change."

Fred paused, feeling the pangs of hunger fading and realising how he had been eating.  He sat up straighter and limited himself to one hand for eating.  "Sorry, I guess I was hungrier than I thought."

"Or, maybe, I'm simply always right."  Rebecca laid her hand on Harry's wrist, feeling the edge of her worry taken off with Fred's returning to normal.  "How long-"

The sound of the car door slamming came from the front of the house.  Harry scooped up their cups and put them in the sink while Rebecca grabbed the bag of biscuits and put it on the counter so Harry could put it back wherever he had found it.  Fred wiped his crumbs off, feeling as if he could get them home.

"Bye!"  Rebecca rushed out before they left.  "I love you!"

Vernon glared as he led the two into the house.  "Oh, you're back."

"We finished early."  Harry said as he went around them to the stairs, knowing he would be spending the rest of the day in his room.

*******************************************

Fred was forced to sit as soon as the Burrow formed around them and Molly sided with Rebecca entirely.

"I told you this was a lot, didn't I?"  She fretted.  "You've only been apparating a few months and then to-"

"Mum!"  Fred groaned.  "I feel fine after-You're joking."

"No, I'm not."  Rebecca snapped, returning to the living room with a plate stacked with jam sandwiches.  "And you're going to eat every last one!"

Molly crossed her arms and only returned to what she had been doing before they got back once Fred finished the first sandwich.  "You're eating dinner here, too."  She ordered.

"George and Cedric wanted to to come, too!"  Fred called after her.  Rebecca sat beside him stoically, still disturbed by seeing him so affected by overworking himself.  "Love, I really do feel much better."

"But you didn't."  Her voice was thick and she had to swallow the knot in her throat before she could continue.  "You scared me, Fred.  I thought-I don't know."

Fred sat up and put the plate on the table ahead, but Rebecca put it right back onto his lap.  "I can't quite comfort you if I'm balancing sandwiches, can I?"

"Just eat them."  Rebecca sounded so tired, so worn, that Fred did as she said.

"I haven't stopped thinking about the dream you had last night, it's really nagging at me."

Rebecca furrowed her brow, wondering if he was trying to distract her.  "I would have thought you'd forgotten, honestly.  Today's been busy and-"

"Of course I didn't forget."  Fred said seriously, picking at the edge of his last sandwich.  "I would never."

"It wasn't one of...one of those dreams."  Rebecca lowered her eyes too.  "I think it wasn't, at least.  There were no signs of it."  She took a breath.  "It-do you remember the clearing from our detention?"

Fred nodded, not voicing that he would never, ever in his life forget.

"The tree, the one the unicorn was under, I had to walk to if.  I had to.  It had a hold of me, if that makes any sense."

Fred was almost uncomfortably full, but he had finally cleared his plate.  Putting it where he had already tried and finding nothing putting it back in his lap, he laid his hand on her leg and turned so she knew his full attention was given.  

"The first thing that happened, I guess, was the leaves.  They started to fall, all at once.  It was heavy and loud a-and I was turning in a circle to watch though the trees were bare by the time I'd gone half way around.  The grass started to die then, pouring out from underneath the leaves.  It was like a disease, this darkness, the rot.  Only the bit directly around me was saved and by then I was almost facing the tree again."

"It?"

Rebecca didn't look up to him, though his eyes going over her face and she could feel it.  Fred saw how she had paled, how whatever she had dreamed was clearly upsetting her.  "Whatever had brought the leaves down and killed the grass."

"I understand now."

Rebecca didn't continue at first.  Behind her eyes, in her thoughts, she could feel the weight of the tree's gaze and how it had gone through her.  "The tree had eyes when I looked back at it."  Fred didn't move even though something shivered across the back of his neck.  The idea of a tree with eyes, of this tree with eyes, left him feeling like he was in the presence of old magic.  "It opened them and looked at me--it looked through me.  Whatever it was, it looked inside of me, inside my head."

"I could feel it searching for something, but I didn't know what.  I thought, 'I don't understand,' and it answered.  It spoke, Fred."

"The tree did?"

"Yes, like to Sorting Hat or how Ced or Sirius and I can; it spoke in my mind."

"What did it say?"  Fred's hands were still on her legs, holding her tightly.

"It told me, 'I will.'"

They sat in silence a few moments, expecting something more for Rebecca to have been so shaken.  "That's it?"

"I know it's silly-"

"If it left you worried, it's not silly."  Fred pulled her closer, making it so she sat across his lap and he could hold her to him.  "If it wasn't the future, what if it was nerves for tomorrow?"

Rebecca laid her head against his collarbone, closing her eyes to let the sound of his heartbeat fill her head entirely.  "What do you mean?"

"Well, if the leaves fell off the trees and the grass died, that probable means change.  Like how the seasons change."

Rebecca thought it over a moment before lifting her head.  "That's really smart."

"I have my moments."

"Shut up."  Rebecca cupped the side of his face and brought his lips to hers, surprising them both with a heated, needy kiss.  Fred normally started things like that, especially lately.  She moved her hand up so her fingers were twisted through his hair and held him tightly.

When she leaned back, Fred chased her lis with his to stay against her as long as possible.  "What was that?"  Fred asked softly, letting his forehead rest against hers.

"You were being annoying."

"So annoying you brings that?"  He grinned.  "I'll annoy you ever day, every hour, every-"

"No!"  Rebecca laughed and stood up from beside him, trying to straighten her clothes that he had mussed.  "I'm going to see if I can help with supper, maybe you should-"

"Keep you here with me?"  Fred asked, sneaking his hands so that she was trapped in front o fhim.

"No."  Rebecca giggled.  

Fred sighed and released her, standing and stretching.  "Alright, if you want to help.  I've got to go to Madam Malkin's."

Rebecca froze in the doorway, long having forgotten about the evening pick up appointment.

"Go on!"  Molly called from the kitchen.  "You've got forty minutes."  She stepped into the hallway just as Fred reached his hand out for Rebecca's.  "And floo, young man.  You've already pushed it once today."  Rebecca stepped out of his reach and stuck her tongue out at Fred when Molly had her back turned, but Molly knew her better.  "I saw that!"

"Oops?"  Rebecca offered before smiling at Fred and holding him the flower pot of powder.  "The shop first?"

Fred nodded and stood outside of the fireplace, waiting for Rebecca to go first.  "Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes!"

Joining Rebecca just inside the ground floor of the shop, Fred was astonished to find Ron chasing Ginny while shouting at the top of his lungs as George and Cedric were standing on the counter, cheering Ginny's running-away on.

"What's going on here?"  Fred demanded, crossing his arms.  Ron and Ginny skidded to a stop.

Rebecca looked at Fred out of the corner of her eyes; noticing how his arms were tensed and his jaw clenched at how no answer came.

"Did I ask in something other than English?"

Ron muttered something about a test of some sort having been done on him, but nothing else was offered.

"We'll pop down to Malkin's while they make sure everything's cleaned up and then get back for supper."  Rebecca waved her arm out across the store and laid a hand on Fred's.  "Everything's still set for tomorrow--no harm done."

Fred breathed through his nose and turned to her, winking so that they couldn't see that he wasn't really cross.  "Everything had better be exactly as it was when we get back."  He warned.

Rebecca started to laugh first as they left the sight of the shop and Fred joined her instantly.  "I thought Ron was going to cry!"  Fred gasped.

"I saw it too!"  The two of them were still laughing when the door on the seastress' door rang out their arrival.

Madam Malkin sighed from behind the counter.  "Punctuality isn't a priority with you two, is it?"

Fred regained most of his composure.  "I thought we agreed on the evening?"

Madam Malkin pointed at the clock on the wall.  "The evening begins at five, not quarter past."

Rebecca pulled a stick out of her back pocket.  She had nabbed it from the shop on their way out after feeling as if it would come in handy.  "We had a slight delay."

Madam Malkin looked from the stick back to the girl.  "My name is not Fido, Miss Potter.  I don't have a need for a twig."

Rebecca stifled an inappropriately timed giggle and set it on the counter.  Motioning for Madam Malkin to pick it up and give it a tap on the counter, Madam Malkin eventually did as she was showed.  The stick popped loudly and transformed into a small, fragrant bouquet of flowers.  "I-I don't know what to say."

"You're welcome."  Fred smiled and nudged Rebecca forward as he looked around the shop for what he had outlined.  "How did it go?"

The woman tore her eyes away from the flowers.  She couldn't remember the last time anyone had ever given her any.  "Do you doubt my skills, Mr Weasley?"

"Not at all!"

"My instructions were very, very clear."  She laid her flowers down on the counter and led Rebecca to the curtained off changing area to the side.  

Rebecca held up a sleeve of the vibrant purple outfit.  "Let me guess, you've made three this colour?"

"Yes."  Madam Malkin nodded.  "Though yours used considerably less fabric."

The seamstress left without a word, leaving Rebecca to change into the purple garb quickly.  Just as they should have expected, it was exactly bespoke.  Leaving the tie characteristically loose, she looked at herself in the mirror.

Fred had his elbows on the counter and was half-listening to Madam Malkin recount the steps she'd taken in the process of making the outfit Fred and George had designed three of.  "First, first I took the hems in.  No proper bespoke outfit leaves the pants dragging along the ground.  Positively disgraceful."

"Oh yeah, disgraceful."  Fred echoed, hoping it placated her.

"Then I needed to bring the sleeves in a bit, that was an-"  Madam Malkin stopped talking as Rebecca paused under the arch separating the work space and the entry.  "That was a brilliant idea of mine."

Fred stood up straight, a soft smile spreading across his face slowly.  Rebecca turned in a circle and held her hands out.  "What do you think?"  He asked.  "George and I match.  Thought you'd get a kick out of it.  I'm certain we don't look so smashing though.""

Rebecca laughed and smoothed the jacket's front out.  "What do you think Madam?"

"Well, I made it.  It's perfect."

The surety of her voice sent Rebecca into giggles.  Rebecca knew that she had said the same to Fred after one prank or another.  Turning to put her regular clothes on, Fred jumped and remembered what Hermione had told him.  

"Wait!"  He pulled the camera from his pocket.  "A photo?"

Rebecca turned to face him and put her hands at her sides, smiling formally.

"What is that?"  Madam Malkin scolded, taking the camera from Fred's hands.  "That's hardly a memory--that's a photo for a funeral!"  She shooed Fred behind Rebecca and they quickly fit into each other; Fred wrapped his arms around Rebecca's shoulders and she reached up so that her hands held onto his arms.  Fred put his chin to her shoulder and smiled.  "Now that...that is a photo."

Fred held the picture while it developed, waiting for Rebecca to come back.  He had paid Madam Malkin when his and George's uniforms had been finished, knowing the third would be as perfect as anything that came from the shop.

Madam Malkin couldn't help but smile at how he studied the picture.

"You're going to break your neck one day."  Fred chided and waved his wand at her untied shoes.

"Yeah, yeah.  You've told me before."

Madam Malkin raised an eyebrow at their exchange, but said nothing on it.  "Will that be all or will you be making another appointment to show up late for?"

Fred shook his head.  "That's all for now.  You're more than welcome to stop by tomorrow, if you have time."

Doubt crossed Madam Malkin's face until she saw her flowers waiting on the counter.  "We'll see."

*******************************************

George and Cedric were the only two left in Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes when Fred and Rebecca turned.  "And?"  George prompted with a pointed look at the garment bag draped over Rebecca's shoulder.

"And it's perfect."  Fred answered, showing off their photograph proudly.  "Exactly like ours."

Cedric picked up the photo and carried it to the fireplace, smiling at how they were posed.  George held his hand in front of him so Cedric could use the fireplace first, a long day leaving neither of them in shape to apparate.  "After you."

Rebecca took one step towards the short queue forming behind George and Cedric for the fireplace before Fred reached out and laid his hand on her shoulder.  He apparated them both to the Burrow's front room with the fireplace where George was just arriving.

"Fred!"  Rebecca gasped, stumbling forward into the wall as soon as the world returned to its place under her feet.  "You weren't supposed to apparate!"

"Rebecca!"  He mocked, thinking she was joking.  Then he saw her face, the slightly wide eyes, the way her cheeks were too flushed.  "I'm sorry, love, I-"

"We were supposed to floo!"  Rebecca shook her head, stepping away from him when he tried to hold her.  "You were not supposed to apparate again today."

"I hate flooing."  Fred said quietly.  "I-"  He paused, his adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed.  "I didn't want you to have to use the floo system."

"That is not an answer."  Rebecca managed to choke out.  She turned on her heel and left the room, the creaking of the house revealing that she went to her and Ginny's room.

The three boys made their way to the kitchen.  "I can talk to her, if you want."  Cedric offered, glancing up the stairs.

"I'll do it."  Fred answered.  "Just-just tell mum we'll be right out."  He climbed the stairs without looking back, turning right at the top and knocking on the closed girls' door.  The door squeaked and swung partially open, not having been latched before.

Rebecca stepped out from the closet, not surprised to see Fred standing in the doorway.  "There's nothing else to say, Fred."

"There is."  He crossed the room and sat on the chair she and Ginny had for their shared desk.  "I-I owe you an explanation."

"That would be nice."  Rebecca sat on the edge of her bed.

"Flooing..."  Fred lowered his eyes to his hands, folded in his lap.  "Flooing isn't good enough for you."  His face was set, not revealing how deeply his words hurt his heart.  "We have a few weeks before you'll go back to school.  I won't be able to carry your bag o-or walk you to class.  I won't be able to say goodnight.  All I want is to bring you wherever you need to go while I can--to show you how much I care for you."

Rebecca was shocked into momentary silence.  "What?"  Fred looked up as she marched in front of him.  "That is-"  She grabbed the front of his shirt roughly.  "That is absurd.  I know how much you care without doing stupid, reckless things.  Without you popping in and out of existence when you shouldn't be.  You're going to-"  Rebecca let go of him and stepped back, shaking her head.  "You're going to hurt yourself in the name of caring for me--how could I do anything but blame myself then?"

Fred stood and hesitated in front of her, needing to hold her but needing her to let him know it was okay.  She offered a minute nod of her head and Fred had his arms wrapped around her tightly.  "You're right.  You're right and I'm sorry."

Rebecca relaxed in his arms, burying her face in his chest.  "None of that matters anyway, not really."  She looked up at him and reached for the golden chain she had yet to take from her neck--on purpose, at least.  "This is all I need, Fred."  

Fred looked at the images inside.  One side was their family in Egypt, the other just Fred.  He didn't even know where she had taken his, but he was laughing at something off to the side before he looked to her--to the camera--and smiled.

Fred let the locket close and fall back down, bringing his hands to the sides of her face and kissing her gently.

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