Essential Hope

It was six in the morning, but you were already awake and ready to go. The suitcases were packed, everything was planned out, and you couldn’t wait to see your brothers again.

Unfortunately, everyone wasn’t leaving until 9.

Uneasily, you laid back onto your bed and closed your eyes, trying to get some sleep. But the excitement and adrenaline was too much for you, and you ended up pacing back and forth in the room until 7:30. The moment the clocked flashed 7:30, you jumped onto Hermione’s bed and said urgently,

“Mione! Up! Get ready!”

Groggily, Hermione sat up and shoved you off the bed.

“Kelsey.. We have an hour and a half… Let me sleep, please?”

“No way! Too much to do! Get up!” You grabbed a hold of her wrist and yanked her off the bed; she landed with a loud thump, and snapped,

“Go bother Ginny! She’s harder to get up anyways!”

With a sigh, you let go of Hermione and retreated to the other bed. You sat down and gently shook Ginny’s shoulder.

“C’mon Gin, lets go!” She groaned and rolled over, pulling the blankets around her.

“Ginny, get up!”

“Go ‘way Kels…” She mumbled, tunneling deeper into her bed. You pulled the covers off of her and forced her into a sitting position.

“Hey! No! Ge’ off!”

“Good! You’re up, now get dressed!”

“You’re such a pain!”

“Yep, now hurry up! Don’t make me tell you again!”

Ginny gave you a frustrated glare, but she stood up shakily and stumbled to the
bathroom to take a shower.

“Mione, you up?” You asked, walking back to her bed. She was draped across the floor,
snoring softly.

You reached down and hauled her to her feet; jerking awake, she cried,

“For the love of Merlin, Kelsey! Just let me sleep!”

“I want to leave early! Besides, if we get there in the morning, Carson will make us
breakfast! So get up!”

Finally, Hermione threw her hands up and marched to the closet to get dressed.

“Sheesh, is this what it’s like when I wake you up every morning?”

“Consider it payback,” you said, running a brush through your hair. Ginny stumbled out
of the bathroom a few minutes later, and went to get dressed with Hermione. You grabbed
your suitcases and began to pull them towards the stairs.

“Meet me downstairs in exactly five minutes! If you take any longer, I’ll come up and force
you down myself!”

As you mercilessly yanked the suitcases down the stairs, you sighed and felt a wave of
anxiety sweep over you. Would things still be the same between you, Carson and Lakey?
Would they still want you around after so long?

As you reached the bottom, one of the suitcases got stuck on the stairs. You gave a hard
tug, but nothing happened.

“Oh, for the love of…” You muttered, getting a better grip on the handle. With all your
might, you lunged backwards and pulled on the suitcase.

Well, you freed the suitcase.

It snapped off the step and slammed into you. You were thrown off balance, and you
stumbled back, trying to catch yourself. As you stepped back, your foot slipped off the step
and you toppled backwards.

“Shit!” You gasped, letting go of the suitcase to catch yourself.

A pair of strong arms grabbed your waist and yanked you aside as the suitcase crashed
to the ground. You grinned up at Harry and said,

“Thanks, love!”

He bent down and gave you a tender kiss.

“Anytime, Kels. Are we leaving already?” He asked, setting you upright and picking the
suitcase up.

“I want to. Carson can make us some homemade pancakes! They’re delicious!”

“Did you say pancakes?” George asked eagerly, hopping down the stairs and landing
next to you.

“Only if you’re ready to leave!”

“Alright, lets go!” He exclaimed, sprinting back up the staircase to grab his things. A few
moments later, George, Fred and Ron came rushing down, all grinning at the thought of
food.

“Okay, can we leave now? I’m starved!” Fred complained, walking over to you. He
wrapped his arms around your neck and leaned into you. As you began to sway from the
weight, Harry grabbed your waist and pulled you to the side. Fred let you go, and, frowning,
went to lean on George.

“We can’t leave yet,” You said, glancing up the stairs. “We’re waiting for Hermione, Ginny
and Angie. I gave Mione and Gin 5 minutes, so they have-“ you looked down at Harry’s watch.

“Three minutes left.”

“No!” Fred groaned, letting his legs slide out from under him. He fell to the ground,
bringing George with him. “We’re starving! Save us, Kelso!”

You reached over and grabbed Harry’s wrist, flipping it over to read his watch.

“Alright, I’m calling it,” you announced, turning to jog up the stairs.

“Hey! We don’t need the Pancake Brigade to drag us down,” Ginny cried, holding up her
hands in a surrender form. She was closely followed by Hermione and Angelina, who were
both staring, perplexed, at the sight of Fred and George writhing around on the carpet,
moaning and clutching their stomachs.

“Are we ready to leave? We need to hurry before Fred and George die of starvation,” You
teased, playfully kicking Fred’s arm.

“Well, they are,” Angelina said, giving you a sad smile. “My parents want me to spend
the break with them. I can stop by the Burrow on the last day, but that’s it. I’m sorry,” she
said, rushing forward to hug you. You hugged her back, and said,

“Well, I’ll definitely see you then!”

“Awe, man!” George grumbled, untangling himself from Fred to give his girlfriend a hug.
As they parted, Angelina told you,

“Feed him quick! He’s got a hungry gleam in his eye, and I’m sure he’ll eat you!”

You laughed at her teasing, and grabbed your suitcase. Everyone else grabbed theirs,
and you managed to peel Fred off the floor so you could walk down to the front doors.
Angelina walked down with you guys, and she asked,

“How are you getting to Carson’s house?”

“Brooms,” you announced, smiling at her. You turned to everyone and asked,

“Okay, who’s flying with who?”

“Well, Fred, George and Ginny are flying by themselves, Ron can take Hermione and I’ll
be taking you,” Harry said, pulling his broom out. George gave Angelina a last kiss goodbye
and then joined you all as you mounted your brooms. Hermione nervously climbed on
behind Ron, and clung to him for dear life. You didn’t miss the bright flush of red on his
cheeks.

Harry mounted his broom, and you slid on behind him, wrapping your arms around him.
After you all got your luggage sorted out, everyone kicked off, and began to fly. You watched
as Angelina’s waving form grew smaller and smaller, until you couldn’t see her anymore.

“Hey, Kelso, bet we can beat ya!” Fred teased, pulling up beside you. As he smiled at
you, a glint of humor flashed in his eyes. But as he passed Harry, his humorous look turned
into a challenging glare, and Fred rocketed forward. Almost instantly, Harry shot forward as
well, and began to gain on Fred.

“Hey, where’s the fire?” George called, trying to catch up to everyone. You had dumped
most the luggage with him, so he wasn’t as fast. He, Ginny, Ron and Hermione were left in
the dust as you, Fred and Harry surged through the clouds.

“Harry, slow down!” You begged, feeling unnerved as the broom was being jostled by
the wind. All Harry did was speed up to match Fred’s pace.

“Harry, I really don’t-“

Your words were cut off as a huge gust of wind slammed into the broom. You were
knocked to the side so far, you lost your balance and began to slide off.

“Harry!” You cried, reaching for the broom handle. Your hands were slippery from
sweating, and your fingers slid right off. Harry tried to spin around and grab you, but he
wasn’t fast enough.

Just as you began to plummet to the ground, a warm, strong arm grabbed you from mid
air and pulled you onto a broom.

“Geeze, Kelso, be careful!” Fred said softly, hugging you to him. You were too busy
hyperventilating to retort with a smartass remark. He hugged you tighter and began to rub
your arm as he rose up to Harry.

“I’ve got her, we’re almost there anyway,” he said coolly, flying along side a very
distraught Harry.

“She can ride with me, Fred. Put her on.”

“It’s too dangerous,” Fred said, tightening his grip even more.

“I can take her,” Harry growled, holding out a hand. “I’m not star seeker for nothing.”

“She isn’t just a little toy to play with,” Fred snapped, pulling ahead.

“I never said that!” Harry seethed, passing Fred and pulling in front of him. “Let her ride
with me, Fred.”

“Guys, quit! Let’s just get to Carson’s house, I’m hungry!” You sighed, frowning at the
both of them. At your request, Harry moved out of Fred’s way and reluctantly let him lead the
way. The others soon caught up to you, now that you weren’t rocketing through the sky at
light speed.

“I think it’s right down there,” you piped up, pointing towards a cluster of houses.

“Let’s stop off at-“ Fred began.

“Let’s stop in the woods and ditch our brooms,” Harry cut in, throwing a glance at Fred.
You rolled your eyes as you began to descend to the trees. As Fred touched down, you slid
off the broom and walked a little uneasily to Harry. He laughed and pulled you into a hug,
kissing the top of your head.

“Flying makes you dizzy?”

“Just a little,” you admitted, clinging to Harry tighter than usual so as not to loose your
balance. Fred stormed past you, yanking your bags after him.

“I can take those,” You offered to Fred, jogging after him.

“I’m fine,” he said quietly, picking up the pace. You let the matter drop as you began to
head out of the woods to look for Carson’s house.

As you made it to the neighborhood, you looked at the house numbers.

“No, no, no….” you muttered, feeling a little discouraged. “I don’t think it’s on this block.”

As you led the way up the street, you saw a little brown haired boy of about nine running
around the front yard, chasing what looked like a golden retriever. Sitting on the front steps
was a tall, slender, dark-haired boy you recognized too well. Grinning, you broke out into a
sprint.

“Carson! Lakey!” You shouted, pulling ahead of your friends. The little boy looked up, and let
out a cry of excitement. He began to run forward, holding his arms out. You did the same,
and as you two met, you picked your little brother up and spun him around.

“I missed you so much!” Lakey cried, burying his face into your shoulder. You squeezed him
as tight as you could and murmured,

“I missed you too, kiddo.”

You began to walk up to Carson, still holding Lakey. The golden retriever followed you
excitedly. As you reached the front step, you grinned up at your stepbrother.

“It’s been too long,” he said quietly, holding out his arms. You balanced Lakey with one arm
as you pulled Carson closer.

“I’ve missed you guys so much,” you admitted, leaning your head on Carson’s chest. You felt
a cold nose press into your leg, and you turned to look down.

“Who is this?” You asked, letting Lakey down to pet the dog.

“Say hello to Lakey’s new dog, Kale,” Carson said, laughing a little bit. As you pet Kale, the
others arrived at the lawn. You stood up and led Carson and Lakey over to everyone.

“Guys, these are my brothers, Carson and Lakey,” you said, pointing to them. “Carson and
Lakey, these are my friends Fred, George, Ginny, Ron, Hermione and, I’m pretty sure you
remember Harry, who’s my boyfriend now.” Caron shook everyone’s hand as Lakey led Kale
around to introduce to everyone.

“I know you all had a long journey,” Carson said, leading you up the front steps into their
apartment. “I have some pancakes made, who’s hungry?”

Fred and George couldn’t have gotten into the house fast enough.

Carson
Lakey and Kale