The Little Things

It was nineteen eighty three. Peace had been regained. In the small Wizarding town of Ottery St. Catchpole, two red head five year olds were running around in the meadow. They were Fred and George Weasley, the children of Molly and Arthur Weasley. They had ditched their older brothers Bill, Charlie, and Percy, and snuck out of the house while their mother was tending to their younger siblings, Ron and Ginny. The two boys ran along until they were by the riverbank. Rolling up their jeans, they stuck their feet in.

“Nothing exciting ever happens here.” Fred complained. He pulled his feet out of the water, and slipped his shoes back on. His brother George did the same. “I know. But let’s get back home before mum puts dinner away.” The two ran to their home, and entered the back door, bringing dirt into the kitchen. A platter or brownies sat on the table. “Huh. I don’t remember mum baking today.” Fred said. They ran into the sitting room, where their massive family was sitting.

Two adults were sitting also. Hiding behind one of them was a little girl about their age. “Oh, Fred, George, there you are. This is Mr. and Mrs. Seymour and their daughter, Elise.” Their mother said. George looked to Percy, who was mouthing something to him. Veela!

The twins stared at the woman, who was definitely half veela. She had silver blonde hair and unnaturally green eyes, which were kind of daunting. The man was tall, and had dark curly mahogany hair. The girl behind them, however, was gorgeous.

At such a young age, the two boys couldn’t really fall in love, but they definitely had crushes on her. She was short, and had her father’s dark hair. Her eyes were green, but they were less pronounced than her mother’s. She had creamy fair skin. Her lips were a dark pink. She was smiling at them, and waved.

The next day, the brothers saw her playing with a toy broomstick in the field. Fred and George grinned, and lugged their toy broomsticks to the field too. She stopped when she saw them, and landed on the ground. “Hey Elise.” They said simultaneously. Elise smiled at them. “Hi Fred, hi George.”

“Come on, let’s fly.” Fred said, jumping on his broomstick daringly. George attempted to do the same, but slipped and fell. As Fred laughed at him, Elise walked over and helped him up. The two shared a smile, which bothered Fred.

That night, Fred walked into his room. He had set his toy broom down in the kitchen, but it was missing…

There it was, in Ron’s hands, broken in half. Fred filled up with anger. He had promised Elise he would go riding with her the next day. He stared at Ron’s teddy bear, which was sitting on the ground next to him. Ron picked it up and snuggled it. That’s when it turned into a huge, hairy spider.

As Ron screamed, Fred laughed. The spider crawled on top of his head. Bill, Percy, George, and their mum ran in. Immediately, George and Bill burst into laughter. Percy stood there, inanimate with a mean look on his face. Their mother whipped the spider off with her wand and picked up the bawling Ronald.

“Fred Weasley! How dare you do that to your brother!” their mother cried. Bill was still laughing. The thirteen year old walked over and put his arms around the five year old, clearly terrified of his yelling mother. “Oh come on, mum. He didn’t mean to, it was probably something he couldn’t control. But you’ve got to admit, that was a strong bit of magic there, bro. He might have a knack for transfiguration.”

Fred smiled at his older brother, and muttered a thank you. Percy still gave him a hard look. “You should stop this nonsense and try to control your powers, Fred. You just might get yourself in a heap of trouble one day.” George, Fred, and Bill rolled their eyes.

“Well then. Dinner’s ready. And please, Fred, try not to do it again.” Mrs. Weasley said, kissing Fred on top of his head.

*~*~*~*

The years passed by quicker than Fred and George would have ever guessed. Finally, they were eleven. It was the June before they would head off to Hogwarts. Already five feet two, they were both shooting up in height.

“You are getting too tall.” Elise complained. Fred, George, and Elise were the best of friends. Elise, who would be eleven in July, was still painfully petite. She had grown even more beautiful over the years, and the now adolescent twins had begun to appreciate it. Her mahogany hair trailed past her rib cage, and her face was thinning out already. Thanks to her veela genes, she didn’t have the baby fat most girls still had at her age.

Elise stretched her legs out and basked in the sun. The boys painfully watched her try to tan, which was stupid, because she never actually did get tan. “You know, mum and dad are talking about moving.” She murmured.

“WHAT?!” the boys yelled. She flinched as they stood up. “You can’t move! You’re going to start Hogwarts with us in the fall; you’ve already gotten your letter!” George cried. Elise looked as if she were about to cry. “I know, and I want to go, but mummy wants me to go to the school she went to; it’s called Beauxbatons. We’re going to move to France, and it’s an all girls school.” She said.

Seeing how terribly upset she was, Fred hugged her. She grasped on him tightly, and sobbed into his shoulder. The two stood there, just holding each other, not speaking. Watching them broke George’s heart, and he took off running for the house. For the rest of the night, he locked himself in their room. Fred slept in the sitting room that night.

“Why is George so upset?” asked the eight year old Ginny. She was very fond of Elise, often calling her best friend. Mrs. Weasley looked at her sadly. “Dear, it must be because Elise is moving to France at the end of the summer.”

Charlie, now eighteen, walked into the room. “He’s also upset because Fred and Elise were all over each other yesterday in the field. He reckons she’s his sweetheart now.” He said sarcastically. Ron laughed and spit out all of his cereal. “I suppose both Fred and George have crushes on Elise, mum.”

*~*~*~*
At the end of the summer, Mr. Seymour had their belongings sent to their new home in France. They would apparate there; Mrs. Seymour would hold Elise while apparating. Right before, the Weasleys stood in the front yard of the Seymour’s former home. They said their goodbyes.

“Elise! Time to go!” Mrs. Seymour cried. Mrs. Weasley patted her back, but it wasn’t kindly like it used to be. Fred had heard the two close friends bickering over whether or not Elise should go to the French Beauxbatons or the Scottish Hogwarts.

Elise hugged both of her best friends. “I’ll be back someday.” She said. She pulled apart, and then hugged Fred again. She let go, and picked up George’s hand. “You’ll always be one of my best mates.” She whispered. Elise kissed both boys on the cheeks, and ran to her mother in floods of tears. “Make it quick.” She said.

With a wave, she was gone.

*~*~*~*
“GRYFFINDOR!”

George joined his brothers at the Gryffindor table. Grinning, he turned to the two girls sitting next to them. “Hey. I’m George, and this is my brother Fred.”

The girls giggled. “I’m Alicia Spinnet and this is my friend, Angelina Johnson.”

At that moment, George and Fred forgot about the one-fourth veela girl they had grown up with. They didn’t know that at the same moment, that girl was meeting her new best friends at her new school in her new home of France.