Eleanor & Fred

I yawned and sat up in my bed. Both Ginny and Hermione were already absent from the room and I wondered what time it was. I dressed in jeans and a sweater before wandering downstairs to the sitting room. I found Ginny, Ron, Harry, Hermione, Fred, and George all lounging about, already in the middle of a conversation.

“Good morning,” Fred grinned, patting the couch cushion beside him.

“Morning,” I stated to everyone, taking my seat between the twins. Harry and Hermione were seated on another couch, Ginny in a fluffy armchair, and Ron was sprawled out on the floor in front of the small, roaring fireplace. “Where are the adults?”

“Meeting,” Ron mumbled. “’F course we can’t know a bloody thing that goes on around here.”

“Your mum is only trying to protect us, Ronald,” Hermione retorted, only momentarily lifting her eyes from the large, ancient-looking book that she was buried in.

I sat in an observant silence, noticing how deep in thought Harry was and how absent-mindedly George was staring at a wall where the hideous wallpaper was peeling away. For a few minutes the only sounds were the crackling of the fire, Crookshanks’ purring as Ginny petted her, Ron’s occasional sighs, and Hermione turning a page now and then. We all looked up at the sound of Grimmuald Place’s door closing and then flinched, covering our ears as the now-familiar sound of the umbrella stand hitting the floor caused Mrs. Black to begin her vicious ranting.

“Filth! Mudbloods! Traitors!”

“Shut up!” Sirius voice was followed by silence, and I was grateful that he learned to quiet her with a simple wave of his wand.

A few moments later, Tonks bustled into the sitting room. “It’s a bit chilly out,” she grinned. “It looks like I missed the meeting, then?”

“You didn’t miss much,” Sirius grinned as well, following her into the room. He was followed by Molly, Arthur, and Lupin, whom I noticed gave Tonks a rather adoring smile as he said hello. “Merry Christmas everyone!”

“Merry Christmas,” everyone replied, Sirius’ enthusiasm contagious.

“Shall we open presents?” Mrs. Weasley asked cheerfully.

Fred and George helped pass out the presents and everyone waited patiently until the last present had been distributed to begin opening them. I was rather surprised at the fact that, not only did I get presents, but I received quite a few. I wondered when these presents had been bought. Then again, I had ordered quite a few presents by owl mail on my second day staying at Grimmuald Place.

George had given me a dozen treacle tarts, knowing they were my favorite, and an album by The Weird Sisters. Hermione gave me a book titled “Sonnets of a Sorcerer” full of poems. Ginny gave me several licorice wands. A traditional Weasley sweater was given to me by Molly, though I’m not sure how she made it so quickly. Ron and Harry together gave me a copy of “Quidditch Through the Ages”, mumbling that they really didn’t know me very well. I told them that any present was very thoughtful and I was very appreciative of everything that I had gotten.

After we ate breakfast, I spent most of the day with Fred and George, listening to them discuss their plans for their joke shop. Apparently, Harry had given them his Triwizard Tournament winnings to start up their joke shop.

“We’ve already got a spot in Diagon Alley in mind,” Fred informed me. “We just need to finalize everything.”

“We haven’t told Mum yet,” George stated, “So be sure not to spill the beans while we’re off at school, alright?”

I rolled my eyes and threw myself down onto Fred’s bed. “I don’t know what I’m going to do here while you lot are all at school. I’m going to be all alone while everyone else is in the meetings.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Fred stated, sitting beside me. “We’ll both write you, won’t we George?”

“You bet,” he grinned. “And maybe we’ll even send you some products to test out for us.”

“Oh great,” I mumbled, “I guess I’d better be careful when opening my mail.”

It was silent for a few moments before George spoke. “Anyone care for some apparition practice?”

“No thank you,” I stated, “I do not want your mum on my bad side. She’s rather scary when she’s angry.”

“You got that right,” George agreed. “Fred?”

“Why don’t you go ahead, see what little Ronny-kins is up to. I’ll stay here.”

“Suit yourself.” With those final words, George turned on the spot and vanished with a rather loud pop.

“Why didn’t you go with him?” I asked, as Fred laid down beside me, both of us staring up at the ceiling.

I felt him shrug before answering. “I just thought I’d stay with you.” He grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “I know we haven’t been together long, but I’ve been thinking…maybe you could stay with George and me when we move into the flat above the joke shop. You could have your own room and everything. I just figured, since you didn’t have anywhere else to go…”

I sat up, leaning on an elbow, and turned to face Fred. “That’s a brilliant idea.” I leaned down and placed what I meant to be a quick kiss on his lips, but he wrapped his arms around me and held me there. He pressed his face into my hair, hugging me tightly.

“I love you,” he murmured.

“I love you too,” I replied, but he pushed me away from him a few inches.

“No,” he sighed. “I really love you.” I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to figure out how what he was saying was different than what I was saying. “Ellie, I’ve never felt this way before and it’s kind of scary. I can’t imagine my life without you. I know it’s been less than five months…but I know already.”

“What do you know?” I asked, my stomach squirming. He sighed. He pushed me the rest of the way off of him and sat up, taking both of my hands in his.

“I know that I never want to lose you. I never want to be without you. Ell, I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”