Right Now Could Last Forever

“Ouch! Corey, no – go back, go back, there’s been some kind of mistake – tell Fred not to -“

“OUCH!” I squealed as Fred landed on top of me in the small space.

“Fred, no –“ George appeared, “George, there’s no room, go back quickly and tell Ron –“

“Maybe Harry can hear us, Dad – maybe he’ll be able to let us out –“ Fred said, still trying to move so his body weight wasn’t totally on me; his now long ginger hair brushing across my face several times.

George pounded his fists on the boards that let only a little bit of light into the small, confined space.

“Harry? Harry, can you hear us?” I said.

“What is this?” I heard someone growl. “What’s going on?”

“They – they’ve tried to get here by Floo powder,” came Harry’s voice, and by the sounds of it, he was holding back a laugh. “They can travel by fire – only you’ve blocked the fireplace – hang on – Mr Weasley? Can you hear me?”

“Shh!” I hissed, and George stopped banging.

“Mr Weasley, it’s Harry... the fireplace has been blocked up. You won’t be able to get through there.”

“Damn!” said Mr Weasley. “What on earth did they want to block up the fireplace for?”

“They’ve got an electric fire,” Harry explained.

“Really?” said Mr Weasley excitedly. “Ecklectic, you say? With a plug? Gracious, I must see that... let’s think...”

“Ouch, Ron,” Fred groaned, as he fell flat on top of me again, this time with Ron on him. I felt all the air rush out of my lungs.

“What are we doing here? Has something gone wrong?”

“Oh, no, Ron,” Fred said muffled against my shoulder, but still ever so sarcastically. “No, this is exactly where we wanted to end up.”

“Yeah, we’re having the time of our lives here,” said George, who also sounded muffled, as though he was squashed against a wall.

“Boys, boys...” said Mr Weasley vaguely.

“Can’t... breathe...” I managed to say.

“Ron, get off me,” Fred said.

There was a moment where Ron moved awkwardly around and squished himself against a wall by George, and Fred could prop himself up on his elbows again.

“You four; be quiet,” said Mr Weasley. “I’m trying to think what to do... yes... only way... stand back, Harry.”

There was some movement on the other side of the boards.

“Wait a moment!” said the same growling voice from before. “What exactly are you going to –?”

BANG.

The boards shot away, and we all came tumbling out; George and Ron, who had apparently been against the boards, fell face first onto the floor, and Mr Weasley followed. I think Fred and I were the only ones not to have moved very much. There was a very high pitched shriek.
We all hastily stood up. It must look quiet weird; the five of us standing there. The Weasleys, who all had bright red hair, including Fred and George, who were identical to the last freckle, and who’s hair came up to their shoulders. I knew I stuck out like a sore thumb with my wavy blonde hair and bright blue eyes. I didn’t really care though; the Weasleys were my family.

My chest rose and fell rapidly, my breathe coming quickly. I’m sure Fred hadn’t been crushing me that hard. I hadn’t felt the burning need to get air when I was in the fireplace.

“That’s better,” panted Mr Weasley, brushing dust from his long green robes and straightening his glasses. “Ah – you must be Harry’s aunt and uncle!”

Tall, thin and balding, Mr Weasley moved towards the fat man and his skinny wife, but the man backed away several paces, dragging his wife with him. Words utterly failed him. Dust covered his suit and had settled in his hair and moustache.

“Er – yes – sorry about that,” said Mr Weasley, lowering his hand and looking over his shoulder at the blasted fireplace. “It’s all my fault, it just didn’t occur to me that we wouldn’t be able to get out at the other end. I had your fireplace connected to the Floo Network, you see – just for an afternoon, you know, so we could get Harry. Muggle fireplaces aren’t supposed to be connected, strictly speaking – but I’ve got a useful contact at the Floo Regulation Panel and he fixed it for me. I can put it right in a jiffy, though, don’t worry. I’ll light a fire to send the boys and Corey back, then I can repair your fireplace before I Disapparate.”

I could tell by the looks on their faces that they hadn’t understood a word of what Mr Weasley had just said. They were gaping at him, obviously thunderstruck. The thin woman staggered upright and hid behind her husband.

“Hello, Harry!” said Mr Weasley brightly. “Got your trunk ready?”

“It’s upstairs,” said Harry, grinning back.

“We’ll get it,” said Fred at once. Winking at Harry, Fred, George and I left the room. We knew where Harry’s bedroom was, having once rescued him from it in the dead of the night. I’m pretty sure Fred and George wanted to get a glimpse of Dudley, who we’d heard a lot about from Harry.

To our great disappointment, Dudley did not make an appearance as we walked through the hallway and up the stairs.

“Through here, wasn’t it?” George asked, pushing open a door.

“You two, grab the trunk; I’ll grab Hedwig’s cage,” I said, walking over to the snowy white owl who was sitting in her cage. Her large eyes following me.

“Oi,” I said, turning around to see the twins standing in the hallway, obviously planning something. “What’re you doing?”

I quickly made my way over to them. They quickly informed me on what they were doing.
“OK, Fred, you do it,” I said, making their decisions for them.

“Yes, Ma’am,” he said, and we proceeded downstairs.

When we entered the living room again, Dudley was there. He was a fat boy with multiple chins that were giggling a bit; he was shaking. Our faces all cracked into evil grins; though the twins were identical.

“Ah, right,” said Mr Weasley. “Better get cracking, then.”

He pushed up the sleeves of his robes and took out his wand. I saw the three people Harry lived with draw back against the wall at once.

“Incendio!” said Mr Weasley, pointing his wand at the hole in the wall behind him.

Flames rose at once in the fireplace, crackling merrily as though they had been burning for hours. Mr Weasley took a small drawstring bag from his pocket, untied it, took a pinch of powder inside and threw it onto the flames, which turned emerald green and roared higher than ever.

“Off you go then, Fred,” said Mr Weasley. “You and Corey go.”

“Coming,” said Fred. “Oh no – hang on –“

A bag of sweets had spilled out of Fred’s pocket and the contents were now rolling in every direction – big, fat toffees in brightly coloured wrappers.

Fred scrambled around, cramming them back into his pocket, then gave the Dursleys a cheery wave, stepped forward to join me in the fire, and together we said “The Burrow!”

Out of instinct, I clutch onto Fred’s arm. I felt myself spinning fast and faster, and pressed myself harder against Fred, just to make sure we didn’t hit anything. I felt sick and clamped my eyes shut; knowing the spinning would stop soon.