Brontide

"I'm not sure I like this idea," Fred said from my bedroom doorway, sounding rather uneasy. I dug through the dresser that Rae and I shared, looking for something suitable to wear. I tried not to pay much attention to Fred. Rae and Tonks were waiting in the sitting room, ready to go to the concert and I'd overslept.

"Look, you and George can worry about feeding yourselves for one night. I'm going to see The Weird Sisters and I'm going to have a damn good time," I said with finality, pulling out a black t-shirt and ripped blue jeans. I turned to look at him. "What are you so worried about anyway?"

I saw him visibly swallow. "Well, I dunno if you've been reading the newspaper at all but Death Eaters have been wreaking havoc all over the place and...well, what if something happens?" he said awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Nothing's going to happen, there'll be a ton of security, I'm sure of it." He didn't look completely convinced. "Seriously, Fred, don't think about it," I urged him. He shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, I suppose..."

He was acting weird. I narrowed my eyes at him slightly. "What's going on with you?" I asked skeptically.

"Nothing's going on," he said quickly, shrugging his shoulders again.

"I think I know you well enough to know when you're lying," I said with a roll of my eyes.

He looked about to protest when I heard Tonks yelling from the sitting room. "Can you two hurry it up? I wanna see Myron Wagtail already!"

"Whatever it is, it's gonna have to wait," I told him, pushing him out of the room so I could change.

It was now a Sunday near the end of July and we were supposed to see The Weird Sisters in concert. Ever since Rae had talked to me about acknowledging some supposed feelings I had for Fred, well, I was having a hard time not thinking about him. It was bad enough we were living under the same roof and I had to see him almost every waking moment of every single day. I didn't want to think about it, I really didn't, because it truly freaked me out beyond anything else.

I'd always told myself that the childish feuds we'd start between each other were our way of communicating, and never had it occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, it had been flirting. It terrified me senseless but I decided to deal with it by covering my emotions in even more denial. It'd work well thus far, in my opinion.

I changed into my clothes and made sure I had my ticket, some money and my wand on me before meeting everyone in the sitting room. Tonks had altered her appearance for the occasion as one of the just-in-case-something-happens preparations. She'd made herself taller with a pointed nose and chin, her eyes a clear hazel color and her hair electric blue and spiky. She wore a black t-shirt that said The Weird Sisters on it and some ripped jeans, and she had a nose ring. It was the first time I'd seen her since my birthday and she looked excited. Rae had opted for a tie-dye shirt and pair of shorts, her short hair swept back with some clips. Fred and George stood near each other, both of them looking slightly worried.

"Are you ready to go?" Tonks asked me. I nodded my head. "Good. Do you have your ticket?"

I pulled it out of my pocket and held it up. "Yup," I replied, popping the 'p'. I turned to Fred and George. "Don't get into too much trouble while we're gone. Also, if one of you could feed Nestor and let him out sometime tonight I'd appreciate it."

Fred smirked a little. "No promises about staying out of trouble."

"It's almost pointless to ask anymore," George pointed out.

I rolled my eyes, knowing they were too right. They ruffled my hair and George snuck a small kiss onto Rae's forehead. I watched her cheeks turn pink as we stood next to Tonks, joining hands as we prepared for apparition.

"Be careful," Fred said quietly, looking to me in particular. I felt any possible words get wedged in my throat so I gave him a nod instead.

"They'll be safe with me," Tonks assured them, and she closed her eyes, Rae and I doing the same.

The loud CRACK resounded off of my eardrums, and the crushing pressure that I'd started to become used to enveloped my body. It felt like we hadn't traveled very far when we landed, and when I opened my eyes I realized we were in what looked like muggle London. The streets were bustling with people and we followed closely behind Tonks, trying not to get separated. There were so many people rushing to get to their destinations that I became almost dizzy. I rarely ever went into the city. In fact, I couldn't even recall the last time I'd ever seen so many people on one street. I only hoped Tonks knew where she was going because I didn't feel like getting lost.

"It's not too much further," Tonks called back to us, "they're playing at a smaller venue."

The sun was beginning to set, and past the towering building above us were streaks of orange and pink going through the sky. We kept going straight for a bit until Tonks turned left down an alleyway, the three of us dispersing from the crowd and walking past a few overflowing dumpsters. We walked all the way near the end of the alley, and Tonks faced the building that'd been on our left. The crimson bricks were faded and cracked and the building was void of any windows. After checking to make sure no one had followed us Tonks pulled out her wand, staring at the bricks and screwing up her face in concentration.

"Let me see if I remember this – aha!" she muttered to herself, tapping a few of the bricks with her wand and they started to turn sideways upon themselves. They moved out of the way and slowly an opening big enough for us to walk through formed in the wall, much like the entrance to Diagon Alley.

We stepped through and saw a few lines in front of us, teens and adults of all ages looking much like they would for a muggle rock show. We took our place in one of the lines and after a lot of waiting finally made it to the front. There were a few witches and wizards waiting up front with these shiny gold rods that were humming, and they swept the rods up and down our figures to check for any dark magical items. Each of us succeeded the security check and showed them our tickets, making our way into the venue.

The room was big enough to hold about three hundred people, if I had to guess. There were no seats so everyone was standing and we tried to get a better view of the stage, which had its black curtains drawn shut. People were talking loudly and animatedly and Tonks, Rae and I had to raise our voices to hear each other over the noisy chatter.

"You know, Remus practically latched himself onto my leg when I told him I was leaving for the concert today," Tonks told us with a roll of her eyes. "I know things are dangerous right now but for Merlin's sake it's just a concert!"

Rae nodded in agreement. "You should've heard George earlier, trying to bribe me into not going. He can be so ridiculous sometimes."

I let out a light chuckle, Fred's words of concern echoing and his weird behavior sticking in the back of my head. I didn't breathe a word about it. "Boys are weird," I said with a sigh.

"You and George are bloody cute, though," Tonks grinned, nudging Rae in the side.

She turned red. "Thanks," she said shyly, brushing her hair back with her fingers.

After more waiting the curtains finally opened up, the crowd exploding with excited screams. The opening band was one called The Quaffle Kids, who I'd never heard of but they were pretty good, followed by Devil's Snare, who had a bit of a heavier sound. By the time The Weird Sisters came out the crowd was cheering and screaming loudly, the three of included but Tonks was really going nuts. She loved Myron Wagtail, who was their lead singer and the moment he stepped out on stage I thought Rae and I were going to have to hold her up.

"How the fuck are you doing tonight, London?!" Myron yelled into the strange looking microphone he was holding, earning more screams from the crowd. They started in on the tune of "Do the Hippogriff" and everybody started dancing and jumping up and down. I grabbed Rae and Tonks' hands, all of us grinning as we danced along to The Weird Sisters.

"Move your body like a hairy troll (Uh Huh),

Learning to rock and roll,

Spin around like a crazy elf,

Dancin' by himself (Yeah)

Boogie down like a unicorn,

No stoppin' till the break of dawn,

Put your hands up in the air,

Like an ogre, who just don't care!

Oh! Can you dance like a hippogriff?

Na na na ma ma ny na na ny na

Flyin' off from a cliff,

Na na na ma ma ny na na ny na!"

I felt like I was back at the Yule Ball in my Sixth Year when Dumbledore had booked The Weird Sisters to perform. Only this time, instead of wearing a pretty ball gown, I was in muggle street clothing and dancing with Rae and Tonks at an underground show, the room stuffy and the air thick. They played quite a few songs and towards the end of the show, they played "Magic Works", a slow tune that I remembered dancing with Fred to during the Yule Ball. It'd been a bit awkward but we made light of the situation by cracking a few jokes and stepping on each other's toes, at one point accidentally pushing someone into the punch bowl. I thought of this during the show when they started playing the tune, a smile cracking across my lips. Tonks and Rae were leaning on me, the three of us swaying back and forth.

This is your final chance,

To hold the one you love,

We know you've waited long enough.

So, believe

That magic works,

Don't be afraid

Of being hurt,

Don't let this magic die,

The answer's there,

Oh, just look in her eyes.

And make your final move,

Don't be scared, she wants you to,

Yeah, it's hard, you must be brave,

Don't let this moment slip away..."

At this point, I thought I saw tears forming in Tonks' eyes as she looked up at the singer with awe. "For Merlin's sake," she grumbled, rubbing her eyes, "why did they have to play this song? It always gets me."

I giggled to myself about the side of Tonks I'd never seen before. They were almost done with the song, and as I looked around, my ears straining to hear over the band and the screaming crowd, I could hear a faint rumbling coming from the way we'd entered the venue. I turned around and looked over the people behind us, standing on my toes to see over their heads. Some of the people near the closed door were looking around, having heard the noise too. Rae noticed my attention had been diverted and she put her hand on my arm, trying to see where I was looking.

"What is it?"

My brows furrowed. "I thought I heard something...maybe I'd just imagined it..." But I knew I hadn't because it'd sounded larger than any explosion Fred and George had ever created. I then heard another one, a bit louder this time as Rae, Tonks and a lot of the people near us had heard it too, turning to the source of the noise.

The large wooden doors burst open and what looked like several swirling black lines of smoke came barreling into the room. I felt confused for a moment until I saw the Death Eaters start to shoot spells at the crowd below them, someone two people away from me crumpling onto the floor when a jet of green light hit them, and I let out a scream of shock. The band had stopped playing and a few of the members had started fighting back, the others fleeing. People were apparating out of the venue as quickly as they could, their screams of excitement turning into screams of terror.

I turned around to grab Rae and Tonks so we could get out of there, only they'd been caught up in shooting spells back at the Death Eaters. I pushed my way over to them to help and pulled my wand out of my back pocket.

"You can't be serious!" Tonks yelled, dodging a jet of green light. "Do you know how rare it is for me to see The Weird Sisters? And you fuckers come along and bloody ruin it!" She stunned the nearest Death Eater, her hair turning a scarlet red with how angry she was.

The three of us stood back to back, forming a sort of triangle so no one could catch us by surprise. I pulled Rae down by the collar as I dodged a jet of light, my eyes narrowing at the masked figured that'd landed near us.

"Stupefy!" I yelled, the spell just missing its mark. I deflected the spell that was shot at me and continued firing spells, hoping that one would finally hit. "Reducto! Expelliarmus! Petrificus Totalus!" His arms and legs snapped to his sides, his body becoming rigid as he fell like a plank of wood to the floor, unable to move.

More Death Eaters swooped in and there must've been about ten of them then. Most of the people had gotten out of the venue but some stayed behind to try and fight, the few security guards left trying to get a hold on the situation. Tonks and Rae were holding their own, and I watched as Rae stunned a Death Eater straight between the eyes. However, it wasn't long before we were surrounded by about eight Death Eaters and we were having a hard time keeping up.

"I reckon we should go now!" Tonks called back to us, narrowly avoiding two jets of green light. I felt a sharp pain whip across my left thigh and I let out a yelp of pain, looking down and noticing a huge, deep gash that was starting to ooze a lot of blood. She grabbed our hands, each of us firing spells until the moment we apparated out of there.

***

The vast amount of pressure I felt during apparition was nothing compared to the pain in my leg, and when we landed in the flat I crumpled into a heap on the floor, unable to stand up. Upon hearing us return Fred and George stopped whatever they were doing in the kitchen, hurrying into the sitting room.

"What're you doing back?" George asked Tonks.

"We thought you lot weren't coming home until later," Fred said with confusion. His eyes widened when he realized something was wrong. "Where's Cassie?"

Tonks and Fred heaved me up onto the couch, my legs stretched out and my hand covered in blood, trying to put pressure on the gash. My heart was pounding like a drum in my chest. I'd never felt so scared in my life, nor had I ever seen so much blood. Fred sat next to me, his face white with worry and Rae and George's matched his as they stood next to Tonks, who was trying to stay calm and get the blood flow to stop.

"Shit, they got you good," she muttered, her wand hand shaking as she tried to siphon the blood so it could clot. "Do you have any Essence of Dittany?"

Fred nodded rigidly, not looking like he'd be able to do much else. Tonks muttered "Accio Dittany", and a small bottle came soaring out of the bathroom, landing in her outstretched hand. She uncorked the top, giving me a slightly apologetic look.

"This might sting a little," she sighed, pouring the liquid straight onto the gash. I heard a sizzling noise and felt a great deal of pain shooting through my leg. Without a second thought, I grabbed a couch cushion and bit into it hard so I wouldn't wake the whole of Diagon Alley with my screams. She did it one or two times more before putting the cork back in the bottle, sending it back to the bathroom. I felt weak and my whole leg felt as though it'd been burned, but at least I'd stopped bleeding and the wound, which had stretched across the entire outside of my thigh, began to close up.

"Thank you," I muttered to Tonks. Rae helped me sit up on the sofa, elevating me with some cushions. She still looked worried, her green eyes glancing to my leg and her mouth set in a thin line. She had a small scratch on her cheek and a slightly larger cut on her arm, but otherwise she'd come out unscathed. Tonks looked pretty okay but I could tell she felt guilty, as she was the one who brought us.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly to Fred when Rae, George, and Tonks went off to the kitchen to get something to drink. "I should've listened to you...I don't know why I didn't."

He was playing with the end of my hair, twirling it around his fingers. The color still hadn't returned to his face and I could tell I'd scared him pretty bad. "I really wish you and Rae hadn't joined the Order," he said honestly.

He wouldn't look me in the eye so I resorted to staring at his freckles. "And I really wish you and George hadn't joined, but we can't all have what we want, can we?" He didn't answer. I let out a sigh. "I just...I just wanted to feel like everything hadn't changed completely, you know? That I could still go out into public without having to worry about being blown up or something. I miss those days," I said quietly, hugging the couch pillow to my chest. "We're all going to have to be more careful now."

Fred stood up, hesitating for a moment before kissing the top of my head. I felt my entire body freeze. "Do you want anything from the kitchen?" he asked quietly.

"A glass of water's fine," I replied faintly, sinking into the couch further and my lips hiding behind the couch pillow.

The days that followed the incident were fairly strange and a bit frustrating. It took about a week or two for me to recover completely and Fred and George wouldn't let me work during that time, insisting that I stay upstairs and get my rest. Rae would agree with them and help me to the bathroom, bring me my meals and help me change out of my clothes. It was frustrating because I felt helpless, like a doll that couldn't do anything for herself. One evening in August, after the boys had closed up the shop for the night, they informed me that their parents had invited us over to the Burrow for dinner.

"But I haven't made anything to bring!" I said in exasperation, yanking on my shoes and wincing a little. I had started moving around on my own but my thigh still throbbed with pain if I moved too much.

"Don't worry about it," George told me, "Rae found a recipe for chicken pot pie and made some."

I stood straight up, running a brush through my hair. "When are we leaving?" I asked.

"Soon, do you think you'll be alright to apparate?" he asked, watching me with concern.

I nodded my head. "Should be fine, yeah," I shrugged, putting the brush away. "Does your mother know about what happened?"

He shook his head. "Fred and I haven't told her, but I dunno if she read about it in the Daily Prophet or heard it from the Order. We didn't tell her that you all went."

I picked up my wand that'd been sitting on top of the dresser. "Good, because I don't want her having a panic attack over us. It's bad enough she doesn't want us in the Order, I shudder to think what she'd say if she knew I'd gotten hurt."

The four of us met in the sitting room soon after and apparated to the Burrow, landing near the paddy. It was dark out and some stars twinkled in the sky, a warm breeze going through my hair. We strode across the lawn, the lights from the towering Burrow illuminating the way and casting shadows behind us as we walked. Mrs. Weasley threw open the door a minute later, embracing her two sons in tight hugs and kissing them on the cheeks. They looked slightly embarrassed.

"Mum," George groaned.

"You've only just seen us," Fred said in exasperation.

"Oh, stop it you two, can't a mother hug her children?" she sighed, her hands on her hips, "Come in, come in, we've been waiting on you to eat – oh Cassie!"

She pulled me in for a tight hug. I returned it, smiling. "Hello, Mrs. Weasley," I said quietly. She kissed me on the cheek before holding me at arm's length.

"You've gotten thinner, dear, is everything alright?" she asked quietly, her face full of motherly concern. Admittedly I had been eating less, but I just shrugged.

"Yes, everything's fine," I assured her with a smile. She took my face in her hands.

"Don't worry, dear, I've made plenty of food. I'll be sending you all home with a lot. Rae! Oh, how are you, sweetie?" She pulled Rae in for a hug, gladly accepting the chicken pot pie she brought.

We joined the kitchen table after greeting Mr. Weasley, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione. As per usual Mrs. Weasley had cooked up enough food to feed a militia, and we filled our plates with cooked meats, breads, and vegetables. I missed Mrs. Weasley's home cooked meals; trying to make dinner back at the flat just wasn't the same.

No mention of the concert was made all throughout dinner, and I briefly wondered if Remus or Tonks had said anything to them. I hadn't seen Tonks since that night and I knew she felt guilty for what happened, even though I wasn't mad at her. I made a mental note to send her a letter when I got the chance.

"How's the shop doing?" Mr. Weasley asked Fred and George.

"It's going great," Fred said.

"The store's been busy just about every day," George said.

"We'll be coming down to visit soon, right Mum?" Ron asked through a mouthful of peas.

Mrs. Weasley nodded her head. "Don't talk with your mouth full, Ronald. But yes, we'll be going into Diagon Alley soon for school supplies and we can visit the shop then."

Dessert was brought out a bit later, and I ate as much as I could to where Mrs. Weasley would be satisfied before excusing myself from the table with everyone else. We walked upstairs to Fred and George's old room, which I hadn't seen in awhile. Their beds were on either side of the room, with the bed sheets made up and everything, almost like they still lived there. Their dresser had drawers half-opened, their contents empty, and the walls were still marked up from years of experiments.

Fred pulled up a loose floorboard, stuck his arm inside and pulled out a bottle of Firewhiskey. We snuck it outside, walked past the garden that was full of garden gnomes and made our way over to the orchard. We plopped down in the grass, laying in a circle as we passed the bottle around, looking up at the stars above us. The Firewhiskey burned my throat but gave my stomach a funny bubbly feeling, and after I'd drunk enough of it the dull pain I felt in my leg no longer existed.

"It's a beautiful night," Rae sighed from behind me.

It really was; the sky was a dark navy blue and the stars lit it up gorgeously. The moon was almost half full and it seemed almost magnified with how big it was, but maybe that was just the Firewhiskey. I took a long pull from the bottle. By this point, I was feeling a bit drunk.

"D'you think the moon can see us?" I asked wistfully, handing the bottle over to Fred.

"Maybe," he answered, "we'd probably look like ants –"

"– Smaller, even. More like specks of dust," George chimed in.

A content smile spread across my face. "I want to go home."

"We're going back to the flat soon –" Rae started to say, but I interrupted her.

"– No," I said, "I want to go home."

It must've dawned upon them where I wanted to go, because Rae answered quietly, "Well, it isn't too far. We could probably walk from here. Why do you wanna go home?"

"I forgot a few things," I told her, sitting up in the grass. I struggled to stand up, losing my balance a few times but I eventually made it to my feet. We said goodbye to the Weasleys and Mrs. Weasley had given Rae and I a cookbook to use at the flat, along with a basket full of leftovers. We thanked her, and I hoped more than anything she couldn't see our intoxicated states before the four of us walked around the paddy to the hills that hid my house.

***

It took some time getting there, one of us sometimes stumbling over something and having to hold someone else up, but we made it. All of the lights were out as I expected them to be; no one had been inside of it for almost a year. The garden that my mother had tended to for years had wilted and died, weeds taking over completely. By the moonlight I could see the pond in our backyard had turned green with algae. The grass was overgrown and tangled around our ankles, and when we finally got to the back door I tried to open it but found it locked. I pulled out my wand and muttered "Alohomora", pulling open the creaking door and stepping inside.

The kitchen was musty and a thin layer of dust coated every surface; the counter, the table and chairs and the floor. I stepped across the old tile into the living room, where the chevron sofa and armchair sat still in their place, facing the telly. My mother's magazines about knitting and crafts that usually littered the side table were gone, as she'd probably taken them with her. The blinds in the room were drawn shut and it was a bit hard to see, so I lit my wand and continued on my way, going up the creaky staircase.

The railing was dusty, as was the first-floor landing. I peered into the room my parents shared and saw their bed stripped of its blankets, their wardrobe emptied and the pictures that used to hang on the wall were gone. I continued to Devon's room; his room was looking pretty bare too, as he'd taken most of his things with him to America. I hadn't heard from him in almost a year and it was a bit concerning. I was going to have to ask my parents if he had a phone number or something I could reach him at.

My room was last in the hallway and I pushed open the door, more dust filling my nostrils. Rae and I had many sleepovers there when we were younger, spending our days over at the Burrow and our nights doing each other's hair and makeup before bed. Most of my belongings I'd taken with me to Hogwarts but I still had some clothes left in my dresser, and I grabbed those first. There were some stationary pictures on my wall of Rae and me that my mum had taken, a few including Fred and George, and I took those too. The three others were looking around my room, possibly remembering some things from way back when.

I made sure I had everything I needed before deciding that it was time to go back to the flat. I played with the locket around my neck, looking at the moving picture of my grandmother, Devon and I before joining hands with my best friends, the four of us disappearing with a CRACK and a puff of dust.