Work Text:
That was an odd place for a shoe Fred thought to himself as he made his way down the dark alley next to the new joke shop. He had been spending a lot of time in America separated from George, and the rest of his friends, which made him sad. Still, at the same time, he knew he was doing good work here, and once the joke shop was up and running, he'd be able to go home and visit for a while at least until the first significant issue came up.
He had spent the better part of is afternoon interviewing potential employees. If he was honest with himself, no one had impressed him outside of one woman who randomly came into the shop because she saw the now hiring sign upfront.
What was her name again? Fred thought to himself. It was an odd name if you asked him, but then still, if you thought about the friends he had back home, the name was probably extremely normal. Furrowing his brow, he thought about what her name was as he stared at the random shoe lying in the middle of the alley. He was deep in thought as he leaned up against the side of the shop.
"There it is!" a voice shouted from the shadows. The voice sounded familiar as Fred turned in the direction of the sound and saw a familiar face.
"There what is?" he asked, stepping away from the wall and into the dim light of the flickering street lights. Once his face had been illuminated, the face of the voice turned into a smiling face.
"My shoe, Mr. Weasley," she replied, walking up beside him and looking down at her shoe as she stopped. "I interviewed with you earlier; the name's Darcy Lewis." She reached out a hand to him, which Fred took happily.
"Yes, I remember," Fred said, shaking her hand firmly with a smile on his face. "I was going to give you a call when I got back to my flat."
A smile beamed from Darcy's face. "Does that mean I got the job?"
Fred nodded his head as a smile pulled at the corners of his lips. "You were the best person for the job."
"Well, that's a first," Darcy replied happily. "Normally, my stepsisters are always the chosen ones for things, and I'm left to do all the chores at home."
Fred tossed his head back with a laugh. "That sounds a lot like how my sister's luck worked out. Out of the seven of us, she had to do most of the chores because mum knew that she'd have to do it again if any of the boys did the cleaning."
"Sounds about right," Darcy replied, nodding her head. She glanced down at her shoe and realized that her foot was starting to get cold. "I should probably put that back on."
Fred looked down at the shoe on the ground and bent down to pick it up at the same time that Darcy did. Their shoulders touched as both hands landed on the shoe. The next thing they both knew, the world around them went black, and it felt like they were being pinched into a small hole.
Abruptly, they crash-landed into a field. Fred pushed himself up off the ground and reached a hand out to Darcy, helping her up. He looked around and thought that the general area looked familiar, but he couldn't exactly place why.
"What just happened?" Darcy asked, brushing the dust off her pant legs.
"I think someone spelled your shoe," Fred replied, carding a hand through his hair, not realizing what he had just set. When the revelation hit him, he spun around and was met by a wide-eyed Darcy. "So, I should probably tell you something…."
"What do you mean someone spelled my shoe?" Darcy shouted, but covered her mouth when she realized how loud she was, especially not knowing exactly where she was at the current moment. "Where the hell are we?"
"If I knew the answer to that question, I'd be happy to tell you," Fred replied. "But the one thing that I do know is that I'm a wizard, and it would seem that someone turned your shoe into a portkey. I'm not sure where it took us to, but I'm fairly certain that we are not in the same century that we belong."
"Wizard," Darcy mumbled, tucking a stray curl behind her ear. "Portkey. Different century. I think I'm gonna faint."
"Let's go sit over here," Fred insisted, ushering her over to the grassy knoll off to the side of the field. "Maybe if we get our bearings, we can figure out where exactly we are and how we can get home."