Chapter Text
Fred, Fred, Fred, Fred, Fred.
It had always been Fred for as long as she remembered.
For as long as she remembered being interested in boys, it had been Fred, her best friend. The only boy that had ever made her heart beat quicker, that made her blush when he complimented her.
He was loud and wild. The wind whipping between trees, the sparks jumping from burning logs, and the static shock that moved up your spine and made the hair on your neck stand on edge.
Carly Everett Halloway was completely and utterly in love with Fred Gideon Weasley.
And when they had moments like this, she thought that, just maybe, he loved her too.
His arm was slung over her shoulders as he laughed at something Lee was saying. The scenery had changed from rolling hills and stone cottages to industrial buildings and muggle automobile lots, they were almost in London, and their fifth year was almost over.
"So what about it, Carly? Are you coming?" Lee asked
"Sorry, what?"
Lee's question snapping her back to reality
"I asked if you were coming to the burrow this summer?" Lee laughed, giving her an all too knowing look.
"Oh yeah, for August!" She grinned, nudging Fred in the rib cage. "Molly promised to show me baby pictures of this doofus."
"I resent that you have permission to call my mother by her first name," he groaned.
"What can I say? I'm her favourite," Carly grinned "it's going to be a busy house; Harry and Hermione are coming for August too, right?"
"Yep," Fred nodded, "can't wait to watch my brother make a fool of himself in front of Hermione all summer."
"Oh, come off it," George chimed in, finally looking up from his notebook that he'd been scribbling in since the start of their journey. "He's not nearly as bad as Ginny will be around Harry."
"Poor little sis, she's so in love with him," Fred sighed, clutching his free hand to his heart dramatically, "but he's a stand-up guy. At least she has good taste."
George grinned and went back to his notebook.
Fred and George. The two most mischievous people to have ever graced the halls of Hogwarts, never one without the other
.
Where Fred was the wild of the storm, George was the calm before and after it. He was the rain that put out the forest fires, the calming voice in the midst of a shouting match, the balm that soothed the burns and scraped knuckles that Fred sometimes left behind.
But where Fred kept her tucked into his side, George kept her at arm's length. Something she had never been able to figure out. She spent as much time with George as she did with Fred, a default really as it was Fred she was there to see.
George's disdain for her wasn't obvious, but he would purse his lips slightly when she slid into the seat beside Fred. He would make an excuse to leave when she and Fred would laugh over the ridiculousness that was their divination homework. And would often walk ahead of them with the rest of the Gryffindor team whenever she would walk down to the matches to cheer them on.
She had never been able to figure out why. But at least it gave her alone time with Fred. Since she was a child, she had stuck to Fred like glue, and he stuck to her likewise.
It wasn’t a coincidence their friendship, her mum and Mrs. Weasley had been friends at Hogwarts. And it was Mrs. Weasley's stories of her mum that kept her alive in Carly's mind.
"Oh Carly, you look so like her," Mrs. Weasley would say, her eyes misty "your eyes, her nose, it's like Jacinda is here now."
Carly's mother died in childbirth. A few weeks prior, her father, a muggle-born, was killed by death eaters. Since then, Carly had been raised by her aunt Melanie and her aunt's partner Lucy, both of whom were muggles. The Weasleys had been her source for a magical childhood, and she couldn't imagine them not being in her life.
The burrow was a second home, with all its madness came a sense of belonging and warmth she treasured dearly.
Summer was always her favourite time of year. While she loved Hogwarts more than anything, getting to spend her summers with her family, and then Fred's family, was always a yearly highlight.
Carly's aunt always joked that she was well prepared for when she and Fred got married cause she was used to splitting holidays with his family.
Lee's voice snapped her from the burrow back to their train compartment.
"I wish I could come for more than a week, but Grandma Jordan is coming to visit for most of august," Lee sighed "can't wait to listen to gospel music every morning."
"I always forget your dad's half of the family is Muggle American," Carly grinned, trying to imagine Lee in an American setting, “Really how do you not go berzerkers every time they bring up current events?”
"Yeah, always fun political discussions there," Fred laughed, moving his arm from Carly's shoulders, taking with it the comforting weight she always sought.
Just then, the compartment door slid open, and Alicia Spinnet and Angelina Johnson, two other members of the Gryffindor quidditch team, entered.
"Had to leave Woods compartment," Angelina said, sitting down on the other side of Fred, "wouldn't shut up about Pudlemore United."
"Yeah, I love the kid, but I'm sick of hearing about his new training schedule," Alicia added.
Both Alicia and Angelina were on the quidditch team with Fred and George. As much as Carly wished she could play quidditch, her intense fear of heights had always prevented her from hopping on a broom and joining in the fun. Even watching quidditch matches could make her uneasy, but she went because of Fred.
"Can't believe Woods leaving," Carly said, shaking her head "whose going to send howlers to our dorm to wake you two up for morning practice"
"Hopefully not one of these two numpties," Angelina laughed, nudging Fred with her elbow. "I don't think anything would get done at practice."
"I object to that!" Fred exclaimed, nudging her back.
"Are you guys going to the quidditch world cup?" Alicia asked, sitting down on Carly's knee; Carly wrapped her arms around her friend's waist. Lee always joked the two of them took after Carly's Aunts because they had developed a habit of sitting on one another, even when there was space for seating elsewhere. "Carly is Melanie and Alicia is Lucy," he would laugh.
"I'm hoping my parents will be able to nab tickets," Angelina sighed. "But I'm not sure if we'll be able to get them, what with the excitement around this match and all. Are you going, Fred?"
"Yeah, the whole family is going, we're dragging three strays with us, but most of them aren't a bother."
"Most of them?" Angelina laughed
"Yeah, unfortunately, Halloway has to come," he grinned.
"Molly said she was happy to have me," Carly retorted, matching his grin.
"Stop calling my mom Molly!"
When the train finally pulled into the station, Carly was reluctant to leave her friends, the thought of going a month without seeing Fred made her feel cold and empty.
"Oh, come on, Carls," Fred laughed, wrapping her in a tight bear hug. "I'll see you in a few weeks!"
"I know," she murmured into his chest. "You better write to me this summer, you dolt."
"Come on, Freddie, mums calling," George said, pulling his brother away from Carly.
"Bye, Carls!" Fred called back, waving over his shoulder, "see you in a few weeks."
George didn't say anything.