Chapter Text
A blast of cold water shocked me awake. I shot up with a loud yell, grasping for my wand on the bedside table. Laughter filled my ears as I blinked the water out of my eyes. Two tall gingers were running out the door, cackling like hyenas. "I WILL BLOODY KILL YOU." I roared, pulling my wet blanket off me.
The girls in the beds beside me woke up sharply. "Louise what the hell are you yelling about?" The brunette asked deliriously, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"Sorry Hermione, Fred and George decided to wake me up today." I grumbled, grabbing a towel from my suitcase.
She groaned and checked her watch. "Thanks for waking me up, I guess. We're gonna have to leave soon if we wanna make it in time."
I sighed in agreement before rummaging through my suitcase for something to wear. "Wonder if the other boys are up," The ginger girl, Ginny, wondered aloud, as I settled on a dark red shirt and jeans.
"I'll get dressed and go make sure," Hermione said, looking through her things as well.
I went to the bathroom and got ready quickly, drying myself off before heading downstairs to give those damn twins an earful.
The twins, Fred and George, had been my best friends for six years. We met in our first year at Hogwarts, after I had played an old school muggle prank on Filch. I had offered him a couple Oreos as he escorted the twins to their first ever detention, but instead of the normal cream filling, I had replaced it with a minty toothpaste. The twins thought it was genius, and had laughed with me when Filch retched on the disgusting cookie. It earned me a place alongside the twins in detention, but it was so worth it. We'd been inseparable ever since.
Now I was staying at their house, the Burrow, like I had many times before, but this time was even more exciting, we were preparing to attend the Quidditch World Cup. Though this time I wasn't allowed to stay in a room with Fred and George, like we did when we were younger.
I found the twins at the table, eagerly awaiting the breakfast Molly had made. They were laughing together, probably about the prank they had pulled on me. "You." I growled, pointing my wand at them, "You twats, you thought you would just get away with that? I will hex you."
"Ah ah ahhhh no underage magic Lou!" Fred sang, pushing the tip of my wand away from his face.
He gave me a smug, crooked smile, causing me to blush. "Oh just you wait Freddie, as soon as we're at Hogwarts, I would watch your back." I threatened, slapping the back of his hand with my wand.
George laughed loudly, "That goes for you too George!" I snapped, smacking him as well.
Hermione and Ginny came down the stairs not long after me, I sat beside Fred, while they sat across from me. Molly flicked her wand and heaping plates of toast, pancakes, sausage, and eggs floated onto the table. "Thank you so much, Molly. This looks delicious!" I said as Fred and George leapt ahead to fill their plates.
"Well eat up, you guys have a long day ahead of you!" She beamed.
I filled my plate as well, eating as much of Molly's delicious cooking as I could. A disgruntled Harry and Ron finally made their way to the kitchen, and wasted no time in getting their fill. "Boys! You best be quick, and I sure hope you're packed. You'll be leaving any moment." Molly scolded.
We ate quickly, and mostly as in silence as we were too tired to talk. When I finished, I thanked Molly again, and went to make sure my bag was packed.
My trunk for Hogwarts was already packed, and my school supplies already bought. So I didn't have to worry about that. I turned around to head back downstairs, but was met by something tall blocking my way instead. "Fred, we have to go!" I exclaimed, trying to shove my way around him.
"Wait, I want you to try something." He said innocently, holding out a small green candy.
I narrowed my eyes at him, I had learned quickly to never trust any food the twins offered me. "What is it?" I asked, eyeing the treat suspiciously.
"A new candy me and George made." He shrugged.
"That's what worries me, I think I'm good." I laughed, shoving his hand away.
"You won't try it? Not even for me?" He pouted, giving me puppy dog eyes.
I felt my cheeks heat up slightly, he was pretty adorable. His long red hair framed his face, I almost accepted, until I heard stifled laughter outside the room. "Nope, not even for you, Fred Weasley." I said sweetly, placing my hand on his outstretched arm to get by, and stood on my tip toes to kiss his cheek before leaving the room.
I felt his muscle tense under my hand as I ran away, I couldn't believe I had done that. My cheeks blazed red as I ran downstairs. I had done it without thinking, just to add insult to me turning down his candy. But it seemed to have gotten to me more than him. I hoped he wouldn't bring it up on our trek. I didn't know why it flustered me so much, we had always been close, it seemed weird. But I tried to shove down my embarrassment as Fred and George finally came downstairs.
Arthur called for Harry and Ron, annoyed that they were making us late. At the sound of them clambering down the stairs, we started out the door. Calling our last goodbyes to Molly. Ron and Harry burst out the door behind us, and caught up finally. The sun was just below the horizon as we set out on our journey.
*****
"Where are we going, anyway?" I groaned, my feet aching after an hour of hiking.
"You tired or something?" George teased.
"Of course not Georgie, I'm just wondering why we're wandering aimlessly through the woods." I replied sarcastically.
"Keep up ladies and gents! We're almost there. The Diggory's are probably already there..." Arthur called.
We crossed the crest of a hill, and heard a voice call out. "Ahh! There you are Arthur!"
A short, plump man with rosy cheeks grabbed Arthur in a hug. Arthur introduced him as Amos Diggory. Someone dropped beside him from a tree, a handsome boy who I recognized to be from our year, Cedric Diggory. Amos introduced him quickly, before we set off again.
I saw Hermione and Ginny giggling over Cedric, and rolled my eyes. So many girls clambered over him, but I couldn't be bothered. He was too cocky for my taste, especially for a Hufflepuff.
I fell back into step with Fred and George, who mercifully, hadn't mentioned anything that happened earlier. Maybe George hadn't noticed.
We joked and bugged each other the rest of the trek, I was growing more and more tired, the large breakfast only weighed me down.
Finally, we came to a clearing with a large grassy hill. "Hurry up! We don't have much time!" Amos exclaimed suddenly.
We ran the rest of the way up the hill where an old boot sat, waiting. The Weasley's and Diggory's immediately laid down and put a finger on the boot. I laid down beside Fred and did the same, the only one who didn't follow suit was Harry, who stared with a confused look. "Harry! Grab on!" Arthur yelled.
At the last second, Harry slammed down beside me and grabbed the boot. It felt like I was hooked behind the navel as we began to spin, the world blurring around me as the portkey transported us. "Now, let go!" Amos directed.
I did with hesitation, and was suddenly free falling. I went to scream, but suddenly slammed into someone. I heard a groan, and looked up to see I had landed on Fred. I scrambled to my feet, blushing and apologizing profusely. Fred laughed awkwardly and brushed himself off, his cheeks tinted red. George was howling with laughter as he got off the ground, earning himself a shove from Fred.
Arthur, Amos, and Cedric floated down gracefully to meet us. "Show offs." I heard Ron grumble, embarrassed on how we had landed.
A ministry worker, who had tried to dress like a muggle and failed miserably, took the portkey from Arthur and sent us in the direction of our campsite. We set off again, but didn't walk long this time. About ten minutes later we reached the site manager, and Arthur awkwardly had Harry help him pay.
Unfortunately, we had more walking to do. After ten minutes of hiking on already aching feet, we found our site. Many tents surrounded us of all different sizes, it was amazing to see how many wizards had congregated here. Arthur and Percy pulled out their wands, and set up the tent quickly. I breathed a sigh of relief that Arthur didn't have us do it the muggle way.
When the tent was done, I eyed it curiously. It was a lot smaller than I thought, and looked like it wouldn't fit all of us. Arthur and Percy ducked in, followed by Fred, George, and myself. I was shocked when I was able to rise to my full height and look around the tent. It was enormous on the inside, with a small kitchen, and bed areas. "It's nothing fancy, but it works." Fred said sheepishly, "There's a lot more newer and bigger models but-"
"I love it," I replied, smiling widely at him.
He breathed a sigh of relief, before wrapping an arm around my shoulders. Arthur instructed the girls to take the left, and the boys the right. So I peeled away from Fred and followed Ginny and Hermione to claim our beds.
Fred approached me after setting his bag down, "Hey Lou, we've got some time to kill before the match, wanna wander the campground?" He asked.
"Sure! That sounds like fun." I replied with a smile, linking arms with him to walk out of the tent.
"I'm coming too!" George called, taking my free arm.
I could've sworn I saw Fred shoot him a nasty look, but it was gone by the time I looked up at Fred.
We walked through the rows of tents, stopping to chat briefly with some other kids from our year.
"So, Louise, come up with any other ideas for our Weasley products?" George asked.
We had been owling about this all summer. Fred and George had realized last year after conferencing with McGonagall that regular jobs in the wizarding world weren't for them, and their grades supported that. They wanted to have their own business, with joke products. So they could continue to torment the professors of Hogwarts long after they were gone.
"Mmmm, I was thinking maybe a bewitched quill? Like, if your mate forgets his, and you always lend him one, you give him this one, and it'll add random curses into their work." I suggested, it was a lame idea, Fred always had way better ones.
Surprisingly, Fred threw his head back and laughed deeply. "I love it!" He exclaimed, "George always borrows mine, that'll teach him!" He said with a wink at his twin.
George rolled his eyes, and started to fill me in on what had happened when they picked up Harry from his awful relatives house. They had let a tonne-tongue toffee fall on the floor, which Harry's piggy cousin obviously ate. According to them, it worked wonderfully. His tongue grew, and Arthur had to try and help while Harry's aunt and uncle screamed bloody murder. I was crying with laughter at the thought. "But you could've killed him!" I wheezed, trying to catch my breath.
"But we didn't!" Fred replied.
"Fred, I need you to do something for me."
"Yes?"
"Pinky-promise you won't try any of your products on me?"
Fred laughed, "I pinky-promise."
We linked our pinkies, and shook slightly. The promise cemented between us. I felt butterflies in my stomach as I smiled at Fred, and fought the urge to push his hair out of his face.
Unfortunately, their little test had resulted in Mrs. Weasley ordering them to destroy all their creations. So now we had to start from scratch. "Luckily, I had a few recipes wrote down, so we only lost prototypes, really." George boasted, always the more cautious twin.
We hushed up the conversation as we arrived back at the campground, knowing Arthur would report back to his wife if we breathed a word of Fred and George's business aspirations.
When we approached the tent, we noticed two unfamiliar men sitting in the ground as Mr. Weasley cooked dinner. Percy was staring dreamily at one, like a lost puppy. Fred and George noticed too, and smiled as they plotted how they would torment Percy. The second man was trying to convince Arthur to bet on the match. "Oh c'mon Arthur, let loose! Let's say, a galleon on Ireland to win?" He suggested.
"Fine." Arthur huffed, fishing a gold coin from his pocket.
"And how about the rest of you?" The man asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Bagman... they're too young." Arthur protested.
But Fred and George had immediately began rummaging in their pockets. "37 galleons, 17 sickles, and 4 knuts on Ireland winning, but Krum catches the snitch!" Fred declared, him and George dropping their entire savings on Bagman's lap.
"Fred!" I exclaimed, "You can't be serious, that's all your savings!"
He smiled bitterly at me. "I know, but it's nowhere near how much we need, and this could really help us!"
I gave him a disappointed look, which he avoided. Bagman grabbed the money eagerly, smug over the boys ridiculous call. "Aright, boys. Not a chance that'll happen." He smiled, giving them a piece of parchment cementing their bet, which George tucked safely in his pocket.
Fred continued to avoid my harsh gaze, instead he focused on watching Percy try to offer his boss tea. "Thank you Weatherby." He grumbled, ignoring the tea completely.
I tuned out the ministry talk, and played with the grass. I was trying to figure out why the hell Fred and George would make such a ridiculous bet. Those boys were too unpredictable at times. I tuned back into the conversation at the mention of Hogwarts. "Should be a fun year, it's being hosted at Hogwarts so your kids won't be too far Arthur-" Bagman started, but was cut off by Percy's boss, Crouch. "We should go check on the Bulgarians Bagman. They're quite rowdy." He said sharply, thrusting the tea back at Percy.
They said goodbye, and sauntered off. Bagman still trying to take bets as he went. "What's going on at Hogwarts dad? Why wouldn't Crouch tell us?" Fred asked eagerly.
"You'll find out soon enough." Arthur replied with a wink.
"Mr. Crouch was right not to disclose such classified information. The Ministry will do so when they see fit." Percy sniffed.
"Oh, shut up Weatherby." Fred huffed.
George and I stifled laughs as Percy glared daggers at us. Suddenly, a salesman appeared nearby, boasting souvenirs. We walked over and inspected his wares. Each of us bought a few things, except Fred and George who had just wagered away their money. I felt bad, and bought some face paint, a shamrock hat, and three Ireland scarves for us. "You didn't have to do that, Louise." Fred said, guilt thick in his voice as I placed the shamrock hat on his head.
"Yes I did," I replied, "You can just pay me back when your joke shop takes off."
He smiled at me at that, and both twins thanked me as we sat down to do face paint. George went first, opting for something simple, stripes of white and green on both cheeks. I finished quickly and turned to Fred. "And what do you want?" I asked.
Fred smirked, "I want a giant shamrock on my face, and whatever isn't a shamrock I want white." I rolled my eyes at his request, and started the design.
I carefully outlined the shamrock, feeling the heat of his face under my fingertips. We made direct eye contact almost the whole time, it felt strangely intimate. It took about ten minutes to finish, and I took a second to admire my work. "Enjoying the view?" Fred teased.
I blushed hard. "I w-was just looking at the face paint." I defended.
"Sureeeee you were." George sang behind me.
Fred grabbed the face paint from me, and began to put it on my face without any input from me. I tried to pull back and protest but he grabbed the back of my neck to stop me. I froze instantly, having no choice but to look him in the eye. I felt warmth creep back into my cheeks as his eyes bore into mine. "I'm just giving you the same design I have, okay, love?" He whispered.
I gulped and nodded, shocked by Fred's actions. I sat quietly while Fred drew on me, hoping he wouldn't screw it up. He finally drew back and admired his work. "Enjoying the view?" I said, mocking his earlier statement.
He laughed it off and handed the face paint back to me, which I threw in the general direction of my bag. Suddenly, a booming gong sounded in the distance. Red and green lanterns blazed to life around us, lighting a path to the stadium. "It's time!" Mr. Weasley exclaimed, as giddy as the rest of us. "Come on! Let's go!"