𝐊𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐍 | 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘞𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘺

Chapter 56 - Doucement

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"It was my idea, but 

I could not be bothered with the trouble,

so I made them think it was theirs." 

Bel, talking about one of the twins' prank.

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Betelgeuse and Harry spun faster and faster, blurred fireplaces flashing past them until they felt themself slowing down. Betelgeuse observed the boy throw out his hands and come to a halt in time to prevent himself from falling face forward in the Weasleys' kitchen as she stepped out the fireplace with grace.

She saw Fred rush towards them, "Did he eat it?" he asked breathlessly, holding out a hand to pull Harry to his feet. Betelgeuse smirked.

"Yeah," Harry replied, straightening up. "What was it?"

"Ton-Tongue Toffee," Fred said brightly. "George and I invented them, and we've been looking for someone to test them on all summer —"

The tiny kitchen exploded with laughter; Betelgeuse looked around and saw that Ron and George were sitting at the scrubbed wooden table with Charlie and Bill. She smiled at them. As the older Weasleys talked with Harry, Betelgeuse turned to Fred, "What you did was highly entertaining, Freddie," she complimented, smirking.

Fred bowed deeply in front of her, "I live to please my lady."

"Yeah, don't we know?" Came the rich voice of Charlie as he beckoned Betelgeuse over. She complied, nearing her former Quidditch captain and leaving a flustered Fred behind. "Altair, George said you're not the Gryffindor Captain this year," he crossed his muscular arms over his broad chest and frowned. "Why."

Beside him, Bill snorted, "You lot are a bunch of Quidditch fanatics."

"Bel is the worst of us," George spoke, leaning back on his chair as Fred hugged her waist from behind.

Betelgeuse noticed Charlie and Bill follow his action with their eyes. Bill had a subtle smirk on his freckled face while Charlie's frown deepened. He abruptly clapped his hands in a gesture of recognition, "That's the cause. You distracted her from her athletic goal with your touchy hands. Fred, you dim-witted ginger."

Betelgeuse threw her head back in laughter, leaning her head on Fred's shoulder. She moved her head to the side, observing his facial expression. She had expected a pout of mock outrage to appear on Fred's visage, but instead, a grave expression had downed on his face. Then he spoke, "I'd never do that, Charlie."

Before any of them could say anything else, there was a faint popping noise, and Mr Weasley appeared out of thin air at George's shoulder. He was looking angrier than Betelgeuse had ever seen him. "That wasn't funny, Fred!" he shouted. "What on earth did you give that Muggle boy?"

"I didn't give him anything," Fred replied with an evil grin, never loosening his grip on Betelgeuse's waist. "I just dropped it — It was his fault he went and ate it. I never told him to."

"You dropped it on purpose!" Arthur roared. "You knew he'd eat it, you knew he was on a diet —"

"How big did his tongue get?" George interrupted his father's rant eagerly.