my best friends brother - fred weasley

lviii. union

"We aren't going back to Hogwarts, are we?" I break the silence on the train, we're 30 minutes out from arriving at Kings Cross and the entire carriage has been silent. "That was it."

"You guys are, I have to finish what Dumbledore started." Harry replied, staring at the note in his hands. He read it over and over again since Dumbledore died, trying to figure out who R.A.B was. He explained to us what happened that night on the Astronomy Tower with Draco, Snape and Dumbledore. Ron insisted that he knew Snape was evil since day one, but didn't pick up on the tone of the room, earning a sharp slap to the gut from Hermione. 

"You honestly don't think you're going to find all those Horcruxes yourself, do you?" Hermione stared at him through her eyelashes. 

"Let alone destroy them." I add on. 

"We're doing it together, like we always do." She tried her hardest to cheer Harry up, but he didn't say a word. He just fumbled the note in his hands in silence until we arrived at the station. Ron, Ginny and I left the two at the station, heading off to the Burrow as we did last year. Inside, the Burrow looked identical to what it was at Christmas, but on the outside it looked like a shabby, abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. 

"There you are!" My favourite voice cheered from the kitchen as we walked in. Fred was grinning ear to ear as he dropped the toast he was eating, bounding through the room and knocking over furniture and sweep me into his arms. I buried my face into his neck as he lifted me off the ground, squeezing me as tight as he could. "Hi beautiful." He mumbled against my cheek. 

"Hi sunshine." He smile back, looking over his shoulder. "Um, Fred..."

"Are you going to ask about-"

"Why is my cat blue?" I let myself down, staring at my poor cat, her once white fur was now a pale blue.

"Well..." He winces from behind me. "Look what we got!" He rushes to change the subject, shoving an envelope over my shoulder and into my face. 

"We?" I lean against the kitchen bench to read 'To Clover May and Fredrick Weasley' in careful cursive. A small smile creeps onto my face slowly while I tear the envelope open, making sure I'm gentle enough to preserve the envelope as a keepsake. I take out the paper to read the invitation to Bill and Fleur's wedding, a week from today. 

"How exciting!" Fred interrupts my anxious train of thought concerning what I'll wear and what could happen at the wedding with the Death Eaters current reign of terror. He's made his way closer to me, wrapping his arm intricately around my waist. "There was also this one." He says carefully, handing me another envelope, this one is blank. 

"Clover May and Fred Weasley, people must think we're serious." I laugh lightly, recognising the messy handwriting but not well enough to identify who it belongs to. I can feel Fred watching me for my reaction. "The union of Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin."

"Surprise!" Fred cheers shyly, still unsure of my reaction.

"They're married?" I gasp. He nods slowly. "That's amazing. I can't wait to see them.

"You're not... upset?" He looks at me, confused. 

"Of course not, I'm more upset that I have to rush to find something for Bill and Fleurs. 

"That's what you're worried about?"

"Obviously! I'll be meeting your family!"

"Don't stress, you could turn up in your pyjamas, and you'd still be the prettiest girl in the world." He grabs my shoulders to stop me from panicking. 

"Fred." I pout and cup his cheeks. "That was the cheesiest thing ever."

"Clover." He mocks my tone and cups my cheeks back. "You have no idea how cheesy I can get."