Towers - Fred Weasley

74

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SEVEN HAD JUST PASSED, Ebony closed Ollivander's and managed to walk across the street to where Weasley Wizard Wheezes just closed as well. They usually close much later but since today is the first of September and all students have gone to Hogwarts, they decided not to stay open too long either. 

"Miss Black, welcome to our soon-to-be-home." Fred said as he opened the door to the apartment above the shop. It wasn't big but it felt cozy. Ebony walked inside and looked around at the many oportunities that laid ahead. "The room nearest the door is George's and the one in the back will be ours." 

"I do not remember agreeing with moving in, did I?" 

"Oh, you definitely did." Fred replied and walked over. "You sealed the deal yesterday with a kiss." He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against his chest. "That is, if you want at least." 

She turned her head to face him, she smiled. "Of course I do. I do, however, want to make sure our room won't look terrible." 

Fred pulled away and took her hand instead. He guided her towards the back and opened to the door to the room that would soon become their bedroom. It again wasn't too big, her room in 12 Grimmauld Place was bigger, but this one had more windows and she liked the light.

"Well, what colors do you think would be pretty in here?" Fred asks as he leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms over his chest. He watched her as she looked around. 

"How about we leave three of the four walls white and paint the wall behind the bed like a forest green color?" Fred eyed her suspiciously and hummed lowly.

"Why green? Why not a beautiful red color or something?" 

That's when she realized what his problem was and she chuckled. She hadn't even thought about Slytherin or Gryffindor colors but it did make her laugh that that was the first thing Fred thought about. 

"Red conveys passion, excitement and danger. Green rooms promise to renew your connection to nature and is said to evoke feelings of balance, vibrancy and good fortune." Ebony explained. "Besides, it is a lot nicer to combine green with beige and brown than make the room red, orange and yellow."

"Lilac, then?" Fred asked and raised his brow.

"Lilac it is." Ebony agreed with a nod. 

After deciding on a color and cleaning the area a little more, the three decided to all go seperate ways and head home for the day. The apartment wasn't yet ready to live in and which meant the three still lived at their parents' houses. 

Ebony arrived at 12 Grimmauld Place and walked inside the dark house. The black hallway made her happy feeling subside and the gray decorations drained her from energy. The only thing that made her not completely hate the house was Remus sat at the dinner table.

"How was setting Harry off to Hogwarts?" Ebony asked as she joined the man at the table. Remus shrugged and put down his copy of the Daily Prophet.

"It went as it goes every year, I suppose." Remus replied. "How was work?"

"Work was good. . . I wanted to talk to you about something." Remus nodded and Ebony sat down in front of him. "I will probably move out soon." She began to fiddle with her fingers. "I mean, Fred and George asked me to come live with them in the apartment above the store."

"That's good, I'm glad." Remus replied. "This will always be your house, legally your the only heir who has right on it since I am pretty sure Bellatrix does not have a child. But, it is a dark house with a lot of memories, you should step out into the world."

"Thank you for understanding." Ebony said, softly. "Will you be okay?"

"Of course, I actually will be busy with the Order so you will be more on your own." Ebony nodded, smiled at the man and stood up. A cat suddenly jumped up from the ground to the table. 

"Smokey?" Ebony realized she had neclected her cat a little after her father's death. She decided to pick her up and carry her upstairs to her room. The house was suddenly very quiet knowing there wouldn't be people visiting all the time anymore. "I am sorry girl, I really feel bad."

The cat meowed a couple of times and brushed her little head against Ebony. She remembered how she would often talk to her cat whenever she felt the need and decided -- against better judgement -- to do this again. 

"I saw mom." Ebony muttered as she petted Smokey. "She explained everything to me and said that apart from Remus as my Godfather, I also have a Godmother -- or had -- not sure. Her name was Katherine Plaingrove, she used to be my mother's best friend. She looked sad as she spoke about her. I don't want to know what that feels like. Also, Fred and I are back together, mom convinced me to tell him how I really felt--" 

Archibald flew inside through the one small window she had in her bedroom. Ebony took the envelope that was attached to his paw and thanked him before Archibald flew back outside. Ebony opened the envelope and took out the letter written in messy handwriting.

Darling,

Ready to break every new rule the Ministry has set up?

Meet me at the Leaky Cauldron around midnight.

XX

Ebony frowned down at the piece of parchment. It seemed obvious, Fred's messy handwriting plugged down on a paper but it didn't feel right. Maybe it was the buzzing noise in her head that convinced her something was wrong. . . when she listened closely, she realized it wasn't a buzzing but the musical tone her wand made whenever danger was near.

When Ebony returned her gaze to the parchment, she saw so many things that were wrong with the small note. She had known Fred long enough to know he would never open a letter with Darling. He was more creative than that. The two X's on the bottom was also very unlike Fred. 

Someone wanted her outside that night and she wasn't sure what to do about it. She looked around, hoping to find an answer when she saw Smokey sit next to a photograph of Fred on her desk. The cat looked like she was nodding at it and for a moment Ebony thought she was going crazy. . . until it hit her.

"I'll go see if Fred is at the Burrow or not." She took her jacket, put it on and grabbed her wand from her nightstand. She envisioned the Burrow and apparated -- without a second thought -- towards the always noisy and friendly home of the Weasley's.

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Written: 25/07/2023

Word Count: 1138