CHAPTER EIGHTY

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"Alright, let's get her back on her feet

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"Alright, let's get her back on her feet...one...two...three!"

With Fred and George on either side of her and under Grandpa Lyall's direction, Eleanor was hoisted back onto her feet. The sudden rupture of sound of everyone yelling "happy birthday" at her, paired with the shock of seeing everyone gathered had been enough to cause her to trip backwards and fall off the front steps of the house. The household grew silent and the only thing that could be heard was the sound of Eleanor groaning from her fall. Quickly, Fred and George hurried out first to find her lying on her back, trying to catch her breath after the wind had been knocked out of her.

Once back on her feet, Eleanor lightly pressed her hand to her back as she felt the onset of pain. When she looked up, she could see the sea of apologetic faces as her parents made their way over to see if she was okay.

"This reminds me of Remus' surprise seventeenth birthday party," Sirius said to Nixie, loud enough for others to overhear, "the whole Gryffindor tower heard him scream that afternoon."

As he came to stand next to Eleanor, Remus rounded in the direction of his friends. "For the last time, you all jumped out at me from behind the sofa and I backed into the fireplace! You'd scream too if your arse caught on fire!"

"Oh, Remus, you don't have to keep defending yourself," Nixie told him, "Sirius has no room to talk. We all remember what happened on his seventeenth birthday or need I remind everyone of how he- "

Suddenly, Nixie's mouth was covered by Sirius' hand as he glared directly at her.

"You swore! We all swore to never speak of it! We used pinkies!"

She placed her hands up in surrender but as Sirius pulled his hand away, he was met with an innocent grin that he knew was anything but. However, the attention was returned to Eleanor as she made her way back into the house, greeting everyone, even though she had seen the majority of them just a few hours prior. All the adults gave her a hug, wishing her a happy birthday, although, between Molly and Lyall, Eleanor couldn't decide who had given her the strongest hug.

But the real fun began as Lyall led the chorus of "Happy Birthday" a total of seventeen times. Throughout it all, Eleanor's face was reddened with a deep blush as she wasn't really sure what to do with herself as everyone continued to sing around her. She managed to laugh a few times as Fred took her by the hand and started spinning her around. And just when she was starting to grow dizzy the singing came to an end and Fred steadied her back on her feet. As if her face wasn't red enough, she felt as though she was the colour of a tomato when Fred kissed the side of her face before letting her go.

With the promise of opening gifts in a little while, Eleanor was free to move around and interact with everyone, but she didn't even know where to start. She hadn't seen her grandfather in months, and he seemed thrilled to see her, wanting to talk all about her internship with Amelia Bones.

Tightly Knit ⟶ Fred WeasleyWhere stories live. Discover now