ʙᴇᴛʀᴀʏᴀʟ • ʙɪʟʟ ᴡᴇᴀꜱʟᴇʏ

ᴛᴇɴ

The Weasley children were not too surprised to see Freya was with them once again. She'd spent so much time with them at The Burrow, they always assumed she was already living there. They didn't mind it, especially now that another year at Hogwarts was about to begin.

"Looking forward to your third year, Ron?" Freya asked him as she helped Ginny and Molly set the table for breakfast.

"Oh, yeah!" he grinned, immediately digging into a piece of bread. With his mouth full, he added something incomprehensible; all Freya could pick up were Harry's name and the word 'roast' (probably referring to the meal all students had in the Great Hall during the first years' sorting ceremony).

"Ronald, what did I tell you about talking with your mouth full?" Molly scolded him, and Ron scowled at his mother and continued eating.

The twins were obviously looking forward to more mischief, something which both Molly and Freya knew would happen. Ginny said she was simply looking forward to seeing her friends, whom she had been writing letters to all summer long. Percy was looking forward to finally finish his Hogwarts years and not being teased by his younger brothers constantly.

Mr Weasley came rushing downstairs and grabbed an apple, obviously late for work. After a quick goodbye to everyone, he headed out.

"Is Bill not working today?" Freya asked Molly, who shook her head.

"He decided to take some time off from work because of--" Molly was about to say why, but she realised her children were there. They didn't want them to know what had happened just yet, out of fear of their safety. "--you know..."

Freya smiled weakly. He really didn't have to do that. She was fine with being alone at The Burrow or with Molly, who later revealed she had some errands she needed to run in Diagon Alley with the Weasley children.

"Okay!" Molly exclaimed, clapping her hands together for attention. "Time to go!"

"Do you have the booklist, Ma?" Percy asked her, standing up.

"All of them, dear." she smiled reassuringly and took out several papers from her pocket. "See?" Molly waved the papers before putting them back in her pocket. "Now come on, go get changed."

One by one, they walked upstairs to get changed. Molly pulled Freya aside, lowering her voice.

"Are you sure you're okay, love?"

Freya furrowed her brows. "Yes, Molly." Suddenly, thoughts started filling her head. "Why? Did something happen? Did they find my brother?!" She exclaimed, speaking quickly and frantically. Molly hushed her, taking hold of both her hands to ease her.

"No, love. Nothing yet... but I had to ask..." her voice trailed off. "You're acting as if nothing happened."

"That is because I want to forget it happened." Freya told her. "Sirius is not a-- He'd never!"

"We know, sweetheart." Molly spoke softly, tucking a strand of her behind Freya's ear, smiling weakly at her. "We know."

After a few seconds of silence, the children came running down, in their normal clothes and robes, standing by the fireplace, ready to go to Diagon Alley via Floo powder.

"Ready when you are, mother!" Fred and George grinned toothily at Molly.

Molly gave Freya a worried look, but Freya smiled reassuringly. "Go, I'll be fine."

She said goodbye to the Weasley children as they transported themselves one after the other. The last to leave were the twins. As soon as they were gone, Freya found herself exhaling as if she had been holding her breath the whole morning. Before heading upstairs to Bill's room, she decided to prepare a quick fruit salad for him to eat as breakfast. She went up quietly and knocked on his door gently, afraid she'd wake him. He tended to sleep late whenever he wasn't working.

"Freya?" She heard him say from inside. She opened the door, smiling softly. "Morn'n'." He groaned as he stretched his limbs, cracking some bones along the process. Freya placed the bowl of fruit on his bedside table before sitting by his side on the bed.

"Good morning to you too, sleepyhead." she giggled, poking the tip of his nose. "I made you a fruit salad."

"You're a gem, love." Bill sat up, kissed her cheek and took the bowl in his hand, picking some of the fruit which was cut into small cubes to eat. He ate several at a time and was almost finished eating them very quickly. "Mmmmm. Freshly picked?" 

"Yes." She smiled and nodded.

"And are the others gone?" She nodded once more. "Good, because that means..." He paused, placing the bowl aside before looking at her with a wide grin and eyes. "I can do this!" Bill grabbed her from the waist, pulling her on top of him and then proceeded to tickle her. She was caught by surprise, her breath knocked out of her as the tickling got too much for her.

"S-s-s-s-stoooooop!" Freya laughed loudly, tears coming out of her eyes. "Biiiiill!"

"Magic word, Freya!" Bill laughed, still tickling her ribs.

Barely able to reply with the laughter, she stammered, "P-p-p-ple-e-ease!" Once she managed to calm herself, she repeated, "Please!"

Bill stopped tickling her almost immediately, feeling as breathless from tickling as Freya was from being tickled.

"I missed that captivating and magical smile of yours." he commented once all calmed down. "How are you feeling, love?"

"Apart from out of breath and attacked?" she asked, chuckling. "Uh... much better. Your mother has been very nice to me this morning."

"Good, good." Bill replied before kissing her softly. "Everything will be okay, Freya. You know that right?"

"I do..."

"And no matter what happens, I'll always be here. My family--" He stopped immediately, taking her hand in his, squeezing. "--our family... will support you."

"I know you all will, hon." she smiled reassuringly. His eyes showed that he wanted to say something else. She couldn't tell whether it was good or bad. "Bill... is everything okay?"

"Yes, of course!" he replied almost too enthusiastically. "It's just... my parents and I got talking a few days ago... about..." He turned slightly red. "Me and you..." Freya straightened up as he spoke. "And now, with all of this happening with you..."

"Bill, I love you but what you're saying is not making much sense to me."

"My father said it was best if we went away to Shell Cottage for a while. For your and the family's safety. So..." He looked into her eyes lovingly, smiled and asked, "Freya, my love, will you move in with me?"