Chapter 41 (Fred)

I flipped the sign on the door over to ‘Closed’ and turned to look at George. He had two boxes of products in his arms and was trying to carry them whilst holding his wand in his mouth. I laughed,

“Having some trouble there, Georgie? Gosh, it almost looks like you were brought up in a world without magic.”

He shot me a dirty look and I pulled my wand out of my pocket, levitating each box out of his arms and settling them down on the table. George smiled gratefully and walked over to the till,

“I’ll cash up if you re-stack the shelves.”

I chuckled dryly,

“That’s it, give me the physical job.”

“You’ve got to keep those muscles!” He called out sarcastically.

I smiled and bent down to pick something up, trying to look busy as I asked my brother,

“Where do you think Ava will go once the school year is over? Do you think she’ll stay with Malfoy again?”

George looked up at me in surprise,

“I don’t know… I’ve never really thought about it. She could stay with Remus?”

I knew that George didn’t want to suggest that Ava live at the Burrow when in a few months time Harry might have lost all trust in her.

I nodded,

“That’s a good suggestion. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind taking her in, but-”

“He cares about her, Fred.” George interrupted, his voice soft, “He would not wish any harm upon her- of course he would take her in.”

I sighed, defeated, and resealed the box on the table in front of me. I knew George was right, I’d just had a lot of time to think about it recently.

I walked past the front desk and picked up my leather notebook and quill, making my way to the back of the shop.

One of the shelves was completely empty of Love Potion, so I picked up a box and opened it carefully. I found a stool to sit on and leant against the wall behind me. I flipped my notebook open to a page half-filled with sketches and annotations and with my other hand, used my wand to lift the potion bottles onto the shelf. The art of multitasking.

I read through my notes on my most recent prank idea and started to add to it. The notebook was almost finished, each page crammed with sketches, bits of writing and photos stuck down. It was the one that Ava had got for me the Christmas before last, and it had lasted me well. My thoughts drifted to Ava’s charm bracelet, and I wondered if she still wore it.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that the noise of a potion bottle smashing caught me by surprise. I swore and slammed the notebook shut, getting off the stool to clean up the mess. The smell of fresh parchment, morning dew and dusty old library books wafted up from the spilt liquid, but I ignored it and quickly wiped it up with a cloth.

I heard the noise of tapping against one of the windows and stood up, making my way over to the front of the shop to see where the sound was coming from.

An owl was sitting on the windowsill with a piece of parchment in its beak. I didn’t recognise it in the dark, but opened up the window and let it in.

When it was clear, I instantly realised that the owl was Snowstorm. Why would Ava send a letter this late at night?

I took the piece of parchment out of Snowstorm’s beak and opened the letter carefully.

Fred,

It’s tonight. Draco is doing his mission tonight. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I’ve got to try and stop him.

Please- you and George- please come to Hogwarts. I need your help.

Ava

“George.” I stepped towards the front desk, my eyes still on the letter.

“Huh?” He muttered as he wrote down how much money he’d counted. I gulped,

“George. It’s from Ava. She’s got to do it tonight. The mission.”

George dropped his quill and looked up at me, his eyes wide,

“Tonight? You’re joking. We have to go-”

“That’s what she said.” I spoke softly, trying to control my racing heartbeat.

George stepped out from behind the counter and grabbed his wand, slipping it into his pocket,

“Fred- she’s going to be okay. She won’t do it, you don’t need to worry.”

I stood frozen, staring at the floor,

“What if they kill her? The Death Eaters?”

“They’d rather keep her hostage.” My brother looked at me, “Surely You-know-who wouldn’t let them kill her.”

I took a deep breath and nodded, folding up the piece of parchment and tucking it into my pocket.

“Shall we Apparate…”

“… to Hogsmeade? Good idea.” George finished.

I gulped and closed my eyes,

“Just outside the Hog’s Head? Less likely to be seen there.”

“See you in a second.”

I kept my eyes closed and imagined the space just outside the front door of the Hog’s Head, not needing to think about the three Ds when Apparation had become so natural to me.

I twisted my body and clenched my fists as I felt the familiar sensation of Apparation rip through my body. When I opened my eyes, I was no longer standing inside our shop, but was instead faced with the dark shadows of Hogsmeade at night.

I looked up the hill at the outline of Hogwarts and felt an empty feeling in my chest. I missed the comfort of the castle, the company of the other students.

I shook the thought away- I had never dreamt that I would miss Hogwarts. Not at all.

“She could be anywhere in the castle.” George noted as we stepped forwards. I gulped, standing up a bit straighter,

“We will find her.”