Though Florence was unable to help plan the twins' birthday party, she was quick to offer her assistance to Molly who was setting up the Burrow for the celebration. The two strung up lights and set up tables and chairs outside, Florence using some fancy tablecloth she found in the basement of the manor to decorate the bare tabletops, and made centerpieces with some knickknacks they had lying around the joke shop. It was a nice day for a birthday party outdoors, since there was a nice cool consistent breeze, and there was not a cloud in the sky. By the time she and Molly had finished decorating, the sun was slowly dipping behind the horizon, the sky now a haze of purple melting in to a blaze of orange.

Nicolai came out with the plates, which she laid out carefully on the tables, as well as utensils, as Molly went back inside to check on the food. Tonks arrived after a few minutes with the Butterbeers and the Firewhiskeys, with the help of Remus who was already dressed in his costume, a shaggy black haired wig, and a perfectly ironed Senior Auror uniform. Florence laughed at the sight of him, instantly figuring out who he was.

"You know, this is pretty accurate. Sloan's almost never in regular clothes." she said, Remus nodding in agreement, "I snuck in to his room to see what other clothes he had and I swear it was practically filled with uniforms."

Sloan scowled, overhearing their conversation, "I have regular clothes too, maybe you just didn't look hard enough."

"Nice costume, Moony!" Sirius yelled from across the yard, "Add a stick up your ass and you've got Sloan perfectly!"

"Very funny, Black." Sloan murmured as the man in mention made a beeline towards him, sitting on one of the folding chairs across from Sloan, "You didn't even try to look like me. I am beyond disappointed, Price."

"What do you mean? It took me forever to find these," he said, motioning to his headband that resembled that of dog ears, then to the furry faux tail that he stapled to an old black belt, "I look exactly like you."

"You look like Padfoot, not Sirius..."

"Honestly, what even is the difference?"

Sirius rolled his eyes, before turning to Florence, a questioning look on his face as he looked at her up and down. She was wearing a long black wig, some eyeliner, a dark purple sweater and black leggings, an empty Weasleys' Wizard Weezes name plate pinned on to the sweater. "I thought it was obvious that I was Verity."

"Doesn't really look like Verity. She has her hair up in a bun a lot." Sirius said, "At least when I'm at the store she does."

"I didn't know you were at the store often?" Remus frowned, turning to his friend, who had a guilty look on his face, "Sirius... You have't been sneaking out, have you?"

He shook his head, "It isn't my information to disclose." Sirius immediately changed the topic, "Anyway, where are the hosts these evening? I'm dying to see what sort of wild party they have planned."

"Not so wild seeing as they're doing it in the backyard of their childhood home." Remus said, "I'm sure Molly will be furious if they do anything reckless."

"Well you know, they haven't really had a history of caring too much about what their mother will think." Florence chimed in, before a blonde girl walking in caught her attention. She excused herself from the others, before making her way over to Hadley, a big parcel wrapped in shiny green paper with a big gold ribbon in her hand. The uncertainty in her eyes disappeared at the sight of Florence, who helped her put the box on to the gift table. She then gestured up and down at her costume, "I hope I got it at least a little bit on point."

Florence let out a laugh as she figured out who she was supposed to be, "That dress definitely looks like something I would wear. You did a great job! Let me guess, did Nicolai offer her assistance?"

"Yeah. I mean she didn't have to but I really appreciated her help... otherwise I would have just gone for our Auror uniform, but with a different nameplate." Hadley chuckled nervously, eyeing the venue, "This is a beautiful setup. I could have lent a pair of hands if you needed it awhile ago... I was free all day.."

"No it's absolutely fine, we had everything covered. I'm really glad you could come. I'll introduce you to my family and school friends when we have the time. I've told them a lot about you." Florence smiled, knowing full well that Hadley was feeling slightly uncomfortable due to the fact that she didn't know a lot people at the party. Because of this, she had her sit at her and Nic and Xander's table, the two other people greeting her with warm smiles as she settled in to her seat. She saw the blonde wig on Nicolai's head, and the same wizarding band shirt she had pointed out at the shop the day they went shopping. "You're dressed like me." she said in realization, a huge smile on her face. 

"Yeah!" Nic said, standing up from her seat to show her the whole outfit, "How'd I do? I wasn't really sure what color denim pants you wear but you were wearing blue denim that day so I just figured... and the shoes, er, this was all that I had so I hope I did it some justice-"

"You did great, Nic. Don't worry about it" she reassured, before turning to Alexander, "And who are you dressed as?" she asked, looking oddly at the scars he drew across his face.

"Remus... He's one of Florence's uncles, well, not blood related but they're still like family. This getup was actually pretty easy to put together, I just had to go through my dad's wardrobe since he dresses like an old person. Great bloke, he used to teach at Hogwarts too..." Xander explained, pointing to the man in mention who was sat at a table across from them, sitting next to Mrs. Weasley who had bright pink hair, making him do a double take, looking a little shocked, as there was another Mrs. Weasley beside the bright pink hair with her normal ginger hair, "What... in the world..."

More people had started to arrive, all the seats filling up one by one. Eventually, Fred and George came out, in their letter jumpers, making everyone but Florence groan. Of course the hosts of the party were going to encourage creativity out of their guests but do the bare minimum for their own costume. "Good evening, everyone!" Fred, in George's letter jumper called to everyone, "We're so happy you could make it. George and I are celebrating this birthday because, well, a lot of great things have happened to us this year so far, as well as the last."

"We opened up our own business, which has been flourishing. A lot of you people here have been big contributors to our success. This party is also a celebration for that. Also, this is our first birthday that we aren't spending in Hogwarts, so we are going all out."

"So, ladies and gentlemen, so as to be on par with me and my brother's explosive personality..." Fred paused, the twins chuckling at their own pun, "We have put together a firework show that will blow you away." George said.

"But not just any firework show, of course. We're using authentic Weasley products, that will be out for sale soon for those of you who are curious... This spectacle took George and I months to put together, so without further ado..." he raised an arm, and a loud bang went off, the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes logo flashing in the night sky, the guests averting their attention upwards as Fred and George went over to help Verity with the set up. As the logo faded, two sparks shot up to form two figures in a red cloak mounted on broomsticks, zooming across the sky leaving a trail of sparks in their wake, before colliding with each other, the sparks immediately rearranging to the outline of the Hogwarts castle. Another explosion followed, turning in to a lion's head, that growled and made an almost realistic noise, before fading out. 

The next firework displays portrayed significant moments in the twins' lives, like memorable quidditch matches, scenes at the common room with their friends, Christmas days with their family, Christmas with the Order, their joke shop, and Fred even quickly put in the moment when he and Florence were laying on the Quidditch pitch grass, which was the first time that he told her that he loved her. Everyone was fascinated as to how they were able to accurately capture these moments in time using fireworks. At the end of the display, a big bright 19 flashed in the sky, with the phrase 'and counting...' right below. The writings exploded in to tiny little sparks, before fading in to nothingness, a beat of silence following before everyone started to clap.

"That was amazing!" Nicolai cheered, "That must be some charms on those products..." she said, turning to her friends, Xander nodding in agreement, "Professor Flitwick would be proud to see this. It was kinda like what they used to attack Umbridge but... much, much more elaborate."

"That's Fred and George for you."

The twins took center stage once more, soaking in the applause from their friends and families, big smiles on their faces, "Thank you... I hope everyone here enjoyed it just as much as we enjoyed putting it together. As we said before, everyone here has impacted our lives in one way or another, so that spectacle was our thank you, to all of you." George said. "And those were the Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-bangs 2.0."

Dinner was served shortly after, a long table filled with all of Molly's delicious cooking appearing before them, the guests getting up from their seats and queuing for the food. There was also a table filled with dessert off to the side, which Florence eyed critically, because none of them had been made by her. "You know, if it wasn't your birthday I would give you grief about how you didn't come to me for desserts." she told Fred as they settled back down on to their seats with a plateful of food, Florence taking a couple bonbons from the dessert table just to try them out. Fred chuckled, "Well they're a little bit special. Have a bite."

Florence did so, her eyes growing wide as she felt tiny explosions in her mouth from the bonbons, looking to Fred, "Please tell me you only tampered with the bonbons..."

As if on cue, other surprised exclamations came from other tables, which gave Florence her answer. Fred chuckled at the look on her face, "We may have tampered with a few other things... as well as the cake..."

"You asked someone else to make the cake too?" Florence half gasped in feigned hurt, "Now that's just cruel, Weasley."

"No worries, my love. Plenty of other birthdays, plenty of other opportunities to bake George and I a cake..." 

George was over by the drinks station with Nicolai and Hadley, who had helped him pop lids off of some of the butterbeer bottles for the guests, as they were waiting for the queue at the food table to subside. They were small talking about the charms that went in to their fireworks and how intricate they were. Coincidentally, the three shared the same love for Charms, so Nicolai and Hadley were able to keep up with everything that George was talking about. Florence came bounding over to the trio a little while later, George offering up a butterbeer.

"Thank you, kind sir." she chuckled, George bowing his head jokingly, "So am I forgiven for the cake thing...?" he asked hopefully, knowing full well that she had already began guilt tripping his brother for it. Florence shook her head no, a deadpan look on her face, before she broke out into a smile, "Well we'll have to see, Weasley. Anyway, I'd like to borrow Hadley for awhile if that's okay? Sirius wants to meet her."

Hadley's eyes widened at the name, "Sirius... Sirius Black?! The one who escaped--" "Yeah, a lot of things I need to catch you up on." Florence chuckled nervously, cutting her off, "Come on!" 

George and Nicolai watched as Florence disappeared in to the crowd with Hadley in tow, George taking a swig out of his butterbeer before turning to Nicolai, "She seems really nice, doesn't she?"

"Hadley? Yeah... I mean, you wouldn't even think she's an Auror at first impression. She doesn't intimidate me at all, but Florence says she's ruthless at sparring." Nicolai replied, George nodding in agreement, "Yeah I've seen some pretty big sparring bruises that Florence got from her." he chuckled, taking another sip from his butterbeer before speaking once more, "You know, Florence also mentioned that she's in to girls..." 

"Yeah, I remember her talking about an ex girlfriend once..." Nicolai said, taking a sip out of her drink too, before noticing the look that George had on his face, "Wha... George... Are you implying what I think you're implying?"

"Maybe..." he said slyly, "I mean, I know you're not thinking about those things right now, you're still healing and all. But maybe soon, when you're ready to love again..."

"I don't know when that will be..." Nicolai said, "Truthfully, I don't even know if I can... Jill's pretty irreplaceable..."

"You won't be replacing her if you fall in love again, Nic. You deserve to be happy, and I'm sure Jillian would say the same thing if she could... Not saying you have to right now, of course, you take all the time you need to heal. And maybe, when you're ready, you know..." George nodded to the direction where Hadley had disappeared to. 

                                                                                  --------------   

The night was winding down. After the food, people took to the empty space in front of the tables to dance to the soft music that Mrs. Weasley had put on in the background. It was Tonks who had initiated it, morphing back in to herself, as she had transformed herself in to Molly for most of the night, and pulled Remus to dance with her. Others followed of course, Lee dancing with Alanna, then Bill with Fleur, eventually Mr. and Mrs. Weasley joined in. Fred and Florence sat it out, after Fred had recapped what happened when they tried to dance at the Yule Ball.

"Two left feet, Florence. Remember that." he said, making her laugh, "Well, that's gonna be a big problem when we have to dance during our wedding reception... You know, the first dance as bride and groom..?"

"Well we're gonna have to find another thing to do if you want to avoid falling over in front of everyone..." he said, "We could have like... our first high five as bride and groom?"

"High five?" Florence snorted, leaning her head against his shoulder, "We'd be the lamest bride and groom in history..."  

"What do you mean? I think high fives are awesome. Oh! Or maybe a special handshake..." Fred exclaimed, "We can go all out on that one. It'd be pretty cool."

"I don't think special handshakes are a traditional wedding thing."

"Since when have we been traditional, love?" he chuckled, "I'm sure our friends and families won't be as shocked if we do go for a special handshake..."

"Yeah, probably." she agreed, a beat of comfortable silence washing over them as they watched their friends and family on the dance floor. He looked to Florence, stroking her hair slightly, "Hey... what do you think about telling them about our engagement tonight?"

She sat up straight, her eyes slightly wide, "Right now?"

"Yeah, if you want. It's been awhile since we've kept it from them.  Plus, I mean, everyone we'd have to tell is right here, makes it all the more convenient."

"Yeah... you're right... Okay... Let's do it..."

Fred and Florence stood up from their seat, Fred calling for everyone's attention. Molly lowered the volume of the music as everyone averted their eyes to where Fred and Florence stood, "Before the night ends... Florence and I thought it'd be the right time to tell you guys something important..." he started, sharing a look with her before he spoke again, "Well, a while ago, I proposed to Florence... and she said yes... so..." he paused for Florence to continue the announcement, "Fred and I are... well, we're engaged!"

"No! You can't be engaged!" Nicolai said with a chuckle "Not when you've been wearing that ring around for months, Flo." Xander pointed out, making almost everyone laugh and murmur in agreement. Fred and Florence shared a look again, before turning to the crowd, "Wait... so everyone here knows...?"

"Yes!" almost everyone said simultaneously, making Florence frown, "How is that even possible..?"

"That ring isn't very subtle, dear." Remus pointed out, "I'm pretty sure everyone found out the first week you started wearing it. Dora even wanted to start a running bet with everyone."

"Wait, I didn't know!" Sloan said, as he was probably the only person in the crowd who was genuinely surprised by the news, "How long ago was this? Why didn't anyone tell me?"

Julien looked over at him, shocked, "Seriously, dad? You didn't notice?"

"No! How was I supposed to know?"

"Tell them about the baby!" Sirius called out jokingly, making everyone gasp collectively.

A horrified look dawned on both Fred and Florence as panic began to rise among their family members, including Mrs. Weasley who looked like she was minutes away from passing out. George had a look of utter shock and betrayal, his facial expression as though asking the pair why he wasn't the first person to know about it. 

Florence shook her head insistingly, trying to calm down Sloan and Julien, who looked convinced that she was actually pregnant, "No, no. Please there's no baby!" she insisted, Sirius looking as though he was going to start crying from how hard he had been laughing as Florence glared at him, "There's no baby! I'm not pregnant! Its just an engagement... I swear..."

"Are you sure?!" 

"I'm sure, I'm sure! Merlin, Sirius..." she scoffed, watching him sober up from his intense laughter, waving his hands around to catch everyone's attention, "I was just yanking on your wands, you lot!"

"Well..." Fred said, pursing his lips, "This wasn't how I thought it would play out..."

"As long as there really is no baby yet..." Molly spoke up, Florence and Fred nodding vigorously to confirm that there definitely was no baby, "We are all happy to hear about your engagement."

"Even though we already knew about it." Nic quipped in.

"Thank you, guys." Florence chuckled, "There's no date yet, though. We'll keep you posted..."

The rest of the evening went by smoothly, a lot of people coming up to the pair to give their formal congratulations on their engagement, as well as get a verbal confirmation that there really was no pregnancy going on, just to be sure. Florence told Sirius that she was going to get him back for what he did, before smiling and walking away slowly. 

"She's gonna end you, mate. You know better than to mess with a McKinnon girl..." Remus said, Sirius laughing it off, "Well if this is the end of me, it was totally worth it."

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a.n: SO SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE YOU GUYS ONLINE COLLEGE IS A PAIN IN MY BEHIND. I can hardly believe that I'm in my second year though. Whew. But this whole online thing? NOT a fan of it, let me tell you. 

Anyway, this chapter was a collaboration with @MimbulusMimbletonias ! They were very kind to message me when I asked my followers for help in finishing this chapter. They're a writer too, so if y'all have the time to check out their stories, you really should! 

I had a really hard time figuring out this chapter, but now that its out of the way, expect more chapters to come out this week, or the next! Thank you so much for being patient! 

Also I see a lot of new readers! I'm very happy, thank you for giving my story a chance!

- Denise