International Love | Fred Weasley

Chapter 23

Part 2: The Order of the Phoenix

Dear Fred,

It was weird to be at Beauxbatons again. The first few days back at the castle, it felt like it was there for the first time. I did not get lost, not once!

Xavier and I were lucky. We did not have to retake the exams since we had already taken those at Hogwarts. You should have seen the expression on Flora's face when Madame Maxime informed us that the students that didn't take the exams at Hogwarts, had to take them back home.

...

~*~

Dear Fred,

I'm sorry to hear I can't visit you this summer. Don't be mad at your parents. I'll ask my uncle if you can visit us here, but he has been busy all summer and I am not sure when he will return.

Congratulations on passing your apparition exam! I'm proud of you. And George, of course.

...

~*~

Dear Fred,

Thank you for the pictures, it brings back good memories. Tell Lee when you see him that he has a talent for taking pictures. These are beautiful. I would love to see the others as well. I'll hand the pictures of Flora and Zayko to her when I see her after her holiday in Greece. She has been writing to Zayko, who would have thought?

...

~*~

Dear Fred,

Great to hear your summer has been great thus far. I managed to get a few small jobs now so I won't die of boredom.  I'll attend an alchemy masterclass next week and I believe my uncle has a potions conference planned to which I will accompany him. Are you planning to go away for the remainder of this summer?

I hope to see you again before school starts again in a few weeks. 

I love and miss you too,

Love, Elena

I wave the parchment in order to dry the ink faster before folding the piece of parchment. I place it in the addressed envelope. With the envelope, I head outside to where I find Fuzzle. The barn owl is my uncle's – I named her when I was ten and he got her – and is sitting on one of the barrels in front of the shop. I try the envelope to her paw and pet her head before she flies away.

When I step back into the shop, I see the older lady who owns the apothecary staring at me. Her arms are crossed across her chest and she sneers: "Writing that boy. Again."

"We have to stay in contact in some way, Ms Hurst," I answer as I grab the broom in the corner and start sweeping the floor. Ms Hurst shakes her head and mutters something under her breath. She steps away from the counter and heads to the back.

"Instead of writing that boy, you should help the customers!"

I look around the shop and wonder about which customers the woman is talking about. The apothecary is small and located in a back alley of Diagon Alley, nearby Knockturn Alley. Ms Hurst sells the best potion ingredients in all of Britain but not many people know where to find her actual shop. Most sales are done via owl-post. My uncle knows Ms Hurst and had put in a good word for me when I was looking around for a job. When I first started at the apothecary at the start of the summer, the woman had constantly quizzed me on my potion knowledge so I wouldn't sell her customers the wrong thing.

The little bell above the door rings and I look up to see an older witch coming into the shop. I place the broom back in its corner and head to the counter as the witch roams the shop. I have to help her with some more detailed ingredients and mentally go through my knowledge of potions to figure out what the woman might be trying to brew. After separately packing the ingredients in little bags, I tell the woman her price.

The witch hands me the money and walks out of the store again. When she walks through the door, I spot a red-haired man walking past the store. I sprint to the door and call out to the boy: "Hey Charlie!"

The man stops in her tracks and turns around to face me. "Hi, Elena!"

"Your jacket has been fixed. It's ready for you to come to pick it up at Madame Malkin's."

Charlie looks at me surprised and remarks: "You said it would take a week to repair when I delivered it."

I shrug. "You implied it had to be done quickly so I told Madame Malkin that it was an emergency. You only have to agree with whatever she says when you pick your jacket up, alright?" 

Charlie begins to laugh and nods, "Then I will pick it up immediately. Thank you for saying that to Malkin – I need to return to Romania quickly. What would I do without you? Thank you, Elena."

I wave at him as he walks off. I can see him sprinting in the direction of Madame Malkin's and can't help but laugh. I head back inside and breathe out relieved when I see Ms Hurst is still in the back.

At the end of the day, I receive a bag with Galleons as payment. With my money in my bag, I take my broom from the backroom of the apothecary and head back to Cokeworth. I fly past the brick houses near the old mill and over the river to the dark Spinner's End. I land in a nearby alley before stepping into the daylight.

Using my keys to unlock the front door of number fifteen, I step inside. I drop my bag onto the floor next to the door and hang up my cloak. My Moontrimmer is placed in the small cupboard.

"I'm home!" I yell.

There is no response. I first check the brewing room but find it empty. Proceeding to the sitting room, I see my uncle sitting in his chair by the fire. He is browsing through one of his books and looks up when I enter.

"Please, take a seat, Elena." 

"What is wrong, you look like you saw a ghost," I smile when I sit down and my uncle closes the book and grab a letter of the table next to his chair. I recognize the logo of Beauxbatons and sigh. Handing me the letter, my uncle says: "You are expelled from Beauxbatons."

With wide eyes, I stare between my uncle and the letter.

"I'm what?!"

I snatch the letter out of my uncle's hand and unfold the parchment. My eyes scan the lines and when I have finished the letter, I bark out a laugh.

"Repeatedly violating school rules after an official warning?! Which rules? And what warning?"

My uncle sends me a stern look and takes his cup of tea from the table beside him.

"Madame Maxime has been looking for a reason to expel me or Henry for ages. I swear I behaved myself at Hogwarts as I promised you," I protest.

I throw the letter on the table in front of me. I place my hands in my head and close my eyes. The seriousness of the situation is slowly getting to me. Being expelled in my last year.

"We'll visit Madame Maxime tomorrow after you have finished working. Albus Dumbledore has written me he will be present since it happened at his school."

With those words, my uncle closes his book and heads to the kitchen. I stay seated on the couch with my head in my hands until my uncle calls me for dinner. Expelled from Beauxbatons in your final year, I berate myself, how can you be so stupid?