Muggle | 𝐹𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑊𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑦

Chapter 30

Looking down at the window, I smiled as I saw Fred and George in the garden, gesturing me to come down.

    Nodding, I closed the window and silently walked downstairs, careful not to make a sound and wake anyone up.

     As soon as I left the house and went outside, the twins' grins widened at my sight.

     "You could've woken Ginny up, you know," I said as I reached them.

     "Nah, she's a heavy sleeper," said Fred.

     "Yeah, you couldn't wake her even if you exploded her bed," said George.

     "So, what's up?" I asked curiously, looking between them.

     "We wanted to show you something," they said together and like always, they took a hold on each of my arms.

     They then led me towards a large wooden cabin that looked like a garage, but of course had no cars in it. Instead, it was filled with old magical objects or muggle antiquities that Mr. Weasley collected.

     "What? Are you gonna try and prank me?" I scoffed.

      "How dare you accuse us of such sin!?" Fred gasped dramatically.

     "Yeah!" George repeated his action. "We're just like two little innocent angels!"

     I snorted with laughter. "If you say so."

George bent down when we reached the last shelf and reached out for a box and took it out, placing it on the messy table.

"What do you got there?" I asked, walking towards the box to get a closer look. But I kept a safe distance, just in case it exploded.

"Everything," they answered together, grinning.

Fred then dug into the box and took out a pair of large plastic-looking ears.

"Extendable Ears," said George pointing at them. "They help you–"

"–eavesdrop on private conversations?" I completed him with a grin.

"Well," George shrugged. "That's one way of putting it."

"This is the box of stuff we're still working on. We still haven't perfected them,," said Fred, taking a parchment out of the box and handing it to me.

"It's a list of all the supplies we want to put in our joke shop," George explained as I was reading through the list.

"We've already planned out where we want to open up the joke shop," Fred grinned proudly.

"Really? Where?" I raised a brow, trying to act as if I had no idea.

I was getting pretty good at that.

"In Diagon Alley," the said in sync.

"The rent is a little wild–" Fred started.

"–But with the money Harry has given us, I'm sure we'll manage," George completed him.

"We're planning on opening it right after our seventh year," said Fred as I put the fascinating list back in the box, where their other pranking stuff were.

"I keep forgetting that this is your last year," I pouted.

"Oh, don't be sad, Lexi," George nudged me cheerfully. "You can always come and visit."

"Yeah," Fred nodded, grinning. "You can even spend the night, if you like." He winked, making me laugh.

"So, what else do you guys have?" I asked, peering into the box.

"Well, the completed works are in our room," said Fred.

"Hang on. I'll go get them." With that, George left the wooden cabin, and Fred and I were once again alone.

But this time, instead of joking around, there came an awkward silence between us as neither of us knew what to say.

"So..." Fred started, sitting down on the ground and leaning against one of the shelves. "Any idea why you could see the Knight Bus?"

I shook my head and sat down next to him with a sigh. "Not a clue."

"Is it possible that maybe – maybe you're not a Muggle?" he asked hesitantly.

"No," I shook my head, even though deep down I wanted to believe that. "There must be an explanation behind this. But I just – I can't be a witch."

"Why not? Maybe – I don't know – maybe your Hogwarts letter got lost on the way?"

"No, it can't be. I've never been able to do any magic in my life," I shook my head again. "Besides, the sorting hat said it itself."

"Really? What did it say?"

      I tried to remember every word that hat had told me. I told Fred about how the sorting hat had said that it had never sorted a Muggle before.

     But I tried to leave out the part that the hat had almost placed me in Slytherin.

"Well – maybe your magic has been concealed all these years?" Fred suggested.

"I don't think it works that way, to be honest." I said earnestly. "How could you take away someone's magic from them? It sounds impossible. And why would anyone ever want to do that?"

"Dunno," he said in a small voice.

"Besides," I continued. "Dumbledore had done a little inquiry on my family and said that there was no magical blood in my mother's side and there was no magical history recollection of the name 'Hooper'."

We both fell quiet again, staring away and gazing at nowhere for a few minutes in silence.

"Where did George go, anyway?" I questioned, breaking the awkward silence. "It shouldn't have taken him this long to get a box from your room."

"Dunno," Fred shrugged, standing up. "Wanna go see where he's gone?"

"Sure," I nodded, standing up and following him out of the wooden cabin.

We were walking towards their house, but I stopped in midway. I looked up at the sky, and then automatically, my feet carried me away through the garden.

"Where are you going?" Fred questioned in amusement. I didn't answer as I walked away from their house and onto the green field, but Fred followed me anyway.

We walked side by side in silence as we distanced ourselves from the burrow. I then suddenly stopped and dropped myself down on the grass.

"Always a mystery, Miss Hooper." Fred chuckled, sitting down next to me.

The sky was covered with clouds and no stars could be seen, but that didn't stop me from staring up at it.

"Fred?" I whispered.

"Yeah?"

"I – I think I need to tell you something."