Before you (Fred Weasley)

CHAPTER 63

Almost a week had passed since the incident and there was no sign of death eaters coming to get me. I had dropped Bella off at the joke shop so that Fred and George were around her, I was too paranoid to leaver her alone at home.

Bella was upset that I couldn't trust her to be safe on her own but she was only thirteen, she was still a kid and as her older sister, I had to be responsible. Especially after I went to The Burrow undisguised.

Harry, Hermione and Ron had gone missing. No one knew where they had gone off to. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley worried for them but we didn't know where to find them. Besides, the three of them were of age.

"These are mad times we live in" I heard Elias say from his usual seat behind the counter.

"You're right, it won't be long before the death eaters start shutting down all the shops here at Diagon Alley" I said, dusting off an old pile of books.

"And we will be here to fight against them if they do" said Elias.

"But they're death eaters, they're quite strong Mr. Obscurus" I said.

"They're twits is what they are. Each and every one of them. Let them come, I'm not shutting my shop down anytime soon"

Elias was a brave wizard although he was weakening with age. If I wasn't wrong, he was about 115 years old, almost the same age as Dumbledore when he died.

I lifted the pile of books and stacked them in the bookshelf before dusting my hands together.

"Well I'm done for today, anything else you need me to do?" I asked.

"No no, you can go. Good bye" he said without looking away from his newspaper.

I walked out of the store and made my way to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Their's seemed to be the only shop which was still booming with customers. All the other shops had begun to shut down.

I pushed the door open to see George standing behind the counter.

"Hey George, where's Fred?" I asked.

"He's upstairs with Bella" George said.

I walked up the spiral stairs, the door of the flat was open. Fred and Bella were sitting in the living room on the couch, talking to each other. I leaned against the doorframe and listened to their conversation.

"And then, the prince finally finds the girl whose foot fits the glass slipper. And so they get married and live happily ever after" said Bella to Fred.

"That's it?" he asked, looking intrigued.

Bella nodded.

"That's rubbish!" said Fred.

"What do you mean?"

"Well for starters, how can there be a whole kingdom of people and only one person in it who has a different shoe size than the rest? Secondly, what kind of a prince calls himself in love if he can't even recognise her face?"

"Well it's a Disney story, these things are allowed to happen" reasoned Bella.

"Well they shouldn't! And the one you told me about before? Who falls in love with a hairy beast? That's disgusting, it's like me falling in love with a troll" exclaimed Fred.

"You have no imagination" said Bella, crossing her arms.

"It's not me, it's the muggles. They really do come up with terrible stories"

"Well you yourself told me how cool you thought Mulan was" shrugged Bella.

"Yea, her, and Pocahontas and the frog lady-"