It Has To Get Worse Before It Gets Better

staying home

"Right, come on! Come on! Get your cloaks on, quickly now."

Apollo groaned and opened his eyes at the noise.
"Ron, will you go and get my wand from the kitchen, I left it there. Oh George brush the dirt off your robes!"
Still slightly confused, Apollo pulled himself up from his bed and put on a sweater, before padding down the hallway to see what was going on.
He looked over the banister to see all the Weasleys crowded in a group, putting on their cloaks and shoes.

"Where are you all going?" He croaked, his voice scratchy and his throat sore.
Molly looked up and smiled when she saw him.
"We're just heading out to diagon alley dear, to get stuff for school. We didn't wake you did we?" She questioned.
"No, it's fine. I was already awake." Apollo lied. He felt a pit of sadness that he was being left behind, but he was sure they must have had a reason.

While the rest of the redheads were busying around, George and Fred scampered up the stairs and down the hallway to Apollo. They enveloped him in a warm hug, and Apollo gladly welcomed it.
"We're sorry we couldn't stay behind with you, but mum said we have to get new robes fitted." Fred said, sticking out his leg, which his trousers came halfway up his ankle. Apollo giggled.
"It's okay, just make sure you get nice ones." He said.

George put his arms around the shorter boy and hoisted him up, so that his legs wrapped around his waist, taking Apollo by surprise.
"Hey!" He squeaked, throwing his arms around George's neck tightly and laughing.
Fred encased the two with his arms, resting his chin on Apollo's shoulder.
"Now, we'll see, you, later, beautiful." George said, inbetween pressing kisses to the exposed skin above the collar of his sweater.
Apollo squirmed, giggling at his mate.
"I'll miss you both..." he mumbled, tangling his fingers in the red hair.
"We'll miss you too gorgeous, but we'll be back before you know it." Fred said from behind, and Apollo smiled.

"Are you boys coming or what!?" Molly yelled from downstairs. They laughed and rolled their eyes, pulling away from each other and trudging downstairs, where the rest of the Weasleys plus Sirius and Remus were now waiting.
The three blushed a bright red, the twins going to join their mum and Apollo went to stand by his dads.
"So, we'll see you later, okay? I don't know how long we'll be, you never know if it'll be busy or not..." Molly recited.
Arthur put his hand on her shoulder.
"If anything comes up, just send a patronus, or floo us. I'm sure it will all be fine though."
And with that, the gingers filed into the fireplace and disappeared into the green flames, Fred and George shooting a cheeky smile at Apollo before they went.

Once they had all gone, Apollo turned around and hugged his dad's.
"G'morning." He said, his voice muffled because he had his face pressed into their fronts. The two men returned the hug and smiled down at their son.
"Morning puppy, you sleep well?" Sirius said, ruffling the boys hair. Apollo nodded.
"Good."

"Are you hungry honey?" Remus asked. Apollo pulled back and thought for a moment.
"A bit," He said, and followed his dad's into the kitchen.
Remus sat him down and began making his coffee.
"What would you like?" He asked.
"Umm, could I have some toast, with marmalade please papa?" Apollo said. Remus' eyebrow quirked up.
"Is that all?" Apollo nodded.
"Yes please, if that's okay..?"
"Of course, of course!" Remus chuckled and put bread in the muggle toaster.

Sirius sat down on the chair next to Apollo and nudged him with his elbow, grabbing his attention.
"Hm?"
"Saw you with Fred and George this morning... " Sirius chided, wiggling his eyebrows up and down. Apollo rolled his eyes playfully.
"I was just saying goodbye. It's not like we were snogging or something." He mumbled, going red once again.
"Looked like a pretty friendly goodbye if you ask me..." Sirius said, leaving his son the colour of a tomato.