𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤

𝟎𝟏: 𝐊𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐎𝐚𝐭𝐡

"𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝒯ℴℴ 𝒲ℯ𝓁𝓁" － 𝒯𝒶𝓎𝓁ℴ𝓇 𝒮𝓌𝒾𝒻𝓉

August 31st, 1993

Nicole Muriel Weasley slipped easily through the hoards of people practically salivating over the newest broomstick in the wizarding world, the Firebolt.

She knew, without a doubt, that if James had been around the entirety of the Potter fortune would have been squandered on as many brooms as it could buy. Never mind the fact that a wizard or witch could only ride one broom at a time.

Shading her chocolate brown eyes from the unrelenting end of August sun, she stretched up onto her tiptoes, her five foot five stature not giving her any favors in the bustling crowds of Diagon Alley. Her face bore the telltale redness of a sunburn, her freckles a stark contrast to the near-scarlet color of her usually pale cheeks.

The fourth of eight children, Nicole — call her Nikki or else you'll be on the receiving end of a particularly vicious Bat Bogey Hex — was used to the chaos. She usually threw herself into the fray, especially when there were six brothers in their eat-anything-and-everything phase. She wasn't exactly sure if they would ever grow out of it, as Bill and Charlie were already graduated from Hogwarts and across the ocean.

At least they were able to have seen Bill over the summer in Egypt. Nikki missed her elder brothers, even though they could be pains in her arse at points.

"Bugger," she cursed under her breath, "I've lost Fred and George."

If they had gotten into Knockturn Alley, their mother would be furious. Molly Weasley's temper was well-known to the Weasley family, and woe to anyone who crossed her or threatened her family.

"I wouldn't look at the posters plastered everywhere if I were you, Nic," George casually stated as he seemed to materialize out of thin air at her left shoulder, his twin brother on her right. "Wouldn't want the redheaded fury to appear."

Fred snorted. "Might be fairly obvious about your whole tim-"

Whatever he was about to say was smothered with a swift elbow to the chest, Fred choking on the breath in his lungs.

"Use your brain," Nikki sighed, "we've kept my escapade a secret for this long. I don't exactly want it getting out, especially now."

Her lips curved into a frown as she studied the aristocratic, sharp features of Sirius Black, "HAVE YOU SEEN THIS WIZARD?" emblazoned across the top of the parchment in big, bold, capital letters.

She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, did they expect him to not age? He looks... well, he would have turned twenty-two within a couple days of being sent to that hellhole."

"Hell of a birthday present," George mumbled, linking his arm with Nikki's as Fred looped his through her other arm. "Onwards to Harry — or, what did you call him? Bambi?"

"James was a deer Animagus," Nikki mused under her breath, only her younger twin brothers able to hear her. "Lily made us watch a Muggle movie once about a baby deer named Bambi. I thought it was fitting, no?"

Fred snorted. "Isn't that the movie you mentioned that everyone was bawling their eyes out?"

She grinned innocently. "Maybe you just have to watch it and find out. And there's worse movies to watch. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde scared the living daylights out of us all; I don't think I was able to sleep right for days after."

George elbowed his older sister in the side, other hand ruffling her ginger hair. "Find a... I don't know what it's called. Whatever Muggles watch movies on. That they put into whatever the box that shows moving stories is called."