"I'm gonna miss you guys," Eleanor pouts.
"Ditto," Jasmine sighs, taking her seat close to Lee— whose arm instinctually wraps around her lilac fleece shoulders. "I dunno what I'll do all summer when I don't have a Weasley twin to pick on or a Hufflepuff to tease." She turns her lead to look up at Lee and tilts her head as if his soft gaze alone made her cave from biting remarks, "Or my Gryffindor to cuddle."
"That's right," Lee grins, leaning in and kissing her softly.
Evelyn scrunches her nose as she snatches Loki from Fred's lap and sits down next to him, George on the other side of Fred. "You two are painfully cute."
Jasmine pulls away with a sweet smile, sweeter than Butterbeer, and leans into Lee as she looks across the car to Evelyn. "And you're a pain in my arse, Wyre."
"That makes two of us," Fred says.
"Three," George chimes in.
Evelyn leans over to gawk at them and their smart smirks. "I hate you both," she states. "I'm not that bad— am I Nellie?"
The blonde shrugs. "You're alright in my books."
"It's good to know that someone likes me," Evelyn chides, giving the rest of the car a stern glare while she settles back into her seat and lets Loki pad on and off of her torso to try and get comfortable for the long train ride home.
+++
It was quiet. Soft laughter bounced through the ride, little tokens of this past year's memories and bits of playful banter that made their ride back to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters feel like a snap of their fingers.
At some point, Evelyn was moved between the twins, which left Loki to claw at George's jeans and then cross the bridge of Evelyn to settle in a small ball on Fred's denim lap.
"That cat hates me," George had grumbled.
Evelyn shook her head and scratched at Loki's ear. "He does not," she'd promised him.
By the time they reached the station everyone was tired, ready to go home.
George helped Evelyn get her trunk down and they hauled their way from the train to the busy platform of parents and guardians alike gifting jovial hugs and kisses all around as their kids trot off the train and across the pathway.
Including Molly and Sara.
They stood impatiently, tapping their booted toes and peaking their wide eyes over the sea of witches and wizards in careful watch of their children and their return.
Percy found them first, then Ginny (who was accompanied by Luna Lovegood). They were still waiting for the other four, which wasn't anything new... they always took forever.
"Oh!" Sara bats Molly's arm. "There they are!" She points over to the boys, whom she can only see as they stand up and out of the crowd like a pair of orange-topped tulips peaking from a field of grass.
They spot Sara first as well and as they shove through the crowd, they come to see their mum and siblings. Evelyn trails behind them with all of her things.
"Oh!" Molly pulls at the first one of them she can reach, which is Fred. "My boys!" She kisses his cheek firmly and forces the boy to lean down as much as he can to give her a hug. "I've missed you..."
Evelyn abandons her trunk and cart as soon as she spots her mum, carving a path around George as Molly pulls away from Fred and grabs his arm.
Sara doesn't say anything, she doesn't have to. She lets Evelyn run into her, squeezing the breath from the girl and feeling Evelyn's arms lock tightly around her in return. It's relieving, holding her daughter... like therapy for a motherly soul. As for Evelyn, she feels like a little girl again whenever she hugs her mother so strongly. She can feel her fears and her stress and every bit of worry and overwhelming that's pounded into her through the course of this terrifying year. It makes her eyes rim with tears... Sara can feel her shake softly as Evelyn exhales.
"Bug," she cradles Evelyn's head into her shoulder, "are you alright?"
Evelyn nods against her and sniffles. "I'm okay..." She pulls away from her mum and smiles at her as reassuringly as she can. "I missed you."
Sara tilts her head lovingly and cups her daughter's cheek. "Awe, sweetie..." she kisses her other cheek, "I missed you too."
A bright voice cuts their moment short. "Oh! Mum!" He grabs Evelyn's arm and pulls her back into his chest. "Guess what we found?"
Before she can even guess, already grinning at the girl in Fred's hold, George answers the question with as much enthusiasm as Fred had asked it with. "An Evelyn."
"Can we keep her?" Fred pleads, rocking her shoulders from side to side.
"Please?" George begs, leaning closer to his brother and locking his fingers together under his chin.
"She can stay in Ginny's room!" Fred offers. Evelyn rolls her eyes, unable to suppress the pull at her lips as she and Molly give one another a knowing glance.
"And we'll keep out of trouble all summer," George promises.
Evelyn can't help it.
"HA!" She yells. "Okay, you let me know how that goes—"
"You'll know for yourself, little weed," Fred tells her.
"Because we're keeping you," George says.
"You two are a laugh riot," Molly chuckles.
"And a pair of liars," Ginny giggles.
"Pretty please mum?" George asks as sweetly as he can, his eyes turning down softly.
"You know we can't," Molly reminds him. "She has a mum and a Robby to get back to and a wedding to help with."
Fred turns his amiable tone on as well. "But mum—"
Molly holds up a finger. "No," she barks. "You know why, and you'll see her soon enough!" She looks at Sara with complete exasperation. "I swear, they act like they never get to see the girl."
Sara shakes her head and sighs, "I know... she's the same bloody way sometimes."
"It's sweet," Luna pipes quietly to Ginny. "How much they care for her..."
"Only ever with Evelyn," Ginny tells her.
Evelyn turns around to look at the two of them. "I'll see you in twelve days," she promises. "I think you'll survive."
"I think we won't," Fred tells her with a cross of his arms. She mimics his stance and looks up at him. "I think that I'll just go insane and Georgie over here will melt into nothing."
"Oh is that all?" Evelyn asks sarcastically. She turns her head sharply, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she looks at her mum. "Any chance we can push the wedding a week?"
"Rude!" George blurts.
"I think I wanna get rid of them for good," Evelyn adds smoothly.
"Me too," Percy mutters.
"I'm offended," Fred tells her shortly.
"Awe," Evelyn turns back to him and loosens her posture, her expression morphing with it and going sorrowed. "I'm sorry Freddie..." Her hand extends upward, patting his cheek softly, "it's not you... it's me. I need my space."
"Is she breaking up with us right now?" George questions.
"I can change," Fred tells her, playing along.
Evelyn shakes her head almost regretfully. "We both know that's bullocks." She rises onto her tip toes and wraps her arms around his broad shoulders. "It was a nice run."
"I can't believe this," George gaps.
"Neither can I," Sara whispers to Molly.
Evelyn pulls from Fred and turns to George. "So this is goodbye," he says with sadness thickening his voice.
Evelyn nods, taking in his dramatized features. He reaches down first, wrapping her waist in his lankly arms, and pulls her up into his torso where she gladly folds her arms around him and settles into the embrace.
And again, she can't help but let herself melt into him. He's always given the most comforting, warm hugs, the kind that just soothes her nerves and calms her soul... the kind she could stay in forever.
It isn't until she realizes that she doesn't want to let go that she does. She drops down, pinches his cheeks, gives him a gentle smile, and giggles as he scrunches his face to get away from her fingers. "Love you, Georgie."
He rubs his cheeks. "Love you, Evie."
She waves back as she turns into Molly's embrace. "Love you, Freddie."
"Forever and always, Live-Wyre," Fred promises.
"We'll see you soon, dear," Molly smiles. "Love you."
"Soon," Evelyn repeats. "And I love you too."
As Evelyn and Sara leave King's Cross, Evelyn can't help but catch the sight of a scrawny boy with a mop of dark hair and thin wire glasses stopped at a kiosk where a much chubbier boy is handed an ice cream cone.
Harry finds her eyes just as quick, and the two share a smile; a kind smile... a kind, sorry, memorable smile.