"Are you nervous?" I asked, pointlessly. I rarely saw either of the twins unsure of themselves, and this day had been one they had been talking about for months now.
"Not a bit." George answered at once, the three of us following Arthur down what had to be the 8th block so far.
"It's about time." Fred grumbled, a smile still on his face.
"So you had to wait a bit longer because of the Tri-Wizard..." Arthur trailed off at the mention of the tournament. "Extra time to study."
"And it'll all be worth it in a few short hours." Fred smiled wistfully at the fluffy clouds rolling above our heads.
"Are we nearly there yet, Dad? You said it was a 'quick one.'" George said.
"It would have been really good practice letting us apparate to our test." Fred shrugged, as if it were that simple.
"Your mother would have my head on the wall next to those elves." Arthur chuckled. "No matter, here we are!" He pointed ahead of us at a semi-busy street for this time of day. I pulled Fred's arm over to my face to glance at his watch. We had left Sirius's nearly half an hour ago at 10:00 and the twins exam was scheduled for 11:00.
"We've got plenty of time." Fred chuckled, yanking his hand back from my grip.
We fell into groups of two to fit through the busy sidewalk, watching muggles and wizards alike pass us by, telling the difference only by the subtle differences in their wardrobe. I glanced around, paying less attention to the people and more to the lack of buildings the size of which I believed could fit the great Ministry of Magic. Then again, it was magic, and I had seen what the inside of their tents looked like. Any one of these buildings could be hiding ten stories crowded with wizards.
But Mr. Weasley wasn't looking at the buildings. In fact, we had passed many of them already in our never slowing trek before he stopped in front of a slightly rusty looking red phone booth with crumpled doors that looked as though they might be stuck in place.
"Dad, leave it." George warned, a smirk rising to his face at his father's obsession for all things muggle related.
"George, have a bit of faith in your old man?" Arthur grinned, prying the door open easily and huddling closer to us. "We won't all fit. We'll go two at a time. It's easy, just shut the door behind you and dial 6 - 2 - 4 - 4 - 2. Then reply to the prompts."
"Mr. Weasley, it looks like it's not quite working. Maybe we should use another phone?" I clutched my bag closer to my side, already feeling the weight of it against my shoulder.
"That's the idea, Cassidy." He smiled, obviously thrilled at the ingenuity of it all. "Alright, Georgie? Come on in."
Fred and I stood in line, watching Arthur pull the door shut, the two tall wizards crammed into the small box as Arthur began dialing the phone.
"Would you please let me carry that, I know it's heavy!" Fred shot me a look when I shook my head. "I could magic it lighter-"
"No you could not in front of all of these muggles." I replied softly.
We stood in silence for a few minutes, ears trained for any words escaping from the phone booth before Arthur and George dropped from sight faster than I could blink.
"Oh, no." I muttered. "It's like a roller coaster?"
"A what?" Fred asked, looking at me as if I was speaking gibberish.
"Oh, never mind." I pulled the door free once more and stepped inside, the space filling up at once, Fred pressed up against me as he shut the door.
"So how does this work?" He asked, inching to the side in an attempt to get to the phone.
"You just stay back there, I'll do it." I laughed, ignoring his fingers which had fallen onto my hips, drumming lightly against my exposed skin.
I pulled the dial around five times and let it fall back to it's original position, ignoring the sinking feeling that the phone didn't work at all before a clear voice rang through the booth.
"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic," The voice echoed through our ears. "Please state your name and business."
"Wicked." Fred smiled wildly, his eyes scanning the ceiling of our small box as if looking for the voice before I nudged him back to focus. "Fred Weasley and Cassidy Olsen, here for an apparation exam."
"Thank you. Visitors, please take your badges and attach them to the front of your robes."
Two large pieces of silver clanged into the coin return slot and I pulled them out, holding Fred's to him.
Cassidy Olsen, Apparation Exam.
"Hey, maybe they'll let you take yours without realizing." He shrugged, pinning his own badge to the front of his shirt.
"I'll pass." I replied as the booth began to sink below the pavement, slowly, not at all how I had seen George and Mr. Weasley depart.
After another minute, the booth was relit with an almost sun-like blast of color, the door springing open before us as we pushed out into the hallway.
"Alrighty, let's get a move on! Don't want to be late. Very important day!" Arthur's words carried down to us even as he started off towards the oversized lifts against the far wall.
The three of us presented our wands to a tired looking wizard with blue robes matching the Atrium's ceiling before following Arthur onto a lift filling with people the second the gate had opened. A number of folded paper airplanes floated above our heads which seemed to strike Arthur as nothing out of the ordinary as we ascended two more floors.
"Level Six, Department of Magical Transportation, incorporating the Floo Network Authority, Broom Regulatory Control, Portkey Office and Apparition Test Centre."
"This is us." Arthur gestured the three of us off the lift before stepping off himself. "I believe it's, yes, right up here." We followed down the hallway, deep red carpet rolling beneath our feet until we found ourselves outside a set of double doors, a metal sign hanging on the wall reading 'Apparition Test Centre.'
"Alright, boys, need us to walk you? Get you signed in?" Arthur asked, beaming at the twins.
"We'll take it from here." Fred clapped his father on the shoulder, as if he was letting him down easy.
"Taking his sons to their Apparition Test, they do grow up so fast." George wiped a pretend tear from his eye, shooting me a wink before they pulled open the doors.
"Be careful!" Arthur reminded. "We'll meet you right here in an hour. Shouldn't be much longer than that."
"And good luck!" I called as the door shut behind them.
Mr. Weasley stared at the stationary door for a few moments longer and I waited patiently for him to finish. I didn't dare bring it up, but I had a hunch he was recalling his last son's Apparition test. Fred had mentioned Percy's birthday was next month after a few more episodes of Molly dropping dinner plates and shattering glasses.
"Right then." He nodded, turning towards me. "Ready for Gringotts?"
To get all of our errands out of the way with minimal time away from our cleaning, Arthur and Molly had decided today would be a great day to exchange my inheritance and set up an account. I had never had a reason to enter Gringotts before, but after a quick Floo trip from the Atrium to the Leaky Cauldron and a three minute walk across Diagon Alley, here I stood at the glistening white steps.
"Let's go, kiddo." Arthur gestured for me to enter first as the doors opened slowly before us revealing rows on each side of the hallway, goblins sat at the tall desks paying little attention to us.
We stood in line, a few wizards before us before we were called up with a gruff nod of the goblin's head.
"Hello." Arthur said, cheerily, receiving nothing but a blank stare in return. "This is Cassidy Olsen, she has, er... A rather large sum of muggle money she needs exchanged, and she'd like to open an account."
I smiled nervously, despite the goblin hardly even looking my way yet.
"Wand please." He stated, holding one hand out towards me.
"Oh, sure." I murmured, pulling my wand from my bag and placing it into the outstretched palm. He looked it up and down, turning it over a few times before handing it back.
"Cassidy Olsen, O-l-s-e-n?" He asked, scribbling as he spoke onto a piece of parchment.
"Yes." I nodded.
"Do you have your funds with you?"
"Yes." I pulled the bag onto my lap, ready to hand it over. The stress of carrying so much cash around all morning had begun to weigh on me.
"Do you have a count?"
"Er, should be about..." I wished my voice didn't sound so small. "One million and two hundred and ninety eight thousand... in muggle currency."
I had expected some reaction, even just a glance, but the goblin simply continued writing onto the paper.
"You'll want a vault lower down, I presume? Higher security?"
"Oh, I hadn't thought about-"
"Yes, that will work well." Mr. Weasley cut in, nodding at me with cheerful eyes.
"Alright, we have 618 available?"
"Sounds great."
"May I have the funds, please?" The goblin finally looked to me as I handed over the heavy bag. He slid a small, unmarked, golden key across the desk towards me. "Will you be needing any others?"
"Not right now, thank you." I flipped the key in my hand a few times, watching it catch the sunlight from the windows above us.
"Very well. I will begin the exchange for you, Miss Olsen and deposit everything into your new vault. Be aware all of your funds will not be immediately available, it may take a few days to settle everything in."
"Of course." I nodded. "No problem at all."
"Then I bid you a good day." The goblin nodded, hopping from his tall seat onto the floor and scurrying towards a small door in the back.
"That was easy." I breathed, a weight being lifted from my chest that I hadn't realized I'd been carrying. I had a few muggle bills saved in a small polka dotted box in the closet back at Grimmauld Place for emergencies, but something about having nearly all of my money in Galleons at Gringotts in my own vault was the best feeling in the world.
"Not bad at all." Arthur and I headed for the front door again. "We'd better get back before those two burn the whole ministry down-"
No sooner had our feet hit the last step of the bank than two matching pops echoed through the street, hardly anyone else paying attention to the tall red heads who had suddenly appeared before us.
"Fred! George! I told you to wait!"
"Finished so early though, Dad!" George's grin copied on Fred's face next to him.
"Flying colors, said we deserved medals we did." Fred joked.
"Got your certificates? Your mother'll want those." Arthur sighed with a smile at his sons.
"Of course we do."
"We're hoping Sirius'll hang them on the fridge." Fred winked at me and I held back a laugh.
"Alright then, let's head home." Arthur sighed, reaching out an arm for me before the four of us disapparated with three matching pops, the world whirling around me before the tall black town house stretched into view.
Ginny, Ron, Fred, George and I had officially scrubbed every inch of the stairwell and hallways in the hours since our return home. We now found ourselves draped over furniture in the twins room upstairs, awaiting dinner while trying not to overheat as the sun beamed in through the filthy windows.
"It's brutal in here." Ginny groaned, her head hanging off the back of her chair.
"I thought my room back home was hot. I'd kill for a lake day right now." Ron said.
"No worries." Fred replied, lazily, hardly looking up from his seat as he aimed his wand at his youngest brother, a stream of water flooding him at once.
"Oi!" He clambered from his spot, dripping water onto the floor with his jaw hung open. "Fred, you git!"
Ginny and I covered our mouths, knowing Ron's mood would only worsen from being laughed at.
"Think that's funny do you?" Fred smirked, his wand turning to me now, the freezing water splashing against my chest before I could even flinch.
"Fred!" My voice carried through the room at the same time as Molly's.
"Dinner!"
George stood up, aiming his wand at Ron's sopping body and whispering a quick exaresco before we started towards the hallway.
"Dry me!" I hissed, pulling on Fred's arm to keep him in the room.
"What's wrong? Afraid to break the rules?" He winked, copying George's spell as I watched the water droplets pull themselves from my clothes.
"You're going to regret it one day." I shook my head as we started to dinner.
"Maybe one day... far far far far in the future." He grinned before, with two loud pops and clouds appeared, leaving Ginny, Ron and I to roll our eyes in unison.
"Boys! Honestly! Just because you can apparate doesn't mean you can't also walk!" Molly screeched before we entered the kitchen and took our usual seats.
Most nights now, it was just Sirius and the Weasley's. Lupin and Tonks were our most frequent visitors, and Kingsley dropped by a fair amount, but I had yet to see as many people crowded for dinner as there were tonight.
"Hello, Weasley's." Dumbledore wore a thin smile as he scanned the room. "Miss Olsen."
I watched Fred's smile flicker for a second before we scanned the room. Lupin, Tonks, Kingsley, Moody, Sirius's friend Mundungus, Professors McGonagall and Hagrid, and Dumbledore all crammed into tiny spaces around the oversized table.
"Well, eat up everyone, there's plenty of food." Molly gestured towards the rows and rows of dishes laid out before us, which after the busy day I'd had looked nothing short of perfect.
Plates floated around the table, depositing themselves in front of each of us as Arthur began loading his plate, signaling everyone else to follow.
The table fell silent for a bit while everyone ate, the only words to be heard a hushed conversation between Sirius and Mundungus which had Remus next to them shaking his head, a tight smile barely concealed on his lips.
"Alright, then. Had enough, everyone?" Molly asked nearly half an hour later, scanning the room before the food began to shut itself into containers, flying to the refrigerator. "Why don't you all head upstairs, then? I reckon you've earned some time to yourselves after a hard days work-"
"Mum, you're not seriously going to pretend there's not a meeting going on here?" George pulled a knowing smile on his mother.
"I never said there wasn't." Molly shrugged, now meeting George's stare. "Only that it doesn't concern you. Go on up."
"Mum, we want to know what's going on." Fred looked more serious than his brother, his palms pressed onto the table.
"Not now, Freddie. When you're done with school-"
"That's rubbish. We're of age!"
"Boys!" Molly snapped, the room falling into a tense silence. "Go. We'll discuss this tomorrow."
Ginny, Ron and I pushed our chairs back at once, hurrying towards the exit, the twins finally standing to join us with defeated looks on their faces.
We started up the stairs, none of us paying any attention to our hard work from earlier beneath our feet.
"This is so rubbish, the entire world is about to go to war, we all know he's back, and we're not even allowed to know what's going on? We're not kids!" Ron grumbled as we reached the first landing.
"If they don't want us in the Order now, that's fine. They can't stop us fighting when it all-" George stopped as a loud bang rang through the hallway.
"No, it's not fine!" Fred hissed. "If anyone deserves to know what's going on, it's us. It's Ron, who's best friend was nearly murdered by the very person they're discussing right now. We're the ones who are going to have to learn to protect ourselves, they all know! My girlfriend is a muggleborn! We're 'blood traitors!' He's coming for us!"
"Freddie," I reached out for his arm, feeling the burst of air as he disappeared before our eyes. George took a deep breath, blowing it out for a few seconds before turning to his remaining siblings.
"You lot up for a game of chess?"
I watched the three of them head through Ron's door before I started up the stairs to the twins room. The door was open a crack and it creaked as I pushed it farther, catching sight of the ginger boy hunched over on the floor in the corner of the room.
"Freddie," I said softly, my hand coming to his shoulder.
"What." He replied, shortly.
"I know it's hard. And scary. I want to know too, but... I trust your parents, and Sirius and Lupin, Dumbledore. They'll tell us when it's time."
"That's rub-"
"Rubbish, I know." I smiled to myself before he finally looked at me, a sarcastic smile lighting his face too.
"I need to know how to protect you." He muttered, his hands still tinkering with some wires leaking from the large box in front of him.
"I don't think any dark wizards will have an easy time getting through you." I said, quietly.
"I'll make sure of it." He reached around me, pulling me onto his lap by my legs and linking his hands behind my back.
"I've been thinking." I said, despite the fact that being this close to him made that impossible.
"Is that right?"
"This is my last year of school with you." I continued.
His smile didn't fall, yet his eyes seemed soft.
"And what? You're going to miss me, Cassy?"
"I think I might get bored, is all!"
"We'll burn that bridge when we get to it." He winked, picking me up and crossing to the bed, the both of us falling into the blankets.
"Wait, what we're you working on over there?" I asked, craning my neck around him to catch a glimpse.
"New product. You'll have to wait and see!" He breathed out a laugh against my jaw as he traced kisses down my neck.