~ Epilogue ~
After Mum came back to the dining room from the kitchen with the freshly baked cookies in a bawl, the three of us fell silent after a long conversation. We sat there eating in the quiet of the room, until Sirius said that it was time for him to leave.
After Sirius had left, Dad and I sat my mother down in the living room, trying to tell her everything that had been going on, yet in the simplest way possible.
But Mum just started shouting at Dad for being irresponsible and nearly burst into tears out of anger and shock. But after hours of explaining everything to her, she finally seemed able to calm down a bit and soon went back to bed. I returned back to my old room as well and laid down on my bed which I hadn't slept in for the past twelve years.
My mind was so messed up that I somehow passed out from exhaustion and fell asleep quickly and unexpectedly. But the next morning, I surprisingly woke up before my parents for the first time, seeing as I was always the last to get up in the household.
I took a step toward my bedroom's window, opening the curtains and letting in the beautiful rays of sunshine as I gazed into the world outside, thinking back at all that had happened to me ever since I stepped into King's Cross station, up until this very moment.
And now, here I am.
The sun above me is already out, but it isn't even eight o'clock yet. Although despite it being extremely early, I don't seem to be able to go back to sleep.
As I'm standing by my window, my gaze steadily on the horizon, I let my lips bear the semblance of a smile, allowing myself to find my peace within.
But then, I suddenly remember my promise to Fred, about visiting him in the Joke Shop today.
Knowing that my parents usually sleep till noon just like me, I decide to take the opportunity and so I tiptoe out of my room with my wand in my hand.
As I step out of the house, I look up at the morning sky with a smile. The sun casts its golden rays down upon the clouds of billowing smoke, turning them a bright shade of pink. The world is silent, as if it had ended with the night.
But I can feel that my life has just begun.
So with my wand still in my hand and my smile dazzling on my beaming face, I close my eyes and Dissapparate. Once I open them again, I find myself before the Wizarding pub of Leaky Cauldron in London.
I feel a rush of excitement run through my entire body as I step inside. The pub is empty like it always is this early in the morning, expect for its bartender, Tom.
I nod at him politely and he smiles back, having known me after all those years of me coming here with Fred and George for our meals.
I pass the pub and go through its backdoor, where I am now faced with a red brick wall. I feel my heart beating against my chest out of excitement.
I can remember reading the first Harry Potter book when I was young and imagining the scene where Hagrid took Harry to Diagon Alley for the first time.
At the time, all I ever wished for was for this to be real. Wishing that I could one day walk here outside the land of dreaming. Wishing that I could, just like I am doing now, hold out my wand and tap it a few times on the brick wall.
On cue, the bricks start to drift apart to create an archway to Diagon Alley, where all my dreams could come true as a child.
But now, this is my reality. My world.
The Alley is almost empty of people as I step through it, but owls are flying around and there are shops full of brooms, Wizarding robes, or cauldrons. The world seems full of color to my eyes as I walk down the alley.
But my stomach lurch happily once I sight the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes shop from afar, an even bigger smile appearing on my face. Not being able to hold myself back anymore, I put my wand back in my pocket and run toward the shop, entering it.
It's obvious that they have just opened up for the day, seeing as no customer is inside yet. And from afar, only one person can be seen.
"George!" I call out, causing the boy's head to snap up at my direction.
"Snappy!" he almost yells out of shock and rushes toward me, brining me into a bone-crushing hug. "I missed you!"
"I missed you too," I say with a grin, pulling away. "Probably not as much as you, but still."
"Wow! Fred would freak out when he realizes you've come here!" he says, still smiling broadly at my arrival. "He's been a little off since you left, but he'd be so happy to see you! Oh, this is great! It'd be like old time! Gred, Forge, and Professor Snappy!" I chuckle at that.
"So where is Fred now?" I ask, looking around the shop for him hopefully.
"He's in the backroom," George says and so I nod, walking away from him.
My heartbeat picks up more and more with each step that I take closer until I reach the room at the back of the shop. Once I pull the curtain aside, the light beams into the backroom, revealing a boy with red hair and freckles all over his face, moving a few products on the shelf.
"Hey, Freddie," I say, causing him to yelp and drop the box he was trying to put on the shelf.
Fred then turns to look at me, his eyes wide and his smile even wider at my sight.
"Lexi!" he cries out, running forward and bringing me into a hug. I laugh as he picks me up from the ground, spinning me around.
Once he puts me down, my laughter fades away into a genuine smile and he holds me in his arms, looking down at me.
"You kept your promise," he whispers, gazing into my eyes. "You came here... I — I missed you."
"Cheesy Weasley is back, ladies and gentlemen!" I say, making him laugh.
He shakes his head at me in disbelief, grinning. "You're an idiot."
But then I leap forward, bringing him down into a kiss. Although when I pull away, I catch him narrowing his eyes down at me suspiciously.
"Is that your way of shutting me up?" he mutters with a grin.
I smile up at him before whispering, "Exactly."
With that, I wrap my arms around his neck, pressing my lips against his and bringing him down into a long kiss, closing my eyes and losing myself in the moment.
I start to feel the promise ring he had given me slowly vanish from around my finger, which we knew eventually would. But it was all right, because it made space for a permanent one as we'd planned.
So as Fred kisses me and holds me closer to his chest, with our hearts beating against one another, I come to realize that this is where I truly belong.
I realize that I was meant to cross platform 9 3/4 that day. I know now that it was my destiny to get my magic, to end up here, right at this moment.
And I realize, first and foremost, that I was never meant to be a Muggle.
~ The End ~