"I'm not wearing a dress!" I shout at my Mum from my room.
"No one asked you to! Just don't wear the same jeans that you've been wearing for the past month!" Mum shouts back, "Theo darling what happened to your hair? Go get me the brush. Freddie! I need you to feed the cats!"
"I'm getting dressed! Have Cass do it or something!" Freddie shouts back.
"I'm trying to get all the cat hair off of my dress!" Cassie screams from her room.
I change into a different, less Whizbang burn holes jeans and an awful bright yellow shirt that has Popeye the sailor man riding a bike on it. As soon as I walk out of my room Mum rolls her eyes, "Ophelia, we are having guests over. Your brother is trying to impress his girlfriend..."
"This shirt is pretty impressive Mum. It doesn't even clash with my hair."
"Ophelia..." Mum sighs. Annabeth comes out of her room with her hair literally standing straight up off her head. Mum and I both stare at her.
"Uhm, I think I just electrocuted myself by accident." She says quietly.
"Really? What makes you say that?" I say and instantly burst into laughter. Mum sighs deeply before taking ahold of Annie's hand and bringing her back into her room.
The door behind me opens and Freddie comes out of his room. He's wearing what he wears every day honestly, black jeans, some old muggle band shirt, and a flannel but he's done something to his hair, "You look like you're gonna shit yourself." I say to him.
He glares at me, "I'm allowed to be nervous!"
"Course you are, but that doesn't mean like it doesn't look like you're going to shit yourself."
He rolls his eyes, "Are you the only one ready? Where's Cass? Theo? Annie?"
"Cass is getting dressed, Theo is struggling with his hair, and Annabeth just electrocuted herself. So I'd say it's all going according to plan."
Freddie looks like he's either going to kill me or kill himself, it's hard to say, "They're going to be here in like ten minutes."
"I'm going to tell you right now, we aren't going to be ready in ten minutes. Mums still in her pyjama pants."
On cue, Mum comes out of Annie's room. Annie's hair is back to normal and she's wearing an outfit that is presentable to Mum's standards, which are pretty high. Freddie takes one look at Mum and I swear he's going to cry, "Mum... get dressed. Please for the love of all things good in this world, will you get dressed."
"Don't rush me Fred. I'll be ready before they get here." She says walking past him in the hall and going towards her room.
"Has anyone seen my pink flower crown I was working on earlier?" Theo says coming out of his room wearing a pair of light blue overalls and a pale pink shirt.
I swear on my life I just watched Freddie's soul leave his body, "I can't, I hate you all." He says throwing up his hands and walking into the living room.
I look at Theo who has his hands on his hips, "So? Flower crown? It's a circle made of pink flowers that fits on my head?"
"Saw it in the kitchen, but you better go quickly, I heard Dad talking about tossing it." Which is a total lie, I have no idea where his crown is.
"DAD! DON'T THROW IT OUT IT TOOK ME HOURS!" Theo shouts as he shoves me out of his way and sprints towards the living room. The sudden jostle of my head makes instantly gives me a headache.
"They here yet?" Cassie says coming out of her room, "Oh, I thought you were someone else." She looks at me and frowns in disgust sort of.
"I'll be around when you come off whatever high horse you've been riding recently. I live down the hallway incase you want to stop by for an apology." I snap at her.
"Suck an egg."
"That's the best you've got?" I say, crossing my arms across my chest and raising one of my eyebrows.
She doesn't say anything. I turn around and walk into the living room. Freddie is pacing back and forth in front of the front door, Theo has found his flower crown and is sitting on the counter watching Dad add some corn into the chowder that we are having for dinner. Annie is lying on top of the coffee table muttering to herself, her arms spread out.
"They're here! Mum! Mum! Get out here!" Freddie shouts staring at his phone.
"Goodness Fred, it won't kill anyone if I'm not in the room when they get upstairs." Mum says coming out of her room and into the kitchen. She hugs Dad from behind and kisses his shoulder.
"Are you just going to stand there with your tongue hanging out of your mouth or are you going downstairs to unlock the shop for them?" I say to my brother.
He shoots me a look but pulls open the front door and runs down the stairs.
"I can't believe that I'm going to be feeding Angelina Johnson tonight." Mum grumbles.
Dad turns from the oven to face her, Theo adds a few spices into the chowder when he's not looking and smiles really big like he's proud of himself, "Promise me that you'll be on your best behaviour." Dad says to Mum with a smile. Mum goes to swat his arm but Dad catches her hand and kisses her knuckles instead, "That's not very good behaviour LeStrange."
"Weasley I swear to god," Mum says back to him but she's smiling all the same.
We can hear people coming up the stairs, Cass comes around the corner and sits in the big chair watching Annie who is now counting her fingers for some reason, still lying on the coffee table.
Theo dumps a few more spices into the chowder before hopping off the counter.
The door opens, Freddie comes in first, his face as red as his hair. Then comes who I can only assume is Evie, she's holding onto Fred's hand, looking very flustered.
"Angelina. How lovely it is to see you again." Mum says to the older woman, a forced smile on her face.
Angelina hands her coat to Fred who hangs it up by the door, "Violet! Thank you for having us! We are so happy that Evie and..." She glances at Dad for a second, "and Fred found each other. By the sounds of things they make quite a little couple."
Mum's jaw tightens, Dad looks horribly uncomfortable. "This is my husband, Spencer, and our son Benjamin. And Evie of course." Angelina says introducing everyone to everyone. Angelina and her husband Spencer step into the flat more and I swear Mum looks like she's going to toss her out onto the street.
"Lovely to meet you all," Mum says through her teeth. I don't think Mum has ever said lovely before in her life but it seems to be her word of choice for tonight. "My twins, Cassiopeia and Ophelia," Mum points to each of us respectfully. Cassie nods and smiles.
"Really lovely to meet you!" I say loudly, stepping towards them and shoving my hand out for a handshake, "It's so lovely for you to come to our home for this lovely meal that my lovely parents have made on this lovely evening!" I say shaking each of their hands. I can feel Mum and Freddie shooting me death glares but I can't help but smile at myself. I make eye contact with Dad and he's smiling too.
"And my son, Theodore," Mum puts her hand on Theo's shoulder and drags him over to stand in front of her, "And our youngest, Annabeth... Annie, what on this green earth are you doing?" Mum says finally realizing that Annie has been lying on the coffee table in a super man pose for the last little while.
"Thinking?" Annie says like it was obvious.
Mum shakes her head, "And of course, our eldest, Fred." Mum uses Freddie's name like a weapon. Which really shouldn't be as funny as it is, but I snorted. And of course, I got a look from Mum. I have a strong feeling I'm going to be getting a lot of looks like that tonight.
"Uh, please! Come in, make yourself comfortable. I can get you a glass of wine?" Dad says; the first thing that he's said this entire time.
"Oh that would be lovely, George, thank you," Angelina says. I notice that she hesitates before saying Dad's name. God, I wish everyone was here to see this shit.
Mum leads Evie's parents to the couch, nudging Annie to get off the table. Evie sits in the chair beside the fireplace and Freddie sits on the arm of her chair, looking very awkward.
As the designated lesbian of the house, I have to admit, Evie's hot. Like to the point where I'm wondering why she's with my thumb of a brother. I sit on the other arm chair, Theo and Annie fight for the beanbag as Dad comes out with a few glasses of wine for the adults.
When he passes it to Mum she downs the entire glass in one drink, then places the empty cup on the table. No one says anything. If you look up awkward in the dictionary it would just be a picture of my living room at this very moment.
"I've never seen you at Hogwarts before." I say to the brother, "What year are you in?"
"Oh, I don't go to Hogwarts..."
"Durmstrang then? I heard it's a really great school."
Benjamin looks awkward, his Dad speaks for him, "Ben goes to normal..." Every Weasley in the room pulls the same face, one eyebrow raised, lips pressed together, waiting for him to finish that sentence, "... er, muggle school. He's not magical at all."
"That must suck dude," I say. Dad swats the back of my head, "No I just mean that like, all this cool magic stuff and you don't get to be apart of it..." Mum glares at me, "... I'll shut up now I think." I say finally.
No one says anything for a long while again. Dad pours Mum another glass of wine and she drinks it faster than she did the first one. "Dinner should be ready, how about we move this... party to the dining table," Dad says, very uncomfortably. He can't seem to get himself to look at Angelina and every time he does I can see anger bubble up inside him. Mum seems to notice too because she has moved from the couch with the rest of Evie's family over to Dad, holding his hand tightly.
"Great cause I'm starving. They made me work downstairs in the shop all day without a lunch break. I was about this close to eating a whole skiving snack box." I say to Evie's parents. They both give me a pity laugh before we all get up and go over to the dining table.
On a normal day, it's squishy around the table, but four more bodies make it nearly impossible. I'm squished between Theo and Annie, Cass beside Theo, Benjamin beside Theo, Spencer beside Benjamin, Angelina beside Spencer, Evie beside Angelina, Freddie beside Evie, Dad beside Freddie, Mum beside Dad. And a big pot of chowder in the middle of the table.
Mum has another glass of wine in front of her, she's drinking it normally this time, not having a chugging competition with herself or anything.
In turn, everyone scoops themselves a bit of chowder. I go to take a bite but Theo puts his hand over mine and shakes his head no slightly. Theo doesn't usually pull pranks and things but when he does they are pretty fucking iconic.
He and I wait for a second. Mum eats a spoonful of her chowder, stops, thinks for a second, and does her best not to make a face. Everyone eating looks like they're having the worst time of their life, but no one says anything about it. Except for Annie.
"You made this right Daddy?" She says, staring into her bowl.
Dad's ears go pink with embarrassment, "Yes darling."
Annie thinks for a second, "Why does it taste like the bottom of someone's show?"
"How do you know what the bottom of someone's shoe tastes like?" I say to her. I look at Freddie and I can try he's doing his best not to laugh.
"Sometimes I get curious," Annie says so casually.
I can't take it anymore, I burst into laughter and Theo, Freddie, and Evie follow suit.
"Ophelia, did you do something to dinner?" Mum says sternly.
I put my hands up, "Not me I swear, wish it was though cause the look on everyone's face is pretty priceless right now."
"Don't credit Leah for my triumph!" Theo says loudly which makes Freddie and Cass laugh.
Angelina, Spencer, and Benjamin look lost as all hell which makes me and my sibling laugh even harder, even Evie is laughing. Freddie was right, she's a load better than Perennial or whatever her fucking name was.
"While shoe stew is great and everything." I say, making Dad smile, "Can we order pizza and wings or something? I mean really, who are we trying to impress? No offence or anything Mister and Missus West, but you two don't look like the type of people who eat fancy dinners."
About two hours later, everyone is full on pizza and hot wings. Evie and I got Dad and Freddie to have a wing-eating competition which made the whole house laugh till they cried. Mum who has had nearly a whole bottle of wine to herself at this point, is still glaring at Angelina like Angelina is going to grow three more heads and a tail casually.
"This has been fantastic, but I think it's time we head home. It's getting late and we've got a little ways to travel." Spencer says, stretching his arms up in the air.
"It was lovely to have you, we should do this again," Mum says as she and Dad get up from their spot. I look at Mum and smile really big when she say lovely but she ignores me.
Angelina, Spencer, and Benjamin all get up and go over to the front door. Evie and Freddie whisper their goodbyes and Freddie kisses Evie's forehead. I gag loudly and Freddie looks like he's going to kill me on the spot.
Once all the West's have their coats and shoes on we stand up and say goodbye. "Violet, Fred, it was so nice to see you again, truly," Angelia says. She realizes her mistake almost instantly.
Dad goes red, Mum goes angry. I stand off to the side with a big smile on my face, looking between Mum and Angelina. I take my phone out of my back pocket and start to record.
"I was going to say the same. But I don't like to lie." Mum says coldly. I clap my free hand over my mouth. Cassie takes a few steps away from Mum.
"I am so sorry, it was a slip honest," Angelina says.
Spencer, who I'm assuming has no fucking idea about our dead Uncle Fred, heh, that rhymed... sorry. looks between Mum and his wife with a confused look on his face.
"May I suggest buying shoes with some traction. Slips can be dangerous." Mum says in a very monotone voice.
"George, I'm sorry," Angelina says, looking past Mum and at Dad.
Dad doesn't say anything, Mum stands her ground, "Get home safe would you?" Mum says.
"It was nice meeting you, Mister and Missus Weasley. I can see where Freddie get's his big personality from. Dinner was great. Thank you." Evie says with a small smile.
"Thank you, Evie, you and your brother can stop by the shop any time. You two are always welcome here." Mum puts emphasis on the words, you, brother, and two, to make sure that Angelina knows that she's not welcome here anymore.
"I'll walk you out," Freddie says. He opens the door and his girlfriend's family head down the stairs. Freddie glares at Mum before closing the door behind him.
No one moves for a second. I turn off the recording and quickly add Hugo and Cass back into the cousin group chat before sending the video off.
"Do we have ice cream?" Theo asks Mum and Dad.
Dad half laughs half lets out a breath that it sounds like he was holding, "Suppose we could have some ice cream." He says heading into the kitchen.
Mum shakes her head but follows Theo, Annie, and Dad into the kitchen. Leaving Cass and I alone in the living room. Not for long of course cause Freddie comes bursting through the door and slams it loudly behind him.
"That was the worst dinner I have ever seen in my entire life. That one trumps Christmas dinner I swear. You're all horrible people, selfish people. The one time I wanted something, I wanted serious, me! Serious! you people ruin it!" Freddie says loudly at all of us.
"You couldn't possibly be Sirius Fred, he died before you were even born," Mum says from the kitchen. Everyone but Freddie laughs wildly. Freddie looks like he's going to cry angry tears.
"I'm moving out. I swear I'm moving out." He says, pulling on the ends of his hair, a habit he's had since forever, he does it when he's stressed out.
"If you move out you won't be able to have ice cream," Dad says.
Cassie goes into the kitchen without saying anything. Freddie looks at me, "You were the worst one beside Mum." He snaps at me.
"Oh shut up, Evie loves me."
"Her parents don't."
"Are you dating her parents?"
"No..."
"Then shut up!"
Freddie and I look at each other, the tension is slowly fading off his face, "Your ice cream is melting!" Dad sings from the kitchen.
"I like mine melty!" I say coming into the kitchen.
Freddie follows close behind me and sits down at his spot at the table. Dad puts a bowl of ice cream in front of him.
"Mint chip? You disgust me." He says.
Almost like we rehearsed it, we all look at Freddie,
"shut up!"