TWO THANK MERLIN FOR MAXIME!

♡

       THE WEEKEND GOES QUICKER than Briar expects it will; one minute, she's helping her dad make dinner on the first night, having a moment of panic from the heaviness of English food compared to what she's been eating at school, and the next, she's making sure she's got her bags ready to go back to her grandparents' house. She spends the last morning with her dad and godfather sitting in the kitchen, talking to them about what it'll be like when she gets home.

       When it gets to half-eleven, Briar decides she'll get going, knowing her grandparents will be happy with her if she turns up thirty minutes before she was supposed to. She hugs Sirius goodbye and Remus walks her out into the living room, where the Floo Network has been set up.

       "If your grandparents find out, let me know—"

       "They won't," says Briar, almost instantly. She thinks about the entirety of her education. "Like, I'm not being funny but I hid most of the stuff I did with the twins from them, and they still don't know about that... And they don't even know about Beauxbatons, which is far worse... I turned the statues into ABBA!"

       Remus toes the line of concerned and impressed. Well, Briar thinks he does. She thinks, past his concern for her... well, her education, he's a little impressed. Maybe she should mention that the statues were charmed to sing Fernando every time the bell rang. Hmm.

       "I'm still your father, Briar," says Remus. "Please don't misbehave at school?"

       "What if it's misbehaviour directed towards my grandparents because they only sent me to Beauxbatons because they didn't want me to meet you?" says Briar, looking up at her dad, trying to test her luck. He still doesn't look impressed. "And it's all going to be worth it when they get a massive letter from Madame Maxime saying how terrible I've been?"

       "Right," says Remus, still looking... concerned.

       Briar frowns. She's fucked it up.

       "I'll, uh, see you soon," she begins.

       "Wait, Briar," says Remus, the concern on his face disappearing. He smiles softly at her. "Let me know if you want to stay here again. I'm sure Sirius will appreciate the company." Briar snorts. Her dad opens his arms, and he hugs her warmly. She misses him already... The coldness of her grandparents' house is already making her shiver. "I love you, Briar, I'll see you soon."

       "I love you too," says Briar, and she smiles.

       Briar steps into the fireplace with her trunk, Livvy having taken their shared owl home. She takes the Floo powder, states her grandparents' residence, and drops the powder at her feet. And, just like that, she leaves her dad's house — she leaves behind the warm feeling in the air, the hugs, the openness... Instead, she stands in the sitting room of her house, where Winky is cleaning the coffee table.

       Winky jumps as soon as Briar appears. "Oh, Miss Briar, you're back!" she lets out, grinning brightly.

       Briar smiles at the house-elf. "I've missed you," she says, crouching down to give Winky a quick hug. Her grandpa doesn't like Briar treating Winky like a friend, more than a servant, but Briar feels weird being cold towards Winky. She can't. If her grandparents wanted her to be cruel to Winky, they shouldn't have told Winky to play with Briar when she was little, because they were too busy to. Briar thinks they missed out. She held some wicked parties for her dolls... And the fashion shows? Fucking spectacular.

       "Where's everyone?" says Briar.

       "Oh, Master Livvy has gone to stay with the Malfoys, they arranged it over the weekend... Mistress Crouch has gone out, she says she'll be back later in the afternoon... and Master is at work," says Winky. Briar nods, her brows furrowing as she watches Winky pull her trunk out of the fireplace. She steps forwards, to take it herself, but Winky frowns. "Did you not want to move your trunk, Miss?"

       "No, no—" And it hits Briar. She knows it's wrong to let Winky, who's half the weight of the suitcase, take it upstairs — but what would Winky do if Briar told her she'd do it herself? She'd think she had done something wrong, she'd punish herself... "It's fine, actually, thank you for taking it, Winky..." Briar winces as she watches Winky struggle. "Can you Apparate with it upstairs, maybe?" She'll wonder why you're suggesting it, she'll get upset if you're looking out for her. "I just, uh, want to have it upstairs, like, now, if that's all right."

       "That's perfectly all right!" says Winky. "I'll be back in a minute!"

       And, with a small crack, Winky disappears.

       Briar breathes out, looking around. The sitting room's facing east, so after the early morning there's no light inside of it, and the old curtains her grandmother likes doesn't help, the weird lace ones that are never supposed to be drawn. It's the same issue her bedroom has, but over the years Briar has tried to combat the issue, using specific lightbulbs and candles to put her room in a constant golden hour. Here, though, in the sitting room, it just makes the room look cold. Uncomfortable. Not a living room, not a place to wind down, but rather, a room with uncomfortable upholstered chairs that's only used for formalities. Like, when her grandpa's colleagues visit, and they decide the conservatory isn't good enough for the Minister.

       She doesn't miss being home, if she's being honest... Well. She'll rephrase that. She misses her bedroom, her carefully curated gallery of her soul, and she misses being in the same country as the twins, but she doesn't miss the rest of her house. She doesn't miss the way that her house always feels cold and uncomfortable, like those old stately homes where chairs are there to look nice, not to sit on. Everything on the ground floor is presented properly, to reflect nicely whenever her grandpa has people over; think retro wallpapers, ones of flowers and angels, with boring paintings hanging in antique frames.

       The thing about this house is that it used to belong to her great-grandparents, and when her mum was killed, her grandparents left their old home in exchange for this one. "A fresh start," her grandpa would tell her. "Enough room for you and your brother, and maybe when you're both a bit older, enough room for your friends and for your families to stay as well." And then Little Briar would go, "Ew, gross!" at the idea of her having a family and her grandpa wouldn't laugh, no, he'd chortle, and he'd look at her like she's the golden girl. The golden girl's got no faults, except maybe, she's too naïve! How could a perfect girl like her know about the harsh reality of the world?

       Well, the answer is this. Number one, the so-called golden girl has been getting into trouble ever since she stepped foot on the Hogwarts Express and ran into the twins. And, number two — do you really think she can be naïve about the world, when her kind gets eaten alive?

       Briar makes her way into the kitchen, her inner eye projecting an image of two birds, like on the last day of school, dropping off letters. Only, this time, her father's owl has been replaced with a Bonelli's eagle, the bird that Madame Maxime uses to send her post. Oh, no, Briar thinks, as she opens the window and watches both birds drop off their letters.

       She opens the one addressed in Fred's writing, thinking, It'll be easier to deal with Maxime's letter if I'm already in a good mood.

       Briar,

       WE'VE GOT TICKETS TO THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP! Dad's been able to pull some strings — he's gotten us tickets in the top box! We're seeing the Ireland versus Bulgaria match — is that the one you're going to? Mum said if you're going to the same match as us, you can stay over the night before and we can take you, just because your grandpa might be busy for most of the day leading up to the match.

       Briar keeps in mind the match: Ireland versus Bulgaria. Her grandpa hasn't said specifically which one he'll take her and Livvy to. He gets to go to all of them, so Briar supposes if she were to ask nicely, he'd let her go to the same one as the twins...? She wonders when he'll get a letter from Maxime. Maybe if she asks him before he finds out, he will have already arranged the tickets and won't be able to return them, so she'll just have to go...

       She looks back at the letter, where the handwriting has changed to George's.

       Hey, Briar, your favourite twin here.

       Above this, Fred's scribbled, You wish.

       Anyway. I miss you a ton, Briar, but in all honesty, it would be great if you could come so you could SHUT FRED UP. I'm not kidding. I'm his twin and I'm close to murdering him in his sleep.

       Underneath, in Fred's handwriting, it says, I said, one time, that I wondered how you were handling your new school and finding out that your dad's at Hogwarts now, and George ridicules me every day for it. It's a nightmare, Briar. He's gotten Lee to join in, too. It's torture.

       George adds, See what I mean?

       It switches back to Fred's handwriting.

       Mum's calling us for lunch, but let us know about the World Cup. And if not I bet we can pull some strings and you can stay over for a couple of days... You haven't seen Harry in ages, either.

       Briar has been speaking to Harry, though. Originally it was because he found out that his godfather, Sirius, also happened to be Briar's, but gradually it turned into Harry just talking to Briar about everything.

       At the end of the letter, he's signed it with his name, but the weird thing is, there's a dot afterwards, as if he was about to add something else. All she can think of is him about to add an 'x' like she does, but then she thinks, since when did he do that?

       After that, George has scribbled his name, too. Briar makes a mental note of the match they're seeing, as she opens Maxime's letter, already trying to project her inner eye into the future, to the exact second her grandpa finds out about her antics, so she knows how long she's got to get herself a ticket to the match.

       Dear Briar,

       Over this past year I have been aware of the fact that your misbehaviour is because you did not want to attend Beauxbatons, and I understand that. I also understand that your grandparents will be livid if they were to find out about the extent to which you have acted out since joining Beauxbatons last September, and by keeping your misbehaviour from them, I hope that you realise that it is not worth it, and that maybe, in the following school year, you can grow to appreciate Beauxbatons for the fine school it is, and to use it to benefit you once you have graduated.

       I hope by keeping your misbehaviour quiet, you will be more inclined to behave in the following term... I will be incredibly disappointed if you do not take this opportunity to learn from this year and to grow, both as a student and as a young woman.

       Have a good summer.

       Sincerely,

       Madame Maxime

       The school stamp sits underneath her name. If Briar had gotten this letter the day before — the hour before, even — she would've thought, fuck, what was the point in me acting out if my grandparents don't find out? But now, Madame Maxime's given Briar the clear, to ask her grandparents to go to the World Cup with her friends.

       Attached to the letter is an envelope address to her grandparents, and Briar scoffs as she pockets it, thinking about how amazing the World Cup will be now that she's spending it with Fred and George.

       "Thank Merlin for Maxime!"

♡

       THE SECOND HER GRANDPA returns from the Ministry, Briar's on it, bounding down the stairs and bringing up the topic of the World Cup. It takes around five minutes for Briar to get her grandpa to agree, and to get him to write and ask his colleague Bagman for another ticket for her... And, about an hour later, the response from Livvy arrives, and her grandpa writes to get another ticket for him. Her grandpa had work to finish off — he normally does — so it didn't take too long to talk him into it. That, and his only condition was that she stayed out of one of the spare rooms, the one closest to his bedroom. (Briar doesn't get why that was the case, but she agreed anyway. Maybe he's just got a collection of funky blazers from the seventies and doesn't want her to find out.)

       The match is set to be on the first of August, Briar's birthday. Her grandpa wasn't too fond on the idea of Briar not being with her family on her sixteenth, but, as she told him, "I'll spend the match with you," deciding to avoid bringing up the other glaring issue with his argument: he's never at home anyway, how can he be upset with her not being there when he isn't, either? But, things have been settled and Briar waits excitedly for the last day of July to arrive, the day her grandpa's going to drop her off at her friends' house, the Burrow.

       The issue, however, is this — that still gives Briar a full month of boredom. She probably could've asked to visit earlier, but the thing is, her grandparents have never exactly liked the twins, and considering every week Briar's asked to visit Fleur (half of the time it isn't Fleur asking, but rather, it's a cover-up so she can see her dad) and she doesn't think her grandparents would be happy if Briar wasn't in the house at all.

       Not like they'd notice. At dinnertime, on the day she first got back, her grandpa told her that her grandmother's unwell, and that was the reason why Briar couldn't go into the spare room. "She doesn't look like herself anymore, Briar... It would be cruel to make you look at her, the way she is now," he had explained, and Briar thought it was a little weird, but agreed anyway.

       "I wonder if they've changed at all," says Briar to her brother a few days into July, the two of them sitting outside in the sunshine. Her brother rolls his eyes at her; he was adopted a couple months before they were taken in by their grandparents, so he's been with Briar since the beginning. Every memory she has, includes Livvy in the background. Up until she joined Hogwarts, they were best friends... Them, and Winky. They had no one else to play with, except the couple of times when the Malfoys would visit, but Little Livvy tended to clear off with Little Draco and his cousin, a blonde girl called Holly. Briar thought it was annoying when she was little, but when she got to Hogwarts she supposed it was good that Livvy had a couple of friends to spend time with.

       Livvy scoffs. "Those two never change," he says. "Apart from what, an extra inch in height."

       "They do change, you just don't notice it," says Briar, frowning. Livvy flashes her a grin. If Briar's the golden girl, he's the golden boy. "How's Draco, then?"

       "All right," says Livvy with a shrug. Briar looks across at her brother, squinting from the sunlight shining straight at her. She should've brought her sunglasses out with her. "You remember his cousin, Holly?" Briar nods. "She's transferring to Hogwarts next year." Must be nice, Briar thinks. "She used to go to Durmstrang... Draco said that she got back from school and was crying her eyes out until her dad said she didn't have to go back. Don't tell anyone that."

       "I won't," says Briar.

       The rest of the month rolls by like that: Livvy will disappear and visit Draco, or his new friends from Beauxbatons, and Briar would sit around the house, bored. A couple of times, she tried cleaning out her room, but then realised why she still had a box of dolls in her wardrobe, and that was to hide the ingredients for the Wolfsbane Potion. She's been and visited Fleur in Paris a couple of times, which was nice, and she's had Fleur sleep over throughout the month. And she's seen her dad, too, just not as much as she wanted to, just in case her grandpa caught on to where Briar was going... But, still. Briar misses the twins. She hasn't seen them in a year, and before that, she spent every waking moment with them.

       It gets to the end of July and Briar is ready to go. The night before, as she's packing her bag, she gets a letter from Fleur attached to her birthday present, wishing her a nice stay with her old friends, and to enjoy the World Cup. (And to look out for her little sister Gabrielle, alongside a winking smiley face.)

       She opens her present, thinking she won't be able to open it on her birthday anyway, and pulls out the light pink sundress. She re-examines her outfit, the white crocheted dress she got last summer. Briar pulls a face, before changing into the new dress from Fleur, pulling on her white trainers. She thinks she looks nice... She doesn't know why she's worrying about her outfit considering none of the Weasleys give two shits about what someone's wearing, but look, this is what happens when you spend a year not only by Fleur's side, but attending Beauxbatons' Fine Arts lessons. Three hours a week of nothing but refinement, Briar likes to call it. And that's bled directly into her trunk, by the looks of the frown on her face, as she stares at herself in the mirror.

       She doesn't know why she's getting like this. She isn't nervous, how can she be, she's known the twins ever since the start of first year. And she's talked to both of them, non-stop, this past year, so why is this an issue for her?

       Briar doesn't know. She's worrying over nothing... Her dad asked, the last time she saw him, if she was nervous about seeing them again, now that she's a werewolf, to which Briar's response was, "They won't find out, so no." That's not why she's nervous, because she thinks just that — they won't find out, so she isn't worrying about it. She's spending a couple of days with them, that's it. She's gone a year so far without telling Livvy her secret, she can last a day and a half with the twins.

       It gets to lunchtime, and Briar walks down the stairs, holding onto her bag. She's packed enough for tonight, tomorrow, and the next day, when she'll be leaving the camping site at the World Cup. Her grandpa said he'll take her to the Burrow during his lunch break, so that he can talk to Mrs Weasley about 'arrangements.' Briar guesses he wants to double check things like, how they're getting there. But, anyway, Briar's excited.

       "You can open our presents when you get back," says Barty, and Briar nods, a bright smile on her face. He doesn't smile, but that's because he's in his own little world. "Right... Let's go."

       Briar takes hold of her grandpa's arm, repositioning her overnight bag on her shoulder, and mouthing, "Goodbye!" to her brother, who's sitting at the kitchen table, hunched over a bowl of cereal. He smiles back, milk falling out of his mouth. Briar begins to laugh, but suddenly she stops, feeling herself twisting and turning as her surroundings blur around her. And, just like that, the cold air of the kitchen is replaced with the warm sunshine, green grass around her feet, and the Burrow a few metres from her.

       She lets go of her grandpa's arm, as he walks up to the Burrow, still holding his briefcase from the office. Briar breathes in the fresh air, and she thinks, I've missed this place so much.

       The kitchen door opens and her grandpa's greeted by Mrs Weasley, who invites him inside as one of the twins slips past him. Briar makes her way down the path, realising when she's closer up that it's Fred. She can feel her heart racing. He's taller, she thinks, and his hair looks brighter than what it used to be. He looks happier, more handsome, she thinks, as he smiles at her, light freckles covering his face now that it's the summer months...

       "Well, hey, stranger," she says, a small smile appearing across her face. She doesn't realise how much she truly missed him until now.

       Fred opens his arms, smiling brightly still. "Oh, come here," he says.

       She's taken off her feet by Fred, who hugs her tightly, spinning her around. She grins at him, as her feet touch the ground again. "You don't understand how much I've missed your stupid face," she tells him, ruffling his hair. He smiles back at her, and she thinks, has he always looked like this?

        "You don't understand how much I've missed you, stupid," he says back to her, grinning cheekily. Briar keeps on thinking the same thing: has he seriously always looked like this? Umm?

       "Where's George?" she says.

       "Oh, I see how it is," says Fred, and he puts a hand to his heart. She steps back, laughing. "He's upstairs. I only came down to get some water—" He cuts off, as Briar puts a hand on her heart, mimicking him.

       "You didn't know, in your heart and soul, that I was here?" she says, and she sighs. "I'm disappointed. Really, I am. I'll have to cry myself to sleep..." And she bursts out laughing, as he gives her a look. "So, you were getting water?"

       "There's a reason."

       "You didn't just... want water?"

       "No," says Fred, grinning at her still. "Me and George have been experimenting on new joke products, and we thought it might be best if we diluted some of the sweets, so the results weren't so... In your face."

       Briar raises an eyebrow. "In your face?"

       "Well," says Fred, as the two walk back towards the Burrow. "Let's just say that our Ton-Tongue Toffee was a little too fast-acting."

       Briar grins. "Sweet."

       He opens the door for her, and before Briar can say hello to Mrs Weasley, she has her arms wrapped around her. Briar smiles softly back at her, looking over her shoulder at her grandpa, who doesn't look that impressed by the affectionate behaviour of the Weasleys. "Oh, it's lovely to see you, Briar, dear," says Mrs Weasley, smiling warmly. Briar agrees wholeheartedly, but doesn't reply, knowing how her grandpa would act if she told another family she missed being with them.

      "I should be getting back to the office now," says Barty, and he turns to Briar. "I shall see you tomorrow."

       "See you then," says Briar, feeling a little awkward with Mrs Weasley's arms around her still, and her grandpa unable to smile at her, unless she's just told him that she's predicted something big.

       Her grandpa leaves, and Briar turns to Mrs Weasley. "Thank you for letting me stay," she says.

       "It's our pleasure," says Mrs Weasley. Her gaze falls down to Briar's side, where her overnight bag is hanging over her shoulder, resting against her hip. She turns to Fred. "Where are your manners, Fred?"

       Fred gives his mum a look, making Briar smirk. He stretches his hands out to take the bag off of her, and Briar shrugs. "I don't mind carrying it," she tells him, and she knows she's lying, but she knows it's heavy because of the amount of shit she decided to bring, so she thinks it's only right for her to have to deal with her inability to pack light.

      "Let me be gentlemanly," says Fred.

       Briar grins. "You know how to be gentlemanly?" she asks, and she reluctantly gives him the bag, wincing up until he puts it over his shoulder with ease, and she realises that it was just heavy by her standards. You're a fucking werewolf and yet you're still as weak as a mouse. What the fuck, Briar.

       "Oh, Briar, dear," says Mrs Weasley, before Briar and Fred can walk up the stairs. "Hermione's already staying in Ginny's room, so I thought you could stay with Fred and George in their room." Briar exchanges a glance with Fred, both of them a little surprised. Mrs Weasley sighs. "I know you sneak in there anyway. And you haven't seen each other for a whole year, I thought it would be nice for the three of you to spend as much time as possible together... But that means best behaviour, Fred Weasley."

       "Of course, Mum," he says, with a smile.

       Fred leads her up the stairs, and as soon as his mum's out of ear short, he turns back to Briar and goes, "I've always been gentlemanly."

       "No... you haven't?"

      "Well, all right," says Fred, and he shrugs, and Briar wonders where he's going with this. "Maybe you haven't noticed until now. Maybe I've become even more gentlemanly over the past year."

       "Say that once you can speak French," says Briar, smirking up at him. Fred frowns. "I'm just saying. Everyone at Beauxbatons learns etiquette, so I don't know how your gentlemanliness is meant to compete with theirs."

       "You can speak French fluently now?" says Fred. She nods. "Can you say something?"

       Briar nods, and in French, she says, "You look different to last year."

       "What did you say, then?" he asks.

      "You're a dickhead," Briar says with a shrug. "Thought I should be truthful."

       "Oh, ha, ha," says Fred, rolling his eyes. He opens the door to his bedroom for her. The walls are still covered in Quidditch posters, but now, there are boxes hidden underneath their beds, presumably holding all of the joke products currently in development. There's a camping bed in between the two beds, already with a duvet and pillow laid onto them.

       George stands up, a smile spreading across his face as he sees Briar. "You're back!" he says, and he goes to hug her, only it isn't the same as when Fred did it. George hugs her tightly, warmly, and then lets go. Fred hadn't just hugged her, he full-on held her... Or did he? Maybe it's her mind playing tricks on her... She looks up at George, and yeah he's grown a little, but he hasn't changed, not in the way she feels as if Fred has. Weird. "You know, I love you, Briar, but — Fred, you dickhead, you forgot the water."

       "Shit, I got distracted."

       Briar winks at Fred, who rolls his eyes, as George laughs.

       "It was more your grandfather arriving out of nowhere, but all right," says Fred. Briar snorts. "Back in a minute."

       He closes the door behind himself, after setting Briar's bag down on the camping bed. As soon as the door closes, Briar furrows her brows, crossing her arms. George looks at her oddly. "What are you...?"

       "Is it just me," she says tentatively, "but does Fred look... different?"

       George stares at her for a minute.

       "If you're tying to tell me that my twin looks fit, I'm a little offended you don't think I am, too?" says George, looking at her as if she's grown two heads. "We're identical twins, and yet you only think he's gotten fit? What the fuck, Briar, that's wrong—?"

       "No, no! You've changed, too. Only it's different."

       "Because you fancy Fred."

       "I do not—"

       "You always have, come on."

       "I have not!"

       The door opens. Briar stops talking immediately, and George smirks at her, as Fred walks back in, holding a cup of water. "You should've seen Mum's face when I went back downstairs, she thought I was up to something until I said Briar asked for it," he says.

      "You are... up to something," says Briar.

      "Yeah, well," says Fred, smiling at her. "She doesn't need to know that."

       Briar rolls her eyes. She glances across at George, who's still smirking, and she can feel her cheeks start to burn. She wishes she had some fucking water now.

       "So, what were you talking about?" says Fred.

       "Beauxbatons," says Briar with a shrug, before George can open his mouth.

       "Interesting," says Fred, and he sits down, to help out with the Ton-Tongue Toffee. As he looks down, George catches Briar's gaze, and he gives her a wink. Briar glares back at him, and mouths, "I will kill you."

      George looks unconvinced, and he returns to the joke product. Briar, her cheeks still burning a little, sits down beside them, thinking to herself, This is going to be a nightmare.

       "So, Briar, you said you turned a statue into Freddie Mercury?"

       "Oh, yeah..."

yeah you may think this is fast but it..... isn't. dont u remember how long it took for remus to admit his feelings for tonks in the books bc of the whole werewolf thing?? like friar will be an obvious slowburn. hope u enjoy