An eerie silence filled up the place as no one dared to make a sound. Mrs. Weasley seemed to be paralyzed, Mr. Weasley looked like he was expecting someone to shout out 'April Fools', and Ron looked as if someone had just slapped him in the face.

    But it was Fred and George who finally broke the silence as they yelled out, "CONGRATULATIONS!"

     "Thanks," Bill laughed as they went forward and patted him on the back.

     "Well..." Mrs. Weasley started hesitantly. "You did tell me you were planning on... I didn't think you actually would... I-I mean..."

     "Congratulations, you two," said Mr. Weasley brightly, going forward and hugging both Bill and Fleur.

     "Yes, yes," Mrs. Weasley nodded as the two of them turned to look at her. "C-congratulations, I guess..."

     "I was actually thinking that maybe Fleur could stay here while she's not working at Gringotts with me," said Bill. "So you all can get to know each other better."

     "Oh, y-yes... sure..." said Mrs. Weasley, trying hard to smile at the couple, which almost seemed impossible.

***

The next day as promised, many enchantments were set upon the Burrow and their Floo Network was disconnected except for the one in the twins' flat.

     I took a job as the cashier in their joke shop and whenever Fred and George weren't in sight, I helped and assisted the costumers on the whereabouts or the prices of the products they wanted.

     In the first week of working there, I was glad to know that I had already earned enough money to pay for my own books this year.

At nights when I returned back to the Burrow, I would immediately be faced with Fleur who talked rapidly about how better things were in France, and Mrs. Weasley who rolled her eyes at her whenever she wasn't looking.

Ginny started calling her phlegm or sometimes a cow and Mrs. Weasley scolded her each time, but I could tell that she partly agreed with the given names.

The next week, Hermione arrived with her school trunk, after Mrs. Weasley asked Ron to invite her over along with Harry.

From the moment she arrived, she couldn't stop herself from talking on and on about her O.W.L results.

"I'm sure I messed up Ancient Runes. And Defense Against the Dark Arts practical exam went terrible." She huffed before turning on me and saying, "You're really lucky Tonks did them for you."

"Yeah, but she said she had to make a few mistakes on purpose," I said.

"Why, though?" Ron questioned. "You could've gotten Outstanding in all of them!"

"That's exactly the thing," I started explaining. "Everyone thought at that point that I was so dumb and talentless with wand work until then. If Tonks had done everything, they would've gotten too suspicious — I mean, more than they already had."

I said, thinking back at how Umbridge had me and nearly found out I really was.

"But anyway," I sighed, "I think my theoretical exams will make up for it. Man, if only I had studied this much for math, I would be studying at Oxford now." Ron looked at me puzzled, meanwhile Hermione chuckled.

      "Won't they make you take the exams again?" asked Ron. "I mean, now that you're a witch and all."

      "Oh honestly, Ron," Hermione started before I could even get the chance to open my mouth, "how do you suppose she's going to explain to the Ministry that she wasn't the one taking her exams, because she was a Muggle who had travelled to the past, but somehow she can suddenly do magic? And how is she going to explain that Tonks did them for her, when no one knows she secretly works for Dumbledore —?"

      "Okay! I get it!" Ron snapped, shaking his head at her.

"By the way," said Hermione after a short pause. "Where's Crookshanks?"

Ron and I gave each other a look. "Dunno." He shrugged.

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen your cat ever since the first night we had arrived here," I said. "Do you want me to help you look around?"

"No, it's alright." Hermione smiled calmly, shaking her hand in reassurance. "This happens often. I'm sure Crookshanks will show up eventually, probably just strolling around. So anyway... Ron told me you're working at Fred and George's shop, Lexi."

    "Yeah." I nodded with a grin. "It's actually a lot of fun, really."

     "Oh, I would love to go and see the shop!" she said brightly. "I mean... not that I think selling puking pastilles to young kids is a good idea... but I like to visit the place."

     "Oh, trust me, Mione. There are a lot worse things there than just Puking Pastilles," I said with a smirk.

     "When can we go?"

     "Mum says Dad has to be there," said Ron. "She's too scared to go there now on her own and says it's harder to manage us like that."

     "She's not wrong, you know," I said. "And she's not the only one who thinks everything's different. Throughout the last week, less and less people are coming to Diagon Alley. And those who do, are never alone."

     "Well, that's understandable, isn't it?" Hermione said thoughtfully. "Things are changing..."

***

The next day when I went back to Diagon Alley, as I looked out of the shop, I could see a mist covering up the air, making the day look gloomier than ever.

     It was pretty early in the morning, and so the customer hadn't arrived yet. Sighing to myself, I went through the curtain at the back of the shop, which had a darker mood to it.

     That was where they sold more serious products, such as Shield Hats, which even the Ministry was ordering dozens of.

     I took advantage of the silence and emptiness of the shop to organize everything in the room before I had to go for my post as the cashier.

     But just then, the curtain to the back room opened and a light illuminated its way inside. I turned around, seeing Fred walking toward me with a grin.

     "I'm glad to see that you're taking your job seriously," he said as he reached me.

     "That's cause I don't want to let my boss down," I said cheekily, going back to organizing the shelves.

     "How very considerate of you," he chuckled, walking behind me as he wrapped his arms around me, placing his chin at the top of my head. "You know... I actually can't believe that it's been a year."

     "A year?" I frowned in confused. "What do you mean?"

     Fred suddenly let go of me and when I turned to look at him, I saw him staring at me blankly.

     "You've forgotten," he said matter-of-factly. "Why am I not surprised?" he said, shaking his head with a grin. "Just to enlighten you, Professor Snappy, there's this things called an anniversary."

     "You're kidding!" My eyes widened at that. "It's been a whole year already?"

     "You seem surprised."

     "You bet your arse I am!" I said and he laughed. "With my sassy attitude, I never thought I would last with someone more than a month."

     "Yeah, well. I guess I handled you just fine then, didn't I?" he said jokingly, making me turn on him sharply.

     "Excuse you?" I raised a brow playfully, folding my arms. "What do you mean handle me? I'm not that bad."

     "I'm just teasing you, love," he said with a smile.

     "Hmph!" I rolled my eyes, turning around as if to busy myself with the shelves again.

     I heard Fred sigh as he muttered under his breath grimly, "You really are a pain in the arse sometimes, Hooper."

     My eyes widened at that. But the moment I turned around to retort, I was startled as Fred came forward in a quick motion and crushed his lips against mine.

     From the sudden feeling of shock, I let a groan escape my throat and by that I felt Fred smile into the kiss.

     His lips then moved away and kissed down my jawline. I felt a sudden shiver rush down my spine as his hands travelled slowly downward and held onto my waist.

     I don't know what got into me then, but missing the feeling of his lips on mine, I raised my hands and placed them on either side of his face, turning his head toward me and kissing him again.

     As the kiss became more passionate than it had ever before, I was hurtled backwards with our lips still connected and his arms still around me, and so my back hit the shelf behind me.

     With that, we both jerked apart with a yelp as one of the bowls on the shelf which consisted Instand Darkness Powder fell down and broke.

     On cue, the room got filled up by a black gas, and Fred and I tried to run our way out of the back room as we coughed and laughed at the same time.

     "WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU TWO DOING DOWN THERE!?" George's voice boomed from upstairs, but Fred and I only grinned as he took out his wand to get rid of the gas.