fred weasley (fgweasley) wrote in valloic, @ 2021-06-11 07:38:00 |
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Entry tags: | !: action/thread/log, ₴ inactive: fred weasley |
For now, his attention was focused on keeping his people and his dragons safe. He hoped George had gotten his owl and was safe out wherever he was camping.
Stepping into the kitchen, he spotted Fred, grateful for his brother's presence. In the absence of George, it was easier to forget the odd age difference that Vallo provided. For now, he was just Freddie, his kid brother, a title he would always wear in being younger than Charlie was.
"Thanks," he offered, putting the kettle on. "For all the help since Dora moved in."
In a somewhat unusual turn of events, Fred had been pouring over one of Molly Weasley’s recipe books, looking for things to cook in the next few days. He hadn’t really known how to handle any of it- George’s struggles, Remus’ disappearance, Tonks’ grief, not to mention the mad evil fairy on the loose. It was a lot, and without George there to be the semi-responsible one, Fred had somehow started channeling their mother. She would have known the right thing to do, so he figured if he acted like her, maybe he’d accidentally do something helpful. So…recipe books. He’d find something to make all of them for dinner the following evening.
He looked up at the sound of Charlie entering the kitchen and chuckled softly. “I don’t know how much help I am, really. I have no clue what I’m doing. But,” he drawled and stretched back to relieve some of the tension from his shoulders. “Tonks is family. We look after family.”
"Does anyone?" Charlie asked. He leaned against a counter, glancing at what Fred was looking at, smiling when he saw his mother's handwriting. His question was honest though, as he typically lived countries away from everyone, and hadn't been this actively involved in the lives of his friends and family for years.
Not since he'd brought George back to stay with him, which wasn't anything to focus on now.
"How've you been?" Charlie asked. "Seems everything is happening at once."
Fred fought the impulse to immediately shrug everything off and answer that he was fine. He wasn’t fine. And if his first few months here and multiple sessions of therapy had taught him anything, it was that just bottling everything up again was rarely helpful. He sighed and rubbed a hand on the back of his neck.
“Worried,” he answered honestly. “Tired. Wishing this place would just give us a damn break.”
Charlie nodded. "Same, really." Remus's disappearance had been eye opening, and painful. But there were several people including the brother he was talking to, who could also disappear, and he didn't even want to think about that. It was the sort of thing that kept him up at night though. He hadn't slept properly since Tonks had moved in, and it had nothing to do with Teddy.
"The reserve's been keeping me busy, and I owled George about Maleficent. Just gotta trust him to keep out of her way, I guess." He'd feel a lot better about that when George was home.
“What a time for him to fuck off into the woods.” Fred joked with very little actual humor in his voice. Though he did trust George to get out of there if necessary, he also wasn’t fond of having his twin not around when their friends were disappearing.
With a small stretch, Fred stood up and nodded to Charlie. “Be right back.” A minute later he returned with a bottle of alcohol from his parents “hidden” cupboard that the twins had found when they were far too young to be drinking.
“I’d say we’d earned this, yeah?” He set the bottle on the table before going to fetch two glasses for them.
"Cheers," Charlie agreed upon seeing the bottle, opening it while Fred retrieved glasses. "The worst kept secret of the burrow," he grinned. "Bill and I raided that more than once while getting ready for his wedding. Though I'm not sure Percy or Ron ever found it." Ginny wouldn't have surprised him.
"What I remember was that brutal haircut mum gave me cause she said I'd looked like I'd gone wild. And when Bill got done teasing me, he busted out the liquor." His parents had to have known someone had discovered it at least, but they'd never said anything to him.
“Worst kept indeed,” Fred chuckled. He set the glasses on the table before dropping back down into his chair. As with most things in the Burrow, the alcohol wasn’t anything flashy, but it gave him a comforting sense of home and family which was exactly what he needed at that moment. And perhaps a slight buzz to help make everything around them feel less bleak and depressing. He let his big brother pour their drinks out for them before picking up his glass. “To Remus.”
"To Remus," Charlie echoed. It was a heavy toast, and he sat with that for a moment, knowing the weight of the man's disappearance. But he couldn't dwell on that for too long. There was too much to navigate still with the people who remained.
"And to figuring out life here," he added. For every terrible thing that happened, there was still so much good. Charlie would take it for as long as Vallo kept him there.
Fred downed his drink in one, and reached for the bottle to pour himself another. He supposed if some of the others here were any indication, they’d eventually settle in and figure this place out. Not that he had much of a choice anyhow. Vallo was the best option for him now. If he couldn’t be at home, there were worse places to be. At least most of the time.
“I’ll drink to that. How’s the reserve coming along?”
Charlie sipped at his own drink, conscious of the fact that Tonks could wake up at anytime and he wanted to stay sober just in case, even if his mind could have used a night off. Eventually, that would happen.
But the reserve was a welcome distraction and he told Fred about the two dragons and the reserve as briefly as he could, which was still wordy because Charlie could talk about dragons for quite some time. And then he added, "Really, as awful as it was with the dragon getting killed in ancient Vallo, at least we got a team together who have a full appreciation for them." That had been unexpected, but also great.
"How's the shop been? Especially with George off camping. Business still steady?"
Fred fully settled back into his chair, content to listen to his brother talk about dragons and the reserve. He moved Molly’s recipe books off to the far side of the table and sipped his drink while Charlie went on. It reminded him of many a time when Charlie would do exactly this round the dinner table back at home. Fred felt a little of the weight he’d been carrying in his chest begin to ease.
“Booming even,” Fred replied when asked about the business. Even when all you lot were somehow stuck in the past, steady stream of locals always seem to be in and out. George and I have got plenty of ideas for new merchandise to keep them coming too.”
He explained a few of their upcoming ideas, knowing that Charlie would never be the sort to blab them to anyone. “Oh and just wait until you see what sort of fireworks we’ve got in the works for summertime.” He grinned softly at the thought of it.
Charlie grinned as Fred brought him up to date on the store. He was proud of his brothers, always had been. The fact that they'd built a business that had succeeded at home and now continued to see that same success here was no small feat. But they were both so smart and talented and without Vallo…
He put that thought on pause, and instead smiled widely at the idea of fireworks. "Can't wait to see them. "This place doesn't know what they're in for."
“You didn’t hear it from me, but there may even be some dragon fireworks.” Fred grinned mischievously over the rim of his glass as he took another drink.
He leaned back in his chair again and allowed a comfortable silence to settle over the two of them. It was a rare opportunity that they really spent any time together, just the two of them. Fred figured he ought to do his best to change that here in Vallo. It was easy to get caught up in the day to day, going at life as if everything were normal. Yet, if Remus’ disappearance was anything, it was a stark reminder to Fred that nothing was promised. Not at here or at home. He was still learning.
Giving his big brother another smile, Fred grabbed the recipe books again and pulled them nearer. “All right, which dinner to you fancy I’ll destroy the least? Mum’s roast chicken or the pork chops?"