No Laughing Matter

Chapter Eight

Sunday morning had a definite chill in the air. Carly woke to find her flat was frigid, because she had neglected to light a fire, and had forgotten to renew the charm on the open 'owl' window to keep the chill out and the warm air in. Kyna was sitting on her perch in the late morning sunshine beside another owl, and both had their heads under their wings, and a note still tied to the leg of the unfamiliar bird. She untied the message as carefully as possible, so as not to wake the owl, and read the few words that Fred had scrawled on the parchment: See you in the morning.

Carly re-read the words and felt a jolt of panic. Was she supposed to have met Fred somewhere? The past few days had been so busy at the hospital; she had come home last night and fallen straight into bed with little thought to anything other than a decent night's sleep. Had Fred's owl been sitting there all night? She rushed into her bedroom and dressed quickly, thinking she would hurry to Diagon Ally and apologize for not paying more attention. She quickly plaited her hair and slipped on her shoes before grabbing her purse and bolting out the door.

She was almost past Mrs. Dunmeyer's door when she heard the sound of Fred's laughter coming from inside her nosy neighbor's flat. She approached cautiously and pushed the already partially open door wider. She was amazed to find her normally anti-social, perpetually cranky neighbor laughing like a schoolgirl as Fred related some story for her amusement. They both looked up to see Carly standing in the doorway, with her mouth hanging open in surprise, and smiled cheerfully at her.

"Good Morning, sleepyhead!" Fred greeted her. While his lips were stretched into a smile, the laughter had drained out of them and there was something close to anger in his eyes. Carly's heart thumped painfully hard, them began to gallop. He had been really disappointed... no, that was definitely anger in his eyes...when she hadn't replied to his note.

"Good morning, Fred. Mrs. Dunmeyer," Carly said uncertainly, trying to smile back while feeling vaguely nauseous at the thought of having hurt Fred.

"Call me Eunice, dear," Mrs. Dunmeyer invited, patting her graying hair down from its usual wild mane, and drawing Carly into the room with her other hand. "Let me get you some tea. Your young man has been telling me all about you! Or course I think he might have a slightly biased opinion."

At this point Fred stood and intervened, "Sorry Eunice. Carly and I have some things to discuss, and I'm afraid they can't wait. I hope I'll be seeing you again soon?"

"Of course dear!" The older woman beamed at him. "You stop in any time. I want to see that shop of yours as well!"

"I'll give you a personal tour," Fred promised sweetly, taking her hand and giving it a chivalrous kiss. "Thank you for the tea and lovely conversation."

Carly's mouth was still hanging open when the two of them came to where she was standing, and Mrs. Dunmeyer showed them to the still-open door. Fred Stepped into the hallway, but the old lady pulled Carly aside and whispered, "Don't let this one get away, dear. I don't know when I've met such a charming, good-looking boy. I haven't laughed so hard in years! If I were fifty years younger, I'd have to try for him myself!"

Carly nodded, dumbfounded, at her supposedly crotchety neighbor, and then let Fred take he arm and lead her down the hall toward the stairway that led to down to the street. The smile was gone from his face now, and she waited for the anger to come pouring out over her at any minute. When he said nothing, she screwed up her courage and stopped on the landing and said, "I'm sorry."

"Really," he asked conversationally, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. "What is it you're sorry for?"

"I didn't see your owl until I woke up this morning. I got home so late, and was so tired that I just...."

"Carly," Fred interrupted, his voice even, the anger still in his eyes. "That's fine. If you didn't get my message, you didn't get it. It's no big deal. I would have caught up with you a little later today."

"But you're angry with me." She frowned in confusion.

"Yep." He then leaned forward and picked up her left hand and played with her fingers for a few moments while he chose his words, "I came here this morning, figuring that I would surprise you, since you hadn't answered my owl. When I came down the hallway, I saw that your door was slightly open, and thought you must have gotten my note after all, and had just opened it because you were expecting me."

Carly gasped.

"My door was open?"

He nodded, forcing his anger, and the huge lump in his throat, down and saying, "I thought.... I don't want to tell you what I thought. I went it with my wand out, expecting...expecting..." He broke off on a shudder. There had been another report in the morning Prophet about the Dark Mark over a wizarding house on the outskirts of London.

"Oh Fred," she whispered, pulling him close, feeling tears gather in her eyes. She remembered the large stack of files she had been juggling in her arms when she had gotten home, and how she had just kicked backward on the door, trusting it to close on it's own from there. Obviously it hadn't.

"I checked your room and found you so sound asleep that you didn't even stir when I sat on the edge of your bed," he told her, tears stinging his own eyes now that he had his arms around her. He squeezed her tighter, quickly blinking them back and said, "That's when I got mad. When I think about what could have happened to you; anyone could have just walked right in, and you wouldn't have known it until it was too late. We're all facing dark times right now, and we can't afford to make mistakes like that. I looked all around your flat, to make sure there was no one hiding anywhere. When I found that nothing appeared to be out of place, I decided that I needed to walk off some of the mad I was feeling before you woke up. Luckily your neighbor Eunice saw me leaving in a temper, and came out to tell me that no one had been near your door all night. She invited me in to wait until you woke, and calmed me down some."

Carly wiped a tear from her cheek and said, "I'm so sorry I frightened you so much. It was stupid, and careless, and I swear I'll make sure the my door is charmed shut every night, whether it's open or closed at the time."

"It's already done," He said firmly. "I charmed it before I left. It will automatically seal itself every time you close it, and it will close itself after five minutes of standing open. It's password protected now, though you'll still need a wand to open it, too."

"So what's the password?" she asked, nodding approvingly at his practicality. It must have taken a lot of time and effort to charm her door for her, and she was grateful.

"Kiss me," He grinned down at her, his anger quickly abating.

She leaned forward and did as he asked, then rested her forehead against his and repeated, "So what's the password?"

"The password is 'Kiss me.' I can change it if you want, but...." He smiled.

"No. That's fine, as I can't imagine saying that particular phrase next to my front door to anyone but you."

"You'd better not be saying that particular phrase to anyone but me anywhere," he advised, kissing the tip of her nose, and leading her down the steps.

"It's a deal," she agreed, relieved that he wasn't angry anymore, and resolving to thank Mrs. Dunmeyer with the biggest box of chocolates she could find in Diagon Alley.

*-*-*-*-*

Since Carly hadn't eaten since lunchtime the previous day, they went to the Leaky Cauldron for an early lunch. Over their meal, Fred brought up the subject of George's impending return.

"He should be back on Tuesday. I can't wait for you to meet him." Fred grinned.

"Is he really as much like you as your family says?" Carly asked curiously; from everything she had heard, he and George sounded almost inseparable.

"Yeah, pretty much, so I'm lucky that I saw you first. He'll have to find his own girl." Fred grinned. He took a large swig of pumpkin juice before he went on, "I, er, I should tell you something, though."

When she just took another bite of her omelet and looked at him inquiringly, he wiped suddenly sweaty hands on his robes under the table. He was afraid that she might take offense at the idea that he hadn't wanted to tell George about her, and didn't want to hurt her feelings.

"George doesn't know about you," He finally blurted out. "I didn't tell him about you during any of the times I've talked to him since he's been gone."

Carly simply continued eating. Her mind was going over the reasons that he might have kept their growing relationship a secret from his brother, but could only come up with one that really disturbed her. She asked calmly, "Why not? Are you ashamed of me?"

"Great Merlin's ghost, no!" Fred answered immediately.

Since he looked sincerely shocked at the very idea, she put that concern aside and nodded in acceptance. She thought that she knew where Fred was going with this conversation, and knew how he felt. She had spoken to various members of her family many times since she'd arrived in Britain and had not mentioned Fred to any of them, especially to Rowan, whom she was closest to. She knew that she would have to tell them very soon, because Uncle Nigel was sure to mention it when he next talked to her dad.

"Good," she said with a relieved smile.

"It's just that I wanted to keep what we have all to myself for as long as possible. George and I have always shared everything with each other. Neither of us had ever had a serious relationship before, and I don't know how he might react," he explained to her.

"Don't worry, Fred. If he's as much like you as you say he is, we won't be able to help liking each other," She smiled. "What's the worst that could happen?"

They left the pub and made their way back to the shop, where Fred disarmed the door and let them in. Carly had insisted that she wanted to learn how to perform the charm on the rice for the wedding, and so they spread some on the counter and set to work. The charm came easily to Fred out of long practice, but Carly had a bit more trouble with it. Her first few attempts produced a myriad of results, from a tiny explosion to bright flash of blue light. Fred made note of the mispronounced word that had resulted in the blue flash for future reference, and corrected her spell and wand movement. The trick was to charm them so that they would only change into butterflies after the charmed grain had dropped a foot on being released. On the seventh try, she was successful, and laughed with delight as Fred tossed the grain high and they watched it change into a tiny fluttering in the air. They spent a pleasant hour charming the grains of rice and putting them carefully into the jar that held the others that had already been painstakingly done.

When their backs and necks began to get sore from bending over the counter, they decided to take a break and have some tea. Fred went into the small office to fill the teapot, and Carly boosted herself up to sit on the counter and watch the foot traffic pass outside the front windows of the shop.

"Are you always closed on Sundays?" she asked as Fred came around the counter and handed her a sup of tea. "There seems to be a lot of shoppers out there."

Fred glanced out at the passersby before shrugging, "No. It's one of our busier days, actually, but with George and Lee gone, we decided that it would be my day off until they came back. Normally we're open everyday, for at least a few hours. I'll take care of some owl orders later today and check on some potions, but other than that, I have the whole day to spend with you."

"That's good, cause I've missed you these past couple of days. I don't even want to think about the stack of files I'm supposed to review before I go back to the Hospital tomorrow. Thankfully I have Thursday and Friday off next week," She said, setting her cup aside in favor of wrapping her arms around Fred's neck.

"I'll have to see about getting those days off myself."

He leaned in for a kiss. When their lips met, he could have sworn he heard bells ringing, and was surprised when he felt a strong hand grip his shoulder and pull him around, away from Carly. He had only a second to register the fact that George was standing in front of him, looking livid, before he felt his brother's fist connect with his nose.

"Bloody hell!" Fred roared, as he stumbled backward into Carly's dangling legs and then fell to the floor. He put his hand to his face as the blood began to pour from his nose and just knew that it was broken. Carly's scream was still ringing in his ears as George grabbed the front of his robes and made as if to punch him again.

Fred didn't know what was going on, but he wasn't going to sit on the floor and let himself get pummeled. He had left his wand on the counter when he had set the teapot down, and so he used his feet to push his enraged brother far enough away from him to allow him to gain his feet. George was already coming back at him, breathing hard, with a murderous expression, and Fred prepared to do whatever he had to do to fend him off. The pain in his hand traveled all the way up his arm as his fist connected with George's nose. He felt both faintly sick and satisfied at the same time when he felt a crunch and saw his twin's nose also begin to bleed. Swearing steadily inside his head, he cradled his hand against his chest and waited to see what would happen next. George looked slightly stunned, but no less angry as he got to his feet.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Each yelled the outraged question at the other simultaneously.

All three of them looked up when the bells over the door of the shop rang, and a young woman came backing in, pulling a floating trunk. She had long red hair, and called over her shoulder,

"Geez, George, I know you're anxious to see Fred, but you could have at least waited until.... What on earth?" The woman had turned around to survey the two brothers covered in blood, and another woman kneeling on a counter holding a wand out as if she had just finished thoroughly cursing the pair.

"Expelliarmus!" she cried, pointing her wand at the other woman, and neatly catching the wand that flew her way, "Carly, what...."

But Carly had jumped down from the counter and past the fighting brothers, flying at the newcomer, and shouting, "Rowan!"

The two women embraced joyfully, leaving Fred and George to look at them in amazement.

"Wait a minute!" Fred and Rowan said in tandem.

At the same time, George and Carly said, "You're a twin?"

"I told you I was a twin." George said to Rowan, whom he recognized now was wearing plum colored robes, and not the dark green of her sister's. If he hadn't had a red haze over his vision at seeing a woman he thought to be Rowan kissing his brother, he would have seen that it hadn't been Rowan at all. Now that he stopped to consider it, it was foolish of him to not to have realized that Rowan couldn't have arrived at the shop ahead of him. He wiped ineffectually at his nose with the sleeve of his robes, and flinched in pain. From the look of Fred, he knew that he two would be sporting two black eyes and that Fred was probably suffering from the mother of all headaches. Rowan was looking at him with faint amusement in her eyes.

"No you didn't," She said. She shook her head in denial, with an arm around her sister.

"You didn't tell me," He accused in confusion.

"How could you have missed it? There are pictures of us all over my parents' house! I talked about her incessantly!" Rowan said with an exasperated laugh.

"Why would I have been looking at pictures when I had you to look at?" George asked with what he thought was perfect logic.

Rowan merely shook her head and rolled her eyes, and then turned to Fred, "You must be Fred."

He nodded, still trying to comprehend everything that had happened in the last few minutes, in spite of his throbbing face. He turned and said to Carly (somewhat stupidly), "I didn't know you were a twin."

"I could swear I told you." She shrugged, grinning at her sister, then back at him, "You didn't tell me you were."

"Hey," George said, turning to his brother. "Sorry about punching you."

Fred looked at his brother and knew that he looked just as bad, if not worse, and nodded in acceptance of the apology. He considered punching him one more time, just to make himself feel better, but decided it might not look good in front of Carly. She was, after all, an apprentice healer, and generally frowned on such things. He would pay him back later by dissolving a Puking Pastille into his tea and making him believe he had the flu.

"You punched him?" Rowan asked George sternly, causing him to look at his feet in embarrassment, and then she started to laugh. "I walked in here and saw you two all bloodied up, and Carly with her wand out..."

She laughed even harder as Carly glared at her, took her wand back, and finally stepped forward to help Fred stop the bleeding in his nose. "I'll need to make you a potion for the bruising. I'll see what ingredients you have here, and if I need to, I can go get some at my flat...." Carly told him as she went about her work.

"Hey! What about me?" George asked indignantly as Carly stopped Fred's bleeding, and used a spell to clean up his face.

Carly moved her wand delicately around Fred's aching hand. "What about you?" she asked him archly. "You're the one who came in here and started throwing punches. Serve you right to make you suffer through it."

"I thought he was kissing the woman I love!" George shouted crossly, and then froze in shock.

Everyone stared at George, who looked as stunned as they were at the words that had just come out of his mouth. Carly was the first to recover; she saw the blissful look that came into her sister's eyes and her heart melted. She walked briskly over to George and used her wand to stop the bleeding and clean him up.

"You do?" Rowan asked shakily, taking a hesitant step forward.

George could feel the heat creeping up to flood his cheeks, but gave a firm nod and asked, "Do you?"

She was in his arms in an instant, laughing and crying at the same time. "Of course I do, you idiot! Do you think I would have quit my job with no notice and followed you all the way to England if I didn't love you?"

Carly blushed as the two kissed each other enthusiastically, and went to stand over next to Fred, who whispered, "And I thought things were moving quickly between us! I don't think I need to worry about how he'll react to out relationship."

This struck Carly as incredibly funny, and she began to laugh until Fred told her quietly, "I feel the same about you, you know. I have done since the first time I saw you."

"I know it's crazy," Carly agreed. "But I fell in love with you while my ears were still ringing from the Shrieking Snaps you used to save me from that man outside this shop."

Lee Jordan walked in a minute later and thought that he was seeing double for a moment when he found two sets of identical twins snogging in the middle of the shop. He didn't have to ask if George had introduced Rowan to his brother yet. There was definitely never a dull moment when the Weasleys were around; he couldn't wait to hear the story behind this turn of events.