Holy Cricket.

I gazed up at the enormous mechanical Weasley that framed the front of the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes Joke Shop.

I rolled my eyes. The top hat was a bit much.

Probably Fred's idea.

The windows were casting a pale yellow light onto the dark evening streets of Diagon Alley, much more warm and inviting than the rest of the storefronts, many of which were raided and boarded up.

I stepped up onto the stoop.

I hadn't set foot in this shop since that day with the moving boxes.

I hadn't seen the twins since that day in the 3rd floor lavatory.

Letters can only say so much, and I was a little anxious.

I looked down at my hand, which had been on the heavy brass doorknob for at least 3 minutes.

Should I knock?

...

I rolled my eyes at myself and threw open the door.

There was a multitude of things moving and glittering and popping on the shelves, I saw them all crawl around only in my peripheral vision. My focus went straight to the counter, where two tall, handsome redheaded men in suits slumped counting up their galleons.

Upon hearing the door, they looked up, and their faces seemed to split in half from the white grins that spread across them.

My heart was pounding.

Or was it my feet?

I couldn't tell, all I knew is that I must have been running, because the next thing I knew I was hanging a foot above the floor with one arm around George's neck and the other 4 limbs around Fred. There were no words being said, rather just crazy sounds; whoops and cries and laughs and howls like some crazy tribe in a victory dance.

Totally indecent. But so we are.

When finally my feet were back on the ground, I was pulled upwards again by Fred, who nearly suffocated me with an overzealous kiss. After which he held me back at arms length and looked me up and down, and grinned:

"Well look at you! You're all older! Your even uglier! I think I'll have to be sick all over you immediately. Lie down."

A shriek of giggles rang out of my belly and I jumped on him again, messing up his hair the best I could with it being so short.

"Oh well look at the pair of YOU." I rebutted, straightening George's brilliant maroon necktie, "Suits? I don't even know who you are anymore!"

"Swanky, I know. We'll just have to get used to living like royalty." George winked, nodding at the register which still had piles of gold galleons stacked next to it.

My eyes boggled a bit.

"Bloody hell! It's not even the school rush."

"I know." grinned Fred, straightening his tie in a mocking manner. "Some people are meant to be salesmen."

"And some people are meant to blow things up. Oh, by the way, your share is at Gringotts." George added nonchalantly.

I raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean my share? I don't run shops. I don't wear suits." I teased, tugging on Fred's tie and messing it up again.

"Are you batty? Ton Tongue Toffees. Portable Swamps. Skiving Snackboxes. You helped invent them." George explained, hopping back over the counter to continue locking up.

"And the Toe Biting Socks, Acid Quills and Headless Hats? You came up with those without our help." Fred patted the top of my head like I was a star pupil. "So yes, you get a share."

I rolled my eyes.

"And if I refuse?"

Fred interlaced his fingers in mine.

"You wont. Not after you see how much is in there." He winked, tugging me off to one of the corners of this magical place that was so full of Fred and George that I couldn't help but smile. It was like being inside our own little world. It was like being inside their imagination. There were things that made noise, things that spin, things that smell and things that put themselves back together so you can break them over and over again.

It was after midnight before I was through testing and poking and sampling almost everything that littered those busy walls.

The sofa in the twin's flat was not the same dirty one that I had inhabited just last year. It was much more squishy, much like the armchairs in the Gryffindor common room. I tucked my slippered feet up under me, and resumed stroking the orange Pygmy Puff that I had scooped up from the display downstairs.

"Cute aren't they?" asked George, handing me a spare blanket and pillow.

"Adorable! Don't let Sev out of the bathroom, though. He will eat it for sure."

George made a look of annoyance when I mentioned the cat, and fingered the claw and fang marks Severus had left along his forearm.

"Oh, so thats what it eats when it can't get human flesh."

"Ha." I responded bluntly.

There was a thud at the door as Fred burst through with my trunk.

"Bloody hell, Sally what've you got a body in here?"

"Girly things." I giggled, putting down the Pygmy Puff and accepting the trunk from Fred.

He put it down with a sigh of relief and collapsed on the sofa.

He could have used magic to levitate the trunk up the 3 flights of stairs, however he probably thought it would have impugned his masculinity.

Psh. What masculinity?

"Better get to bed. The shop is bound to be busy tomorrow. School starts in a matter of days." George said, scratching his head absentmindedly. "'Night." he said to me, tugging on one of my plaits playfully before retreating to his bedroom.

I giggled and pounced on the sofa beside Fred, who had wrapped himself up in my blanket like a shawl.

"You heard the man. Off to bed, you lazy arse." I teased.

"Shut up." Fred grinned, opening the blanket up and grabbing me inside it.

He stuck his nose in my hair and sighed.

I could feel the air tickle down my shoulder.

"I missed u so much." he whispered.

I shuffled around on his lap so that the sides of our heads bonked together.

I could feel him smiling as his cheeks brushed against mine.

"I missed you too, you crazy git."

His hand grazed my cheek as he turned my head, pressing our lips together like 2 sides of a zipper.

"You should get some sleep. Jill's flooing over pretty early." Fred grumbled, lifting his head and planting another cotton-soft kiss on my forehead.

"Yeah. You too. Since you're a working man now and everything."

He sat up and stretched, allowing the blankets to fall back down on me.

"Goodnight then, Sally." he said, patting my cheek playfully. "Sweet dreams, eh?"

Our eyes locked, and suddenly I something deep inside me lurched. It wasn't butterflies or nerves, it was something primal and instinctive from deep within my very being. It was reckless. It was pushy. It was vaguely naughty. I wanted to grab his arms and pull him back. I wanted to kiss him and touch him and be close. I wanted his hands with my hands, his lips on my lips, his skin on my skin.

My heart thundered in my chest.

I leaned forward; actually my body seemed to lean itself forward.

I stopped myself inches from his mouth, made a quick swerve upward and kissed his eyebrow.

That was close.

"S-sweet dreams." I whispered, still hearing my heartbeat in my ears.

He got up and smirked at me as he disappeared into his bedroom.

I threw myself back into the blankets, gulping air and trying to clear my head.

Distance makes the heart grow fonder.

But, really?

I picked up my Pygmy Puff and rubbed it against my face. It was soothing.

Finally my heartbeat went back to normal and I turned out the light, returning the miniature Puffskein back to it's little mesh basket.

Good grief.

------------------

".......Charming." said Jill, wrinkling her nose at the rubber chicken that I was now waving in front of her face. "False wands. How did we survive without them?"

I bopped her gently over the head with my fowl.

"They are jokes. They don't have to make sense."

Jill merely raised her eyebrows at me and picked up her mug of butterbeer.

It had been a successful shopping day for the two of us. Jill was very pleased with the books she had found in the discount bin at Flourish and Blotts, although was horrified to discover that her two other beloved book sellers (Whizzhard Books and Obscurus Books) had gone out of business. I treated myself to a new couldron since I had been accepted into the Advanced Potions Class this year, and I wanted to be very well prepared. I am also quite sure that I nearly bought out Slug & Jiggers Apothecary. I went in to refill my lionfish scales. I came out with enough ingredients to make Professor Snape envious.

However, I had not touched a cent of the money given to me by Fred and George. It was their shop, and their earnings. I was quite proud of my self control, especially after eyeing the new racing brooms in Quality Quidditch Supplies.

I picked up my butterbeer and downed it to the dregs, allowing a burp to emerge in the process.

When Jill looked up at me, I assumed she was going to reprimand me for my lack of manners. So when I saw the look of distress on her face, I was alarmed.

"Jill! What's the matter?"

She looked back down at her practically full mug, swirling a finger lazily around the foamy rim.

"I...I don't know. Draco.... He has been acting very strange." she said, quietly. "We barely even speak anymore, and when we do he is cold and.....Just different."

I let out a false chuckle.

"Strange and cold? Malfoy? Don't be rediculous."

"Sarah! Be serious please. I am worried.... Worried that he doesn't love me anymore."

The thought of Malfoy loving anything was a bit hard for me to believe. Although contrariwise, the thought of anyone not loving Jill was a bit hard for me to believe.

"What makes you say that?" I queried.

"He says not to ask him questions. He says he needs more space. But I think if I gave him any more space I would fall off the planet."

I grimaced.

I'm clearly not a love expert, but that sounded like bad news to me.

I waved my arm at Madame Rosmerta.

We were going to need a few more butterbeers.