10The day had arrived. Larna was going to Fred's and each was looking forward to it just as much as the other. On Fred's part, he just hoped and prayed Larna's acting was convincing. He went to meet her at the train station in Ottery St. Catchpole and together, they began walking towards the burrow. They couldn't hold hands or they'd give the game away, although both wanted to.
When the pair arrived at the Weasley home, Mrs Weasley was ridding the back garden of gnomes, as Fred had planned. This meant Larna could run upstairs before anyone noticed their arrival, and dye her hair with Ginny. She then came down the stairs to a warm reception by the whole family, receiving a quick wink from Mr. Weasley. She smiled and said,
'Gutentaag. Ich habe gerade verwendet Ihre Toilette, ich hoffe, Sie haben nichts dagegen.' Of course, none of them had a clue what she had said, and Larna could see Molly becoming irritated already. This made her want to laugh: if only she knew.
Arthur cleared things up by saying,
'Well, this is my German niece who will be staying with us for the rest of the summer. I hope you'll all be really friendly with her, as Fred has been in school.'
Then Fred piped up,
'Yeah; she came to Hogwarts to learn English, but she's not made much progress yet.'
'As we can see,' George remarked sarcastically. For the first time Larna noticed him; he was like Fred in almost every way, except one. He didn't look at her in the same way Fred did. She began to dream about time with Fred, until Ron said,
'How are we supposed to understand her if she doesn't speak English?'
'Precisely what I was thinking,' Molly joined in. 'When you said you wanted your Dad's niece to stay, Fred, you didn't mention she was German!' Larna bit back a giggle; Mrs Weasley's fiery temper was there again; something she'd seen very rarely in Fred.
'It'll be fine,' Ginny said, and Larna thought to herself, 'Oh yes, it will.'
After 2 days in the Weasley household, Larna was becoming tired of acting, and as a result, was less convincing. Molly kept looking at her suspiciously, and remarking on the amount of time she spent with Fred, said,
'You do have other cousins here, you know.'
Each time this was repeated, Larna just feined innocence and said
'Es tut mir leid, ich verstehe Sie nicht' which of course just made Mrs Weasley angrier. So in one of their few moments alone on the second evening, Larna whispered to Fred,
'Tonight. I don't know how you're planning to change us from being cousins to being together, but you do it tonight. I can't stand the pretending anymore, I just want to laugh every time your mum glares at me.'
'Okay, okay!' Fred replied sharply. 'Now let me explain what will happen. We'll be in the living room before everyone else, so that when they come in...'
While all the Weasleys were upstairs getting ready for bed, Larna and Fred ran down to the living room. As soon as they heard footsteps on the stairs, Fred turned to Larna and pulled her close, kissing her gently on the lips. Right on cue, George walked in, and was so shocked that he walked back out again and then re-entered, wondering if he was hallucinating.
'Mum!' he shouted, wide-eyed. 'You've gotta come and see this!'
Fred and Larna broke apart from each other and looked at George innocently.
'Something the matter, Georgie?' Fred asked simply, smiling at his brother.
'You could say that, yes', George replied. 'Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't she our cousin?'
At that very moment, Mrs Weasley walked into the room.
'What is it, George? I'm really quite busy at the moment.' George simply gestured towards Larna and his twin, who had begun to embrace again.
'What in God's name do you two think you are doing!?' Molly exploded; a howler couldn't have been any more furious. Fred stayed remarkably calm, Larna thought, in comparison with Mrs. Weasley's outburst.
'Oh, hi mum, I'd like you to meet...' But that set Molly off like a firework before he even had time to finish.
'We've already met; she's been staying in this house for two blasted days! Now you sit there, Fred Weasley, and you explain to me why, in the name of Merlin's most baggy Y-fronts, you were just kissing your German cousin?!'
That was it, Larna couldn't hold it in any longer, so she let her amusement out in a huge fit of laughter. Through the hysterical giggling, Fred still maintained a poker face and said to his mum, 'German cousin? Did I say she was my German cousin? Oh, I'm sorry, must have been too much firewhisky; I meant English girlfriend. Isn't that right, Larna?'
'Yes Freddie, right you are. I'm sorry if my boyfriend has confused you, Mrs Weasley,' Larna replied - in perfect English. Now Molly looked completely furious; her face was as red as her hair! George, however, who was still in the room, looked blank for a few seconds, then, with a wink at Fred, his face lit up, and he grinned in ecstasy. 'Brilliant, Fred, brilliant! I think that has got to be one of the best pranks you've ever played!' Fred smiled right back at him, and replied, 'Thanks, Georgey. If I do say so myself, it was quite a good one.' By this time, Ginny had arrived and, having been in on the plan, was giggling quietly in the doorway. Molly, however, showed no signs of calming down and only looked worse after the twins' exchange, both of whom had been seemingly oblivious to her reaction. Now, Mrs Weasley cornered Larna, stepping closer and pointing her finger. 'Oh Merlin, she's in for it now,' thought Fred to himself, and put an arm around her protectively. Indeed, it looked like Molly's loudest and angriest rage had been saved for Larna –
'You cheeky swine!' Mrs Weasley screamed. 'How dare you play along with my wretched son's scheme! YOU made me believe you couldn't speak a word of English!...' And so she went on and on, while the whole family gathered in the front room to watch her rant and rave., while Fred's arm tightened around Larna, who didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Eventually she just zoned out so that when Molly advanced towards her, she nearly had a heart attack - '...and that's why I'm really pleased that Fred has found someone who cares for him, so, welcome to the family.' Mrs. Weasley finished, before embracing Larna in a big hug. That was what did it. Larna fainted, and as Molly let go of her, she hit the ground with a loud thud.
'Mum! What have you done to her?' Fred wailed, horrified. He immediately knelt on the floor by Larna's side.
'My head hurts,' Larna groaned - that was all she had chance for before Fred gripped her tightly.
'You know,' he began, 'For a split second before I realised you'd only fainted, I saw my life without you. Well, if you can call it 'life'. You see, without you, I wouldn't live, I'd simply exist. So please, promise me you'll never let me go, because I do not want to have an existence as lonely as that.'
With his words, Larna sat up from where she was lay on the living room floor - and realised the whole of the Weasley family was there and had heard every word. She blushed pink with embarrassment, before Mrs Weasley, in a much nicer voice than Larna had last heard, said,
'That's so sweet! My immature, childish son has finally grown up, thanks to you, Larna. Fred has finally found love in you, and something to focus on, besides pranking other people. How can I thank you for setting him on the straight and narrow?'
Larna groaned again and said, 'You can get me an ice pack.' Unfortunately, it did not have the desired effect, as no-one knew what one was. So instead, she stood up rather shakily and said, 'No, thank YOU, Mrs Weasley, for giving birth to my Mr Perfect.'
AN: This is the end of the story. I'm sorry it's quite short; it's the first one I've posted and I struggled for ideas. Thanks for those who have followed my story and look out for my next one, which will be differently themed. :)