Stumble - A Fred Weasley Fanfiction

Chapter 27: 229 Days Before

Addie wrapped her hands around the glass that had been placed in front of her, too afraid to take a sip of the putrid brown liquid. She kept glancing down at it, wondering how anyone could stomach the drink. But around her, many witches and wizards were chugging their glasses greedily, their eyes glazed and their smiles wide.

She unconsciously pulled her hood further over her face, making sure her features were covered. Fred and George were seated at the table with her, also disguised with black hoods pulled low to cover their faces. Their covered features didn't bring attention to them in a place like this. In the dingy bar in which they sat, nearly half the patrons were similarly hidden. The other half openly displayed their rough and rugged appearances, showing off battle scars and missing limbs and loudly telling tales of how they'd gotten them.

The wizarding bar they were in was in Leeds, hidden beneath a department store that was accessed by casting a charm at a scantily clad mannequin. They had pretended to browse the stores for hours, watching as oddly dressed men and women approached the mannequin, quickly produced their wands, and muttered at the mannequin. It had taken an Extendable Ear, tucked into the folds of the woman's dress, to hear the correct charm needed to enter.

They had become quite good at finding wizard hangouts in the past two weeks. Each day they awoke from the hotel they stayed at, and apparated to yet another town in England. They wandered the busiest streets, watching for anyone who didn't quite fit in, listening closely. By mid-afternoon, they usually had scouted out the location, and by evening they had gained access.

The three of them sat in silence, listening closely to the conversations around them. A man and woman were mumbling sweet nothings to each other at the table behind Addie, another man laughing uproariously at his own joke. Across the bar, sitting at the counter nursing his drink, sat a man who hadn't said a word all evening to anyone but the bartender.

The bartender himself, a tall, greasy man with a sinister smile and a mean glint in his eyes, spoke quietly to the man, sharing information with mumbled lips that were too hard to read. Addie peered closer, trying to make out what the bartender was saying.

Fred also took notice, nodding to Addie once before slipping out and quietly making his way to the bar. As he leaned on the counter to order another drink, his hand slipped under to fix a small object to the bottom.

He returned with his drink, setting it down on the table beside his already full one and quickly slipped a small earpiece across the table to Addie. She pretended to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear, fitting the earpiece into her ear in the process. The bartender's sly, drawling voice filled her ear. "That Potter's going to get himself caught yet," he said. Addie cringed at the glee in his voice. "It's stupid of him and those friends of his, breaking into the Ministry in times like this, if you ask me. They say he was trying to get to the Minister, to take over the Ministry himself." The man scoffed. "Stupid boy. And the people who believe he's the Chosen One are even more idiotic. I say everyone should just keep quiet and forget these ideas of rebellion. Things needed change, and now we're finally getting them."

Addie's temper flared at the man's speech. To suggest that Harry Potter had such sinister motives was beyond ridiculous. Addie clenched her fists tightly and forced herself to stay in her seat.

"You think this Muggle-Born Registration is doing anyone any good?" the man seated at the counter asked.

The bartender nodded. "We've gone too soft," he said. "We just let them join our world without questioning it. I say we should question it. Who knows how they're getting their magical abilities? Lock 'em all up and leave the magic to the Pure Bloods, that's what I say." Addie stopped listening, ripping the cursed earpiece out of her ear and chucking it onto the table. Fred eyed her curiously, and Addie just shook her head, too disgusted to voice what she had heard.