click-boom! [roxy]

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Fred had taken to haunting Hogsmeade on his days off, not sure whether he wanted to accidentally stumble in on a Hogwarts weekend and see a certain Durmstrang boy or if he just liked the space. It was quieter than Diagon Alley, that was for sure. Fred was pretty sure it was cleaner, too, but it was the quiet that he liked more than anything. Normally, Fred was a fan of big and bold and loud, but a lot had changed. It had been a long time since he had spoken to any of the people he considered his best friends, and he felt like he had been set adrift. All he really had in terms of social interaction were customers, who didn't really care about his personal problems; his father, who he had already overwhelmed with information; his mother, who was busy with her work; his sister, who was away at school (and who he still hadn't told about the whole gay thing); and Elias, who...was Elias. Fred didn't want him to see the ugly parts of him. Not yet. Meandering through the streets of Hogsmeade was one of the things that Fred used to substitute talking with another person. It wasn't quite the same, but it was better than having to bare his soul to someone who didn't care at all.

@roxanne

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Hogsmeade weekends were always awesome in Roxy's books. Butterbeer and Honeyduke's and pastries at Madam Puddifoot’s (she could do with a few less frills and soppy couples, but the pastries were good) and trips to Owl Post and all the supply shops and just being out of the castle, even if half the castle came too. She woke up early for a reason.

So it was still relatively quiet when she spotted her brother walking. She hadn't made plans to see him, so it was an opportunity too good to pass up. Quietly she picked up her pace until she was right behind him, and then flung her arms around him in a giant hug while shouting with glee, ”Fred!”

@fred

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Fred hadn’t been the most attentive to his surroundings when he was walking – it seemed to defeat the purpose of clearing his head if he obsessed over every little detail. Sometimes, Fred did do that, as a way of focusing on something other than his problems, but that day, he had been trying to shut the world out, not let it come rushing in. He hadn’t expected to see anyone he knew at Hogsmeade, especially not so early in the morning, but since someone’s arms were around him, Fred expected that someone he knew was indeed in the village. It only took a moment for the voice to process in his head, and Fred’s face broke into a grin. He hadn’t seen Roxy since she had gone off to school, which was a travesty in and of itself. “Little sister!” He replied, voice just as loud if not as gleeful. “Don’t sneak up on me like that.” He faux admonished her. “You’ll give me gray hairs like dad’s.” Fred would not look good with gray hairs, especially at his age.

@roxanne

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“Well we can't have that now. Your hair must remain as black as night for all of eternity,” she teased, releasing him and turning to face him, positively beaming. She missed seeing her brother every day, even if she hadn’t appreciated how much that was true until she’d seen him in the street. They hadn’t been apart for this long since she was 10 and Fred had gone off to Hogwarts. She’d cried for days about it then. Was that what growing up was about? She wasn’t sure she wanted to, but not crying was a plus.

“What are you doing around here bright and early on a Hogsmeade morning? I mean, I haven’t seen you in eons, I’m not complaining, but it is a surprise.”

@fred

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Fred smirked when Roxy said that his hair should stay as black as night for all of eternity. “That might be a little too long. I’d like to have gray hairs when my kids do.” If he ever had any kids, that way. Well, if he ever adopted any kids, since he wasn’t biologically able to have children with the gender he preferred in his partners. When Roxy asked what he was doing in the village, Fred shrugged, attempting nonchalance. “I was just walking around. There are too many people in Diago Alley to be able to clear your head. And it’s nice here.” Hogsmeade was a lot more aesthetically pleasing than the cramped streets of Wizarding London, that was for sure. “It’s a Hogsmeade weekend?!” Fred asked a little belatedly, trying to swallow his excitement. Maybe he would see Elias later!

@roxanne

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Roxy laughed at her brother’s retort. ”Well, unless there’s something you need to tell me about travelling through time, that should be a good long while away. Eternity’s close enough.”

She smiled at the description of Diagon Alley - that was always what she had thought. Sometimes you just needed space and fresh air, and Hogsmeade was perfect for that. Except when it was mobbed with Hogwarts students. Then it could be a bit much. ”Yes, it’s a Hogsmeade weekend. And it is nice here, but it won’t be quiet for long. It’s the ickle third years’ first trip and Honeyduke’s will be mobbed soon, so that’s where I’m headed. If you’re in no rush, come with me and spill all the secrets of the outside world.” It wasn’t a question, even if it did come with an opt-out clause. She knew he would.

@fred

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Fred chuckled at his younger sister. “Surprise, Dad and I invented a Time Turner on accident!” Though it was a joke, Fred could, oddly enough, see him and his father accidentally doing something wonderful like that when trying to make a new joke product. Roxy invited him to go into the village with her, and Fred nodded. He could never deny himself the luxury of getting to spend time with his sister. “There’s not much to spill.” Fred said, even as he began following his sister to wherever she was going. “Everyone I know is either at their job or lazing around at home.” Roxy didn’t need to know that he hadn’t actually spoken to anyone outside of their customers. He wouldn’t want to worry her. “Though there is something I want to talk to you about…” Fred had meant to come out to his sister before school started, but things had happened, and now it was November, and he hadn’t thought about it for over a month. He was definitely slipping.

@roxanne

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As odd as it sounded, Roxy could absolutely imagine her dad and brother coming up with a time turner while trying to make something else. ”I bet that one would go over real well at the Ministry,” she said, laughing too.

She listened to Fred say that there was nothing to tell, just work, or unemployment. She shook her head. “I know you and your friends well enough to know that can’t be all you’ve been up to. That’s far too boring for you, even if you’re all on shift work on opposite sides of the country. You must have done something.” She was pushing, but she was so used to there being a wink, or a nudge, or some mention of not being able to tell her or he’d have to kill her. To have nothing at all was… unusual.

And then he said there was something he wanted to talk to her about. She tilted her head. “I’m all ears, brother of mine.”

@fred

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Fred was pleased to have made Roxy laugh with his Time Turner joke. “Hey, if my cousin’s the Minister, laws don’t apply to me, right?” Fred asked with a wink. If laws didn’t apply to the Weasleys, they’d probably be in a bit of a pickle, since a large portion of the Wizarding world seemed to have married into their family somehow. That was the peril of a large family, Fred supposed. Then again, the Weasleys weren’t exactly the rule-breaking type in the first place, so maybe it wouldn’t be that bad.

Then came the comment about his friends. Fred tried his best not to physically wince. He waved his hand flippantly. “Not really. You’d be surprised how much I work.” The one problem with being the boss’s kid was that Fred was called to cover any shift that needed extra employees. “I’m pretty sure this isn’t an ear.” Fred said, bopping Roxy on the nose with his index finger and then offering her a soft smile. He took a moment to muster his courage – some Gryffindor he was – before speaking. “Roxy, I’m gay.”

@roxanne

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Roxy rolled her eyes at her brother’s next joke. “There’s a word for that, hmm, let me think…” She tapped her finger dramatically against her forehead. “Oh, that’s it! Nepotism.”

She frowned when he said he worked a lot, but she didn’t want to be a scolding little sister, so she let it slide. She scrunched her nose as he bopped it, but he was clearly gearing up for something important, so she didn’t point out that two ears was still more than their dad had. Instead, she waited for him, and he said “Roxy, I’m gay.”

It was funny, in a way, because she wasn’t surprised exactly, but she also couldn’t say she knew either. It made sense, but it was still news. ”You know, I was at the Gay-Straight Alliance meeting the other week, and we were talking about coming out. Or at least, they were - I just listened, because I didn’t have anything to contribute. But I learned a lot. Mostly that sometimes straight people suck, so even though you hope it’ll go well, it’s still scary. So -” she turned to face her brother, meeting his eyes and smiling - “I’m so glad you worked up the nerve to tell me. You are my brother, and no matter what, I will love you for all eternity.” And for the second time that morning, she wrapped her arms around him in a big hug.

@fred

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Fred shook his head when Roxy talked about nepotism. It wasn’t nepotism if it was happening to him – only when it was someone else who was getting the favors. When it was for Fred, it was just happy coincidence.

Roxy’s first reaction to his coming out of the closet was to mention the Gay-Straight Alliance, and Fred raised an eyebrow. “Wait, there’s a Gay-Straight Alliance!?” He probably wouldn’t have gone, but Fred didn’t even know that such a club existed, so he was a little baffled to hear that Roxy had gone to a meeting. She made a comment about straight people sucking, and Fred’s other eyebrow joined its fellow at Fred’s hairline. “You say straight people suck like you’re not one of them.” He noted. “So…are you a lesbian or something?” It wasn’t the most tactful of questions, but Fred would be over the moon if his little sister wasn’t straight, either. That would make telling the rest of his family a hell of a lot easier. Fred was distracted from thinking about the future, though, by Roxy’s arms wrapping around him. He hugged her back just as fiercely, surprised to find that he was relieved to know that she didn’t hate him. He hadn’t expected her to, but it still felt like a huge weight off of his shoulders. “Does eternity include the extra time I give myself with my Time Turner that might or might not exist?” Fred joked, trying to lighten the mood again.

@roxanne

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“Yes, there’s a Gay-Straight Alliance. It’s new this year, and it’s actually got a fair few participants. Not necessarily who you’d expect, either. And a few of our international guests showed up too.”

She shook her head when Fred asked if she was not straight, based on the way she’d described the meeting. “I’m paraphrasing what everyone else said!” she said, smiling. But that wasn’t the whole truth, and Fred deserved honesty. She shook her head again, but it lacked the certainty of the first time she’d done it. “Not a lesbian. It’s so much more complicated than that, though - Cecelia had the house elves make cookies with the various pride flags, and there were so many of them! I mean, I kind of knew, I just didn’t really know, you know?” Hopefully he would, because Roxy didn’t think she could explain it any better. The fact was, there was a whole new window of possibilities opened up, and there was a niggling feeling in the back of her mind that there was a better label for her than just accepting ‘straight’ as default. She just didn’t know what it was yet.

“Wouldn’t be eternity if didn’t include it all,” she answered her brother’s Time Turner joke, fast and smiling.

@fred

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Fred raised his eyebrows when his sister confirmed there was a Gay-Straight Alliance. He didn’t know why it was so shocking, but it was. “What do you mean, not who I’d expect?” Fred asked. That was too intriguing of a statement not to let it go unquestioned. Fred was working on developing his gaydar, but he wasn’t that great at telling whether or not someone else was gay. He rationalized it as spending so much time in the closet, but the reality was that it was a skill that Fred just didn’t have.

“But you’re not straight.” Fred confirmed after Roxy went on her whole rant about sexuality being more complicated than just straight and gay. He’d have to figure out what she meant later, when he actually had time to mull over her words, but that was the one part he was really interested in. “I mean, it’s fine if you are, but if you aren’t.” Fred shrugged. “That would be cool too.” He already didn’t have to face the stigma of being the gay cousin alone, since Harper had a girlfriend, but he figured the more Weasleys that had not-heterosexual pairings, the more normal it would seem. Maybe then his dead uncle wouldn’t be mad at him about it.

Fred smiled when Roxy made her comment about eternity. “Kind of like love.” He said, without really thinking. “Wouldn’t be real if it didn’t include it all.” Gay, straight, whatever in between…all of that was love, too.

@roxanne

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Oh, shoot. What could she say that wouldn't out anyone who didn't want to be outed? “Well, I didn't expect to see so many Slytherins there, for starters. And it wasn't like it was all surprises - Jaime, Harper's girlfriend, was there. I wasn't the only Weasley.” Actually, she hadn't expected to be the only Weasley, she just hadn't expected which ones. “And I did mention the ones from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, right?” There. That made sense, was non-specific, and was true.

Fred saw right through her rambling, and stated what she hadn't said - that all of her babbling meant that she was not straight. He reassured her that it was all right either way, and she smiled weakly. Roxy knew it was. She just didn't have a proper answer - and she wasn't a big fan of that. “I went into the meeting think I was in the Straight part of Gay-Straight Alliance. Now I'm not so sure. I'm questioning, I guess?” She shrugged. He would have to be satisfied with that - it was the best answer she had.

And then he declared at that love wouldn't be love if it didn't include it all, and Roxy smiled. Until it sank in a little more, and she squinted at him. “That was downright poetic, oh brother of mine. Do I need to be worried?” Concern? A joke? What was even the difference between the two for them?

@fred

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Fred was increasingly shocked with everything that Roxy said about the meeting she had attended. There had been Slytherins there? And other Weasleys? Fred had been so worried about being the gay cousin that he hadn’t really thought about there being other gay cousins, other than Harper. Statistically, it would have made sense if it was only him and Harper, but maybe there were more non-heterosexual Weasleys. Fred was half-tempted to fan himself, he was so shocked by it all. “Yeah, you mentioned them.” Fred said when his shock had worn off. His mind was working overtime, trying to figure out which of his cousins might have gone to the Gay-Straight Alliance meeting. Maybe he ought to send Anna an owl to ask her about that - he had come out to her, but maybe if he prodded a little more, she would come out to him, too, or at least give him more information on the situation.

“Questioning.” Fred repeated, nodding. He could accept that. “Well, if you ever get an answer…I’m here either way.” Questioning could still mean straight, couldn’t it? He didn’t know. Fred wished he had had something like the GSA to help him, though, again, he probably wouldn’t have actually made use of it.

Roxy said that his comment about love was poetic, and Fred rolled his eyes when Roxy asked if he was alright. “I’m fine.” He scoffed. “Here, take my temperature.” He leaned down so Roxy could put her hand on his forehead, if she wanted to. “I guess all of this talk about love just brought out the romantic in me or something.” Fred said with a smirk. Him, a romantic? Laughable.

@roxanne