He chuckled. “Will do.” With admiration for her dedication, he did his best attempt at a cheesy 1980′s American accent: “I mean, like, it’ll be totally rad.” It was bad. It was really bad. He could help but burst into laughter. “Fuck, well, guess I don’t need Doc Brown to know that acting isn’t in my future.”

Coraline burst into a fit of giggles at his attempt, whining loudly in protest at him, “Nooo, that was freakin’ awesome. That’s some Academy Award winnin’ voice actin’ right there.” she insisted, “Plus, it was like, totally hot.” mimicked Cora.

“Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck,” they groaned loudly, throwing their head back. They did not want to do this, and even free food and ice cream wasn’t comforting them. And that was saying something. They were next, and the older Wood pushed their sister ahead, trying to hide behind her.

Coraline rolled her eyes, but she didn’t fight it. They might have been more tolerable to deal with inside if they stayed at her back. “Deeeeep breaths, bro, deep breaths. ‘Ve gotcha.” she reassured them with a grin.

“Fuck no, just ‘cause I’m a Hufflepuff doesn’t mean I’m gonna let Rory Smith anywhere near my theoretical weddin’,” they chuckled before shaking their head at the now almost non-existent line. “It’s too late for me to lie and say my stomach hurts, right?”

She side-eyed him uncertainly before shaking her head, “Whatever ya say mate.” Her eyes began to widen in excitement as she noticed they were extremely close to the entrance, “It was too late when ya stepped into line with me.”

“Probably crazy weddin’s for thrill seekers like you,” they chuckled, the image of their sister riding a roller coaster in a wedding gown hilarious in their mind. “I’ll ask him about his plans for after graduation next time I see him.”

Fred couldn’t resist a laugh. She was much more dedicated to staying in character than he was, but he could respect that. “Will do. But first I have to make sure my parents get together so that I’ll be born. You know, classic time travel stuff.” 

“Ah, right. Make sure little Oliver and Siobhan end up making out while you’re at it, yeah?” she cringed as she held her tongue to prevent herself from using the slang ‘snogging’. Pretending to be American was much more taxing than it seemed from afar.

He chuckled, knowing full well that she was, in fact, not just kidding. She was a Wood after all. Kicking ass is what she was bred to do. “The 80′s were a lawless time,” he teased, snuggling his head against her hair. If there was ever an acceptable place for PDA, Fred figured it was a Rory Smith carnival.  “Could’ve used someone like you, I reckon.” 

“Then I’ll be there fer sure,” she grinned before noticing the slip in her accent. Coraline nearly gave into the affection before she remembered the persona she was meant to have and scrunched her nose up instead. “You reckon? That’s a definite yes. Next time call me before they get any chances to hurt your pretty face.”

“Not everyone can be brilliant at everythin’,” he defended. “Sure the guy’s a moron, but maybe it’s ‘cause he’s a genius at party plannin’. Maybe that should be his career.” They moved with the line, mentally cursing how fast it was going.

“Thank you,” he said with a large grin. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. After all, she looked so cute, how could he possibly resist? “Hmm, seems like a pretty good deal to me. Only if you come to visit sometime, though. Travelling through time and space would be a little lame without you.” 

She chuckled and welcomed the embrace, leaning on him and slinging an arm over his shoulder. Her eyebrows knitted together in mock thought for a moment. “Depends. How much crime ‘s there to fight in the 80s? You know I can’t live without kicking ass,” said Coraline jokingly, “Just kidding. Of course I’ll be there. Though my ass kicking question still stands.”

Even though Albus already knew they had a history–as Coraline put it–it still felt like a bitter pill to swallow. Why? Didn’t he always say he thought Scorpius deserved everything? That he deserved to fall in love with someone brilliant? Cora was, of course, exactly that. Even if things hadn’t worked out. Maybe it was that he expected Scorpius to come to him and tell him everything. A bit of him thought that would be a little worse, though, than not knowing. But another bit fought that part. He simply thought, shifted, and said. “Okay.”

Although she was still visibly tense, Coraline felt a small sense of relief internally when he didn’t continue to push the subject. “’M sorry we never told ya. I guess at the time it just. . . Didn’t seem like somethin’ too important to anyone else.”

Aaron groaned loudly as they were pulled into the line. They hoped it went slowly, though it actually seemed to be going a fairly consistent speed. “I have no fuckin’ clue how Rory pulls this shit off all the time, the guy must be a mad genius.” Was Aaron trying to distract themselves? Absolutely. But they still felt like giving credit where it was due.

Coraline stared up at the whole structure, impressed though she did still snort when her brother implied that Rory Smith was anywhere close to being an intellectual. “Yer kiddin’, right? It probably took all four of his brain cells months to think of all this.”

Aaron sighed, rubbing their face with their free hand and using the other one to shake their sister’s. “Fine, but I’m settin’ a fuckin’ timer on my phone for thirty seconds,” they said, getting it out of his pocket. “As soon as we get in there, I’m pressin’ go.” It would probably be a while before they got inside though; the line was a decent length.

“Have I ever told ya yer only a buzzkill half the time?” grinned Coraline as she tugged on their arm excitedly, meaning it as a compliment. “I promise, ya won’t regret it.”

Aaron scowled, standing their ground for a solid ten seconds before saying “And an ice cream.” They would not shake her hand until ice cream was promised. 

Coraline grinned madly at her victory, “And an ice cream.” She stuck her hand out further for them after she promised. “However many flavors ya like too.”

Aaron scrunched their face incredulously. “You know, insultin’ me is not a way of convincin’ me to do anythin’, let alone a fuckin’ haunted house!” They shook their head, closing their eyes. “Let’s go on the zipper or somethin’ instead. That’s the kind of thrill I fuckin’ like.”

“I’ll go on the Zipper wit ya if you at least try the house. If ya don’t like it within the first thirty seconds, I’ll go on that and then I’ll buy ya a real nice plate at the concession stand. Deal?” she raised her eyebrows as she extended a hand for them to shake.

“Uh uh, nope, not happenin’,” they protested, shaking their head. Their feet were planted in the ground, not letting their sister budge them. “I have plenty of strength of my own, thank you, there’s just no point in usin’ it on a fuckin’ haunted house.”

Coraline let out a frustrated huff and stomped her feet on the floor, “Aaaaaaronnnn!” she whined, “What if I buy ya supper after, aye? You’ll ‘ave plenty o room in yer stomach after shittin’ yerself!”

“Oh like I haven’t said worse shit to you,” Lily laughed, shaking her head. “Besides, you know I’m joking. No one on our team slacks, we’ll leave that to the Slytherin team.”

Coraline felt a grin break over her face as Lily mentioned the Slytherin team, “Yer damn right. That is their specialty, after all. It’d be rude of us to take that from em.”