Unbreakable - Fred Weasley

Quidditch

Olivia watched nervously as Ron missed quite a few quaffles, leaving the Gryffindor goalposts unattended. She was standing just outside of the Gryffindor dressing rooms, having walked to the match with Fred, and not wanting to climb up the grandstands to the Ravenclaw section. She could only indistinctly hear what Lee was commentating, and the Slytherins were singing as well—but she couldn't make out what the lyrics were. She was too low hear what was happening, but she watched everything intently—in real time, not able to tear her eyes away from match. She was relieved when she saw Harry dive, figuring he must have seen the snitch, and breathed out deeply, thankful that the match would soon be over. It was difficult to watch Ron miss nearly everything that came his way. She cheered as Harry's fingers closed around the flashy gold ball, clapping enthusiastically until a bludger was thrown into him. It hit Harry squarely in the small of his back and he flew off of his broom, Olivia ran out onto the pitch towards him, he'd fallen only five or six feet— but he landed on his back.
By the time that she managed to reach him, Harry was on his feet and holding George back and Fred was being held back by Katie, Angelina, and Alicia.
"—or perhaps you can remember what your mother's house stank like, Potter, and the Weasley's pigsty reminds you of it—"
She heard Malfoy say, Harry had let go of George and they'd both tackled Draco to the ground, Olivia's eyes widened in surprise. Fred was struggling against the three Gryffindor chasers,
"Fred, stop! Calm down—you need to calm—" she started, trying to move towards him, he looked down at her darkly, tearing his eyes from George and Harry.
"Because it only matters if Cedric's name is being insulted!?" He shouted at her, his eyes wild, "Merlin, don't you care about anything else!?"
Olivia opened and shut her mouth, no words formulating. He'd never spoken to her like that before.
"I—what—?" Her voice quivering.
"You need to move forward, Olivia! He's NOT COMING BACK! Just GO, I DON'T NEED YOU HERE!"
"I—," she felt anger welling up inside her, the last time he'd said her name—her proper name—it had been so full of love. Now it was as if he was trying to get rid of it, as if it was poison on his tongue, bitter in his mouth. "I was here because I care about you! Not Cedric! You!"
"JUST GO!" He shouted,
"I WILL!" She exploded, hot, angry tears in her eyes. Nearly everyone's heads turned, not anticipating the sound from her. She took a deep breath, trying to bring herself down before speaking again. "You're pathetic for bringing him into this! You're a child— and I'm so disappointed in you!" She spoke so callously that it brought chills to Angelina's arms, still holding Fred back with Alicia and Katie. With the most odious look that any of the Gryffindor team had ever seen, Olivia stormed off, leaving devastation in her wake.
—
By the time she'd reached the Ravenclaw Common Room, she was a mess, there were tears streaming down her face, snot running out of her nose, and she knew that her face had to be the most unpleasant shade of red imaginable. She ran into her room, letting the sobs run hollowly—quietly—into her chest.
"Are you alright?" A small, contrite voice asked. Olivia opened her eyes to see a deeply concerned Marietta Edgecombe walking towards her. Olivia wanted to say she was fine, to say she just wanted to be alone, to crawl into her bed and never come out, but when she opened her mouth no words came out. Marietta embraced her, pulling Olivia into her shoulder, not caring that Olivia was making a mess of her shirt. Cho came bounding into the room, having seen the incident from afar, she'd seen Olivia storm away, and she'd seen Fred try and run after her only to be pulled back by the Gryffindor chasers—still afraid he'd go after the Slytherin team. She wrapped her arms around her two friends, both her and Marietta letting Olivia cry into them. The grief of her wails heartbreaking to take in. It was hours before they'd morphed into whimpers, and by that time Cho and Marietta had coaxed her into a bed, letting her lay across them, Cho stroking her hair reverently.
"What happened?" Marietta asked Cho, after she thought Olivia had fallen asleep.
"Fred... yelled at her—said she only cared about Cedric, that she was obsessed with him, and that...that he didn't need her." Cho responded quietly, biting her lip afterwards.
"Woah..." Marietta gasped quietly,
"But then she called him pathetic, for bringing Cedric into it—that she was disappointed in him."
"So the problem was... that she's still in love with Cedric?" Marietta asked, Cho shook her head,
"The problem, is that she isn't."
Olivia lied still, not wanting to give away the fact that she was awake. She stayed silent, letting her agony wash over her.
———
Olivia was woken up the next morning by a soft call of her name, she struggled to open her eyes—crusted shut with the salt of her tears. She pushed herself off of the bed that she was on to find herself encircled by Marietta and Cho, on either side of her—sleeping soundly. She smiled half heartedly at her friends and took extra care not to stir them as she let her stockinged feet touch the cold tile below. She cracked the door open and heard her name being called from below, a familiar voice—a loving voice; a voice that she adored. Or, she thought she adored. Taking silent steps down, she found herself in the common room. It must have been early, because she and Fred were the only ones there—standing across from each other in the circular room.
"Olivia—Merlin! I'm so sorry—I can't even begin to—" Fred rushed to her, he looked clean, warm, and deeply remorseful. She shot her hand out, and he stopped immediately—steps shy of reaching her.
"Fred, I... I just—I can't do this right now, I—I don't want to see you."
"Olivia—"
"Don't." She hissed, her voice low and full of disdain, "don't ever say 'Olivia,' not anymore. It's not yours to say."
"Love, please—" Fred pleaded desperately, "you were right, I was—am—pathetic and I can't—"
"Stop." Her voice was cold, devoid of all emotion, "you told me to go. So I left."
"But I didn't mean it—none of it, I must have lost it—I don't know what happened." Olivia heard the anguish in his voice—it cut her like a knife, and she felt like retching. "I love you." He said, and her blood ran cold.
Fred watched her, she was wearing the same red jumper and blue jeans that she'd had on during the match, red to support you, she'd said at the time. Her eyes were red, puffy, and her hair was stuck to her face by a mixture of sweat, snot, and tears. His heart broke to see her that way, and knowing that it was his fault.
"I can't be with you." She said, voice small.
"You can't mean that, love—I—"
"Stop." She whispered, the pain in her voice palpable. She sniffled, eyes becoming wet with the tears she wished she could stop, "you can't—I can't keep doing this. You... you took my memories, then apologized. You said what you said—I said what I said—and now you've apologized. And I'm sorry—I know I wasn't very nice either, but I can't deal with you daftly thinking you're in some competition with Cedric... I just—I can't."
"But I don't—"
"You do!" She cried, before taking another breath and trying to settle herself down, "you were trying to hurt me, and you did. You said go, so I left. And this is me leaving, this is me being gone, this is us being done."
The looked at each other, she saw the glimmer of tears in his eyes, and they stood drowning under the waves of the words that couldn't be said. She stared down at her feet, fighting every urge to run into his arms crying—to kiss him—to forgive him; stuck not wanting to hold on or let go.
After what felt like centuries, she heard a slow patter of footsteps, and she lifted her head to see Fred at the entrance, sombrely watching her.
"I know you don't need me, but I'm always here." He said, before turning and disappearing from view. She watched him leave, and he took the sun with him.
———