Enemies - Fred Weasley X OC

Confrontation

~Fred~

Have you ever done something or said something and then wished to take it back? Your hands are over your mouth and the breath in your lungs halts, as you pray the words don't reach them, but they do anyway. It's horrible. You know you're hurting someone but you're just a few seconds too late to stop yourself. 

As I sat in the common room with George I couldn't help but feel like that; the bile rising up in my throat. Our notebook was scattered in front of us as if we were planning a prank, but neither of us were working - we hadn't written anything since we'd sat down. Instead, we were quiet, an unusual state for the two of us.

We knew we'd fucked up. We'd gone too far this time and I wasn't sure how to fix it. So we sat there, George doodling on the back of his hand as I stared at the blank piece of paper, going around and around in my head about ways to fix this.

As it neared curfew, the portrait hole swung open. Ron, Hermione and Harry sauntered through, laughing and clutching the remnants of sweet rappers in their hands. Hermione noticed that we were there and her face fell. She nudged the other two and they all looked up, similar expressions on their faces. Soon, Ron was walking up at a frightening pace, standing next to our table with red faced fury.

He lifted his hand and cuffed me and George on the back of our heads pretty hard, like misbehaving puppies.

"Oi what was that for?" George groaned, rubbing his head.

"You're mangy gits the pair of you," he spat. I looked at him confused. Harry and Hermione joined us.

"If you pull anything like that again, I will tell Dumbledore and Molly!" Hermione said angrily, pointing a finger with nostrils flaring. 

"What are you talking about?" I asked, hoping they weren't talking about what I thought they were.

"We're talking about Zephy," Ron stated.

I breathed in, my shame coming back to me like a wave.

"Why do you care?" George asked, his eyes wide.

"She's our friend. She told us," Ron retorted.

Friend? Since when has Zephyra had friends in Gryffindor. Surely not. Zephy wouldn't make friends with Ron and why would Ron want to be friends with Zephy?

"What?" I choked. "You're friends with Zephy? Zephyra Malfoy?"

"Get off it," scoffed George, clearly under the impression this was some sort of joke.

"What? Is it so bizarre that we'd be friends with a Malfoy?" Asked Hermione, sternly.

"I mean - we never thought you would befriend the devil herself," George stammered. "I mean, I know what we did was wrong but she's still horrible"

Hermione scoffed, Ron slapped George's head again and Harry rolled his eyes.

"If she's horrible what does that make you. Ugh, really, I knew you were stupid but this..." Hermione said, face crinkled with a frown.

"You even sound like her," I said, earning a glare from the three of them.

"You should have thought it through better. You've seen her dad before, think how he's going to react when you go to the Yule ball together, not to mention the other Slytherins," Harry said, slightly more gently than the others.

I paused - I hadn't thought about that. I'd thought she would be embarrassed and angry but not that she could actually be put in harms way. My shame came back to me then, stronger than ever. We couldn't do anything to fix it now.

"We'll make it up to her," George said, thinking feverishly.

"You'd better," warned Ron. "Although how you're going to make up for her having to go to the ball with you, I'll never know."

"Hey!" I yelled.

"You have a point there, Ron," George chortled, leading me to punch him in the arm. He punched me back and we were soon wrestling on the common room floor.

"Honestly, you act like infants," breathed Hermione.

"Infants? I thought we - "

"- acted like toddlers at least," I started and George finished. 

To my relief the three fourth years smiled.

"Okay," Ron breathed, "are you at least sorry?"

I scoffed, "of course we are, Ron."

"Yeah," agreed George. 

"And you'll make it up to her?" He asked, looking as though our answer was of the utmost importance - care brimming his features. 

"If we can, yes," I agreed immediately. 

Ron looked me in the eye then and I stared back. Ron had never chastised us before, and I should have been mad, but instead I tried to push all of the sincerity I had into my expressions. I felt bad. I would make it up to her. I wasn't sure how, but I would try. For some reason I did worry about the reaction of her father and housemates, but I'd just not been thinking about it at the time, I wanted to win the bet!

"Okay," Ron confirmed, and finally looked away, "but if you hurt her again then I will be talking to someone about this."

When they all left for their dorms I sighed in relief.

"You coming?" George asked, standing up too.

"Be there in a sec," I said, waving him off. He looked uncertain but left anyway.

Zephyra Malfoy wasn't my friend. She was the devil. She was mean and unkind and a blood supremacist. That's what I believed. Except... I didn't...

How could a blood supremacist be friends with Harry Potter? Why would she have helped them? And she wasn't a bully, she never picked on people who could actually be hurt by her attention. She was an enigma. Oh, and Merlin, what did that make us? 

What would her father do, if anything? How would this affect her relationship with everyone she shared a common room and dorm with? 

But most importantly, how could I make this up to her? How could I help? 

Because she might not be the light of my life but she was a person - someone I'd done wrong by that I shouldn't have. And aren't all people worthy of respect?