Moon and Stars

thirty eight

"Aurora...?" He says to get her attention, releasing one of her hands to tilt her chin up towards him.

He was just as nervous as he was ten minutes ago, but seeing that he already broke the girl in front of him, he found a way to manage his stress, turning it into compassion to make her feel comfortable enough to tell him whatever she was going to say.

"Fred, I..." She began, her eyes darting between his. Her breathing picked up at the thought of breaking his heart, at the thought of breaking his heart in this very moment, and her eyes filled with tears.

"You can tell me anything, sweetheart." He said sweetly, stroking the skin along her jaw with his thumb to comfort her. Little did he know...

"I don't think that's true." She says, looking out the window, the moonlight illuminating the soft smile on her cheeks.

It wasn't a happy smile, those only came from the happy moments with Fred, or with her friends. This smile was one that came out of complete and utter shock at her own actions. Aurora managed to baffle herself. She lied to the man she felt the closest to love with, and now she felt further from love than ever before.

"What do you mean?" He asked, pressing her for more information.

The anticipation of her response was killing him. The familiar butterflies Aurora usually gave him whenever she wrapped her arms around his torso, or looked at him with that beautiful smile, were replaced with wasps, and they were stinging his insides, waiting for her to speak up again.

"I-I..." She stammered, struggling to get the words out.

He leaned closer to her, tilting her face back towards his, and looked at her with a hopeless smile, his eyes switching back and forth between her own. He studied her broken features, and he analyzed the broken look she was giving him, and deep down inside, he almost knew what she was going to say without her even saying it, but he needed his own ears to hear it. The thought of Aurora not loving him wasn't even in his mind, and he would never see it coming.

"Aurora, I love you, darling, but the anticipation is killing me." He chuckled out, almost as if to break the tension. Those three words struck Aurora like a knife, and it was the final push she needed. The final push she didn't want, but needed.

"I don't love you." She spit out, her breath hitching in her throat.

Fred froze in place, the small smile on his cheeks fading. His grip loosened on Aurora's hand and chin until he let go completely, looking deep into her eyes for an answer.

He observed the girl in front of him as she let out a heavy breath, her eyes filling with tears. As tense as she was before, she seemed to relax after saying the words that Fred never expected to hear.

"W-What did you just say?" He said in barely above a whisper, his own eyes gathering tears that threatened to spill.

"I don't love you, not romantically." She repeated, her hands beginning to shake. She reached forward to grab his hand, and he yanked it back, sliding off the bed and standing up, looking down at her with disbelief.

"You don't love me?" He asks again, and Aurora can only fathom up a nod.

Fred's breathing became staggered, and his face grew hot as a few tears slipped from his eyes. The rush of emotions he was feeling were mixed with anger and sadness, nothing that he expected to be brought by Aurora.

He loved her, and he could have sworn she loved him back. She told him that she loved him.

She was a liar.

"You lied." He spit, making Aurora flinch. Her cheeks were once again soaked with tears, and she deserved it. He was right.

"Fred, please let me explain." She begged, getting up on her knees and reaching for his hand once more, but he pulled it back, giving her a look of pure anger.

"Don't you dare touch me." He said lowly, and Aurora's jaw fell open, her hand covering her mouth as she choked back a sob.

"Fred, I didn't think there was any other choice, please-" She begged, but he backed away from the bed, shaking his head.

His face screamed pure anger, but tears poured from his eyes, and it shattered Aurora. Fred was never one to cry, and seeing him do so broke her. She broke him, just like she knew she would, and it hurt.

"Get out of my house." He said lowly, and Aurora gasped, not believing what she was hearing. She froze where she was, a shaky hand outstretched towards him.

"Fred, you don't mean that..." She replied quietly, shaking her head.

"Get the fuck out of my house, you lying bitch!" He screamed through clenched teeth. He stared down at her with pure rage, and Aurora wasn't scared that he would hit her, but she was scared of him.

He didn't say another word, but Aurora knew she was no longer wanted. She slowly and shakily climbed out of bed as he stared daggers at her, and grabbed the bag she prepared for Hogwarts before running out of the room.

In the hallway, she ran into Angelina and George, who were stirred awake by the fighting. George looked confused, and Angelina had a sickening grin on her face. Aurora sobbed as she pushed by them and ran to the den, stepping into the fireplace and grabbing a hand full of floo powder.

"Leaky Cauldron." She whispered through her tears, throwing the powder down at her feet and bursting into a green flame, disappearing from her home, where she was no longer wanted.

And it was all her fault.