PURIFY : Fred Weasley

42: Liberated

Fred and I get back into the groove of things. We fit together in ways that I don't understand. Even when we aren't together, I'm thinking of him. Amortentia smells of firewood, and cinnamon, and the rain. No hint of vanilla at all. When I'm brewing the Polyjuice potion at work, I manage to think of him. No reminders are needed.

On late nights, my fingers trail over his body. He's covered in freckles, all over his cheeks and chest and back. There are a few moles here and there, and they form a galaxy across his body. I wish I had taken astronomy in school, but even the stars don't compare to him. He burns brighter than the sun.

We go to cafés and parks and stores. The four of us hang out too, doing plenty of muggle activities that Robbie says are a right of passage into adulthood. We bowl, and play monopoly, and we go to muggle bakeries. It gives me something to talk to Fred's father about when we go over to their place. His mother is much too busy caring for the house to talk to me, but when she does, she asks me about their brother Percy. I do my best to keep both of them engaged, and I'm beginning to think they like me.

One day, I ask Fred to hang out and he turns me down. It's odd, and I ask him why. He's never turned me down before, not without explanation. Not that I necessarily need one. We've agreed not to keep secrets between us.

The one about my brother torturing us stays hidden though. I refuse to share it with anyone, outside of George of course.

He tells me that he cannot meet up because it's Order business. More specifically, the Order of the Phoenix. I'm not a part of the organization that his parents are members of, and all I know about them is that they oppose Voldemort. He's not part of it either. I'm kind of glad. If he asked me to join, I'm not entirely sure what my answer would be. While I don't want Robbie to die, I don't want to die either.

I've felt the depths of pain, and I'm not ready to feel it again.

Robbie and I sit in the living room late that night, playing Wizard's Chess. The flat is beginning to get cold, as September is rolling in.

I want to ask Robbie who she was in love with at Hogwarts, but I don't want to prod. It's probably some summer Muggle fling from her childhood or some Hufflepuff I've never heard of. Still, I want to know. However, I know what her response would be. She'd ask me why I left my brother again. I couldn't bear to answer.

She takes my queen, and then my king moments after. One after the other, in just two moves. I am not very good at Muggle chess, but it seems like the way the game ought to go. The Queen before the King. Every time.

Robbie looks up at me, tinted in turquoise light, and she looks behind me.

I turn around. There's a glowing bird, made of mist, tilting its head as it looks at me. A magpie.

I approach it, and it fades to dust.

Robbie's hand is on my shoulder, pulling me back.

"Was that for you, or me?" I ask, trying to keep my breath steady.

"What?" she asks. "That's Fred's Patronus."

"Or George's," I point out, turning around to face her. The two twins have the same Patronus after all.

Robbie recoils off me. She turns around and spins a strand of tight curly hair between her fingers. "George wouldn't be trying to contact me."

"What, what do you think has happened?" I ask. "Where could they be?"

"I... I don't know," Robbie says, still not facing me. "They could be anywhere. Did Fred tell you where they were going?"