Obsidian & Bronze {Fred Weasley}

44. The weakness of the winning

"But Hogwarts changed that. I found a place that feels like home. I found people that feel like home. And now I want to be for others what Hogwarts was for me, the goodness, in amongst all the hurt. I want to be Head Girl because I never thought I could be anything more than those three things" I paused briefly, fighting the urge to give in to the burning sting of tears welling behind my eyes.

"But I'm not an orphan, how could I be when everywhere I turn I have people who feel like family? I'm not an inconvenience, I realise that now, and for the first time in my life I am not lost. I am not those three things because I am so much more. I'm a daughter, and a best friend, I'm a sister and a cousin, I'm everything I never thought I could be. And I am living proof that the wreckage might feel like the end, but it's only the beginning"

The room had been rendered into silence, no one said a word. Not one murmur or whisper, the sound of a pin dropping would have been as clear as day, as each person stared up at me, their eyes all swimming with unspoken emotion.

The silence was broken by the booming aplaude of Fred Weasley that echoed from the back of the room, breaking the rest of the hall from their trance as they joined him, and soon the entire room was erupting into shouts and cheers and whistles that followed me and I exited the hall to join the other candidates outside.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I grinned, launching myself into Fred's arms once I had reached the corridor, the large door of the hall closing behind the both of us.

"I had to sneak away to see this" Fred chuckled, holding me tight as my head fell into his chest and my legs secured themselves around his waist, his hands falling down to my hips, moulding to me like I was made for no other purpose than to be held by him.

"How did you even know?" I asked, not lifting my head from his chest, savouring the scent of hickory and burnt cinnamon- he'd been at the burrow; it was still on his clothes- grabbing the material of his t-shirt tight between my fingers.

"Hermione sent an owl this morning" He whispered, kissing the top of my head and breathing in the scent of my shampoo, lifting the material of my top up slightly so his hand could hold the bare skin of my back, his fingertips already begging to trace gentle shapes along the surface.

I had closed my eyes. His chest was absorbing most of my vision, however closing my eyes eliminated any light seeping in, allowing me to pretend, even just for a moment, that this place, in Fred's arms, could be permanent.

"I brought you something" He whispered, and I felt his hand slip into my pocket, inserting something that felt like a piece of parchment, and then returning to its place on my back.

We stayed like this for a while, and eventually Fred sat himself against a wall, not once asking me to let go, even though I would have said no had he asked, just holding me tighter, letting me absorb his presence, knowing that it would not last forever.

We stayed, tangled in each other's limbs, my head tucked into Fred's shoulder, for a while, I could hear Draco muttering with Cedric about something boring behind my whilst Pansy evil eyes burnt into the back of my head and I had to whisper to Fred four separate times not to say anything.

After what felt like hours, although that still didn't feel like enough time in his arms, Dumbledore announced that all votes had been taken in and counted and that it was time for the candidates to re-enter the hall.

I begrudgingly stepped out of Fred's arms, and walked over to the hall, not looking back, knowing that if I did, it would be unlikely I would ever be able to look anywhere else ever again.

The thing was, I knew his face. I knew his face better than I knew my own. I could create the exact golden amber of his eyes from memory and use it to paint an exact replica of his constellation of freckles that littered his nose and cheeks. But I had not seen that face, not in person anyway, for far too long, I didn't let myself think about it, and now my brain wanted to make up for all this lost time now, here, without sparing a second to think of anything else.