Yours, Fred | f. weasley x reader

Chapter 10: The Dark Mark

You crawled between two tents, peeking around the side of one to make sure no one was around to see you, and then you broke into a run towards the thick forest that you knew the twins and Ginny had been running to.

As you ran, you leaped over the unmoving figures who lay on the ground and dodged the charred remains of tents and merchandise stalls, the smoke stinging your eyes and throat and the heat of the flames around you, making it hard to breathe. You pushed yourself harder than you'd ever had to before and moved as fast as your sore legs could carry you, but you skidded to a halt and stumbled as an older man ran from between the tents on your right, almost bumping into you.

A green flash blasted him off his feet directly before your eyes and he landed on his back, his unseeing, glassy eyes staring up at the smokey sky. A sob ripped itself from your throat as you looked at him, but your instincts alerted you to another presence approaching you.

"Hello, little girl," a black cloaked figure with a horrifying mask said maliciously from less than ten feet away. His wand-yielding arm moved slightly and without thinking you made your move, "petrificus totalus!" you screamed and once you saw the spell make contact you fled.

Sobs tore from your throat as you ran, you were disorientated and you didn't even know if you were still going in the right direction. Loud screaming and explosions echoed from way too close by on your left, so you darted in the opposite direction, weaving between tents and piles of debris, and you shrieked in fright as you made contact with another person, both of you falling to the ground upon impact.

You moved to raise your wand but the sound of someone gasping your name in relief stopped you. Gentle hands pulled you into a sitting position and you sobbed as Fred's terrified face came into focus. His face paint was mostly gone and he was smeared in dirt and had a few scrapes on his cheek. He had dried tear tracks cutting through the soot under his eyes, undoubtedly from the smoke stinging his eyes, and maybe as a result of fear too.

He cupped your face and his wide, panicked eyes scanned your face, all you could hear him saying was your name as your ears rang. You were too exhausted to speak, so instead you just looked at him and felt hot tears fill your eyes and pour down your face in unrelenting streams.

Fred pulled you into his chest as you both huddled on the ground, and he kissed your head over and over as he hugged you tighter than he ever had before, and you gripped the front of his jumper and cried into his chest. "I thought I'd lost you, Y/N," he whispered hoarsely as he rubbed your back. You tightened the grip of your arms around his back, and you had just opened your mouth to say something back when a flash filled the sky, and a horrifying shape took formation in the dark clouds.

You both jumped from your huddled position and stared at the sky in shock, and a feeling of deep dread filled you as cheers and shouts echoed from nearby. "We have to get out of here, Fred," you cried desperately. His chest heaved in panic but he nodded, slowly getting up and pulling you to your feet.

You scanned your surroundings before you made a run for it through the charred and smokey land. Darkness had fallen as everything flammable burnt out leaving a dull grey light in the air, and you held on tightly to Fred's hand as you both sprinted ahead. The land was still as it seemed like the attackers had ceased their onslaught after the skull and snake symbol appeared in the sky, and as you saw the treeline approaching ahead you exhaled sharply in relief.

Fred pulled you through the trees as you passed other groups as they huddled behind tree trunks and in bushes, you even saw some smaller kids hiding under the large roots of bigger trees. George and Ginny appeared in front of you as you ran into a thicket of trees and you all hugged each other in relief before collapsing to the dry, earthy ground.

"Where are the others?" George asked you in a whisper, he held Ginny under his arm as she wiped tears from her eyes. You shook your head, "I didn't see them, we all got separated," you informed them in quiet despair as Fred pulled you into his side and squeezed your shoulders reassuringly.

You all sat in tense silence until you heard a familiar voice calling out, "Fred? George?" Fred took his arm from your shoulders and stood up, peeking cautiously around the trunk of the tree you were lying back against. You watched as his shoulders sagged in relief, "it's Charlie."

You all stood shakily and walked out to meet the older Weasley boy who hugged each of you tightly, "everyone is fine, they're waiting at the Portkey. The Diggorys Apparated home." He led you out of the dense trees and to where the Portkey was located, which was thankfully not too far away, and you felt a weight lift from your chest as you saw Arthur, Bill and the trio standing together up ahead.

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Mrs Weasley was in hysterics when you got back to the Burrow, she was crying in a mixture of fright and relief and gave everyone an enormous hug. She hugged the twins for a longer amount of time than everyone else and cried even harder, apologising for giving out to them before they left as she dreaded to think of something having happened to them, and those being her last words to them.

Later on when everyone had calmed down and cleaned up, everyone was starting to relax a bit after the ordeal. You excused yourself after dinner, which earned you concerned looks from your friends because you had hardly spoken since coming back. You went upstairs to the bathroom and splashed water on your face, and then went into Ginny's room and sat down on your bed, gently moving a garment bag out of your way.

You sat there for a few moments, breathing deeply and trying to fight back the tears that threatened to spill. Someone knocked softly on the door and stepped into the room. Mrs Weasley walked in and sat down on the bed beside you, wrapping her arm around your shoulders, "Y/N dear, are you alright?"

You sighed heavily and shook your head, "I saw someone die tonight Molly, right in front of me. The person who killed him nearly got me too."

"Oh darling, I'm so sorry," Molly whispered sadly and pulled you into her side, you rested your head on her shoulder as you felt tears slip from your eyes.

"Does anyone even know who he was?" You asked her and she sighed, "there was only one fatality, one of the Muggle farmers who owned the campsite." You squeezed your eyes shut at the thought of that poor, defenseless man, and you wondered if you could've done anything to save him.

"You're safe now, Y/N," Molly whispered as she comfortingly rubbed your back while you cried, she kissed the top of your head gently and stayed with you for a while until you felt better.

"Thanks, Molly," she hugged you again and then went back downstairs after you told her you just wanted to rest. You got ready for bed and slipped under the covers, hoping that your exhaustion would give you a dreamless night's sleep, which thankfully it did that night.