Falling Slowly (A Hogwarts Lovestory) - Fred Weasley Fanfiction

39 | Lock You Down

If I had to spend the rest of summer sleeping next door to the guy I loved, who (in contrast to my initially thoughts) continued avoiding me during the following couple of weeks, I most certainly would have gone crazy. As it turned out, Fred had changed his mind about talking to me after the day of my arrival at the burrow. Well, at least it helped me to accept that he wouldn't forgive me without raising any hopes.

I spent some time alone with George who at first tried to convince me that everything's not lost, but after a while I made perfectly clear that I wasn't gonna run after him this time. I wouldn't spend the rest of my life chasing after a guy who acted like a child and didn't even try to listen. Even if it was the guy I had once thought I'd end up with.

Luckily, it wasn't long until the event of the year was about to come: the Quidditch World Cup.
The Weasleys had kindly offered me one of the free tickets Mr Weasley has gotten from work and I knew they'd never expect me to pay anything for accomodation expenses and all the food I was eating, but I wanted to give them at least something back besides my constant help in the household.
That's why I walked down to the little village Ottery St. Catchpole a few days after I arrived. There was a little bakery there (Fred hat surprised me with a large cinnamon bun from there when we lived together at the Burrow two years ago) and I wanted to ask if they needed some help with anything. I knew I wouldn't be allowed in the kitchen, but maybe I could work in sells or help cleaning. I honestly just wished to get the chance to make some money, no matter what, while I was distracting myself from my, once again, totally ruined love life.

"I have never seen your face before and this is only a small place. Are you sure you live here?", the boy at the counter of the small bakery sceptically frowned at me. He had bright blue eyes and short curly hair and was wearing all black. A small earring was hanging from his right ear. He couldn't be much older than me, even if he looked like it from first appearance.
"I am only staying for the summer. Actually, I'm leaving in two weeks. But I'm desperately looking for a job to save some money. I saw you're hosting an event next weekend and I thought you might need some help with cleaning or waiting, I don't know. I'll do anything you need me to do."
The boy at the counter didn't look convinced.
"Drug problems?", he asked and let an apple-sized bubble from his chewing gum pop right in front of my face.
"No", I said loudly and couldn't hide my anger from him, but he didn't seem even a little bit intimidated.
"Look", the boy finally said, "my dad runs this place. I personally don't give a shit about your money problems and I also don't care what you want to do with it. But my dad, you know, he's rather strict. Trust me, if you're involved in anything bad, you don't want to work for him."
I sighed. "You don't have to worry. I'm living with the family of a... friend and I just want to help them with all the money they're spending for me. They don't have that much themselves. That's all you need to know, alright?"
Now something suddenly changed in the boy's face. He looked curious now.
"You live with that odd Weasley family up on that hill over there, right?", he said and his already big eyes seemed to widen even more. "They're weird. No wonder they don't have any money, none of them are going to work, right? And they always look so shabby."
Now I was honestly angry. "It's none of your business what they do for living. And you definitely shouldn't judge anyone's appearance considering the way you look yourself. If you don't want me to work here, it's alright. But don't I dare hear you say another bad word about the Weasley family."
I turned around to leave. When I was halfway through the door, I heard the boy yell after me.
"What was your name again? Julie right? I'm gonna tell my dad you start by tomorrow. Work begins at 6 AM. You better don't wear your best dress. Oh, and I'm Jess by the way."

It did not took me long to understand that it was actually Jess who had the drug problem. He came too late to work almost every single day and by the time Ellie (the kitchen chef) and I had already finished everything, he would slip secretly through the backdoor over to the counter, with red eyes and trembling hands. Ellie and I were just exchanging looks but we decided not to say anything. Jess was a big jerk, that was true, but he hasn't been wrong when he warned me of his father. I only saw my boss once and that has been more than enough. There had been something wrong with the remaining exchange in the cash register one day and he had yelled at Jess so loudly that I was scared the roof would collapse. Ellie and I hid in the kitchen during that time and when Jess' dad was finally gone and we left our hiding place, we found Jess sitting with a big red bruise next to his eye in the middle of a dozen broken plates. I tried to convince Jess to do something about it but he wouldn't let me and forbid me to intervene.
"I won't do anything for now, Jess", I said after the incident, "but if I ever see him abuse anyone again, I promise, I will call the police!"
"As if that would change anything", Jess mumbled.
He came to work right in time the next day.