Fred Weasley x Reader (slow and Steady)

Ch 78: And So We Go to War

The several days that had passed after receiving the incorporeal Patronus from Lupin had gone by at a snail's pace. The anticipation had made it feel even worse, just the knowing that it was going to happen soon made everyone's nerves stand on end.

Ginny had settled in nicely, enjoying the time away from school; Molly had ensured to hover near her at all times, the feeling she held inside when missing her daughter had finally leaked out. I almost felt bad for her, Molly was nearly reaching the point of being overbearing. She could see it in her daughter though, the annoyance that seemed to bubble for a split moment when she had hung around her too long, after last night she had made the effort to attempt to give her daughter some breathing room. Arthur had found it amusing to say the least.

She had given us the rundown of what had been happening at Hogwarts once she settled, the Carrow Twins had attempted to force several of the older years to practice the cruciatus curse on the first years, they had attempted to call it breaking in the new blood, just another way to make their situation sound more believable. A majority of the sixth years had denied their very demand, which as valiant as it sounded only resulted in intense punishment; they had been the testers of the curse instead. Leaving a message to the impressionable first years.

Still, they did not relent.

They bided their time and fought whenever they had been able to, several of them getting sent to detention and punished by their new headmaster Snape.

It felt odd to see the hatred in her eyes when talking about Snape, I had always hoped that the way she talked about how evil he acted wasn't truly Snape. That this was perhaps a facade. A way to get into the deeper ranks of the Death Eaters, or perhaps he had gotten in too deep with them before Dumbledore's death, it was too dangerous for him to leave now. I had decided against bringing up these thoughts to Ginny whenever she angrily ranted about him, I had a feeling it wouldn't help the conversation any, perhaps make it worse. Plus, there was the possibility that I had dreaded that all of what she said was in fact true; the old Potions teacher had gone completely under, becoming one of them. It was an undesirable thought, but the possibility was still there, and shouldn't be overlooked.

My training hadn't stopped either, hell, I had trained twice as hard compared to the past few weeks, doubling my hours in the front yard blasting away the training dummies I had summoned on my own. Arthur had taught me a plenty of spells that he had deemed fine to allow me to continue just practicing on my own, allowing me to sharpen my skills.

I wasn't alone of course.

Fred had joined me throughout the hours I had gone outside, George had spent a majority of his time alone watching the radio attentively, waiting for even a slight semblance of a reveal.

Slowing my breath, a puff of hot air escaped my lips, the cold temperature still clung tightly even as Spring settled in; desperate to stay. Holding my wand steadily forwards, I narrowed my eyes watching as the dummy clunked back up, the harsh ticking sounds clacking as the gears turned against each other.

"Ascendio" I ordered, my wand harshly rising to the sky as the dummy's gears ground as it ripped from the earth and began ascending into the air, twirling gently. Narrowing my eyes I waited for a few moments, until I harshly yanked my wand downward, "Descendo." On command, the Dummy harshly fell to the ground, crumpling in on itself.

Twirling my wand, I casted Reparo, the broken pieces stitching back together.

"I think you've done enough to the poor thing." Fred chuckled, his chin resting in his hands.

"What do you mean?" I turned to him confused, "It's inanimate, it can't feel anything."

He shook his head as he chuckled, pushing himself up on his knees as he carefully walked forwards. "Yes, but you've dented the poor thing on itself and repaired it more times than I can count," His hand rested on my shoulder gently, "I think that's enough practice for now, come, let's go inside and you take a break for the night." he suggested.