Blind Spots {Fred Weasley}

24.

"Sprout is going to kill me," Fiona agonized in a quiet voice while Fred pulled her through bookshelves away from the sound of Madam Pince's clicking footsteps. "She'll owl my dad!" Fiona muttered in a sudden mortified realization. Fred turned back to Fiona, shushing her quickly before peering around a bookshelf.

Fred quickly pulled back behind the bookshelf and pulled Fiona, close, preventing her from progressing into Pince's line of sight.

"No one is owling home, everything is going to be fine, you just need to follow my lead, got it?" Fred whispered into Fiona's ear. She nodded, though, the fact that they were about to be caught seemed inevitable.

Madam Pince's footsteps stopped and Fred was overcome with dread. He peered around the room cautiously. His heart began to race, seeing a very neat gray bun sticking out in the center of the room by one of the shorter bookshelves. There would be no sneaking past her, she was positioned directly in front of the exit.

While Fred focused on the best plan of action, Fiona silently wandered from his side. She crept across the room with her back to the wall. If they were going to be caught, she thought, it would perhaps be better if they were at least not caught together. At least then she'd have some plausible deniability.

"Psst, Fiona- Hey!" Fred hissed as quietly as he could without bringing any attention to their location. Fiona ducked low, though, unknown to her, she was still standing in plain sight, and turned to Fred's voice.

She mouthed out something that Fred took to mean 'Divide and conquer'.

Fred's hand reached up to cover his face, and he dragged his hand down in frustration. He glanced across the room at Madam Pince, who by some stroke of luck still hadn't managed to turn around to see Fiona, who was completely exposed.

As Fiona stealthily (or so she thought) made her way towards the exit, Fred was angrily gesturing for her to return to his side. It was futile when communicating with a blind girl, something he realized far too late. 

As Fiona silently moved across the room with her back pressed against the wall, she let out a sudden squeal before disappearing behind a large hanging tapestry. Fred watched with wide eyes as Fiona ceased to exist. Madam Pince whipped her head around in direction where Fiona once stood. Fred flung himself back against the bookshelf.

Thinking quickly, he tossed Fiona's heels over several bookshelves, where they landed with a loud clank. Madam Pince abandoned her previous mission and promptly made her way towards the sound of the discarded shoes.

Once she was out of sight Fred sprinted towards the tapestry and dove headfirst through it. Diving in blindly, Fred tumbled down a flight of stairs and crashed into Fiona, who was still in shock from her own plunge down the hidden staircase into safety.

"Fred...?" Fiona asked cautiously.

"You were quick to give me away," Fred said, making a mental note to refrain from taking Fiona on any rule breaking excursions in the future.

"I think by now I'm pretty familiar with your body," Fiona said with a slight giggle. Fred glanced up at the staircase they had just plummeted down from, and surrendered to laughter. For a moment, the two coiled on the ground giggling into each other.  

"Follow my lead, that was all I asked," he said, once the fit of laughter had ended.  Fred stood up and offered a hand to help Fiona up as well. Fiona stood up on her own, ignorant to his outstretched hand.

"No, but divide and conquer," Fiona said excitedly, "You must not have seen - that's okay." Fiona stated proudly, and for the second time that morning Fred's palm found its way to his face.