inertia || a Fred Weasley love story

twenty one.

"-Makes sense why Fred's been so moody today, I guess." The boy said after a moment of twiddling his thumbs, not looking up at me as he spoke. Wilda grunted a little, and I let out a small huff, before clambering to sit up straight, leaning forward towards George.

"Did I ruin the holidays?" I asked him with a grimace, and he laughed a little as he glanced up at me. There was a moment where it seemed like he was considering, and I winced, scrunching my nose. "Fuck, I did, didn't I? Fred's going to be a fucking dick about this, isn't he? Ugh, fuck." I dropped my face in my hands, feeling the overwhelming sensation from before come creeping into my stomach. Spending Christmas with a bunch of strangers was hard enough, but now I knew there was one of those strangers that straight up didn't like me. I pressed the palms of my hands into my eyes, rubbing them angrily. Then I felt a large hand land on the top of my head, and I looked up to see George a lot closer than he had been a second before.

"It'll be okay. I'll talk to him. Promise."

My mother is a character.

That's the only way to describe her, really. Alice had once commented that someone should just follow her around, writing down all of the things she said and all the stories she had to tell. She was the only wizard out of eight kids, and her mother had died when mom was still pretty young, and thus her childhood had been so wrought with chaos it was hard to believe she came through the other side even minutely sane. My parents had met in muggle London, sitting in a muggle cafe, and neither one had realized the other was a wizard until the second or third date, when my dad got drunk and mentioned going to the Leaky Cauldron without thinking, to which my mother had gasped and agreed.

She was pretty young to have kids our age, and is still pretty hot, I'd been informed by friends. Her blonde curls were cut short and bounced around her round face, which lit up with a huge grin when she finally caught sight of me in the crowd.

"Diana!" She cried, opening her arms and wrapping me tight into her embrace. Alice definitely got her height from mom, and so my face was perfectly aligned with her chest, and I groaned and grumbled in response, pushing her away and gasping for air.

"Jeeeesus, mother." I cried, flushing as I realized George had trailed up behind me. She glanced at him curiously, offering a questioning smile before catching sight of something behind him.

"Alice, oh, my baby!" Mom was saying, barrelling past George to repeat her attack on Alice, who's height kept her from the suffocation I'd endured.
"Good god, woman." Alice cried as she tried to wiggle away, "What do you think you're doing?" Our mom laughed, shaking her head as she released my sister, stepping back to look at the two of us.

"Diana, what on earth are you wearing?" She said finally, eyeing my oversized and baggy outfit with a look of distaste. I grumbled, crossing my arms, rolling my eyes. George was still standing awkwardly between Alice and I, looking between the three of us quietly.

"Mom," I said loudly, "-this is George. Weasley? Like, one of the kids we're going to be staying with?" I gestured at him, and the tall boy gave an awkward wave. My mom looked him up and down.

"Well, aren't you handsome." She said teasingly, and Alice groaned dramatically, shaking her head and patting George on the shoulder.

"Don't mind her. Grief has made her horny. She flirts with anything taller than six foot."

"Foot?" George repeated with a confused smile as my mom gasped in shock, going to smack Alice lightly on her arm. The girl grinned and laughed and stepped quickly to hide behind George.

"I'm also here!" Ginny's voice came from where Alice had been standing, and the group paused to look at her. "I'm Ginny. Weasley." She said confidently, sticking her hand out to my mom. Mom shook it with a laugh.

"It's nice to meet you, Ginny. Shall we find the rest of your family?"

Ginny nodded, going to tug on Alice's arm as she stood on her tiptoes, presumably to scan the crowd for the rest of the Weasley clan.

"They're right over there." George supplied after watching his sister in amusement, pointing towards the end of the train platform, where the group of redheads were easily seen clustered, obviously looking around for the missing members.

"Oh, there you two are." George's mom was a short, round woman, with a flushed face and orange curls down to her shoulders. I assumed the man behind her was their dad, whose outfit was questionable, at best, and his own red hair receding a little at the top. The woman tutted and fussed over her two children, pulling them into tight hugs and kissing their cheeks, before rounding to look at the three of us. Alice and I blanched a little at being under her attention, and glanced at one another nervously.

"You must be the Sterlings. I've heard so much about you!" She exclaimed, going to give my mom a hug and kiss on the cheek. My mom returned the gesture warmly.

"It's really so kind of you to let us stay. We were somewhat at a loss this year." My mom was saying, and I flushed at the way some of the kids looked at us curiously. Ginny seemed to know what my mom meant, nodding a little as her mom was assuring mine that it was really no big deal, that she was more than happy to have us, that she was excited to get to know Ginny's good friend.

"And you must be Diana!" The woman had turned to me after greeting Alice in kind, insisting that we call her Molly.

"Yeah." I said awkwardly, sticking my hand out for her to shake. Molly frowned at it, laughing a little as she pushed it away, going in for a hug. But I flinched slightly, and she pulled back in surprise. She went to shake my hand, instead.

"Diana has a weird thing about hugs." Alice supplied loudly, causing the twins to snicker as I felt my face warm up. I glanced at the two boys, and George seemed kind enough to return the look. But Fred kept his eyes on my sister, refusing to look my way. I felt a knot tangle in my stomach.

"Oh, dear, I'm sorry for assuming, I-" Molly was saying, but I let out an awkward little laugh, waving my hands hurriedly.

"It's not a big deal. I'm just awkward about physical contact." I tried to explain, ignoring how Fred muttered something under his breath, causing Ron to snicker slightly. I felt my face grow hot and tugged at a piece of my hair, bringing the end up to my mouth to chew on frantically.

"What the fuck is on your neck." Alice was hissing as the group of us walked briskly towards the Leaky Cauldron. Muggle London was familiar to Alice and I, and so we were walking far in front, bumping shoulders slightly. She'd leaned in a little to whisper in my ear, and I shoved her away with my elbow before going to draw more hair over my shoulders, raking my fingers through it, trying to cover up the bruises.

"Nothing." I muttered.

"Diana, you look like a vampire victim."
I shot her a glare.

"Seriously, Alice, leave it alone."

She gave me a quiet glare back, before huffing and going to fish for something in her backpack.

"Vanishing concealer." She informed me as she pressed a small jar into my hand, "Use it before mom notices. You know how she gets about meeting new people."

"I know." I cried, sighing dramatically as we rounded a corner, the Leaky Cauldron finally coming into view. "I tried my best to cover it up. I'd tried my best to avoid it." I flinched at how whiney I sounded while Alice huffed a little, shaking her head in disappointment.

"Told you you're a slut."

"I am not a slut!" I cried, albeit a little more dramatically than intended, and started when a snicker came from behind us. I swung around to witness Fred murmuring something to Ron, whose face was red and grin shit eating.

"I'm not!" I exclaimed again, glaring at the two of them stubbornly. George walked quickly to push past and join Alice and I, sidling up next to me as I turned back around, crossing my arms in frustration.

"Don't mind them." George was saying gently, and I sensed Alice glancing back as well, sticking her tongue out at the boys. "Fred's just jealous. It'll take him a couple of days, but he'll stop being a dick soon."