MR WEASLEY
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Soon, we got to the last reunion of the DA before the Christmas break. I knew I was going to keep seeing the Weasleys and Hermione during holidays and probably spend a lot of time with Remus and Tonks so I was way more cheerful than these last days. After my encounter with Fred during my father's birthday, I tried to keep some distance between us and hang out mainly just with Liv and Luna in the Hufflepuff common room or stay in my own one, looking at the depths of the lake. Fred seemed not to take it too seriously since his main concern at that moment was to make sure his business with his brother was going well and I was happy for him. Even with the steps we had taken since we started this weird and supposed 'truce', there was still a big line that separated us in so many ways and, at that moment, for his own sake and mine, I wanted to keep it like that.
"Arambella!" Alicia Spinnet called me, making me stop talking to Liv and Luna. "Any news about the new Slytherin Beater?"
I sighed hard and disappointed, still feeling gutted about that even though I already saw the training of the new team without me.
"Yeah, Montague chose this Goyle kid."
"Fuck, that's bad for your team..."
"It is. What about you? Any replacement for Harry and the twins?"
"Aye, Ginny Weasley's our new seeker! And Kirke and Sloper 're the Beaters, not the best ones though but couldn't get anyone better..."
Kirke was one of the biggest show-offs in Gryffindor and Sloper loved to mess with younger Slytherins, better for me not to meet them at the field.
"Lilith," I heard Ginny talking to me with a huge smile on her face and the twins behind her. "What a pity you are not anymore in the Slytherin team, I'd have liked playing with you."
I smiled at her, still a bit puzzled about her kindness. I think I'll never get used to so many Gryffindors being nice to me.
"Thank you, Ginny! But it doesn't matter anymore. I'll be back at Quidditch with the Harpies this September." I replied, proud of myself. I had been working on it a lot even though I didn't have my broom, so I still had my hopes up about getting a place in the team.
Ginny's brown eyes shined reminding me of his brother's, opening her mouth widely, almost not believing it.
"The Harpies?! Really?!"
"Do you like them?"
"They're my favourite team!"
"Really? Well, then maybe if I pass the tryouts and you are a good player, I could get you on the team as well. Once you finish Hogwarts, of course."
The girl grinned with pure excitement, almost whopping. Harry's interruption stopped our conversation.
"Since this is our last magic defence class before Christmas," he said solemn, giving me a quick look because I had finished my schedule of muggle combat classes before him. "We will just revise what we learnt before."
I paired again with Neville, staying next to Liv and Luna who hyped up the Gryffindor boy to make sure he was confident enough and his tries were more efficient. Later, we practised the stunning spell against the whole lot and I managed to throw George Weasley to the other corner of the room.
"Bloody hell, why am I always the one flying away?" he pretended to complain, smiling while he stood up.
After an hour, Harry talked again, smiling;
"All of you are doing it great. Once we are back from the break, we could try more serious things; maybe the Patronus enchantment."
A bunch of excited and curious whispers covered the room, I was pretty happy with that since the Patronus was one of my favourite enchantments and thanks to Remus, I could form a fully corporeal one. I still remember the amazed and curious look on his face when the German Shepard came out of my wand, flying around us.
While everyone was talking between them before leaving, I saw Cho Chang a bit out of the crowd, with watery eyes. Even though I had never talked with her before, I decided to approach her.
"Hey," I drawled. "Is something going wrong?"
She looked at me, and for a second I thought she would just tell me to fuck off, but she didn't.
"Oh, don't worry, I'm only thinking about Cedric." Cho stuttered, playing with the tissue in her hands.
I noticed how that little wound in my heart I thought it was closing, opened dimly again. Before I could tell her something a bit comforting, she spoke again;
"I know it's a bit annoying to see me crying everywhere, that's why I try to stay a bit out of the crowd."
I couldn't help but frown my eyebrows.
"Annoying? Girl, you lost someone you loved! It's completely understandable that you are crying, what the fuck is wrong with people?"
"Lilith!" I heard how Liv called me, ready to leave to have dinner with her and Luna in her room.
"Listen, I've got to go but don't let anyone tell you whether if you can cry for your boyfriend or not, ok? I know we never talked before but, as Cedric's friend, you can talk to me whenever you want if you need it."
She thanked me and I left her with Harry to follow Olivia out of the Room of Requirement.
Liv, Luna and I enjoyed a good feast for the three of us in Liv's room with some music in the background and talking about how our classes were going. It was so cosy and heartwarming that having to go back to my dorm actually fucked me up a bit. When I got to the Slytherin common room I greeted Blaise with a high-five and nodded my head to Draco, to whom I still held a bit of grudge.
I fell asleep as soon as my head touched my pillow.
✵ ✵ ✵
"Lilith!" Someone whispered in my ear. "Lilith! Wake up!"
I opened my eyes, struggling, and found Draco looking at me with worry on his face.
"What happened?" I asked him, feeling my typical deep and hoarse sleepy voice.
"Your uncle is out of the common room. He says he needs you to go with him right now."
What? Still confused, I put on a thin robe and went out looking for Snape. I found him right where Draco told me, and before even talking to me, he grabbed my wrist and dragged me by the corridor.
"Severus, what is going on? Why you woke me up? It is still midnight!"
"I need you to go to Grimmauld Place right now for the Christmas break."
"Huh?"
"Arthur Weasley was attacked in the Ministry, he was seriously injured and the Order suspects it has to do with dark magic, I want you to be under the protection I can't give you here or at Spinner's End."
I fully woke up as soon as I heard Mr Weasley had been hurt and noticing how my heart bumped against my chest, I let Snape guide me to Dumbledore's office. My mind was so immersed in my own thoughts that I didn't even hear the password; if it was dark magic what hurt Mr Weasley did that mean He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was trying to attack the original members of the Order first?
"But wait - Liv..."
He didn't let me finish. "Your friend will know soon, stay calm. Maybe she can visit you if we make sure Xenophillus Lovegood takes the required precautions."
Once we got up there, I found Harry looking pretty stiff and anxious and the Weasleys, who all had a scared and worried expression on their faces. Fred had his eyes focused in one place in the ground, breathing heavily and with his mouth kinda opened, concerned and surprised, still in his pyjama and with his ginger hair completely messy. Hermione was there as well and had her arm around a trembly Ginny.
"My niece will go to Black's house as well, sir, as you suggested," Snape spoke, addressing Dumbledore.
The old man didn't look at me once. Instead, he told Fred that since the floo powder was too dangerous at that moment, we will have to use a portkey. While he continued giving his explanations, a little fire happened in the room and immediately extinguished. Where the flame was before, it had appeared a golden feather.
"It's Fawkes," Dumbledore announced, catching it before it got to the ground. "Professor Umbridge knows you are out of your dorms... Minerva, go and distract her, tell her whatever you want."
"He says it's a pleasure," a bored voice interrupted behind Dumbledore. The portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black appeared in front of the Slytherin banner. "My great-great-grandson has always had a very peculiar taste for his guests."
Dumbledore made us catch a part of the dirty kettle he handed us, making sure all of us had used a portkey before.
While the magic started working, making the room spin around us at a great velocity, I closed my eyes. Apparations always gave me headaches.
Walburga Black's sweet voice gave us the welcome to Grimmauld from her portrait spitting every kind of insult her archaic mind could think of. Sirius and Remus appeared in front of us pretty worried. Remus made eye contact with me soon and stayed by my side.
"What happened?" he asked me, worried.
"I don't know..." I stuttered, still surprised and sleep-deprived.
"Phineas Nigellus told me Arthur Weasley is seriously injured," Black talked, looking at his godson, emitting a dim alcohol smell.
"Ask Harry," Fred suggested.
"Yeah, I want to know too," George continued.
All of us stared at the mentioned one. With a shaky voice and not too confident, he spoke.
"It was - I had a....kind of - vision."
And then, he proceeded to give us every single detail, describing the way he saw how a huge snake attacked the poor man. I saw how Ronald was paler than the rest of his siblings, who still were listening to Harry, pretty carefully.
"Is our mother here?" Fred asked Sirius, who shook his head.
"Probably she doesn't even know. The most important thing was to get you lot out of Hogwarts before Umbridge could interfere. I suppose Dumbledore is telling Molly."
"We need to go to St Mungo's," Ginny spluttered, looking at her brothers who were still in their pyjamas. "Sirius, can you let us borrow some cloaks or something?"
"Wait a moment! You can't go to St Mungo's yet!" the man interrupted.
"Of course we can go if we want to!" Fred replied, looking more convinced than ever. "It's our father!"
The two of them started an argument in which George quickly added himself. Remus tried to put peace, but obviously, it didn't work.
"We don't care about the damn Order!" Fred shouted.
"Our father is dying!" George followed.
I didn't open my mouth once because I didn't have a say in it and I understood both sides. If I had had a paternal figure like Arthur Weasley I would have moved heaven and earth to be with him at the Hospital. Even if something like this happened to Severus, I would be fucking pissed off if they didn't let me see him and be with him. But at the same I understood Sirius's point of view, Harry's situation wasn't easy to explain and without knowing exactly what attacked Mr Weasley, it could be really really dangerous out there.
"This is why you two are not in the Order! You don't understand it but certain things are worth to die for!" Sirius claimed.
"It's so easy to say when you are locked in here!" Fred shouted. "You aren't risking yourself at all, are you?!"
Oh, damn. I hissed, surprised, looking at how a cold fury invaded Sirius's eyes making him look like an actual heir of the Black family. He looked like wanted to slap Fred really harsh.
"Padfoot..." Remus called him while being next to me. "Calm down a little bit, mate. You have to understand their frustration. "
Sirius continued with his rough look but talked more calmed;
"I know it's hard, but we must pretend that we don't know anything yet. We should stay here at least until we get news from your mother, alright?"
Fred and George kept infuriated but Ginny got to the closest chair and sat there, waiting. The twins ended up repeating her action.
"That's right," Sirius said, calmer than before. "Now, let's- let's have a drink. Accio butterbeer!"
Before anything else could happen, a message, such as the one Dumbledore got in his office, appeared in front of us. Sirius didn't recognise Dumbledore's handwriting in the note so he handed it to George, knowing that probably was from Mrs Weasley.
"Dad is still alive. I'm going now to St Mungo. Stay right there where you are, I'll send the news as soon as I can. Mum." George read aloud.
"He's still alive..." he repeated slowly. " That sounded as..."
As if Mr Weasley was between life and death and as if they didn't actually know if he would make it. Bloody hell...
After a while, Sirius suggested all of us go to sleep but the Weasleys' deadly stare, me shaking my head and Harry's eyes open widely, said otherwise. Remus told the twins and Ron to sit again but Fred didn't listen, he leaned himself, scowling, against the wall with crossed arms. I was feeling bad for him but honestly, I didn't know what to do or what to say and probably, he considered this too private for him to share it with me.
"Why don't you tell him something? You probably can help him," Remus suggested to me, whispering in my ear, with his eyes on the ginger.
I looked at him confused. How could I be helpful to him? However, I nodded.
"Great. I'll talk to you tomorrow, once we know Arthur is out of danger," he added, giving a little caress to my hair and leaving a quick fatherly kiss on my cheek. I couldn't hold the smile that appeared on my face after that demonstration of affection.
I walked slowly to Fred, whose eyes were still looking at the floor as his eyebrows kept frowned.
"Do you want to go upstairs to the rooftop to catch some fresh air? Maybe it can help to cool your head." I murmured with the softest tone I could find. He looked at me for a short second and nodded, keeping his eyes on the floor.
He started to walk pretty fast and I followed him trying to keep up with his speed. Fred opened the rooftop's door in a slam and went straight to the corner where months ago he found me. I let him a bit of privacy, standing in the middle of the rooftop, a good couple of steps away from him.
I heard how he took deep breaths, how he ran his fingers through his hair, and how he considered having a cig, but put the pack back in his sweat pyjama pants, frustrated.
"Fred..." I asked, softly. Feeling the cold night air wrapping me.
The next thing that followed was the dim sound of his sobs and how he vented right there, without caring if I was present. I felt a huge pain in my chest, like hundreds of needles stabbing me, and I couldn't help but run towards him and hug his back.
"Fred...he is going to be okay, you'll see. He is a strong man. He has so much to live for." I whispered rubbing my cheek against his back.
The ginger turned around, looking at me with his watery brown eyes and biting his lips to hold back his sobs, I felt my heart shrinking at that view. I thought he would ask me to leave him alone, but how could I if he was so heartbroken? Deeply inside of my mind, I wished I could be able to take his pain away and suffer it myself, I wished I could save Arthur Weasley and show it to him to vanish his sadness.
He hugged me and melted in my arms, sobbing a bit louder and hiding his face between my neck and my collarbone. Even though he was taller than me, I managed to hug him back and caress his hair as I let him vent with me.
"I can't lose my father, Lilith," he whispered, no shaky or out-of-breath voice, just his emotions on edge.
"You will not, Fred. I'm staying with you here and you will see that your dad will come back safe." I assured him, sounding more convinced of my words than I actually was. I didn't want to fill him with empty hopes but I really wanted to believe that Mr Weasley was going to heal. After all, he was an innocent good man that took care of his family.
"Thanks, Lilith," he whispered so low that for a moment, I thought I had dreamt it. But I hugged him tightly and whispered back;
"There's nothing to thank me for. I really mean it."
We stayed like that, hugging with the cold air around us and the absolute silence of the midnight in a rich street of London, letting him free his emotions with me - something I never imagined from Fred Weasley - and comforting him, wishing I could take all his pain away.