AMOR FATI . . . fred weasley

XI. ii, PLEASE, COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS.

25th december, continued

[ content warning: the cruciatus curse is used at the very beginning and towards the end of this chapter ]

.·。.·゜✭·.·✫·゜·。..·。.·゜✭·.·✫·゜·。.

PLEASURE AND PAIN ARE ONE AND THE SAME.

This must be true because the pleasure he's deriving from all this is just as immense as the pain it's causing her. She's writhing on the bloodied floorboards in sheer, sheer agony as he dances above, kissing the incantation over and over again with unadulterated glee.

Lola Lemont says the Cruciatus Curse is the worst of all three Unforgivables. Imperius Curse, fine - you fuck lives up, but you don't remember it. Killing Curse - you literally die, so you definitely won't remember it. But the Cruciatus? Lola sits, rigid-back, in the Gryffindor common room as she lists the names of men she dreams of inflicting it upon. Rosier. Yaxley. Lestrange. Her dirty-emerald hair morphs ebony, or blood red, to highlight exactly how she'll torture them. So Joey knows this, even if she can't remember where she is or who she is. Funny the things you remember when you're being tortured. Names of mean and moody men. Curses. Lola Lemont's plan.

Johannah Attlee used to have a plan, she must've, although she's in such pain it's impossible to remember it. Fall out of love, stay happy, keep her friends forever. Learn stories about the stars until she was one of them.

Only it's impossible to believe that plan will ever be anything but a fantasy, when you're being tortured with the sharp, stinging Cru, the soft and deceiving ci, the shock of the grotesque o.

Crucio, crucio, crucio. His pleasure and her pain interlace, linked by the blood that ties them together, for better or for worse.

And although Johannah Attlee can't remember anything anymore, probably never will again, she knows this must be for worse.

SO, THAT FEELING JOEY HAD about this Christmas being wonderful? Yeah, it doesn't exactly last.

Honestly, Joey being Joey, she should've known! (Of course today would go to poo, the moon is in Aquarius, after all!)

They have a really lovely Christmas dinner, Joey insisting that they wear the paper hats from the Exploding Crackers for the entire meal - much to Ron's dismay - and she truly does feel all fuzzy and happy. She's giggling at Sirius and Remus the entire time, as Sirius' antics cause his boyfriend to flush turnip; then there's Bill and Frances, the latter of whom, she notices, is squeezing his hand to death; and even Mad-Eye Moody cracks a rare smile!

So, officially, she's changing his name to Mad-Eye Happy from now on!

The only thing that weirds her out, just a little, is Fred. Instead of sitting on her left, like usual, so their elbows bash when they eat and their pinkies intertwine, he sits on the other side of George, who is on Joey's right. (Her right hand man, if you will!) But she tries not to worry about it, tries being the key word.

Besides, it means that Tonks is on her left, so the two get to have a very enthusiastic conversation about Hufflepuff's upsettingly poo reputation!

It's only after dinner that everything goes a little pear-shaped. Well, not a little, admittedly. A lot. A big-fat-juicy-pear-with-bells-on shaped!