Buttercup Boy | fred

Chapter 15

"Why wouldn't I like it?" George's skin prickles. It could've been paranoia from Cherry's ominous words, but he was sure he heard something.
Someone was watching them.
"Why don't we go inside first? Get warm?"

But she couldn't hear her worried friend over the screams of agony still shrill on her senses.

"Cherry?"

"They cursed me, Fred..." Never had she been seen to cry, at least as far as George was aware. Fred had once.
The moonlight had shone against the tear stains, unmistakable tackiness of her lashes bonded together by salty water.
But she was crying now - albeit silently.
"They...used an unforgivable." Her subtle frown didn't shift from a point past George.

"Cherry, I'm not Fr-"

"But they heard you." Now their frowns meet. Hers woven with a desensitised terror. As if her fears were nothing but thoughts.
"The first witch...she knew it was you. She mentioned a spell? One beginning with A..."

To George, Cherry's sentences seemed to have no end. Each bled into the next with a dismissive shake of her head and furrow of her brow.

"A love potion?" All George could think of was Amortentia.

"No, it was a spell...but...yeah, it had a similar name?"
Instead of continuing in the chill of the evening, George hoped to find home easily through a downfall of white.

It wasn't a long journey home, so once they staggered in from the cold, George and Cherry sat in the living room and exchanged experiences with Harry who summoned Hermione. The young woman instantly withdrew a pen and parchment, and sketched a map of the burrow as well as the surrounding area.
She knew something no one did.

Cherry could see that clearly.

They all could.

Fred hovered outside for a little while, hoping to not raise suspicions as to his previous whereabouts.

He slinked inside.

"Fred?" Says Cherry from the dining table. She had a blanket around her shoulders. Her legs were shaking and bruised. "How'd you get in here without me seeing?"

Fred pauses.
He glances at George who sits innocently in the living room.
It would take moments for her to turn and see his twin. And, strangely, Fred didn't want that.

Fred Weasley wanted Cheryl to think of him as her saviour (or a supporter at least).

"Stealth," He replies with a cheeky wink.
"How're you feeling?"

"Just great!" Her sarcasm doesn't go unmissed and Cheryl's features fall instantly.
"Sorry, the cruciatus curse wounded me worse than I'd thought."

Fred's skin prickles and he's sure the world around him blurs, just Cherry and her bruises left unaffected.
"The what?"

Cheryl frowns. Her smile softens the harsh expression moments prior. "Cruciatus curse. I told you a moment ago?"

It was puzzling to her, Fred's sudden small talk and worried glances?
His genuine concern was so uncharacteristic considering their past years of rivalry, however she couldn't help but find comfort in the warmth of his stare.

"Yeah," He clumsily leans back on the counter top. Fred's lanky figure made each movement all the more awkward.
"'Course you did." One of them clears their throat. The other blinks rapidly.

"Hey, I wanna thank you," Fred's lips had only opened to be promptly closed. Cherry's sudden declaration of appreciation had him almost reeling.
"I...well, I don't think I'd have made it back from the forest if it weren't for you." Then, with a small smile, "This time, atleast."