The Chaser : A Fred Weasley Fan Fic

Sixteen: Legilimens

A week had gone by and Hermione had kept her word. She hadn't mentioned a thing to anybody, but anytime me and Fred interacted with each other she'd have a great, snide smirk on her face. I didn't think Fred needed to know. I was scared that if anybody were to find out, it would put him off all together. Everybody seeing the marks on his neck had made him more wary and we both had begun to avoid being left alone together, in case something might happen again.

It was another morning of Double Potions, and I'd skipped breakfast to have an extra hour's sleep but had completely miscalculated how long it would take to get ready. I rushed through the corridors, trying to cut through tiny first and second years. I knew that if I was late to Snape's lesson I wouldn't hear the end of it. He didn't tolerate lateness and if it was anymore than five minutes he wouldn't let you into the classroom at all.

"Tilly!" a calming call sounded. I turned to see Cedric, pacing towards me as he broke away from his snickering group of friends behind him. My stomach did a flip at the sight of them again. I'd been successful in avoiding the lot of them since the party. I'd made sure to sit with my back to the Hufflepuff table every meal time and I'd steer in the other direction whenever I saw that sandy crop of hair.

"Cedric" I smiled, politely. He shifted uncomfortably but kept his usual, bright smile on his face.

"I wanted to apologise, for the other night, but I haven't seen you around" Cedric said, one hand clutching at his bag, the other lifting to smooth over the arm of my robes. I knocked his hand off and his brows knitted together in confusion.

"It's fine, but I don't really think we should-" I began.

"It's just my friends being stupid, you know I'm not like that" he chuckled, cutting me off. There was only so much I could believe or forgive him. Even if he wasn't like his friends, I didn't know how he could spend time with people like that.

"I know, I know, but I just-"

"Wilde, we're going to be late, come on" came a cheery voice behind me. Suddenly, a large arm was wrapped firmly around my shoulder. The calming scent of firework powder and a homely sort of musk filled my nostrils and I looked up at Fred appreciatively.

Cedric's eyes darted between the two of us before fixing on the arm clutched around my shoulder. The group of Hufflepuff boys behind him had become restless, whispering amongst themselves as they too seemed to have noticed Fred's arm.

"Are you two-?" Cedric began, waving his hand between the two of us, unable to finish his sentence.

"So what if we were?" Fred replied defiantly. I shot him a warning glance, but he didn't look down at me, instead kept his gaze locked on Cedric, with a massive smirk on his face.

"Oh right, well, I'll let you get to your lesson then" Cedric smiled, slight confusion in voice but I could tell he was trying to stay polite. He retreated back to his friends and we set off quickly towards the dungeons.

"You can't say things like that!" I squealed, as we hurried along together. I was trying to keep up with him and failing miserably, so he snatched my hand into his, dragging me along to maintain the pace.

"Why not, it got him to piss off didn't it?" Fred teased.

Our feet tapped down the staircase that led to the dungeons and the doorway to our Potions classroom was in sight. There were no students waiting outside and the door was already shut, which were all bad signs.

Fred reached out to twist the doorknob but the door didn't budge. He gave it a few more hopeless rattles before hammering at the wood to see if anybody would let us in. Before he could give another knock, there was a loud click and Snape flung the door open, his black robes billowing around him.