Elusive // The Weasley Twins

44. Curveball

Sleep was the last thing Cosette wanted.

She had switched out her dress for a pair of leggings and a jumper with the Hogwarts crest stitched into the corner, but instead of climbing into bed like Nick suggested would be a good idea, she sat with one leg crossed over the other in the corner of her couch and glared at her brother.

Nick was leaning against the armrest of the recliner chair, staring back at Cosette with his hands tucked into his pockets, but he had a more concerned look on his face.

"So you're just going to watch me all night and hope I don't have another breakdown?" Cosette asked him, raising her eyebrows as she adjusted herself on the couch.

"Essentially, yeah," Nick nodded, laughing at how stupid it sounded. "Cosette you-"

"Ooh," she teased, "Using my full name now. Who are you? Dad?"

"Dad would want me to make sure you don't end up crying yourself to sleep," Nick retorted with a heavy sigh. "Sets have you ever had an anxiety attack before?"

She didn't even have to think about the answer.

"No."

Cosette considered herself lucky in that sense. She didn't wake up in the middle night struggling to breathe or unable to cope with the idea of Fred being gone. Yes, she cried herself to sleep what felt like hundreds of times and there were weeks when she couldn't leave her house.

But nothing ever triggered her to have any type of anxiety or panic attack. She took down all of the photos of Fred except one in the hallway. Anything of his that she had, she stored away and because she had yet to really go through that box of his, nothing ever set something off in her mind.

Even when she found the ring box and Fred's proposal plan. She was distraught and definitely a mess, but she was still able to control herself and her emotions, for the most part.

She still had yet to find that box though.

"I'm fine, Nicky," Cosette tried to assure him but he didn't buy it. "Ben's words just got to me and I just had a bit of a moment, that's all."

"A bit of a moment?" Nick repeated with another laugh. He licked his lips before shaking his head at her naive words, "Sets you couldn't breathe."

"You're acting like I had a near death experience," she said in hopes that he would see how dramatic he was being.

"I just worry about you."

"Well don't."

"Someone has to," he told her firmly. "What if this happens again? You're hanging out with George a lot, with his family, what if something at the burrow is triggering and it happens again? For the most part, I have to agree with you, you seem fine. But I know you're not."

"I am fine," Cosette stubbornly argued.

"Can I just-" Nick sucked in a breath, covering his mouth with his hand for a moment, "Obviously you have not yet dealt with all of this trauma and I'm just worried that this is not going to be the last time an anxiety attack like this sneaks up on you. Have you ever thought about trying to talk to someone?"

"You want me to see a fucking therapist?" She scoffed. "That's not happening."

"Well you need to talk to someone."

"You do realize that we could go back and forth on this all night, right?" Cosette asked him. "So how about instead of talking about my problems we go and do something to get my mind off of them? The night is still young."