Twin Fall ↠ A Fred Weasley story

30. Concern

Jess's head was dropped as she scurried down the corridor. She didn't seem sad or upset, more distracted. There were a million thoughts running through her head, and concentrating on her footsteps seemed to be helping her organise those thoughts mentally.

She didn't seem interested in her surroundings, or the fact that people were having to move out of her way to avoid her walking straight into them. No, the people around her were completely irrelevant.

That was until Fred caught her rush from the corner of his eye. He moved swiftly and chose his moment. Just as she made to walk past, he stepped in front of her purposely and let her walk straight into him.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't-" Jess stuttered, looking up at the person who had just halted her. When she saw Fred's dubious face looking back, she relaxed. "Oh, it's you."

"Charming," he replied, cheekily. His cheeks flushed with the cold evening air.

"No, I don't mean it so bluntly, I was just..." her voice faltered and trialled off.

"Just in a complete world of your own?"

"Something like that," she replied, softly.

"You seem to be like that a lot lately..."

Jess shrugged and glanced around anxiously.

Fred's face fell, "look, I don't want to cut straight to the chase here, but I need to ask you something. This is the first time we've been alone since you were in the hospital wing, and it's been driving me mad."

Jess didn't say anything. She simply blinked at him with her wide eyes. Fred took this as a sign to continue.

"You can be honest. But, are you - erm - are you avoiding me?" He finished in a bit of a hurry.

Jess startled at his question and stared up at him. "No! Absolutely not."

"Oh, good," he smiled awkwardly, and ruffled the back of his hair. "I thought... well... you've not really spoken to me the last couple of weeks. Every time I see you, you're either huddled up with the gang, or if you've been alone you've been proper out of it..."

"It's nothing for you to worry about Fred don't worry," Jess returned his smile and squeezed his arm affectionately.

"You say that a lot, but -"

"Please, Freddie," she looked at him pleadingly. "There's just a lot of odd things going on at the minute, and I'm trying to keep my head down."

"Why?" Fred frowned. He moved her over to the side of the corridor out of the way and dropped his voice lower. "It's not like you've got anything to do with the victims."

Jess bit her lip, "I don't know that other people believe that though."

"So, you found a cat? Someone was going to find it eventually. It doesn't mean you're to blame, Jess." He was looking at her with seriousness in his eyes.

"It's not just Mrs Norris..."

"Okay..." he said, slowly. "What else is it? Maybe I can help?"

"I... I don't think you can..." Jess mumbled, turning away from him slightly. "I've got Ron and Hermione, and obviously Harry. It'll be okay."

Fred's heart plummeted. He opened his mouth a couple of times to reply, but the hurt was evident on his face. He rubbed his arm nervously and decided to push it a little.

"I'm still here if you need me..." he suggested, quietly.

"Trust me, you don't want to get involved with this," she grimaced at him. "I really do appreciate it though."