Elusive // The Weasley Twins

49. Rough Shape

After splashing cold water on her face, Cosette heard a gentle knock on the outside of the bathroom door.

"Setty?" George's muffled voice could be heard through the wall. "You've been in there for nearly ten minutes, love."

Cosette ran her fingers through her hair as she stared at herself in the mirror.

Clearly, Nick wasn't lying.

Her dad was at Fred's funeral. He had to listen to Cosette cry in her room every night until she found the strength to move out of the house.

And yet, he just invited Fred over for dinner.

"Please open the door," George's voice pulled her from her thoughts and Cosette turned around and pulled on the doorknob, swinging it open to see George standing on the other side with a very concerned look on his face.

George didn't even bother trying to coax her to come out of the bathroom. He just stepped inside and let the door shut behind him before taking Cosette into his arms. She wasn't crying, but she let out a strangled breath as she wrapped her arms around him.

"What happened?" George asked quietly, pressing his lips against the top of her head. He was thankful that no one argued with him when he suggested that he be the one to on her. "What did Nick say?"

"My dad," Cosette shook her head. "It wasn't Nick, well it was at first but then it was my dad because I didn't believe Nick and I should have believed Nick but he's lied about it before but he's not lying now and my dad-"

"Breathe," George reminded her, pulling back a bit so he could look her in the eye. He rubbed his hands over her arms, "Lied about what? What is going on?"

Cosette glanced around the bathroom and even though George had just told her to breathe, she all of a sudden felt very constricted within these four walls. She swallowed dryly, "It's too crammed in here, I can't-"

She didn't bother finishing that sentence. Instead she pushed past George and reached for the handle to step out of the bathroom. She could hear quiet conversations taking place in the kitchen as she walked over to where her bag was still perched next to the couch.

Cosette made sure that she had everything she needed before looking around for her wand. It wasn't in her bag nor had it rolled under the couch and after being so distracted in her frantic search, Cosette didn't even notice George squat down in front of her until he held out her wand in front of her face.

"Setty," he whispered, wanting her to calm down for even a minute. "What is going on?"

"I need to go home," Cosette's voice shook and George peered behind her to see Hermione and Ginny standing in the doorway of the kitchen. He subtly shook his head, wanting to let them know that now was not a good time to offer any assistance.

"Okay, let me take you home then," George had no choice but to remain level-headed to balance out how Cosette was feeling. He took hold of her arm, grabbing her bag with his other hand as he helped her stand up.

Pulling out his own wand, George kept a steady grip on Cosette as he apparted them out of the burrow, landing in the living room of her home. He turned to her, ready to ask her again what was happening and hopefully get some sort of explanation, but she had already frantically taken off towards her bedroom.

"Cosette," George called as he went after her. He leaned against the doorframe of her room and watched as she found a duffle bag in her closet. She tossed it on the bed, muttering to herself as she started to fill it with clothes.

George didn't know what to do. He felt helpless in this situation. When she retreated to the bathroom, he assumed she was having another anxiety attack but this was something completely different. Cosette was clearly panicking and distraught about something that she heard over the phone.