Safe With Me ~ Fred Weasley

Tommy

By the time we had all taken our seats at our respective house tables and watched the first years be sorted, the news of the hooded dark figures on the train had spread to every student. There were talks of them being dementors, the guards for the wizarding prison, yet no one could come up with a reason for why they were on our train that didn't involve Sirius Black.

Dumbledore finally began his start of the year speech, confirming the dementor rumors and apologizing for their presence on the train. He explained that they were to be stationed at Hogwarts for the safety of the students, but that students should not notice them nor should they be any issue for the residents of the school. They were merely here to keep us safe and keep an eye out for the escaped convict.

While the students here from wizarding families obviously knew something that I did not, I kept my head down and tried to listen to my roommates discuss what they had read in the papers over the summer and stories their parents had told them. Stories that all seemed to involve Harry. Stories that made no sense to me.

I desperately wished for the hundredth time that day that Tommy could be here to share in my confusion. He had more friends than I did, he might even have already known all of this. My summers with father meant nearly three months of wizarding isolation. While I wasn't sure if he minded me going off to a boarding school, as he called it, for 9 months of the year, he made it clear he was not thrilled at what kind of lifestyle that my brother and I had been forced into.

I finished a last bite of a biscuit and excused myself from the table, telling Hannah, Bri and Madison I would see them back in the dorms and heading towards the large wooden doors, propped open for the feast.

"Cassidy," I heard close to my ear and I jumped and turned into the tall boy's chest.

"What are you doing?" I darted a few steps back, embarrassed by how close I had been.

"What are you doing? You didn't even stay for dessert!" The twin took another step closer but left more room in between us this time, giving me some space to try and figure out which one he was.

"I'm not very hungry." That was the truth. My stomach had been in knots even before the events of the train.

"Little shaken up from the dementors? And here I was thinking you were brave!"

"Why would you think I was brave? Aren't you supposed to be the brave one?" I tried to joke, moving another few steps towards the stairway down to the Hufflepuff common room, which I assumed was where I was headed.

"Oh, I know I'm brave. I just thought, you didn't even make a sound when they came into the cabin. The dementors. Thought for a second you had been sorted wrong."

I rolled my eyes dramatically, earning a small laugh from the twin.

"I'm pretty tired... I'm going to head in." I gestured behind me towards the steps to my common room.

"Yeah, for sure. Just wanted to make sure you were alright."

"Well thank you," I shot him my best smile and used my robes to give him a sarcastic curtsey, getting me another laugh.

"Oh, anytime." He winked, and I felt the blood race to my cheeks as I turned on my heel, hoping he didn't catch it.

Fred

I watched her small steps heading down to the dorms for a few more seconds before I turned back to the Great Hall. I was worried about her, but maybe not enough to miss dessert. I passed George and Lee and dropped down onto the bench next to Ron and Hermione, Harry looking over at me from across the table.