Safe With Me ~ Fred Weasley

Like the Sun

I felt shakey and found it difficult to catch my breath, unsure if it was from watching our friend fall fifty feet through the air, the dementors toll on everyone near them, or the bone chilling rain that hadn't stopped all morning. Ron and Hermione had left the second our feet hit the mud, saying they were headed to the infirmary if I had wanted to join, but not slowing for even a second for me to decide. I hadn't even considered what I would do next. I knew Harry's bedside would be a crowded one. From what I heard, it usually was. Between professors, friends, Madame Pomfrey and Dumbledore himself, it was a wonder he ever got any time to rest up.

I had wandered the now emptying pitch for a while before I watched the two teams burst back through the locker room doors, most of Gryffindor rushing back up towards the school, no doubt to check on their seeker. Fred and George were on Wood's heels, but stopped when they saw me. I watched George give me a nervous smile and saw him mutter something about the infirmary to Fred who didn't follow him. His face was painted with worry, but he stood a few feet from me, ankles deep in what was hardly even mud at this point, but rather a pool of rain water.

"D-Do they know anything? Did Wood say?" I stammered, half from nerves and half from the cold. I wrapped my arms over my chest and blinked some raindrops from my eyelashes.

"We don't know anything, McGonagall went up with Dumbledore right away. Wood's up there now. He feels awful, of course, but it wasn't his fault. I can't believe they came anywhere near the field, it's ridiculous." He grumbled and I took a few more steps towards him, wanting nothing more at this moment than to get back to the school and get dry, and I was sure Fred's mind was entirely with Harry in the hospital wing.

"Hey, it's alright. He's gonna be okay." Fred reached out to brush against my arm but dropped his hand away when he saw me flinch. I had told myself to keep an eye on that reflex, but being near the dementors again wasn't helping. Whenever they were near, all I could feel was the same feeling of dread I was so used to anytime I would hear my father's car pull into the driveway, hear his footsteps coming up the stairs and not knowing if it was to my room or Tommy's.

"Uh, yeah. I really think so, I mean it was a long fall, but Dumbledore... the spell." I muttered, looking up into his warm brown eyes and trying to steady my breathing.

"Come on, Cass, you look frozen. Let's go, I'm gonna go see Harry, I can drop you at your room first if you-"

"No, I... I'd like to see Harry, if you're going. I'll leave obviously if there's too many people there, I don't want to overwhelm him."

"Yeah, come on." He nudged me forward with his elbow since his hands were tucked into his quidditch robes. He had obviously left part of the beater's uniform in the locker room, but he was still painted head to tow with mud and dripped dark water onto the stone walk way as we neared the school.

With only a few more steps until we would cross the threshold to the oversized double doors into the Entrance Hall, Fred threw his arm in front of me and I jolted to a stop.

"Here, I'm not in the mood to hear Filch screaming about the mess. Scourgify." He grumbled, retrieving his wand and blasting both of our boots clean in one go.

"Oh, thanks, I thought I'd be scrubbing these for days." I watched the clear rain drip from my brown boots in awe.

"George and I had to learn that one early. If you make enough messes, you learn how to fix them." He shoved the great wooden door open and let me in first. I watched my breath cloud up one last time before I felt the warmer air of the castle.

"Thank God." I mumbled, rubbing my hands together quickly, feeling the start of warmth return to them.

"Merlin, you could pass for a ghost, Cassy." Fred muttered, unzipping his robes and dropping them off his arms so he could pull off his somewhat dry hoodie. "Here, it's a bit less soaked than yours."