Yours, Fred | f. weasley x reader

Chapter 22: The Summer After

"How are you doing, Harry?" you asked carefully. You heard a sigh through the other side of the phone and then he answered, "I'm doing as well as I can, I suppose."

You, Harry and Hermione had exchanged house numbers at the end of their first year, so you could keep in touch over the summer break without drawing unwanted attention from your Muggle neighbours with frequent owl deliveries. You still exchanged letters the majority of the time, seeing as you were writing to the twins and Bea as well, but sometimes a quick chat was necessary, and you were worried about the younger boy.

You could tell by his silence down the phone that he didn't want to talk about what had happened, about Cedric or Voldemort, or any of it. So you changed the subject, "I passed my Apparition exam in April, so I'm going to Diagon Alley to get a new book for Seventh Year, do you want me to pick up anything for you?"

"No it's alright, I'll probably go with the Weasley's soon enough," Harry said absently, "thanks though."

"Don't mention it," you told him.

"Have you opened Cedric's letter yet?" He asked you quietly after a beat of silence, and you swallowed the lump in your throat, "um no, not yet."

"Maybe you should consider it? It might give you some closure."

"Yeah, maybe you're right."

He cleared his throat, "I have to go now before my aunt and uncle get home, you remember what happened last time, when they heard me on the phone with Ron," he muttered bitterly.

"Well, to be fair, he was shouting into the receiver," you reminded him, chucking slightly.

"That's true, I'll talk to you soon then."

"Okay, and Harry? Look after yourself." You both said your goodbyes and then hung up, you sighed as you put the phone back down onto the cradle and then you made your way back upstairs to your bedroom and shut the door behind you.

You opened the drawer of your desk and took out the familiar piece of parchment with your name on the front, flipping it over in your fingers for the hundredth time that summer since it had been given to you.

---

The day after the Third Task, Fred had managed to coax you out of bed and encouraged you to get something to eat. You reluctantly agreed and then after eating you told him and George that you were going to visit Harry in the Hospital Wing, leaving the two alone at the table, the rest of your friends having been already collected by their worried parents.

As you walked through the doors of the Hospital Wing, you almost bumped into Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall as they were leaving, "oh, sorry Professors," you mumbled. They both paused in front of you, and McGonagall placed a gentle hand on your shoulder, "I'm terribly sorry for your loss, Miss Y/L/N," she said earnestly as Dumbledore nodded in sympathy, and you smiled politely at them both as McGonagall left the Hospital Wing.

Dumbledore studied you carefully, "Mr Potter is awake, and he has a guest who I trust you'll be discreet about," you stared at him blankly before nodding slowly, "take care, Miss Y/L/N." He said and then he followed McGonagall out of the wing.

You made your way over to the hospital bed at the very end of the wing, it was the only occupied bed as everyone else had seemingly gone home already. There were curtains surrounding the bed and you hesitantly peeked through, seeing Harry speaking with someone you couldn't see.

"Harry?" you asked from behind the curtain, and you heard some shuffling of bedsheets as Harry called back to you, "Y/N, come in."

You took a sharp intake of breath as you saw who was sitting in the chair beside Harry's bed, only he looked completely different from how you'd seen him pictured before. Sirius Black stood and offered you his hand politely, which you shook without looking away from his face.