Safe With Me ~ Fred Weasley

Summer

Fred

My feet hit the floor within minutes once I had opened my eyes. George was still asleep, his snores filling our shared room. I know what had woken me. The smell of breakfast. Mum always makes a big one for our first morning back. I checked the clock on my night stand. Dad was probably already at work.

I grabbed a t-shirt from the pile I had spilled from my trunk yesterday and pulled it on before leaving the room, shutting the door behind me so George could keep sleeping.

I wasn't sure what I was more excited for. Breakfast, or to check on Cassidy.

I had tossed and turned for hours last night before finally falling asleep. The memory of me kissing her head on replay in my mind, accompanied by the sting of embarrassment every few seconds. But I had to see her. I had to know if it was going to be awkward. Or if I had upset her. Or if she wasn't even thinking about it at all. She is considered a missing child at the moment, who am I to think my moment of stupidity would even make a dent in her mind.

As I reached the last stair, I felt a smile appear on my face instantaneously. She was wearing a pair of pink and white plaid shorts and an oversized t-shirt that nearly covered them entirely. She had black socks pulled up over her ankles and she stood next to my mother stirring a bowl of pancake batter while mum flipped over some bacon on the stove.

It was as if she had felt me watching her. She turned and caught my eye across the room, a smile lining her face immediately, seeming like she was having the time of her life, like the events of last night were the farthest thing from her mind.

"Freddie!" Mum called, waving me into the kitchen at once. "You should have brought her sooner, Freddie, she's a life saver! We did this whole meal, no magic."

"What's the point of that?" I laughed, reaching for a plate from the center of the table.

"It's fun, Freddie." Cassidy shot me an exasperated look, a smile peeking through at the corners which made me want to explode. How could she be this cute and have no idea?

I turned to see my mother studying my face, her eyes flickering between the two of us before turning back to the food.

"Sit down, Cassidy, you've done quite enough. You must be starving." She began shoving the small girl towards the seat next to mine, taking both of our plates and loading them with mountains of eggs, bacon and pancakes, setting them before us and waving her wand, the syrup emerging from the cupboard and settling itself before us.

"Why are you up so early?" She asked, watching me dive into my breakfast.

"Could ask you the same question." I mumbled through a mouthful of food.

"Frederick Weasley, chew with your mouth closed!" Mum shot me a death glare, as if this was even close to the worst thing done by me in even the past week. "Cassidy is an early riser, unlike the rest of my children. She said she usually makes breakfast back at home."

I waited until mum turned back around, searching for larger plates to keep the food on until everyone else came down for breakfast. "You don't have to do that here." I muttered, turning to face her and she set her fork down.

"I want to help. I don't want to just be another mouth to feed." She whispered back.

"You're not. She loves you, I told you. Now stop acting so good, you're going to bump me out of first place."

"Hah!" She scoffed out. "You'd be lucky to be in fifth, I reckon."

"Hardly even nine, you idiots, think you could keep it down?" George grumbled, sliding the chair out on the other side of Cassidy and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.