Serpentine ; Fred Weasley

Ninety-three

Kai

When I first woke up, I was confused. Confused as to why I was waking up, why I could open my eyes and see a room in front of me.

A room I had never seen before.

He must've moved us to another place like he said he would.

Then panic struck me and I rose up to sit but I felt a pair of arms wrap around me and I started screaming, crying my eyes out while trying to fight him off.

"Let go of me!" I cried but he just shushed me.

"Hey, it's me. It's alright, lovely. It's just me." Fred's familiar voice whispered in my ear as he kept his arms wrapped around me, and I quickly turned my head to look at him.

My eyes scanned over his face, the few freckles on his nose, his hazel eyes that stared at me, and his lovely lips.

"Freddie?" I whispered, bringing a hand up to touch his face.

He's real.

"Oh..." I mumbled before breaking into tears again while wrapping my arm around his neck, hiding my face in the crook of his neck.

"You're okay now." He whispered as he brushed his fingers through my hair. "I've got you."

"I'm sorry." I cried. "I'm so sorry."

Fred gently shushed me, resting his head against mine.

"You've done nothing wrong, pretty girl." He said and just that nickname made me cry even harder.

"I lost the ring." I sobbed into his shirt. "He took it from me."

"Then you didn't lose it, and you have nothing to apologise for." He told me. "Fuck the ring. We'll get you a new one."

I didn't say anything. We kept sitting like this while I slowly calmed down and slowly, the realisation hit me.

I was safe. I was back with Fred even if I didn't know how.

"Are you actually real?" I whispered, clutching his shirt in my hand, and he chuckled softly.

"I promise you, I am." He said. "I'm right here and I'm not letting go until you want me to."

"Don't let go of me." I whispered. "Not ever."

I ended up falling asleep again and when I woke up, Fred wasn't in my bed. Panic rose inside of me and I sat up, looking around as I started hyperventilating.

The walls were closing in on me and I ran my hands up to cover my ears. The sound of my heart beating spread throughout my body and I felt dizzy.

The door to the room opened and before I knew it, Fred was holding me again, his arms tight around me as I tried to fight him off, completely freaking out.

I was screaming and kicking at him while he tried to calm me down, but eventually he had to let go of me, realising that holding me the way he did, was what caused me to freak out even further.

I moved back on the bed, pulling my legs up to my chest before wrapping my arms around them.

"Why am I alive." I whispered. "This shouldn't have happened."

"Kai, lovely. Look at me."

I shook my head, squeezing my eyes shut.

"You left." I said. "Why'd you leave? You can't leave me. You can't—"

"I'm sorry. Will you please look at me?" He asked, and I slowly opened my eyes and raised my head to look at him. "I was just downstairs, making some food for you. Bill took over so I could come check on you."

"Bill?" I asked in a whisper, and Fred nodded, pulling a chair over to sit next to the bed.

"This is Bill and Fleur's house." He told me. "It's one of the safe houses. We went into hiding the same day you disappeared. I had no choice."

He looked down at his hands as he rubbed them together.

"I stayed at another safe house with mum and dad. Aunt Muriel's house, but when mum told me that Bill had found you, I came as fast as I could."

"He found me?" I asked, my voice weak and quiet. "Where?"

"In the forest across the lake." He said, gesturing in one direction.

"It's not a lake." I muttered.

"Huh?"

"It's an ocean."

Fred cracked a little smile and I noticed he scratched his nail along the skin on his thumb.

"Well, he found you on the other side of there." He told me. "You were on the ground, left to die with your arm sliced up. I'm sorry he did that to you."

I looked down at my arm, sliding up the sleeve of the jumper I wore until it revealed my arm which was wrapped with gaze.

"He didn't do that." I said quietly, staring at it. "I did."

When I looked at Fred again, he stared right at me, his actions frozen. Our eyes met and I immediately looked away.

"You tried to kill yourself?"

I didn't answer. I stared at the window before getting up, slowly making my way over to it to look out.

"You were wearing different clothes when he found you." Fred said. "His clothes."

I looked down and ran my hands alongside the white windowsill.

"When we went into hiding, I brought your clothes with us." He said. "Well... some of it. When I changed your clothes, I saw the bruises on your body, and the cuts on your thighs."

I paused and looked out of the window again, my head tilted slightly.

"He raped you."

Inhaling sharply, I closed my eyes, and I could hear my own muffled screams as Theodore pushed my face into the pillow on the bed, my wrists locked behind my back.

"You're pregnant with his child."

"No." I said immediately, shaking my head. "That's not true. He thinks I am because he wants me to be, but it's all a lie."

I flinched when I heard the floor creak, and I spun around quickly to look at Fred who had stood up.

"I can't have his child." I whispered. "It has to be yours."

Fred teared up when he saw that I did. He ran a hand over his mouth, shaking his head before taking a step towards me.

"I'm sorry, lovely."

I laughed.

"Why do you call me that?!" I asked out of frustration. "I'm not lovely, Fred. I'm disgusting. I'm weak and I've always been weak!"

"You're not—"

"I couldn't push him off!" I yelled. "I couldn't run from him, I couldn't fight back! He snapped my wand and he kept pushing me around like he owned me! So no, Fred... I'm not lovely. I'm a pushover. I didn't do near as much as I could."

Fred sighed and ran his hand into his hair while shaking his head.

"C'mere." He said, opening his arms when he saw that I was close to breaking into tears.

I wiped my cheeks but hurried over and slipped my arms around his waist, feeling him close his around my shoulders.

"I'm sorry." I cried. "I gave up."