Safe With Me ~ Fred Weasley

Unforgivable Curses

I practically ran through the doorway, my stomach in a knot, my only thought to keep up with Hermione, Ron and Harry. Harry's face had turned a sickly sort of white halfway through the lesson, and Ron wasn't looking much better.

"I mean, it had to be spiders?" He mumbled.

"Hermione, why are we running?" Harry asked, his voice sounding void of any emotion.

"Not to the library again, are you?" Ron whined.

"No. To Neville." She pointed ahead of us where Neville stood halfway down the staircase, looking through a stained glass window. "Hey, Neville."

The lanky boy turned towards us, plastering on an unconvincing smile.

"Oh, hey guys. Interesting lesson, huh?" He stammered out. "Wonder what's for dinner. I'm hungry."

"Are you okay, Neville?" Hermione asked, softly.

"Oh, yeah. I'm good."

"I can walk with you, I'll probably head to the library or-"

"Longbottom." Moody's voice shocked the five of us once again. "Come with me boy, we'll have some tea. Sprout tells me you've a knack for Herbology, I've got some books you might like in my office."

Neville looked even more terrified than he had before, but nodded in agreement and started up the stairs, Moody's wooden leg clunking on every other step.

"Poor Neville..." Ron muttered.

"What was wrong with him?" I asked, not blaming the boy for his reaction to the curses. I still wasn't feeling the best after seeing them.

"Neville lives with his grandmother," Hermione started, "Because when he was little, his parents had the cruciatus curse used on them. For so long they... they were never the same. They're at St. Mungo's now. They don't even know him anymore."

My heart dropped to my feet. The image of Neville's face during class and even just now playing on repeat in my mind. Of course he wasn't okay. He had to see up close and personal exactly what had happened to his parents. Same with Harry.

"I'm headed to the library." Hermione sighed before taking off.

"Still taking divination, Cassidy?" Harry suggested as we continued down the steps.

"Yes, unfortunately. I still don't know if it's for me." I shrugged.

"Yeah, it's not for us either, not sure why we're still in it to be quite honest." Ron scoffed.

"We were going to work on that essay she assigned us, if you want to join." Harry offered when they reached their parting point.

"Essay? We didn't get an essay." I thought back nervously, thinking maybe I had forgotten.

"Aw, Bloody Hell Ron, your stupid joke got us a punishment essay." Harry slapped the side of Ron's arm.

"I'll come up, though. Keep you guys company. Maybe I'll learn something from those essays." I lied through my teeth, just thinking I could possibly see Fred.

A few minutes later, I was covering my ears so the boys could let us through the portrait hole.

"Don't bother, knowing Fred and George, you'll know it by tomorrow." Ron said as we found a spot in the common room, each of them pulling out parchment. I had spotted the twins immediately, tucked in the corner of the room and working intently on a shared piece of paper together.

"No, that sounds like we're accusing him, we've got to be careful." George's voice carried over to our side of the room, although Harry and Ron hardly seemed to notice. I looked between the two of them as they worked before walking towards the twins.