𝖠𝖱𝖱𝖠𝖭𝖦𝖤𝖣 | 𝖥𝖱𝖤𝖣 𝖶𝖤𝖠𝖲𝖫𝖤𝖸

𝐗𝐋𝐈𝐈𝐈

𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓

❝ 𝑰'𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒅 𝒅𝒐 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕.❞ — 𝑯𝒐𝒛𝒊𝒆𝒓

━━━━━━━━━━━━

Some days after their bet finished went by and Fred felt more connected to Lilith than ever before. Perhaps it was the Christmas spirit taking over him - as stupid as it sounded - and all he wanted was to cuddle with her at their home with lots of blankets, two big cups of hot chocolate and by the fireplace talking and talking for hours, perhaps it was that he felt as he had dropped a burden from his shoulders when he confessed to himself that he was in love with her.

It felt it had been fast -- as if it had just started cooking when they got married, but the reality was that, whether Fred liked it or not, his love for Lilith had started flourishing slowly and patiently in between all the confusion and prejudice for years and years. Their marriage only worked to make it blossom faster and hit him in the face, as if Lilith herself had slapped him, making his feelings undeniable. 

Now, he was learning to adjust himself to it. Fred was starting to not miss that much his past self because he was starting to learn how to accept his new version, to appreciate how he was now and especially, to appreciate the fact that thanks to this new Fred, he was able to admit to himself he was completely in love with his wife. 

He still had in mind everything that surrounded them, even their past, even the questions that still rambled their mind about Lilith and even the reason why he had started disliking her at first. Fred now knew she wasn't that bad -- she couldn't be with everything she had done for him and all the things the Death Eaters had made her go through -- but still, Fred asked himself till what point she immersed in the Voldemort world, and most important of all, what made her leave the Order so easily and never wanting to return to it again.

It is not that Fred would love her any less, that was impossible. He was deep head over heels and he didn't care if he would have to throw through the window all of his morals and his role as a war hero for her. It was that he wanted to love her rawly, no secrets, no lies, no barriers. Just her.

But, for Godric's sakes, he still wished she was little by little standing in the side of his goodies, he fucking crossed fingers for it, because the only thought of being on the same side as Bellatrix Lestrange, Circe Snape, the Malfoys and Voldemort himself made him shiver cold. And the only thought of not being able to protect his Lilith forever, made him even feel sick to his stomach.

And yet, Fred still wondered...if their marriage came to an end if Voldemort fails and everything comes back to their normality and their freedom...would Lilith still be with him? Would she choose him? Would she be able to forget everything and love him even if it was just half as much as he loved her? He didn't want to drag her into a loveless marriage, to a union that would remind her of her past chains and shackles...Fred wanted to see her free, to see her happy. But, Merlin's balls, he wished so badly she could be free and happy with him. The only thought of Lilith looking at someone else with those sparkly dark green eyes as she looked at him, kissing someone else as she kissed him, marrying someone else, having kids with someone else...made Fred feel as if his heart was being torn from the inside. And he hated it.

He left the box full of the new Weasley shop products on the floor and shook his head trying to spurn away those thoughts.

He was being ridiculous and he definitely had better things to do like finish his fucking shift at this store that didn't even feel like this and go back home.