Safe With Me ~ Fred Weasley

Losing a Brother

It had been a week since Percy had left. Since the entire Weasley family had wandered to bed without so much as a goodnight. I had knocked on Ginny's door a few times, peeking in through a small crack when she didn't answer, but she waved me away, claiming she was fine and just wanted to go to bed.

Ron, Molly and Arthur had at least tried to finish their dinners before turning into bed quite early. Fred and George were furious, the three of us sat up a bit longer in the family room as I tried to convince myself it wasn't one of their teeth grinding together that I was hearing.

The next day, everyone woke up as if nothing had changed. Molly was back at work, making breakfast and cleaning every inch of the house. Ginny slept in noticeably later than usual, but once she was up, she wore a smile and followed Molly around helpfully.

While Ron and the twins truly did seem their old selves, coaxing each other into chess games or exploding snap, I could tell Fred's mind was somewhere else.

Needless to say, it had been a quieter week without Percy, which is something no one would have ever expected to be said. I was getting slightly better at chess now, thanks to Ron, and Fred and George had persuaded me to fly with them two more times in an effort to feel some sort of breeze.

The heat of the summer would not let up, even for a day, and we were all but out of ideas to beat it. Which is why this morning as soon as the sun was up, I had slipped into last summer's, admittedly small on me now, bikini, threw some jean shorts and a tshirt on over it and crept across the hall to wake Fred.

"It's not nearly bright enough in here for you to be waking me up." He grumbled, turning his face into the pillow as I held back a laugh.

"I have a good reason, at least." I pulled on his arm closest to me to no avail, his body barely budged at all.

"Oh, yeah?" He turned to face me at last. "And what would that be?" A smirk rose on his face as he reached his fingers out, tracing up my thigh slowly until he reached the hem of my shorts.

"We're going to the lake." I smiled, hoping he couldn't feel the goosebumps lining my skin where his fingers were.

"Oh, are we?" He asked, looking up at me. "Maybe I have other plans."

"Like what?" I asked, knowing full well the extent of his activities the past few days of summer.

"How about I show you?" He whispered, linking his arm around my thigh and yanking me on top of him, sliding over to set me on the bed next to him.

"No, Freddie it's time to get up!" I giggled, feeling the tips of his fingers trace along my waist.

"Still so early. Not leaving bed yet, and you can't make me."

His fingers continued up, brushing under my oversized t-shirt easily until they were nearly at my chest. He paused for a moment, as if waiting for me to say stop, but I didn't have a single breath in my lungs. Finally, his hands moved again, sliding around to my back and brushing against the silky material of my bathing suit.

"You're already in your suit?" He asked, a small smile appearing on his face.

"Y-yes." I stuttered, cursing myself for sounding like an idiot.

"Am I making you nervous?" He asked, softly.

"No." I lied, taking in a few quiet breaths while I had the chance.

"No?" He leaned closer, his nose a centimeter from mine now. It felt like every hair on my entire body was stood straight up, feeling for where his hands would move next. "Alright, you want to go swimming then?"