Safe With Me ~ Fred Weasley

Invisible

"That doesn't make sense!" Bri hardly ever whined.

"Christmas is right around the corner, you'll be back then. They're nervous, everyone is, but-" Maddie stopped as Hannah flung back to face the three of us.

"Do you want to tell him that and not me? What, do you think I'm choosing this?" The blonde girl screeched, her voice echoing off the stone walls.

"How long have you known about this?" I asked, softer than my friends, aware of the looks we were getting, the four girls shouting through the halls, Hannah's over-flowing trunk hanging from one arm.

"Wait..." Maddie realized, looking between my face and Hannah's. "You've been sulking for weeks now! You knew they were making you come home?"

"Every letter they've sent all year has been about me coming home." She replied, sounding exhausted by the conversation. "They killed my mother."

The three of us stopped, Hannah getting a few steps ahead before turning back to us, her eyes filled with tears.

"What?" I breathed out, unsure if she could even hear me from where she was.

"W... Who killed you mother?" Maddie asked, her voice sounding quieter than I had ever heard her speak.

"Them. Whatever they're calling themselves. Death Eaters." She spat, looking between Maddie and Bri, not facing me.

She hadn't looked at me in days.

It felt like a brick had been dropped onto my lungs. Maddie and Bri paid no notice of the silent interaction, lunging for Hannah, enveloping her in matching hugs and letting her sob against their shoulders, the blonde girl barely visible between the billowing black cloaks. I stood behind them, awkwardly. Wishing I could help her, wishing I could be a good friend like she needed right now, offering her hugs and apologies, telling her that maybe I knew what she was going through...

But I didn't. I had never lost a parent who had loved me.

I felt the tears pool beneath my eyes and I blinked a few times, willing myself not to cry. Not now. I couldn't take this moment away from Hannah. How selfish would I look, when it was partly my own mother's fault that hers was dead.

"Come on, we'll take you to Dumbledore-" Bri said, softly but Hannah backed away from them, holding her trunk before her with two hands.

"I'm fine. I just want to be alone." She spoke clearly, not looking at any of us now.

"Hannah... Please write us, okay?" Maddie put a comforting hand on the smaller girls shoulder and she nodded, muttering quick goodbyes towards us and turning on her heel, rushing towards the office.

The three of us stood still, watching her until we could no longer see the blonde outline of her hair in the dark hallway anymore.

"Don't you start." Bri's voice shocked me from my thoughts.

"What?" I whispered once I realized she was watching me.

"It's terrible. Her mum. But it has nothing to do with you."

I swallowed, taking a ragged breath in.

"I didn't say anything." I said, sharply. "I just remembered I have to get a book... before the library..." I nodded, as if that sentence had made any sense, and started down the hallway.

"Cassidy!" Maddie called, annoyance leaking into her words. "You're not supposed to be on your own at night!"

I shook my head, mostly to myself, and finally let the tears fall, flinging around the corridor and pressing my teeth against my lip to keep myself quiet.