Safe With Me ~ Fred Weasley

A Small Christmas

I could see platform nine and three quarters the moment I stepped into King's Cross. I glanced around at the emptying platforms, hardly anyone was around, despite the usual chaos that was blending in with muggles on our way back to school.

Fred had been beside me only a second ago, yet the closer I drew to the platform, the more I realized I had left the Weasley's in the dust, somewhere far behind me. I paused, gripping my trunk in both hands as I scanned the platforms, searching for the matching red hair.

Before I had even spotted them, there was a sharp pain against my back, my trunk flying forward and sliding across the stoney floor as I fell to my knees. I spun backwards, my eyes wide. Whatever I had been hit with had been magic, and we were surrounded by muggles.

"You thought you could hide from me?" I looked into the dark gray eyes of the thin woman towering above me, scrambling for my wand, no longer caring about the muggles around us. She was here. It was me or her.

I barely heard her speak before the pain was back, sending me back to the floor, my hand releasing the wand from my pocket in an attempt to catch myself in my fall.

"You're not needed at Hogwarts any longer." An evil grin slid along her lips as she grabbed my arms, pulling me to my feet, my trunk long discarded. "I'm not letting you out of my sight until you learn what it means to be my daughter."

"No, stop! Fred!" My voice was shrill, yet no one was looking, muggles hurrying about to their platforms. It was if we were invisible, and the Weasley's were long gone. "Fred!" I could barely hear my voice any more as everything went black.

"What? What is it?" A hand slid over my cheek, pulling my face towards his. Fred's eyes were wide, sitting up in the bed beside me, and I finally realized that I was still screaming. "Hey, are you hurt?"

"No." I shook my head, clapping a hand over my mouth and letting him pull me into his chest.

"Nightmare?" He asked, quietly now, his fingers running softly against the ends of my hair along my back as I nodded once. "It's okay. You're fine, love. Everything's fine."

We sat in silence for a while, though I couldn't be sure how long. The only sounds in the silent room came from the slow movement of Fred's hands and of me trying to catch my breath, blinking the wetness from beneath my eyes.

"Can I get you anything?" He spoke at last. "We can go downstairs, I can make you some tea. Or breakfast, it's probably..." He leaned over to his nightstand, keeping one arm on my leg as if to prove he was still there. "It's only four. But I can make you whatever-"

I shook my head, pulling him back towards me and pressing my head against his chest. He took my hint, leaning back on one of his arms, the other wrapped firmly around my waist.

"I'm sorry I woke you up." I whispered. "I didn't even... It was so real."

"It wasn't." He answered, his lips pressing to the top of my head for a few seconds. "It wasn't real, you're okay."

The fire roared before me as I waited for the rest of the Weasley's to join me. We had spent the morning opening gifts, digging into a massive late breakfast, before the twins suggested we make the trip down to the lake and ice skate.

Before Ginny could even start to agree, Molly had turned the idea down, reminding us all that every other day there had been death eaters stationed outside of the Burrow, and that they would surely be appearing more often with everyone home for the holidays.