just for me ⚘ a Fred Weasley Fanfiction

56. Juniper vs. the Weasleys

It was the night before classes started up again for the term, and Juniper had spread herself out on a leather couch in the Slytherin Common room, staring blankly at the green fireplace, listening to the faint sound of water dripping from the roof. She hadn't moved in about 36 hours, and her eyes had stopped flicking over to the doors to see who was entering. She occasionally thought of the subjects she should be studying, but her motivation was no where to be found, just as it had been a few months ago. Her desire for human interaction had disappeared, and the want to rot on the couch for the rest of her time at Hogwarts had taken its place.
As she contemplated rolling over to face the backside of the couch, Draco Malfoy had walked in, taking a seat in the leather arm chair behind her.

"Welcome back, how were your holidays?" He said politely, looking across at her. She didn't acknowledge his presence or existence, and continued to stare straight. "Mine were just amazing, thank you."
They sat in another few minutes of silence, before there was a subtle bang from the other side of the common room door.

"Oh, Weasley's standing at the door, begging people to let him in so he can talk to you." Draco said blandly, watching Juniper remain expressionless. "It's really pathetic to witness."

"Hm." Juniper grunted in response, finally turning around to stare at the scratched leather of the couch.

"What happened between you two? It seemed like things were going so well." Draco said, getting no response again. "That's a shame."

Things were silent between them again, as the banging on the door became louder and faster. Juniper heard Draco get up from his chair, assuming he was over the sound and lack of response from Juniper, and heading to his Dorm.  She closed her eyes, prepared to go to sleep, when the common room filled with Fred's shouting. He barged over to her, screaming at her back, as she refused to turn over.

"JUNIPER! WHAT THE HELL? YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE THE HOUSE WITHOUT TELLING ANYONE! JUNIPER? LOOK AT ME! WE THOUGHT YOU HAD BEEN TAKEN BY DEATHEATERS-"

"Woah, don't use that word in here, take it outside if you're going to talk about that." Draco interrupted, him voice a lot calmer than Fred's.

"Juniper. Please." Fred's voice had lowered to a whisper, crouching beside her. "Please can we talk? Tell me what happened." His voice broke slightly, causing tears to prick the sides of Juniper's eyes. She took a few deep breaths to prepare herself, knowing she couldn't escape having to explain herself this time. She broke into a stream of tears as Fred spoke again, his voice completely broken. "Please."
She sat up, noticing the audience that had crowded around them, watching and waiting for her next move. Keeping her eyes down so no one would see her crying, she began heading for the door, feeling Fred's presence behind her, towering over her like a wall. They had another crowd around them outside of the common room, all staring at them like it was a live TV show, and they just had to know what was coming next.
Fred followed along as Juniper marched through the hallways, looking for somewhere with even just a little bit of privacy. After a few minutes, Juniper wouldn't stop walking, her breathing struggled to keep up with her, between her crying and need to move away as fast as she could.

"Juniper, where are we going?" Fred said, puffed out. He stopped, watching her continue on. "No one's here anymore, is it me you're trying to get rid of?" He shouted after her, the pleading in his voice causing her to stop.

"No, no it's not you." She said quietly, turning around slowly, her eyes still trained on the ground in front of her feet as she walked back to him. "It has nothing to do with you."

"Then what is it? I keep trying to help and all you do is leave me in the dark." He pleaded back to her. "What else am I meant to think? When all you do is brush me off."