[2] The Great Orangenie | FRED WEASLEY

Chapter Forty Seven

It was times like this that the telepathy once possessed by Aubrey and Fred would have come in handy. Yet the bond had been broken long ago which was why Fred followed Saskia unaware of the revelations his Girlfriend had made. 

Despite having short legs, this didn't bind Saskia's speed in the slightest. Fred was pretty in shape but even he was having trouble keeping up to her as she easily kept her pace. Her route was strange, going through the most random corridors, randomly darting into shadows at the most unexpected times. Wherever she'd been going was clearly so important she'd lost track of her rather obvious stalker.

By the time they finally made it outside by a door so obscure even Fred had forgotten its existence, he was well and truly out of breath.

"Would it kill you to slow down just a tad?" He murmured breathlessly, leaning against the wall for a much-needed break that was short-lived sadly: Saskia was still going.

Right now the idea of having someone to share in this feat of athleticism would be nice. George and Lexy wouldn't have fought long, he easily could have waited. Even Aubrey might have been back in a few hours depending on what Jasper had planned. But as he stumbled down the hillside, he remembered that he hadn't waited. The choice had been made to go alone so there was no turning back.

If it had been dark before, the Forbidden Forest took this to a whole new level. He could barely see anything beyond the first few layers of trees and of course, that's where Saskia was heading. Even though this sent a shiver down his spine so intense Fred actually trembled, the Gryffindor boyfriend in him told him to push on and stop being a Chicken. So he did.

At the edge of the Forest, Saskia seemed to pause, balling up her fists as she stared defiantly at the hollow blackness. She didn't appear to be moving so Fred briefly pondered sitting down. This turned out to be a fatal mistake as he suddenly heard a sharp -

CRACK!

Saskia's head instantly snapped round just as he turned down. In his haste, he hadn't looked where he was going, his foot having come down on a brittle twig. Slowly his head looked upwards, his heart sinking as horror set in. 

Saskia was looking right at him.

"Hello?" She called, slowly looking up as she managed to make out his silhouette. Fred remained still yet the urge to run became even stronger as her noticed something odd behind her dark eyes. A dim yet evident turquoise light seemed to be emanating out from underneath her skin against such harsh darkness.

"Who is that?" She called again, her voice hoarse, "Please ..."

With a gulp, he took a step forward, "Saskia ... it's Fred."

This didn't seem to bring any relief to her, only increasing the fearful expression on her face. Her fists balled up as she took a step back against a tree, her fingers digging into the rough bark underneath her.

"No, Fred, go back inside ... you can't be out here with me - "

"Why not?" He asked softly, "And for once, please give me a straight answer. You're always so cryptic, leaving just enough for me and Aubrey to get hooked yet never telling us the truth. Just this once, why not try it?"

"I ... I ..." She suddenly shook her head, scrunching up her eyes, "Fred, please, go inside ... I'm not ready to do this yet, I'm still practising... it could hurt you rather than save you."

"Well, that's what you want to here," He even managed a half smile at time like this. Even that didn't detract from his solemness though, "But you're still being cryptic," In a slightly threatening way, he took another step forward, "If it helps ... I know a lot of it already. You said some stuff and we filled in the gaps."