[2] The Great Orangenie | FRED WEASLEY

Chapter Fifty

"Aubrey ... are you okay?" This was a rather stupid question from Lexy; Aubrey's boyfriend had magically transformed into a weirdly clingy love-sick creature seemingly overnight. The tears in her eyes threatened to overflow but she reminded herself there were other people around and it was this thought that successfully quenched them.

"Fred, what is wrong with you?" Angelina's soft hisses were audible over the dead silence of the room, it appeared that everyone was listening intently. Yet as Aubrey regained her composure, she noticed something ... everyone was listening to Angelina except for Fred. 'Fred' was staring at her, his eyes wide, completely oblivious to his friend's lecture.

"Aubrey," She felt the gentle fingertips of Lexy Masters brush her shoulders, slowly tightening in an attempt to pull her away, "We should probably go ... you don't look okay - "

"No!" It came out louder than intended, catching everyone by surprise. Quickly she added the comforting, "I mean ... I'm fine, hon ... he probably just woke up on the wrong side of the bed or something..." but she didn't turn to look at Lexy when she spoke. Instead, her gaze remained as fixed on Fred as his was on her.

Everything about him was off - not just the out of character speech but ... literally everything. His eyes were wide and terrified but she'd been him, when he was scared he half smiled, his eyes crinkled rather than enlarged. Right now, his hands were clasped but Fred had firmly instructed her last year to only ever keep them in his pockets, folded and hanging at the side. Even the way he stood and carried himself was completely unlike him and she should know, this was a topic she'd studied in greater depth. If it hadn't been obvious before, there was no doubt about what was going on now. With last year on her mind, the conclusion suddenly became obvious.

There was no way he was her fucking boyfriend. 'Fred' was an imposter.

For most people, this would have terrified them but weirdly, it only created a strange smile across her lips. Catching and tricking imposters was her home territory, she knew how to handle this and for the first time in a while, the feeling of drowning in loose ends and unknowns lessened a little. She was in control now (hopefully) and getting Fred back would be piss easy by comparison to the wild goose chase of Gillian.

Everyone else seemed to disappear as her mind quickly got to work on the problem at hand. Even if the weird behaviour wasn't Fred's, she knew for sure that she'd seen it before. There was only one person that jumpy at school, whose eyes widened almost as much as she spewed the weirdest things any human had ever said. 

"George ... Lexy ..." Without taking her gaze off of the Imposter, her fingers gripped Lexy and George's cloaks as she began to pull them away, "Maybe I am a little ... stunned by this ... I need some time away."

The contrast between the half smile dancing across her lips and her words had clearly unnerved the small crowd around them judging by the concern etched across their faces. Even George and Lexy exchanged a nervous look yet followed nonetheless. The moment they were outside, Lexy pounced, launching a hug attack on her friend.

"Oh my God, Aubrey, are you okay? You look stunned ... you look so out of it ..." She pulled away, holding Aubrey at arm's length, "You look ... happy?"

"I am happy ... well, not really but I think I know what happened to Fred," She grinned manically in a very Fred-esque way, "That's not him - "

"You don't say," George added dryly although it was clear he wasn't taking this as calmly as Aubrey.

"It's Saskia - "

"Polyjuice potion?" Lexy guessed instantly.

"No ... no, I don't think so," Aubrey took her friend's hand, nudging her head for George to follow, "Lexy ... we have a lot to catch you up on."