petrichor ☆ fred weasley

s e v e n

"Persephone, calm down. We are fine!"

"Fred! We are not fine! We are in the middle of the Black Lake, with no wands, no paddle, nothing! We are literally up shit creek without a paddle."

Her hands gripped the edges of the boat so hard that they began to turn a ghostly shade of white as she attempted to keep herself secure within the boat. The wind was cold against her face, causing an eruption of goosebumps to appear on her pale skin.

Fred leaned forward and lightly touched the top of Persephone's head. "You're hair is turning white." he whispered, starting to look slightly worried, "in fact, most of you is turning white. Are you okay?"

She nodded, unable to speak due to the threat of the vomit lurking within her stomach.

"Hey hey hey, we are going to be okay."

Just as the words left Fred's mouth, a large scrape echoed from the underbelly of the boat. Persephone leaned over to investigate, expecting to see a branch or stick they could use to row the boat to shore. In a rush of courage, Persephone outstretched her arm to grab the thing that was scraping against the bottom.

"Sephi, be careful. Look, I'll do it, just put your arm out of the water. Please."

Relieved, she shot Fred a slight smile, and began to raise her hand from the murky water of the Black Lake. Suddenly, just as her fingertips were grazing the surface, a small webbed hand grabbed her own, pulling her overboard.

The ice cold water engulfed her body as she fell in with a scream and a loud splash. A cloud of bubbles flew from her mouth as she screamed underwater, kicking her legs and flapping her arms to whack away the Grindylows that threatened to pull her deeper into the depths of the Black Lake.

She tried to remember what her Dad had taught her about the water demon, or what she learnt in third year with Professor Quirrell, but the icy water mixed with the fear only turned her brain to mush.

The hands of the three Grindylows wrapped around her legs, scratching against the skin as they clung. With a flail of her left boot, she managed to kick the smallest one off of her, causing it to retreat. The other two on the other hand gripped her leg relentlessly, attempting to drag her down. One was clutching her right boot, so in one last attempt, she kicked off her boot, causing the second demon to disappear in the reeds.

But it was no use.

She was running out of breath.

She was getting dragged further down into the weed.

A flash of red between an explosion of bubbles could be seen as someone swam towards the girl and the desperate Grindylow. With a whack, the shirtless figure hit the remaining green beast, causing it to float away, stunned by the blast.

Fred.

Fred's large hands found themselves under the arms of Persephone, leading her up to the surface. With a burst of adrenaline, Fred lifted the soaking girl onto the boat, where he was then pulled up by the large figure of Hagrid.

Fred instantly picked up his discarded cloak and sweater, draping them across Persephone's shivering shoulders.

"What in Merlin's beard happened?" yelled Hagrid as he began to rummage through his pockets, eventually pulling out a blanket and giving it to Fred.

"W-we w-were on th-the b-boat and it s-s-s-somehow g-got free and w-we did-didn't realise u-until it was t-too late. Then I l-leaned over t-to t-try find s-something to h-help us g-get back t-to sh-shore and I was a-attacked b-by Grindylows." shivered Persephone, pulling the cloak further around her body. Her hair was still snow white, her skin tinged blue from the cold.

"Your wands?" questioned Hagrid as he began to paddle back to shore after attaching the boat he took with a thick brown rope.

"W-we left them on the d-deck. Didn't think w-we needed t-them on us w-w-while we were scr-scratching off ba-barnacles."

It wasn't long before the trio pulled back up into the boat shed, the boat tied securely to it's post, and they began their ascent to the castle.

- - -

"Dad i'm fine. Really" assured Persephone from her place in the hospital bed.

The light from the moon spilled through the large open windows, causing a rather frantic Remus Lupin to be illuminated as he paced back and forth in front his daughters bed within the hospital wing.

"You're in the hospital wing, so you're obviously not Persi."

Persephone let out a loud sigh, before taking a long sip from the thick cup containing a cup of piping chamomile. Ever since she could remember, her father had been a worrier. He was always cautious, second guessing every decision he was made to make. He always told Persephone that she took after her Mother, cautiously carefree, worrying in the wrong moments and not stressing enough in the moments it was needed.

Personally, she thought this moment was one to be spectacularly not bothered. Her hair had almost returned to its usual coppery brown colour, her skin taking up her normal pale rather than the ghostly pale brought on by the ice cold water. She was only here as a precaution. The long scratches up and down her legs had almost already healed, thanks to one of Madam Pomfrey's ointments, and her temperature had rose back to normal with the help of a few warm blankets and a few more cups of hot tea.

Fred, who was asleep in the bed next to her, stirred lightly, rolling over to face her. She couldn't help but smile as she took in the details of her new friend. His red mop of hair, still slightly damp, was stuck to his forehead, his arms and legs curled together to form a ball of Weasley.

"Was it him?" asked Remus accusingly, as he watched his daughter glance at the boy.

Persephone scoffed. "Was it him what?"

With a rise of her eyebrows, she shot her father a warning look, one he knew all too well.

"Did he make you go out on the boat? You're terrified of water, Persi. How else would you find yourself in the middle of the Black Lake, except to impress a boy."

Persephone could not believe the words that were falling from her father's lips. "Have you not heard me the past 7 million times I told you it was an accident? Merlin's Beard Dad."

Coming to a halt, Remus made his way over to the bed of his daughter, before plonking himself on the end, next to her feet.

Giving her a warm smile, he lent forward, pulling the warm blanket up to her chin. "I just worry about you Persi, I lost your mother and I don't want to lose you as well. Especially if I lost you to a smelly teenage boy, especially one who's specialty was dung bombs and Zonko's products."

Pulling her left arm out from under the blanket, she grabbed a hold of his hand.

"I appreciate that Dad, but I need to grow up one day."

He shot her back a smile, squeezing her hand a little.

"And by the way, Fred and I are just friends. So you don't have to stress about losing me to a smelly teenage boy just yet."

This time it was her Father's time to scoff as he got to his feet.

"Oh yeah, and my name isn't Remus John Lupin."

With one last tuck of the sheets, a quick goodnight and a kiss to the forehead, Remus made his way out of the hospital room.

"Oh shut up you." muttered Persephone, noticing the quiet giggles coming from the bed beside her.