Unbreakable - Fred Weasley

The Riddle

"What do you mean Professor Moody told you how to solve the egg?" Olivia asked surprised as they walked into the Great Hall. It was the last day of classes before the break and it was bustling with students talking about the ball.
"He didn't tell me exactly what to do, but he suggested taking it to water." Cedric explained,
"Taking it to water?" She looked up at him. He nodded and shrugged,
"It couldn't hurt to try, I suppose."
"I'm coming with you." She insisted, he smirked.
"I couldn't imagine you doing anything else. I reckon we should try the prefects bathroom, tonight after curfew?"
"Cedric, you rule-breaker!" She teased, but nonetheless agreed to meet him. She anxiously sat through the rest of her classes, willing the clocks to go faster so she could solve the riddle with him. By the time dinner had rolled around she was all nerves, jumpy, and had clammy hands.
"Are you quite alright?" Cho asked her, looking very concerned. Olivia was about to answer when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see George smiling at her. She looked at him quizzically,
"How can I help you Georgie?" Still anxious about Cedric she tried to sound nonchalant.
"I heard you don't have a date to the ball." She frowned and felt the blood rush to her cheeks. She'd been asked by a few of the Beauxbaton and Durmstrang blokes, but had turned them down- wishing she could go with Fred and hating anyone that asked her that wasn't him.
"That's right." She looked up at him with her lips pursed together, "why?" She narrowed her eyes at him.
"I thought that'd be obvious Olive. For a Ravenclaw you really are daft- I'm asking if you'll go with me." He smirked- nearly the same smirk that Fred always had plastered on his face and her heart longed for him in that moment. She ignored the slight burning of her arm, and tilted her head to the side studying him.
"Is this a joke?" She asked peering at him, he held both arms up in innocence.
"No, I swear to Merlin."
"How is it that you don't have a date. You're quite popular." She wasn't sure if she should trust him or not.
"I could say the same about you. Will you come or not?" He asked, crossing his arms. She looked him over for a few more seconds, thinking she needed a date and that he was a good friend.
"I'd love to." She smiled finally and he let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding.
"I'll see you then Olive!"
"O-LIVIA!" She yelled after him as he ran back to the Gryffindor table laughing. George sauntered back to his seat next to Fred, who had a mouthful of food.
"What was that about?" Fred asked suspiciously,
"I asked Olivia to the ball." George stated, scooping a large bite of potatoes into his mouth.
"You what?" Angelina asked, looking between the two of them. Fred had put his fork down and sat staring at his brother who was eating happily.
"Why?" He asked curiously- trying not to show his agitation.
"Because she didn't have a date and neither do I. Relax mate, we're just friends. And this way she won't have some bloke from another school trying to snog her all night."
"I suppose that's true..." Angelina said thoughtfully, nodding to herself.
"Right." Fred said, in a more normal state than he'd just been, and continued eating. He allowed himself to look up towards Olivia, having been avoiding her for some time now, and saw she was looking right towards him. She looked away quickly when she caught his eye and started talking to Cho Chang.
—————
"Holy Merlin Cedric, this bathroom is amazing." Olivia was spinning around the large room taking in all the sights. "I can't believe you've kept this from me!"
The moonlight shone in colourful through the stained glass and she gasped when she saw the size of the tub- it was a magnificent pool. Cedric laughed and threw her one of the towels he had been carrying, then carefully turned the tap on. Water came rushing through, Olivia stood in awe of all of the different colours that there were and played around with the different aromas and soaps before Cedric finally had the heart to clear his throat and shift her focus elsewhere. She looked over to him, clad in his swimming trunks, and quickly stripped down to her swimming suit. They nodded to each other and both climbed into the pool, the egg sitting on the edge.
"Do you reckon it will do something just being by the water?" He asked, about to pull the top up. She shook her head and took it from him quickly.
"Perhaps it has to go into the water."
He made an 'O' with his mouth and she sunk the egg into the water holding it firmly in both hands. She looked up at him, he nodded, and she pulled up the top handle. Bracing for a terrible screech, even underwater, she heard a melody and listened closely.
"It's no use, we've got to go under too." She said to him. She scooted off of the seat she was in and sunk into the water, over her head. Cedric joined her, she saw his blurry figure through the water. She heard a beautiful voice cut through the water clearly:
'Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching, ponder this:
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour— the prospect's black
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.'
She surfaced and gasped for air, Cedric following suit. They tried to regulate their breath for a few minutes before either one spoke.
"What the bloody hell does that mean?" Cedric asked. Olivia thought about the lyrics,
"I reckon you're going to have to find something... You're not great under time constraints are you?" She bit her lip as he shook his head no. They sat in the water long after the bubbles had disappeared, the water had begun to grow cold as she went over the lyrics again and again in her head.
"We'd best get going." Cedric stood up and reached for her hand. She was entranced by the riddle and didn't take notice of it. He sighed and pulled her up and out of the water. "You need to get some sleep."
"Yea... right..." she trailed off and he knew she wasn't listening to him, she was piecing together everything she'd heard and going through every spell that she knew. Cedric wrapped her towel around her and ushered her out of the bathroom.
"I'll walk you back?" He asked, she held her hand out and shook her head.
"No, I know the way Ced." She walked off still running through the words and not noticing the trail of water she was leaving behind her, nor the smiling Hufflepuff shaking his head behind her. Cedric watched her leave, knowing she wouldn't get a wink of sleep. When she was fixated on something, nothing else existed. And he loved her for it.
"Oi, Freddie, what's that noise?" George whispered, hearing a slapping noise through the corridors. It was well after midnight and no one should be out and about- even Filch.
"Dunno Georgie..." Fred trailed off and they both looked around the corner. They saw a very wet Olivia, wrapped in a big white towel, walking barefoot and dripping water down the hallway.
"... seek us where our voices sound, cannot sing above ground... an hour long... too late, it's gone, it won't come back..." she was chanting quietly to herself as she made her way up the stairs. They watched confused as she made her way farther up the stairs and out of sight.
"Perhaps she's gone mad?" George asked Fred, who shook his head no.
"I don't reckon I know." Fred answered, he thought it sounded like a riddle. "I'm going to follow her, and make sure she gets back to her common room safely."
George nodded and Fred made his way up the stairs, following the trail of water that she left. He walked slowly, quietly, so as to not startle her. They walked up two more flights of stairs together, but apart, Fred keeping a close eye on her. When she got to the top of the second flight her foot slipped and she tumbled backward.
Bracing for the worst Olivia dropped her towel and tried to protect her head from what she knew would be unforgiving stone steps. She had not expected to fall into the warm arms of a flustered looking Fred Weasley.
"Watch your step, love." Fred said softly, smirking at her. She looked into his eyes, surprised to see him there- she wasn't quite sure if she was dreaming or not. They hadn't spoken in weeks and any interaction they'd had had not been, strained- to say the least.
"You saved me." She breathed, "thank you."
"Honestly Wood, how do you live without me?" He teased, smiling as big as ever. He looked down at her and saw what looked like concentric red burns all over her right arm, he furrowed his brow.
"I don't know." It just came out. She closed her mouth quickly and saw his eyes soften. She became hyper aware of the fact that she was still in her skimpy two-pieced bathing suit and that his arms were wrapped around the bare flesh of her abdomen. Even more aware of the fact that her arm was looking particularly bad today and Fred's eyes had just narrowed in on it. She frantically peeled herself away from him and scrambled to wrap the towel around her body and right arm. She felt a blush creeping up her neck.
"I reckon I prefer you without the towel, love." He winked, causing her face to flush more. She took a breath and let it out into a sigh.
"Honestly Weasley, didn't anyone ever teach you not to be so crass around a lady?"
"Ladies don't wear things like that." He raised his eyebrows and motioned towards her- now- towel-clad body. She didn't think it was anything special, just a regular two piece bikini- perhaps a little lower cut than most. She rolled her eyes and narrowed them down at him.
"What are you doing here anyway? It's past curfew."
"I could ask you the same thing." He folded his arms over his chest in an authoritative way.
"Never mind. I'm going to sleep." She felt a wave of exhaustion pass over her, and just wanted to crawl into her bed.
"I'll walk with you-"
"I'm fin-"
"You just fell down the ruddy stairs for Merlin's sake!" He rushed up beside her, refusing to go anywhere.
"Fine." She said, worrying about him seeing her arm. She couldn't help but smile though, as he walked wordlessly beside her. She had missed him, not even him, but his presence. If she could spend the rest of her life just, at least, close to him, she would survive.
"You're going to the ball with George?" He asked her, she looked at him sternly.
"You're going with Angelina?" She countered, he looked away and then back at her.
"We'll see a lot of each other I reckon."
"I reckon you're right." She agreed. A small smile crept over his face and she smiled too, looking away so he wouldn't see. They trudged up the stairs and made it to the outside of the common room.
"What has to be broken before you can use it?" The eagle croaked.
"What was that riddle you were reciting earlier? Before you fell?" He suddenly asked, she looked back at him and he searched her eyes.
"What riddle?"
"The one about the mermaids?"
"Mermaids...?" She asked slowly looking confused,
"You know, 'cannot sing above ground' and 'seek us where our voices sound'?"
Her eyes widened as she realized,
"Mermaids!"
"Er, yea." He said awkwardly running his hand through his hair, she looked up at him in awe and smiled- a bigger smile than he'd ever seen on her.
"Mermaids, Fred, you're bloody brilliant!" She gushed wrapping her arms around him, the towel dropping to the ground again. She pulled away and in a sheer moment of recklessness and joy, she pressed her lips against his for a moment. He didn't have any time to react as she pulled away quickly and bent down for her towel. Wrapping it back around herself in record time she turned towards the door and asked the eagle,
"Can you repeat the riddle?"
"The answer's an egg, love."
She turned towards him as the door began to open, but he'd already turned away. She saw the tip of his head disappear down the steps and then walked into the common room. Once she got into her room she quietly crept into her bed and stripped off her wet bathing suit. She slipped into her pyjamas and pulled Fred's Gryffindor jumper over top. She felt her wet hair drip down her face but closed her eyes nonetheless. She let herself dream about him. There was nothing real, no burning, no hurting anyone, no hurting herself. Just a dream.
———
Olivia woke up Christmas morning to Cho and Marietta excitedly chattering about their gifts. She sat up and stretched, noticing the wrapped gifts at the foot of her bed, she smiled. Her parents had sent her sweets and new stockings, as well as a new pair of shoes. Cedric had given her new notebooks and quills, and Cho and Marietta gave her parchment and quick-drying ink. Oliver had sent her tickets to Puddlemore United Quidditch games over the summer, and she was excited to see him play. There was one more gift, a small one at the bottom of her pile. It was wrapped simply in parchment, with red ribbon tied around it. She opened it carefully and stared at the contents. She pulled out a silver necklace with a small red stone hanging from it. She searched the parcel for a name, but only found a note. To the most brilliant girl in the world, Happy Christmas. Her breath caught in her throat and she stared at the note with a goofy grin.
"What's that?" Cho asked, mouth full of chocolate that she'd gotten,
"N-nothing. Just a necklace." She pocketed the note and held the necklace out to the girls.
"That's beautiful!" Marietta gasped, "who's it from?"
"I don't know. There was no note."
"Probably from Cedric." Marietta insisted, Cho had gone quiet.
"Yeah," Olivia smiled, knowing that it wasn't, "probably."
———
"Hermione, are you just about ready?" Olivia walked over to he friend who was sitting outside watching a snowball fight between most of the Gryffindors.
"Yes!" Hermione smiled, standing up.
"What you need three hours?" Said Ron looking incredulously at the girls, his loss of concentration resulted in a large snowball being thrown into the side of his head by George. Olivia giggled and waved to him. "Who're you going with?" Ron called after Hermione, but she didn't reply. Olivia looked back quickly and scanned the area for Fred. He made eye contact and smiled, she turned her head away quickly. Hermione raised her eyebrows, watching a sweet smile creep over Olivia's face.
"What is that about?"
"No one." Olivia said defensively. Hermione kept smiling but said nothing more. They reached their way to Olivia's dormitory and began getting ready with Cho and Marietta.
"What are you wearing?" Hermione asked, sitting while Cho and Olivia poured Sleakeazy Hair Potion on her head.
"Oh, uhm, I'm not sure actually. I haven't taken a look at it yet." She replied.
"What?" She asked. Olivia looked up to see Marietta, Cho, and Hermione all staring at her with their eyebrows raised.
"What? My mum picked it and told me not to ruin the surprise for myself." She held her arms up.
"But surely once the ball was announced you realized that that was the surprise?" Marietta asked.
"I guess not." Olivia mumbled, working on Hermione's hair still. She looked up again and rolled her eyes at Cho and Marietta who were still staring at her with their mouths agape. "Fine." She walked to her trunk and pulled the garment bag from the bottom. She unzipped it and held her breath. It was a two piece white dress, the top was a beautiful lace with long sleeves and the skirt was flowy and white, with a slit that went high up her thigh. She put it on quickly, hoping to appease the shocked girls. There was a small amount of skin that was left between the top and bottom, exposing her midriff slightly.
"Liv. You look beautiful." Cho gushed, Marietta and Hermione nodding along encouragingly. She had left her hair down in wavy tressles with Hermione used a charm to make a wreath of flowers appear at the top of her head. She didn't let Marietta put a lot of makeup on her either, preferring a more subdued look. She slipped on a pair of flat-bottomed shoes and looked around the room at the girls.
"You all look wonderful. Your dates will be blown away." She smiled at Cho who looked down sheepishly. Hermione had left early to be picked up by Viktor, and Cedric met Cho at the Ravenclaw Common Room.
"You-you look beautiful Cho." Cedric stammered slightly, beaming at the girl. Cho smiled and looked at the ground. Cedric met Olivia's eyes, "you do too. Is George meeting you here?"
Olivia shook her head, "No. I'll meet him at the entrance hall. You two go on ahead." She insisted, shooing them away. She made her way slowly, nervous to be seen by everyone wearing what she could only assume was probably a wedding dress. She didn't love attention and her palms were sweating slightly. She pulled her sleeves down so they covered some of her hands and set off, down to the ball.