Unbreakable - Fred Weasley

Never

After the second task Olivia couldn't shake the hordes of students questioning her and Cedric about what happened in the water. Everyone seemed to be fascinated with them, and as much as she insisted that she was asleep, they pestered her nonetheless. She and Cedric spent most of their time in his dormitory, hiding behind the curtains of his bed. They were well into March by now, and they were still being accosted by people at every turn.
"What do you reckon the third task will be?" She asked, stuffing another chocolate frog in her mouth. Cedric's parents had been so proud of his coming in first place in the second task they'd sent a care package full to the brim with sweets.
"Dunno. It's gotta be something terrifying though, seeing as we've already seen dragons. It's meant to be the worst of the tasks." He said chewing, Olivia nodded and smiled,
"Well, I'm sure you'll win first again."
Cedric smiled back at her and popped another Bertie botts bean into his mouth. He scowled at the taste and spat it into his hand as Olivia fell into a fit of giggles.
"What was it?"
"I reckon it was bile." He was still frowning, even more so at the fact that Olivia was laughing at him.
"Listen Ced, I'd better go." She said, starting to get up again.
"You're not staying the night?" Cedric asked, she shook her head.
"I think I'd better go to my own dorm." Olivia had been stuck with Cedric and was wanting to go to the Gryffindor common room again and see if she could speak to Fred. It was just past curfew, so she knew she'd be able to make it there without being seen and bothered by too many people.
"Alright, would you like me to walk you?" He started to get up, but Olivia shook her head profusely.
"No, no. You stay here and I'll see you tomorrow." She pulled the curtain back and slipped out of sight. She made her way out of the Hufflepuff Common Room as quickly as possible and sped up the steps towards the Gryffindor tower. An arm grabbed her and she fell into a broom cupboard, grabbing her wand and holding it to the person who'd grabbed her.
"Who are you?" She said, thankful for the darkness as she was sure her hand was shaking,
"Shhh," the voice said.
"I will not, I demand to know-"
A hand covered her mouth and she heard a shush again. She heard footsteps outside of the cupboard and caught her breath. There was an unmistakeable 'meow' of Mrs. Norris. She stayed as still and as silent as possible until she heard the footsteps go down the hall. She bit the hand over her mouth quickly, eliciting a "bloody hell!" and jumped away from the person who had been holding her moments before.
"Lumos," she whispered, George stiffened when he looked at her. He'd known it was her, and cursed himself for not just letting her be and get detention, but standing in front of her was a different feeling entirely. Slight recognition flickered over her face and she looked at him suspiciously.
"It's George!" He stuck his hand out, she jumped back at the sudden movement.
"Hello. I'm Olivia, but you must know that already?" She said furrowing her brow. He looked down slightly and she pursed her lips. "Thank you, but I think I'll be going now." As she reached for the door it swung open and she came face-to-face with a smiling Fred towing along a giggling girl. George's eyes widened when he saw Fred and Katie. Fred's face fell as soon as he saw Olivia, he dropped Katie's hand and looked into her eyes. For a moment she looked angry, like the old Olivia, like the Olivia that knew him, but her face changed quickly to one of confusion.
"R-right, sorry to disturb all of you." She looked back at George, "thank you... again, for... that. It was nice meeting you..." she stepped around Fred and the girl and made her way to the stairs.
"I'll walk you!" Freds voice suddenly said, he took two big steps before she turned,
"No. I don't need to be accompanied. Your, er, companion will miss you- I'm sure." Her voice was cold, void of any emotion. She turned back around quickly ran up the steps, and felt tears slipping down her face. "Bloody hell." She said to herself. Why was she crying again?
———
The next morning she met Cedric at the Hufflepuff table and smiled, not wanting to mention what had happened after she'd left the Hufflepuff Common Room last night.
"How'd you sleep?" He asked, taking a bite of toast.
"Well, I think. What about you?" She asked, he nodded in reply. The weather had been especially windy for March, and the owl post had been delayed. Olivia hadn't been expecting anything, but a very regal looking owl flew down to her and dropped a letter on her plate. It's feathers were terribly wind-blown and she looked at Cedric,
"Ced, do you have anything, for?" She motioned to the owl. Cedric quickly checked his pockets and paid the owl with what he had. It looked at the two students judgementally, or as judgemental as an owl could look at someone, Olivia thought. It flew away, its wing hitting Olivia's face as it took off.
"Bloody hell." She mumbled as she turned over the parchment,
B. Weasley, it read. She furrowed her brow, "B. Weasley? Cedric, do you know anyone-"
Cedric quickly snatched the paper away from Olivia and pocketed it,
"It's for me."
"But... the owl brought it to me?"
"It must have been mistaken."
"You know a B. Weasley?"
"You know dad and the Weasley's are friends. Bill and I got on when we were kids, and he's been sending me some letters occasionally." Cedric lied, for what felt like to millionth time to her. She looked suspicious but nodded along,
"Right." She said, she started to get up,
"Where are you going?" Cedric asked worriedly,
"Library." She spoke very slowly, enunciating every syllable of the word. She started walking away before he could reply, and as soon as she left he sauntered over to the Gryffindor table.
"Fred, mate, do you mind if I had a word?" He awkwardly asked. Fred looked up at Cedric, as did George, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Angelina, and Lee.
"What is it?" Fred asked, he took his arm from where it was resting on the table and used it to push himself up.
"Just, here." Cedric stuck the envelope out to Fred, "it came for Olivia this morning. I told her it was mine, it's from your brother. Bill. I don't know what it says."
Fred took the envelope and nodded.
"Why would Bill be owling Olivia?" George asked.
"He knew. About, er, our problem. She'd been asking him for help."
"Because he's a curse-breaker." Hermione piped in quickly,
"Everyone knows?" Cedric said in a low voice. George nodded while Fred still stood staring at the letter. "Right, well, I'll leave you to it." Cedric walked away and they all watched him go.
"What's it say?" Ron asked, Hermione hit him in the stomach, reprimanding him in harsh whispers. Fred walked out of the Great Hall and towards the library.
———
"Alright Olivia, you can do it." She prepped herself. She'd been researching spells for some time and after what happened with the letter, that Cedric insisted was his, she couldn't take it anymore. Her mind had to be clear, she couldn't live with it the way it was. She'd been reading different spells and thought she'd found one that would work. She'd never tried a spell of this sort by herself, or on her own before but she needed to. She had her wand pointed to herself and was breathing deeply.
"What are you doing?" A voice asked from behind her. She turned and saw Fred staring at her intensely.
"I-I'm trying out a spell." She realized how mad she must have looked, her wand was carefully placed at her temple and a book of charms was open in front of her.
"What kind of spell?" He asked, walking over casually, taking a look at the spell book in front of her. His heart froze when he realized they were all memory charms, memory retrieval charms in particular.
"Why are you here?" She sighed, letting her hand fall down, her wand tucked against her body. She was immediately aware of how close he was to her, he leaned over and shut the book behind her.
"To find you." He said. She nodded and looked forward. Her heart was racing wildly, she turned to look at him. He was staring back at her, in such a sad way, his brown eyes carried such a sorrow in them. She didn't know why she did it, later she'd tell herself that she was overtired and jittery, but she leaned into him and pressed her lips to his. His hands found her face and he pulled her closer, she breathed him in, it felt so natural. Their lips greeted each other as if they were old friends, and she felt her heart flutter. She was terribly ill prepared when he suddenly recoiled and pushed her away, she tumbled to the ground and shot him a puzzled look. He towered over her, and looked furious.
"What was that?"
"I just, I was c-curious, and-"
"I don't fancy you." He said coldly, she felt a chill run through her.
"You kissed me back." She replied indignantly,
"I have a girlfriend." He scolded her.
"Then why are you here? You said you came to find me?" She stood up, wobbling slightly, Fred shot his hand out to help stabilize her unconsciously but she yanked her arm away, "go then."
He looked at her and she glared back at him, he made no move to leave.
"I'll go then." She hissed, and stalked out of the library— all the while Madame Pince was shouting after her to be quiet. By the time she got to her dormitory no one else was there, they were still at breakfast she guessed. She closed her curtains and tried to make sense of what had just happened. She didn't know why her impulse was to kiss him, and why kissing him felt so... good. Tears ran down her face against her will, but she simply didn't feel anything. She wasn't sad that he'd refused her, she had no reason to be, he did have a girlfriend and she kissed him regardless. But that didn't explain why she felt so betrayed, why she felt so upset, why she felt so mad. Olivia told herself that there was no reason to feel those things, or to care at all. She fell asleep like that, the odd tear running down her face and not understanding why. She knew for certain though, that she never wanted to see Fred Weasley again.
—————