Unbreakable - Fred Weasley

The Ministry

"Olivia, you cannot continue on like this. Look at your hair, the ends are covered in grime—you're covered in dirt. You can't live this way! It's not healthy." Olivia's mother begged her. Olivia looked at her parents, they had both expressed their concerns regarding her isolation over the summer, after Cedric's funeral she had rarely left her room. Oliver had to leave after only a week at home, to practice with his quidditch team. He had offered to stay, but Olivia insisted he get back to his life and not let her grief interfere.
Her mother was right, Olivia had lived in her bed and hadn't bathed or so much as run a brush through her hair. She callously eyed both her parents before defiantly raising her wand, clutching her hair in the other hand, and saying,
"Diffindo."
It looked like it was nearly two feet of hair that fell to the ground, Olivia's parent's looked at her in shock. "There. It's better now."
Olivia walked out of the kitchen and made her way back into her bedroom. She held a picture of the her and Cedric gently in her hands, they were just children, playing in the tree outside of his house.
"I wish you were here, Ced. I don't know how to be without you." Her voice was a soft croak, having not been exercised much in a few months. She had never felt more alone. Fred, in spite of telling her he'd write, had sent only two owls her way. Both short messages, one said:
I hope you're well, I miss you.
And the other said
Things are good here, I'll see you soon.
It was blatantly obvious to her that he had grown tired of her, and she never wrote back after the second letter, unable to formulate the words that she wanted—or even knowing what words she wanted for that matter.
———
The following morning Olivia's father woke her up, softly running his hands through her uneven and matted hair.
"Come with me today." He spoke gently. Preston had been worried about his daughter for weeks, she had barely eaten or left her room and if she did it was like she was a ghost haunting the halls of their house. He hadn't heard his daughter laugh or seen her smile since she returned from Hogwarts, and he couldn't blame her. Oliver had been away, so Olivia had been far more alone than he'd wished her to be over summer. She had piles of letters on her desk that she simply hadn't touched, he had only seen his daughter write to someone once, and open only two letters of the growing stack. He watched as Olivia eyed him carefully before nodding slightly and ushering him out of the room.
The hot water hit her body in a foreign way, she wasn't sure how long it had been since she'd showered, or washed her hair. She cleared the fog that had accumulated in the mirror and stared at herself, her eyes had deep circles around them- they were sunken into her face. Her hair was cut jagged, she hadn't taken any care into slicing it off. She contemplated trying to even it out with scissors, but sighed in indifference. At this point, she was unable to stand the sight of herself.
When she was done she threw on one of Cedric's Hufflepuff sweaters, and a pair of dark pants, and walked out of her bedroom.
"I'm ready dad." She looked down at her feet, as her father looked her up and down. A sad smile appeared on his face when he saw Cedric's sweater hanging off of her small frame, but he nodded nonetheless and turned to his wife, Anna.
"We'll be back tonight."
Anna looked at her husband and daughter, who she was surprised to see going out and smiled.
"Shall we?" Preston asked Olivia, holding his arm out, Olivia latched onto it uncertainly and they were off.
—
Olivia still was not used to apparating, she keeled over on the streets of London as soon as her feet hit the ground. Her father waited patiently for her to compose herself.
"I just have a few things I have to do at the office, and then we can get on with our day."
Olivia nodded and sighed, not wanting to visit the ministry of magic. Her father worked in the Accidental Magical Reversal Squad and most of his office mates were kind and funny, but Olivia was in no mood for visiting. She let herself be dragged along by her father and enter the Ministry, where a haughty wizard stopped them and asked for their wands.
"12 1/4 inches, ash, and unicorn hair? Used for six years, correct?" The wizard asked. Olivia nodded and narrowed her eyes at the man,
"That's correct."
"Go on then," the wizard ushered them away and she tucked it back into her jumper.
"Olivia, where's your wand?" Her father asked her curiously,
"With Cedric." She replied, keeping her eyes in front of her.
"Then, that's his?"
"Yes."
"Alright." Preston was surprised he hadn't noticed that she hadn't had her own wand for the past few weeks, but decided to leave it be for the sake of not wanting to pry and upset her. He stepped into the elevator, Olivia falling behind him. She watched as the inter office memos flew in and out of the elevator at each floor, and waited until they reached the third floor. She had been in the ministry a great number of times, the grandeur of the building no longer holding her fascination. Colours seems to have faded for her since Cedric died, nothing was quite the same, nothing quite as bright as it once was. Her father led her out and they walked into his office. She looked down at her feet in order to ensure she wouldn't be spoken to, and sat on a chair in his office while he got some paperwork finished. She was absentmindedly twirling her wand about in her hands when she saw a moving picture of Harry on a copy of the Daily Prophet. Puzzled, she reached for it, plucking it from where it had been carelessly strewn on her fathers desk.
The Boy Who Lies? It read. Olivia skimmed through the pages frantically until she could no longer look at it, angrily slapping the paper down on her father's desk,
"What the bloody hell is this?" She asked shrilly, her eyes shimmering menacingly. Preston, having barely heard any noise come out of his daughters mouth for months, jumped in surprise at not only the sound of her voice- but the angry sound in her voice.
"Fudge believes that Harry is lying, he and Dumbledore."
"Oh, and I suppose Cedric just accidentally got himself killed?" She was incensed, there was no talking her down at this point— Preston knew this.
"Darling, there's nothing you can do to change that."
"Do you believe this garbage?" She demanded to know, her eyes were wild but there was a silent plea behind them.
"Your mother and I have been more worried about you than anything, we haven't discussed any of this." He motioned towards the paper in her hand. Not satisfied with that answer, Olivia stormed out of the office and down the hall. She made her way into an elevator and up to the main floor. She was clutching the paper so tightly that she thought she'd never be able to open her palm again, and so engrossed in thought, she walked right into a tall wizard and was knocked to the ground, Cedric's wand clattering about on the floor behind her. She desperately fumbled around for it before turning around and noticing an arm extended towards her. Grabbing the arm that was outstretched, she opened her mouth to apologize and thank the stranger, not anticipating who she was going to see.
"Harry? Mr. Weasley?" She asked, wide-eyed. She was surprised to be seeing either wizard, especially Harry, at the ministry.
"Olivia." Was all Harry could say, he saw a girl who looked worse-for-wear and sad— all he could think about was Cedric falling to the ground after Pettigrew killed him. He averted his eyes quickly, thinking that she might be able to gaze into his thoughts and see Cedric's last moments.
"Where were you off to?" Arthur asked the girl, her focus shifted to him.
"I, er, I'm not sure... I suppose I was... well, you see, this is the first time I actually, have er... left my house. But I saw... this," she lifted the paper to Arthur and Harry, "and I was too upset to stay here... I reckon, I don't know where I'm headed..."
"Is your father here?" Arthur asked,
"Yes." She glared, the change in demeanour noticeable to both Arthur and Harry.
"Why don't you come with us?" Harry asked, Mr. Weasley shot him a look, but Harry insisted.
"To where?"
"You'll see. The Weasley's are all there, they'll be so happy to see you." Harry told her, she remembered Fred saying that they were out of town and wondered where Harry was taking her.
"S-sure." She stammered, "but I've got to send my dad a note."
"No worries, I'll do it." Arthur said, and he sent a spell, a Patronus, down towards the elevator and to Preston. Olivia followed the two wizards and found herself nervous so see one particular, familiar, face.
———
Olivia stayed back, letting Harry go in first and heard all the happy voices, "he got off, he got off, he got off..." was being chanted throughout the house. Olivia looked at the dingy grey walls and wondered what she was even doing there. Or where here was, for that matter. Perhaps, she could just slip out unnoticed and go back to her house, or, she had the sudden overwhelming urge to visit Cedric's grave. She hadn't been able to bring herself to visit at all since the funeral, but right now there was nothing that she wanted more. She pondered the possibility, but realized that she still hadn't the slightest idea where she was, or how she would even begin to get home.
"Shut up!" She heard Molly yell at them all, and her heart sank when she heard Harry call to her,
"Olivia? Where did you go?"
"Olivia?" She heard Ron ask,
"Wood?" Fred's curious voice cut through the air like a knife. Olivia sheepishly walked into the room that they were all in and was surprised to see that not only were the Weasley's there, but Hermione, and Sirius Black.
"H-hello." She waved awkwardly and had numerous eyes watch her. Fred was the first out of his chair and he nearly knocked her over as he ran into her. Perhaps, she thought, he isn't tired of me.
"Wood, you're here!" He beamed, leading her to a seat at the table. She noticed his hair was much shorter than when she'd last seen him, not nearly as unkempt. She missed the wildness of it, but it suited him short just the same.
"I'm here." Was all she could manage to say, her eyes went to Sirius who nodded to her and smiled, she nodded back.
"What've you done to your hair?" Ron asked suddenly, shortly followed by an 'ow!' as Hermione elbowed him in the ribs. Olivia's face flushed and her hand went to her hair self-consciously.
"I think it looks smart Olive, real edgy." George said with laughter in his voice, he went a wink her way. While she knew he was trying to make her feel better, she only felt worse.
"Shush up you two! Really... and to think I tried to raise gentlemen." Mrs. Weasley sighed, "Olivia, follow me and we'll fix it right up for you dear." And with that she walked out of the room. Olivia deeply uncomfortable, and not wanting to be the centre of attention any longer, followed her wordlessly and found herself sitting on a chair in a grimy bathroom. Mrs. Weasley was holding out both ends of her hair and frowning slightly,
"Where... did you have this done?" She asked cautiously, Olivia cleared her throat.
"I... I did it myself. I just, I used diffindo, and it wasn't... I didn't... think it through, I suppose." Olivia watched Molly's expression in the mirror, it was one of great sadness, and then their eyes met and Molly smiled,
"We'll fix it up in no time."
Olivia sat still while Molly cut around her head, the scissors making their sharp noise. She stared blankly at her reflection until she was finished, her hair was even, and Molly had layered a bit— it certainly looked much better than before.
"Thank you. It looks lovely." She turned to the Weasley matriarch and, while still not able to smile, was able to ensure that Molly understood she was grateful. They walked down towards the kitchen together, where they'd left everyone and found that only Fred was there.
"The others went to clean." He said, as if reading Olivia's mind.
"And you're not cleaning?" Mrs. Weasley asked sternly,
"Were you waiting for me?" Olivia asked sheepishly, looking at Fred who smiled at her. Mrs. Weasley looked between her son and Olivia, and gave him a reassuring look before turning out of the room, "I'm going to check on your brother. Merlin knows what he's getting himself into."
Fred stood up and sauntered over to Olivia, who felt as if her feet were glued to the floor.
"It's really nice to see you." He said, her heart fell at the word nice. She didn't know what was wrong with her, why was she upset at all, it wasn't like that was a rude thing to say.
"Yes, well it's nice to see you too." She practically spat out the word nice and turned away from him, but he held her shoulders and backed her into the wall, she was trapped between his arms. His face was dangerously close to hers, she could smell cinnamon and butterbeer on his breath.
"Love, it was more than nice. But I know you're going through a lot," he looked down at her sweater and his face fell slightly, he dropped his arms, "I don't want you to feel like you have to make any sort of decision right now... but, my feelings haven't changed. If yours have... if you even had feelings, well, I just... I'm trying to say that I'm alright if you're done... with this."
Olivia felt her heart flutter, but then a wave of deep sorrow washed over her body. How could she let herself feel anything when her best friend—her soulmate—had just died? She met Fred's eyes and felt like she was being pulled into a deep trance, there was something she'd always wanted to tell him, and she felt like she was burning up inside.
"I love you." She saw his body stiffen and watched as a surprised look crossed his face. She looked at her feet for a moment, trying to find her courage, before looking him straight in the eyes again. "But, it's too soon."
"I understand." He reassured her, a smile on his face, but she was sure there was a hint of sadness in his eyes. He took a step towards her and she hopped away, scared of what his proximity did to her.
"I'm sorry— I shouldn't have said— what, with Katie, and I wasn't thinking. You have—er, were clear in your letters, and—" She chewed her lip, suddenly mortified by her words, having not thought them through. His actions, she was certain, were ones of displeasure.
"I broke up with Katie, after the Third Task... and Wood, you know I love you, I just told you that my feelings haven't changed." He cut her off, keeping the distance, she placed, between them. He smiled brightly at her, and reached out for her hand, "I'll wait for you to be ready, no matter how long it takes."
"Alright." Olivia sighed, watching him carefully she reached for the hand that he extended towards her and pulled him close again.
"You never responded to my second owl," he smirked. Olivia pursed her lips,
"How do you respond to one sentence?"
"You wound me, Wood." he placed his free hand on his heart, "what I sent was a work of art,"
"Well alright Weasley, I reckon then I need to go home so I can get to writing a suitable response back to your art." She said coyly.
"Careful Wood, that's twice now that you've insulted my masterpiece." He furrowed his brow at her while throwing her a look of mock condescension. Olivia rolled her eyes,
"I really ought to be headed back. I haven't the slightest idea where I am, and I left my dad quite abruptly at the ministry." She frowned in remembrance, the picture of Harry burned into her brain.
"I'll take you."
"I think we'd have to apparate? So your mom will likely have t-"
"I can apparate, Wood."
"You mean, you passed?" She asked incredulously,
"With distinction," he bragged, "hey, don't give me that look!"
And Olivia laughed, for the first time since Cedric died, she laughed.
—————
Eeeeee, sorry I know this chapter is uuuuber long but there was a lot that I needed to put into it.
Forgive me. It seems to be recurring, so... I guess look forward to long chapters?