✓ | Constellations; Fred Weasley [Book One]

Chapter 10

The Other Weasley

That night, Venus skipped the last dinner for the term. Having told Grace to tell the twins that she was not feeling well, she went up the Astronomy Tower to think. Despite the talk she had with Harry, she was not fine, which was to be expected. The girl spent her life wishing someone would tell her more about her parents and now that she found out, she started wishing that she did not. She would have to live with the fact that her father was the reason that Harry was an orphan and that her mother was dead. She never even knew him and yet, she felt so guilty she refused to be in the same room as the younger boy again.

"What are you doing here?" Venus turned around sharply, quite surprised by the voice who interrupted her thoughts. It was Fred.

"I could ask you the same thing." Venus gulped. It was the first time she was hiding something from her best friends, well apart from that one time in first year when it was her time of the month and she was craving all sorts of food but was too embarrassed to tell the twins. Of course, they ended up figuring it out anyway, when they had to take her to the infirmary due to bad stomach cramps.

"I actually came up here to look for you. George went outside and Lee decided to look in the Room of Requirement. I suppose Grace is searching the girl's bathroom."

Venus felt guilty for making her friends worry so much about her but she still turned her attention back to the clear starry sky.

"If you're going to disappear like this, you might as well hurry up with the map so we'll know where you are," the boy told her.

"Why? So you can stalk me?" Venus chuckled lightly.

"Vee," Fred said, taking a seat beside her, "George and I, both know that you're not telling us something. Ever since Dad talked to you at the train station, you have been behaving weirdly. I don't know what happened then or what happened today, but we're here for you and we will always be."

Tears were suddenly streaming down her face again, but this time, it was Fred who took her face in his hands and wiped them away with the tips of his fingers. However, instead of calming down, Venus buried her face in his chest and started crying harder. It was not the first time that the girl had cried in front of one of the twins, but it was the first time that they did not know why she was crying. So Fred just comforted her until she stopped crying. They stayed still in each others' arms for quite some time, until Fred broke the silence.

"I wonder what would Harry think. I mean, he has the map and we've been here for quite sometime now." Venus got the gist of what he was trying to say and punched his arm slightly.

"Shut up," she chuckled.

"Hey Fred, I promise you that I'll tell you guys what happened, whenever I feel ready."

"It's okay Vee. Even if you don't tell us, we're still here for you as we'll always be."

☆

The next day, Venus found herself at King's Cross along with Percy, the twins, Ginny and Mr and Mrs Weasley. Ron had stayed back with Harry and Hermione. Although she insisted that she would be able to do it on her own, Mr Weasley had taken her to her aunt's house first, to get her a few things she needed from there, before going to the Burrow where she would be spending both Christmas and New Year's.

The days went by quite quickly. On most days, the twins and Venus were cooped up in the twins' room, working on the joke products that they were creating, without the knowledge of the Weasley parents, obviously, or Molly would definitely kick them out. Ginny sometimes helped them. If they were not doing that, then they were busy pulling pranks on Percy. Venus had decided that she would deal with her parental issues when the holidays are over.

On Christmas morning, the whole family's, including Venus' gift came in the form of a person. All of the Weasley children, apart from Percy, had woken up exceptionally early on that day. There was a knock at the door. The twins looked up at her from their cups of tea. She turned to look at Ginny but the younger girl grimaced at her. Muttering a few words about lazy people, she stood up and went to unlock the door, wand in hand just in case. The door, however, opened to reveal a handsome young man in his early twenties with long red hair that reached his shoulders.

"Charlie!" Venus jumped in the said man's arms as soon as he opened them to hug the girl. The second oldest Weasley child, well who was an adult now, ruffled her dark hair slightly before going to meet his other siblings. To Venus, Charlie was the older brother she never had. Well, Bill, the oldest Weasley boy was like her brother too but she was closer to Charlie than Bill. While Bill came to the Burrow rarely because of his job at Gringotts in Egypt, Charlie was even rarer. The man worked in a dragon reserve in Romania and he hardly had any time to visit his family.

Not long after Charlie's arrival, they all opened their gifts. Venus had gotten the classic sweater from Molly. It was blue and had a 'V' stitched on it. The twins had gifted her a box full of joke products that she had never seen before, which she figured they made without her knowledge. She had also gotten books from both Ginny and Charlie. Later in the day, an owl came with another package for her. It was a golden necklace sporting her name, 'Venus' on it.

"That's a beautiful necklace. Is it from your boyfriend?" It was Charlie who had asked her.

"Vee doesn't have a boyfriend," Fred was rather quick to reply in her stead.

"Oh yeah. And how would you know that?" Charlie challenged.

"Of course we'd know. We're her best friends." This time it was George who had spoken up. The twins turned to look at their best friend, as if for confirmation. The latter let out a laugh.

"I do not have a boyfriend guys. Also I don't know who gave me this. There's no name or address on the package," Venus told them.

"Secret admirer then?" Charlie chuckled but stopped when Molly whacked him in the head.

"Ouch Mum. That hurt."

"That's for not visiting earlier. Venus dear, can I have that necklace?" Molly asked, and Venus gave it to her, not quite understanding why she would ask for it.

"We will look into it for jinxes first. If it's safe, you'll be able to have it. Due to the recent events, I believe that the package might be from Black," Mr Weasley told her.

Of course, Venus was quite saddened by the necklace taken away but she understood that it was for the best. Nobody knew what else a man, who was able to escape dementors, was capable of.

"C'mon Vee, tell me about all the boys in your life, mostly the ones who would make a good lunch for the dragons," Charlie told her. Venus was horrified. She knew that wild dragons could eat humans. They counted as delicious food for the creatures after all. She never would have thought that the dragon reserves would actually feed them human beings too.

"I'm kidding," he laughed, "You should have seen your face. At least tell me who should I let the dragons roast."

"No one, Charlie. I don't have the time for boys right now."

"Girls then?"

"I've never been attracted to a girl before but well, you never know."