Stars || Fred Weasley

✰ chapter thirty six ✰

1506 words
it was assumed that umbridge had found out about our plans of harry teaching defensive magic, when toad face created yet another decree.

"all student organizations are henceforth disbanded. any student in noncompliance will be expelled." the sign was hung on the wall just like every other, just outside the great hall.

"you've done it, neville. you found the room of requirement," i smiled remembering the book i had read in third year.

"the what?" everybody asked.

"it's also known as the come and go room," hermione told them. "the room of requirement only appears when a person has real need of it."

"and it's always equipped for the seeker's needs," i finished for her.

"so say you really needed the toilet," ron trailed of while looking at me.

"charming, ronald. but, yes, that is the general idea." fred stood beside me, our fingers enlaced with his mouth slightly hung open. george stood on his other side, mimicking his expression.

"it's brilliant. it's like hogwarts wants us to fight back." once everyone was gathered in the room, harry began his first lesson.

charms and defence against the dark arts had always been my best subjects, so many of the spells we were beginning with, i had already mastered. neville stood beside harry with his wand pointed towards the wooden mechanical target. he weakly shouted the first spell, sending his wand flying behind his and merely missing everyone else's heads.

"i'm hopeless," neville grumbled and we all have him encouraging smiles.

"you're just flourishing your wand too much. try it like this." harry instructed neville while showing the rest of us the proper way to cast a spell.

we spent many evenings and afternoons in the room of requirement but i also had more time to spend with fred. i spent some nights, lying beside him in his dorm talking about what was yet to come.

george and him were thinking of leaving school early and instead starting up a joke shop in diagon alley. i of course was against it and told them that they should finish their last year. they still weren't sure when they would leave and i was hoping they would stick around till the end of the year.

we were once again in the room of requirement learning about stunning spells. harry began with nigel practicing on him and he was absolutely brilliant. ron and hermione were up next, the twins were betting on who would win and cedric was also listening from beside them. he let out a quiet chuckle before turning to the two younger students. hermione shouted the spell and ron went flying and dropped heavily on the ground.

"i let her do that. it's good manners, isn't it?" he said while returning back to us. hermione stood surrounded by girls who were congratulating her. fred and i walked up next and i took hermiones spot. fred was quite good at defensive spells which made me worry slightly. i wasn't sure if he would try to stun me but i wouldn't take the risk.

just as fred raised his wand i mumbled the spell under my breath. i didn't need to use as much force as the younger students because i had practiced much more than them. fred's body went flying into the air before he hit the wall and slid down. his eyes were wide and i gave him a small smile, walking over and helping him up.

after the practice had ended, the twins and i began wandering around the castle, in search of filch. we had charmed a box of sweets to give him large boils over his face and body. we watched from around the corner as he ate his third chocolate, trying not to giggle. when the boils began appearing we left, letting our laughter fill up the hallway.

he stormed the opposite way to where toad face would be sitting in her office. filch was almost like a lovesick puppy when it came to her. his alliance lay with her just like all the slytherins, especially those who had joined the inquisitorial squad. my cousin draco always kept an eye on me and made sure that i was never on the receiving end of toad face. he didn't want his family finding out we didn't get along because he wished to spend the christmas holidays with me.

our last meeting before the break, neville finally managed to cast a proper defensive spell. he was applauded by everyone and we all gave him cheers of encouragement. once the meeting was over we hugged everyone goodbye and wished them a merry christmas before returning to our common rooms.

most of the gryffindors sat around the common room playing games of exploding snap or laughing with their friends. fred, lee and george sat on a red velvet couch i front of the fire with hermione and ron on the other couch. i sat on fred's lap with my legs hanging off the side of the couch. i wrapped my arms around his neck while we joked with each other.

"george and i were talking about leaving," he mumbled quietly in my ear. my smile dropped and i looked at him.

"are you gonna leave?"

"come with us ly, we've bought the shop and there's two bedrooms above and you can sleep with me."

"freddie, you know that i want to graduate."

"it'll be the three of us, just like always. and lee and angie can come visit." he was trying his very hardest to persuade me. he was slightly louder now, so that george could also hear us.

"no freddie. i'm going to finish this year. i have to do it for remus and my dad. and myself as well." i gave him a quick peck before looking over to ron and hermione. i could tell the twins were talking about me, even though i couldn't hear it.

the way fred ducked his head and shifted my body further away from them.

it's like scopaesthesia, when you know somebody is staring at you and you don't even need to look at them. i was sure they would return after the holidays, but after that their path was a mystery to me.

not long after we had gone to bed and fallen asleep, the boy's dormitory door burst open to reveal professor mcgonagall in a state of panic. she didn't bother asking why i was there, instead ushering the twins and i out of our beds, leaving lee in a peaceful sleep.

after waking up ginny and hermione she guided us towards dumbledore's office with a shaking harry under her arm. the twins, ginny and i all walked towards the side as dumbledore assessed harry before turning to his paintings that lined the wall. fred stood behind me with his arms wrapped around my waist. his hair was tousled all over the place and he had heavy bags under his eyes from the lack of sleep. i could feel his heart pounding and his fingers gently shaking. after explaining harry's nightmare of mr weasley getting attacked, they pushed us into the fireplace one by one sending us to grimmauld place.

i stepped in first and was greeted by molly, who had worry etched on her face. i pulled her in for a tight hug, telling her that he would be fine until ginny stepped out of the fireplace greeting her mother. i ventured further into the house where i saw my dad hunched over some paper at the kitchen table.

"dad," i mumbled trying to not scare him. he shot up and pulled me into a tight bear hug, kissing me on the head.

"oh baby, i missed you."

"i missed you too, is mr weasley okay?"

"i'm not sure just yet," he told me as the rest of the group joined us. "i'm sure he'll be fine, kids."

"i think you kids better get to bed. if we hear anything we'll wake you." molly said while she ushered us out the door and up the stairs. we all wandered into the rooms we stayed in over the holidays, wishing each other goodnight.

george fell asleep long before fred and i. his quiet snores filled the small room while i watched fred. the moonlight streamed into the room and lit up his face, highlighting every inch of him. we lay facing each other and my hand played with his soft hair, trying to soothe his nerves. anyone that was close with the twins knew that fred was much more sensitive than george. his eyebrows were frowning and his lips in a deep scowl. his eyes red and puffy, with dark bags almost dragging them down.

"they'll find him, he'll be alright." i whispered to him. all he did was force a smile and let his eyes flutter closed. i waited until i was sure he was asleep to fall asleep myself. the only thought on my mind was the weasley family, and mr weasleys safety.