His Hufflepuff ; Fred Weasley

81

Matteo picked me up in London. After saying goodbye to my friends, Matteo disapparated us from Kings Cross Station.

We then stood in front of a house. It was a townhouse with at least two stories apart from the ground floor. The sun was going down so the light was turned on on each floor of the house.

There was a balcony attached to a room on the first floor and on the balcony stood two tall plants. There was a garden out front with what looked like small trees that was in the middle of growing.

"This is where I grew up." Matteo informed me. "Uh— I know this isn't what you wanted and it's going to be hard to be here, but I'm gonna try and come by every day in case you need me to defend you or anything."

You're not my saviour.

To say I was upset with Matteo, was an understatement. If it hadn't been for him, nothing would've changed and I wouldn't be forced to stay with my mother.

"Are you coming, Julie?" Matteo asked as he opened the gate. I was staring up at the house, my backpack on my back and my trunk in my right hand.

I took a deep breath before I followed my brother through the gate and up the small path to the stairs that led to the door.

He let us into the house, and the first thing I saw was the small foyer with doors leading to different rooms and a carpeted staircase leading upstairs to the next floor.

"Dad isn't— I mean, Tanner is at work, should be home sometimes tonight by mum, Ezra and Eleanor are home though. I'll uh— show you your room."

Matteo led the way upstairs and I slowly followed behind, seeing the family photos on the wall.

Family photos.

They were all in them. My mother, her husband, my brothers and my half-sister. They were all in the photos, smiling, being happy about their lives.

"It's always been your room." Matteo told me. "Ever since we first moved in here. Mum wanted you to have one in case we ever got you back."

He pushed open a door to a room and I sighed as I placed myself next to him.

"She could have gotten me back." I said. "She chose not to. I don't know why she'd lie about it but she doesn't want me."

I entered the room, placing my trunk down before letting my backpack drop to the floor.

There was a Queen-sized bed, placed perfectly against the wall with equal space on either side of it, along with nightstands.

On one nightstand, there stood a lamp on top of a pile of four books, and on the other stood a plant that poured over the side and almost reached the floor.

By the end of the bed, was a white fur ottoman on top of a white fur carpet. On the wall across from the bed, was a big window with long white curtains.

Next to the window was a bookshelf with tons of books and some picture frames on the top shelf. Under the window, standing against the bookshelf, was a small white basket with some blankets in it.

Next to the door where I was standing, was a dresser. On top was two lights formed as the initials of my first and middle name.

J and E.

There was a lamp too and a round golden mirror hanging on the wall. On the other side of the room was a desk with some more books and more photos with a comfy-looking chair.

"This—" Matteo walked into the room and opened the door that was in the wall next to the bookshelf. "... is your bathroom."

I wrapped my arms around myself, looking around the room as I chewed on my lip.

"There's towels in there and everything." Matteo told me. "And shampoo, conditioner— all that stuff. Mum made sure of it earlier today."

I walked further into the room, making my way to the desk to look at the pictures. It was me as a baby in both of them but in one of them, I was lying in the laps of two young boys who sat on the sofa in my home in Scotland.

"Sweetie." I heard my mum's voice in the room. My body froze for a moment before I slowly turned around. She stood in the doorway to my room while Matteo closed the door to the bathroom. "I can't believe you're actually here."

"Yeah, well I didn't have much of a choice." I told her. "You used your power of the guardianship against me."

She pressed her lips together as she glanced down for a moment before looking at me again.

"Have you eaten on the train?" She asked. "I can cook you something."

"No thanks." I hurried to say. "I don't have an appetite."

She nodded slowly, then looked at Matteo and offered a smile. He scratched the back of his neck before glancing at me as he made his way out of the room.

"I'll give you some time to unpack." my mother told me, forcing a smile before walking out and closing the door. I let out a breath of relief, letting my arms drop from around my body.

As if I was gonna unpack.

I walked over and sat down on the ottoman, my hands in my lap. I looked down at them and noticed how both them and my legs were trembling. As I broke into tears, I clamped a hand over my mouth, suffocating the sound so that no one heard me.

I couldn't show that I was weak.

I just really didn't want to be here. I wanted to be with my friends, or with Fred. I wanted to be with someone whom I knew cared about me and whom I cared about. I dug my elbows into my thighs as I hid my face in my hands, silently crying into them.

This was just pathetic. I was sitting here, crying and feeling sorry for myself when there was other people having it so much worse. Nick for an example. He was having it so much worse and he needed our support. I shouldn't be the one crying.

Get it together, Julie.

I tried fighting the tears, holding them back. I wiped my cheeks violently, then looked towards the window. I stood up, making my way over to it. I fought with it a little but managed to open it, the fresh air hitting me in the face.

Only a week, right?