crashing down // Fred Weasley

"SOPHIE!"

Sophie awoke the next day before anyone, around four in the morning, the sun was nowhere near ready to rise the boxing day morning, today was the day of the full moon and Sophie felt worse than ever. She grumbled to herself silently before rubbing the sleep away from her eyes, throwing her legs over the side of the couch she rose to her feet weekly before strutting to the kitchen and turning the kettle on for tea. She tried to be quiet as possible, everyone was asleep at it was rude to wake them up, selfish.

She dropped the tea bag in before pouring in the sugar and waiting for the kettle to steam over the fireplace that was slightly alight. Once it did she finished off her drink before walking back into the living area and taking a seat on the Weasley's couch slowly.

She drank her drink cautiously blowing every time it met her chapped lips, her eyes were locked on the window ahead showing the small patch of long grass, further out there about ten minutes walk was the small opening she had been standing in hours ago. What happened. It wasn't late when it happened, was it? How did she even get back in the house. Greyback was there.

She placed her empty mug on the small coffee table before getting to her feet once more and creeping over to the front door, the smell of smoke lingered in the air, only hours ago was the house surrounded by fire and the smell remained, not too strong. She clicked the door open pushing away slowly before stepping out into the cold December air.

No magic. No dark irony smell, no wolfs, no Greyback. She sighed and inhaled once more before walking out further her bare feet sinking slightly in the wet grass. It had rained. A lot. She walked further and further, through the long weeds, they hit her face softly damping her warm cheeks, she had long pajama bottoms on which clung to her legs from the rain, it was still pouring slightly, she was in an oversized jumper, of Remus's? Or Fred's? She couldn't remember, smelled like the house.

Her feet were freezing now but she didn't mind, her arms were wrapped around her hugging her shivering body. She stood in the opening for a while staring at the spot she was stood in the day before, if she tried really hard she could smell the pair of them, but there was another scent too something, something like firewood, and not from the house, a hint of parchment but it was vanquished by the irony, bloody dark magic too. That scent conquered all the others, after about an hour of standing, five in the morning, the sun began to rise the sky was pink now the clouds coming out, the small moon fading descending to return in a few hours again, full.

The new scent picked up again and she followed it, she had been walking for a while, she was definitely out of all the protection charms now and she didn't have a wand. She was helpless if anything was to happen but she wasn't scared, she felt fine, safe. She followed the scent until she came to the edge of a forest, the same one she had passed two years ago, the same one she ventured through to the Quidditch world cup.

What would Cedric think of her now? Would he still be her friend? Would he be ashamed of her, afraid of her? What the hell-

-and for the first time in a while she broke down. She sobbed, she was on her hands and knees in the middle of the bloody forest, she was gripping the wet mud beneath her, her fingernails full of it. Her tears raced down her face as she cried, the wind picking up and brushing her messy ponytail around her head her face grew cold from the breeze and her nose turned pink and then.

And then it started to snow. How much she loved the snow. She wiped her tears slowly with the oversized sleeve sniffling as she did so. Cedric wouldn't be ashamed of her right, he was her friend he loved her, he trusted her. No matter their differences he was there for her. He was there with Fred, they were with each other through the tournament, he never said anything about her friendship with Draco, he never judged her or treated her like a celebrity because of her brother. He treated her like a person, everyone like a person. He treated her with kindness and respect, not brutality and judgment.