Traitor : Fred Weasley, Draco Malfoy & OC Fanfic

Chapter 46 - The Visitor

The weeks following were a blur. Everything was taken care of for me, as though if I were to do anything that took strenuous effort I might crumble. It was decided for me that there would be no official funeral, with Ministry fearful that it would be targeted as well.

Nobody had expected me to go back to Hogwarts and it was certainly the last place I wanted to be. Even Dumbledore himself had owled me a sincere letter sharing his condolences and assuring me to take as long as I needed, my place at school would always be waiting.

At once, Fred had arranged for me to stay with them in their new home and George had informed Daphne to pack up my things from the dorm and have them sent here. George insisted that Fred take time off so I wasn't left alone in the house and Molly visited nearly everyday to bring food or make cups of tea. I couldn't help but think that she was doing it so he didn't have the burden of taking care of me round the clock but I didn't blame her. I couldn't have been more grateful for everything they were doing but I couldn't bring myself to even speak most days, let alone show my gratitude.

Arthur and Molly, even through their own grief, reassured me they would oversee the repair of my home. I'd been told it had taken 2 days for the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad to put the fiendfyre out and it had become abundantly clear it was no accident. Though the contents had been destroyed, the structure of the house was still in somewhat good standing as the fire was enchanted mostly to end human life, but there would need to be extensive work done to restore it to a liveable condition. Arthur had explained it all to me but admittedly at the time, it had gone over my head. It was very low on my list of concerns and I was still undecided whether I would ever want to return to the house at all.

Most days were spent in bed and on this particular Friday I was wrapped in the soft squashy sheets in Fred's room, when there was light knock at the door. I made a weak noise to signal whoever it was on the other side to come in and Fred poked his head past the doorway, a small smile on his face. He'd been looking paler than usual recently and his eyes had seemingly permanent dark rings around them. Sometimes I forgot they were grieving just as much as I was.

"Morning" he whispered, though he'd been up for hours already, "Dad's here, he wants to have a chat, can you come downstairs?"

I nodded and swung my legs to the edge of the bed, bracing myself to get up. I spent so much time laying or sitting down everyday that my movement had become very limited. He came to my side to help me up and looked down at the clothes of his that I had slept in the night before, a very oversized pair of boxers that hung loosely from my hips and a t shirt that drowned my frame.

"Shall we get you dressed?" he chuckled. My trunk sat unopened at the end of the bed. I hadn't been able to look in it yet, nearly everything in there had been bought for me by my parents at one time or another and anything that reminded me of them was far too much to handle. I flopped back down on to the bed as Fred pulled out clothes for me to wear and placed them beside me on the bed. He picked out a strange mismatched skirt and t shirt combinatorial that I frowned at as he searched for my approval.

"I can't be seen in that, not even in the living room" I laughed shakily. It was the first time I'd even been able to consider cracking a joke and Fred's face positively lit up.

"There she is" he smiled, taking the clothes off the bed and laying out something a little more flattering.

He got me to lift my legs and slipped the skirt up my body, then pulled the boxers down below. The cold air hit my exposed skin and I took in a sharp, cutting breath. Fred quickly handed me underwear to put on and I managed it myself, hoisting them up around my legs. When it came to putting the jumper over my head, as I emerged from the soft knit he planted a kiss on my forehead. My face instantly became warm as I smiled up at him and he took my hand to lead me downstairs where his parents were waiting patiently round the table.