my best friends brother - fred weasley

xxix. fights

It had been hours and the words that were etched into my skin hadn't stopped bleeding. Fred had grabbed a cloth and wiped away the blood every few minutes while we all hung out in the common room. Harry hadn't come back after storming off, so Ron and Hermione got stuck with trialling the illness-inducing sweets that Fred and George had developed. 

"Can I try some? I want to help." I spoke up.

"Are you kidding? After last time?" Fred looked down at me, laughing. 

"Yes, I want to join in." I try as take one of the fudges that he's holding in his free hand. 

"No, I do not want mum to kill me." He says, before he can take it back I drop it into my mouth. With one hand he squeezes either side of my cheeks, forcing my jaw open. "Drop it." 

"Fred she's not a dog!" Ron says, staring his brother down. I let the fudge fall out of my mouth and into his hand, falling back into the couch and sulking. 

"Relax, Ron." Hermione pulls him back to the couch, eyeing me up and down, raising her eyebrows. I avoid eye contact with her and she knows I'm hiding something from her. Fred places a hand on the other side of my legs, hovering over me, looking at me smugly. My eyes linger on his, my face inches away from his while I wipe more blood off my arm. 

"Did you have the Fever Fudge, Ronnie?" George jumps on the couch next to me, "Your face seems to be going a bit red." The smile on Fred's face drops and he turns his head back to look at his younger brother. Ron is watching us and almost shaking with rage, Hermione holding him down by the end of his sleeve. 

"Look, Ron-" Fred stands up, holding his hands up to surrender. 

"Back off from her!" Ron yells at his brother, tackling him to the ground. 

"You should've let me try the fudge." I mutter, crossing my arms. George jumps off the couch to pull the two of them off each other. Hermione takes this opportunity to sit next to me. 

"Care to explain?" She nudges me with her elbow. 

"What?" I ask, watching the fight.

"You and Fred have gotten very close since..." She stops to think. "Well since Cedric died. But you've gotten even closer recently." 

"It's nothing. We're just friendly. Friendly friends." I break my concentration to smile at her. She stares at me, very unimpressed with my lie. 

"If you want me to believe that, then I'll try my hardest. But I know for a fact, that there is something you aren't telling me." She sighs. George pulls both he boys up by their arms and puts them on opposite sides of the couch facing Hermione and I. The both cross their arms and stare at each other, with George sitting in between them so they don't lunge at one another. Fred turns to look down at his shoes, a bruise appearing just below his right eye. Ron looks proud, but still glances over at me with an angry look. 

"You two done now?" I frown so they know that I'm not happy with either of them. 

"Yes." Ron grumbles, looking away.

"Sorry Clover." Fred keeps looking down. I huff and stand up, walking away to my dormitory without talking to any of them. Hermione walks in as I'm sitting on the edge of my bed, inspecting the cuts on my arm.

"Has it stopped bleeding?" She sits next to me.

"Kind of, it's not bleeding as much as it was before." I say and she grabs my arm and pulls it closer to her face, looking at it.

"You have to tell someone." She looks up at me. "Anybody, even Snape. He's apart of the Order so he can't be too bad."

"No, it'll be fine. It'll fade." I shrug, taking my arm back from her. She sighs and stands up, walking over to her bed to get ready to sleep. "Fred and I almost kissed." I tell her, letting out a deep breath.