Safe With Me ~ Fred Weasley

I Got You Hurt

I dipped my quill into the ink again, trying to ignore the twins talk of new candies to make kids faint or vomit uncontrollably. I was on a steady homework binge before these two had stumbled through the entrance way of the Hufflepuff common room as if they owned it, and since their arrival I felt like my progress had been cut in half.

"Alright, as much fun as homework with the Hufflepuffs is, I'm going to be getting back." George announced, stretching his arms over his head as he stepped off the couch. I looked up at him from my spot on the floor, my homework spread on the oversized coffee table in front of the couch which had been holding the twins. I shot him a smile through my rolling eyes.

"You'd think I had invited you two in or something." I joked, returning to my work.

"Goodnight to you too, Sassy Cassy." George quipped, earning a laugh from Fred, who to my surprise hadn't moved to follow his brother.

George shot Fred a smirk as he left, which I definitely hadn't seen, my attention entirely focused on my paper.

I peeked at my watch as the doors shut behind the ginger. I felt tired enough to fall asleep on the couch right now and it was only nine, although I suppose the nonstop homework since dinner wasn't helping.

I watched a drop of black fall into the inkwell before I went to start my next paragraph when I felt it. The soft tug of my hair. I felt myself sit up a bit straighter, but wouldn't let myself turn around. He pulled the strands of my hair together in his hand, moving it to the side of my head, and I knew what he was looking at.

"What are you doing?" I whispered, still not turning to look at him.

"Why did he do it?" He nearly whispered back, as quiet as a Weasley boy could speak. "To your neck."

I pulled forward, closer to the table, hoping he would let go of my hair, but he didn't.

"Freddie." I leaned my head back in his lap to look into his eyes, giving him a grin, hoping that was enough to change the subject. I was happy, everything was good lately. I didn't want to talk about this again.

"Please, I have to know. It..." He stopped, not meeting my eyes yet, his gaze still attached to my neck. "Driving me mad."

"What is?"

"What happened to you? Whenever you went home. I know it's probably hard, I know you don't want to talk about it. If you really don't, that's... that's fine. We don't have to. I just picture it... him hurting you. All of the time."

I turned around to face him, at last, crossing my legs directly in front of his own so he would look at me instead of my neck.

"Why? Fred, don't do that!"

"I don't do it on purpose." He laughed at me, as if that should have been obvious. "I just... I feel guilty. That I didn't figure it out before, and that I let you go back there, and-"

"It wasn't your job to figure it out, I didn't want anyone to know, I tried my best to hide it-" I stopped when his hand linked around my wrist and looked up, his honey brown eyes so close to mine.

"I could have stopped it. I should have stopped it."

I shook my head, looking down at his hand on my own. How could this boy feel guilty about something that had been happening to me my entire life? We had barely been friends the last time I had bruises. And even my roommates had never noticed. How could he think about this all of the time?

"He..." I started, not wanting to finish, but also not wanting Fred to keep wondering and picturing the worst. "Didn't used to choke me. Until Tommy died." I looked down into my lap, knowing if I met his gaze again I would cry. "I don't even remember what I did, or what I said to make him do it the first time. I woke up and I couldn't even remember anything until I saw the marks in the mirror."