Lemon Grass and Sleep

THE BURNING OF THE BURROW

My lungs were screaming at me to just fucking breathe, but even that was difficult to accomplish as we approached the Burrow. Every single fiber of my being was engulfed in a frigid coldness that seeped into every inch of my body as I saw the roaring fire devouring the building, leaving nothing untouched. It had become a beacon of light in the wheat fields that surrounded it, swarming every person on the lawn in a fiery red glow.

Before I even approached his side, I could tell Fred was cross with me. That actually might be an understatement, Fred was completely, and utterly, furious--with me specifically. Obviously there were also other things that were contributing, but the way he stiffened as I quietly sidled up to him did not go unnoticed.

I stood next to him, watching the fire dance in his eyes. George's hands rested at the sides of his head, completely in shock as Glinda wrapped her arms around him comfortingly. Despite the fact I knew I was in big trouble as soon as we got back to the shop, I wove my fingers in with his for support.

The Burrow was gone, the fire crackling before us. We could have put it out easily, but I think we were all in shock--seeing our last beacon of normalcy destroyed. This wasn't even my home and I felt my heart crumbling alongside the wooden building; I couldn't imagine living here my whole life and watching my home break apart before my eyes.

Slowly, Molly raised her wand, movement looking similar to the extinguishing charm. Arthur and Remus followed suit, water emanating from their wands to fight the fire down until all that was left was the darkened structures of the inner building.

We all gathered together, agreeing the safest thing to do would be to go back to Grimmauld Place for the time being until the Burrow could be rebuilt. The twins would take me and Glinda back to the shop, coming back to visit soon in order to help with the rebuilding.

Fred's hand gripped me a little too hard when we apparated, and I felt the sickly chill of anxiety fill me up as we appeared in the shop moments afterward. As if sensing something bad was about to happen, Glinda and George busied themselves doing supply checks and restocking.

Glinda shot me a worried look as Fred dragged me upstairs, as if to say 'I'll beat him up if I need to, twin brother be damned'. But I couldn't answer her, the 'EMPLOYEES ONLY' door closed behind us gently as Fred continued into our bedroom.

"Just what the fuck," Fred seethed, throwing me onto the bed and caging me in quickly, "Did you think you were doing?"

I stammered out something, I have no idea what excuse tried to present itself, but it didn't seem like Fred cared for my answer either. His hands gripped my wrists painfully tight and slammed them against the bedspread.

"You could have died," he growled, lips torn up in anger, "Do you realize that? Are you stupid?"

"No, I-" His hand covered my mouth, fingers pressing into my teeth lazily as he leaned in, eyes staring into mine.

"There is no if, ands, or buts about it," he said lowly, "You could have died, Thomas."

"I could have died several times throughout my life," I ripped his hand off of me, a grunt escaping me as he trapped me against the mattress with his body. "I don't see why this is any different, in fact it's-"

"No!" He snarled, the most unhinged I'd ever seen him, "You don't get to fight with me about this--I don't even understand how you can think-"

"I'm fine!" I yelled back, "Get off me, I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"You don't want to talk about it? Which part? When you completely blew me off and ran out of the house, or when you fought against fucking Death Eaters? Hm? For one goddamn second, can you get it through your head that I could have had to lose you-"

"Why are you so focused on the fact I could have died instead of being happy I didn't!"

Fred showed no signs of letting me go, even as I squirmed to try and loosen his grip on me. His head dropped, forehead hitting my shoulder roughly as he let out a long sigh.

"Thomas," Fred said, his voice finally wavering slightly, "I don't want you to die, I don't even want you to come close."

I pursed my lips, feeling my chest tighten at the sight of Fred's anger melting away to reveal a bottled up sadness. His grip on my wrists loosened, and I reached up to cup his face with my hands comfortingly.

"I didn't," I whispered.

"You didn't," he repeated, confirming it was the truth as his hands ran down my sides. "Not a single scratch, right?"

Fred's hands continued to drift down the sides of my body, feeling my skin through my clothes and checking for any abrasions or bruising as he pressed down gently.

"Well," I smiled, "I didn't say that."

"Where?" Fred asked softly, the word breathy as it left his lips. "Show me, I'll heal it."

"Funny, you telling that to a healer," I murmured, pulling my wand from my pocket and tapping my wrist three times, and then tapping the side of my cheek once.

I felt it, the bedazzling hex, disappearing. It was like this thin layer of warmth left my skin. My lips pressed together almost instinctively, the scar pulling them in a certain funny way.

"Right here," I tapped my mouth, finger brushing the dent in my lips as I watched the gears click in Fred's head.

"Oh," he breathed out quietly, his adam's apple bobbing for a split second.

I could feel his hands faltering against me, fingers gripping my clothes a little too tightly to just be checking for bruises.

"Are you going to kiss it better, then?" I teased, hoping this was working.

"This is not the time for flirting," Fred mumbled before leaning in and kissing me anyways.

His cheeks were wet when they pressed against my face, and I couldn't help but let my arms wrap around his neck as soon as they were free, embracing him for all he was worth. I'm sure my cheeks were damp, too, finally realizing that all it took was a near-death experience for Fred to forgive me.

But it didn't really matter, not now, at least. All that mattered was we were in our bedroom, close to dark, and nobody could bother us even if they wanted to.