my best friends brother - fred weasley

lvii. two saves and a loss

"Ah shit." Professor Slughorn and I mutter at the same time, watching Ron drop to the ground. I spit my sip back into the glass and drop to Ron's side, cradling his head so he doesn't choke on the foam spilling out of his mouth. Looking up at Slughorn I can see that he's completely frozen with shock, and Harry's racing across the room trying to find antidote to whatever was in the Meade.

"Do something!" I plead to the Professor, watching his eyes wander the room aimlessly. "Get Dumbledore, or Snape or anybody!" Harry drops back to my side as Ron chokes out a final breath.

"Come on, Ron.  Breathe!" Harry drops an ingredient into his mouth. He forces it shut and we wait for Ron to move.

"Oh my god he's dead." I start my nervous rambling. "He's dead."

"Clover." Harry points at Ron.

"Harry, he's dead. Harry he's my best friend and he's dead." I hold my hands over my eyes, trying to shake the thought out of my head.

"Clover." Ron sits up.

"I can't give him back to Fred when he's dead. Oh my god, what are we going to do? We're going to be sent to Azkaban for murder, oh my god! We-"

"Clover!" Harry shakes my shoulders harshly. "Do you need my glasses? He's alive."

"You're an ass, Ron Weasley!" I turn to his unexpecting face, slapping him hard on the arm. "You were really about to die without considering us first, huh?"

"It was nothing personal, Clover." He shrugs, wiping his face and sitting straight. "But you girls are going to kill me." The hinges of the Slughorn's door squeak and Snape stops in the doorway to stare at us all. You can se the cogs turning in his head to try and come up for a reasonable explanation for us three to be sitting on Slughorn's carpet, distraught at midnight.

"Let's get you to the hospital, Weasley." He says as quietly as he can, turning before any of us can react.

⊱✿⊰

Between Ron almost dying and Death Eaters ruining the house that I lived in, my Professors had begun to notice that my grades had begun to drop a fair bit. Snape had scheduled in an unsupervised study period during the lunch break that I had, and Hermione had threatened me into actually going, even though there was a maximum of 5 people that ever showed up. When I had walked into the classroom after potions, the only other person in there was a blindingly bright haired Malfoy.

"Oh... is this not Snape's study... thing." I stumble backwards, making sure I was in the right classroom.

"Yeah it is." He said without looking up from his desk. I quietly wander closer, so that I don't have to yell across the room to him. His eyes flicker up when I'm standing directly in front of him. "What?" He spits.

"What class are you studying for, maybe you can help me." I sit at the desk next to him and crane my neck, trying to read what he's writing.

"It's not for a class." He slams the notebook shut, keeping his eyes down. "What do you want?"

"I was just wanting some company while I finish the extra homework that your sworn protector assigned." I let out a bit too sassily.

"What?" His head snaps to me. I look over to him, expecting to see his cold glare ripping into me, but instead his eyes are red and welled up.

"Oh, sorry. It was just a joke." I mumble back. I make a few attempts to break the awkward silence, failing over the 20 minutes that has passed. Draco just sits, staring at the door while I pretend to read, waiting for him suddenly pull a knife out on me or something.