my best friends brother - fred weasley

lxi. carried away

Fred's hand immediately grabs my thigh as the word 'help' leaves Ron's lips. His gaze burns into the side of my head as I try to think about what he needs.

"What kind of help?" I drop my hand under the table to squeeze Fred's palm.

"Well, you are kind of smart and I- I mean we- could really use your help with finding the Horcruxes." Ron replies sheepishly.

"So you're going back to them?"

"Yeah, I've got to. They're our best friends."

"Am I invited along or is it only my Clover that you're taking." Fred flips his hand over to grab mine possessively, as though if Ron gives the wrong answer he'll apparate us as far away as he can.

"She was my friend first, mate." Ron argues back, "But your help would be appreciated." With that I turn to look at Fred, meeting his eyes. His eyes plead for me to say no, to stay in the safety of the shop and to only fight when it comes down to the last minute. But he knows what my answer is going to be, and he's struggling to accept it. He purses his lips slightly and nods, as though he's giving me his blessing.

"How do we find them?" I turn to Ron.

Theres a small, barely audible click sound when he opens the Deluminator, he looks at the two of us excitedly. "Do you hear her?" Fred and I catch each others eye contact, questioning his sanity.

"How long has it been since you've slept, Ron?" I give his hand a gentle squeeze over the table.

"You don't hear her? Hermione? She's saying my name." He gives us the same look back.

"Ron, I think you've gone mad." I smile at him, careful to not hurt his feelings.

"You're absolutely bonkers, off-the-rail, cuckoo crazy mate." Fred laughs, leaning back in his chair with his hands above his head.

"You have to trust me guys. Pack your clothes and things, we'll leave in the morning." Ron beams, standing up and leaving the table.

"What did you just get us into, my love?" Fred watches him leave, turning to me with a concerned smile.

"He's your brother, he needs us." I give him a quick peck on the head, standing up to follow Ron. "He needs you."

⊱✿⊰

On the 21st day of our journey to find Harry and Hermione, Ron insisted that we were close. We had been following a Doe Patronus the entire time and trusting the mysterious voice that only Ron could hear. Fred and I were beyond tired, hungry and cold. Fred walked with his arm around my shoulders, trying to stop me from shivering in the snow, and at night I stuffed our sleeping bag with extra clothes to keep us warm.

"If this turns out to be a trap, and you're leading us to... god-knows who, I'm going to make sure you die a very slow and painful death." I chatter to Ron, who's racing ahead as though he's heard something. "He's not even listening. We've walked for 400 hours straight for him, and he's not even listening."

"I know, baby, I know." Fred mumbled for what must've been the millionth time in the past hour. "Hey." He stops, staring straight up at the sky. "Waning Crescent." He points at the moon.

"Again?" I huff jokingly, retracing my steps to be with him. We stand chest to chest, craning our necks all the way back to look through the snowy treetops too see the stars and moon. "I can't wait until this is over, Fred." I mumble as he takes his coat off to drape it over my shoulders.

"Until the moment, the hunt or the war?" He tilts his head back down to look at me.

"It all. I just want to have our family." I sigh, kids wasn't something we had discussed yet. We only made light plans, like maybe adopting a small pet, like a bird. Or getting a matching tattoo, something small and easily hidden. Kids was a big and random step for our plans, but Fred wasn't at all phased by the mention of them.