Falling Slowly (A Hogwarts Lovestory) - Fred Weasley Fanfiction

34 | Sometimes, Forever

Fred gently stroke his fingers up and down my arm as I was watching the stars outside the window from the Room of Requirement.
It was a clear and quiet night outside and the gloomy full moon shone brightly and mysteriously over the mountainous landscape around the Hogwarts castle. We heard the sound of a wolf howling somewhere far away in the Forbidden Forest and the otherwise silent night was interrupted by the hooting of an eagle-owl from time to time.

"What are you thinking about, love?", Fred whispered softly into my ear.
"I was just thinking about this whole Sirius Black situation", I answered and it was nothing but the truth. Sirius Black's scandalous escape from Azkaban has affected our lives in Hogwarts for a long time now and I wanted everything back to normal.
"Understandable", said Fred and softly pecked my neck. "Do you think the Firebolt Harry's got is really a bewitched present from Sirius Black like McGonagall claims? It'd be awesome if he could use it in the next Quidditch match, we have a lot points to catch up since the last one."
"I don't know", I said, which was also true, but I actually thought that McGonagall was right, particularly since Harry found out that Sirius Black was actually his godfather.
Harry kind of had a nervous breakdown after he overheared McGonagall and Madam Rosmerta talking about what had happened twelve years ago in Godric's Hollow when Harry's parents died. Apparently, Sirius Black has been his father's best friend and Secret-Keeper of their protective spell, the Fidelius Charm, and sadly he turned out to be a traitor who betrayed his best friend. He was the reason, Harry told me, his parents were dead and now he was after Harry himself to finish what he started.
If all that was true, it seemed to be most likely that sending his godson a bewitched broomstick would be something Sirius Black would do to reach his goal to finally kill Harry Potter.
I had to promise Harry not to tell anyone so I kept my thoughts from Fred, but there was one thing that didn't make any sense to me. Why did Sirius Black waited twelve years to break out of Azkaban and kill Harry?

"However", said Fred and pulled me back into his arms. "The game next week is more important than ever. After the more than unfair game we lost the last time against Hufflepuff, we can't afford to lose a second time. I can't even stand to be in the same room with Cedric Diggory since then, it's better that he and Alicia broke up, otherwise it wouldn't be that easy to avoid his company."
"Oh, c'mon Fred, don't be like that", I said and fondly stroke his hair back. "Everyone is acting so furiously lately, when we actually should be more kind to each other. Look at Ron and Hermione, did you hear them fighting yesterday?"
"Her cat killed Scabbers, Ron has good reasons to be mad at her."
"Anyhow", I ignored his argument, "I just can't stand all this yelling anymore. Everything is so perfect right now for a change, I don't want that to be ruined by anything or anyone."
Fred smiled at my words and kissed me on the forehead. "It is indeed very perfect right now. Okay, I'll leave Cedric alone then if it makes you happy."
"You're too generous, Weasley", I said and laughed.
"And you", said Fred and took my face in his hands, "are just too adorable, Daniels. I could do this all day long."
He then gave me a very long kiss that made everything burn inside me.
"What's keeping you from doing so then?", I smirked.
Fred grinned but didn't answer verbally; instead he pulled off my shirt and pulled me on top of him. The night was still long.

The next couple of weeks, I noticed that the golden trio was barely talking to each other, which was actually worse than Hermione and Ron yelling at each other. Maybe it was because Scabbers still hasn't returned. I started to believe that Crookshands had indeed killed him. Poor thing.
One day during breakfast in the Great Hall, I couldn't stand it anymore and decided to break the silence between them.
"C'mon, guys, what is going on with you?", I asked them annoyed.
Hermione looked at me and her eyes were red from crying. What happened? Did I miss anything?
"Today's the day they execute Buckbeak", she said and tears started rolling down her cheeks. I handed her a handkerchief which she gladly took.

I've heard about it, of course. I had to comfort Hagrid one entire night by eating all of his disgusting rock cakes. I had also tried to convince Dumbledore to do something about it, but without any success. But what I wasn't aware of until now was that the day of Buckbeak's execution had already come.
I haven't said goodbye to him so far, so I decided to join Harry, Ron and Hermione on their way over to Hagrid. I wasn't gonna watch the execution, I just wanted to thank Buckbeak for everything.
It was a shame that an innocent victim like him had to die just because of that asshole Draco Malfoy.
I felt anger rising in my body, but I held it back with all my power. Thanks to Lupin I was now able to control my emotions, so fear and anger didn't paralyze me anymore.

To our all surprise, we found Scabbers down at Hagrid's hut just a few minutes later. It turned out he has been hiding from Crookshanks all the time but he was very much alive.
"I think there's someone you need to apologize to", said Hermione angrily to Ron, but he, as always, acted like a total jerk and didn't apologize to Hermione for accusing her cat of being a murderer.
Ron and Hermione began arguing again but this time it made me chuckle. Sooner or later, they were gonna end up with each other, I was sure of that. Them fighting over nonsense issues constantly reminded me of Fred and me a little bit and it took us a couple of years to to get together as well. Even if I still wasn't sure if we were something serious, since we still hadn't talked about it. So in one way maybe we were even worse than Ron and Hermione.

I was just about to interfere their fight again, when suddenly, out of nowwhere, something small and hard hit me on my shoulder.
"Ouch!", I winced from pain and tried to see what had hit me there. It was a palm-sized stone with an imprint of a fossil. Kind of beautiful though, but definitely not something you want to have smashed against your bones. I felt something warm running down my shoulder.
"Julie, you're bleeding!", said Hermione and looked around in Hagrid's hut, searching for something to desinfect the wound. "Hagrid, you don't happen to have some Dittany around here, do you?"
"Ditta-what?", asked Hagrid. "No, don't think so. Eh, yeh better go up to the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey can help yer fer sure. Yeh don't want ter see the execution anyway, that's nothing fer yer eyes. Now go ahead, before yer clothes are completely soaked."

I did as Hagrid said, said goodbye to them all and, for the last time ever, to Buckbeak and then went straight up to the hospital wing. Harry, Ron and Hermione had to withstand the rest of the evening alone. I was glad, a minute longer and I would've cried myself.
On my way over to the castle I heard a weird noise coming out of the woods and for a short moment I thought I saw Hermione standing behind a large oak, but of course my eyes were lying to me. I knew perfectly well she was inside Hagrid's hut at this very moment and she definitely couldn't be in two places at once.

After Madam Pomfrey took care of my wound (it wasn't deep, but the skin was ripped off extensively) she demanded me to rest here for a couple of hours. I wrote a little bit into my diary while I waited for my resting time to be over, when suddenly the door was slammed open and Harry, Ron and Hermione entered.
Ron looked terrible. His leg was completely covered in blood and his trousers were totally ripped. It looked like a giant animal had bitten him. He was screaming in pain and Madam Pomfrey quickly gave him something to sleep so he wouldn't feel the hurtful healing process.
Harry and Hermione on the otherhand were whispering excitedly with each other.
"We have to do something, Hermione!", I heard Harry say. "He is going to die!"
"Worse", whispered Hermione. She tried to speak quietly, but I could hear them regardless. I walked over to them.
"What's going on?", I asked curiously. Harry looked pale as a ghost and Hermione was shaking all over her body. They looked at each other and tried to communicate silently, trying to discuss whether they could trust me or not.

Gladly, they did and told me everything that had happened so far, from Lupin being a werewolf to Peter Pettigrew being the true traitor and Sirius Black being an innocent victim who was right now sitting in the highest cell of the castle, waiting to be kissed by a dementor.

Their story changed everything. Sirius Black not being a lunatic? I desperately needed to talk to him.
There wasn't much time left if a dementor could come and kiss him every moment, so I didn't let Hermione finish her sentence and ran out of the hospital wing. I slammed the door loudly behind me.
Highest cell of the castle, Hermione had said. I ran up the staircase as fast as I could, taking two steps at once.
I needed to talk to Sirius Black and see if I could also free him. He was apparently the only relative I had that wasn't totally insane.
Maybe he could give me the answers I needed, the answers that Dumbledore wouldn't give me.

We're wakin' up from these sudden dreams
Where I can't see past what's in front of me
I'm just wonderin' if it could mean something
Or if it's nonsense like everything else
- Soccer Mommy