Sweet Torture - Fred Weasley

Chapter 5 - Normal

Matilda

The Care for Magical Creature lesson with Hagrid went by surprisingly quickly and before I knew it I was walking back up to the castle with Lee and Fred by my side. I had made it my mission to stay as far away as possible from George for the rest of the of day. We had argued right as Fred had left us in the courtyard. Unlike most of our other arguments we had had in the past, this one felt huge and extremely serious. It also had left me feeling friendless, like every single one of my friends only put up with me for pity. 

 I had managed to keep my tears at bay and hidden from both Lee and Fred for the whole lesson which I had been very happy about. The last thing I needed was for them to hear all about what George had said to me. I still wasn't completely sure he had meant them, though it had seemed like it. I was used to putting up a strong front at school, but I had never thought I would hear almost the same exact words my bullies used coming out of my boyfriend's mouth. It felt like a million daggers stabbing me all at once and I knew the moment I was alone with my thoughts I'd probably break down. 

I had never been ashamed of being a Black per say, it was more to do with the unwanted attention that being associated with a notorious killer brought that bothered me. Even though I now knew my father wasn't a killer, most people didn't. I think that's why I had reacted so strongly to Pucey's and George's comments. It felt like I had been proving myself my whole life, proving that I wasn't a killer like my father and more recently I felt like I had to stand up to anyone who said a single bad thing about him. I guess I felt the need to do it so Eloise wouldn't have to later on in her life. I was very protective of her, even though I knew she was just as tough as I was. 

I was snatched out of my thoughts as I felt myself hit the ground with a thud. it seemed that I had tripped on one of the stairs on the way up to the Great Hall. In an instant Fred was right beside me, kneeling down and helping me up to my feet, flurry of apologies flying out of both his and Lee's mouth for not catching me.

"Guys, truly it's ok. It didn't even hurt, you can't save me from my own clumsiness!" I said and tried to laugh it off, but didn't convince either of them. In truth it had hurt, a lot. I was ready to start crying right in that moment so I tried to focus on moving forwards towards the Great Hall instead. I was determined to make it through the whole day without crying. 

"Hey I'm going to go check on George, I'll see you two later!" Lee said and turned back towards the way we had just come together. 

"Are you sure you're ok?" Fred asked as soon as Lee had left, a worried look upon his face.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." I answered weakly, not daring to look into his eyes as I was scared I'd start crying if I did.

"Right. What's wrong?" Fred asked, grabbing my arm and stopping me. This time he was serious, I could tell he wasn't going to give up on getting an answer out of me. I sighed deeply before replying, trying to collect myself so I wouldn't fall apart the moment I looked into his eyes. 

I pulled him with me to a smaller corridor so that we were alone.

"I argued with George, almost immediately after you left." I started, looking up into his hazel eyes. God they were beautiful. I found it hard to focus, maybe pulling him into a secluded corridor wasn't the best idea. "It was really bad, I don't know if there's any coming back from it." I continued softly barely able to keep my voice steady. I could feel the hot tears gathering in my eyes as I looked up at Fred. 

"I'm so sorry love." he said quietly as he pulled me into his chest, his arms wrapping around me tightly. I wrapped my own arms around his muscly torso, taking in his sweet smell of cinnamon, marshmallows and fireworks. It was such a familiar smell, something that I always found comfort in.