Confident | Fred Weasley

Chapter 72 | Shunpike

The sun hadn't even risen. It can't have been past 5 o'clock in the morning. Yet, Fred felt his girlfriend wiggle out of his arms. Fred's first thought that appeared in his sleep-addled brain was that Sarah was only going to the bathroom.

Five minutes later, Sarah hadn't returned. Fred managed to unstick his tired eyes, squinting around his dim bedroom. The pair had finally finished decorating the room, their room for the unforeseeable future. Fred had shared a room for all his life, but he had never been so excited about the prospect before. Sarah tended to have that effect on him, it seemed.

Fred usually wouldn't be so quick to run after Sarah, but with all that was going on, it was best to keep everyone accounted for. He pushed himself out of the warmth of his duvet with a groan. He narrowed his eyes at the clock on the wall, and after a moment of deciphering what it said in the dim room, guessed it had just gone 5.

Fred stepped quietly out of the room. He didn't want to be the one responsible for waking up George at this hour. Fred went to gently tap his knuckles on the bathroom door, and to his surprise, it swung open.

The bathroom was empty.

"Sarah?" Fred whispered, pulling the shower curtain back, just in case.

Fred's next guess was that Sarah had grabbed an early morning snack. He headed to the kitchen, glancing at the living area just in case she was there.

Fred found Sarah crouched in front of the cupboard under the sink, ruffling through for something. Fred, thoroughly confused, made his presence known.

"Sarah?" Fred whispered.

Suddenly, Fred had a wand pointed at his throat.

Sarah held her wand steady, but her wide eyes and shaking breath betrayed her nerves. Fred put his hands up in surrender, as Sarah realised it was him.

"You scared me!" Sarah hissed, sliding her wand into her pocket.

"Sorry, I didn't even think - " Fred began, before his eyes fell upon the cleaning bottles Sarah was previously withdrawing from the cabinet. "What are you doing?"

"Cleaning," Sarah answered in a defensive tone.

Fred, brows furrowed, asked, "At this time?"

"Yeah. It's what, like, seven in the morning," Sarah shrugged her shoulders, eyes flickering to the dark sky out the kitchen window.

"It's five in the morning," Fred stated, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Same thing." Sarah defended herself.

Fred leaned forward slightly, and it reminded him of the height difference between the pair. She was tall, but he was taller, and he would use that to his advantage.

"Look, if this sudden cleaning thing has come on because you can't sleep - " Fred began gently.

Sarah rolled her eyes, " - No, it's because my boss is coming round in the morning, okay?"

"What's the correlation?"

"Well, I'd like the flat to be clean and presentable for when she arrives," Sarah answered.

Fred looked around the kitchen, and except the bottles that Sarah had removed from the cupboard, it looked as tidy as usual.

"Looks clean to me," He told her.

"Yeah, to you. Our ideas of clean are very different."

"What's your boss gonna do? Look under our sofa for dust?" Fred asked, which was met by an gentle, but annoyed shove in the arm.