Summers at The Burrow - Fred Weasley

Chapter Forty-three - Dementor Express

the sky had darkened over the hours and we had changed into our uniforms and were waiting hungrily for the train to arrive at Hogsmeade station so that we could hurry up to the school and eat. the weather had grown dreary as the sun set and with that our moods had grown sullen. none of us really had the energy to do anything after the hours of travel so we just sat their in our compartment twiddling our thumbs and having staring contests.

"can you guys feel that?" i asked as i felt a sudden chill on my bare legs as well as from the window which my cheek was resting on.

"feel what?" Lee asked.

"well of course you all cant feel it, your wearing pants. feel this." i said grabbing Fred's hand and pressing it against the window. 

"it's only the first of September it shouldn't be this cold on the window." he said scooting closer as he examined small frost particles on the sides of the window starting to develop.

"the window is freezing." i said.

"Dementors." Lee said quickly as we all had our faces close to the glass now.

"what makes you say that?" George asked curiously though there was not a trace of disbelieving in his voice.

"they can make a whole building go cold. apparently a bus too. not to mention we are some of the most upbeat people on the train and we've been moping for the last hour not saying a word to each other. its a sign." Lee explained.

"but aren't the dementors supposed to be at Azkaban?" Fred questioned aloud.

"well since my dad's gone loose im not surprised if they are looking for him here. i look just like him and we share blood so i wouldn't be surprised if the stayed a bit longer here." i said.

"that really isn't funny Chloe." Lee said in a shaky voice as he peeled his hand off the frozen glass. George went to take a drink of his now room temperature pumpkin juice but when he did nothing came out.

"its frozen solid." he said passing it to Fred and I.

"yeah there's definitely Dementors near by." i said handing it back to him even though he couldn't drink it.

"at least its cold again, i guess." Fred said with a sigh as he slumped on the bench again.

a few minutes passed and all of us had our heads down. we were looking at our hands but even twiddling our thumbs had become too much fun and wasn't worth the effort. Fred had begun sniffling and buried his head in my shoulder whispering sad thoughts to me. i didn't think that he was actually crying but he was sad.

i ran my fingers through his hair leaning my head against his as he laid there being sad. i have never seen him this sad before but if this is how he acted i can see why he liked to keep himself as happy as possible because his current state of misery was wafting through the air and affecting us all.

there was running down the halls and suddenly our light flickered as the compartment door flew open.

"what's going on, Chloe?" Draco asked as he hurried in and came up to me.

"Dementors. there making everyone sad. just keep calm im sure we will all be alright." i said as confidently as i could.

"i can't be calm i feel like im going to kill myself!" he whisper shouted to me and thankfully no one acknowledged it because they were too wrapped in their own heads.

"Draco you have to calm down." i repeated.

"No! how are you so calm?!" he questioned loudly.

"I've found peace in the violence of my own head and i am friends with my demons. this dark haze cannot hurt me if i have been fighting it my whole life. i am no foe to the darkness. i have befriended it." i said as i felt a gravitation towards the compartment door.