Falling Slowly (A Hogwarts Lovestory) - Fred Weasley Fanfiction

42 | Stormy Weather

"Avada Kedavra!"
The body collapsed immediately after the spell hit it. The arms and legs were stretched out lifelessly in every direction and the eyes were wide open but empty.
The spider lay dead on the desk right in front of me.
"Avada Kedavra", repeated Professor Alastor Moody quietly. "The last one of the three Unforgivable Curses. The use of any one of them on a fellow human being is enough to earn a life sentence in Azkaban. That's what you're up against. That's what I've got to teach you to fight. You need preparing. You need arming."

The entire class was starring at him in silence. Our new teacher for Defence Against the Dark Arts was... strange. His whole appearance was. He had dark, grey, grizzled hair and a wooden leg, but what scared me the most was his eyes. One was small and dark and the other was a vivid bright blue magical eye with which he seemed like he could see right through me. Right now, it moved around independently from his normal eye as if it was trying to savour even the smallest reaction of his students towards the Unforgivable Curses.
Mad-Eye Moody turned to the blackboard and started to write something down. Wait, was he gonna leave the spider dead on my desk?
"Sir", I asked loudly. "Please remove the spider from my desk."
Mad-Eye stopped and walked slowly over to me. His wooden leg made loud knocking noises on the ground. He stopped right in front of me and leaned down over my desk until his face was right in front of mine. His weird eye was not moving anymore. It was focussing me instead.
"Miss... Daniels, is it?", Moody asked. I nodded. He inspected me carefully as if he was looking for something. He then took the dead spider away and stuffed it back into an empty jar. Before he turned around to continue the lesson, he whispered, quietly, so nobody else could hear: "Daniels. How strange. I could swear you were a Black."
I sat like petrified in my seat the rest of the lesson.
Why did things keep getting worse and worse? Well, it's not like I couldn't have known that the incident with the Death Eaters at the Quidditch World Cup was only the beginning.

After Mr Weasley made us all leave, I didn't know where to run. Everyone was running around like crazy and after I left the tent I couldn't find any of my friends. People were screaming everywhere and the only light in that dark night came from the wands of the hooded figures that called themselves Death Eaters.
But where was my own wand? I must have left it in the tent, I thought. Damn, that meant I had to go back inside. But just when I made my first step I saw it coming. The tent next to ours exploded. What must have once been a large wardrobe was now a pile of long, sharp wooden splinters that came shot with great speed right at me.
I remember how I thought that must be it. I saw the deadly splinters coming at me like in slow motion. They came closer and closer. People in the background were screaming and a distant but familiar voice shouted Immobilus somewhere from behind my back. The wood splinters freezed in the middle of the air. A hand reached for mine and pulled me away with such force that I stumbled over my own feet and fell down on the hard ground.
"What is wrong with you?", the voice I now recognized shouted at me. "Move!"
Fred pulled be back on my feet. And then we ran.
We ran through burning tents and over broken furniture, we ducked under red sparks of Stunning Spells that were casted right above our heads and we stumbled over motionless people on the ground until we finally reached the woods. Fred didn't let go of my hand for a single moment.
"Stop", I gasped breathlessly as we passed the first sheltering trees. "Please stop, I can't breath!"
I stopped to catch some air and leaned my back against a huge tree trunk. My eyes met Fred's for the first time since his rescue operation.
"Everything happened so fast. Did you see where the rest of us went?", I asked him, but he shook his head. He was out of breath too. He came closer to me and rested his hands on the tree on each side of my body. He bent down and leaned his forehead against mine. His long hair tickled my neck. I felt his hot breath on my skin.
"I thought you were as good as dead", he whispered. I saw horror in his eyes when I looked up into his face.
"You saved me", I whispered back. "Thank you."
He placed his hands on my face and stroke fondly over my cheeks. I shivered. I had missed the touch of his skin.
Fred's hands were now leaving my face and slowly sliding down my body on each side. He was caressing my jar, my neck, then my shoulder blades and then my arms. I was still wearing my green sweater so he did not directly touch my skin but he still gave me goosebumps even under the rather thick fabric.
I knew he was going to kiss me right now.

When the DADA lesson with Professor Moody was over, I packed my bags as quickly as possible. I needed to get out of here.
"I don't know if he's brilliant or insane", said Angelina, a touch of fascination in her voice.
"Definitely insane", I answered. "There are good reasons these curses are unforgivable. I can't believe he showed them to students who haven't even come of age!"
"I am of age", grinned Angelina.
"Speaking of", I said. "Are you gonna put your name into the goblet of fire? Rumour has it you are Gryffindor's favourite."
Angelina laughed. "I haven't decided yet. I mean, it is dangerous-"
"Yeah, but eternal glory, Ange!", said Alicia encouragingly.
"And 1000 Galleons, not to forget", I added. My friends laughed. "C'mon, let's go to dinner. I'm starving!"

We were on our way to the Great Hall when the Weasley twins catched up.
"Hey Angelina", called George. "Rumour has it you are going to-"
"-apply as a Hogwarts Champion in the ongoing Triwizard Tournament?", Angelina sighed. "Well, if rumour has it, then I guess I will."
"I hope it will be you", said Fred. "If it can't be me or George."
"Thanks, Fred. Wish me luck!", said Angelina.
"I personally only hope it won't be Cedric. After all he did to Alicia."
We entered the Great Hall alltogether, but when we headed towards the Gryffindor table, Fred and George slowed down.
"We are going to sit elsewhere. See you later Angelina, Alicia", Fred nodded goodbye and left. George threw an annoyed glance firstly at his brother and then at me. Alicia and Angelina followed his look.
"I can't believe you two", said George angrily. Then he followed his brother.

I knew he was going to kiss me right now.
His lips were only inches apart from mine. I closed my eyes. Then-
"Ouch", I cried and backed away.
Fred had grabbed my arms a little too tight when he tried to kiss me. It hurt. He moved a step back.
"What is it?", he asked concerned.
"Nothing", I mumbled. But it wasn't nothing. I tried to hold onto the sleeves of my sweater but Fred loosened the grip of my fingers and pulled up my sleeves.
He gasped.
The skin under my sweater was dark blue. Deep colourful bruises were spreaded all over my arms. Jess' grip from the night before has left its marks.
"Who did that to you?", asked Fred horrified.
I teared myself loose.
"It's nothing", I repeated and turned away. I did not want him to see my wounds. I did not want to be this vulnerable person around him. The helpless little girl with wounds that wouldn't stop bleeding since sixteen years.
"Nothing? Are you kidding me? Tell me what happened", demanded Fred. His voice has grown louder.
"It's none of your business!"
"None of my business? Are you mad? When someone is hurting you then-"
"I can take care of myself, Fred! You don't have to know every little thing about me. You just have to-"
"-be there for the fun part, right?"
"What? No-"
"I get it. I'm such an idiot, I should've known better. You just don't like me the same way as I like you."
"No, Fred, that's not-"
"I thought I had just catched you in the wrong moment at the end of last year. But now I know better. You never talk to me about anything serious. And you know what? Now you don't get to talk to me about anything at all."

Angelina and Alicia looked pitiful at me. "He's still not talking to you?"
I shook my head. "Nope."
My friends rolled their eyes and put their armes around me.
"Well, he's still giving you that look though", said Angelina. She observed Fred on the other end of the table. As I followed her eyes, I saw that she was right. He was looking at me. But he ended it between us. What did he want? Oh, how I wished he'd just stop looking at me like that.
"Will it someday not be complicated between you two?", asked Alicia.
"It's not complicated between us", I answered and sighed. "It's over."

I sit around to pass the time
I try to get it off my mind
And I live in a world oh so small
That I can't get around at all
- The Kooks