PRAETERITUS - 𝕊𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕦𝕤 𝔹𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕤 𝔻𝕒𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕖𝕣

18 - Fade Into You

꧁•⊹٭𝟷𝟾 𝙵𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝙸𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚈𝚘𝚞٭⊹•꧂

Olivia blinked as the soft morning light filtered through red curtains. Her surroundings slowly faded into focus as her groggy mind tried to recognise her whereabouts. Sleep lingered in her brain and she was filled with the lull of a lazy morning.

Rolling over, she finally realised where she was. Fred was asleep next to her, his red hair splayed across his pillow in a halo of fire. Soft breaths escaped his lips as his eyelashes lay peacefully against his skin.

She must have fallen asleep during the movie they had watched last night. By the looks of it, Fred had followed her lead. For a moment she let herself watch him in the tranquil state, counting the freckles scattered across his nose. His lips lay slightly parted as air moved in and out, his chest rising and falling with the steady flow.

Eventually running out of excuses to stay in bed, she heaved herself up and towards the sound of voices, careful not to wake the sleeping boy. Plodding downstairs, she same to see a crowd of people in the kitchen making breakfast. Grunting a good morning at their greetings, she trudged to the counter to join them. George sidled up to her, a gleeful smirk on his face as he spread an obscenely thick layer of jam onto his toast.

"Olivia; I trust you had a good night." He beamed at her cruelly, amusement sparking in his eyes.

Olivia narrowed her eyes at his suggestion, shooting him the nastiest glare she could muster. Of course he would know, him and Fred were supposed to share their room. Thinking of that, where the hell had he slept? Before she could ask another figure trudged down the stairs, his hair mussed and eyes bleary with sleep.

"Speak of the devil." George murmured, before slinking off to terrorise his twin.

Rolling her eyes at him, Olivia started making herself a peanut butter and jam sandwich, a staple at her foster home. It was one of the few things she could actually cook, with the ingredients at being unsuitable for much else. The motions had a weird, forgotten familiarity about them, bringing her a sense of deja-vu and making her feel as though she were in her old kitchen again.

"We have loads of food from our fry up if you'd prefer, dear." Molly squawked, waving a spatula at her in welcome.

"No, that's okay thank you." Olivia replied politely, eyeing the food with doubt.

She wasn't used to people cooking for her, and it would have felt like she had stolen it. Fred seemed to have no such qualms, spooning mountains of bacon and egg onto his plate.

"Olivia," Sirius approached her seated position, "I was wondering if you'd like to go home to collect anything. Or just say Hi to... you know."

She tried to cover up a wince at his question, suddenly losing her appetite for her half-eaten sandwich. She had no desire to see her foster parents anytime sooner than she had to. But there was a collection of books she had missed from home that she wished she could her hands on again. She weighed the options in her mind, a troubled expression skittering across her face.

Misreading the problem, Sirius continued. "It would be no trouble. We can take you there easily."

Her thoughts skidded to a stop. There was no way she wanted any of them near that place. She could feel Fred's eyes flicking to her every so often, distracted from his own conversation, his golden orbs searching for any signal she needed help.

"I don't want you to come with me." She replied shortly, turning away at Sirius' pained expression.

"We can't let you go alone," Sirius argued weakly, "It wouldn't be fair."