just for me ⚘ a Fred Weasley Fanfiction

55. midnight spaghetti and meatballs

"So, fill me in." Juniper said, crawling onto Fred's bed once they had convinced Mrs. Weasley to let them skip dinner, promising they'd do whatever she asked for the rest of the Christmas break. "McGonagall wouldn't tell me anything."

"Dad's at St Mungo's." Fred shrugged, laying next to her.

"Is he okay?" Juniper reached her hand out to cup the side of his face. "What happened?"

"He was attacked by a snake at the Ministry. Moody said it was You-Know-Who's." Fred flashed his eyes at Juniper. "And get this- Moody reckons Harry's being possessed by him too, because he saw it happening in his head."

"What the..." Juniper started, processing everything slower than usual. "He's okay though, right?"

"He's alright now, I don't think he'll be out of hospital for Christmas, though."

"As long as he's alright..." Juniper drifted off, thinking to herself. "Is it safe to be around Harry? If he's being possessed?"

"Ginny's been possessed before, she's safe to be around." Fred defended his sister quickly. "Harry is fine to be around."

"Of course, I forgot about that." Juniper bit her lip, regretting her words instantly. "Sorry."

"It's okay, I think Harry's forgotten too." Fred shrugged again, turning onto his back. "She keeps trying to talk to him, but he's shut himself away."

"He's isolating himself even more?" Juniper asked, curling into Fred's side. "He's the last person who should be left alone, honestly."

"Yeah..." Fred mumbled, fiddling a strand of Juniper's hair between his fingers. They laid in a brief, uncomfortable silence, before Juniper sat up, looking down at him.

"Something else happened. What was it?" She said, her eyes boring into his.

"Nothing happened." He tried to brush it off, looking everywhere but at her.

"Tell me." She poked, her lip curling into a pout. She laid her chin on his chest. "Even if I can't help, at least I'll be aware of it."
Fred glanced down at her, her puppy-dog eyes boring into him. With a defeated sigh, he began explaining.

"George and I have been arguing with Sirius. Dad was on 'duty' with the Order, and Sirius said that Dad knew what he was getting into when he joined." He rolled his eyes in frustration and Juniper nodded along, listening to each word. "George and I found a photo of the Order when they first formed, and pretty much everyone is either dead, missing, or in this house. Harry's parents joined the Order straight out of school, then died a few years later. Sirius joined and was sent to Azkaban. Remus joined and all of his friends disappeared. It's like... being in the Order guarantees tragedy."

"Right." Juniper said quietly once he was finished. "You don't have to join."

"Yes, I do."

"Why? No one is forcing or threatening you to."

"No one has to. It's a family thing, you wouldn't-"

"I wouldn't understand, yeah." Juniper rolled her eyes at the comment, pushing it to the side for now. "What would happen if you didn't join? I'll go full nomad with you. Just us."

"I've seen the way my family talks about my brother, Percy. He's at the ministry, ignoring us all." Fred breathed deeply. "I couldn't do that to them. I'm not wired that way, Juniper."

"Of course." Juniper smiled sadly at him. "I would say that you have time to think on it, but we both know the decisions already made."

"Yep." Fred sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. "Do you know what you'll do?"