Novus Orbis - Fred Weasley x f!reader

Chapter 5 - Comforting a Friend

It's been a couple of hours since Collin came with the news that Ginny is in the Chamber. The twins, Lee and Y/n are sitting in the boys' dorm (seeing as the Girls can enter the male dormitories, but not vice versa). George and Fred are silent, Lee is fiddling with an Exploding Snap card, and Y/n is sitting in between the twins with their hands in hers. Nothing is said. They are terrified–Ginny could be dead. Y/n has tried–and is trying still–to remember anything at all from the book, but nothing pops up; her mind is blank. For the first time since arriving in their world, she doesn't know what's coming. The feeling in her stomach is not unlike the boys', but it is a mixture of concern for Ginny and something else–fear of the unknown. She hasn't noticed that in the last month, her memories of the other world have slowly been fading away. Her parents' faces, her brother's face and her baby sister's face are all a blur, a wisp of colour in a distant dream that she can't quite make out.

Only one thing matters right now, though. Comforting the twins is the only thing on her mind. And she does, by simply being there. The Chamber is open, students are Petrified,  Ginny is gone, and Y/n feels like she is going to lose her mind. She has no idea what is going to happen next. It seems like hours while they wait for any news on, well, anything. Everything is silent, until..

"Anybody up for a game of Exploding Snap?" Jordan says quietly. Though she knows he's trying to offer a simple distraction, Y/n can feel the twins'  hands tense up beneath hers.

"What the bloody hell, Lee?" Fred says, his voice quivering. "My sister is in the Chamber of Secrets, and you want to play games?" 

"I was just trying to ease the anxiety and...you know."  Jordan looks just as exhausted as they are, and a little taken aback by the answer. He shouldn't be very surprised. George  closes his eyes for a moment before opening them again to stare coldly at the boy on the bed across from them.

"Well you're not helping," He says. "If you're here to joke around–" (And this is a lot coming from one of the biggest pranksters on earth, Y/n thinks) "–then you should leave."

"I wasn't joking around, I was trying to help get your minds off it!" He protests. "And this is my dorm too!"

"How could you possibly expect us to want to get our minds off of worrying for her?!" Fred yells, standing up and startling Y/n. "Just shut up!" Lee gets up as well, nearly slamming his weight into the post on the bed and shaking it marvellously.

"FINE THEN!" He shouts back. Y/n's now-free hand (and the one holding George's) instinctively goes up to cover her ears. Despite all the fireworks they'd set off within the last couple of months, she feels overwhelmed. "Fine then," he says coldly. "I'll go. Have fun waiting for Ginny." And he storms out, slamming the door behind him. Fred collapses back onto the bed.

"Godric, what an insensitive git," he says. Y/n glances down at him. Fred's forehead is beaded with sweat, and he fidgets with his empty hands.

"He was just trying to help." He looks up at her.

"Not you too." Y/n bows her head, feeling a wave of tiredness coming over her.

"I'm not leaving, Fred. But he wasn't being entirely insensitive." She can feel her left hand moving on its own due to her anxiety. "I'm staying here. I can't remember what's going to happen, but somehow I think it's meant to be that way. I'm going to wait with you." She sighs. "I think it'll be a little bit hard to make up with Lee, though."

"Why's that necessary?" Fred murmurs, almost to himself.

"He's your best friend, Fred, I think that's obvious."

"You are too. And George." Y/n flushes at this.

"Lee's been here longer than me. You're closer friends still. George is your twin...You're kind of stuck with that one." Fred sits up, taking Y/n's hand back in his.