Golden Boy

41. Girls' Night Out

Camellia let out a pained sob as the rain began falling harder onto the sprawling countryside. The sky above her was blanketed by grey-blue clouds, the wind making them roll past like dark ocean waves.

Her shoulder and shin were stinging horribly, and she could no longer stem the flow of blood coming from the wounds. Disapparating without a solid destination in mind, and then after getting splinched, doing it again? How stupid was she? She definitely wasn't thinking straight, and she needed someone's help, fast.

The red sparks she'd sent up fell back down to the earth, and no one came. She gave a frustrated groan, pointing her wand up and shouting, "Periculum!" once again. Just as the second set of red sparks went up, Molly Weasley came hastily out of the Burrow's front door and laid eyes on her.

"Camellia!" she cried, rushing over to where she was through the pouring rain. She knelt down in the mud next to her and offered her hand, which Camellia took. The two women slowly made their way back into the house, both completely drenched by the time they got inside.

Mrs. Weasley sat Camellia down at the dining table and immediately began tending to her wounds.
"My darling girl, what happened?" she asked worriedly. Her graying ginger hair was completely wet, as were her clothes, and Camellia felt a pang of guilt. She winced as Mrs. Weasley blotted her shoulder with a rag.

"I- I Disapparated from the boys' flat without knowing where I was headed," Camellia said, tears still streaming down her cheeks. "And then again, when I landed in the middle of a field... I got splinched twice."

Mrs. Weasley planted a kiss on the top of her head and knelt down, taking her face in her hands. "I'm going to get you healed up, but afterwards you'll tell me what's really going on. Alright?"

Camellia nodded and sniffled, and Mrs. Weasley went to the kitchen, coming back momentarily with a vial of dittany. She moved Camellia's torn shirt collar aside and held her hand, then placed a few drops onto the open wound.

The pain was more intense than she'd expected, and she hissed and squeezed Mrs. Weasley's hand hard. The dittany burned like fire for a brief moment, then subsided as a feeling of cooling relief overcame it.

"I know it hurts, dear, I'm so sorry," Mrs. Weasley said sweetly, moving down to her shin. She repeated the process, then re-corked the bottle and set it on the table. "Alright... while that sets, why don't you tell me what made you leave the flat so suddenly?"

There was a moment when Camellia and Mrs.
Weasley locked eyes, and all of the pain of what Fred had done rushed back into her mind like a flood. She let out a heaving sob and fell into Mrs. Weasley's arms.

She was so broken- the image of Fred and Zina wouldn't leave her mind, his guilt-ridden face when he confessed how he'd been feeling, Fleur's words from so long ago, when she'd told her that Fred would never succumb to Zina's powers alone... it was all too much. Camellia cried for what seemed like forever as Mrs. Weasley hugged her and stroked her hair lovingly.

"I'm s-so sorry, Mrs. Weasley," Camellia finally managed to stutter between tears.

"What on earth for?" she asked, meeting her eyes and furrowing her brow. "You've done nothing wrong, my darling."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be enough for him," she sobbed. "I love him so much- he's s-so wonderful, and I thought we were doing alright-"

Mrs. Weasley took her hands off of Camellia and looked at her with a wide-eyed expression. "Couldn't be enough for him? You're talking about Fred?"

Camellia nodded. Her eyes stung from the tears, and she shivered in her soaking wet clothes. Mrs.
Weasley got to her feet and looked around the house as if someone were around to agree with her.