just for me ⚘ a Fred Weasley Fanfiction

67. even happier times in Fred's room

"Well. It's not much, but it's home." Fred said once they had arrived at The Burrow.
Juniper thought it was cute that they had given the house a name, and seeing it in person, that name suited it quite well. With its numerous additional rooms build on top of each other, chimneys sprouting out of the roof and the mismatched bricks and stones. It looked lived in and homely, something that she hadn't realised she'd been craving in a house. Sirius' place was fine, a bit dusty and damp and full of dark magic propaganda, even after all the cleaning they did. The Malfoy's was cold and almost sterile, and her stomach turned just thinking about it. Her own house was warm and inviting, but only when Esme was still there, and she didn't want to think about what it was like last time she was there.
Juniper continued to stare up at the house, squinting her eyes due to the sun shining in them. She was a bit upset that she liked the house so much, it'd be harder to be angry if she was so pleased about staying there.

"You can say you hate it." Fred said from the doorway, using his wand to send her trunk inside. "Standing out here in protest is a bit rude."

"No I don't hate it." Juniper called to him, still looking up. "And I wasn't protesting, I was just... nevermind."

"Good." Fred grunted back as Juniper followed him inside.
The interior of The Burrow was exactly as Juniper had expected it, just less spacey. The mismatched furniture was reminiscent of Esme and her decorative choices, Juniper half expected her to waltz down the stairs, wild birds perched along her arms and stray animals scurrying behind her. But she didn't.
The kitchen looked worn in, it was very obviously the social hub of the house, and where the most time was spent. There was a large clock mounted beside the sink, with 10 hands instead of the regular 2, and all 10 hands were pointing to a section labelled 'mortal peril', which Juniper found less-than comforting.
Fred started up the tattered wooden stairs, and Juniper cautiously followed, convinced that the steps would snap in half when she put her weight on them.

"Bathroom is there." Fred said, lazily pointing to a door on the right. "If someone is taking too long, just bash on the door."

"I don't think I'll be doing that."

"Laundry is next to it. Just dump your clothes on the ground, they'll be on your bed the next day, clean and folded."

"I won't be doing that either." Juniper repeated to herself, glancing down the hallway that he was pointing to.

"Mum and dad, Charlie, Bill, and Percy all sleep on the next level up. Or at least did." He said, standing at the foot of the next flight of stairs. He stared up them, thinking hard for a second, before turning to Juniper. "I've only been up there a handful of times in my life, so I doubt you'll have to go up."

"Got it." Juniper nodded, deciding to not ask him about his brothers. He pointed to a few more rooms on the level they were on.

"Ron, Ginny. You might end up in Ginny's room when the rest get here in a few weeks. But until then..." He enticed, drumming on the wall with his hands as he lead her to a room in the corner of the house, hidden away from everything else, almost secluded. "My room is yours."

Fred swung the door open, revealing a room that was stripped almost bare, with next to no decorations or life inside, only two beds on opposite sides of the room, one with red covers and one with orange. Juniper looked inside from the doorway, a bit disappointed and underwhelmed. It was Fred's childhood room, and there was no trace of him anywhere. She expected at least a hole or two in the wall, burn marks on the ceiling, or even a box full of emergency pranking supplies. But there was absolutely nothing but furniture.

"I hope you like it, I cleaned it just for you." Fred said, entering the room and looking around, proud of his cleaning efforts.