just for me ⚘ a Fred Weasley Fanfiction

70. sleepy time

Fred watched in horror as Juniper laid on the couch in the living room, stiff as a board, her unblinking eyes staring straight up at the ceiling. Resembling a corpse in the rigor mortis stage of death, Fred wasn't even sure if Juniper was breathing, and resorted to checking her pulse every few minutes. He glanced anxiously at his watch, waiting for the end of 15 minutes to pass. When it finally did, his eyes shot over to Juniper's body again, checking that she was still stiff and rigid. He let out a sigh of relief, sinking into the arm chair across from her, his leg bouncing up and down as he waited for her to wake up. Their experiment was done and he wanted her back now.
Ten more minutes passed of Juniper laying frozen and Fred was unable to sit still, he raced out the door in search of George, finding him behind the shop counter. There were only a few straggling customers left, the last of the day before they shut the stop.

"George, I need you in the flat." Fred breathed, out of breath from running down the stairs. "It's urgent."

"Uh..." George glanced at one of the workers they had hired for the shop, raising his eyebrows.

"I'll be okay." The girl, Verity, nodded in response. "I've closed the store before."

"Fred, if you've set my bed on fire, again, I'll kill you with my bare hands." George mumbled following his brother through the store towards the flat.

"There aren't any bears in England, George." Fred sneered back, repeating a joke the two have made a thousand times before. "So how would you get their hands? And kill me with them?"

"What did you need to show me?" George rolled his eyes as he entered through the door behind Fred, and let out a high-pitched screech at the sight of Juniper's body on the couch. "What did you- YOU KILLED HER?"

"What?! No, I-." Fred grumbled back, side stepping around the coffee table to stand beside Juniper. Her blank expression and wide, unblinking eyes made him uneasy and he had to focus solely on George. "She got cursed and instead of letting me fix it, she insisted on doing some 'quality control' on our daydream charms."

"That's what she looks like when she daydreams?" George winced, horrified by Juniper's state. His jaw was hanging open, eyeing her off as he got closer to inspect the state she was in. "We all have to have flaws I guess..."

"It's the curse." Fred murmured, glancing down at his watch. "She hasn't been able to sleep for more than 15 minutes at a time, and whenever she does, she wakes up screaming."

"Well how long has she-."

"29 minutes." Fred beamed, pride glowing on his face. George was speechless, his eyes darting between his brother and Juniper. "And you thought I killed the love of my life."

"The love of your life?" Juniper croaked from the sofa, her arms stretching out in front of her. "Isn't that sweet?"

"How do you feel?" Fred was kneeling by her side within a second. "Was it good? Did it relax you? What- what was it like?"

"Well... I didn't daydream." Juniper shrugged as she sat up, taking a moment to stretch out her back. "But I didn't wake up screaming, which so I'd consider it a total win. You guys are pretty good at magic."

"How long have you been cursed for?" George asked, resting against the kitchen bench. "Mum and dad haven't mentioned a thing."

"I know." Fred growled, catching George's eye, communicating with just a few looks. The room was quiet as they raised their eyebrows at each other, suggesting things and then shutting the other's ideas down, until Fred eventually spoke again. "Next time we see any of them I'll be saying something."

"It's not their fault, your parents had no idea." Juniper interrupted, grabbing onto Fred's arm. "Fleur's the only one that knows, and that's only because she has to share a room with me."