Fire // Fred Weasley

Chapter 10

Melanie went into Hogsmeade with Ron and Hermione. They went into Honeydukes and Zonkos before the girls went to get Melanie more robes. They were supposed to meet Ron in the three broomsticks after but Melanie felt somewhat nervous before her first official day and decided to head back to the castle. She excused herself with a promise that next time the butterbeers are on her, and started to make her way back to the castle.

Melanie was thinking about Milo and her family. She missed them terribly and she wished it was just as simple as sending them an owl. She started to wonder about what Milo was doing right now, if he went back to Hell or is he training alongside Buffy under Giles' watchful eye. Soon Melanie realised she had walked too far off the path and that she had no idea in which direction she was meant to go.

"You lost again Summers?" A voice said from behind her.

Startled by the sudden noise she jumped and turned around to see Cedric standing in front of her with his hands in his pockets and a yellow Hufflepuff scarf tied around his neck.

"Jesus Ced you scared me."

"Ced? Didn't know we were acquainted enough for nicknames."

"Sorry my bad." Melanie replied looking down at her hands.

"I'm only messing around Summers." He grinned.

"What are you doing here? It's hard to believe you'd end up exactly in the same place as me by accident."

"You walked past me and my friends as we were leaving Hogsmeade. You seemed zoned out so I sort of.. followed you to make sure you didn't get lost."

"Hm so you have a tendency of stalking girls into the woods?" She said with a half smirk.

"I'd prefer a damsel in distress type of situation." He replied hesitantly.

"I'm not in distress, just a bit lost."

"Personally I don't see a difference." He said pulling out his arm for her to grab. "Shall we?"

"Charming." She scoffed lightly and elbowed Cedric in a playful manner as they began walking towards the castle.

They were indulging in meaningless chatter when Cedric noticed Melanie wrap her arms around herself as she let out a third sneeze in the span of 5 minutes.

"Merlin woman it's October, you should really wear more layers." He commented as he took off his scarf and wrapped it around her neck. "There. We wouldn't want you getting sick before your first proper week at Hogwarts."

"Thanks." She replied. "I'll make sure to bring my warm coat next time." She smiled at him. After a couple of minutes they reached the courtyard and Melanie spotted one of the twins sitting on a bench scribbling something in a notebook. She turned back around to Cedric as she took off his scarf and gave it back to him. Soon a group of boys who Melanie assumed to be Cedric's friends started calling him over and making all sorts of stupid noises in order to embarrass him. His face turned slightly red at some of the comments.

"I better get going. Before they start acting like monkeys." He uttered with a soft grin.

"Yeah no worries thanks for walking me back."

"Anytime. Have a good day tomorrow, I wanna hear all about it." He responded as he walked towards the group of boys. Melanie turned around and walked towards the redhead, who shut the journal as soon as she got close.

"Whatcha' writing there Fred?" She asked as she took a seat next to him.

"Nothing you need to concern your pretty blonde head about." He smiled as he looked at her. "Anyways what are you doing fraternising with the enemy?"

"Enemy? You mean Cedric? He's just a friend."

"Yeah right." He said leaning back.

"Seriously Fred. I've only been here a couple of days. I'm not looking for anything. Is that what you think of me?"

"Merlin No. I'm sorry Mel. I didn't mean for it to sound like that. I think you're great, sweet and kind and very.. cordial."

"Cordial?" She raised her eyebrow and chuckled lightly.

"Yeah I sometimes blurt things out. When I panic. Which doesn't actually happen often."

"Haha don't worry Fred. It's all good." Melanie noticed Fred glancing at her with a furrowed brow. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

"No I just-" he hesitated. "I'm just having a hard time believing you're the same age as Ron." 

"Maybe because you see him as your younger brother instead of an actual person."She looked down at her hands. She knew the information was going to get out sooner or later but this was extremely quick.

"How old are you Melanie?" Fred asked, intrigued by her reaction. After a couple seconds he pulled out his pinky. "I promise I won't tell."

She looked back at him, at his cinnamon brown eyes and felt for a second like she could tell him anything. She interlocked her pinky with his as she  whispered almost inaudibly, "16".

"You're wha-" he started but quickly composed himself. "You're older than me how are you in your 3rd year."

"Well. For the record I just turned 16 last month."

"So you should be in my year."

"Yes, it's just complicated. Dumbledore decided to put me in third to give me a good chance with my O.W.Ls. You know with my limited magical knowledge." She inhaled sharply. "God if the other students find out and react the way you did-"

"Hey hey. No I'm fine. Completely. No unusual reaction." He said as he grabbed her hands. "I promise. Your secret is safe with me. I won't even tell George if you don't want me to." She looked up at him slowly feeling less tense. "It's complicated. I get it. Friends don't judge."

"So we're friends now?" She asked looking back up at him.

"Yeah of course we are!" They smiled at each other. "Plus I need another prank partner when George isn't around."

"If you want, and promise he'll keep his mouth shut. You can tell him, I know it's hard keeping things from your siblings let alone your twin. Where is he by the way?" She asked still smiling at Fred's earlier comment.

"Oh he's probably in the common room with Lee and Angelina." Fred felt Melanie tense up again at the mention of Angelina's name.

"Oh. Right."

"I'm sorry if she was a bit invasive the other day. You know she's really sweet when you get to meet her she was just.."

"Marking her territory." Melanie scoffed slightly as Fred gave her an amused look.
"Sorry. I get it though. I used to get defensive about Spike all the time.-" she stopped abruptly when she said his name out loud.

"Spike? Was that your boyfriends name?" Fred said a bit hesitantly.

"His nickname." Melanie said as she smiled softly to herself.

"Was it a difficult breakup?" Instantly regretting it he added. " I'm sorry I'm being ignorant right now."

"It's alright" she said quietly. She took a deep breath as she continued. "We didn't even break up technically. But we certainly aren't together anymore." As she said that tears slowly started to roll down her cheeks. She got up and made her way into the castle followed by Fred.

"What do you mean by technically?" He said, obviously not getting the hint, as they stopped at the bottom of the staircase.

"He died." Melanie whispered as more tears now started to form in her eyes and she couldn't hold it in any longer. She turned around and started going up the staircase leaving Fred at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey Fred, look what I've got!" exclaimed  George as he came up from the kitchens with various biscuits in his hands. He saw Fred with a shocked expression on his face. "Freddie what happened?" George asked concerned as he saw Melanie run up the staircase. He looked back at his twin waiting for an answer.

"I think I just might be the biggest idiot in the world."