Sugar : Fred Weasley

58: Amends and Arguments

[victoria's pov]

July 28th, 1997

Bill and Fleur's wedding was to be in four days and the Burrow was in no shape for guests–as Mrs. Weasley put it. Shortly after the twins and my conversation, Mrs. Weasley forced us to bed, in hopes to keep us busy and away from the duties of the Order.

I was rooming with Ginny and Hermione so I told her everything that happened as soon as she awoke–and once Ginny had gone down for breakfast. I told her about Mattheo and she seemed to be more concerned about the fact that I may have entered a temporal pocket again.

"I mean, we don't know what it'll do to you if you enter the temporal pocket so many times!" Hermione exclaimed. "What if he's slowly turning you evil as you enter the barrier? What if he's weakening you for his plans ahead?"

Her frantic theories were clever, but I couldn't help but feel as if there was more to what I knew.

"I don't know Hermione," I said. "But I do know that thanks to you, I'm alive... that spell of the Half-Blood Prince's..."

We were forced to get out of bed when there was a knock at the door. Considering I was the last to wake up, I took the bathroom last and washed my face. I couldn't help but notice how my eye bags looked heavier... but then again, it was the least of my worries.

As I returned to Ginny's room, I saw a bouquet of red roses sitting on my pillow. It seemed as if even in the darkest of times, Fred knew what he was doing to keep me smiling. There was a little note attached that was simply signed to Sugar. I sat on the edge of my bed and smelled the aroma of the roses before setting them back down.

The kitchen was loud as Mrs. Weasley was already assigning tasks for everyone to take care of.

Unfortunately, since Mrs. Weasley wanted to keep the trio apart, so she partnered Harry and I to clean the shed–even though none of the guests would be seeing it anyway. She then paired Hermione to help the twins clean their room for Fleur's family that was coming over. Then Ron was paired with Mr. Weasley to work on arranging things outside the house.

Harry and I were in the shed, dusting quietly. The air was thick of awkwardness and unspoken words. We haven't spoken since Dumbledore's funeral.

"I'm sorry," Harry said out of the blue.

I stopped.

"Whatever for?"

"For uh- my behaviour at Dumbledore's funeral..." Harry said quietly. "There was no reason to be so upset with you..."

"That's okay, Harry," I reassured. "You just have a lot on your plate. Especially for a sixteen year old boy..."

Well, almost seventeen.

"I just-" Harry stuttered. "Dumbledore risked his life to get his hands on the other horcruxes. And when I found out you got one of them just like that, it seemed like an injustice. Dumbledore suffered for a fake horcrux. As stupid as it sounds, I just couldn't help but be so angry that you could defy the rules of the dark arts so easily, especially against your will... it made me wonder if he could have really lived... if all of the trouble could have been saved."

"Oh, Harry," I said, unsure what to say as I heard his voice weaken. "Dumbledore was a great wizard, and an even greater man. I'm sure he knew more about what was going on behind the scenes than we did."

"That's just a fancy way of saying everything happens for a reason," Harry said quietly.

"You're right," I agreed.

A few more minutes of silence passed as I finished dusting. Harry and I left the shed, nearing the house as he stopped and faced me.

"Dumbledore said I could trust you with what he told me."