DOROTHEA {fred weasley}

fifty five

Dorothea trudged through the snow wearily, Ezra had left her to find Marcus and Adrian, and the witch had momentarily considered joining Elvira, Oliver and George, but didn't want to explain her ring in front of everyone. As for Fred Weasley, who she was supposed to be meeting, he was still in Puddifoots with Angelina Johnson when she left, so, the girl decided to walk through Hogsmeade alone. She passed Draco and Theo, both laughing on the walk up to the Shrieking Shack, she curled her hand into a fist when she passed them, so as to not show the ring.

Dorothea sat on the bench outside the Shrieking Shack, looking over Hogsmeade, watching various couples holding hands, kissing, throwing snowballs, feeling completely bitter that her blood meant that she would never experience normal love.

When a snowball hit the back of her head, the girl spun around to see Fred Weasley stood there, grinning in a hat and scarf. Dorothea turned back around, rolling her eyes, unsurprised when the wizard took a seat next to her.

"Some fucking show in Puddifoots," he said, looking at her. "Everyone was saying afterwards that it looked forced."

"Doesn't take a genius to work that one out," she said.

"I thought you were already engaged, what was the point?"

Dorothea shrugged, "ownership, to get the ring on my finger. Convince himself that it'll really happen. Fuck knows."

Fred stared at the huge emerald and diamond ring, it made his mother's gold band seem pathetic, and he dreaded to think how much it cost. The way Dorothea mindlessly messed with it, desperately trying to remove it, not treating the stones with any care was a harsh reminder of how different he and Dorothea's situations were.

"You can't take it off?" He asked.

"No, my mother's work, I'm sure."

"Sorry," he offered, unsure what else to say.

Dorothea sighed and leant back into the bench, staring up at the tops of the trees, "it's fine, Fred. How was your date?"

"Mind-numbingly boring. She had a go at me if I even glanced in your direction," he laughed, hoping to cheer her up a little. It was true, though. Angelina had no idea what had transpired between the pair at New Year, in fact, she didn't even know that Fred had vanished to see Dorothea, but them dancing was enough. Hell, the investigation into her mother was reason enough for Angelina to hate Dorothea, or even purely her surname. Fred rolled his eyes at Angelina's prejudice, forgetting that it used to be the same for him.

"She must have been pretty pleased when I got engaged right in front of your eyes, then."

Fred laughed at that, "probably."

"How'd you find me?" Dorothea asked.

Fred grinned, he had once again borrowed the marauder's map from Harry, but he just shrugged and said, "secret."

"You really do stalk me," Dorothea laughed.

"Ah, don't flatter yourself, Rosier."

Dorothea crossed her arms, "What's this alternate way back, then?"

"You're looking at it," he grinned.

"The shack?"

"Yep," Fred said cheerily. "Passage from here to Hogwarts."

"How do you know about all these passages, Weasley?"

Fred shrugged again, "secret."

"I'm not going through there, it's meant to be so haunted."

"Dorothea, have a little fun."

"I'm sca-"

"You live with Clementine Rosier, one of the most terrifying witches on earth, and you're scared of the Shrieking Shack?"