DOROTHEA {fred weasley}

sixty one

Dorothea's last NEWT exam fell on the morning after the return of Voldemort was confirmed. The papers had reported it the next day, a photograph of Harry Potter, bloodied and exhausted occupying the front page. Everyone in the hall was reading it, some were crying. Ezra, Marcus and Adrian sat huddled in a small group, whispering amongst themselves, eyes darting around self-consciously. The exam was cancelled, of course, and Dorothea had plans to go straight to Oliver Wood's with Elvira, just for the rest of the month. Ezra caught her in the common room as she went up to begin packing.

"You alright?" He asked her, looking down at the copy of The Daily Prophet that she was gripping.

"Nothing I didn't already know," she muttered. "Guess I ought to just be grateful mummy wasn't there."

"She said you're away for a few weeks?"

Dorothea nodded, "my last month of freedom."

"Right. It's generous of Clementine, I don't know any other parent that would do that."

"It's more to bribe me than in the name of generosity."

"Guessing you'll be with Elvira?" his lip curled into a slight sneer, "Hopefully not with Weasley, we need to talk about that."

"That was nothing," she said, echoing the same words she had said to him multiple times. 

Ezra shrugged, a slight smirk on his face, "doesn't matter to me, Thea. Dates set, isn't it?"

Dorothea swallowed, it was. 26th September, that's when she'd marry him, a month after she'd receive the dark mark.

"What are your plans until I return?" She asked him, attempting civility.

"Training with Camille, actually," he said, then smiled. "She's excited to see you. It'll be nice for you to have her around."

Dorothea nodded absentmindedly, she rarely thought about her cousin.

"One more thing," he called after her when she turned to head up to her dorm. "Your mother requested this."

Adrian Pucey jogged down the stairs with a sort of twisted grin on his face, and Dorothea suddenly felt extremely cornered. 

"An unbreakable vow, that you'll come back, that you understand the consequences if you don't."

"I've promised-"

"Clementine has changed her mind, she demanded this."

"I'm going to come back."

"Then where's the harm in swearing it?"

Dorothea's heart dropped. She knew her mother's threats against Elvira and her family were real, but still, she'd held onto the slightest fragment of hope for herself, no matter how selfish it felt. She was sure that somehow, Elvira's friends could help her, or even Fred's parents. Maybe her mother sensed that, this made sure any glimmer of hope was gone.

So she did, she swore it. She swore she'd return by the 1st August, and then, any positive thoughts towards the future that she may have had, vanished. Ezra stroked the scar from Clementine's quill on the back of her hand.

"Remember you're a Rosier, Thea. This is your duty."

Dorothea nodded and swallowed, "I've always known that, Ezra."

The man smiled at her, "you're not getting the Hogwarts Express, are you?"

"No," she said. Elvira's parents were picking them up from Hogsmeade in a car. A muggle car. She had been very excited about this.

"Well then," he said, moving his fingers from her scar to hold her hand and pull her towards him, he awkwardly kissed the side of her mouth and Dorothea didn't move a muscle. "Have a relaxing few weeks, you've deserved them."