just for me ⚘ a Fred Weasley Fanfiction

86. the Quidditch cup

"Uh oh." Hermione announced as she finally caught Juniper at breakfast that weekend. A crimson red howler had just been delivered, dropping into Juniper's lap. "Is that from who I think it's from?"

"Yep." Juniper sighed, glancing up at Hermione from over the top of her glass of pumpkin juice. "I haven't opened any of his other letters, so he sent this."

"Are you going to open it?" Hermione asked, leaning over to grab Juniper's second last piece of toast.

"Nope."

"He's just worried about you."

"I know, I know." Juniper mumbled as she fiddled with the envelope.

"And he's going to keep sending them until he gets an answer..."

"I know!" Juniper sighed loudly, finishing off the rest of her pumpkin juice. "I just... I know I'm stupid for going after Draco, but I don't want to hear him say that."

"He won't call you stupid." Hermione reassured her. "The Howler on the other hand... might start if you don't open it soon. That's what happened to Neville."

"May as well get it over with." Juniper muttered, slowly peeling the corner off. "It'd be nice to hear his-."

"JUNIPER JADE JONES! HOW DARE YOU WALK YOUR BEAUTIFUL SELF STRAIGHT INTO DANGER WITHOUT ME THERE TO PROTECT YOU?" Fred's voice boomed as the Howler sprung from its envelope, echoing through the hall as heads snapped in their direction to watch. The letter practically spat in her face, shaking with Fred's anger. Juniper was frozen, her cheeks burning with a mix of shock and embarrassment as the Howler raged on. "AND NOT ANSWERING MY LETTERS? REALLY? I KNOW YOU'RE BUSY WITH ALL YOUR FRIENDS, BUT IS IT TOO MUCH TO EXPECT A REPLY FROM MY AMAZING GIRLFRIEND? ESPECIALLY AFTER YOU GET YOURSELF STUCK IN THE MIDDLE OF A DUEL? LITERALLY?! DO YOU WANT TO GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK? I love you. And George says hi." The Howler's final words spoke at a gentler level, before ripping itself to shreds.
Juniper's eyes flicked from the letter now burning on the table, to Hermione, whose jaw was also dropped in shock.

"Well..." Hermione started once the howler had finally settled as ash on the table, standing up slowly. "He didn't call you stupid. And he said he loves you."

"Still mortifying." Juniper mumbled, also pulling herself away from the table. She tried to ignore the eyes still following them as the walked out of the hall.

Together they made their way to the Quidditch pitch to watch Gryffindor's final match against Ravenclaw. Ron and Ginny had been warming up for the match all morning, while Harry was stuck in detention with Snape for (accidentally) trying to kill Draco.
Even if Slytherin were playing, Juniper couldn't have cared less about the game. Slumping between Hermione and now Matilda in the Gryffindor stands, she crossed her arms and squinted as the sun shined directly into her eyes. The crowd around them roared with cheers as the game started, Gryffindor leading from the start.

"Beautiful day isn't it?" Matilda chirped into Juniper's ear, shading her eyes with her hand. "Makes me want to go to the beach."

"It'd be freezing at the beach, Tilly." Juniper muttered, watching as Gryffindor scored another goal. She was still suffering from the embarrassment of the Howler at breakfast.

"A picnic would be nice though." Hermione leaned around Juniper to suggest to Matilda, who nodded eagerly in response. They turned back to silence for a while, cheering and booing as the crowd around them prompted them to.

"You know," Juniper started. "Even after playing that one time over Christmas, I don't understand anything that's happening."

"You played a game of Quidditch?" Matilda laughed loudly in shock, convinced that Juniper was joking. "Were you forced? Was someone controlling you?"