Between the Cracks // 𝓕𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝓦𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓵𝓮𝔂

47. Helps

A/N: TW for death and grave bodily harm
Also a small heads up for vomiting if anyone's sensitive to that! Not super descriptive but thought I'd let you know.

....not sure why I do this to myself lol, but enjoy the long chapter (if you can)!

Chapter 47: Helps

Freddie.

The playful tone rang in Fred's ears, teasing him and reaching him through his slumber. Memories of the night before, again outside the great hall, met him as he sighed contentedly beneath the covers, still not ready to wake up.

The sun shone outside as the time ticked on, the light warming the exposed skin not covered by the duvet. Specks of sleepiness resided in the corners of his eyes as Fred slowly blinked himself awake, a reminder of his not very long sleep.

He stretched, groaning tiredly and slowly started to notice his surroundings. The quidditch poster on the wall looked back at him. His mind again went back to last night.

Freddie.

"Freddie!" George's voice tore through the silence, and Fred grunted before diving into his pillow. Freddie? Maybe not.

The door opened and George's head came into view as he peeked around the doorframe. "Are you still sleeping? Get up! Help me with the delivery."

Fred let his head fall back against the pillow with a sigh, hand coming up to rub his eye tiredly before stifling a sigh. "Do I have to? It's Saturday."

"Yes, you quite literally have to. It's your job. Get up!" George spoke before he grabbed an old, rugged quaffle from the top of a cabinet at his side, launching it in his brother's direction and watching as it thumped against his forehead. George snickered at his expression before walking away from the door, his voice echoing across the space soon after.

"And you need to go get that ingredient we spoke about too! You know you have better luck getting it at reduced price – whatshername– Shannon!– has a thing for you. God knows what you did to cause that."

Fred groaned again, shoving the pillow over his face and again sinking into the mattress beneath him.

-

Leigh had slept quietly throughout the rest of the night after she had been carefully tucked into her bed. However, all good things must come to an end.

Despite her heavily intoxicated state, her mind didn't give her many hours of sleep before images of rubble and stone walls visited her in her dreams.

The familiar feeling of urgency was, as usual, pulsating through her blood as she hectically searched for Evan, fending off attacks as she ran panting down the shadow-cloaked corridors. The thudding of her footsteps was heard through the ringing in her ears, and her wide eyes searched desperately for the familiar form of her friend.

But the normal journey to find Evan in her nightmare was cut short. Her eyes had bounced stressfully around the space before it landed on something unfamiliar. Something which hadn't been there any of the previous nights she had experienced this same nightmare.

She slowed down at the view, legs carrying her uncertainly before she came to a shocking stop. It took a second before her eyes registered what was in front of her. The mess of rubble and fragments of the stonewall beside her forming into a heap of grey ruins. And between them – strands of hair protruding from under the stone – appearing like reddened flowers sprouting from the cracks in the asphalt.

And slightly below – the presence of pale skin peeking through from underneath the rubble.

Leigh's breath got stuck in her throat. Her body froze at the view, blood turning to ice as her gaze laid focused on the pale skin which became more and more visible with each passing second. She didn't know who it was, but at the same time something inside her screamed that she knew exactly.