In Every Moment | fred weasley x reader

Finally Home

You blinked. 

Your eyes felt dry and tired, as though you hadn't slept in weeks. Your brain felt foggy and slow and you couldn't quite comprehend where you were or what was happening. There was a bright, white light intruding your painful sight and you squinted in response. 

No thoughts came other than, where am I?

Your first instinct was to sit up. But when you tried to move your back, you were met with a sharp, creaking ache. Your shoulders felt ridiculously stiff and almost stuck. A short breath escaped your very chapped lips. 

"Careful, dear," a soft voice spoke from next to you. You tried to twist your neck to see who'd spoken, but it was just as crackly and stiff as the rest of you felt. The sudden jolt of your head send a stab of pain down your back. 

"Ow," you moaned, and you realised how awful your voice sounded- as though you'd swallowed a bowl of gravel and washed it down with a nice glass of sharp rocks. 

"Oh, I know, dear. You'll need a good stretch," said the voice again. You forced your eyes open wider and saw that it was Madam Pomfrey, smiling in her perfect white apron.

"What..." you began, but your voice was too raw to continue. Madam Pomfrey sighed and patted your cheek gently. 

"You were petrified, dear," she explained, her brow furrowing. "Professor McGonagall found you outside of your common room by the staircase. Poor thing, you'll be alright now, though, poppet."

Your forehead creased. Petrified? The memory suddenly came flushing back- the strange, unsettling noises, the thing in the reflection. Although every thought of yours was foggy right now, you were entirely convinced that you had been in the secret tunnel, and not outside of your common room. At least you wouldn't be in trouble, you supposed. A moment passed as Pomfrey helped stretch out your arms and legs, with each one cracking like you'd been still for months. Had you?

"How long was I...petrified?" You asked quietly, your sore voice just about a whisper. 

The nurse looked at you, and shook her head. "I'm afraid quite a while. You were petrified on Christmas Day, sweetheart, and it's June now. Tomorrow is the last day of term."

"What?" You cried, finding your volume again. You sat up sharply, causing a ripple of pain and creaks down your back. Ow. "What about all of my classes? And my exams? No, no! I have my O.W.Ls next year, no- oh no."

Madam Pomfrey chuckled. "Funnily enough, that's what your little Gryffindor friend said too, when I revived her." Your eyes widened in shock. 

"Hermione got petrified too?"

Pomfrey pursed her lips, "I'm afraid so, yes. Four more people were petrified after you- Miss Granger included." 

You let out a deep sigh. "Is she alright now?" 

"Of course," Pomfrey replied. "Just as you are. And don't fuss, Professor Dumbledore cancelled the exams for this year in light of everything. It wasn't just you that missed out on a lot of studying, dear- your two friends, Mr and Mr Weasley have barely been in class since you were petrified. Not to mention your Ravenclaw friends, Miss Ishani Mehta and Miss Selene Silvers. I eventually stopped trying to shoo them away."

"Oh," you said softly. You smiled at the image of the twins sneaking into the wing, and how Ishani and Selene probably studied every way to unpetrify someone. You looked down at your clothes and realised that you must look positively dreadful. "How often...were they here?" You asked quietly. 

Madam Pomfrey smiled as she fiddled about with a tray next to you. It had some kind of foul-smelling potion in a cauldron on top, emitting small puffs of green smoke. "Well, the twins were here about every five minutes, dear. I even caught them with an advanced Herbology book- it seemed as though they were going to try and brew you themselves."