just for me ⚘ a Fred Weasley Fanfiction

106. the Great Hall

cw~

Juniper wasn't sure if she was dead. She didn't dare open her eyes or move. But she could feel the burns on her skin and the ache of a possibly broken bone. She could hear the crackling fire around her, the faint sounds of battle commotion happening in the distance, and the footsteps that passed her without stopping. Maybe they thought she was dead too. She was lying awfully still after all.
But if she was still alive, why hadn't Fred moved yet?
Her heart stuttered in a panic, working up the energy to move, to open her eyes or shift her arm toward him. She had dragged him out of the way, right? The moment blurred together once her head hit the ground. What if she hadn't? What if she had been too late?
The thought was painful enough that she managed to lift her heavy head, eyes landing on the patch of dried blood she was lying in. Her head pounded, making her dizzy and nauseous, nothing felt real at all. Her eyes drifted along to where her leg was aching, it was bent out of shape.
She'd get to that later, Fred was her priority.
The first thing she spotted was his hair, poking out from the rubble, matted with dark red blood. She crawled to him desperately, her broken leg dragging behind her, loud, worried sobs breaking out before she could realise. She cleared the stone from his face, her spiralling thoughts making her panic and hyperventilate.

"Fred." She managed to choke out a whisper, eyes landing on his face, blood streaking from a cut on his forehead. He didn't answer, which wasn't a good sign. "Fred, please. Come on."

She grew more and more frustrated and scared, throwing handfuls of stone away as she cleared it off of him, uncovering him from the waist up.
Somewhere in the middle of it all, her forearm began to sting, her mark wriggling around under her skin. Then Voldemort spoke in her mind, a deafening hiss that made her cover her ears.

'You have fought valiantly. Lord Voldemort is merciful, I command my forces to retreat. You have one hour. Dispose of your dead and treat your injured. Harry Potter, you have allowed your friends to die, rather than face me yourself. If in one hour, you have not given yourself up to me in the Forbidden Forest, the battle shall recommence and I will destroy every man, woman, and child in my path to find you.'

"Come on, Weasley! Don't you dare fucking-." Juniper's voice cracked as she screamed, frightened tears streamed down her face, leaving traces in the dirt and soot that covered her. She grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him desperately and violently with all the strength she had left, which wasn't a lot at all. "Fred! Frederick! Frank! Fuck- Francine? Look I'm naked! HEY! Get the fuck up, now!"

With Voldemort's retreat. The castle was silent, all that could be heard were Juniper's sobs and plea's that echoed through the halls. If she was a little bit smarter, she would've checked to see if he was breathing, or if his heart was still beating, but she was too distraught to think clearly. She raised an open hand and slapped him across the face, hard, her fingers stinging from the force of it.
The silence stretched on for what felt like an eternity, as Juniper held her breath, staring down at him while she waited for a reaction.
Nothing.
She raised her hand again, winding it back further than before. And then-
With a sharp, choking gasp, Fred's eyes snapped open. He winced as he let out a dry cough, his hand instinctively moving to his cheek, which had Juniper's handprint burning bright red on it.

"Bloody hell, June." He groaned loudly, his voice hoarse and strained. "What was that for?"

Juniper was frozen the moment his eyes had opened, not breathing or blinking, her heart hammering against her chest. She just stared at him in disbelief, like he was a ghost.
But then his eyes locked with hers, and the floodgates reopened. A strangled laugh bursting out of her, quickly followed by a sob that rattled her chest. She lunged forward, her arms wrapping around his neck and holding him as tightly as she could, just in case he disappeared.
Incapable of forming a single word, she just sobbed into his shoulder, her tears mixing with the dirt on her face, leaving stains on his collar. He winced as he adjusted beneath her sudden weight, the debris falling off his lower half.