just for me ⚘ a Fred Weasley Fanfiction

109. Fred and Juniper

As beautiful and serene as Bill and Fleur's place was, Juniper couldn't go back. When Fleur extended the invitation with a gentle hand on Juniper's shoulder, the early memories of the house flashed across her mind, and the weight of a boulder settled in the pit of her stomach. Thankfully, Fred intercepted the offer as Juniper's weak smile dropped, deciding that they'd go to the Burrow instead, until things fell into place for them.
And the Burrow was the perfect place to be.
It felt like all the Weasley's, along with the stray's they had picked up over the years, had moved back in. The boys in the family were quick to extend the dining table and add on a few extra rooms to the house, building outwards and upwards so they all had a comfortable amount of space. At dinner one night Arthur joked that there was now enough space for grandchildren, which Molly agreed to, only with a lot more tears. Fred laughed it off, but raised his eyebrows at Juniper when he caught her eye, questioning her. She warned him to not get ahead of himself.

The very next morning, they got ready for Matilda's funeral together. Juniper wore the exact black dress she had worn for the previous week's worth of funerals, and Fred wore the same black suit, which he look frustratingly handsome in.

"I promise I can do it myself." Fred pointed out as Juniper stood in front of him, tying his tie.

"Yeah right, I saw your uniform at Hogwarts." Juniper rolled her eyes, thankful that her hands had something to do besides digging her fingernails into her palms.

"And yet you still fell hopelessly in love with me."

"Against my will." She murmured in response, patting his tie down to his chest once she had finished with it, smiling up at him proudly. He reciprocated the smile, smoothing her hair and tucking it behind her ears.

"You ready?"

"Is there a right answer to that?" Juniper's mouth tugged to the side. Was anyone ever meant to be ready for their best friend's funeral? Is it worse to be early, eager to get the pain out of the way, or to be late, because saying a final goodbye was too scary.

"An honest one." Fred held her eyes, the rest of the world drowning out around them. He opened his mouth to say more, but stopped himself.

"Honestly, I think if we don't leave now, I'll never go." Juniper decided with a nod, depending on him to lead her out.
They met George, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Harry, just outside the front door, all dressed in black. Their eyes all lingered on Juniper, full of pity, trying to make small talk. She didn't respond to any of it, just insisting that they go and get it all over with.

Matilda's funeral was smaller than it should've been. She deserved multiple hundreds of people to show, to openly grieve the loss of a force such as herself. But the parlour was barely full. Blaise and Theo were tucked in the back corner, staring blankly at the ground with while Pansy, whose presence was a surprise, still managed to talk their ears off, Draco trying to usher her away awkwardly. Juniper had a strange urge to go to them, but one look at Fred completely wiped away that feeling.
They took their seats as the funeral started, staring up at the closed coffin at the front of the room. Over the next hour, family and friends made their way to the front to give speeches, contributing fractions to Matilda's legacy, spreading as much knowledge of her as they could.
Blaise got a few short words out, before his voice cracked and he just... stopped. He sat back down quickly, his head in his hands. The room fell into an unbearable silence, no one knew what to do. Whether they should wait for him to try again, or to continue past it. Juniper craned her neck to look at him, the tight clench of his jaw that would've cracked a tooth, his fingers digging into his temples, trying to hold himself together. And before she knew it, Juniper was on her feet, marching her way to the podium.

"Um, hi." She cleared her throat as she spoke into the microphone. It was weird, hearing her voice echo around the room, but she gripped the sides of the podium and continued on as best as she could. "I'm Juniper, I... I went to Hog- school with Matilda."