Between the Cracks // 𝓕𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝓦𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓵𝓮𝔂

61. Floo

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Chapter 61: Floo

The following morning Leigh woke up to faint knocks upon the door. She was hidden beneath flowy sheets and warm comforters, and grumbled faintly under her breath as she fluttered her eyes open. The window along the wall soaked parts of the room in warm sunlight, and the frosty branches glittered their good morning greeting.

Blinking the sleep from her eyes, she sat up slightly, the room clearing up around her.

"Ye-yeah?" she mumbled in tired confusion, bringing a hand up to rub her eye as the door slowly creaked open. She hurriedly patted her palm against her hair a few times and ran her fingers through her strands, hoping it wouldn't look way too messy.

"You awake? Can I come in?" Fred's voice carried out throughout the silent room, and Leigh's eyes caught sight of him through the slit in the door, standing with one hand upon the handle and the other in front of his eyes.

"Yeah," she replied. When he remained in the same position she spoke again. "It's alright, I'm dressed, and...well, under the covers," she croaked out in a thick morning voice.

A faint smile grew on his lips, and he peeked through his fingers at her where she sat, hair unruly and sleep still lingering in her gaze. "Morning."

She returned a tired, loopy smile. "Morning." Her greeting was interrupted by a yawn, and Fred watched with amusement.

"Did I wake you?"

She considered lying for a second, but decided against it. She nodded in almost endearing embarrassment, letting her finger guide a strand of messy hair behind her ear. "Yeah."

Fred's grin shone into the room. "Aw," he pouted, and Leigh resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him.

"Is it late?" she asked him instead, pulling the duvet closer to her chest and and her knees up under the covers. She stretched faintly as she rubbed her eye tiredly.

Fred remained quiet for a second before he shrugged carelessly. "Yeah." Then: "Catch."

A moment later an item was thrown through the air towards her, and she caught it at the last second before it met her face. Her reflexes were decent, but perhaps not as good as could be only a minute after she had risen from sleep. Leigh looked down at the soft item in her hand, seeing a gingerbread muffin peek back at her.

"And here's coffee," Fred followed up with, taking a few steps closer to the bed to pass a cup over to her, which she thankfully accepted.

"Thanks," she mumbled gratefully, not expecting this start to the Christmas Day morning. The mug was warm in her palm, and although the temperature was fine inside the flat, she appreciated the cosiness the hot drink brought. "Couldn't you just have given me the muffin as well?"

"I could've, yes," Fred spoke cleverly, and she resisted delivering another smile his way.

Instead of turning on his heel and slipping out the door again, he leaned back against the doorframe, letting his gaze hover over her form faintly. "How's your ribs?"

She shrugged, took a small sip of her coffee. "Alright. A bit sore."

He hummed at her answer. "I have some breakfast out here if you want."

"I'll be out in a second," she said through a smile, rotating the hot drink in her palms. Fred gave her a nod before swiftly sliding out the door, closing it respectfully behind him.

A few minutes later she exited the room, yawning, to enter the kitchen space, this time properly dressed in comfortable clothes. Fred was by the desk, in the process of putting an extension charm on his bag to be able to squeeze in all of his Christmas gifts.