prospicere futurum | fred weasley | cedric diggory

30

It was Monday. Well, Corinne glanced to the window where the sun was slowly but surely working it's way over the forest in the distance; it had been Monday for a few hours now. Ella and Taylor had exchanged a single worried glance when she told them to go to breakfast without her, informing them that she would meet them for class, though as soon as the door had shut behind them, launching the room into the familiar silence, she knew she had lied.

She had no intention of going to their first class... or maybe any of them. Possibly of ever moving from this couch again, in front of the warm fireplace, the calming sound of the wood crackling into the flames every few minutes.

The door swung open once again, and Corinne glanced lazily towards the noise, pulling her gaze back to the fire after spotting him. Of course, if anyone was to have a free first period, it would be Fred Weasley.

"Baker." He muttered, starting towards the staircase across the room, though his pace had slowed halfway across the carpet. "You weren't at breakfast."

She shot him half a glare, eyebrows raising without her notice. He had a plain black beanie to cover his hair, and she could almost imagine the comments he would receive from their professors when he made it to class.

"Not that I was... you know, stalking. Just... noticing."

"Mhm." She mumbled, sinking deeper into the worn cushions behind her and trying to will her focus back to the relaxing fire before her and not on the feeling of his eyes on her still, even after she had turned away.

"You feel sick again?" He asked, stepping closer to the fireplace, his book he'd come up for before class now long forgotten.

"Sick?" She asked, under her breath, not moving her gaze from the glowing embers.

"Another headache?"

"Oh." She thought back to the week before. Had it really only been a week ago? "No."

Fred paused, knowing better than to move any closer, though he leaned silently against the arm rest of the couch beside her, his gaze trailing over her small frame. She had seemed so much brighter the last few days, and he had even caught her smiling a few times... even in potions, when hardly anyone had cause to smile. And now, it was as if all of those days, all of those nights had meant nothing. He wondered if she'd already run out of the potion, if he should start brewing her another. If she was going to need them forever...

"You don't want to go to class?" He asked, instead of the other questions that were dying to pour from his mouth and surely piss her off.

She shook her head in response, and after another moment of silence, Fred realized that was all he was going to get.

"Corinne..." He stalled, wishing she would meet his eyes. "I know you care about your classes..."

"Oh, leave me alone, Weasley." She muttered, finally meeting his eyes, hers seeming dark even with the glow of the sunlight pouring in through the tower. "It's my life to ruin as I please."

They were silent for another second, Corinne holding his gaze as if daring him to contradict her, though he couldn't. She was right, though he was sure that most of the teachers, Umbridge excluded, would give the Gryffindor a pass, at least for the first few weeks... After everything she'd been through...

"Alright then." He shrugged, dramatically, standing from his perch on the couch and holding out a hand for hers, ignoring the way she sneered in response, avoiding his touch. "Come on, you're not wasting a perfectly good day here on the couch."

"Well I can't exactly claim I'm sick if I'm running about the castle with you." She grumbled, and he shook his head, shaking his hand once again before her impatiently.