Novus Orbis | Fred Weasley x Insert | ON HIATUS

Chapter 38 - Red Handed

Y/n tries her best the next day to hide her nervousness from the twins—and everyone else, for that matter—silently praying that nothing and no one interferes when it comes time to put the Mandrake leaf in her mouth. She still has yet to find any other ingredients for the process, and she has no idea how she's going to get away with keeping the darn thing in her mouth for a whole month. Not swallowing is no problem—having a good answer when someone asks (because surely someone will) is a different matter entirely.

The Advance Guard—so the Order dubbed the team of witches and wizards that was assembled to rescue Harry—is set to go for him on the night of August 6th–in exactly two days. More meetings are held, to work out minor details and discuss correspondence with Dumbledore. Several conversations–often leading in several different directions–are had concerning the hearing certainly to be had, and Y/n is nothing but grateful, every time she looks at her wand, that she doesn't have to face anything like that. Running into Percy would be downright awful–and that would be the best thing to happen.

As evening on the fourth approaches, Y/n grows more restless, finding it increasingly difficult to pay due attention as the twins' converse about Quidditch statistics for the coming year during dinner, itching to get to her room already and put the Mandrake leaf into her mouth away from prying eyes. After the Quidditch World Cup, her knowledge of the sport has expanded, and she has more of an idea of what's being said, but she still lags behind. Tonight, while they discuss their hope for the season to continue as usual this school year, she gives up trying to appear attentive, instead leaning on the table and pressing her fist to her cheek.

"Are you alright?" Fred asks her eventually. "You look a bit peaky."

"Just feeling a bit ill," she says, and so she is.

"You should probably go lay down then," George says. He eyes the potatoes on her plate. "Are you going to finish those?"

The girl pushes the dish over to him without hesitation, and he immediately scrapes its contents onto his plate, stabbing the last potato slice with his fork and sticking it straight into his mouth. The boys very quickly return to their talk, but Fred throws her a few more looks as dinner continues its course. The clattering of dishes begins to sound as food is finished and the others begin to stack their plates for collection, some chairs scraping already as older members of the Order announce their early departure for the night, bidding them all a good evening and heading out of the dining room or Disapparating with the signature crackling noise.

"You should go to bed," Fred says to her, and she looks from her stupor to see that he is taking her empty plate from in front of her as well as his own. "You look tired."

He brings the dishes to the sink for Molly, coming back and taking her hand to pull her up, saying, "Come on. Let's go." She follows him out of the room to the door of her bedroom, and he pulls her to him, pressing a kiss on her forehead and then stepping back while gently swiping his thumb across her cheek.

"Goodnight," she says, watching with a hand on the door handle while he and George go back down to the kitchen to finish cleaning with their mother. Then she steps over the threshold of her room, crossing to the dresser where the Mandrake leaves are hidden. She still has time before the full moon rises, but she doesn't want to risk missing it and having to wait another month. So, after sticking her head out of the room once more, leaves in hand, she steps out and goes quickly down the stairs and the back hall to the library. Ensuring with another check that no one is inside, she shuts the door as quietly as she can behind her and moves towards the low table in front of the couch, not sitting down yet. Leaf in her raised hand, she looks around at the windows lining the walls, through which the dim, cloudy evening haze shines through, the sun not quite fully set.