Confident | Fred Weasley

Chapter 112 | Home

It wasn't till four o'clock in the morning, still dark outside, where Sarah managed to step into the shower. She had been preoccupied with helping Fleur with Ollivander, Griphook, Hermione and Dobby, all of whom were in desperate need of medical attention.

Then, Shell Cottage only had one bathroom. Ollivander and Luna were in much more need of bathing than Sarah, and so she could only shower after them.

The second Luna stepped out, her blonde hair restored to her usual shine, Sarah dashed into the bathroom. She toed off her trainers, and stripped herself of every item of clothing. Fleur had been kind to lend her some clothes to change into after her shower.

The water, warmed to perfection, felt like heaven on her skin. Using Fleur's floral soap, Sarah scrubbed her skin until it was smooth and washed her hair with shampoo until her hair glistened like it used to.

She did her best to pat her hair dry with a towel, but it wasn't anything like drying it with a wand. She mourned the loss of her wand, which was still somewhere in the depths of Malfoy Manor. That had been her first, and only, wand, a prized possession since she was eleven years old.

She tugged on Fleur's jeans. The waistband, too loose, kept sliding down. Sarah pulled the jeans as high as she could, and grumbled under her breath as they slid down again. She had no desire to flash her underwear to anyone.

Still, there wasn't much she could do about that now. She pulled on a long sleeve t-shirt, but didn't even bother attempting to tuck it in.

With that, she looked in the bathroom mirror, the first time in a month. A deep purple, like a fresh bruise, stained the skin under her sunken eyes. The rest of her face, which once held a bronze undertone, appeared grey and lifeless. Her lips, dry and cracked, twisted into a frown at the sight of her appearance.

Sarah turned away from the mirror quickly. She didn't want to focus on that right now. She just hoped Fred wouldn't mind that she wasn't up to her usual standards.

As she collected her dirty clothes from the floor, Sarah scraped at the dry skin of her bottom lip with her teeth. She couldn't quite believe it. She was free! What had been the worst month of her life was over. Soon enough, she would on her way back to Wisteria Cottage, to her fiancé, to her dog. She hoped that Fred was alright. Bill and Fleur were yet to mention him, and Sarah had been so preoccupied with nursing Ollivander and Dobby back to health that she hadn't asked.

Sarah slid out of the bathroom. Dean was outside, staring out of the hallway window at the grassy cliffs in the distance.

"Dean?" Sarah said softly, making him jump, "Bathroom's yours."

"Oh, right," Dean nodded, "Thanks."

He headed past her, shutting the bathroom door behind him. Sarah headed downstairs and into the kitchen, depositing her clothes on the pile beside the washing machine. Fleur was inspecting the mound with a frown.

"Do you think I could throw theez all away?" Fleur asked, causing Sarah to smile.

"I don't think they'll be missed by anyone," Sarah responded, prodding the pile with the tip of her trainers. Considering how dirty the clothes were, it would have been at least three turns in the washing machine before they were clean.

Sarah headed into the living room. Harry, Ron, and Bill, were gathered around the coffee table, scrutinising the four wands that lay there. Sarah studied them for a moment, before letting out a gasp. On the end, it's dark wood marked with dust and fingerprints, was her cedar wood wand.

"My wand!" Sarah exclaimed, grabbing the thin instrument. It warmed in her hand, like greeting an old friend.

"Ah, mystery solved," Bill said, sliding over on the sofa to allow Sarah to sit down, "We were wondering whose that was."