prospicere futurum | fred weasley | cedric diggory

46

Ella pulled the door open and started down the stairway as Taylor rubbed a fist over her eyes, sleepily. Corinne made sure to hang back, only a second, to be the last from the room, grabbing the worn scarlet hoodie from her top drawer.

"Potions first thing after Christmas break..." Taylor grumbled, mostly to herself. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"I think you'll survive." Ella assured her, though Corinne was hardly listening, her gaze locked to the soft fabric tucked under her arm. Nerves buzzing through her chest at the thought of having to give it back. To what he would say, or...

"Look alive, Weasley." Ella warned, nearly running into the red head as they reached the final step. Corinne's eyes jolted up at his name, locking with Fred's at once, as if he had been waiting for her... The way the two of them had spent most of break...

Ella and Taylor didn't slow, still headed sleepily towards the portrait hole as Corinne paused near Fred who's gaze had already found the hoodie folded neatly in her arms.

"Hey..." She started, hoping to get this over with before her friends even noticed she had fallen behind.

"Morning." Fred forced his eyes back to hers, already knowing exactly what she wanted.

"Here." She held the hoodie out between them, "Sorry it took me so long-"

"Corinne... Don't-"

"Take it." She said, more forcefully now. Ella and Taylor had noticed now, watching the two of them from the doorway, eyes wide.

Fred's voice was more than a whisper, as if her friends weren't latched onto every word. "I'd really like if you'd keep it-"

"I'm not going to keep it." Corinne answered, and he finally gave in, watching as her teeth sank into her lower lip, pushing the frayed fabric into his hands.

Before he could say anything else, she had turned back to her friends, hurrying through the portrait hole and past the girls who were still watching Fred with confusion even as the door swung shut. He sighed, running his hand over his messy hair and starting back up the stairs to drop the sweatshirt in his dorm. He didn't feel the least bit hungry anymore, and paused when he reached his dresser, breathing in the familiar scent lingering in the fabric in his hands.

Ella and Taylor had made it an entire staircase before they finally broke.

"What was that?" Taylor asked, and though Ella normally would have shushed her, she was just as curious.

"He gave me his hoodie in the fall. I forgot about it." Corinne answered, shortly, already turning the corner towards the next flight of stairs.

"Oh..." Taylor mumbled.

"Why did he look like you'd just cursed his whole family?" Ella pressed on.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Corinne, come on..." Ella continued, even though she could tell her friend was growing annoyed. "Did something happen over break?"

"Like what?" Corinne snapped, and Taylor looked anxiously between the two of them, falling back a step.

"Like... Did you get into a fight, or..."

"Or what?" Corinne's mouth curled into a sneer as they drew closer to the Great Hall at last.

"You know what."

"Don't be ridiculous." Corinne said, torn between the annoyance and the guilt now tugging it's way into her chest.

You could tell them... They would understand...

She stayed a few steps ahead of Ella, leading the way towards their usual seats for breakfast, thankful that George or Lee hadn't arrived yet either. She would never have stayed home for Christmas if she had known all of the trouble it would have caused her.