Never Give Up

Chapter Thirty

‘That girl will be the death of me, I swear! Amelia hasn’t left her room in days and she only appears to eat some food or go to the bathroom. I’m so sick of her behaviour, Fred! And this engagement is just putting so much stress onto me and... how many times have I told you to not throw your shirt onto the floor?!’ Hermione picked up a blue button up shirt of Fred’s and turned to face her husband who was lying in bed. Fred groaned at her behaviour and managed to catch the shirt as Hermione threw it at his face.

‘Mia... calm down, we still have a few hours left until we go to the Burrow,’ Fred assured her, chucking the shirt into a corner of the room and he watched as Hermione’s eyes followed the shirt and then trailed its way back to Fred, fixing him with a steely gaze. He held out his arms for her.

‘Hours? Hours?! Fred, I need to get ready and do a shower and my dress and make up and.... Amelia isn’t even up yet! She’s going to take so long to get ready and we have mere hours! Get out of bed, right now!’ Hermione yelled, yanking back the bed sheets to reveal Fred’s naked torso. Fred looked at the clock on their side table which read nine o’clock. He rolled his eyes and grabbed her wrist, pulling her down onto the bed with a high pitched squeal before climbing on top of her, ‘get off me, Fred!’

‘Just calm down, take a deep breath, and let yourself think carefully. It’s only nine o’clock and Mum says that we can get there after one to help set things up for the engagement. Also the engagement party isn’t until six. You’re way too worked up about this. Did you even sleep last night?’ Fred asked and raised his eyebrows as Hermione averted his stare which meant an obvious no. Fred sighed, ‘since we’ve been married for so long, I know you’re never going to sleep if I ask you to so... can I make you some very strong coffee?’

‘Oh, coffee sounds great. I’m going to have a quick shower so can you tell Amelia to get up and get ready? I bet she has no idea what to wear,’ Hermione shook her head and pressed her lips onto his for a quick kiss. She tapped the palm of her hand on his chest twice and Fred sighed grudgingly before rolling to lie down beside her. Hermione stood up, waiting for a second to let the blood pump actively through her again so she didn't have a head rush, and then she turned back to Fred, ‘get up!’

‘Remind me why I decided to marry someone like you again?’ Fred muttered under his breath, sitting up to look at her. Hermione rolled her eyes at him, walking over to the bathroom and banging the door shut behind her. Fred sighed, standing up, ‘I was kidding! I... I love you!’

Fred let out a breath when he heard a very loud scoff and the shower head started up. He walked over to the cupboard, grabbing a shirt and putting it on, before he left the room. Amelia had been holed up in her room after she learned about Hermione and Draco’s affair and said so many horrible things to her own mother. She only emerged to eat food, taking the plate into her room, not talking to her mother and only answering Fred when he asked her a question. It was brutal living with two girls he loved so much that were fighting.

‘Amelia?’ Fred knocked on her door and walked in after he heard Amelia say ‘come in’. Fred opened the door and saw Amelia sitting on her bed, bed sheets already made up, with a book propped open on her lap and that damn scarf, Fred tried so hard to ignore, wrapped around her neck, ‘reading at nine in the morning?’

‘I can’t get to sleep,’ Amelia muttered, closing her book and drawing her knees up to her chest as Fred sat on the bed next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Amelia cuddled into his side with a sigh.

‘Well, your mum didn't sleep last night either and now she’s going crazy over this engagement party. I’ve been ordered to wake you up and tell you to get ready while I make some coffee,’ Fred said, chuckling.