Stumble - A Fred Weasley Fanfiction

Chapter 32: 174 Days Before

Addie's hand was shaking as she handed Fred the letter. He read it in silence, wincing as his eyes passed over the first line, his expression growing grimmer as he read through. When he was finished, he folded it back up, handed it to Addie, and said a single word. "No."

"No?" Addie repeated.

He shook his head. "No. No way."

"I haven't even told you if I want to go through with it yet."

"Well, do you?" Addie nodded. "Why?"

"I...I'd rather it be me than Charlotte," she said. "She doesn't know Thomas, she doesn't know why he took her. She's probably so confused and scared. And I'd still be scared, but at least I would know what was happening to me, I would know who took me. I think I would know when he was dangerous, and how to handle him." Addie paused, reaching down to grab Fred's hand and squeezing it gently. "Charlotte was taken because of me. And I don't want her to suffer for that."

"So you're willing to give up your life for her? You don't have to do that. There are other ways to save her."

Addie shook her head. "Thomas won't kill me."

"This is about him, isn't it?" Fred asked, pulling his hand away. The sudden loss of contact felt like a slap in the face to Addie. "You want to save him."

Addie couldn't deny it, and the longer she hesitated, the more she knew Fred understood. "I..." There was no right way to say it. "He...Thomas was a lot of things, but during our Hogwarts days, he wasn't evil. He wasn't what he is now. So if he can change that suddenly, maybe he can change back. Maybe he can realize how wrong this is."

"He tried to kill you."

"But he used to be my best friend!" Addie's voice was much louder than she intended, and she quickly lowered it. "If George did what Thomas did, if you knew he was on You-Know-Who's side, hurting and possibly killing people, would you just leave him be? Would you not try to help him?"

"That's different."

"How? How is it different?" Fred stayed silent. "Fine then, what if it was me? What if I disappeared tomorrow, and you found out I was a Death Eater. What if I tried to kill you? Would you just say I was a lost cause, and never try to figure out what happened? Or try to save me?"

Fred's eyebrows rose. "Are you saying you feel the same about Thomas as I feel about you?"

"No!" Addie said quickly, realizing how her words had come across. "Of course not!" She approached him slowly, reaching out a hand to him. Her heart seemed to drop into her stomach when he stepped away.

"Then why are you leaving me for him?" Fred asked, his voice soft and sad, and Addie felt her own heart shatter with those words. She reached out again, and this time Fred didn't move away. Addie pulled him close, trying to express just how much he meant to her in her grip.

"I'm not leaving you," she told him. "Not for long, anyway. I don't want you to think for a minute that after we get Charlotte back, I'll be giving up. I'm not going to stay with Thomas. Every minute I'm with him, I'm going to be fighting as hard as I can to get back to you. And I know that wherever he takes me, you'll be fighting just as hard to find me as I am to find you."

"I don't want you to do this," Fred said quietly, hugging her back tightly.

"I know. But I have to. I'm going to go tomorrow, to the Shrieking Shack, and trade myself for Charlotte. And..." Addie took a deep breath. "And I don't want you there when it happens. I want you to stay here."