Honey Bee *Fred Weasley

After the Fact (24)

Staying with the Weasleys for the rest of Christmas break was easy, but telling Luna why when she got to school was the hardest thing she'd ever done. In all honestly, Honey sheltered Luna for everything that happened. She didn't know how bad things really were, because she would always be sent to the Weasley's when things started to go down. 

She had Mable and Cedric there when she explained, because she didn't think she could do it twice when they asked. Also, because she needed the support. The look on her sisters face as she cried was enough to break her heart, and Mable had to walk her back to her commons while Cedric took her to hers. It hurt her more than she thought it would, to break the news to Luna.

The news was the Molly had taken her father to an inpatient facility at St. Mungo's, where they would help  him get better. Time could only tell if it would help, but until then, his letters would have to do.

She got his first letter on her first night at dinner, and as much as she wanted to rip it up on sight, Fred wouldn't let her. He saw her urge to destroy as soon as the letter touched her hands, and took it into his own softly. She was angry at him, for everything he put her and Luna through, and making her clean up his mess. Luna came to the table as soon as she saw the owl fly away, only to be handed the unopened letter to be taken back to her table. Honey didn't want to know what it said, she couldn't even look at it without feeling sick and surprisingly, she understood.

She read the next letter that came a week later, and it made her feel a bit better. She was in a funk, as much as she hated to admit it. Everything had just become too much for her, and her friends had noticed it as soon as she opened the letter. Nothing needed to be said between them to know they needed to cheer her up, and the twins took it in their own hands to do so. Cedric let them into the hufflepuff common room on a Saturday morning, and Mable let them into their dorm where she was still sleeping. The stairs didn't turn into a slide like they did in theirs, to their surprise.

Fred and George each went to a side of her bed, and started to jump on it and telling her to get up.  She didn't, and just gently pushed theirs legs while hiding under blanket. It was a Hogsmade day, and she didn't want to go and knew that's why they were there.

"We're going" They said together, taking the pillow off her head.

"I don't want too" She said, making herself comfortable once more. 

In response to that, Fred took her blanket off of her and the bed, tossing it to the side. She didn't have pants on, but that didn't surprise either of them because they knew she never did when she slept. He didn't waste a second in grabbing her legs and pulling her to the edge of the bed. He pulled her to where she was sitting up, but she just laid back down. She always was difficult to get up. Normally water worked, and that's what George was getting ready to do while Fred tried it the nice way.

Mable watched from the door with a smile, alongside Cedric who was trying to recover from Honey not having pants on. George used aguamente to dump water on her, and she sprang up from the bed with a gasp. She angrily hit him with the nearest pillow, her hair soaking wet and her already tight shirt sticking to her body. Fred, of course, had his eyes sticking to her body as well, making her smack him over the head with her pillow too.

"Eyes in your head, Fred" She said casually, as if reminding him. He just smiled, and she hit George once more and going into the bathroom with a change of cloths, not bothering to cover up her butt that was on full display.

"Well that worked" Mable said, elbowing Cedric who was nearly drooling over her. He didn't like her like that, but seeing her like that made him start to change his mind. He would never act on it though, he knew she liked Fred and he would beat him to a pulp if he ever tried anything.

"What are we gonna do when we get to Hogsmade?" Fred asked, throwing a quick spell at her bed to dry it off.  "I don't think we have all hung out together before."

"I'm sure Honey will think of something" Mable said with a shrug. It  was a chance for her to spend time with George as much as it was for Honey to spend time with Fred,

"I won't be staying" Cedric told him, "I've got a... date."

"Why such a long pause before date?" Mable asked him curiously. 

"Because Cho Chang is two years younger than him and he doesn't know if she's mature enough" Honey said, coming out of the bathroom dressed in her pale yellow sweater tucked into high waisted jeans. She had put her hair into a pony tale and applied her regular clear lip gloss onto her dark pink lips.

"Well there's that" He said, "Have fun guys."

With that Cedric left, and the four of them left soon after Honey threw a few things into her tiny backpack. She was happy that they were all going together so she wouldn't have to choose who to hang out with, because she wanted to stay with all of them. 

The first place they went too was the three broom sticks, and Honey and Fred went to find a seat while George and Mable went get drinks. He sat across from her, giving her a smile that nearly stopped her heart.

"I say we ditch them" He said, leaning across the table slightly. He wanted to spend time with her, and give George time with Mable.

"Definitely" She said with a nod, "But not yet."

He agreed, and they fell silent as they came back, both carrying a drink in each hand. They sat down, and Honey made a joke that successfully broke the ice, making conversation come easy. They headed to Zonko's next, since Mable had never been there before somehow, but Honey grabbed Fred's hand before they entered and pulled him away. He didn't question it, and just followed her where ever she took him. They ended up at the shrieking shack, and when they finally stopped he realized why. Honey had seen a big black dog, and followed it there.

She followed it because something wasn't right. She detected it how she detected a lie. It looked like a dog, but wasn't. It turned around when it heard their footsteps, and was greeted with Honey's confused eyes. She knelt down next to it, searching for a collar and finding none. Instead she pet it, unhappy with how skinny it was.

"A dog" She said to Fred with a smile. He just smiled back, as she reached into her backpack. She turned to the dog then. "Though I'm not convinced."

"Not convinced?" Fred asked confused, as she pulled an apple out of her backpack, along with a copy of the newspaper that she happened to have there.

"Nope" She said, watching the change in it's eyes confirm her statement. She gave it a soft smile, telling it that she wasn't going to do anything. 

"I'll get you more food if you find me at Hogwarts"She whispered to it, "You won't last much longer if you don't get some proper food."

With that she got up, and the dog walked away into the forest, taking the apple and the newspaper with it. Honey sat down next to Fred on the bench he had made himself comfortable on. The dog waited just out of sight, waiting for her to say something about how she knew, but she never did. They just started talking about the shrieking shack, and how the locals were scared it was haunted even though there were ghosts all over the wizard community. Fred took her hands in his, to warm them up in the chill February air, which made her smile while she spoke.