A Chance Encounter | Fred Weasley

Chapter 13

Fred's hand sat on the doorknob, ears straining to hear any sign of what was going on outside.

A firm knock came once more.

"Who's there?" he called out.

"It's Roman," a familiar voice answered back.

Fred took a deep breath, looked back at his brother, then faced the door once again. He swung it open, wand at the ready.

Roman stood on the other side in the same manner, wand drawn in expectation of a duel. When he saw that there were only friendly faces to be seen, he immediately relaxed.

Fred thought he looked terrible. Roman had a few new scars on his face and his expression was an exhausted one. It must have been a very rushed trip back from Romania for him to already be here.

"Well, come in Roman!" Molly exclaimed from behind the men. "You look hungry. We've got enough to go around."

Clara jogged downstairs when she didn't hear any chaos. Seeing Roman walk through the Weasleys was a relief for her. Rushing to her brother, she embraced him tightly and let out a deep breath.

"You didn't need to get here that quickly."

"What else was I supposed to do?"

Clara looked up at her brother for a moment, trying to read between the lines of his expressions and his words.

"Oh, and by the way," Roman remembered, turning to the Weasley twins. "Happy birthday, you two."

They both nodded with small smiles in acknowledgement.

Roman brought his things inside, a few bags with his clothes and a few knick knacks for Michael, then joined Clara and the Weasleys at the table. He offered to eat last as he knew his appetite would be larger than most.

Clara watched her brother with relief, a part of her feeling relaxed now that he was here. It wasn't that the Weasleys didn't make her feel safe, but the comfort of her family being around was something that always made her feel like her load was so much lighter. With Roman around, he could help guide decisions or just make them entirely, although sometimes she disagreed with him.

Taking another bite, Clara looked around the table and caught a familiar pair of eyes gazing at her.

Fred had been checking on her throughout dinner, trying to make sure that she was alright. He had noticed how much stress seemed to melt away from her now that Roman was there, and he was forever thankful for it. It was another pair of eyes to watch her, and another person to help protect her.

When he realized that now she was staring right back at him, he panicked. He turned his head back down to his food quickly, hoping that she wouldn't have seen his wanting eyes. He tried to cover his embarrassment and was doing a very poor job.

Clara smiled to herself as she finished her meal, joining Molly in the kitchen to clean up the dishes.

The Weasleys moved to the parlor next, Molly going upstairs to grab Fred and George's gifts.

"You been alright?" Roman asked Clara as he grabbed his mug freshly filled with coffee from the dinner table.

"I've been better, but Fred and George have been taking good care of me."

Roman nodded. "How's Michael?"

"Alright. He knew something was going on...he put two and two together when I told him I had to stay with Fred for a while."

"Fred and George, you mean," Roman corrected.

"What? Oh, yes," Clara realized. She caught the side eye from her brother as he shook his head at her. "What is the matter with you?"