Ethereal ✭Fred Weasley✭

93.

Thinking of maybe doing a George Weasley story too after this one. Thoughts?

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Staying in the pub that night wasn't the most pleasant of times. The room they were staying in was directly above the kitchen downstairs and the floorboards were old and spaced apart, allowing the cooking smells to waft up through the cracks. The smell of fat from the fryers and old food was horrendous and it made waking up in the morning gag-worthy. However Sophia was the only one who seemed to be bothered by it, as Ron didn't show much discomfort all morning. Or he was just really good at hiding it.

Sophia still wasn't sure where they were. Ron had definitely given the barmen Muggle money yet he said that this wasn't a Muggle pub. How did Ron even know about this street? And if it was indeed a Wizarding place, why had the barmen not recognised her? Because of this uncertainty, Sophia was terrified that at any moment, Snatchers would suddenly come knocking on the door. But surely Ron would be smart enough to not put themselves in that sort of danger. Sure he was angry yesterday, but would it have misted his consciousness enough to be irrational?

"Do they serve breakfast here?" Sophia asked. She hadn't really been wondering this but she felt like one of them needed to say something. Ron had sat up from his bed silently and was constantly fiddling with the Deluminator in his hands.

"Dunno," he mumbled without looking up and Sophia sighed. It was starting to get on her nerves of how unresponsive and unmotivated Ron was being. Considering that she had taken the initiative to follow after him after his dramatic argument with Harry, she would appreciate a bit of gratitude and at least some sort of certainty that he had somewhere to go. It was rich to hear him say that he thought he knew what Harry was doing with this mission yet when left to his own devices, shows no recognition of the place he had apparated them to.

With this thought in mind, Sophia grabbed her backpack and stood up from her bed. She waited for Ron to maybe look up at her or ask where she was going, but was once again left in silence. Walking towards the door and out into the hall, she made it down the staircase before realising that she would have to walk out of the pub and past the barmen in order to leave. She stopped herself from entering into the bar and began to rethink her actions.

"Where are you going then?" Ron's voice finally followed her and Sophia turned to see him a couple steps up the staircase, staring down at her with his Deluminator still in hand.

"I don't know. I-I don't feel particularly safe here if I'm honest," Sophia shrugged and looked to the wall next to her from the nervousness of Ron's gaze. "I don't know what you plan on doing but I need to start finding leads for my map. Whether you go back to Harry and Hermione or not, I need to start finding a way into You Know Who's headquarters. Staying here in silence isn't gonna do that for me."

Ron's expressionless face faltered and turned into one that was now guilty. He had been so caught up in the fact that Harry wasn't getting anywhere with Horcruxes that he had forgotten Sophia wasn't there for the same mission. His burst and lingering of anger had also made him pull Sophia along with him just from the fact that she seemed to be the only one who partially understood him. But now hearing of her frustration and logical reasoning woke him from this moment of selfishness and self-preservation.

"I'm sorry I brought you here..." Ron finally admitted and began to become his usually awkward and bashful self. "I was being a right twit. I know that you're not here to just follow us- follow me around and I guess that... I can help you... if you want."

"You want to help me?" Sophia repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Erm," Ron's voice cracked and he cleared his throat. "Yeah. You'll probably need to face some Snatchers so... I want to help you."