one of us. (f.w)

chapter four.

you reached an arm over and stuck your fork into fred's fruit,
watching him roll his eyes.
"why? you have your own!"
you laughed along with him,
"we've been through this, freddie. it tastes better off your plate."
"go away,"
he joked and playfully smacked your hand.

the owls came flying through,
delivering their packages and letters.
"hey iris,"
you smiled and used the back of your index finger to caress the owl at your side.
you took the letter from her beak carefully and felt your heart leap as the words on the front were addressed to you,
from your mother.
"your mum write to you?"
fred asked.
"yeah,"
you smiled and tore it open,
beginning to read:
"𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑦/𝑛,
𝐼 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙, 𝑒𝑛𝑗𝑜𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝐻𝑜𝑔𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑠.
𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑜 𝑠𝑜 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ, 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔.
𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒, 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠.
𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑦.
𝐻𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝐻𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑔𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢.
𝐼𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑠𝑜 𝑠𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒 ℎ𝑒'𝑠 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘.
𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑦!
𝐼 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑛𝑜 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒.
𝑅𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝐼'𝑚 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒, 𝑦/𝑛.
𝑌𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦.
𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑢𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑜𝑛.
𝐼𝑡𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑀𝑠. 𝐿/𝑁 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑑𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑟.
𝑅𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑦/𝑛.
𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒,
𝐶𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑦 𝐵𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑠.
𝑆𝑡 𝑀𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑜𝑠 𝐻𝑜𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑀𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼𝑛𝑗𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠."
your eyes welded with tears as you folded the letter back up.
"y/n? you alright?"
fred asked.
you took in a deep breath and blinked away the tears,
"yeah! what about you? how's your family?"
"they're well."
you nodded and continued eating as much as you could.

"are we ready?"
you asked the twins.
they answered with the nod of their head.
you all walked to your history of magic class,
the most boring class out of your schedule.
you arrived and took a seat quickly.
"hey. are you sure you're alright?"
fred asked in a low whisper,
placing his hand on the top of yours in support.
you pressed your lips together while staring into fred's eyes.
his expression was soft,
his eyes clouded with worry.
"yeah. just homesick is all,"
you admitted.
you weren't quite sure why you were so drawn to fred.
or why you were so eager to tell him everything.
you went years without saying a word to anyone about your family,
but now all of a sudden you were so tempted to just spill everything you had ever experienced.
maybe its time to open up.
you thought.
after a moment of locking eyes with one another,
he nodded and pulled his hand back from yours.
he focused on his own notes while you continued to scribble on your parchment,
not really paying any mind to the professor.
you fiddled with the quill in your hands,
becoming nervous at the thought.
it was going to be difficult for you to open up.
or is it?
the way fred had just stared into your soul so easily a few moments ago,
you felt like you could tell him anything with such ease.

out of the corner of your eye,
you took notice of his slow blinking.
you smiled to yourself knowing he was trying to fight the sleep.
"tired?"
he turned his head to you and nodded,
a small smile hinting at his lips.
"want to skip?"
his eyes widened at your suggestion.
"are you serious?"
"dead serious,"
you grinned up at him,
adoring the way his smile spread.
he turned to look at george who was well too indulged in a conversation with angelina.
"yeah. yeah, i'll meet you out there then?"
"i'll be there,"
you winked and watched him make up an excuse to leave the class.
once he was out,
you waited about five minutes and raised your hand too.
"yes, miss l/n?"
"may i be excused to see madam pomfrey? i'm having...lady issues."
"yes you may go,"
the professor spoke in a monotone voice,
continuing his lesson.

you grabbed your bag and walked out to see fred around the corner,
his back leaning against the wall.
"you're quite the daredevil, y/n, i must admit."
"think you might be rubbing off on me weasley,"
you laughed and playfully pushed into him,
watching him stumble dramatically.
"so what do we do now?"
"would you like to take a walk outside?"
"that's a great idea."
you two waltzed down to the doors of the castle,
opening them to feel the fresh breath of air.
"that's nice,"
you smiled as the wind whistled in your ears,
certainly waking fred up.
"can i ask you something?"
"of course."
"why is it that you never bothered to make closer friends? hermione told me your only close friend was luna. why is that?"
your heels began to click against the rocks that laid in the middle of the grass.
"she's the only one who...understands. we practically grew up together. she'd come to our house, i'd go to hers. we've never really been apart. and then when...everything happened at home...she was the only one who could share that grief with me. everyone else just kind of brushed it off, you know? said the prophet was making stuff up on innocent families for more reads."
"but why distance yourself?"
"because it doesn't ever benefit me. everyone's just in it for the story. trying to see what's true, what's not. no point in trying,"
you admitted with a chuckle,
sitting on the grass next to fred.

you began to pull the grass up as you continued,
"do you know what i mean?"
"yeah. do you-do you feel like george and i are in it for the story?"
"no, not at all. you're the only person i've really felt connected to."
"just me?"
he asked,
taking his eyes off of the grass and into your eyes.
your cheeks began to burn,
"oh-oh i meant the both of you. what's one without the other?"
you smiled and watched his body shake with laughter.
"yeah. you're right."
"thank you though. you've really made me feel like i have a family again."

fred had remembered seeing your name in the paper once or twice,
but never read it thoroughly.
so he was quite clueless as to what happened behind the scenes.
"do you...not have a family, y/n?"
he asked,
his tone soft and sweet.
"you don't know?"
"know what?"
"you didn't read the prophet when they came out with the story about my family?"
"no, i don't trust the prophet."
"well i mean, i have a family. just not in the same sense as everyone else. my mother and i are quite close but..i suppose that's a story for another day."
he smiled over at you and nodded,
"whenever you're ready."
"so what's your story?"
"don't really have one. grew up with six siblings in a tiny house. mum and dad never really had much money but they've done what they can for us."
"your parents seem lovely. i see the sweaters she makes ron and harry, they're adorable."
fred laid back in the grass and looked up at the sky.
you followed his lead and leaned back yourself.
"they're quite warm too. i'll get her to make you one."
"that'd be sweet."
you two then continued to talk about things you wouldn't normally discuss with anyone else.

fred truly understood how your mind worked,
without any judgment or ridicule.
it was refreshing.
"you're easy to talk to. has anyone ever told you that?"
you asked fred with a sense of gratuity in your tone.
"i was just about to tell you the same thing."
"thank you for coming out here with me."
"are you kidding? i'd do anything to get out of class."
you giggled and nodded your head in agreement.
"should we head back in?"
"let's just stay here for another moment..."
"feeling sentimental, freddie?"
"it's a beautiful day, would hate to waste it inside."
you laid back down on the soft grass and enjoyed the silence with the boy.

fred watched as you laid with your eyes closed,
basking in the sunshine with a smile spread across your face.
due to the cold weather,
your nose began to turn slightly red.
he let himself stare just for a bit longer,
mesmerized by your beauty.
you were ethereal in his eyes.
the way you carried the weight of the world so easily and still managed to make everyone around you smile.
and you did it so gracefully.
he smiled a bright smile and looked back up to the sky,
his heart beginning to flutter.