Friendless » Fred Weasley

clxxvii. invasion

Everyone was immediately thrilled when Tori and Fred entered the Burrow once again. Tori figured Fred must have told them because when they came inside, everyone was standing around the door, trying to look busy.

"How was your walk?" Molly asked, trying to look as normal as possible. Tori and Fred glanced at each other, simultaneously agreeing.

"Fine," Tori said, hanging up her jumper casually. Fred nodded, sticking his hands in his pockets. The room around them was filled with such shocking tension Tori and Fred both glanced at each other once more before grinning. That's when Tori put up her hand.

Immediately, everyone cheered. Molly began to sob again, hugging Fred, who was much taller than her. "You're finally becoming my sister!" Ginny screeched, barreling into Tori's arms. Tori laughed, taking several steps back to stop herself from falling over.

Arthur congratulated the two of them and George was nodding approvingly. "I honestly thought he chicken out. Though, I have to say, I called it since day one." George grinned, bumping his brother with his elbow.

The next morning Tori woke up early. She glanced out the window after changing into her Weasley Jumper to see there was now snow on the ground. It was coming down as she headed downstairs to see if she could help out with breakfast. George was sitting at the kitchen table, writing a letter.

"Morning..." George greeted Tori, a smirk upon his face. "Seems you had a goodnight, yeah?"

"Shut it, George," Tori replied, her cheeks getting red. She yawned, hearing Molly come down the creaky stairs. "Who you writing to this early in the morning?" Tori asked George, smiling at Molly.

"Just sending a business proposal. Nothing too special. Ah, there's the man of the night." He glanced over to Fred, who was now entering the kitchen. "Bug off," Fred replied, kissing Tori's head and taking a seat of his own.

Molly refused and help from Tori and so she proceeded to sit herself down next to the twins. She couldn't help but glance down at her hand, which had the sparkling ring on it. She had been doing that a lot, and she hadn't even had it for a full day.

Arthur and Ginny joined them quickly and Molly swiftly whipped up breakfast. Tori was feeling in a better mood than the previous day as she thanked Molly and began digging into her bacon.

Molly, of course, began bringing up date ideas for Tori and Fred, who just nodded amusedly. "If you want to wait a full year, a Christmas wedding would be a brilliant idea. Waiting nine months will... be in August, so Ginny will be able to attend as well."

"Well of course I'm attending!" Ginny replied roughly, raising an eyebrow at her mother. "I don't care if it's in the middle of the school day! I'm coming! I technically was the first one who called it!"

George frowned, "Rubbish."

"I was the only one to actually say anything to Tori! What did you do? You just let it all fold out. How long did that take?"

"Six years," George answered with a tired sigh. "Six long, painful, years."

Tori couldn't contain her laughter.

There was a loud commotion outside, causing everyone to look up from the table. Tori and Arthur immediately rose, glancing at each other. Tori had stopped laughing. They all passed, wondering if something had just fallen, but then two other loud bangs rang through the house.

There was a loud scream of laughter following from a voice Tori knew all too well. Bellatrix Lestrange.

Tori pulled out her wand immediately as she rushed towards the door. Arthur cracked it open, the cool air bursting inside.

"Victoria Silvers!" Bellatrix called in a sing-songy voice as she kicked through the snow towards the house. "Come on out! I wanna see your precious little face!"

Tori froze. Why did they want to see her?

"We just want to have a little chat!" Bellatrix giggled in a baby voice. "About a friend of yours... don't make this difficult."

Tori felt her gut drop. Harry. They wanted to know about Harry. They knew she was lying. They knew she had talked to Harry.

Fred pulled her back inside and Bellatrix sighed. "We know your in there, Victoria! You can't hide in there forever! There are other ways to lure people outside..."

"You can't go out there. They'll kill you." Fred told Tori, who was staring out the kitchen window. Molly shut the door, stopping the cold air from entering. "They'll kill all of you if I don't..." Tori whispered. Bellatrix was stroking her wand, eyeing the house with a smirk.

"We must call The Order," Molly said in a hushed tone. "They won't get here in time," Tori replied, tearing her eyes away from the window. The Death Eaters were getting more and more impatient with each passing moment.

"No. No. You're not going out there. Absolutely not." Fred said firmly, looking in Tori's eyes. "You can't. You can't."

Tori paused for a second, her eyes scanning the people around her. "I can't let them hurt all of you just to protect me." She shook her head roughly. "Things will only get worse, if they hurt you, I'll never be able to live with myself."

Fred pulled Tori in for a hug while Molly rushed around to cover the drapes. Tori could still hear Bellatrix yelling from outside. Her mind was racing, but she was able to collect one single thought.

She pulled away from Fred, kissing him on the cheek. When Fred turned to his father and George, Tori struck. She cast a spell on Fred's feet, sticking them to the ground to limit movement.

Fred glanced down. She had taken his wand so he couldn't unfreeze himself too. Tori held her wand out threateningly in case someone tried to unfreeze Fred. She backed away towards the door, her eyes filled with tears as Bellatrix's laughs got louder and louder.

"Tori. Tori don't— don't Tori..." Fred pleaded, but Tori was already out the door.

Bellatrix giggled once again, making the hair's on Tori's neck stand up. "Well good!" Bellatrix crooned. "I was afraid we'd have to burn the place down! Not that it would be such a bad thing..."

Tori could hear Fred inside yelling for her. She swallowed down a sob, shutting her eyes momentarily as she approached the Death Eaters.

"I love you, Freddie." And she was pulled away.

well...
sorry