Invitation Only ~ Fred Weasley

THIRTYFOUR

It was freezing cold and it was windy as hell. When Fred and Scott appeared out of the blue in knee deep water, they looked around to see if anyone was near.

"No one is here." Scott said and Fred sighed.

"Lumos" Fred mumbled and the tip of his wand lit up, revealing their surroundings. Ocean. Ocean everywhere, but even though it looked like they were in the middle of the ocean, they stood on solid ground.

"Let's look around." Scott said and they started walking. As they walked farther and farther, the water got lower and lower. They were headed towards land.

"It's bloody freezing." Fred said in between his clattering teeth. Then out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something by the edge of the water they had reached. As he swiftly turned to the object, he was disappointed to see it was just a big rock.

"Bit odd, isn't it? The only rock for miles." Scott mumbled and took a few steps towards the rock. Fred sighed.

The search for Viola had taken a toll on him, and especially his mood. He felt horrible for leaving George with most of the business management, but whenever Fred tried to focus on work, he felt guilty for not searching for Viola.

"Fred!"

He turned around and saw Scott kneeling over the rock. Fred rushed over to him.

"She was here. Recently." Scott said and looked up at him. "Like, very recently. Look." He said and wiped his thumb over the words painted on the rock. It said:

"Sirius Black. Beloved father, husband and friend."

But Fred noticed what Scott hinted at. As he wiped his thumb over the text, the text smudged. They could've missed her by mere minutes. Fred automatically looked up and searched for a silhouette, like he was hoping that she would be standing inches away from them.

"How far do you reckon she is by now?" Scott said in a sigh when he stood up.

"Impossible to say. She could be everywhere."

"Knowing my sister... She's no longer in Denmark." Scott mumbled. "If this was for Sirius, then she would have done it as the last thing before travelling away."

"But where could she be now?" Fred asked, mainly to himself.

"I have no idea."

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

November passed. They had crossed Denmark off the list of where she could be, and wondered if she could've returned to America. Scott implied that if that was the case, she wouldn't stay long. She hated America. So America got crossed off too.

December rolled around and on the evening of the 23rd, Fred, George and Scott returned home to the Burrows. Scott had moved in with Fred and George for the time being.

The mood at home was not really that cheerful. Mum was stressed, dad was hardly ever home and everyone was pressed. Scott and Fred were the gloomiest of the lot. With no luck of finding Viola, they both had a hard time enjoying the holidays. Fred's mind tended to wander.

A year prior, he and Viola had been happy together. Spending nights together in the Room of Requirement, trying out the props in her purple box. After she had left all her belongings at Hogwarts, they were now stored in Bill's old room, as if it was waiting for her to come back home. He had a tendency to grab the Amortentia potion and sniff it. It was still the same smell as always. Peach pie, lavender and that spicy smell that felt like a mixture of cinnamon and oregano. It made his heart ache so badly for her.