Light in the Darkness

Chapter 35

As Adelaide ran down the hallway, she stepped into an empty classroom to calm down. She had never experienced so much rage in her life, but seeing George with that girl had completely crushed her.

She loudly gasped as she heard the door behind her close and as she turned around she stood in complete shock. There in front of her stood Fred Weasley. The first emotion that came over her was fear, she backed away from him slowly, desperately trying to figure out what to do. Maybe her necklace didn't work and George told Fred everything about her...no that can't be true, she'd be in Azkaban by now if he did and Fred wouldn't lock himself in a room with her knowing she was a Death Eater. 

"Hey Addie." he was beginning to grow nervous himself. 

"You don't think I can tell when something's wrong with my brother?" he raised an eyebrow at her. His tone was gentle, and a little nervous. Adelaide let out a quiet breath and relaxed upon registering that he wasn't angry.

"So spill, what did you do to him?" he sat down on the desk calmly, waiting for her response.

"I..I don't know what you're talking about." she stuttered out, staring at the floor. 

"Oh, I think you do though. Accio necklace."

Her necklace unclasped and flew into his hands. He tilted his head and raised the necklace slightly.

She felt color drain from her face. 

"Fred...give it back." she reached for it, but he moved his hand out of reach and said calmly, "Tell me what you did, and I'll give it back."

She swallowed hard and turned around, pacing. She couldn't tell him the entire truth, but she needed to tell him enough so he knew that it wasn't safe for George to be with her.

"Fred, you have to trust me and not tell anyone." she sternly whispered, intensely staring into his eyes. He had the same colored eyes as George, yet they were so different from his. Fred had an intensity in his gaze, a spark of cockiness and an untempered thirst for excitement. George's was bright and warm with a softness, inviting like warm butterbeer next to a fire. 

She paused, trying to gather her strength, "I made George forget about me, but only because I'm trying to keep him safe." she began to pace across the room as nervousness was beginning to flood her body again, "When the Ministry tore apart my parent's shop last year, they were furious, it was sort of a breaking point. Over the summer...they slowly went mad. It's gotten so bad, and I just..it got to a point where being with George was too dangerous." she turned away from him holding back a sob that threatened to escape her lips. He looked so much like George that even being near him hurt her terribly. "Everyday I hate myself for what I did to him, but I would do it all over again knowing that he's safe away from me. I was foolish to think we could ever work." 

Rain began to slowly drip onto the window, matching Adelaide's mood. Fred slipped off the desk and began to walk towards her, "George isn't some feeble child you need to protect Addie. You might have made him forget about you, but he still carries the sadness inside him. I see it when he thinks no one's watching him. It's so selfish that you think you can just decide what's best for him. Remember how furious you were when Malfoy did the same thing to you?" his once calm tone beginning to carry a bit of anger in it.

"Do not compare this to what he did to me." Adelaide hissed, "You don't think this hurts me as much as it hurts him, Fred? I'm the one who remembers everything. I have to see him everyday knowing that I'm just a distant memory to him." She cried, her voice close to yelling. "I'm not talking about a silly little blood purity crusade my brother's running that'll end in a little hexing here and a curse there. It's worse than that and I'm in it deep. I know you wouldn't do anything to put him in harms way, so please Fred. I'm begging you, just trust me and please let it go." 

Her pleading eyes were soaked in desperation, she sounded...terrified. The anger that was slowly rising in his throat disappeared once he realized there was something really really wrong.

"Addie..of course I wouldn't want to put George in harms way, but..you're my friend and I care about you too. If you told us there was something wrong, Georgie and I could've done something. We can still help you, you just have to talk to us and reverse whatever you did to George."

"You can't help me Fred, no one can. Not from this." She ran her fingers through her hair. 

"I told him everything my parents made me do before I made him forget, you know." she whispered, wiping the tears from her eyes. She looked up to Fred, "And when I did, he looked afraid of me. He looked like he was going to be physically sick at what I was capable of doing and in that moment I knew I didn't want him involved in this. He deserves so much better and I knew he wouldn't let me go, so I took myself out of the picture." 

Fred wondered what could she have done to make George afraid of her? They both knew her parents taught her dark magic, but what else did parents make her do? Sweet, gentle, kind Adelaide. Him and George saw how scared she was constantly at the beginning of the year. They noticed how sick she looked, always exhausted and paranoid like something was going to pounce on at her at any moment. She did an okay job hiding it from other people by taking the elixir to induce euphoria which George had told Fred about after the train ride, but there was no hiding it from the people who knew her well.

She broke down and explained how her parents made her practice and train using Dark Magic and combative magic over the summer. She told him how she had to kill and torture people that her father set out to kill her as part of his sick training exercise. She explained how she was in a constant state of agony and probably wouldn't have survived the three months without clinging to the thought of George. She stopped there, not telling him about being a Death Eater or her task. Lastly, she told him that her parents were whispering about the rise of the Dark Lord and they wanted to prepare for his return as his most loyal followers. Fred felt like his mind was spinning. 

"I don't want any part of this Fred, but my father..I just know he'll completely lose it and..and I genuinely think he'll kill me or anyone in my path if I disobey him. That's why I've been doing everything he's told me to. You can't tell anyone Fred, especially not George. If my brother or parents find out I've told anyone...and if they find out about you and George.-" she steadied herself onto the chair, an overwhelming sense of nausea hitting her like a brick wall. 

Fred rushed towards her, carefully helping her into the chair. "Addie..I'm so sorry, I didn't know" for once he was completely stunned, he had no idea what to say or what to do. His confidence flew out the window, nothing to comfort her came to his mind, he was simply dumfounded and crushed. 

"I'll be fine Fred, really. As long as I know you and George are safe." she looked up at Fred who gave her a heart breaking frown. "You're the good guys." she gave him a painful smile as a single tear rolled down her cheek. "I never stood a chance with my family, but you both do." she grabbed her wand out of his hand, quietly summoned the necklace and made her way out of the classroom.

Fred sat there in silence, conflicted as to what he should do. George would want to save her, but he wanted George to be safe too. If what she said was true about her parents trying to capture He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's attention, he didn't want George to be in the middle of it. He also didn't want Adelaide to be in the middle of it. He knew if they tried to save her and failed, she'd pay the price terribly from her absolutely insane father. The rain pounded against the window, slowly drowning his thoughts.