An Affair to Remember (Fred Weasley)

30) I was all over her

MAY (IN THE SAME YEAR)

"Fred, wake up! You're running late again" George rapidly knocked on the door, trying to do up his tie at the same time. He didn't know that Fred was already awake. He had been up for the past few hours, his eyes red and puffy, his head aching.

Nights like these were when Fred felt at his loneliest. He hated the turning and the tossing and the sobs that seemed to erupt so easily from his throat nowadays. He hated that when he didn't keep himself preoccupied, his mind would drift back to Adrienne. He knew that there was nothing he could do, it wasn't his place to bend her decisions according to his wishes. She wanted to keep her family happy. But he couldn't help but wonder, was she happy? He shook all the thoughts away, he would do anything it would take to get over her, it was just a fling, an affair.

"Coming!" he called out, straightening his tie before heading outside to see George looking at him. He stared worriedly at his eyes, dark circles had formed underneath them. "Fred, you're scaring me mate, your eyes are always so red and puffy in the mornings" George frowned.

"It's nothing George, now let's get to work please" Fred said dully, walking down the spiral steps that led to their joke shop. They had spent the past month making their new product using the flowers they had obtained from the field. Every time Fred even glanced at the flowers, hazy memories of lying amongst the fields with Adrienne would come back to him. So he would let George take care of the flowers instead, going off to do whatever other work was available.

Usually, when the shop closed at 8, Fred would go back to his flat or out for a drink with friends. But nowadays, since he got back from the cabin, he stayed up past midnight, working relentlessly on Ministry papers, cleaning shelves, counting and recounting the money at the cash register. George worried for him but he knew that talking to him would only cause him to snap.

When he'd finally get back to his flat, well past 1 AM, he'd occasionally head straight for the bar, grabbing on to whatever old bottle of firewhiskey he could find. Taking it back to his room, he'd stick one of his mixtapes in the cassette player and would let his collection of music and the alcohol take him away from his thoughts.

Tonight, as per usual, Fred shut off the lights in the shop at around 1:10 AM. But he didn't want to go back to his room, his and George's joke shop was his escape. He summoned the cassette player from his dresser and a small packet of pre-rolled joints that sat in his bedside drawer.

He fiddled with the buttons on the player before letting a random song play, not even paying attention to what it was. He pulled out a pre-rolled joint and lit it using his wand, wrapping his lips around the other end and taking a pull. As soon as the smoke filled his lungs, his entire being relaxed. He dropped his head backwards and let it out in one, smooth puff, the smoke dissipated into the air. George would kill him if he found him smoking inside the shop, but he didn't care.

Countless puffs later, he was slumped against the counter, sitting down on the ground, the joint hanging loosely between his fingers. The cassette player had started to play a familiar song but he was too high to figure out what it was. He felt so blissfully unaware. His free hand made its way to his neck to fiddle with the grapefruit charm of his chain. He rolled it between his fingers before clutching it tightly in his palm. Slowly, he felt his eyes droop shut, the charm still wrapped tightly in his fist as sleep overtook him.

'Sleeping soundly with the locket
That she gave you clutched in your fist'

The cassette player played on.

--

AUGUST

"Fred? What's wrong?" Hermione asked, pushing the door open, a piece of parchment was scrunched up in her fist, it read: 'Hermy, come over quick, I need your help'