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The room was eerily quiet as the Weasley kids and a few extras huddled together. The air hung heavy with emotion, each person shrouded in sadness as they waited for an update on Mr Weasley’s condition after his attack. They had been rushed to Grimmauld place in the dead of night and now they sat at its long kitchen table waiting for any scrap of news. Sirius busied himself making breakfast though it was no use against the melancholy air that clung to each soul.
They ate in silence though most of the kids just shuffled the food around their plates not really eating anything. Y/N watched in turmoil. To watch her friends and moreover her boyfriend at this time of sadness was heartbreaking. Ginny was curled into Ron’s side, silently sobbing over the thought of her father lying in a hospital bed in god knows what condition, whilst Ron sat there stony-faced not speaking. George had his head laying on the table, she was unsure if he had drifted to sleep as his breathing had become even and deep as opposed to the ragged sobs that he had hidden before, trying to hide his emotions. Harry sat next to her watching all of them in despair the guilt of seeing the horrific scene weighing on his mind. And Fred. Fred sat opposite her, his blue eyes watching her every move as if focusing on her face was enough to stop his tears from spilling over as now they only glistened threatening to breach the surface every time he blinked.
Sirius bustled in, making a racquet and Y/N cursed him. His extravagance and chatter were not what they needed right now. They needed a distraction that was true but it required minimal effort on their part.
‘I mean, I’m sure that we’ll hear something soon. Maybe you guys should head on up to bed, you’ve been up all night and-’
‘We need to know,’ Ron said matter of factly, ‘we’re staying here.’
‘Come on Ron. George is exhausted. Ginny looks like she could drop right here. I mean Harry, you agree with me, right?’ Sirius said pandering to his godson with a desperate look on his face.
‘I don’t know I mean-’ Harry started but he cut himself short as Ginny sat upright and stared at him with a steely glare.
‘We decided we’re fine,’ Fred stated.
The group went silent as Sirius gave up and moved out of the kitchen and out of their way. Harry followed shortly after but the Weasleys stayed stationed at the table. Watching them closely and feeling Fred’s eyes boring into her face Y/N made a snap decision and rose from the table though she didn’t get far as she felt and hand grasp her arm as she turned to leave. Turning back around she saw her boyfriend’s curious face watch her as he whispered, ‘where are you going?’
‘Sirius is right. We need to sleep. You’ve barely eaten. We’ve been up all night. We’ve got to get some rest. How do you think this is going to play out when your mother gets here huh?’
‘We need to stay up,’ George said angrily as he rose from his slumped form on the table, ‘we need to know what’s going on.’
‘And if your mother comes home and she tells us everything is fine and we can go and visit him, what then? We’ll all be too exhausted and hungry to function, you think that’s what Arthur wants to see. His family falling apart?’
‘He’ll know that we love him enough to stay up and think about him,’ Ginny murmured.
‘He already does. He’d want you to look after yourselves,’ Y/N said quietly, ‘now you can stay here but I’m going to go to bed. And when your mother gets here I’ll get up and be able to look after you lot so she doesn’t have to worry.’
And with that Y/N departed the kitchen leaving the Weasley clan to watch each other nervously, unsure of what to do.
Y/N sighed as she placed her boots under the bed she had claimed as hers over the summer the clan had spent here. After they were tucked away she sat on the bed and sighed. When Neville Longbottom had come to wake Fred, he had blushed deep crimson upon finding the two of them in bed. Had he not had grave news it would have been one of the funniest sights to behold. Her heart ached. That moment was burned in her brain, Neville obviously didn’t want to speak of the atrocities that had happened but it was evident he knew from the grave look on his face. He merely told them to come to Dumbledore’s office as soon as possible, there was a family emergency. Fred, George and Y/N threw on shoes in a flurry though didn’t bother to dress and ran to the headmaster’s office to be confronted with the horrific explanation that their father had been attacked, and Fred had looked broken.
With a heavy sigh, she flopped back onto the bed and lay there allowing sleep to settle in. She was being dragged into a light slumber but she roused as she heard the latch to the door click open and the squeak of the door hinge as it opened. There was low light in the room already on account of the early morning that was creeping in through the window but Y/N awoke fully as the landing light brushed over her frame on the bed. It was blocked for a moment as Fred walked into her room. He moved sombrely and came to sit beside her on the bed, forcing her to move her legs to the floor and sit up. They sat together in silence for a while, their shoulders touching, their bodies warm against each other. After an eternity Fred spoke.
‘He’s going to be alright, isn’t he?’
It was posed as a question but his tone suggested to Y/N that it was more him stating a fact than asking for her honest opinion. As if he were trying to convince himself. Y/N didn’t speak. She didn’t know what to say. The immediate answer would be to say, ‘of course he will’ but how could she? She had no idea what was going to happen and she didn’t want to lie to him. To give him false hope. So, she didn’t.
Instead, she opted not to but she rose from his side and made her way over to the small radio that sat on the windowsill opposite them. It was hers from home, a muggle device Fred had no time for but Y/N loved. It reminded her of her family when she was surrounded by wizards. Switching it on she twizzled the nob on top of it hoping to be able to get a signal. It was fuzzy at first, there was nothing only static until the small box latched onto a radio wave and was able to transmit an early morning station. It was a little conversation, mostly filled with current songs, but it was enough to ease the tension in the room as it provided a unique distraction.
‘What are you doing?’ Fred asked watching her as she swayed to the music gently.
‘Dancing,’ she said.
‘Why?’
‘Why not?’ she said as she moved freely coming over to him and extending her hands offering for him to join her.
‘No Y/N.’
‘Come on Freddie.’
‘You think I can just dance, with everything going on?’
‘If you dwell on it you’ll drive yourself crazy.’
‘Well I don’t care,’ Fred said huffily as he hung his head avoiding her gaze. Y/N stopped dancing for a moment and watched him sadly. As she did the radio announcer came on, ‘hello late night listeners or early morning risers that was a classic by our dear Queen. Not her Royal Highness but the true royalty Mr Freddie Mercury as requested by our avid fan and late-night listener Rebecca! Now for something a little different, it’s Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You, enjoy,’ his voice faded out and was replaced by a supple regular beat that grew louder and louder and encapsulated the room.
‘I love this song,’ Y/N whispered as her hips took on a life of their own and started to sway widely in rhythm with the music. Her dancing built and she felt her inhibitions release, the stress of the night melting away as the music flowed through her. Fred watched her in awe. He wanted to be so carefree, to forget about his troubles for just a moment. He stood weakly and moved towards her. She was facing away from him now and didn’t sense his movement behind her until they were back to front and he was holding her hips tenderly as she swayed. The music bumped along as the two of them moved in sync, Y/N reaching behind her to stroke Fred’s mop of ginger hair as he held her close, lovingly. After a minute or two of dancing, when the song began to fade, she turned to face him. Wide-eyed she looked into his eyes which had crinkled with a smile, the relief of the past few minutes unburdening his young face. She watched him closely before leaning up onto her tiptoes and giving him a peck on the lips. He reciprocated before he leant down to meet her and press his head against hers and sigh. Just as he did there was a knock at the door.
A mop of red hair poked through as the couple broke apart to look at the noise maker. It was Ron, who was looking admittedly embarrassed. He looked at the two of them before quickly dropping his eyes to the floor and muttering, ‘mum’s home. She wants to see you. She’s making breakfast.’
And with that he slipped out, closing the door softly behind him. Y/N looked at Fred, assessing the situation, but found him to have a relieved smile arched across his face, ‘he’s okay. I know it.’
As he said this he moved out of her grasp and went to the door, looking ten times lighter. As he reached it he turned back to look at her and with a smile, he said, ‘thank you. Really.’
‘It’s okay. I’ll be down in a minute.’