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“What have you got there?” Tammy heard Fred ask from behind her. For a fleeting moment she considered hiding the candle from him, but then she realised that there wasn’t much point in doing that when she would need someone who was allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts to light it. At least this way she wouldn’t have to explain to Mrs Weasley what the candle was or how George had come to create it just for her.
“George’s latest invention.” She said quietly as she turned to face his boyfriend. He knew that things had been a little rocky between Fred and his twin as of late and that she was the cause but she was hoping that this time Fred would believe that George was genuinely trying to help her and not just leading her up the garden path, so to speak.
She was met by Fred’s frown of confusion as he looked from her green eyes to the candle that she held in her hands. “His latest invention?” He repeated and Tammy realised that George hadn’t shared any of his ideas with his brother since the extendable ear had come into existence.
“Um. Yeah. As an apology for everything…” She trailed off, knowing that she didn’t really need to elaborate on what she meant by that, nor did she need or want to bring up just how much she and George had been drinking that summer.
“What is it..?” Fred asked slowly. He had become a changed man as of late and Tammy hated herself for what she had done to him, for who she had made him into. He’d always been a worrier, but he seemed to have gotten worse since the dementor attack, or maybe the change had happened when Cedric had died. She couldn’t be sure, but either way it hurt.
“A Calming Candle. It should help me sleep better. He’s been testing it on some gnomes.” Tammy told him as she set the candle down on the table. Currently it was her most prised possession. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been able to sleep without having alcohol in her system and when she considered the fact that she had only just turned fifteen years old, that wasn’t at all a route that she wanted to continue down. She knew that it wasn’t exactly ideal that she was planning on swapping one drug for another, but the calming candle at least had the bonus that it wasn’t going to destroy her liver.
“He’s been testing it on gnomes?” Fred repeated. He sounded sceptical, which was more than a little amusing to Tammy considering that they had used their housemates as guinea pigs for the last year or so when it came to the rest of their products. “And now you’re going to try it?”
“I trust him.” Tammy said with a small shrug before she met his gaze and a soft sigh slipped out. “Listen, I know both he and I have made some poor decisions lately, but this is the best thing for me.” She didn’t want to point out the obvious, but if she had to then she would. “I’m so tired, Fred. I’m so damn tired and I’m sick of feeling like this.”
Fred’s arms were wrapped around her in the next moment, his lips pressed to the top of her head. “I know, love. I know.”
Tammy couldn’t help but wonder if he did in fact know just how bad things were. She had tried to explain, and she’d told him about every single damn nightmare that she had had to endure since Cedric’s passing, but that didn’t mean that Fred understood. He’d never had to watch someone die and it was becoming an experience that Tammy was now all too familiar with.
Her heart was now pounding in her chest and her breathing starting to hitch so she buried her face against Fred’s chest, breathing him in. To this day he was still the only thing that had ever been able to calm her even a little bit. He had been the one to come to her after the Tri-Wizard Tournament and she was definitely grateful that he was going to be open about their relationship this year. The idea of not having to hide in the shadows was enough to make her feel a little better.
“Let’s go test out your candle then, hm?” He suggested once her breathing was back to normal and Tammy reminded herself of just how grateful she was that he knew her so well. She couldn’t imagine her life with anyone else by her side, and she hoped that he saw things the same way, especially when you took into account everything else.
She didn’t argue with him and gave a soft nod as she let him lead her out of the Grimmauld Place kitchen and up the stairs to this room.