for the one i love ; fred weasley

chapter 56

NARRATOR'S POV

A sigh leaves Carina's lips and she tries to relax, to feel the earth under her fingertips, under her head, her back. She's lying on the grass, at a park by Grimmauld place. It has been her safe place for the past couple weeks. July came in and took everything by storm. Death Eaters have been spotted, more than ever before. They broke into Ollivanders' shop and kidnapped him; Merlin knows where they've taken him, if he's alive or dead. They destroyed a Muggle bridge, causing havoc and terror, even amongst them. After Harry's birthday, they found Karkaroff's body in a shack up north. The number of Dementor attacks increases daily. August is just as dim, if not more so. The only good news Carina's gotten is the fact that Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes is doing amazing, but sadly, she hasn't been there much.

Needless to say, Fred and George have visited a couple of times, as has Harry along with Tonks. The couple hasn't spoken about what happened last time between them; not really. Even with Fred trying his best to get Carina to understand, he still hasn't made much progress, if any. What's worse is he's not aware of Carina's plans to join the Force. He still believes she'll take a gap year, like most of his friends are. 

Carina releases another breath as she hears footsteps nearing her. Her eyes remain shut, unfazed. Part of her is well aware it could be someone dangerous, someone coming to hurt her to get to her parents, to Harry, but she just can't bring herself to look. The footsteps stop and the person lies next to her, she can feel the heat radiating from the body. "Did you know it was me?" Comes Fred's voice from beside the older girl. The fact that it's him causes the tension that had grown within her to loosen up.

"No," she mumbles back, playing with the dry leaves under her fingertips. Fred's brows furrow at her statement. That means she could've been in real danger, and she didn't even care... He sighs, pulling her into his chest and holding her close. He can clearly see Nina slipping back to her old ways. He can picture her behaving exactly like this when she lived back at the Manor. Carina lets it happen, breathing in his scent, resting her head against his heart as he rubs her back. "I'm sorry, Freddie."

"What for?" Mumbles Fred, lifting his head up a little and kissing her forehead before resting it back on the ground. Carina goes to speak again but Fred shushes her softly, nuzzling against her hair. "It's all forgiven, darling. It's been almost four months since it happened... You know I can't stay mad at you, specially now, specially over something like this," he murmurs, rubbing her shoulder. The couple stays silent after that, both of them thinking about completely different things.

Adrian is the only thing on Carina's mind, really. Of course, she has Fred to worry about too... and George, Cass, Draco, her dads, Tonks... but it all always reels back to A somehow. Lee. Losing him stings on a whole other level. Meanwhile, Fred doesn't know what else he can do to help his girlfriend. Nowadays, nothing he tries works out and while it is slightly frustrating, it's mostly painful.

"Darling," says Fred, voice low, the sounds of leaves ruffling with the wind even louder than him. "Tonks let us know you'll be joining the Force," he admits, clearing his throat when Carina shifts in his arms. They're both now looking at each other, their expressions unreadable. When the girl goes to open her mouth, presumably to explain, Fred continues. "I told you once that I would support you no matter what you chose," he says, lips in a thin line. "But I can't help but wonder if you're doing this for the right reasons."

Instead of facing him, Carina turns to lie flat on her back. She takes a deep breath as she stares at the sky, the tree tops covering most of it up. "I don't want to talk about this, Fred," admits Carina, biting on her bottom lip. "What I want is to be an Auror and destroy every single Death Eater that crosses my path, no matter -"