In which Fred Weasley has seen many things but when he pulls a prank at night and gets a metal pole to the head, he finds himself obsessing over a girl.
FRED WEASLEY X OC
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The Great Hall is buzzing with anxious energy when Maggie, Lee and the Twins walk in. Everyone is reading the Daily Prophet and people are shooting looks of sympathy at Maggie. The witch frowns in confusion when she looks at Professor McGonagall who is staring at her with pity in her eyes.
"What the fuck is going on?" Maggie asks as Cedric jogs over from the Hufflepuff table.
"Here," Cedric hands Maggie the newspaper.
MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN
By Rita Skeeter
Travers. Slaughter. McKinnon family. Barty Crouch Jr also gone. Escape
The words on the page begin to blur as Maggie's stomach churns. All the colour drains from her face as she stares at the article.
"Maggie?"
Maggie hands the newspaper to Fred before she abruptly turns around and dashes out of the Great Hall. Without a moment's hesitation, she bursts into the girl's bathrooms and makes a beeline for one of the cubicles. With a thud, she drops to her knees and leans over the toilet bowl, her body convulsing as she retches into it. The sound of her heaving echoes through the empty bathroom, bouncing off the walls and filling the air with a sickening noise.
After a few moments, Maggie leans back, resting her head against the cubicle wall as she takes deep breaths.
"Maggie? Oh, poor sweet girl,"
Professor McGonagall crouches down next to Maggie who's eyes are glassy with tears. Her lip trembles as she blinks, trying to force the tears back. A laugh tears itself from Maggie's mouth before she can stop it.
Professor McGonagall watches on helplessly as the witch enters a fit of sobbing while laughing at the same time. The woman felt powerless to help the young witch whose life had finally started getting on track again only for it to be derailed overnight.
"Not only," Maggie hiccups between her laughs. "did my father escape. But the killers of my entire maternal family too!"
"Ah, Poppy!" Professor McGonagall moves aside for the school nurse. "A calming draught perhaps?"
"She's in shock, a calming draught won't help," The woman shakes her head. "Hold on-"
The nurse grabs a small jar and opens it under Maggie's nose. The younger witch's eyes widen before her face scrunched up in disgust before she lunges back to the toilet, heaving once again.
"Yes, they tend to have an adverse effect on the stomach," The nurse rubs Maggie's back gently. "But they snap one out of a state of shock"
"Mr Weasley, this is a girl's bathroom-"
"Yeah, yeah, give me a detention. Where is she?"
"Through there,"
Madam Pomfrey's hand retreats to be replaced by another. The smell of Fred's aftershave fills her nose as he gently rubs Maggie's back. The witch pulls back from the toilet bowl, leaning against the cubicle wall as Fred sits next to her.
Fred takes a damp cloth from Madam Pomfrey and wipes Maggie's face and the collar of her shirt before pressing a kiss to her forehead.
"No, Miss Patil, there are a great many other bathrooms in this castle, this one is currently in use,"
"McGonagall's become a bouncer," Fred jokes causing Maggie to giggle, the wizard then wafts his hand in front of his face. "Whew, Merlin Mags, first port of call, brushing your teeth"
"Fred!" Maggie shakes her head, allowing Fred to help her to her feet.
"Come on stinky," Fred says. "Let's go get you cleaned up"
"I'll let your Professors know that you won't be attending classes today," Professor McGonagall says. "Either of you"
"Thank you," Maggie says.
"And Weasley?"
"Yeah?"
"Take care of her,"
"I always do,"
Fred leads Maggie out of the bathroom, shooting glares at anyone who looked their way for longer than necessary. He helps her into the common room and up the stairs to his dorm room.
The boy begins grabbing things for Maggie, a spare toothbrush and some clothes before leading the girl to the bathroom.
"Can you sit in here with me?" Maggie asks.
"Of course,"
Maggie sits in the bathtub, letting the water of the shower sprinkle over her as she hums quietly to herself. Eventually, Maggie begins to wash her hair and her body, her nose engulfed in the smell of Fred's shampoo and body wash.
"At least you don't use everything in one," Maggie says.
"Oh, I used to,"
"That's criminal!" Maggie gasps.
"I knew you were a shampoo snob," Fred grins. "I had my suspicions but it's been proven"
Fred offers Maggie a hand to get out of the bath and the witch wraps her hair up in a towel and quickly dries her body with a spell before pulling on Fred's joggers and t-shirt. Maggie reaches down and rolls the bottom of the joggers up so she won't trip before she begins to brush her teeth.
"You know, you look pretty good in my clothes," Fred teases.
Maggie spits out the toothpaste and looks at him through the mirror. "I make anything look good."
Fred chuckles. "Confidence, I like that."
As Maggie finishes up, Fred offers her a face cloth. "You doing okay?"
"There's not much I can do," Maggie sighs. "I've cried and laughed about it-"
"At the same time, that was impressive,"
"I am a witch of many talents," Maggie grins. "But if I obsess over it, it's just going to engulf me and I won't let my father ruin my life any more than he already has. Besides, there's a war coming"
"So?"
"I can get my revenge and I'll love every second of it,"
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