Cynical | Fred Weasley - REWRITE

32. At A Loss

"'Cause you're just a man, it's just what you do."
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The three of them sat in McGonagall's office. McGonagall paced as she waited for Dumbledore and Flitwick to arrive. Fred could feel himself seething with anger and hurt for Joey. He was disappointed with himself. He'd dismissed Robin too easily all because of handwriting. His chest rose and fell rapidly, and his breathing couldn't catch up with him. Robin sat beside him with a tissue to his nose. The cat clock in McGonagall's office ticked annoyingly. Fred glared at it out of the corner of his eye. He needed to know what Robin did. He needed to know.

Dumbledore and Flitwick burst into the room. Fred stared straight ahead. He knew this would somehow end up being his fault. He knew Robin would get away with it. He knew if that were to happen that his career at Hogwarts would be over because he wouldn't let Robin leave this room without giving him answers.

"Let me talk to Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore said calmly.

"Mr. Weasley, Professor Dumbledore would like to speak with you," McGonagall told him.

Fred stood up and left without saying anything.
Him and Dumbledore stood alone in the hallway, it was silent, as Dumbledore had probably sent the school into some sort of lockdown mode. "Tell me your side."

Fred waited. He took a deep breath. He tried to compose himself. "Do I have permission to tell you the full story, Professor?"

"Of course."

He licked his lips and began explaining, "A few months ago, I found a journal on the stairwell. It was empty. Except it wasn't. The author used invisible ink. I have the journal in my room now. The entries talked about Joey Pierce. At first it just seems like a crush. But it comes to the author admitting they tried to do something to her at a... party but they messed up. I had reason to assume it was Robin after he assaulted Joey during the quidditch games. However, looking at the handwriting differences between the notebook and his essay for Transfiguration, I thought I was wrong. Then Robin came to the portrait hole, asking me to give him his journal back, thinking I haven't read it. I did hit him. Twice. Nearly a third time. He hurt someone I care about, and I want to know what he did."

"Is Ms. Pierce aware of any of this journal business?" Dumbledore looked at Fred over his spectacles.

Fred shook his head. "She is not. The journal mentions watching her all of the time. I didn't want to stress her out," Fred said. "I understand I should've brought this to the attention of an authority figure, but I simply think my ego was too big, and I feared you would do nothing but discard of the journal."

"That will be all for now," Dumbledore said, and brought Fred back into McGonagall's office. "Mr.Thompson."

Robin got up and swerved away from Fred's seat. Flitwick followed. Fred crossed his arms and looked at McGonagall. She looked displeased. "I apologize if I've embarrassed you, Professor."

McGonagall huffed and sat down. She pulled out a cookie jar and placed it in front of Fred. "It is not you that causes me a sour look on my face. It is your classmate. Cookie?" she offered with a grin.

~~

It took a long time for Dumbledore, Flitwick, and Robin to return. During his wait, munching on McGonagall's cookies, he heard a lot of cursing, yelling, and desperate crying on Robin's behalf. When they did come back in, Dumbledore accompanied Fred to the boys dormitory where he retrieved Robin's journal. It didn't take them long to find out it in fact belonged to him, and that every journal entry was also in fact him. Robin continuously denied it. And when it seemed he couldn't anymore, he stood his ground and denied it.