✔️ 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐆𝐎 → ℎ. 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑤𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦

18 | R E T U R N

   they say it's what you make,
I say it's up to fate.

   "I'M OKAY! I'M fine! I won't stay here!" Ember struggled herself out of bed, pushing Bill's hand aside, who was trying to hold her down. "You won't leave me here, Bill!"

   "I will, and if that means I have to stun you, you bet I will do so", the oldest Weasley brother replied. "Remus' order."

   "I'm of age, Remus doesn't have anything to decide for me", Ember hissed, feeling the darkness boiling in her guts.

   Remus had already left shell cottage. It had been spread that Harry had reached Hogwarts. The Order was preparing for a war, and Bill was already standing with his cloak next to the bed Ember had been laying down in unconscious for the last three hours.

   "Do I really need to stun you, Emmie?", Bill growled, his eyebrows furrowed.

   "I won't stay here all alone while you lots are risking your necks!" Her voice was rising, shaking with anger.

   Bill opened his mouth for a reply, but the answer came from the doorstep.

   "You don't have to", said a familiar voice, and Bill stepped aside, revealing the view at a mischievously grinning redhead.

   "Fred ..." Ember's own voice was merely a breath, as she stared at him.

   "You're needed, Bill", Fred said to his brother. "Remus is awaiting you at Aberforth's. Without that pugnacious little badger here, as he wanted me to remind you. So I'm staying here with Emmie."

   Bill cocked an eyebrow. "You want to tell me you'll stay here with her just like that? You don't want to fight?"

   "You bet I will have my fight, because this viscous creature for sure won't keep her arse in that bed voluntarily", Fred chuckled, winking at Ember, who stared at him speechless. "If it's necessary to keep her safe, I leave the Death Eaters to you. Better for them I'm not in this fight, don't you think?"

   Bill's eyes kept resting on his younger brothers face for a moment or two. Finally he nodded.

   "Don't do anything stupid, Fred."

   "Like what?", Fred grinned.

   "Like sneaking her into this fight!"

   "Don't worry, I got this."

   Bill threw a last glance at Ember, who still watched this whole conversation like Bill had actually stunned her, before he rushed through the door and left. Seconds later, a loud crack announced his disapparition.

   "I won't —"

   "Emmie, hold your breath", Fred cut her off, still smiling.

   "If you really think I would stay here —"

   "Emmie —"

   "— then obviously all of those gunpowder and potion fumes have damaged your brain in a way —"

   "Em, calm —"

   "— that not even the brightest healers of St. Mungo's could repair! I'm definitely —"

   "Ember Potter, would you —"

   "— not staying here while every one of my family and friends is on the cusp of death. I'm not —"

   "Ember!"

   "— a useless little child and — mphf."

   Fred had stepped forward, pressing his palm against Ember's mouth. First her eyes widened, then narrowed to dangerously small slits.

   "Calm down, love, and just let me speak, okay?", he said, waiting for Ember's reaction, but she just remained sending daggers at Fred through her eyes. "No need to rush those fences. You need to understand Remus. He is just glad to have you back. We all are. It would be a terrible idea to let you walk into such a dangerous battle just like that. He doesn't want to lose you. Neither do I."

   Her shoulders tensed, ready to fight back, but his hand on her lips muffled every sound, turning it into opaque murmurs.

   "So now sit back on the bed", he said, softly pushing her onto the sheets, "and wait." He removed his hands, and immediately the words bursted out of Ember's mouth.

   "Wait?", she echoed. "How can you just sit here and wait? Your family's out there! George is out there! How can you volunteer to sit here with me and wait for them to die?"

   "I have to come up for something, don't I?", he replied, and for the first time his face didn't show any sign of amusement. She threw him a questioning look. "It was me who let you go. I let you run into You-Know-Who's headquarter, just to read about your death less than twenty four hours later. You could be dead, and it would have been all my fault."

   "But I am alive, I am not —"

   "If I let you walk out of this room now, you could be by the end of the day", said Fred, as he sat down next to Ember.

   "I'm not the one to die", she whispered, startled by the warmness of his body so close to hers.

   "I'm not the one to let you", he said, now winking at her and the grin was back on his face, as he glanced at his watch. "What do you think, how long is Bill gone now?"

   Ember tilted her head, looking at him in confusion. "Don't know ... about ten minutes? Maybe fifteen."

   "That's long enough, he must be halfway through", Fred said, and as he clapped his hands together, he jumped to his feet, having Ember jerking back. He twirled around, reaching his hand out for her. "C'mon."

   "Wait, what?"

   "See, some time ago, I swore to myself, that I will do anything to protect you", he explained, a crooked smile on his lips. "And we both know that somehow you'll sneak out of here and get into that battle. Remus might be blind for it, and I guess I have been for too long as well, but you aren't a little girl anymore, huh? And I have a promise to keep. I will protect you. And I can't do so by sitting here and waiting for you to slip through my fingers."

   Still he had his hand outstretched, waiting for Ember's small fingers to be placed upon it.

   "What are you up to?", Ember asked, tilting her head.

   "Doing something stupid, of course!"

   He watched a fire starting behind those fascinating hazel eyes, and with the corners of her mouth twitching, she grabbed his hand and together they vanished into nothingness.

—