Barty slammed the door behind Fred, "You lied." He grabbed the necessary provisions from Fred's arms and put them on his desk. He leaned against the edge, his breathing uneven, "You said it came out beside the Charms classroom."
"Yes," Fred said, mid-yawn, "looks like I made a mistake."
"I see what you're doing," Barty gripped the side of his desk tight, his hands starting to cramp under his force. "You're trying to get me caught," he turned to look at Fred, resentment in his eyes, "aren't you, Fredrick?"
Shaking his head, his eyes growing wider, Fred protested, "N-no, I wasn't, I just got mixed-"
"Mixed up?" Barty finished spitefully. "Funny how your little mix up lead me right to McGonnagal's office."
"I didn't remember!" Fred yelled back. "Look, if I really wanted you gone, I would've said something as soon as I saw you lying on the floor when I first found you. But did I?" Fred ran his hands through his hair, his disheveled hair looking even more ridiculous.
"No," Barty snapped. "You wanted to make it a big production, didn't you?" He let go of the desk and walked towards Fred, "You wanted to have that moment, didn't you? Where everyone in the school looked upon you as a hero. Where every single living, breathing thing in this school knew you as a hero." He stood in front of Fred, arms crossed, the grin on his face sent shivers down Fred's spine, "You wanted to make this a show at my expense, didn't you, Fredrick?"
Fred shook his head again, but it was no use; Barty had no intention to start believing him.
"This is why I don't trust anyone, Fredrick," Barty took out his wand. "Trusting people leads to disappointment."
Taking a step closer, arm outstretched, Fred reached for Barty's shoulder, "Please, believe me. I … I don't want …"
"Don't want what?" Barty pulled back, letting Fred's arm slip off his shoulder. "Didn't want me to get caught?" Barty laughed loudly, "Oh Fredrick, I understand why people would let you become as popular as you have," he tried to finish his thought between fits of laughter. "You really are hilarious, you know."
"Thank you," Fred said, helping Barty stabilize. "But I'm not trying to be funny." He helped Barty over to a chair, making sure he was properly seated. "I don't want you to get caught," he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
Barty sprang up in his seat, leisurely playing with his wand, "Why not, Fredrick?"
"I don't know," Fred replied lamely. "I just… I don't want you to get caught."
"You should go to sleep, Fredrick," Barty watched as Fred's shoulders crumpled from lack of sleep, his eyes growing heavier. "Come on," he stood up, putting an arm on Fred's back, "are you alright to walk by yourself?"
Fred yawned, tired tears escaping from the corners of his eyes, "To be h-ho-" he yawned again.
Barty pulled Fred closer, "H-Here, let me," he took Fred's arm and slung it over his shoulder. "I'll walk you back as far as I can, alright?" Fred nodded sleepily; he had stayed out past curfew before, but it was nearly three in the morning and he had an early class this morning. "Don't bother coming to class tomorrow, alright, Fredrick?" Barty pushed the door open and walked him down the steps to the classroom, "I'll just be talking about-"
"Wait a second," the tired twin interrupted.
"Yes, Fredrick?" Barty weaved them through the desks. "What is it?"
"What am I supposed to call you when it's just you and I?"
Barty laughed lightly; a genuine, sincere laugh, "You expect to be seeing me like this more than just tonight?"
Fred shrugged, "Do I call you 'Barty'?"
"You can call me 'Barty'," he nodded poking his head out to see if the corridor was deserted. "That'll be fine, Fredrick."
--
Fred slid into his seat beside George, bags under his eyes. "Why didn't you wake me up?" he hissed.
"You just looked so darling, all sprawled out and asleep," George laughed. "You were like a ginger sleeping beau-"
"I get it," Fred replied flatly, adjusting his sweater. "Still," he huffed. "You could have-"
"So nice of you to join us, Mr. Weasley," a voice grumbled from behind him.
Fred turned and looked at the person everyone else called Professor Moody. "How could I possibly refuse your charming company, Professor?" The class burst into fits of giggles.
"Five points from Gryffindor for your tardiness, Mr. Weasley," Moody laughed. "And five more for your snark." His lips pursed into a straight line across his face, "Perhaps it will adjust that attitude of yours."
Fred leaned his head against his books, his eyes drooping slightly in the semi-relaxing position. If this was how it was going to go, being too tired to have to lie to anyone about knowing Barty's secret, then he figured he could spare some points for general sass. He knew Hermione would be Gryffindor's saving grace in some other class going on at the same time and that his sass would only balance out her know-it-all attitude.
"Unforgivable curses," Moody wrote on the board. "Who can name the three unforgivable curses?"
Fred's head shot up from his books.
"Ms. Johnson, you seem to know at least one," Moody said, chalking waiting to go at the blackboard. "Let's hear one."
"Imperius?" she asked, half-knowingly.
Moody jotted it down haphazardly on the board, "Anyone else?"
George beamed and put his hand up, "The good ol' AK!"
"That is inappropriate for a classroom, Mr. Weasley," Moody shook his head in a disappointed manner. "but yes, the Killing Curse." The man at the front of the room stared at Fred, "How about you, Mr. Weasley? Know any sort of Unforgivables?"
Fred managed to choke out, "Cruciatus" before too many people noticed the pause before his answer.
The rest of class went the same way. Fred tried to not realize that all the Cruciatus-based questions were mysteriously ending up his responsibility. He deliberately answered questions wrong – he didn't want to be pegged as the kid in class who had a hankering to know all about Cruciatus because, well, he didn't!
"Mr. Weasley," the professor called out at the end of class.
Both twins spun around and answered in perfect unison, "Yes?"
Moody pointed to Fred and George slapped him on the back, "If something bad happens, you know what to do."
Fred walked up to the front of the class, books under his arm, his hair already a mess.
"In my office," Moody's body, but Barty's voice demanded. "Now."
--
"I told you not to come to today's class," Barty said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Specifically because of this. I told you not to show up to cla-"
"Barty?" Fred asked, not being able to look Barty in the face.
"Yes, Fredrick?"
"Did you only pick on me today because of what happened yesterday?" he whispered into his hands as he rubbed his face.
Barty tilted Fred's chin up and shook his head slowly, "No." Barty pat down Fred's hair as best as he could, "For someone as clever as you rave about, George makes some poor choices."
"He just thought I needed cheering up," Fred mumbled quietly, averting his eyes from Barty's. "He didn't mean it like that."
"Even so," Barty replied, following Fred's gaze. "Fredrick, look at me, please." Fred turned his head and matched Barty's gaze, "I'm sorry."
"For what, exactly?" Fred asked, gripping his book tighter.
"For today's class, for last night's mishaps, for…" Barty shook his head, "for everything."
"Oh," Fred nodded. "You're forgiven."
"It's just that I- pardon?" Barty's jaw dropped slightly.
Closing his eyes, Fred wanted nothing more than to go to sleep, "I forgive you," he yawned lightly, "for everything."
"Fredrick, you should go back to sleep," Barty could feel Fred falling asleep against his hand. "I can polyjuice back into Moody and walk you to Gryffindor Tower and-" he stopped talking as soon as he realized that Fred's breathing had transformed into soft snoring. Barty tilted Fred's head into what he hoped would be a comfortable sleeping position.
Blanket. He'll need a bl- book! Oh, he has a book. Brought his book for the first time in weeks. To the class I specifically told him not to attend, hooow charming, Fredrick.
He took the book out of Fred's hands and placed it on the desk behind him, "You look like your favourite colour would be green, Fredrick." He whispered quietly as he ran behind his desk and took out a soft green blanket. He tucked it around Fred's sleeping form, "I know you're a Gryffindor, but I couldn't be bothered to change the colour." He fiddled with Fred's hair until it was just so.
Besides, you look good in green.
--
Rubbing his eyes to get rid of that extra bit of tired, Fred found himself in a room he didn't recognize. He stretched and looked out the window; the sun was low in the sky, he had slept away the majority of the day.
"Where-"
"Fredrick?" a voice spoke softly from the other side of the room.
Shaking his head to get his eyes to focus to the dim light of the room, Fred squinted and asked into the haze, "Barty? Where am I?"
Barty rushed over to Fred's side, "Do you need help getting up?"
Fred shook his head and threw off the covers, alarmed to see he was no longer wearing his uniform, "What is-"
"Room of Requirement," Barty grinned proudly. "You required a place to sleep, so it provided you with the perfect sleeping conditions for you."
"My clothes," Fred started slowly.
"Oh!" Barty's proud beam grew as he took out his wand. "Twelve OWLs. I transfigured your uniform into a pair of pajamas."
"That's…" Fred looked from himself to Barty to the rest of the room, "Why are you doing all this?"
Barty shrugged, "To show you that I am sorry."
"But I forgave you," Fred smiled as he looked around the room.
Barty nodded and followed Fred's gaze, "Yes, well." His eyes dropped from the high ceilings of the room to the high cheekbones on Fred's face, "I just wanted to make sure you knew."
Fred's gaze fell on a plate of food, "Is that for me too?"
Dashing over to the table, Barty carried the plate over to Fred, "Would you rather eat in bed or at a table or standing or-"
"Thank you," Fred smiled warmly at Barty.
"There's really no need to thank me, Fredrick," Barty waved his hand in Fred's face.
"There's also no need to apologize anymore," Fred picked a grape off the dish. "Have we got a deal?"
Barty reached over and grabbed a banana and peeled it happily, "Sure, Fredrick."