Guys. Guys. Guys. This. No. Just read.
We looked everywhere. The grand hall, the locker room, even the entire quidditch pitch. We asked everyone we passed, we even got a few of Fred's friends to help, but we didn't find it. By the time we had to go to the grand hall, I was in pieces. I was worn, hurt, upset, confused, there were too many emotions to feel at once, and everyone seemed too close and too loud.
"Cathy come on." Fred led me through the crowds and sat me down. My head pounded, my throat burned from the effort of trying to hold back the tears. It was the most important thing I'd ever owned. I'd worn it through every quidditch win. I looked up, and saw the girls. Shit. If they realised it was gone...
"Cathleen!" Bianca exclaimed, hugging me from behind, and I patted her arms, feeling way too jumpy and nervous. She pulled away, making to sit next to me, but both Fred and George swooped in on either side, giving mischievous grins.
"Sorry girls."
"Seats taken."
"We just can't get enough of her."
"Too good to be apart from."
They chirped in that adorable way they did, back and forth like a crafted script, and I felt like breaking down in tears. I could count on them to help me out, no matter if Fred and I were arguing or not. Bianca looked a little startled, but she sat down next to Fred. Eggy and Lori walked in, seeming to be deep in conversation. Eggy looked up, her eyes fixing on me. She looked royally pissed off. Did she know? Had she seen it was missing? I let my hair fall into my face, trying to hide the fact I wasn't wearing the necklace.
"Cathleen, can we talk?" Eggy asked, and I mentally kicked myself. Of course she knew. I'd been stupid to come here. I looked up, trying to make my eyes apologetic, and was about to rise when both twins put their arms over my shoulders, pushing me down.
"Sorry Darling." George apologised, though it wasn't sincere.
"She's not going any where." Fred interjected, and their banter went back and forth, but I couldn't listen. All I could focus on was the look on Eggys face. She looked heartbroken and enraged, her eyes narrowed, misting over in tears. No, this wasn't about the necklace. I looked at Fred, and saw him looking at me, and suddenly knew what this looked like.
"Eggy..." I began, but she shook her head, turning away from me, going to sit far down the other end of the table. I bit my lip, feeling doubly guilty now. She had to know that me and Fred were not a thing, would never be a thing. Even if she didn't know that then surely she understood that I would never ever go behind her back about it. I put my head in my hands, squeezing my eyes closed. I didn't need this right now.
"Cathy? Do you want me to-" I cut Fred off.
"You've done enough." I sighed, and then mentally screamed at myself. Really? Really?! I didn't look up, I didn't need to to know what I'd done. Fred removed his arm from my shoulders, and George followed suit. Fuck. Did I have to fuck everything up tonight? Fred moved along the bench, away from me. Fuck fuck fuck. I let my head fall onto the table with a bang. I deserved the pain.
"Trying to kill yourself? Maybe you should try a little harder." This was the last person I needed to hear from. I turned around, staring daggers at Grace Colfield, the one my brother had been snogging on the train. She looked so smug, her nose turned up at the Weasleys, her eyes flicking over Lori like she was trash.
"Why don't you stop pretending your anything but a vagina with legs, and get the fuck out of my face." I hissed, and she pursed her lips in anger. She looked like a three year old about to stamp her foot and throw a tantrum.
"You vile creature!" She screeched, raising her hand. I could have stopped her, I could have caught her wrist, broken it maybe, but I just let her slap me. My cheek burned, and when I looked up at her again, it was with utter contempt.
"Is that all?" I asked. I was baiting the beast, I knew it. Did I care? No. People were turning to stare, and I saw Landon walking through the doors with the rest of the stragglers, his eyes instantly landing on us.
"I know things about you that could make your own friends squirm." She threatened, and I laughed humourlessly, rolling my eyes.
"Please. I'm surprised you have enough space in that hat holder of yours to even remember your own name." I spat. She narrowed her eyes, putting her hands on her hips.
"Oh yeah? Well do your friends know all about little Jeremy Preston, huh? Do they know how serious things really got?" She was saying it all way too loud, and my younger brother Timothy turned at the commotion. He had his head in a book, and I don't think he even knew he was sitting right next to Jeremy, who was going white. I swallowed hard, my hands clenched around the side of the bench.
"So what I dated someone younger than me? At least I don't fuck anything that moves, human or not." I hissed, and she went to slap me again. This time I stopped her, grabbing her arm and pushing her back. The hall was turning quite as Dumbledore and the rest of the staff began to come out and take their seats.
"My mum works at the surgery! She-" that's when my brother swooped in and grabbed her by the shoulders, dragging her off to another seat. She grumbled and complained, but said no more. I felt my heart stop as everyone looked at me, confused. Jeremy was completely white, and his eyes were locked on mine in terror. How the hell did she know? Landon... No. He would never. He just wouldn't. Who else had I even told? No one. Yeah sure her mum worked at the surgery, but how did she know about Jeremy?
The ceremony began, but I felt physically sick. Everyone was looking at me, apart from Fred, and that made it all the worse. First Fleur was called up, then Viktor, and Cedric. I saw my brother shrug, and I gave a silent thank you to God that Landon hadn't been picked. Then suddenly there was all this commotion, and I saw a fourth piece of paper fly free. Dumbledore caught it, looking confused.
"Harry Potter." He whispered at first, and the room went silent. Not only were there four contestants, but one was under age. I looked at Harry, who was confused and surprised. Ron looked taken aback, and when Harry didn't rise, Dumbledore got frustrated.
"Harry Potter!" He shouted, and I saw Hermoine shove Harry forward. He walked up, under the scrutiny of the whole school, with stiff limbs. I felt sorry for the guy, it was kind of obvious he hadn't meant for any of this to happen. He stood with the other competitors, looking awkward and even a little scared. I looked over at Ron, and saw him frowning. The ceremony soon came to an end, and Ron was the first to get up, storming off away from his friends. I got up, following after him.
"Ron!" I cried after him, and he stopped, turning to see who was calling him. He met my eyes in surprise, stopping and letting me run to catch up.
"What's up?" I asked, and Ron slipped back into his sulk.
"Just... He didn't even tell me you know? We're suppose to be best friends." He complained, and I totally understood. I felt like I needed to cheer him up, so I patted his arm awkwardly.
"You wanna take this out on the field?" I asked, and he nodded. If there was one thing I knew, it was that Quidditch practice made even the worst of problems disappear.
"Come on then."
*Freds POV*
I watched her chase after my brother, and felt anger simmer deep down. Why did she always push me away? Blame me for the fact Darling couldn't contain her girly hormones. Despite the fact I was pissed off at Darling for causing all of this, when she sat down next to me, placing her hand on my thigh, I didn't object.
"What's wrong?" She asked, sounding concerned, and I rolled my eyes. What part of just sex did she not understand? If she couldn't wrap her head around that concept, then it might just be time to call it a day.
"It's Cathleen isn't it. She's under your skin." Darling said a little resentfully, and I felt a small tug at my chest.
"I get it, she's beautiful, and she likes all that guy stuff, and-" I kissed her just to make her shut up, and she didn't try to carry on her rant. As predictable as ever, she was pretty much all heated within a couple of seconds, cheeks flushed, hands desperate as she tried to touch me. I stood, and she looked up in confusion.
"Let's go." I said, walking towards the exit. I realised there were still quite a few people in the hall, and I sighed. I had to be careful, I couldn't go around letting people see me and Darling, or me and any of my girls. They were secret. But sometimes I just got too worked up, especially when Cathy riled me up. Eggy danced after me, trying to keep up as I strode towards the nearest available room. I saw a bathroom, and grabbed Darlings wrist, yanking her inside. I didn't even bother to pull her into a stall before I turned her around, bending her over, pinning her hands behind her back with one hand, removing her pants with the other.
"Is this a new fetish of yours? The hands?" She teased as I popped open the button to my jeans. I wriggled out of my underwear, then slid inside her. Her hands wriggled, and she tried to turn her face towards me. I grabbed her by the hair, forcing her to look forward as I screwed her. I was too angry to be gentle, and when she cried out, I let her hair drop, pinning her hands more firmly against her sides.
"Fred! Fred please!" She pleaded, and for a second I saw this for what it was. How pathetic it was, how stupid I was being, how this didn't help mask what I wanted, how it didn't really help at all, and I realised how much I was emotionally hurting all the girls I screwed. Then I forgot it all as I came. I'm not sure if she even reached that point, it didn't really matter, I pulled out of her and cleaned myself up, getting redressed. Darling stood up a little wobbly, pulling on her pants.
"You know it seems like all we do is have sex." She laughed, trying to make it seem light hearted, but I could hear the undertone of nervousness. I fixed her was a glance. Why did I always get the clingy ones? I sighed, running a hand through my hair, wondering how to tell her that that was all I wanted from her.
"What else would I want?" I asked, and she shrugged, twiddling a piece of her hair.
"To be my date to the Yule ball? To actually talk to me?" She suggested, and I laughed. The Yule ball. What a piece of crap that was. Girls getting all worked up and guys having to awkwardly ask a girl out. All such a fuss over something so minuscule.
"Look Darling, you know how it is. If I take you then you'll just get stared at and called names and you don't want that, right?" I asked, and she huffed.
"Well maybe I don't care about that. Maybe I just care about you." She looked into my eyes all soppily, and I saw she was on the verge of tears. I sighed. Right. I wasn't about to make her cry. I couldn't deal with that.
"I'll think about it, alright?" I conceded, and she grinned happily.
"Okay, great!" She exclaimed, moving forward and kissing me. I kissed her back reluctantly, and when she pulled back, she giggled.
"I'll see you later." She was literally dancing as she walked out of the bathroom, and when she left I cursed. I didn't want to go with her! Sure she was pretty and she'd look good in a dress but I just don't think I could stand it. I leant my head against the cool tile wall, closing my eyes to try and fight off the approaching head ache. Cathy would not be happy. She told me to keep away from Darling. But what would she do? Hadn't we had a moment earlier? Surely she couldn't hate me for it?
I pushed myself away from the wall and headed up to my room, falling into bed with a thump. All I needed was to sleep this off. Everything would be better in the morning.
*Cathleens POV*
Ron and I practise for quite some time, and he was actually quite good for a newbie. There were a few mishaps and fumbles, but that's to be expected. He even smiled once we got into it, and I couldn't help smiling back. He was like a little brother to me, and I couldn't stand to see him upset.
Now we were walking back towards the main building, talking about nonsense, reminiscing about the past.
"Do you remember that one time when Charlie almost broke his leg trying to get your brothers wand off the roof?" He asked, and I laughed, remembering Mrs Weasleys face when she'd seen Charlie fall from the roof. First she'd been worried, and when it was clear Charlie was fine, she's screamed and shouted at him until Charlie was pretty much in tears.
"Oh god do you remember when Calliope flashed everyone because her dress got caught in your dads car door?" We both roared with laughter until my sides hurt. We reached the Griffindor common room, and fell into a sort of awkward silence. He stared at me nervously, and kept looking away when I met his eyes. I smiled, brushing my matted hair off of my face. I needed to shower.
"I should go clean up. You were good tonight, same time tomorrow?" I asked, and he nodded. We parted ways, and I walked swiftly towards the nearest bathroom. I checked the room thoroughly this time, before slipping out of my clothes and into the shower. The water was a relief, warm and comforting, and I slowly started to scrub away all the mud. Bruises littered my skin in varying shades off blue, purple and green, and scrapes and cuts covered any skin not tainted a different colour. I hurt. I ached so bad I didn't even want to stand. I felt exhausted, worn physically and emotionally. I closed my eyes, titling my face up and letting the water pour over it. When I closed my eyes, I could see Fred's face, I could feel our limbs scraping together in that bath tub, and I felt my heart start to quicken. My mind wandered into a place it never had before, a place so unwelcome yet curious I almost opened my eyes. The image came vividly, and I saw myself and Fred, the feel of his skin against mine as he kissed me, as he pushed me against the wall like he had earlier. His hands in my hair, on my waist, as he slipped off my top...
A bang made me jump, and I sucked in a breath, feeling my clammy cheeks. I turned off the water, standing still as I listened to see if I'd just imagined it. Yet there it was again, the sound of something hard contacting with something soft. I jumped out of the shower, pulling on my clothes quickly before I surveyed the bathroom. Like when if entered, it was empty. Another thud sounded, followed by cheering. I frowned, walking out of the bathroom, thoroughly confused. I turned, and saw the source of the cheering. A large crowd was forming, and they were cheering and encouraging. I walked forward, and heard the groans and thuds much clearer now. Just some stupid fight. I almost turned away, knowing the sight of blood would make me queasy, but then I heard it.
"You son of a bitch." Fred's voice was all to clear, and I felt my stomach drop. I pushed my way through the crowd, making my way to the front. As I got closer, I could make out what was going on a little more. I could see two figures going at each other, Fred was distinguishable from his hair, but the other I couldn't get a look at, but he was fighting hard. I saw the guys fist smash into Fred's mouth, and I shoved a little harder. Fred growled, spitting blood, and I felt my stomach swirl. I looked away from the blood, swallowing hard. Fred shoved the other guy to the floor, pinning him a down, before delivering a harsh punch to his face. I finally broke through the crowd, and I ran forward as Fred raised his fist again. I grabbed his wrist, pulling hard, and Fred turned a fuming gaze on me, his eyes afire, his other fist raised as if he was going to start on me next. I stepped back, honestly thinking he was going to hit me. His eyes softened when he focused on who I was, and he lowered his fist. I moved around him to look at the guy on the floor, who was groaning. When my eyes landed on him, two things startled me, rendering me speechless.
The person on the floor was Lucas, and tangled around his wrist was my necklace, stained with blood.
I know. I just know. Please review and let me know what you think :) xx
