That One Time I Fell In Love
(And Other Impossible Things). Fred Weasley II finally meets his match in the form of one loud-mouthed and free-spirited, Emma Terry. [NextGen GIR World!]
we're back with Fred, bitches
Chapter 38: That one time I helped catch a killer.
WE MADE IT TO THE FUCKIN' ROOF, BITCHES.
Thankfully, someone had the foresight to levitate the alcohol up with us so that the party could continue. Everyone kept cheering, Lily's music was loud and thumping, and it was weird but I felt a kind of happy that I don't think I'd felt since before my dad had died. I was slapped on the back several times and Bea was quick to fling her arms around me, once Emma had finally stopped kissing me, that is.
"I'M GETTIN' MY BABIES!" she cried.
I span around with Bea before plonking her back down. "FUCK YEAH, YOU ARE!"
"Ok, so what's this bet you guys have made?" Emma asked then, slinging her arm around my waist as we talked.
"That Al and I would get a kid before the end of the year," Bea explained. Her eyes glittered, red flushing her cheeks as she added, "Look … don't tell anyone this, but our social worker said she was looking into a potential match. We're literally just waiting to see whether we get approved and then … we get to meet them."
"Them?" Emma grinned.
"There's four kids, apparently," She looked faintly terrified at the thought, but still giddy and smiling. "Oh god, seriously don't mention this to anyone, I'm probably not even supposed to say! Nothing's confirmed, I don't know whether it will even – but thank you Fred," She glanced up at me once more. "Logically, I know that climbing a building doesn't affect what will happen … but there's just something about this roof, ok?"
Thing is there WAS something about this roof. Somewhere within the last few minutes or so it had turned into a dance party up here, as Lily was now jumping up and down and everyone else moving to follow her lead. Maybe it was just because of how off-limits it was, maybe it was the darkness aside from the street lights and stars, maybe there was just something in the atmosphere, but it had sent everyone into a giggling, celebrating mess. I tugged on both Emma and Bea's hands, dragging them into the crowd after me. The current beat was heavy and rockin' and Bea was immediately swept up by James, who spun her around enthusiastically. There's something about swaying to a beat, and Emma pressed her back to my chest, reaching up with a hand behind her to thread into my hair. I didn't need to say anything. The music did that all by itself.
I vaguely noticed my surroundings. Sarah and Libby were swinging around with some other work friends. Dom was flirting with at least half of them. Scorpius and Rose were kissing heavily against the 'MAINTANCE ONLY' sign. I hadn't expected Yael and Kayla to come tonight, what with the stress they were always under, but even they'd made an appearance, the latter gossiping with Sapphire and Yael apparently searching for drinks. Other faces drifted in and out of my vision, all wanting to say happy birthday, and at one point Emma and I unfortunately got separated as we were dragged into different conversations.
I mean, it was rather hard to say no when Emma's brother waylaid you.
"FRED, my buddy!" Peter thumped me on the back.
"Oh, Jesus, not you," I mock complained. "You're the terrifying one! Where's Ben? He likes me."
"HA! Ben's a wuss," Peter snorted. "Can't even make it past ten o'clock, these days. Besides, everyone knows Martin and I are the best at parties."
"Can't argue that point. Thanks for coming, mate," I said, honestly.
"Ehhhh … you're all right," Peter shook my hand after a moment of contemplation. "Where is my sis, anyway? I should probably say happy birthday again, otherwise she'll get mad."
"I dunno actually, I kinda lost her somewhere along the way," I glanced vaguely around, but she could literally be anywhere. "You could wish me happy birthday instead?"
"Maybe, if you get enough alcohol in me."
"Was that you trying to get a free drink out of me?"
"Do you love my sister or not?"
I just scoffed, but found Peter his drink anyway.
Eventually, I found Emma.
After dodging several more calls for my attention, I finally managed to slip out of the main dancing crowd and head across to the edges of the roof. Here, it was more chatting and people pairing off and I guess a million parties ago, that had been us. A mummy and a barbarian who didn't know each other at all, but liked each other enough to talk and flirt until eventually, the party wasn't worth sticking around for.
("So Emma. Wanna get out of here?"
She literally laughed in my face. "Oh – oh my god!"
Look, it wasn't the first time I'd ever been laughed at. You strike out a lot of the time, you can't take it personally, but I admittedly felt a little blindsided at her disbelief that I could be anything less than serious here. It wasn't the kind of response I'd been expecting.
But then again, maybe she was just laughing because some tosser in a barbarian costume was hitting on her and thought he stood a chance.
"Hey! It's not just a line I say to all the girls," I mentioned.
"YA! Right," Emma rubbed her eyes.
"I'm fucking serious," I frowned. "Honestly – Emma, right? – look, you are hot. I should not be doing this at all because you're mates with James and Libby and everything, but fuck it. I'll say it again. D'you want to get out of here?"
She thankfully didn't laugh this time. In fact, she kind of eyed me with a look that said a myriad of things: I can't believe you're asking me this … I can't believe I'm considering it … shit, what underwear did I put on today? … I offered all I could, which was basically just a sheepish grin and a shrug, but from her giggle, I'd say it worked. Emma glanced around anxiously, but then met my grin with one of her own. Then, she moved forward and pressed her lips warm and firm against mine).
Emma leaned against the concrete ledge that we had climbed over earlier, watching out over the street corner. I didn't need to say anything really as I moved to lean in next to her. She shifted a little as she noticed my presence, but stayed silent as well. The last several days had been … eye-opening. Don't think I didn't notice her acting like a fucking weirdo when she finally just moved all her stuff in and told her landlord she wasn't coming back! I kinda wanted to laugh, honestly. The amount of times I'd been in her shoes, it was nice to be the sane one for a change.
I watched the street corner move beneath us. Muggles were still standing in clumps, pointing up at us every now and then. If we weren't careful, this building was going to get overrun with people who wanted to join a dance party! Either that, or we were going to go viral, and let's face it, at this point we've pushed the Statue of Secrecy enough times that the Ministry wouldn't hesitate throwing us all in Azkaban. How Rose and Scorpius hadn't even gotten themselves evicted by this point was anyone's guess. The streetlights flickered, basically the only source of light up here, and it washed Emma's face with orange. I nudged her slightly with an elbow and said,
"Hey."
"Hey," she smiled without looking away from the street.
"Your brother just ambushed me, I hope you realise."
"Peter and Martin came?" Emma asked. "Aw, I haven't managed to catch them yet, bless 'em!"
"Yeah, well that's not surprising seeing as you came rocking on up straight from work," I pointed out. "I thought you might've at least gone home first!"
"I would have – I seriously need a change of clothes," Emma winced at her work uniform. "but I was too excited, and then you pulled off this ridiculous stunt and I just haven't had the time."
"Ridiculous? What, I never!"
"Right," Emma laughed. "c'mon, Fred, exactly how long have you been planning this?"
I actually didn't know for sure, but I answered, "Probably since Rose's birthday, to be honest."
"You wanker," she said. "gettin' all emotional on me."
"Happy birthday," I grinned, nudging her with an elbow.
She waved a hand at me exasperatedly, but said, "Happy birthday."
"Bit late, but it's worth it, right?"
"Dunno what I've done to deserve ya," she scoffed, but if I squinted, there was a hint of sincerity in there.
"Aw, c'mon … we simply had to get to the roof at some point!" I said.
"Good view, huh?"
"Shit view, but whatever makes you feel better," I smirked. "Look, Emma, you know we had to make it up here, just as much as Bea did, just as much as last time. Because if we can do this, we can …"
Do anything, I guess? Wasn't that the point of the mysterious roof? I guess somewhere in my head I had figured that if we could make it up here, then I'd somehow find those elusive nerves that seemed to fail me every time I got to this point in the past. Look, I know that climbing a building has no correlation to telling someone you loved them, but like Bea, I was a little hysterical by this point! My heart had leapt into my throat choking me just like it did every damn time while Emma just continued to stand next to me, none the wiser. COME ON, FRED. Now was SERIOUSLY the time! This was it, this was the moment I'd been planning for months, this wasn't over bloody tax returns or as a result of intoxication, this was Pure and Wholesome and all that other bullshit. YOU CANNOT MESS THIS UP!
Dad did not die for me to mess this up.
"You are nuts," Emma was saying. "and we are never doing this again, by the way!"
"I love you."
I figured it would probably be a bit dramatic to jump off the roof after that, so I unfortunately forced myself to hold my ground.
Emma froze, staring at me. She didn't even blink! It was a bit disconcerting, actually. Thing was … fuuuuuuuck, I kind of felt ok. I felt nauseous beyond belief and kind of like I might just throw up any second, but it was finally out in a way that counted and it was like I could suddenly stand up straight again. I JUST DID THAT! Hell, I was only panicking a little bit, as Emma continued to just stand there and not say anything in response. Look, no matter what she eventually said, I'd take it. Anything at all, I deserved whatever she gave me after all I put her through.
Yep! I was good.
Thankfully she did move eventually though, except it was only to hide her face in her hands. "Uhhhhh, Emma?" I said.
She just shook her head, squeaking slightly.
"Did I break you?" I asked. "Wait – holy shit, are you crying?" I added, since I caught the tiny gasp and at that, she apparently couldn't keep it in anymore. She sobbed into her hands and I laughed, "YOU'RE CRYING, oh my god, what the fuck is wrong with me …"
She made some kind of incoherent noise, but couldn't seem to actually get any words out. I just snorted, tugging her into my side. I let her sob into my shoulder, Emma apparently grinning through the tears.
This girl was bloody nuts.
"We can't get anything right, can we?"
She shook her head.
"Sorry I made you cry."
She suddenly pulled back. Reaching up, she pulled my face to hers and now my cheeks were as wet as hers as she kissed me. She was warm and fierce and you know, if I'd known that this was where I'd end up that first night I'd met her … oh, who am I kidding, that Fred would have run for the hills no matter what you told him. But hey.
I'm here now.
When she pulled back, she gestured vaguely over her shoulder and said, "I, guh – Liiii, yunno–?" which I'm assuming meant something like, don't mind me, I just gotta go find Libby and scream about this for a bit, 'kay? I snorted with laughter as I nodded and she disappeared into the crowd. Taking a deep breath, I leaned back against the rooftop wall once more. MERLIN. I've done a lot of shit I thought impossible over the last few years, but blimey did that blow everything else out of the water! I found myself suddenly looking up at the sky for a moment.
I closed my eyes.
"Hey, Dad. I did it. Hope you're proud of me."
(And that might've just been the dumbest thing I'd ever said in my life, but still).
I grinned, a new spark of energy igniting. I delved back into the crowd and I noticed my dear Sapphire, now simultaneously downing a drink and dancing by herself. "YO, BITCH!" I yelled and I was glad that we were at the point where we just understand each other now from that one word. She glanced around and her face lit up.
"BIIIITCH!" she yelled back, dancing her way over and grabbing my arm. "Party is smashin', I have to admit, mate."
"You'll NEVER fucking guess what just happened!" I said.
"Try me."
"Sapphire, I told Emma I loved her."
She stared for a moment, before finishing the last of her drink in one gulp.
"Oh my god, it's five months ago," she said.
I shoved her shoulder. "I'm being serious!"
"That's what worries me," Sapphire stressed. "Tell me, how much have you had this time? Did she slap you? Oh my god, girl sooooo should have slapped you last time–"
"I'm not drunk," I said, exasperatedly. Taking her empty drink out of her hands and dropping it onto a nearby plastic table, I pulled her in to a dance. "Really, Saph, I actually did it this time! Like properly, it was sweet and pure and all that other crap and everything!"
"No fuckin' way. Shiiiiiiit!" Sapphire's eyes went wide.
"BE PROUD OF ME, DAMN IT!"
"Oh my god," I didn't blame Sapphire's immediate scepticism – she'd been there the first time I'd royally fucked up – but at least she span me around now, holding onto my hands tightly. "Wait, you need to tell me everything, clearly," she added. "I can't properly judge until I have all the information."
"I 'spose, considering you ARE the best at judging," I grinned.
She smacked my shoulder. "What happened? Did she say it back?"
"Oh, uhhhh – no, erm, she kind of cried, actually …"
Sapphire smacked her forehead.
"But it was good crying!" I insisted.
"That's what they all say," She smirked behind her fingers.
"I swear!" I'd admittedly panicked at first when Emma had suddenly broken down, but that kiss afterwards had been enough to tell me that it was what she'd wanted to hear … I think. I mean, being terrible at identifying emotions IS kind of my thing, SOOOOO what the hell do I know, really?
"I was so sure I'd fucked up again somehow," I admitted to Sapphire then.
"HOW DIDN'T YOU, is what I'd like to know!" she cried.
"Beats the fuck outta me!" I threw up my hands. "I mean, honestly, Saph – I fuckin' said that! ME. I SAID THAT! Who the hell am I? The Fred of two years ago NEVER would have said it. Hell, not even the Fred of one year ago! There was a point in time that I would've slept with literally anyone and now, I can't even remember what sex without Emma is like. Can you believe there was even a point in time when I would have leapt at the chance to sleep with you, if I'd ever been able to convince myself that it was a good idea?"
"Oh, I'm not forgetting the years you spent hitting on me any time soon. But I'm assuming you're talking about the last time? When you kissed me at a bar and I later crashed on your sofa?" Sapphire raised an eyebrow. "Because YA, I remember that well, I spent the entire night trying to get you to talk to me about Emma!"
"Did you, in the end?" I asked.
Sapphire snorted. "Well, you didn't so much as talk as complain for half an hour straight about how she wasn't owling you back, but I considered that a success."
"Wait, why wasn't she owling me back?"
"The fuck if I know, how many times have we been through the 'Emma isn't talking to Fred because he's being a huge tosser' stage at this point?"
"Fair call," I acknowledged. I was jostled in the side then by some drunken party-goer, and I tugged on Sapphire's hands as I stepped closer. "So c'mon, are you proud of me or what?"
"Oh, Fred," Sapphire swung herself into my arms. "how can I not be proud of you?"
I grinned.
We danced for a while then, jumping underneath the stars. Hair-shaking and belting out the words, I guess I was still kind of waiting for that moment when someone would say, 'haha, you were fooled, yOU fOOL!' Like Emma might turn up any second now to inform me that I was in fact a psychopath and that she would never love me as well. Nothing felt very real on that rooftop, and I was starting to think it never might at this rate! Thankfully, my head got distracted by others out in the crowd – Rose giving me a hug, one of James' Quidditch mates wishing me a late happy birthday – and Yael and Kayla who turned up halfway through a song and ended up joining us. After a rousing chorus of scream-singing Clara Knightley, the four of us lapsed into cheery conversation, Kayla disappearing for a moment and somehow returning with a full bottle of tequila.
"Where the fuck did you find that?" Sapphire laughed.
"Honey, if there's a party, I always bring the tequila," Kayla knocked back a shot.
Sapphire seemed impressed. "And I always thought of you as the sensible one."
"Please," Yael waved a hand. "Apparently neither of us know the meaning of the word 'chill'."
"Mmmm – though to be fair," Kayla pointed out, hastily swallowing to talk. "That might be less of our actual personalities and more stress-induced. I've noticed that we tend to get more gung-ho the less sleep we're operating on."
"Behold! The protectors of our community and official serial-killer catchers, everyone," Sapphire bowed to them both. Yael shoved her shoulder as she sniggered. "What?" she asked. "It's not like there's been much serial-killer catching going on lately."
"GIRL," Kayla complained.
"What?"
"Come onnnn!" I said. "You know that's a low blow."
"We're working on it!" Yael said defensively. His hand absently reached up to Kayla's shoulder, rubbing it gently as she passed the tequila around the circle. "Pushing the mail angle is going nowhere, but Jesus it's right there! We just need proper evidence, something to give us just cause, and then we can try and lure him out–"
"With me and Emma far away," I added, hastily.
"With you and Emma FAR, FAAAAR AWAY," Yael reiterated firmly with an encouraging smile.
"SPEAKING OF EMMA!" Sapphire suddenly piped up. "YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHAT FRED JUST DID!"
Yael and Kayla glanced at each other then, in that ridiculous silent-y partner way of theirs. You know, when they exchange the Meaningful Looks that allow them to have entire conversations without actually speaking. And I thought Emma and I were good at not talking!
"I'm not paying you even if it's true–" Yael quickly began and Kayla groaned at what was clearly some long held argument. "For the last time, Kayla, it wasn't a real bet!"
"It was and you know it!" Kayla huffed. "You just don't want to draw attention to the fact that it was a stupid bet to make."
"What the fuck did you guys bet on?" I sighed.
"That you would propose. Tell me you didn't propose!" Kayla held her breath.
"FUCK OFF, I DIDN'T PROPOSE."
"Yuuuus!" Kayla punched the air.
"I'm not paying," Yael said, stubbornly folding his arms across his burly chest. Kayla, however, slowly snaked her arms around one of his, hugging it tight to her. She rested her chin on his arm, looking up at him with a sweet grin that would surely break through anyone's defences. "Honestly …" he grumbled.
"I'M SORRY, I'M STILL ON YOU BET THAT I'D PROPOSE?" I cried.
"Apologies, mate, I was feeling optimistic," he shrugged.
"I CAN BARELY ADMIT THAT WE'RE EVEN TOGETHER AND I'VE ONLY JUST TOLD THIS WOMAN I LOVE HER, LET'S BACK THE FUCK UP HERE A LITTLE, SHALL WE?"
"Fred, I think only dogs can hear you right now," Sapphire mentioned.
Oh, right. Yeah, let's bring it back down a few decibels. My heart was pounding, but that was when the real news had apparently gotten through to Yael and Kayla. They both awww'd and it was almost worse than thinking that there was a point in which I'd ever be getting bloody married. I mean … SHITBALLS. Let's cross that bridge in like, twenty years or something, ok?!
"Yael, did you hear that? Fred loves a girl!" Kayla teased, her head against his arm.
"Eh, we've known that for years," he shrugged, jostling her a little.
"Difference this time is that I actually told her," I said. "And I wasn't even drunk! Go on, you can be at least a little proud of me."
"You're failing to mention the best part," Sapphire was quick to add. "She cried."
Both Yael and Kayla burst out laughing.
"Bless her! Where is she, I gotta give the girl a hug or something," Kayla grinned.
"Oh, I spoke to her just before, when you were talking to James?" Yael mentioned. "She said she was going to go home and get properly changed, since she'd just come straight from work."
"Oh, yeah," I nodded.
But I glanced between the three of them, ending on Yael's face. It was weird, but I stood there with my mates and suddenly, something felt off. I don't even know how to explain it really, it kind of just hit like a wave out of nowhere. Why the hell was I suddenly worried over the idea of Emma leaving the party and going home to get changed? It wasn't like it was a shock, she'd literally told me that she was going to! But the irrational uneasiness still flooded over me, and I scuffed a shoe into the rooftop.
"How long ago was that?" I asked.
"Hey," Kayla seemed to catch the look on my face. "What's wrong? Something's wrong–"
"Boy, you Aurors are good," I pointed out.
"'You Aurors' he says, like he's not going to be one soon," Kayla poked me in the side. "C'mon, Fred! Are you worried about Emma for some reason?"
"Look," I said, hastily. "It's just a feeling. I literally can't explain it–"
"No, no, never ignore a feeling!" Yael exchanged nods with Kayla next to him. "Is it Reddale you're anxious about?"
I hesitated. I mean, what the hell was I suspecting here, that Reddale was hiding in our bloody pantry or something? Right, yes, he was definitely in there crouched among the bag of moulding potatoes! Emma had gone home to get changed, just like she had mentioned earlier that she wanted to do. This shouldn't be some kind of trigger event that was making me freak out like this, there was absolutely no reason to be worried at all! We were careful about what we sent, we made sure not to use Ravi, no mail ever reached us looking tampered with and the wards were never breached!
… not that that meant much.
"Fine, yes, but I don't know why!" I burst out in irritation. "We aren't in immediate danger, nothing weird has happened lately and there hasn't been a murder or direct sign from him in months. I guess, I dunno, a part of me thinks … it's just worried. It's stupid, I know."
"It proves that you care, Fred," Yael pointed out. "Yes, you are stupid as a general rule, but worrying about someone that you love isn't."
"Oi! I mean, you've got a point," I added. "but still, OI!"
My friends laughed, but eventually it died down so that they could glance at each other once more. Apparently coming to the same conclusion, Kayla then said, "Look, if you want to calm your head, we could ask you some questions, make sure we've covered all the bases? But I'm sure Emma's fine–"
"Nah, nah, ask me," I said at once. "She's more likely to turn up halfway through that way, and I'm fine with looking like an idiot."
Kayla grinned. "Ok. Fred, within the last 24 hours, have you ever felt unsafe or that your life may be in danger?"
"No."
"Have you noticed anyone regularly hanging around your building? Could look completely innocent looking, even a professional?"
"It's all just people who have always been there," I admitted. I'd definitely been watching.
"Has anyone come to your door recently for whatever reason?"
"God, um – ok," I hastily tried to think. "Uh, I think Mrs Ramsey knocked to come and yell at me the other day. The bloke in the flat next to ours came to complain about noise?"
"All right," Yael took over. "Think about your mail, what have you sent recently? What have you received?"
"Just today?" I reiterated. "Blimey, I think … I may or may not have written a ridiculous note to send to Clara, just baby talk really. And Emma sent me an owl from work when she knew that she was going to be working late?"
"Which owls were used?"
"Ravi sent the note to Clara," I admitted. "Well, possibly, I mean that bird could've gone to fuckin' Spain and I wouldn't be surprised, but it was literally just mundane kid stuff I wrote to her, nothing that might give away important information. Emma's was sent with an owl from her work, although I admittedly thought it was Ravi at first …"
UH-OH.
Cogs suddenly started turning. It was a bit bizarre, this anxiety coming out of nowhere, and I had kind of narrowed it down to weird left-over emotion over the whole 'I love you' thing, but I think I've found where it was coming from! I knew what the next question out of Yael's mouth would be – what was in that owl? – and I had the answer straight away. Emma had written down how she was still working, how I should just eat by myself and that she'd meet me straight at the party. What if.
WHAT IF.
"Yael," I suddenly choked. "Kayla …"
That owl was enough. If Reddale had made the same mistake that I had, thought it was Ravi and gotten hold of it, he would have known that tonight Emma wasn't going to be home. It was only going to be me. He would break in, silent and without detection like he always somehow could, and all he'd have to do was sit and wait … wait until I came home.
Except I wasn't the one who had gone home first like he thought.
Emma was.
I think Yael, Kayla and Sapphire nearly had mini heart attacks at my outburst.
"WE HAVE TO LEAVE, NOW!"
"Wait, what?" they were all yelling after me as I ran for the 'maintenance only' door. Shoving my way through the crowd, my head was ringing like it might do after a significant explosion. "FRED!" Yael was strong enough that grabbing my arm was enough to hold me back. "What the hell is going on?"
"Let go of me," I growled. "I'm serious as fuck, either come with me, or let go."
"I'm letting go!" Yael held up his hands. "But what is it, did you think of something written in that owl that might have been incriminating?"
"Emma's owl said that she wasn't going to be home tonight!" I was trying SUPER hard not to panic, here. "That owl looked like Ravi, Reddale might have intercepted it. He could be sitting there waiting for me, but Emma's gone home by herself and–" I cut myself off at the slightly pitiful, slightly sceptical looks on their faces. "Look," I added, desperately. "I know this is a stretch, I know we'll probably get there and find her perfectly fine, I know that usually you'd have to do this the proper way, call it in, interview me, but guys … please."
No, I couldn't explain the feeling, but at this point, I'd learned to trust them. Maybe it had taken me a while to trust the Emma feelings (BOY, had that taken a while!) but the feeling I'd gotten when Reddale had first broken out of that courtroom? I'd somehow just known something was going to go wrong. It was the feeling that told me that I was made to do this Auror thing, it was something I had learned to listen to, and I prayed that Yael and Kayla would listen as well, because they were my only hopes at this point.
No hesitation, they pulled out their wands.
I sighed. "Thank you."
Luckily, Rose and Scorpius were no longer blocking the door, so I don't think we caused a commotion when we left my own party like bats out of hell. Apparating the second we made it out of the open, we reappeared inside my lounge …
… only to give Emma the fright of her fucking life.
"Spread out!" Kayla yelled, wand raised high. I pulled out my own, clammy fingers clenching the wood. However, barely even a minute later a strangled scream came from the bathroom as apparently, Yael had crashed in on Emma while she was in the shower.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" she fumed, storming out with nothing but a towel around her.
"EMMA!" I yelled, practically throwing myself at her.
She was obviously as confused as hell, but still let me haul her into my arms. Her hair was wet but her skin was hot, and oh thank Merlin that I was wrong. In the background I could hear Yael and Kayla continuing to clear the flat, arguing with Sapphire that she shouldn't be here, but it was all dulled in favour of knowing that Emma was actually ok.
"What's going on?" Emma asked again then, her voice much gentler this time.
"I suddenly realised – something you sent today could have been bad if Reddale got his hands on it," I didn't want to scare her, but I had to tell the truth. I let Emma pull back so that she could tug her towel more securely around her, staring at me. "and then I realised that you had come home to get changed where he … he could have been waiting for you."
"Oh," Emma said, faintly. "Well … fuck."
"The place is clear!" Yael announced then, him, Kayla and Sapphire all stomping back into the lounge. "Again – er, sorry, Emma–"
"It's ok – are you guys trying to tell me that REDDALE was here while I was in the shower?" Emma asked in horror.
"I don't know, I don't know – damn it, this is the closest we've gotten in months!" Yael rubbed his beard furiously.
"We know that he can get into places undetected, don't give up," Kayla said, fiercely. "Let's start canvassing the building, maybe Emma startled him when she came home instead of Fred. He might not be far away!"
In a flurry of movement, we made plans to fan out throughout the entire building. Emma hastily pulled on clean clothes, her curls still dripping as each of us started at a different door. I immediately sprinted right across the hall to where my totally favourite person in the entire building lived. I pounded on the door, hollering,
"MRS RAMSEEEEEYYYYYYY!"
My Old Lady Neighbour was always less than thrilled to see me, and being disturbed this late at night apparently did not help in the slightest. With Otis the yapping monster snapping around her feet, she answered in a psychedelic bathrobe and her hair in curlers. "What the hell do you want?" she grumbled.
"Mrs Ramsey, for once I am not here to talk shit with you!" I said. "I'm serious, I need to know, have you seen or heard anything suspicious around here recently?"
"Not since you asked me last month. Why, what did you do this time?"
"We have reason to believe the Reddale Killer may have been in this building as recently as earlier tonight."
She clearly wasn't expecting that. Emma came hurrying out behind me, finally fully dressed as Mrs Ramsey's face went a little pale. Even Otis shut up yapping.
"Well, shit boy, you didn't say it was that urgent!"
"So you HAVE seen something?"
"Well, I don't know about suspicious," Mrs Ramsey, for all her annoyance, at least knew what a big deal this was. She carried on with, "No, I haven't seen anything untoward like that. Although with the amount of grief this building gives me, I still should have moved out years ago! Honestly, you bringing in lunatic murderers, eggs thrown at my door on Halloween, those lads down the street stealing mail, delinquents, the lot of ya. You should all be locked up!"
I stared hard at Mrs Ramsey, my brain whirring again. Blimey, I was about to be sick any second. It was a long time ago, but her words had triggered a memory and I remembered a corner not far from here, where I'd noticed that you could see one of my windows from. I remembered a group of rowdy 'lads' who hung around the area, and add in 'stealing mail' …
I quickly yelled for the others. I noticed a couple of odd, curious looks from other residents, as Yael, Kayla and Sapphire knew to hastily come running. Emma held my arm tightly as I called them over to Mrs Ramsey's front door.
"I think I might know where he's gone," I said once they'd skidded to a halt. "There's an alleyway not far from here, just down on the nearest corner. Say he was waiting for me when Emma came home, it would have thrown him off. You guys know his profile better than I do, is he the type of person to return to a home base when spooked?"
Yael and Kayla just looked at each other and I knew that the answer was yes. "Ok, here's what's going to happen," Yael held his wand determinedly. "Sapphire, you are going to contact the Auror Office. You are going to get as much back-up as you can and bring them here as soon as possible. Fred, you and Emma are going to go back inside, lock all the doors and windows, and wait until someone comes to take your statement. Kayla and I are going after this bastard–"
"But I can–!"
"DON'T," Yael practically yelled.
It wasn't the outcome I wanted or hoped for, but by this point I'd learned the importance of letting the qualified people do their jobs. Even Sapphire didn't argue. Mrs Ramsey was all too happy to slam her door shut too as Emma and I locked ourselves back inside our flat. The first thing I did was run to jam my work intercom into my ear in case they needed to call for help, but for the first thirty seconds at least, it was suddenly all … silent.
I glanced around. Emma was standing quietly behind me in our room, the bed between us. She was blinking rapidly, her hands shaking and I sighed in a silent apology. I reached out and she practically launched herself across the bed to hug me.
"Hey …" I murmured, stroking her head. "Quit freaking out, you're fine–"
"He was here, Fred," she said muffled into my shirt. "HOLY SHIT, I could have been MURDERED!"
"Princess, please," I scoffed. "Like anyone could take you out that easily."
"Don't joke, you can't joke about this – oh my god–"
I squeezed her tight, muttering, "I'm sorry …" She wasn't used to this kind of danger hitting so close to home. I'd dealt with it enough times to know how to disassociate from the danger but blimey mate, it was hard when Emma was that close to it and I hadn't even given her a moment to process anything. I held her close, hand running through her hair. Not one part of me wanted to be rational, so while every inch of my brain screamed to run after Yael and Kayla, to help them and protect them, I forced myself to stay behind and let them do what they'd been trained to do. We were safe here, we would be ok here.
Besides, we've already been through this. Turns out I'm not quite ready to die yet after all.
"Can you hear what's happening?" Emma asked me then, moving back slightly so that she could rub her eyes.
"Nah, I could call them but I don't want to distract them in case shit's going down – come on!" I added, pulling her with me to the window.
"What, can you see something?" she asked, peering through the glass.
Down in the street, you could see the corner not too far away. The air was crisp out there, and I didn't know whether the street was dark because it was just naturally eerie tonight, or because the street lights had been blown out on purpose. If any Muggle looked out they might've been none the wiser, but we weren't quite as blinded …
"Is that light from a duel down there?" Emma pointed out uneasily.
"It's hard to tell," I answered.
I don't know how long we waited in silence for. I leaned against the window frame, forehead pressed to the glass while Emma's hand snaked into mine. The whole reason any of this was happening was because of me being paranoid. What if it was all just in my head? What if I wasn't doing quite as well as I'd originally thought and the stupid grief just got my friends killed? I didn't know if I'd be able to survive someone getting hurt because of me. It felt like an age as we waited. Looking back, it couldn't have been more than a couple minutes, but it definitely felt like 10 years.
Then the intercom in my ear suddenly crackled:
"FRED – GET HERE NOW–"
It spurred instant action. Yael's voice was something I'd literally never heard before. Shocked, panicked, distraught, all at once. I put up a half-hearted fight at Emma insisting on coming too, but half-hearted since it was clear that there wasn't time for it. We opted for a little illegal Apparition straight into the street, all while Yael was now also screaming for Sapphire to call the mediwizards in my ear.
We burst into the alleyway, wands raised. The first thing I noticed was the scorch marks, the exploded rubbish skip, clear evidence of a fight having gone down. The second thing were the bodies on the ground. Two of them. One was lying at unnatural angles about halfway down the alley, shrouded in the shadows. The other was closer …
Yael was barely coherent. "Oh, shit–" I swore when I realised that he was on his knees at Kayla's side, his hands hovering, apparently afraid to touch her. I grabbed Emma's wrist behind me, clenching once before letting go. Then, I darted forward and shook Yael's shoulders.
"ARE YOU HURT?" I yelled in his face.
He looked up wildly. "Not – not me," he gasped. "He's – he's dead, holy fuck – but Kayla got held down, I – I don't know how long she couldn't breathe for – FRED–"
"HEY," I shook him once more. "You're an Auror, keep it together! Emma – tip her head back, see if she's breathing!" I added, Emma nodding at once before crouching down next to Kayla. I pressed the intercom in my ear and said, "Calling Agent Sapphire Bates – SAPPHIRE – where the fuck is back up?!"
It took a few moments for an answer. I kept holding Yael's shoulder until she answered, "On route! Be there any second–"
"We need mediwizards too, now," I quickly cut in. "You know that, right? We've got an Auror down."
"Wait, fuck! – Who–?"
I swallowed a lump in my throat. "It's Kayla. Is she breathing?" I called over.
Yael was holding Kayla's hand. It looked like he was struggling to breathe, sobs wracking every other breath. Emma looked up from where she gently held back Kayla's chin and answered, "She's breathing, but still unconscious."
"Did you get that?"
"Yeah, yeah – fucking Merlin–" Sapphire broke off to yell at someone. In the distance, I think I could hear the unmistakable cracks of Apparition. "Ok, mediwizards are on their way–"
"Good, the Aurors are also here now I think," I added.
"Fred," Sapphire began, tentatively. "is Kayla going to be ok?"
I couldn't give her an answer.
We didn't tell anyone at the party what had gone down. It felt like it would cause yet more unnecessary panic and after the last wild half hour or so that we'd had, I was about ready for things to calm the fuck down!
The four of us were only a small part of the vigil waiting for Kayla to regain consciousness at St. Mungo's. Kayla's family apparently consisted of a mum, a step-dad, and about a half dozen siblings and half-siblings. As well as us and the Grover's, there was also Yael and Kayla's Control Auror and good friend, Liam Bolton, Head Auror Huntley and even Uncle Harry turned up at one point.
"Blimey, everyone's turning out for this!" I mentioned when Harry showed up at the hospital, a grim look on his face.
"Fred," he sighed. "You're not hurt, right? Emma?"
"Not at all," Emma answered from her spot next to me.
"Good," Harry was clearly a little wary, rubbing his eyes. "After … Merlin, Angelina wouldn't ever forgive me."
"I'm fine," I reiterated. "Why are you here, then?"
"Oh, if anything's ever to do with Reddale, I'm here!" Harry insisted. "What the bloody hell happened?"
"Is that an official question? Because we've already given our statements like, ten times by this point," I mentioned. "and if you want the whole story you'd need to talk to Yael, but uh …"
I just gestured vaguely over to where my friend sat waiting. This whole thing had honestly happened so quickly, there really hadn't been any time to just sit down and process what any of it meant. I couldn't get the image of that second body out of my head. Like, had Reddale actually finally been tracked down in that duel? Had he really been KILLED? I MEAN … MATE! I wasn't sure I could even begin to explain how much that meant. Reddale had been hanging down over all of us for too damn long. It had been several years since he had attacked me, and I had even talked about it with Hannah during therapy, but you don't ever stop wanting justice for that kind of thing. And not just for me, but for my friends too. Ever since I'd known them, I'd watched Yael and Kayla both slowly get beaten down little by little, until there was barely any of themselves left. Everything in their lives had simply boiled down to Reddale … and now, they were free.
But Yael was clearly not dealing too well with all that. He sat with his head in his hands and the air that if you so much as breathed in his direction, he would kill you. It didn't help that his formidable yet usually rather deceiving appearance was actually adding to the look at this point. You know, I still don't really know what the ever loving fuck the relationship was between him and Kayla! It was clear that Kayla's family recognised him, knew him even, as they kept looking over like they wanted to approach, but not really knowing how. I mean, who the hell knew? They were probably worse than me and Emma, and that had to be saying something!
God, I hoped Kayla was all right. She was a good friend. Kind and fierce, on to it and able to think clearly when it mattered most … not to mention that Yael was clearly a mess without her.
Uncle Harry thankfully opted to go and talk to Head Auror Huntley, rather than try and pry information out of Yael. He even hugged me, which not going to lie, made me want to tear up a little! "You can't tease me for crying ok?" I added at the look on Emma's face. "YOU, of all people!"
"That wasn't crying," Emma waved off. "I was cleaning my eyeballs, obviously."
"Obviously," I snorted, hastily wiping at my eyes. "Hey look, do you mind if I just go and sit with Yael for a bit? He looks like he needs it."
"Go ahead, seriously," Emma urged. "I'll go talk to Sapphire."
For a moment though, we hesitated to separate. Waiting together here outside the ground floor Emergency Department, I had to admit … it wasn't bringing back great memories. It was kind of a good thing I guess that I had blocked out so much of when I had been here with Dad. I don't think I would have been doing as well as I was if I hadn't. The entire night had been one adrenaline rush after the other that it was a wonder that we hadn't crashed entirely yet, especially since I knew that we all still had to be at least a little bit drunk. But we settled for squeezing hands, before turning and parting ways.
I made sure to step loudly and cough as I sat down next to Yael, making it clear that I had approached. He didn't move. Didn't look up, even though the hunched over position had to be painful. "Hey," I said softly.
"Don't."
I glanced down at him. "Ok," I just shrugged. "What don't you want me to do?"
"Just don't," Yael moved then, shaking out his hands and running them distractedly through his hair. "Don't try and tell me it'll be ok, don't say it wasn't my fault or–"
"Well, it wasn't."
His knuckles clenched white.
"You weren't there."
"You're right, I wasn't," I said. "because both of us did the smart thing, and that was letting the trained professionals do their job, which they are bloody good at, by the way. If you don't want me to say that it wasn't your fault, then tell me what happened. Explain it to me."
Yael sighed. He still didn't look up, but he spoke, voice low and a little unsteady.
"We caught him by surprise. He wasn't on his game, he was probably spooked from the mix up between you and Emma. He's strong though. I couldn't protect myself and her at the same time. She got hit and he managed to hold her down, the same spell he used to strangle all his other victims. I don't even know how long for, it couldn't have been more than a minute. But eventually I realised that I only knew one spell that would break through anything, so …"
I nodded. "You killed him."
"I killed him," Yael let out a rattling breath. "Fuck, Fred, I killed him! REDDALE."
Look, at the end of the day if anyone got to kill the bastard, I was glad that it was Yael. Maybe it was morally wrong of me to be encouraging revenge like that or whatever, but you know what, I'm not an Auror yet! However, that's only if it was something that he could carry on living with. Maybe I could do it, but Yael wasn't me. I wasn't sure if he would want to be touched, so I slowly wrapped a cautious arm over his back. Luckily, he didn't flinch or throw me off.
"Hey," I said, softly. "You did what you needed to. You saved Kayla, you saved yourself, and you got rid of someone who was definitely inherently evil. You did good, mate."
"He doesn't deserve death," Yael said, miserably. "We were so close to locking him up for life, and in the end he just died. That's not justice."
"It hardly ever is."
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Yael asked, drawing in a choked and rattled breath. "Because I think I'm finally quitting, mate."
I squeezed him tighter. "You do whatever you need to. I'm sure."
He moved then. I didn't expect him to sit up and hug me tightly, but I let him cry into my shoulder regardless. They could honestly do whatever they wanted. Yael and Kayla definitely deserved some peace after all this.
I hoped that they'd eventually find it someday.
REDDALE KILLER DEAD
Simon Fisherman, AKA. The Reddale Killer, was killed last night in a confrontation involving two Aurors, one of whom has suffered major injuries.
Mediwizards were called at 11.40pm last night to a residential street in Fulham after the confrontation that lead to the death of the infamous serial killer, who has terrorised the city of London since his first known killing in 2024. Fisherman, 39, was found guilty of several accounts of first degree murder and escaped custody before his sentence could be made earlier this year in January.
He was confirmed dead at the scene.
"Tonight, we're confirming that the Reddale Killer, Simon Fisherman, was killed in a confrontation with the Aurors," Head of Homicide Department, Head Auror Donald Huntley, released in a statement last night. According to Huntley, Reddale had been tracked down when a planned attack on a potential victim, Mr Fred Weasley (26), went south.
A witness in Reddale's trial, Weasley spoke about the confrontation last night. "He was waiting for me. We thought he'd come after me, but my – Emma – went home first," He references to Miss Emma Terry (27), who was thankfully not hurt in the incident. It appears that the Reddale Killer fled the scene when he failed to apprehend his intended victim. Lead investigators of the Reddale case were called to the scene.
Auror Kayla Grover (29) was reportedly attacked and seriously injured in the confrontation that killed Reddale. She is currently being treated at St. Mungo's hospital, though it is reported that her condition is not life-threatening. Grover's co-investigator, Auror Yael Ingleson (31), was unavailable for comment.
"Of course, loss of life is never the ultimate outcome we hope for," Head Auror Huntley also stated. "However, we are simply grateful that the Reddale Killer can no longer hurt anyone. It's been a long six years."
It is estimated that the Reddale Killer strangled no less than 20 different people over the course of his life. A ceremonial vigil is being held for his victims tomorrow night at 6pm in Eastern London Cemetery.
A/N: HAHAHAHAHA LOOK WHO'S UPDATING AFTER DISAPPEARING FOR MONTHS!
I honestly did not intend on taking so long, I swear. I had an intense battle with my ol buddy Motivation, LOL. But I'm here, I did it, and I have the rest of the fic mostly finished so I can promise, barring any unforeseen catastrophes, that I'll have the next chapter up soon. There's only 1 more chapter and an epilogue left! hOLY SHIT!
SO FRED SAID I LOVE YOU FUIJFJFKJFJKJKF! AND THE REDDALE KILLER IS DEAD! I'm so sorry if this chapter felt rushed or something, idk, hell I don't even know if anyone's even reading this fic anymore or if you've all just given up on it haha. But please, pLEASE if you read it, let me know if you liked it!
I LOVE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU! Thank you so much, you're all incredible.
Moon xoxo
PS. I know nobody cares about my real life, but if you've been with me since the GIR days, you'll know that I've been through school, university, travelling overseas ... now, I've gotten my first ever proper adult job! I'm finally a real teacher and I'm moving to a new city in a month's time, so yay, cONGRATULATE ME! :D