His lips crashed against hers.
It felt unfair.
It felt wrong.
They were burying Ginny. Along with Fred and Ron.
"Harry…" her voice got stuck halfway out as Harry pushed her against the outside wall of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes original HQ, on the outskirt of the Burrow property. He was smart enough to pick the side not facing the house.
Harry's finger dug into her sides, holding her against the shed just as well pulling her flush against him.
She let out a small moan as his teeth ran down her neck to the pulse point near her clavicle, leaving a slight trace in their wake. She shivered as his tongue traced the protruding bone. Rikki's hips bucked against him almost automatically. Her core slid against his thigh, which he forced between her legs moments before.
"Harry, we shouldn't…" she breathes out, trailing off as his hands wandered her bare thighs. Harry's fingers slowly bunched up the skirt of her dress, all the way up to her waist. His hips rolled into hers.
She whimpered as familiar firmness got pressed against her lower abdomen.
His lips found hers. He tasted of whiskey. A taste she got used to at this point. He bit her lower lip and pushed his tongue past her as she gasped at the slight stinging pain.
She whimpered as his hand found its way into her knickers. Her breath hitched as his finger ran through her folds.
"So wet already… And just for me?" he whispered by her ear before taking her earlobe between his teeth, nibbling on it.
She muttered something incoherently as his thumb circled her clit. Her hips bucked against his hand. The fear of someone walking up from behind the corner got pushed to the back of her mind.
As wrong as all of this was, she didn't have the will to protest.
She nearly screamed when he pushed two fingers inside of her at once. Her nails dug into his shoulders and she buried her face into his neck as she clung to him.
"Harry, please… I need to…" she cried into his neck as the knot in her lower abdomen was about to unravel. But instead of pushing her over the edge of pleasure, he withdrew his fingers. Rikki gasped in disappointment, her chest heaving. She watched him briefly lick his fingers before he quickly undo his belt, button, and zipper on his pants. He pushed them down at once with his boxers.
For a moment, she argued what to do. Drop to her knees? Just reach her hand out for him? Push down her own underwear? But Harry answered her question sooner than she reached any conclusion.
He turned her around, so she was now facing the shed. The side of her face pressed against the rough wood wall as Harry yanked her hips back. She groaned at the roughness of his actions. She raised her arms up for support, the last thing she need was a splinter in her face.
Harry pulled her knickers down her thighs and let them fall to the ground as he pressed himself against her back. Her hair was still up in (now a quite messy) bun so he had free access to her neck. He kissed her neck sloppily, leaving a wet trail behind his lips. He straightened himself, running fingers down the curve of her spine.
She felt his tip slide through her folds, eliciting a whiny moan from her. He gripped her hip with one hand and used the other to navigate his cock into her. He forced himself in all at once.
She mewled, gently biting into her own forearm to silence herself. He gave her no time to adjust as his hips started moving immediately, soon finding their torturous rhythm.
He wrapped his hand around her throat and pulled her up against his chest, "Come on, don't be shy," he huffed by her ear. She moaned as his hips snapped into hers again.
"They'll hear us…" she whispered back, breathlessly. The familiar knot was back. It grew tighter and bigger with every move. He sucked the tender skin on her neck. "Fuck…"
She let her head fall back on his shoulder.
"I won't stop till I hear you scream my name," that wasn't a threat but a promise. Her knees grew weaker with every thrust of his hips, her legs were about to give out. He reached around her, and his hand found her clit again.
"Harry, please…" she cried, grabbing onto his arm that held her upright. The combined power of his hand and him inside of her was overwhelming. Her legs started to shake, "Don't stop, please… Please."
She could feel him smile against the skin of her neck, "Louder," he coaxed her, withdrawing his hand from her. She groaned at the loss of friction. "I said louder."
She watched Harry storm back into his office, irritated, yelling at the rest of the office if they don't have anything else to do. She sheepishly rubbed her arm as Draco released her, there was a clear imprint of his fingers. She will have a rather lovely bruise there. But that was nothing new.
Draco stared at her in silence, waiting for some explanation. His brow was raised. But not in the same irritated way as before at Harry. If she did not know better, Rikki would say he looked almost worried. Which was a laughable idea. Never in so many years, she knew him was he worried about anyone but himself.
She took few steps back as she realized that she was still almost leaning against his side.
"What was that about?" he broke the silence first. The sound of his voice made her shiver, she did not hear him speak since the trial and even there she wasn't sure if he said anything in her presence. He seemed almost annoyed that she was there and even more annoyed when she vouched for him. "Blake? Talk to me."
"Nothing… it was nothing," she shook her head, straightening the collar of her shirt.
He scoffed, not believing his ears, "Nothing? For Salazar's sake, Blake…"
"In relative terms, yes…" she said quietly, more to herself and not expecting him to catch that. She didn't want to have the conversation with him, it was enough that she will have to explain it to George.
"In relative terms?!" his voice jumped an octave as his wide eyes rested on her. She grew redder in the face with each microsecond of his stare. "He hit you before? I cannot-"
"Malfoy. Thank you for stepping in, but you hardly have any right to say anything with your past…"
Draco laughed out loud as he ran his fingers through his hair, "Blake, think what you want of me, I probably deserve it. But don't ever think or insinuate I would touch a woman against her will or hit her for that matter," he retorted, narrowing his steel-blue eyes at her.
She felt a sharp sting by her heart. Her snapback wasn't fair, in her desperate effort to back away from this conversation, she completely forgot what he did for her during the battle and the reason she decided to take the stand in his defence.
Rikki sprinted from behind the corner, running towards the main staircase. She needed to get to the Room of Requirement. Neville had the bloody sword; they can destroy the Horcrux. Hermione and Ron disappeared god-knows-where so she ran to find Harry.
As she took the sharp turn a green light whizzed by her left ear. It made her stumble and fall backwards. She managed not to smash her head against the floor, but it still knocked the wind out of her for a moment.
"Oh, you! What a coincidence!"
Rikki looked up to a wicked grin on Dolohov's face. She was fucked. She can barely defend herself on the ground. She patted the ground to find her wand while not taking eyes of the Death Eater looming above her. She wished he just killed her, but his face told her that it won't be that easy.
He tutted as her fingers nearly grasped her wand and kicked it on the other side of the corridor. She was officially fucked. "Yaxley has some unfinished business with you, pretty girl."
She gulped. At this point in the war, she did not fear death, certainly not after a year with Carrows in charge. She just feared it won't be fast enough. Dolohov leaned over and grabbed her throat, pulling her on her feet. His grasp made it hard to swallow, he held her tight enough to limit her breathing but not hard enough to cause any harm.
She had to get out of this situation that was certain. She had to get to her wand. She knew she would have a chance in a duel against him. DA made her quite confident in that area. She decided to go for it, it cannot get worse than it already was – either he will kill her or take her to Yaxley.
Her hands shot up and clapped against his ears. 1:0 for muggle self-defence lessons. As he let go of her throat, her knee shot up kicking him – once in the crotch and when he leaned over, she added a knee to the stomach just for good measure, just before she bolted in the direction of her wand.
"You bitch…" he groaned behind her, "Crucio!"
The curse hit her just as her fingers had a firm grasp on the wand. She fell back to the ground. It was debilitating pain as if someone set her blood on fire along with every cell, fibre, and bone. She was on fire from the inside. Her mouth opened, wanting to scream but no sound came out.
As Dolohov released the spell, Rikki gasped for air. Every muscle in her body twitching or aching from the constant spasm. Dolohov kicked her over on her back.
"I've changed my mind. I won't wait for him to ask if I can play with his toy…" he grinned at her. She tried to get as far as possible from him, but her back soon hit the wall. She changed her mind – it could get worse. But it was worth the shot.
She gasped for air as he suddenly dropped himself to his knees, straddling her hips and his hand returned to her throat.
"I am sure that even Fenrir would like you, though you are perhaps a bit too old… Na-ah, fighting won't help you," he whispered peeling her hands from his wrist. The panic finally set in for her, up until now it was pure adrenalin, but her reserves of it ran out. Rushing blood echoed in her ears and she could feel her temples throbbing. Heart rate must have been just at the brink of a heart attack.
"Expelliarmus!" a voice echoed through the corridor as Dolohov's wand flew out of his hand. He turned around, confused. His eyes narrowed into small slits when he spotted Malfoy marching towards him.
"Don't be stupid, Malfoy," Dolohov sneered, "You can have a go later. We can all share."
Malfoy did not seem appeased by that offer as his wand raised again, "Stupify!"
Dolohov flew off of her and landed with a thud by the opposite wall. The Stupify wasn't even strong enough to knock him out, he just gasped for air and stared at Draco with growing furiousness.
"I knew- I knew it. You were always a family of traitors…" he wheezed, still out of breath.
Draco snickered, wand still aimed at Dolohov, "Any last words? Perhaps an apology to the lady?" he quirked his brow. Dolohov just gaped at him, "Your call then… Avada Kedavra!"
Rikki let out a scream as Dolohov's body slumped against the wall, his eyes staring blankly at Draco. She scattered around the floor, reaching for her wand, and putting as much distance between herself and Draco.
"Blake? All in one piece?" he asked, glancing at her as she panicked on the ground. "Blake, hey. Hey!" he dropped on one knee by her side, "I won't hurt you. You are safe… as safe as this shit show can get, anyway. What were you doing here? Blake, calm down," his hand cupped her cheek, running his thumb across it back and forth. Her eyes finally focused on him.
"I- I- You've killed him… I- He- You've killed him," she stuttered, her eyes jumping between him and Dolohov's lifeless body.
"I hope you don't feel bad for him," he chuckled lightly, "Get it together, Blake. Please."
She took a deep breath. He was right. She needed to stop panicking. Breath in. Breath out…
"Sorry, don't know why I've said that," she shook her head snapping out of it. "I gotta go. Thank you," she pressed him a small smile, turning towards the elevator.
"Hope you are going home to pack your things," Draco muttered, watching her closely.
Rikki glanced over her shoulder, "My things are already gone. But Harry does not know that…"
Corners of his mouth turned upwards, "Have a place to stay?"
She nodded, just as the elevator cabin stopped at their floor, "I already dropped my things off, George is letting me stay. He has- he has free room... See you around, Malfoy."
The Wizard Wheezes was packed as usual. She set barely one foot in and already had to ditch a stink bomb flying in her direction. Her eyes landed on a petrified kid, staring at her with wide eyes. She shook her head and laughed. The try anything policy can be dangerous and it surely already backfired as some things are out of reach and exempt from this rule.
Finding George in this madness will be fun.
She looked around. He was nowhere to be seen on the main floor. She could check upstairs as well, but when she spotted one of the workers, Rikki decided to ask.
"Hi, sorry. I am looking for George – is he somewhere around?" she stopped a petite blond girl with a smile.
The girl scanned her head to toe, "Sorry, we are not hiring," she responded before squeezing herself past Rikki.
She blinked a few times in surprise, before catching up with her within few long strides, "I don't want to be hired anyways. Just tell me if George is here or at home – I am perfectly able to then find him myself."
"We are not allowed…" the petite girl took a deep breath to scold her.
"Oi Rikki!" a familiar voice ringed through the noisy store, visibly startling the sale assistant as she turned around with wide eyes. Charlie Weasley was weaving his way towards them.
"Charles!" she grinned at him. He hated being called that, but he tolerated her doing it. She was not sure as she watched him slap several people up the back of their heads for calling him Charles. "Great to see you," she muttered, hugging him as he finally made it to them. "I swear you are taller every time I see you…" she complained jokingly, poking his chest.
He shrugged, chuckling, "You are just getting shorter, Rik, make peace with that. What brings you here? Don't tell me my brother enslaved you as well?"
Rikki laughed, shaking her head, "I am currently trying to find him, but I still have my freedom. Don't worry. Have you seen him?"
"I assume he's here somewhere. I am supposed to meet up with him," he shrugged and looked around, putting his height to good use. Though George would be hard to miss anyway. "My offer still stands, by the way. You are welcomed any time at the dragon reservation…"
He was persistently offering her that position ever since the war ended. For a time, she completely forgot about it, but now it seemed like a great idea. She would be able to get away from everything. And even if doing just some office work god-knows-where in Romania sounded really appealing right now.
Harry would positively hate it too as he never seemed very fond of her close relationship with George or Charlie. Or anyone really. Not that she had many friends left. After the war or after the course of their relationship. It made it especially hard and awkward to go to George's this morning. She had no idea how he would react to her suddenly showing up asking for help after over a year and a half of being even further than just on the side-lines of her interest.
Charlie flashed a smile as if he knew that his offer came just at the right moment. But the smile was quickly replaced by confusion and furrowed brow as he realized what it probably meant. His head tilted to the side a bit as he tried to read her expression and figure it out.
"He's in the back office," the girl, she completely forgot about at this point, peeped next to them. Her annoyance with her disappeared when she saw her looking smitten at Charlie. She bit back a laugh.
Typical.
That's everyone's reaction to seeing Charlie the first time. She did not blame them, seeing him is refreshing. She was pretty sure she and Hermione, did not look any better, meeting him one summer in the Burrow.
He did not look like a Weasley but did at the same time. Of course, the red hair and freckles were a quite dead giveaway, but if she did not know better Rikki could have easily believed he was part of some cool up-and-coming rock band. The long hair, messy ponytail, one earring, black ripped denim jacket. He was oddly cool for a Weasley. George would have killed her for saying that out loud, taking personal offence at not being referred to as cool.
She followed Charlie back towards the tills and through a small hallway behind it. He did not even bother to knock and just busted the door open, scaring George half to death.
"You bloody idiot," George breathed out, leaning back in his chair, squeezing the bridge of his nose.
"You don't have a clear conscience," Charlie smirked at him, "Look who I've found."
Charlie finally stepped aside, letting Rikki in as well, "Hi, Georgie. Do you have the spare keys on you? I won't keep you from whatever you've planned," she smiled. Charlie gave her the same look he had on his face back on the main floor but decided to not dig into it.
"Crap… I forgot to go get them. Take mine, for now, I assume you won't be heading out anyway…" he trailed off, raising a brow at her. She shook his head. He threw a cluster of keys in her direction.
"Thank you. I appreciate it, I really do."
George shook his head, "You are welcomed anytime, Rik. Don't forget what you promised," he smirked at her.
She nodded. That was a conversation she won't be able to avoid or escape. Have it been anyone else but Harry, she wouldn't be too worried.
But this was Harry – the war hero, the Chosen One, everyone's friend.
It was known to people close to him he liked to have a drink, no one really knew the full extent of it. And what she was even more unsure of was George's reaction. There was no way she can say A, avoid B and skip right to C.
She opened the door of the flat still deep in her thoughts. Building scenarios for her inevitable conversation with George. She was searching for a way to still protect Harry for some reason.
She found that George moved her things to the now spare room. It used to be Fred's. You wouldn't be able to guess that now, it had none of his personality left. It was a generic spare bedroom. Rikki was so mad with George when she found out. It felt like he let go of his brother completely, that he wanted to forget him and move on. That was the first and last large argument of their friendship.
Now she understood. George will never forget him; he just did not want to live with a physical reminder that he will never be whole again.
I am reminded of his absence every time I look in a mirror, I don't need to be reminded of that by a room full of him.
Rikki sat on the bed and sighed. She tried her best not to think about Fred often. She missed him. She missed her best friend. Especially in moments like these. She would want nothing more but the chance to cuddle up next to him and talk, cry, cry to the point of laughing at how pathetic this was…They were close friends, if people didn't know them, they would think they were dating. They were comfortable with each other. It was platonic from both sides, never was there a hint of any hidden deeper feelings, any tension.
Losing him broke her more than anything else the war has thrown her way. She never felt such pain before. It pained her that she didn't manage to look out for him. Rikki promised herself not to let anyone that close ever again. She wasn't built to handle another loss like this. She was not going to allow it.
She was slowly going crazy in the empty apartment. She's been sitting there for 2 hours just thinking, reminiscing, feeling sorry for herself and did not even realize that tears were running down her cheeks. She got up. She needed to do something. Anything.
The dishes were done, the kitchen was clean, the fridge was empty so no cooking dinner either. Goddamn it, George.
She threw herself onto the couch about to go out of her mind. She wasn't used to be being alone. The doorknob rattled and the door opened with a low creak. Rikki raised her head and look over the sofa's backrest at the entrance little hallway. George appeared from behind the corner, juggling two boxes of pizza and wine.
"I realized the fridge was empty so I brought something to eat," he shrugged as she eyed him.
She chuckled, "I've noticed. Wanted to make us dinner, but all I could have made were sliced tomatoes." She quirked her brow at George, he stood there looking quite helplessly in the middle of the room, "Do you need a hand?"
"Please! I am just waiting to drop the wine," he nodded as he felt a sense of relief. She jumped up, grabbing the bottle from the pile of pizza boxes in his hands. "There's one more," he nodded towards his left armpit. Rikki laughed, reaching the rescue the other bottle as well. She looked at both bottles, one red and one white, "I wasn't sure which you prefer," he explained shrugging as she put them on the table.
"I really don't mind either," she admitted, walking back towards the kitchen, going through the cabinets. She would willingly drink firewhiskey at this point, "Where do you keep… Oh never mind, got them."
George plopped himself on the ground by the little coffee table. He tore the lid of the pizza boxes off and tossed them aside. She never understood this habit. What if there were leftovers? They will just go stale and yucky without the lid. Her brow raised when he opened both bottles with a flick of his wand before tossing it onto the sofa.
"I feel like they will be both needed," he smirked, "Go on, hand me the glasses. Which one?" he extended hands towards her. Rikki handed over both cups, staring at him blankly. "Rik?"
"I don't care."
"Cheers then. To my new flatmate," he chuckled handing her the glass rather generously filled. She widened her eyes at him, "You showed up with what… 4 suitcases? I don't expect this to be a weekend sleepover. Plus, I would love a company."
"George, I don't wanna be in a way of anything…"
He shushed her, "Rik, you are always welcomed here. For a day, a month or a year."
"Thank you, Georgie," she mumbled, leaning over to hug him, "I really appreciate it. I know I wasn't the greatest friend lately…"
She was so unsure, showing up here this morning with her whole life in few suitcases, asking him to let her stay. What if she missed the news of him having a flatmate? Or a girlfriend? That would be especially awkward. And would make her feel like an especially bad friend for spacing out on it.
"No worries. Does Harry know you are here?" he was done beating around the bush but didn't want to ask bluntly what had happened.
Rikki sat back and took a large sip of the wine, she glanced at the clock, it was just after 6 PM, "He doesn't even know that I've left. He is about to find out though. If he's coherent enough… It's Friday after all."
George furrowed his brows at her, "Rik, what happened? I didn't want to pry too much this morning, but I could tell you were crying. I mean, you still look rough…"
She took another gulp from her cup, "I just can't deal with his drinking anymore. It is literally a daily occurrence… I tried and wanted to help, but he is not interested in getting better," Rikki pushed the hair out of her face, hand shaking as anger, frustration, anxiety and every possible conflicting emotion bubbled inside of her.
"It's that bad?"
She nodded, "You have no idea. It is progressively getting worse, George… He's destroying himself. I refuse to stand around and watch. Definitely not as someone he can take out his frustration on."
George leaned back against the couch, examining her face, "I had no idea. I knew he liked his liquor… But never thought it was a problem. How no one noticed?"
She knew George did not expect an answer to that, but Rikki was compelled to respond anyways, "Because he still manages to function normally, he looks normal. Almost… I look normal. You would blame anything else first before circling back to firewhiskey…"
His eyes narrowed at her. She could almost see the lightbulb going off in his head. He realized something, connected some dots and was processing it as his eyes widened again, "Why haven't you tell him you are leaving?"
Rikki sighed, "He wouldn't have let me," she said honestly. It was the truth. She tried. It always ended in a large fight no matter how she framed it.
His jaw hardened as he threw the slice of pizza back into the box, "Did he ever… hit you?" She closed her eyes taking a deep breath, "Rik, did he hurt you?" George tensed, not letting her out of his sight. He was looking at her with an odd mix of pity and anger.
She finished the rest of her wine and started taking off her sweater. George stared at her confused, scanning her. His eyes soon landed on the forming bruise on her upper arm. Rikki hesitated for a second before reaching for her wand, which was laying on the table and mumbled, "Revelio."