A/N: So, I got one response saying they would like a chapter from Fred's POV, and I really wanted to write it, so here we are. A chapter from Fred. So, according to Harry Potter Wiki, Lee Jordan started Potterwatch, but I changed it. So.. yup. Just so everyone is aware, I will be bumping up the rating on this story, it's gonna get a little darker. So keep an eye out. Please enjoy. Much Love- Bookworm
He tried to look on the bright side of things, he always did. Having to close the shop had put him in a state though. He and George both handled it about the same, they hid away in their room at the Burrow for a couple weeks. They only showed their faces at mealtimes, and they were quiet even then.
They had been forced to leave their shop when Death Eaters began to evict and kidnap shop owners. They had tried to hold out as long as they could, but when Florean Fortescue's shop had been torn apart one night, they decided it was time. They had packed all of their things in the middle of the night and had been sure to not leave a trace of themselves there. They had been forced to leave their experiments, it had been a close call when their charmed wards had alerted them that someone had just come into the shop. They took it on good faith that it wasn't anyone friendly, and had apparated away back to the Burrow.
Luckily for them, George had a brilliant idea while flicking through stations on a muggle radio one day in his father's shed. He came thundering up to their room, slamming the door open and interrupting Fred staring at the ceiling. He had a mischievous look in his eyes, and he was smiling for the first time in weeks.
"Fred. Get your arse out of bed." He said happily. Fred groaned and sat up.
"What?" He asked, taking in his brother's face and sighing.
"I have an idea." George said, bounding to the bed and sitting next to his twin.
"An idea?" Fred asked him, and he nodded enthusiastically.
"I was listening to that radio thing that dad has in the shed. Muggles have something called talk shows. A group of people give the news, tell jokes." George told him. Fred rubbed his face with one hand and let out a sight.
"What are you on about Georgie?" Fred asked, and George groaned.
"We should do something like that! A talk show. We can give people the real news, not just what they're reading in the Prophet. We all know that's shite anyway." George said, and Fred's interest was slightly peaked. "We could have code names, so nobody would know who we really are. We could ask dad for help. We could get a few other people too, ask the Order maybe?" He suggested. Fred tilted his head, thinking about the proposition.
"I think… We need Lee." Fred said, and George jumped off of the bed with a shout of glee.
"Hello listeners. And welcome to another broadcasting of Potterwatch. This is your host, River. As usual, we are in an undisclosed location. We ask that all of our listeners take a moment of silence as we read off our list of confirmed missing and deceased." Lee said, as he picked up a piece of parchment and began to read.
Fred heard the names, but didn't listen. The list had grown longer and longer between their broadcasts, and it had become too painful to listen to the list every time. He fiddled with the bottom of his shirt until the familiar last three names.
"... Ron Weasley, Harry Potter…" There was another long pause where Lee looked up to Fred, who was staring at him intently. Fred nodded once, and Lee glanced away from him. "Hermione Granger." He said.
They had been on the list every week, as had a couple other missing persons. They only had one lead on the trio, and that was the next order of business.
"Royal, over to you for an update on our infamous trio." Lee said, nodding to Kingsley.
"We have a report that Potter, Weasley and Granger broke into the ministry of magic." He said, and everyone around the table stared at him in shock.
"Did you say the ministry?" Fred asked.
"Yes Rapier, you heard that right. They broke into the ministry. According to reliable sources, they stole two items before escaping and disappearing again." He said.
"Do we have any ideas as to what was stolen?" Remus Lupin asked.
"Well Romulus, according to my sources, it seems a personal locket directly off of Madame Umbridge, and an unknown item from her office. Though this was months ago, I only just found out." Kingsley replied.
"If I recall correctly, Umbridge taught at Hogwarts for a year, didn't she?" Lupin asked.
"That's correct Romulus, and she was a right toad the whole time." Lee said brightly.
"Are we speculating that this is some sort of vendetta break in?" Fred asked, amused.
"Well Rapier, perhaps they just wanted her locket and found something extra. Maybe Miss Granger just wanted something pretty." Lee teased, making Fred laugh.
"As always, you are probably right River." Fred said, although he knew that it wasn't true.
"I know." Lee said, before looking at Lupin. "Now Romulus, I believe you said you had some news?" Lee asked, raising an eyebrow at Lupin, who nodded.
"Yes, thank you River. We are saddened to announce the death of the esteemed author, Bathilda Bagshot. Order members have reported that her body had been riddled with traces of dark magic, and when they had found her she had probably been dead for weeks." Lupin said, and there was a slight intake of breath at the news.
"Merlin…" Lee said, looking down at the table. "That's horrible…" He said. Everyone around the table nodded in agreement, and they remained silent for a moment. Lee cleared his throat and looked around the table, and everyone gave a nod.
"Well, that's all the time that we have for today. Anyone have any last words?" He asked, and Fred lifted a finger. He took a breath and closed his eyes.
"My Otter, if you are listening… I'm proud of you. I love you. Make sure to kick some Death Eater ass for me." He said. He had said something for her at the end of every broadcast, and had given her the code name Otter, after her patronus.
"Listeners, that brings us to the end of another Potterwatch. We don't know when it will be possible to broadcast again, but you can be sure we shall be back. Keep twiddling those dials: the next password will be 'Mad-Eye'. Keep each other safe. Keep faith. Good night." Lee said, before flicking his wand and ending the broadcast. Lee had been the brains behind everything, he knew how everything ran.
When Fred and George had told Lee about their idea, he had jumped on it and had almost immediately had a plan for them. They had agreed that Lee should be in charge, and Fred and George switched on and off for who would be in the broadcast. It started with George, then Fred, then George again. Otherwise, because they sounded so similar, listeners might think that it was one person talking to themselves.
Fred stood from the table with everyone else, and said goodbye to everyone before he apparated away back to the Burrow. He landed in his and George's room, making his twin jump slightly at the pop that signaled his arrival. He pushed his hair out of his face, neither of them had cut their hair in a while, and it had gotten too long. He hugged his twin briefly in greeting before nodding to the muggle radio they had moved into their room.
"Did you listen?" Fred asked.
"Of course I did. They broke into the ministry?" He asked, and Fred nodded. "That's insane. Why would they do that?" George asked, and Fred shrugged his shoulders.
"I have no idea. They stole a locket and something else. No idea what the other thing was, but they took the locket right off of Umbridge." Fred said.
"Wait, off her? Actually off her?" George asked, and Fred nodded. "That's bloody insane." George said.
"I know… What in the world would they want with a locket?" Fred muttered. They stared at each other for a moment before George spoke again.
"I know you're worried." He said, and Fred looked down at the ground.
"You are too." He muttered, and George sighed.
"Yeah. I am. How could I not be? Its… Hermione." He said. "And Ron and Harry." He added as an after thought.
"Hermione…" Fred said, he slowly made his way to his bed and crawled under the covers.
"Fred, please don't do this." George said softly. Fred felt him sit down next to him on the bed, and pulled the covers tighter around him. He felt George's hand rest on his shoulder, and he closed his eyes.
"George, I just want to sleep.." He said. He heard a sigh right before George stood from the mattress.
"Okay Freddie…" He said. A moment later, Fred heard the door open and close. He took a deep breath, and willed sleep to overtake him. He had been overcome with an overwhelming need to sleep, he was just exhausted. He didn't want to think about where Hermione, Ron, and Harry were. He didn't want to think about if they were safe, he just didn't want to think.
He knew that George was worried about him, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't bring himself to be back to his normal self. The state of the world right now, both magical and muggle, was appalling. Voldemort and his followers were destroying both worlds, kidnapping and killing both magical and muggle people alike. Fred spent days wondering how the world had come to this, months wondering if it was all worth it, and he still didn't have an answer for himself.
Hermione was in front of him, laughing. He smiled and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. They were in their secret spot of Hogwarts, behind a tapestry. Hermione was leaning against the wall, her cloak had been tossed on her bag that lay on the ground. Fred stepped closer to her and ducked his head, catching her lips with his.
Her arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him flush against her. Fred had one hand wrapped around her, holding her tight, and the other hand rest on the wall behind her. They kissed heatedly for a long moment until Hermione pulled her lips away from his.
"Fred. We have to go to class, the bell rang already." Hermione said, smiling sweetly at him.
"No…" He said, moving his lips to her jawline. "Let's skiv off class." He said, his lips moving against her soft skin. She laughed lightly, shrugging away from him slightly.
"Fred that tickles." She said breathlessly. He hummed a little as he continued to pepper gentle kisses on her jaw and cheek. "Fred…" She said, weakly attempting to push him away. "We have to go to class." She said again. Fred groaned and pulled away. He gazed at her for a moment, a smile creeping onto his lips.
"Okay. Let's go to class then." He said. "How many points do you think we'll lose for being late?" He asked conversationally. Hermione's eyes went wide, and she bit her lip. "On the other hand, if we skiv off, we'll probably just get detention." He said, lifting an eyebrow. He watched as Hermione thought for a long moment.
"Okay. Let's skiv." She said with a sigh, and Fred grinned before kissing her again.
"Fred, it's dinnertime." George said, shaking Fred's shoulder. "Wake up Freddie." He said, and Fred groaned as he opened his eyes.
"No." He said, his eyes wide. "No… nononono. Let me go back to sleep." He muttered, shutting his eyes.
"No, Fred you have to go eat dinner." George said.
"Let me see her!" Fred said, and George withdrew his hand from Fred's shoulder.
"What?" He whispered, furrowing his brow.
"Hermione! Let me see her." Fred said, squeezing his eyes tighter. "I just want to see her…" He said, his voice breaking. "Why did you wake me up?" He asked furiously as he sat up. George's mouth opened, presumably to answer him, but Fred didn't want to hear it.
"You took her away. She was right in front of me. In my arms. My Hermione… Get out." He said, glaring at his twin. "Get out. Leave me alone." He said through clenched teeth. George stood, shocked, and turned to leave. He took a few steps toward the door but stopped in his tracks and turned around.
"No. I'm not leaving you alone. I love you Freddie. You can't keep doing this to yourself. I know you love her, I know you miss her. I do too. But you can't do this anymore. You are killing yourself Fred." George said, walking back over toward the bed. He grabbed the blankets and pulled them off of Fred, tossing them to the floor.
"Fred. She wouldn't want you to do this. It's Hermione. She wants you to be happy, she doesn't want you to sleep yourself into the grave. You know that. She loves you Fred, it would kill her to know that you were doing this to yourself." George said, and Fred nodded as tears rolled from his eyes and onto his cheeks.
"I miss her." He said, and George nodded.
"I know you do. I miss her too. I'm so sorry that this is happening Freddie. I'm so sorry." George said, pulling Fred into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry Fred." He muttered as he held his twin.
"I want her home." Fred whispered, and George nodded.
"I know." George muttered.