"Fred..." He turned frantically, searching for the overly familiar voice. Yet all he saw was darkness. "How could you forget us?" This person's name was just on the tip of his tongue, he knew his voice. "You've even forgotten me." It was filled with disappointment.
"Who is this?!" Fred shouted, confused and frustrated that he couldn't figure it out.
"Has your new life made you forget your humble beginnings, Fred?" This was definitely a Weasley. Oh how he wanted to bash his head into a wall at the moment, he'd forgotten who this voice belonged to… His own family member, forgotten.
"I haven't forgotten!" Fred shot back into the darkness.
"You left me to die!" The familiar ring finally set in.
"George… I could never forge-"
"You couldn't even remember my name! You own twin's name!" The darkness dissipated just enough so he could see George in front of him. "Did I not mean anything?! You couldn't even remember my voice. We have the same one after all."
The expression that Fred saw would forever be burned into his mind. The look of pure disappointment, betrayal in his eyes, George's eyes refusing to look into his own.
"You replaced me with this… This psychotic bitch!"
"No! She's no-"
"Defending her now? Thought so." George's form dissipated into the darkness as Fred's stable footing took its turn to disintegrate as well. "I guess I meant nothing to you then…"
Fred woke up in a cold sweat on the floor, right next to his bed. He turned on the lamp next to his bed and saw Bellatrix, still in her pyjamas in bed, across, seated on her mattress, as if she had just woken up. Her expression was the same coldness she gave everyone else, but there was a hint of worry that shone in her eyes.
'I forgot she slept here too…' He thought, as his sister turned her body to face him completely.
"Nightmare Freddie?" She asked quietly, as if someone were standing outside their bedroom door.
"It's nothing." He mumbled.
"Bullshit." She answered almost immediately. "Count yourself lucky the walls are mostly soundproof, or else the entire household would have you scream."
"Sorry for waking you…" He mumbled as he stood up to get back into his bed. "Won't happen again." He threw his covers back over himself and turned the light off.
A small silence reigned for a few seconds before Bellatrix's lamp went on. "Fred…" She started.
"What?"
"Who's George? You were mumbling his name before you screamed." Fred felt the cold rush his veins and the lump in his throat.
"I'll tell you in the morning." He mumbled as low as he could before hearing a small hum and the light turn off once more.
"You should get a glass of water. It will calm your nerves." He heard her mumble followed by a few shifts from her bed and her blanket move. It took two seconds for Fred to realize that it would be the best advice he'd get so he did indeed go for water, keeping Bellatrix's words in his mind.
Once the sun up, Bellatrix simply watched her brother eat his breakfast, an unsettling silence as he refused to look anyone in the eye like a shy five-year-old child.
'Just who is he? Who is this guy and how could he have such an effect on Freddie?' The thought buzzed around her mind. The looks she shared with Andromeda and Narcissa spoke the same. They noticed their eldest sibling's horrible mood as well.
"Hey Fred?" Narcissa asked hesitantly. Fred seemed to snap out of his daze and looked up. "Could you braid my hair today?"
"Mm, sure." He mumbled.
"You know, the Malfoy family are coming for a visit." Narcissa tried her smile, the one that Fred seemed to like more than the others. "You'll get to see your friend."
"Oh? Is it already the 27th?" He asked, not to anyone in particular, and poking his breakfast and pushing it around the plate. The three sisters nodded in sync, yet none knew what to say. Abruptly pushing off his chair, Fred said. "Come wake me up when they get here." And promptly left the dining hall.
A few hours passed, and the floo finally lit up with the awaited guests in Grimmauld place around 1 in the afternoon.
Lucius and Hermione were the first to emerge, their chimney cloaks covering their nice clothes from the ashes of the fireplace, then their mother emerged behind them a few seconds later.
"Welcome to our home, Lady Malfoy, Heir Malfoy and Miss Malfoy." Their hosts smiled politely to their guests. "We are delighted that you could be here."
"We are delighted that you extended an invitation to the rest of the family, Mr. And Mrs. Black." Alexandra smiled.
Hermione curtsied her head politely to the family, as did Lucius who nodded his head to their hosts. In the living room, was Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa.
"We apologise our eldest couldn't be here at the moment. He is currently resting." Druella mentioned. Hermione was instantly worried.
"Is Heir Black ill?" Lucius asked in Hermione's place. "Most unfortunate."
"Frederick simply had a rough night." Andromeda told him. "Bellatrix, will you come with me?" The two girls left the sitting room, probably to find Fred.
Bellatrix and Andromeda got to the bedroom and opened the door. They both shook their heads and sighed.
Their brother was lying face down in a pillow, not quite sure if he was sulking or simply that tired. In fact, he barely seemed to move, much less a twitch of any of his limbs.
"Freddie." Bellatrix spoke up first. "Freddie. Wake up." Bellatrix picked up one of the shoes she left and chucked it at his head, but got no movement. "Fred." She approached his bed and hit his leg. "Wake up. We have guests." Their brother finally groaned and lifted his head, his black hair twisting in every direction. "The Malfoys are here."
"You look like a tired mess Fred. Did you even sleep at all since breakfast?" Andromeda asked.
"Wh-Oh- course I did." He mumbled, sitting up groggily and trying to pat his hair down so it looked semi-presentable. "Maybe 20 minutes or so."
"Freddie, you look worse than I do on a normal day." Bellatrix said bluntly. "Now, let's go save Hermione and Lucius from the terror that is Social Butterfly Narcissa."
"Let me just fix this mess and I'll be down." Fred continuously tried to pat it down, the curls just stubbornly sticking right back up after every attempt before he finally huffed in frustration and got out of bed. "Fine. Let's go." The two siblings left their shared bedroom to go find their guests.
"Sweet Merlin Fred! You look horrible!" Hermione exclaimed, closing the door behind her.
"Way to be subtle. Thanks." Fred answered back.
"Sorry, but have you seen yourself in the mirror yet?" She pulled out a small hand mirror from her handbag and passed it to him. "Here."
Fred opened it and scrunched up his nose at the sight of the bags under his eyes and the unruly mess of black curls atop his head. He did look really bad.
"What's going on Fred? I haven't seen you in over a week and it looks like it's been rough on you." she told him. She desperately wanted to help, but she couldn't if he wasn't giving her anything to work with.
"Nightmares is all." Was all he said and she caught on to how his tone told her to leave it. Hermione sighed in defeat. "You want some tea? Mum says I need to be courteous to my guests." He mumbled, pointing to the kettle on the table with the two cups and the small saucer with the sugar cubes.
"Fred, no." she stiffld a small laugh. "Don't be courteous like your mother wants you to. It's not like you and it's too weird to see right now. But I certainly appreciate the effort." Fred smiled just a bit at her words. "Now, what'd you get for Christmas? I really appreciated the letters you sent along with Bellatrix's and Narcissa's letters. They were very fun to read."
"What was your favourite part?"
"Where you wrote about Bellatrix reading over your shoulder. I was sure every female in your family would be doing exactly that." she laughed, Fred let out a small chuckle.
"It's bound to get worse in the years to come, I'm sure you already know." Fred told her, pouring himself a cup of tea, despite not having much of a liking for it.
"Oh yes, I'm quite sure your letters are going to get more formal from your mother and father engraving their 'suggestions' into your head." She joked. It felt nice to be able to laugh with Hermione about these things, especially since he couldn't with anyone else.
"You should've seen what happened when your letter arrived! My mother had that shit eating grin on her face the moment my father declared who it was from!" Fred suddenly exclaimed, remembering the painful memory of his father interrogating him on formalities and everything related to it.
"Oh? Like Ginny would?"
"EXACTLY LIKE HER!" He immediately agreed with Hermione, taking a big rapid gulp of the burning tea in his hands. "Ouch that's hot!"
"Careful!" She laughed in a very unlady-like manner and took his cup. "Sweet Circe, this cup is scorching!" She almost pulled her hand away from the steaming cup of tea.
The door to the room suddenly opened and Druella stood there, unimpressed at the sight of the two alone in the room together. "Fredrick, what have I told you about being in a room alone with a female guest."
Fred sighed in defeat. "Not until I'm of age or betrothed..." He muttered loud enough for Hermione and Druella to hear.
"I apologies for the disrespect my son may have caused you, Miss Malfoy. Do forgive him." Druella's expression changed in the span of a second, as her gaze flickered from Fred to Hermione. "Atleast he offered her tea..." She muttered under her breath.
"Oh, he in no way disrespected me, Mrs. Black. It was I who wanted to speak with him alone. See, I'm simply worried for his health." Hermione politely replied. "He is close to my brother and I am often around them." she explained.
"I see. Thank you for your concern for my son. Would you join my family in the parlour? Our Elf is serving an afternoon snack." Druella requested.
"I would be happy to accept." Hermione stood up with the grace of a butterfly and placed Fred's cup of tea on the tray next to the empty one and the hot kettle. "Thank you very much for the tea, Heir Black." Hermione nodded respectfully and left the room.
"You best not muck this Fredrick." Druella immediately warned Fred. "Do not disrespect the Young Miss Malfoy or it could mean disastrous consequences for our family and yourself. I do hope Miss Malfoy was not covering for your sorry excuse of what you seem to call manners." Druella left the room, leaving Fred in a daze on the chair.
This was going to be a difficult next half of a week.
For a long, grueling, half an hour, everyone sat in the Parlour while Hermione's mother simply gossiped with Druella while Cygnus was elsewhere, apparently speaking with Walburga or Orion about something. It was as if they didn't exist.
Druella would share a blackmail story about Callidora Longbottom (nee Black) had found out some dirt on the current Minister and Alexandra would share one of her tales of whom she was currently blackmailing, one such being the current Lady Lestrange.
It wasn't for a bit longer until Alexandra finally noticed the boredom in Hermione's eyes and Lucius' very quiet behaviour that she finally spoke up.
"Oh dear, I think we've bored the children out of their wits." She let out a soft laugh. "Perhaps we should release them from this?"
"Oh alright." Druella waved a hand and the three girls immediately stood up and left the room, Hermione, Lucius and Fred following very closely behind.
"I've got something to show you, Hermione!" Narcissa dragged Hermione off almost instantly while Lucius couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head.
"My goodness, Narcissa is quite the energetic little thing, isn't she?" He muttered as Andromeda nodded, her eyes cast downwards.
"I'm not sure how long that will last, if I'm being honest." She told them.
"What do you mean?" Lucius inquired further.
"Well, I've heard rumours of Mother trying to snuff out her liveliness in favour of quietness." Andromeda told them. "They find a quiet woman more lady-like than a lively one."
"A shame, truly." Lucius shook his head once more.
Fred thought about the exchange for quite a bit. There were already so many things happening around him that he wouldn't be able to change, Druella and Cygnus trying to snuff out Narcissa's happiness seemed to be added to the list and the best he could do about the situation was tell her to fake it around his parents. He could encourage her to be herself when they weren't around because, if he was being honest with himself, it felt nice to have some positive energy in his gloomy and sad home. He made sure to keep a mental note to talk to Hermione about it when they got back on the train to Hogwarts in the new year.
Here is a poll to help me decide something for the future. Yes, the link looks very dodgy, no you don't need to vote but it will give me insight on what my readers wish to see.
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Just paste the link into google.