Walking on eggshells
The dancing winded down as a large buffet swooped into the room, decorating each table in Italian cuisine. Alsephina sat between her sister and Ron — directly across from Harry who sat next to Hermione and her father.
Time moved slowly as Alsephina soaked up her friend’s laughter like a sponge. She planned to secure this day in her memory before bed. She never wanted to forget their wide smiles.
After eating, Alsephina circled the large tent, stopping and visiting with each table. Her cheeks ached as her smile never left her face. She laughed quietly as her eyes landed on a joke in the making. A blonde, a brunette, and a redhead sat at a round table. Her eyes widened as she realized Susan Bones was the redhead in front of her.
“You dyed your hair!” Alsephina exclaimed as she approached the table.
“I know! Do you like it? I wanted more of an auburn but now I look like a Weasley cousin.” Susan stood, and hugged Alsephina tightly.
“I do, it suits you.” Alsephina took a seat next to Hannah Abbott. “How are you? Enjoying your summer so far?” She asked.
Neville turned red as looked over at Hannah. Alsephina caught the look with a slight smirk. “It’s been pretty relaxed so far. Neville and I have gone to Diagon Alley quite a bit recently.” Hannah smiled at Alsephina.
“I love that. Harry and I have been a bit as well.”
“Speaking of that beautiful specimen, I see feelings have developed?” Susan asked with a lopsided grin.
Alsephina rolled her eyes as Hannah and Neville dickered quietly. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh stop kidding yourself, Alsephina. It’s clear as day.” Neville shook his head as she glared.
“Honestly, I’m surprised he hasn’t asked you to marry him yet with the way he looks at you.” The group turned swiftly at the voice.
Cedric stood with his hands in his pockets, directly behind Susan — who blushed deeply.
“I’m just now fourteen, for fucks sake. I haven’t even thought about dating.”
“But you’ve thought about the physical aspects, haven’t you?” Susan snickered as Cedric set his hands on the back of her chair. She paused at the proximity.
“Oh shut it.” Alsephina rolled her eyes as the group laughed together.
“When can we all see each other all together again?” Neville asked as he brought out his daily organizer. Hannah had bought him one so he wouldn’t have an excuse to be so forgetful.
“Well, Who’s all going to the World Cup?” Cedric asked as Susan looked up at him. He looked down, and gave her a grin as they made eye contact.
“Well, you know I’m already going.” Alsephina shrugged as she glanced at Cedric.
“My mum bought tickets for the whole family, so I’ll be there.” Susan smiled at Cedric.
“Neville and I have tickets as well.” Hannah piped up. The group smirked at Neville, who had hidden his face behind his notebook.
Neville Longbottom had had a crush on Hannah Abott since they were all in diapers. The two had become inseparable, but no one knew for sure if Hannah reciprocated the feelings.
“Well, the ‘Cup is about a month or more away, I wouldn’t mind seeing you all before then.” Alsephina smiled at her friends who all nodded in agreement.
“We could meet at the beginning of August?” Susan offered. “My place, like old times?”
“That would be great, I love the Burrow but there is absolutely no privacy.” Alsephina shivered as she felt Molly’s eyes on her back. She would tell her friends then. Right?
“What day?” Asked Neville, who was prepped with a quill.
“August 8th work? We should be getting back from visiting family in Ireland by then.” Cedric asked as the group nodded.
“The 8th’s good. I’m sure my parents won’t care.” Alsephina shrugged as the others agreed along with her.
“The 8th, then.” Neville wrote it down on the calendar as the group smiled at him. The group talked for some time, until Alsephina dismissed herself to continue making her rounds around the tent.
The evening came to a close as she stood on top of a chair and said, “Thank you all for coming, and taking time out of your lives to celebrate my birthday. I’m so grateful to have all of you in my life and I love you all,” she glanced directly at Harry, who gulped.“Have a great night, and take cake with you!”
The crowd clapped and dispersed as she hopped down from the chair. Her family and the Weasleys cleaned up as the tent emptied. As the tent was folded up, Alsephina said goodnight to her family and the Weasleys, and dismissed herself to bed. Everyone watched her leave, concerned but understanding as she hadn’t slept the night prior. She was never one for an early bed time. Harry slowly followed after her, but stopped as he remembered her speech and the look she had given him.
Harry woke up, drenched in sweat at the crack of dawn. The Burrow was silent, save for the creaking of the windows as the summer breeze drifted through the house. The clock ticked quietly in the kitchen as Harry leaned against the counter. He stared at the floor as he collected his thoughts.
A week had passed since Alsephina’s birthday, but he couldn’t erase the look in her eyes from his mind as he recalled their dance at every moment of the day that his brain would allow. Between images of her twirling in a silk dress and her unconscious in the hospital, Harry had begun to drive himself mad.
He hoped after his secret had been spilled it would all be easier, but after her birthday they hadn’t spoken. Not a single “Hello” as she had busied herself with creating plans for their future torments. He knew he could have initiated the conversation, offered to help her, even, but each time he lost the courage. His admittance had opened an unknown, undiscovered part of his brain that terrified him to the core.
He made himself a cup of coffee as he yawned. Each night for the past week, he had had nightmares of her. Her dying, her having his children. The dreams and nightmares came together in tandem each night, taking every ounce of energy from him. He often woke up sweating, crying, or in a panic. He sighed as he sipped on the mug. He had been lucky no one had noticed his early mornings or late nights. He didn’t have the energy to answer many questions as he was constantly trying to find the answers to his own.
George slowly came down the steps, rubbing his eyes as he made his way into the kitchen. “Never thought I’d see you this early on a Friday morning, Harry.”
“Didn’t see you as an early bird, George.” Harry rolled his eyes as he sipped on his mug.
“Only Fridays. Fred and I wake up early and work on our products. Fridays are the only mornings mum sleeps in.” George grabbed a mug from the cupboard as Harry stared at the floor.
They stood in silence, save for their loud sips of their coffees. Fred glanced back and forth between George and Harry as he walked into the kitchen. Harry slid down the counter, allowing Fred to reach into the cupboard. Fred smiled to himself as he stirred a tablespoon of sugar into his coffee.
“Early morning, Harry?” Fred asked as he looked between the two.
Alsephina came running down the steps as she said, “Sorry I’m late boys-”. She paused as her eyes set upon Harry. Her mouth shut tightly as he noted the dark circles under his eyes that matched her own. Fred smiled against his mug as the air tensed around them in the small kitchen.
Harry dismissed himself with a tight nod as he strode past Alsephina. She was talking with these two gits, but not him? He hated how his gut twisted at the thought.
She had hoped he would follow her into the house, but he never did. She wanted him to ask what she had meant in her speech. Had she purposely looked at him when she said, “I love you” to the crowd? Had she meant it? He never asked the questions she ached to answer. She knew she could approach him, but that terrified her to the core.
She had lied to her friends, she knew it, and so did they. She thought she could plan every outcome, to fix their past. But not this. She would have never planned for this. She laid in her bed in Ginny’s room and shoved each smile or laugh into a small box in her brain for her shuffle through when she needed light to shine on the shadows in her mind. She had slept well that night, dreaming of dancing in Harry’s arms for eternity. The morning after, she wrote down possible ideas and charms that would aid them in their journey. She approached the twins with her notebooks, ideas to create necklaces that produced a protection around the wearer, and rings that alerted people of their location with enough twists.
The twins had had many questions, to which she explained to them that if Voldemort is back like they are starting to believe, that they need to band together early on. Plan how to end it all. Fred and George had agreed to help, partly because they believed her, but mostly because they had never experimented on such a project. Their curiosity outbid their lingering questions. She had spent the week with early mornings into late nights with the twins —Hermione joined often. She helped George with advanced spells, writing them in a notebook. Fred and Alsephina worked on the potions involved.
The whole group had gone to Gringotts and collected over 25 lockets, 50 rings, and over 100 pairs of earrings from the Tonks and the Black family vaults. It took 5 hours as they had to sort through and find simplistic jewelry pieces among the heavily jeweled items. Alsephina had chosen a silver and gold braided band and a similar locket for herself. They had all picked ones for each friend or family member. Alsephina held onto a smooth black ring, tracing her fingers across its surface in her pocket. She had picked it for Harry, though she hadn’t admitted it as Hermione found a golden one for him. She busied herself with the jewelry, shoving down the fact that Harry hadn’t spoken to her since their dance. She was on edge, Fred had commented on it. She had barely seen Harry either as he had also hidden away. Doing what, she wasn’t sure.
“And I thought you had been wound up.” Fred rolled his eyes at the pair as they all watched Harry stomp away.
“Shut up, Fred.” Alsephina snapped at the twins as she took a seat at the kitchen table.
George frowned as he sat with her. Hermione clambered down the stairs, hair shooting in every direction. “I’m here, sorry.” She took a seat next to Alsephina, who passed her her mug of coffee. Hermione sighed into the porcelain as she took a large gulp.
“Jesus, Granger.” Fred rubbed his neck as he shook his head.
They stayed together in the group for hours, going over their plan. They were leaving a day prior to the Final to set up with the Diggory’s. It was then they were going to cast the spells upon the jewelry. Their potions would be ready by then as well. Their magic would be hidden among all of the people.
A few days passed in silence as Harry and Alsephina had refused to talk to one another at this point. Ron and Hermione agreed one night to lock them in the same room, and not allow them to leave until they solved their issues. On Monday morning, a week and a half since their last discussion, Hermione dragged Alsephina to Ron’s room, where Harry had been left alone to wallow. Hermione had promised Alsephina only Ron was in there, but she had lied. As she opened the door to the room, Hermione shoved Alsephina in front of the door and shut it behind her, locking it in place.
Alsephina beat on the door, yelling, “Hermione Jean Granger, let me out of here now!” She reached for her wand, but remembered she had left it under her pillow.
“Is it truly that terrible to be in a room alone with me?” Harry asked as he rolled his eyes.
“You tell me, considering you’ve been avoiding me for who knows how long.” She snapped.
“I wasn’t avoiding you. You were busy.” He snapped back.
“And that’s a crime now? I’ve waited for over a week for you to talk to me, but you haven’t.” She folded her arms across her chest as she leaned back against the door.
“I can say the exact same thing, Alsephina. What’s your reason for not talking to me, then? Hmm?” He asked as he stood.
He crossed the room slowly, annoyed at her stubbornness. Though he was equally stubborn. She gulped as he got closer to her. Barely three feet away he paused in his steps. “Well?” He asked.
“You’re an arse, Potter.” Alsephina rolled her eyes and slid down the door. She sat against the hardwood, knees tucked into her chest.
“Yeah, I’ve heard that a lot recently. Are you going to answer my question or not?”
“Frankly, if you’re going to continue to speak to me like that, I won’t be talking to you at all, Potter.” She spat.
Harry paused, wide eyed. For a second he swore she sounded like Malfoy. He took a step back as he could feel her rage radiating off of her. He rubbed his palm across his face, defeated. He sighed as he reached towards the door and whispered, “Alohomora.” As the door whipped open, Hermione and Ron fell forward onto the floor at Alsephina’s feet. She held back a scoff as she stepped over their toppled bodies.
Alsephina stomped down the stairs and out the back door of the Burrow. Ron helped Hermione up while he trembled slightly. We’re all in for it, He thought to himself as he heard his Mother scoff down the hallway.
“WHO is stomping like that in MY house?” Molly yelled as her footsteps thumped loudly against the wooden floorboards. The teens scrambled to shut the door before she would open hers. Molly threw open the door and tapped her foot harshly on the floor as she glared accusingly at each of the teens. “It was Alsephina, wasn’t it?” She seethed as the trio glanced between one another.
“Sorry, Mrs. Weasley. She and I got into it, it won’t happen again.” Harry apologized as Molly mumbled to herself.
“Right. You’ll deal with me again if you do.” Molly dismissed herself with a curtly nod. As the door shut behind her, the trio sighed in relief. She had reacted less than what they thought – until their ears perked at the sound of a yelling match taking place outside.
Alsephina ran through the tall grass fields as her feet refused to stop. Just as the Laws of Physics came to mind, Alsephina fell back onto the ground, scraping her elbows as she barreled into one of the Weasleys. George fell just beside her in shock, as he hadn’t even heard her coming. She held her head as he stood and offered his hand.
She took it slowly and avoided his gaze as she stood. He frowned slightly but looked away from her as her feet landed flat on the grass. She hadn’t talked to him much at all when they were alone, not since- “Ahem.” She cleared her throat and nodded as she stepped to the side to walk the other direction, dismissing herself.
“Leaving already?” George turned in her direction as she paused mid-step.
“Not now, George.” She muttered as she looked across the fields at the setting sun.
“Arlight, then, when? Because you barely talk to me unless if Fred is around-”
“Speaking of, where is that git?” She interrupted. Please not now, George, she begged him internally as his frown deepened.
“Are you serious?” George scoffed and shook his head. “Fine. Be that way, Alsephina.”
Alsephina’s eyes widened but said nothing at the use of her name. He strolled silently passed her, hands balled into fists in his pockets.
“For fuck’s sake.” Alsephina muttered under her breath, just loud enough for George to hear.
“Pardon?” He whipped around to face her as his cheeks turned a deep crimson. “You’re not the only one that is dealing with their problems currently. The world doesn’t revolve completely around you, so I’m oh so sorry-”
“George!” Fred rushed to his twin’s side with a scowl that decorated his face.
The back door slammed open as the entire household seemed to file out one by one. Fred dragged George to the side of the house as Alsephina slowly backed down the cobblestone lane. Harry paused at the doorway as all eyes were on Fred and George, but his were on hers. Alsephina spun around, forcing herself to look away from him. Her feet seemed to have minds of their own as she took turn after turn.
She paused, hunched over as tried to catch her breath. She stood suddenly and glanced around. In all of the chaos from running away from her issues, she ignored each directional sign she came across. “Fuck.” She muttered to herself as she spun around, trying to remember what direction she had come from. Eventually, she headed north with her head held high. She would be damned if anyone thought she had gotten lost.
“Do..you..” Harry panted, “Even know where you’re going?” He was hunched over, glaring at her.
“I do,” She snapped. “Not that it’s really any of your business.”
“Alright then, where does this road lead to?” Harry’s back straightened as he crossed his arms across his chest. Harry smirked as she glanced around at the surrounding fields.
He stepped forward, eyebrows scrunched together as he said, “If you would have gone around another corner, you would have run straight into a river, though I suppose you didn’t have a lot of time to look at the signs as you ran past them, so you couldn’t have known, surely.”
Alsephina rolled her eyes as she strolled to where their bodies were even, and looked directly at him and said, “Who said I didn’t know there was a river?”
“Don’t you dare say that shit, Alsephina. That’s not fucking funny.” Harry shook her shoulders wildly. He stared angrily in her eyes until it suddenly melted away and pulled her into a tight hug. “Don’t ever joke about such a thing. Please.”
Alsephina and Harry walked silently back to the Burrow, each contemplating what to say. Harry turned toward her, mouth open as he gathered the words.
“What were you thinking?” Hermione ran up to the trio, smacking Alsephina with one of her books.
“Jesus, Hermione.” Alsephina rubbed her arm gently as Hermione threatened to smack her again. “Alright, alright, I’m sorry.”
“You better be, what the bloody hell was all that about?” Ron piped in as he rounded the corner, cheeks swollen as he caught his breath.
“Doesn’t mat-” Hermione slammed the book against her arm again. “Fuck, alright. George was just up my ass because of,” She paused as she stole a glance at Harry. “Because I’ve been avoiding him.”
“What’s with you avoiding people these days?” Ron rolled his eyes as he hooked her neck into the corner of his arm. She struggled to shove him off as he ruffled her and called her a scoundrel.
“I’m not a scoundrel, you ass.” She fixed her crimson hair as the party all shook their heads with laughter. “Oh, shut it!” She yelled, but ended up joining them in the laughter.
Harry cleared his throat as they shared a look. “Well, Mom’s ‘bout got dinner ready.” Ron interrupted their moment as he strode in front of the group, and dragged Alsephina with him. Hermione shook her head as she agreed it would be best if Alsephina was dragged back. No chance of her running back down into the river.
Molly stood with Arthur as they waited in the doorway. She tapped her foot steadily, annoyed and frankly disappointed. Though she wouldn’t admit the latter. Once Hermione and Ron had followed after Harry, she had walked George into a corner of the house and demanded he explain his behavior.
She arched an eyebrow as the girl of the hour came into view. She was pretty. Molly thought to herself. But so is Hermione and she doesn’t act that way. She glanced over at the brunette. At least not as dramatic.
“Took you long enough.” She ushered the teens inside. “Dinner is ready. Everybody sit.”
Hermione sat next to Fred, who sat by George. Her cheeks flushed a light pink as he winked in her direction. Ginny gagged to herself as she watched the pair. Ron sat across from Ginny next to Harry, which forced Alsephina to sit between Percy and Harry, directly in front of George.
She picked at the meal, as she avoided looking up in any direction - terrified to make eye contact with either boy. The meal was silent, save for the sounds of chewing or the scraping of forks on plates. Ginny dismissed herself first, then Percy who announced he had a book he had to finish. The group rolled their eyes in unison at his proclamation.
Arthur dismissed himself, and took Molly with him as he noticed the tense glances of the teens. He didn’t want to know, not at all. Molly argued, but eventually left with him as she wanted to hear what they were all about to discuss.
“So,” Fred clapped as his parents were out of view. “Are we going to discuss the elephant in the room?”
Alsephina glared up at him as he winked in her direction. Cheeky bastard.