FOUR GOLDEN GIRL

♡

       BRIAR LEAVES THE WEASLEYS in search of her tent, the one her grandpa planned to make Winky set up, and look after whilst he was busy working. She walks away from the larger group still annoyed, and faintly as she takes a different route to the Crouch pitch, she hears Fred's voice say, "What does she see in him?"

       She grumbles to herself, loud enough to startle a couple of children playing next to their family's tent. They stare at her oddly, and she thinks to herself, Malecrit, Briar, you don't even look like a monster and you're still scaring little children. She repositions her bag on her shoulder, feeling awkward and embarrassed, as she walks the rest of the way to the tent. Her eyes glance down at the map she had been given by her grandad before she left yesterday, and she follows the path to the x.

       But then, she hears her inner eye tell her, slow down. Confused, Briar does, coming to a full halt, as she turns around. Fred's standing there, looking a little sheepish. "I'm sorry for being a dick," he says.

       She crosses her arms. "Hm."

       "Honestly, Bri, I don't know what came over me—"

       "You were jealous," says Briar, frowning.

       Fred pauses, before he sighs. "OK, yeah, I was... You're my best friend and I haven't seen you in a year and I think it just annoyed me that you walked off with him... But I was being a dick about it, because he hasn't seen you in a year either, so it was wrong of me to react like I had more of a right to... I dunno, talk to you... And I'm sorry," he says. Briar nods. He looks sincere? And, to be fair, she knows he gets hot-heated easily, and he's always had a bit of a thing whenever she brought up her old crush on Cedric. "But," he says, and he tries to take hold of her hands, unfolding her arms to do so. He smiles slightly. "It's your birthday and I don't want you to have a shitty day because of me."

       Briar looks up at him, her brows furrowing for a minute, before she shakes her head. "Just don't do it again, yeah?" she says.

       He nods. "Promise."

       She smiles at him.

       "Now," says Fred, holding onto her hands still. She feels awkward, letting go. She hopes she can start walking to her tent again, so that she can find a natural way to let go of his hands. She feels wrong, doing it. Her mind thinks he wouldn't do that if he knew the truth, and she feels sick, the idea that he's holding her hands and he doesn't know who he's really holding hands with. "I was gonna ask if you want to spend the rest of the day with us, because I'm guessing Livvy's gonna be with Malfoy and your grandpa's gonna be busy?"

       Briar grins. "I'd love to," she tells him. "I just need to leave my bag in my tent, then I'll be good to go."

       It's then that she lets go of his hands, walking towards the Crouches' tent. She feels relieved, if anything, that she found the opportunity that easily, and softly, she lets out a breath of relief.

       "How come George didn't come with you?" says Briar.

       Fred shrugs. "Didn't want to get involved."

       "Fair enough," she says, with a laugh.

       They reach the tent, just as Briar explains that her grandpa arrived a couple days earlier than herself and the Weasleys so that he could help out with preparations. She checks with her inner eye that her grandpa won't turn up whilst they're in the tent, knowing his reaction to (a) her friendship, in general, with the twins, and (b) the fact that she's in the tent, alone, with Fred. There's a reason Briar wouldn't dare mention that she slept in the same room as them last night. He's convinced the entire world will end if she has a boyfriend, let alone has sex... It's not like she's got more pressing matters. You know, like being a fucking werewolf.

       "I think you're right about Livvy fucking off with Draco," says Briar as she walks into the tent, everywhere dead silent. The inside of the tent is enormous, a holiday home version of her actual house. There's a massive area acting as the living quarters, with a small corridor leading towards three bedrooms and a bathroom. In the part housing the sofas and fireplace, the mantlepiece is covered with framed photos. Half of them are of Briar's mother when she was a teenager, with her two brothers, Aster, the eldest, and Barty Jr., the youngest. Briar walks past them quickly.

       "Briar! Happy birthday!" says Winky's voice, and a couple seconds later, the house-elf appears from the kitchen, looking happy. Briar grins back at her. "Master says he'll be back soon... Are you staying?"

       "I was going to go back with Fred," says Briar carefully, glancing over her shoulder at Fred, who looks a little weirded out by Winky. He isn't used to house-elves, apart from the ones at Hogwarts, but even then, it's different to how Briar grew up playing dolls with Winky. "Uh, Winky? Could you do me a favour?"

       "Of course, of course!" says Winky. "That's what I live for!"

       "Could you not tell my grandparents about Fred being here?" says Briar. Winky looks a little scared, like she always does whenever Briar asks her to keep something from her grandpa, but she nods anyway... She has to, though, doesn't she? Briar feels herself begin to worry, at the idea of Winky feeling nervous. "It's just that Grandpa will get really annoyed if he finds out and—and I really don't want to get into any trouble."

       Winky nods. "I won't say anything."

       "You're brilliant," says Briar, grinning. She glances over her shoulder again at Fred, before turning back to Winky. "We'll be a couple minutes and we'll be gone, all right? And then I'll be back here later on."

       Winky nods. "OK, Briar," she says.

       "Cool," says Briar, smiling softly. She leads Fred out of the living area and to her bedroom, the first door in the corridor.

       He scratches the back of his neck. "Will he really be pissed off if he knows I've been here?" he asks.

       "Only if he knows," says Briar quietly, and she opens the door into her bedroom. She closes the door behind him, mostly because she doesn't want Winky to overhear anything and have to restrain herself telling Briar's grandpa it. Briar then steps past Fred, placing her bag on the foot of the bed.

       It's a fairly small room, really, but it's cosy. The bed and wardrobe are made of the same warm wood, and the walls are all painted a golden colour. It's a stark contrast to her actual bedroom at home, what with it's light pink walls and posters and such stuck to the walls. There's also a rocking chair in the corner, with an old teddy bear sitting in it... The room hasn't exactly changed since she was little, save the colour of the bed sheets.

       "Why doesn't he like us?" asks Fred. "If it's all right, me asking—"

       "He, uh, thinks you're a bad influence," says Briar, wincing as she speaks. She smiles weakly at him. "But what does he know? He didn't say a word when both of my uncles became Death Eaters... He was more upset my mum ran off with a werewolf... I think he worries I'll fuck up, too, and he won't see me again, until I turn up dead."

       "Oh," says Fred. "Cheery."

       "Definitely," says Briar. "But it doesn't matter, really. I mean, it is a little weird that we've been friends since first year and you've never seen my bedroom, but I've seen yours loads, but I guess this one will do for now?" She gestures to the one they're standing in, and Fred smiles at her. "Maybe I'll draw you a picture, in that thing you got me for my birthday... What's it called?"

       "I'd tell you if I knew," says Fred with a shrug.

       "Well, I'm going to call it the parchment," says Briar. She looks up at him, smirking slightly. "Maybe, when you get super-duper successful, you can name it after me. Like, a play on 'inner eye,' or something." The two of them walk out of her bedroom as she continues. "Because, like, it's sort of like an inner eye, because it tells you things about the other person, only it's because they're telling you... And then, when you get even more successful you can make hair scrunchies—"

       "How are scrunchies joke products?" he asks. 

       "Maybe they're enchanted to keep your hair curly, but like, perfectly curly," says Briar, and they step out of the tent, just as she says goodbye to Winky. "I don't know. Aren't you meant to be the inventor of this stuff?"

       "You know what," says Fred, as he leads the way to the Weasley tent. "If Wheezes is successful—"

       "When," she corrects.

       "You angel," he says with a grin, and she feels her face burn up, having to turn away so he doesn't see. "But, anyway... If Wheezes is successful, then there'll be a whole section for you and your scrunchies."

       "I'd marry you on the spot," she remarks, and immediately she thinks, why the fuck would you say that, Briar? Why, why, why, why—?

       "Well, now you love me even more..." he says, trailing off. He keeps on smiling, only it isn't exactly a cheeky grin anymore, but rather, he looks happy. "So, any ideas of what's gonna happen at the match tonight?"

       Briar gives him a knowing look as she nods, smirking up at him. Seers aren't exactly supposed to tell people what's going to happen in the future, but, sometimes, Briar feels as if it helps. Especially when she sees Ludo Bagman arriving at the Weasleys' tent shortly. So, Briar glances around, to make sure no one can overhear, and quietly tells him—

       "Ireland wins — but Viktor Krum gets the Snitch," says Fred, a few minutes later, to Bagman, who's standing by the Weasley's tent like Briar predicted. His eyes widen at the amount of money Fred and George are offering to bet on the unlikely odds, and just like that he laughs, thinking he's made a quick buck.

       Fred looks back at Briar, who's sitting next to George, and grins at her. She winks back at him, pleased with herself.

♡

       "I CANNOT STRESS HOW much I love you, Briar Crouch," says Fred a few hours later, as they walk up the steps to the top of the stadium. Briar grins back at him, and she glances across at George, who rolls his eyes.

       "Merlin, Fred, we all know, will you shut up?" says George.

       Briar lets out a laugh. "I think you can say how much you love me as much as you'd like," she says, looking over at Fred. He smiles back at her.

       They reach the top box, a couple minutes after everyone else. Briar instantly spots Winky in one of the seats, Harry standing next to her, and she picks up her pace to get to them.

       "Winky? Why are you here?" asks Briar, frowning.

       "Master wants me to save him a seat," says Winky.

       Briar looks over her shoulder, at the massive drop past the railing. "But, Winky... Aren't you scared of heights?"

       "But Master says—" Winky begins, and already Briar knows that there's no use in trying to dispute this. Hell will freeze over before Briar can get Winky to get against Briar's grandpa's orders. There's a difference between Briar finding a loophole — getting Winky to not mention Fred being in their tent earlier — and Briar straight-up trying to get Winky to go against orders.

       "I understand," says Briar weakly. "Let me know if you need me."

       By this point, Fudge recognises Briar as Crouch's granddaughter, and he goes to shake her hand. He then moves onto Harry, and Briar slips past, the twins having saved the seat between them for her.

       "I'm back," she says. She glances behind her shoulder, checking on Winky. "I hope she'll be OK—"

       "Ah, Fudge..." Someone else's voice takes her off guard, even if her inner eye was already counting down the seconds. Lucius Malfoy shakes the Minister's hand. Next to him, stands his wife Narcissa, and, next to her, stands Livvy — who must've spent the day with them, like Briar's done with the Weasleys — and Draco. And, beside Draco, stands a pretty girl with ice-white hair.

       "This is my niece, Holliday," says Malfoy to the Minister, motioning towards the girl. Briar looks at her properly, remembering what her brother said about how she was sobbing to her father, saying how much she hated Durmstrang. Another thing clicks as well — it was Holliday Malfoy that was in her dream last night.

      And then Briar gets it, the feeling she always does when she meets someone important. Suddenly Briar sees multiple possibilities, all centred around this girl and, weirdly, Harry. Every possibility ends up in them getting along and... getting together? Briar finds it weird, Harry even daring to fancy someone related to Draco, but as she snaps out of it, and glances across at Harry, she can already see it. He already looks awe-struck, hearts practically jumping out of his eyes.

       "Merlin's beard," says Fred, under his breath.

       "Stop it," says Briar, frowning. "It's sweet."

       "It is?" says George.

       "Yes!" she says. "Maybe this is why no one has fallen in love with either of you... I don't see you two look at someone like the whole fucking universe revolves around them."

       George snorts. "I know I haven't," he says, and then he leans back, to look at Fred, who's on the other side of Briar. "What do you think, mate?"

       "Piss off," says Fred.

       Briar raises an eyebrow. "You still fancy Angelina, then—?"

       Both of the twins whirl around and go, "What?"

       "I just thought..."

♡

       "I JUST THOUGHT I'D ASK," Harry had said as they all walked out of the stadium, spirits high as the Ireland supporters celebrate their success. Briar digs her hands into the pockets of her denim jacket, the weather turning a little colder now that the sun's set. Livvy's already disappeared, having managed to talk their grandpa into letting him stay with the Malfoys tonight. Briar's planning to leave the Weasleys and go back to her tent... Like, sure, it's her birthday, but her grandpa did promise he'd be back shortly...

       "So," says Briar, glancing across at him. "This is just what Liv's told me. But... Her parents are Margo and Atticus Malfoy. Both supported Voldemort, but when he... went away, they pretended that they were under some spell the whole time." Briar spots the look on Harry's face. "Yeah, slight issue there, if her parents are actually evil. Anyway... She went to Durmstrang, but—"

       "Are you sure you don't want to stay any longer, Briar?" says George, the Weasleys standing outside of their tent. "We've got hot chocolate...?"

       "I should make sure Winky's all right," says Briar. "But, uh, I'll see you soon?"

       Both Fred and George give her a hug. Again, the same thing happens, only this time, Briar notices it, as it's happening. George hugs her like you'd expect, but Fred holds her, like he doesn't want to let go. Part of her feels like she's just making it up, because for some reason her brain's picking out everything attractive about him, because why, why, would this happen? She's a literal monster.

       "You need to visit again, before school starts," says Fred.

       Briar nods. "Oh, definitely," she says. "I'll—I'll talk to Grandpa the second he gets back."

       "Are you sure you're all right, walking back on your own?" says George.

       "I'll be fine," says Briar, nodding again. She smiles weakly. "I've dealt with far worse, Georgie." She looks at both of them, the happiness that had filled the majority of the past day leaving the air, just like that. She feels just like she did when she realised she wouldn't see them every day anymore. "I'll see you soon."

       "See you soon," both of them say, sounding a little miserable.

       Briar feels exactly the same, as she walks back to her tent. Everyone around her is smiling, laughing, cheering, and all Briar wants to do is curl up in a ball and feel like shit. Part of her wishes she had just come out and told them the truth, what she is, because for the past day there were so many times where she felt disconnected to them, because they don't know who she is. She knows she'd never find the courage to tell them, but she wishes she could. Because now, there's this massive disconnect. They look at her and see Briar, their best friend, the Seer, was in Gryffindor. But that isn't the Briar standing next to them... Next to them, stands Briar, the werewolf.

       Her takeaway from all of it is this — Briar needs Fleur. She never would've thought she'd rely so heavily on a girl she's barely known for a year, but look, Fleur's the person that's known everything about Briar for the longest time. Fleur looks at Briar and sees everything. The twins don't. Even her dad, who now knows the truth, doesn't see everything like Fleur does, because seriously, her dad doesn't see Briar complaining about her quill having a nib that's too thick, or see her after a party in the town next to Beauxbatons, very drunk and very giggly. Briar needs to write all of this down, now, see what Fleur thinks.

       And that's what she does.

       Fleur, the LOVE of my LIFE, she writes, the second she gets back to her tent. And she pours everything out into this letter. She doesn't mention the word werewolf, of course she doesn't, but she calls it her problem, and she knows Fleur will understand her, because that's always been the code for, well, Briar's problem. Briar writes about everything, from how different she feels around Fred, to how she feels disconnected because of the problem, to how she misses the twins so much. She makes it clear that it isn't Hogwarts she misses, because Hogwarts doesn't have my guardian angel called Fleur Delacour and like, no offence but I cannot survive without you, Fleur. Like you're the one reading this letter because I am STRUGGLING because I'm not with you every waking moment of the day.

       She signs it with B, and five kisses, before addressing it and asking Winky if she can send it for her. They're not allowed to bring owls, but the Ministry officials have a couple just in case, and Briar knows they'll send the letter if they know it's Barty Crouch's granddaughter asking for it to be sent, especially when she makes it clear to Winky that it's super important that it arrives soon.

       Winky leaves Briar curled up on the sofa. The fire's roaring, keeping the inside of the tent nice and warm, and Briar closes her eyes, tired. She can't wait for Fleur to reply, just so Briar can hear what Fleur thinks about this. Sometimes Briar forgets how grateful she is for having a best friend like Fleur — because Briar loves the twins, of course she does, but there's a difference between them and Fleur. Fleur gets Briar when it comes to little things. Like, when Briar complains about her notes not being pretty enough, Fleur gets it, whereas the twins would say they look fine. It's the little things... Like, Briar knows not everyone's like this, but there's been so many times where Briar's felt like the twins don't understand her because they're boys, they don't think about this stuff. But Fleur does...

       Briar rests her head against one of the cushions. She feels herself drifting, and drifting... And before she knows it, all her thoughts are wiped from her brain, and she's fast asleep, dreaming prophecies she'll barely remember when her eyes open later. She dreams of a ball room, ice sculptures decorating the tables, candles glittering, a dress made for a princess brushing against the floor...

       And then her eyes open wide, screams coming from outside of the tent.

       She jumps to her feet, but she doesn't know what to do. Part of her wonders if it's safe to stay here and hide... If the screaming's coming from outside, why would she go out there? She searches for Winky as she puts on her shoes, her mind racing and her heart in her stomach. She doesn't understand... She doesn't understand what's going on, why there's screaming...

       "Briar! Briar!"

       For a second she panics, but she sees it's Mr Weasley, and she breathes out in relief. He looks scared, and he rushes towards her. He tries to explain what's happening, why there's screaming, but it all feels muffled. He takes her outside, and her hands are shaking. She hears him explain that it's Death Eaters, and that the others have already gone into the woods, but the twins thought she might be alone. Behind them, she sees someone in a Death Eater mask levitate the muggle that owns the camping site. She wonders where her grandpa is—

       "I need to check everyone else is safe," says Mr Weasley, as they get to the woods. "Do you think you'll be fine, finding the others?"

       I think I'm about to vomit. "I'll be fine," says Briar, after the words you've been through worse flicker in her thoughts.

       Mr Weasley nods, and gives her a weak smile, trying to be encouraging, before he runs off, back between the rows of tents. Briar walks through the trees, thinking to herself, no one can hurt you because the worst thing has already been done. She repeats the words in her mind, as she walks past groups of wizards huddling together. She passes the group she recognises as the Beauxbatons trip, and for a second she pauses, making sure that Fleur's sister Gabrielle is with them, and that she's OK. She then continues walking, the thoughts no one can hurt you dissolving as she begins to panic, where is Livvy? Where is my grandpa? I know the twins are OK, but where is my little brother? Where is my grandpa? Are they OK? Are they—?

       "You look like him," someone says.

      Briar stops. "What?"

       "You're Crouch's kid... Lupin's daughter... It was in the Prophet when he was revealed..." says the person. They're an old wizard, missing two of their front teeth, their lips curled in disgust by the sight of her. "You should be lucky the Death Eaters didn't get you, for the scum your dad is..."

       "You can call people scum when you can keep all your teeth in your mouth," her little brother Livvy says, from behind her. Briar audibly gasps, but before she can let out, "Livvy!" he grabs onto her hand, pulling her further into the woods. "There's some fucking pieces of shit, aren't there? Merlin... It's not like you're the werewolf, why would the Death Eaters go after you because of our father?"

       Her relief disappears, just like that.

       "Have you seen Grandpa?" she asks.

       "He's helping the rest of the Ministry," says Livvy. "I left Draco and Holly, he's trying to piss off everyone from Hogwarts, and Holly... well, Holly's unphased by this, but she can't leave Draco, so... How did you get to the woods, anyway?"

       "Mr Weasley found me," says Briar. "I was trying to find Winky — shit, Winky! Where is she? I—I made her get the Ministry to send a letter for me, and then I fell asleep... What if the Death Eaters have gotten her? What if—?"

       "She's probably just hiding," says Livvy. "She'll be fine—"

       "BRIAR!"

       The moonlight reveals a head of bright ginger hair running towards, and within seconds Fred's pulled her into his arms, hugging her — holding her — tightly.

       Livvy narrows his eyes. "Um, and Livvy?"

       "Dad wouldn't let me go and find you, I tried saying that I've already been there, I know how to get there quickly," says Fred, sounding both relieved and frantic. Briar glances at her little brother, who raises his eyebrows when Fred says he's been in their tent. Fred holds onto Briar still, and she rests her hands on his chest, unsure what to do. "George is with Ginny and the others... Are you OK, though?"

       "I'm fine," says Briar.

       Livvy snorts, but before he can say what he overheard the wizard say, Briar steps back from Fred, and says, "What about we go to where everyone else is?"

       "Yeah, all right..."

       Fred leads the way, holding onto Briar's hand. Livvy walks next to his big sister. The screams from the camping site and the panicked talking surrounding them in the woods makes a constant level of noise around them. It's enough that Livvy doesn't have to lower his voice when he says to Briar, "Bit protective, isn't he?"

       "I didn't think Draco would let you out of his sight," says Briar, giving her brother a look. "Oh, wait, this isn't an issue to him, is it? Because his dad—"

       "All right, I get it," says Livvy, but he glares at her anyway.

       They reach George and Ginny, who are standing next to one of the trees. Briar asks if both of them are all right, and then where everyone else is. Their older brothers have gone to help the Ministry, which Briar remembers their dad saying, but they can't find Ron.

       "He's with Harry and Hermione, so he won't be alone but..." George trails off, frowning. He glances at Livvy, then at Briar. "You know."

       Briar remembers her panic when she didn't know where Livvy was. "Yeah," she says, nodding once.

       They stand, all together. Fred lets go of Briar's hand, but he still stands next to her, as if she's going to disappear at any given second. It's not as if she's had a vision about something, is it? She knows Fleur's little sister is safe, so she wouldn't run off trying to find her. She hasn't had any predictions surrounding her grandpa, or Winky, or Harry, Ron, and Hermione...

       And then, she does.

       She sees her grandpa dismissing Winky. Her inner eye tells her where he's going to say it, and without thinking, she blurts it out. She begins to worry again, because what is Winky going to do? She starts to ramble, her hands shaking again, panic settling in again — but suddenly she goes dead silent, a green skull appearing in the sky above a clearing.

       "You don't think..." she hears George say.

       "It can't be," Fred replies.

       Livvy and Ginny let out variations of the same question, and the twins quietly explain the meaning, the entire woods silent. How Death Eaters announced their killings by putting that skull in the sky above... Briar doesn't remember the memory of it, but she remembers the vision, of a green skull above their house, seconds before they found out her mum was dead...

       Briar hears her grandpa's voice. She feels as if she's having déjà vu, and she realises, this is it. Her grandpa's going to dismiss Winky. Briar tells the twins to keep an eye on Livvy — who immediately protests — and she runs through the woods, towards her grandpa's voice.

       "You may rest assured that she will be punished," her grandpa says, looking down at Winky, tears of pure terror gathering in her eyes. "Winky has behaved tonight in a manner I would not have believed possible... I told her to remain in the tent. And I find that she disobeyed me. This means clothes."

       "No!" shrieks Winky.

       "You can't!" says Briar, bolting into the clearing. She looks at her grandpa in panic, standing in front of Winky. "You can't — you can't dismiss her!"

       "She disobeyed an order, Briar," says Barty.

       "I told her to leave the tent, she must've still been out when all of this started!" says Briar. She feels Winky hold onto Briar's leg for protection, which makes Briar even more worked up. "Please, Grandpa! Winky was scared! She would've only gone straight to the woods if she was terrified! You know she's terrified of heights, and the Death Eaters were levitating people—"

       "You're hysterical, Briar, we'll talk—"

       Briar doesn't care about the amount of Ministry officials watching now. She looks at her grandpa, her heart racing still. "Winky only went against your orders because she was doing something for me," she says. "So punish me, not her—"

       "You are not the house-elf, Briar," says Barty.

       "Please," says Briar. "She doesn't deserve this."

       "She isn't your friend, Briar," says Barty.

       Briar begins, "But I—"

       "I don't want another word," he tells her. People begin to go back to their tents, now that the noise has died down, and Briar turns back to her grandpa, who doesn't even care. He didn't even see if she was OK, and there were Death Eaters out there... "I want you to go back to our tent. I might be back late..."

       "Can't I stay with my friends?" asks Briar.

       Mr Weasley adds, "It wouldn't be an issue, Barty, if—"

       "No," says Barty.

       Briar looks across at Mr Weasley, and mouths thank you, as her grandpa walks away, to help the rest of the Ministry officials sort out the damage done by the Death Eaters. She feels herself close to tears as she walks past Harry, Ron, and Hermione, Winky still behind her, as she walks back to the twins, to go and get Livvy.

       "Oh, uh, I think he said he was going to go back to the Malfoys' house," says George. "Hey, Briar, are you—"

       "I'm fine," says Briar, but she isn't. The idea of being alone, in that tent, begins to terrify her. Just the thought of walking to it scares her. "My grandpa's just being a dick..."

       "Do you want me to walk you there, to your tent?" says Fred.

       Briar doesn't even bother with pretending she doesn't want that. Instead, she asks, "Are you sure?" And Fred says it's fine. He glances at George and Ginny, and his twin nods back at him, before giving Briar a weak smile.

       "Didn't think this was the last time we'd see you for a few weeks," says George, and Briar nods, feeling partly miserable, partly terrified, as George leaves them, walking Ginny back to the tent.

        Briar and Fred walk in another direction. Winky walks in front of them, glancing over her shoulder every couple seconds to make sure that Briar's still there. Briar tells Fred what happened with her grandpa, her heart racing still as they step back into the tent.

       Winky disappears, probably to hide from Briar's grandpa until he calms down. Briar turns to Fred, forcing a smile. "Um, thank you for walking me back..." she says. Briar feels dread gather in her stomach, and she thinks about how it's going to be, being alone in this tent. She thinks of what that person said. She should be lucky the Death Eaters didn't find her... And they wouldn't just hurt her because her dad's a werewolf, would they? She's just as bad, she's just as much scum... She knows no one will, but she's on her own...

       "Someone, in the woods, said that I was lucky the Death Eaters didn't get me," says Briar. Fred frowns at her. "They said I was lucky I wasn't targeted, because of what... of what my dad is."

       "Really?" says Fred, and he takes hold of her shaking hands.

       Briar nods, and she looks up at him. "Freddie?"

       "Yeah?" says Fred.

       She looks up at him, feeling her heart beating faster. "Can you stay with me?"

       Fred looks at her in surprise. "I—Uh, yeah, yeah, I can," he says.

       "I know it's weird, I just... I'm scared, and I don't want to be on my own," she says. "And­—"

       "Briar, it's fine," says Fred. "I don't mind."

       Briar smiles softly at him. She lets go of his hands, and she walks towards her bedroom in the tent, Fred following her. "Besides, this'll piss off your grandpa, so," he says, and Briar can't help but laugh.

       Fred sits down on her bed, and she takes off her shoes. Briar feels so awkward, and she knows first thing in the morning she'll have to write to Fleur and tell her this, but you know what? Briar's terrified. She doesn't want to be on her own. If both twins had walked her back, she would've asked both to sleep over, but they didn't. So, sue her.

       Briar gets into bed, resting her head on the pillow. Fred lies next to her, a good few inches between them. She rolls her eyes. "What, do I have cooties?" she says.

       "Oh, so you want me to spoon with you?" says Fred, and part of Briar thinks fuck yes and another part of her thinks, oh dear Merlin this is disgusting I'm disgusting I'm a monster I'm cursed he wouldn't want this if he knew, he wouldn't even try—

       "I was joking," says Briar, quickly.

       "Well, it's too late now," says Fred, and he lies next to her, his chest pressed against her back. He rests an arm over her.

       "But—"

       "Briar," says Fred, talking a little more softly now. She's close to panicking. She wants to talk to her dad, or something, see what she should do, as a monster. "Are you 'even more in love with me,' or not?"

       Briar grumbles. "Prick."

       His arm moves, holding onto her. "Love you too."

barty crouch sr. is a piece of shit pass it on

also....... this may seem fast but like u know me this isn't fast they might be spooning like once now but u know it isn't a bloodflood fic if it doesn't take YEARS for the ship to kiss so

i hope you enjoyed, and let me know what you thought!!