Three Hallows, Two Weasleys and One Broken Girl

Chapter 40: Seashells on the Sea Shore

Oh I'm aro ace, but I really need a person a head taller than me and a fair bit broader to wrap me in their arms and make me feel safe in a primal sense for a few hours or maybe a few days.
Anyone else?

———

The silver scar was thick and perfectly perpendicular to the line of symmetry Fred had so often traced kisses down.
So much of her was unchanged, that the blindness was even more jarring every time she turned as if to look at him.

George hadn't let go since they'd arrived at Bill and Fleurs'. His face was buried in her neck as if he wanted to be absorbed into her.
His twin was such an octopus sometimes.
Fred would like it put on the record that he is only holding her free hand in both of his for her reassurance, not his.
He is tough, he is stoic, he has not been crying in her lap for above two hours.

"Well," declares Fleur crisply, "aside from ze obvious...you seem not to 'ave taken much in ze way of damage."
Fred wanted to glare at her for bluntness but Delphi barely twitched, and gave the Triwizard Champion's general direction a sharp smile that was as hot as it was confident.
"Thank you Fleur."

"I'll have nerve repair and nutrition potions made up, in the meantime I believe my husband has made you some porridge if you can...extract yourself."
Delphi nodded, grin going a little sappy at the reminder and ran a hand gently through Fred's hair. It felt so good he started not-crying again.

"Red hairs, solemn swears, mischief and mayhem come in pairs." She whispered softly, stroking his hair slow and loving. "Oh how I missed you my twins."
"We looked everywhere we could reach." George mumbled into her collarbone. "Raised the Lestrange Mansion to the ground..but there was no trace of you...glasses didn't help..."
"I know."

Later, Fred would realise in destroying the Lestrange Mansion, he and George had forced those three psychos into permanent residence where Delphi was imprisoned, and exactly what Delphi might have experienced in consequence.
Right then though, there was a hand in his hair turning his body to mush, and nothing but affection in that Irish lilt he'd been dreaming of for months.

"Luna slipped me her wand, so escaping wasn't too hard after that. Is it a gibbous moon? Those always improve escape attempts."
"Erm not sure." Managed Fred feeling sheepish. "It was full a bit ago...Fenrir's pack attacked a muggle party in York."
"It is a gibbous moon." Said Bill, moving into the room and not commenting when Delphi startled slightly. He set a plate of porridge down before her, and a spoon, continuing to speak whilst sending his younger brothers amused looks. "I can get her wand back to her if you wish, we're sending supplies in tomorrow via Aberforth."

The hand left his hair which was unacceptable, as Delphi pulled a wand from somewhere out of Fred's line of vision and offered it to the curse breaker, who took it gently.
"You're impressively composed." Said their older brother after a pause.

Delphi stilled.
She stilled long enough both he and George pulled back to eye her with concern.
Then she started to laugh.
And laugh.
And laugh.
It was bright and airy, and spine chilling.
"Composed!" Delphi was actually clutching her stomach. "There is my sister's dried blood on my cheek right now. Her corpse on the floor was the last thing I saw before he took my eyes!"
She sniggered, reaching out aimlessly to find Fred's withdrawn hands. "But, I've been seeing terrible things too long to not have a stack of coping mechanisms and a NEWT in compartmentalisation. So don't concern yourself with me Bill, I'll have plenty of time to heal after this. We all will."

Bill was clearly taken aback, but Fleur had returned at some point and looking very unsurprised, had pulled her husband out the room to give them some privacy.
Fred had absolutely no idea what to say, but blessedly George grasped a conversational topic. Quite literally.

"Your hair." He said abruptly, holding a clump of it as if to illustrate, "eat what you can and then let's get it washed."
"You're volunteering to help?" Asked Delphi sounding confused.
"You think we are letting you out of our sight? At all, ever?" Chipped in Fred, closing the distance again to pull her into his chest.
Delphi chuckled, and Fred looked for the usual eye roll before remembering and having the spark of joy extinguished swiftly.
"Okay, you can both help wash my hair. Just so long as we wash yours too and you get Fleur to trim it, I may not be able to see but I can feel the grease in your hair Fred you must be giving recently escaped Sirius Black a run for his money...and it's so long! With you two long hair is frankly a fire hazard."
"You dive a hard bargain Miss Lovegood." Grumbled George over Fred's objections.
"We might have been a little more than feral Sirius Black look-a-likes..." confessed Fred.
Delphi just squeezed his hand, "Snape mentioned you two becoming somewhat catastrophic. How dare you go have so much fun without me."
"This is what happens when you get yourself kidnapped just to dodge a difficult conversation with your future in laws about polyamory." George teased.
"Oh of course, how did that go in the end?" Delphi asked sounding genuinely curious.
Fred hummed, "well considering you were missing and we were having meltdowns not even our mother could really object."
Delphi mock cackled, "just as I planned!"
"You evil genius, you." Fred's voice came out a little too soft, but none of them bore their usual hard edges today so neither Delphi nor George seized the opportunity to tease.

They were quiet as she finished; regaining equilibrium.
George was leant back, drinking in the sight of her, whilst Fred finally got to be the octopus.
She'd lost a lot of weight, but that was just an excuse to bake more, he didn't like cuddling a sack of bones.
Aside from the 'obvious' as Fleur so tactfully put it, Delphi had loads of small scratches from her garden escape, a few nasty bruises, and her hands would spasm occasionally from cruciatus exposure. Those too were easy fixes within a few days, leaving only the much harder mental scars to deal with.

But there was time to lick those kinds of wounds after it all ended.
A lifetime, Fred hoped.

Delphi couldn't hear the way his thoughts turned, seeking out the spoon with a slightly unsteady hand and beginning to make a dent in the steaming porridge. They were quiet for a few moments, George having replaced Fred in their girl's lap, whilst Fred turned octopus and made a conscious effort not to offer to feed her himself. It was taking her a while to navigate with out eyes to guide her movements and through it was frustrating and upsetting to watch he knew assistance was the last thing she'd want them to offer.
"Where are we?" She asked after swallowing her final mouthful, "I can hear the sea."
"Bill and Fleur's cottage." George answered, "they're under fidellius so we're completely safe. And I bet they have tons of that French food you like."
"Je pourrais assassiner une tarte tatin." She acknowledged decisively.
Fred didn't know much in the way of French, but he could take a good guess what 'assassiner' meant and was mildly concerned.
Fleur returned with a dark green potion in one hand and a bowl of fresh fruit in the other, stating cheerfully. "Je pourrais gérer ça."
The cheeriness in her voice did not help Fred work out if they were discussing food or murder but if it kept Delphi smiling he didn't object much either way.