Stumble - A Fred Weasley Fanfiction

Chapter 46: 113 Days Before

It took Addie a few days to build up the courage to face Dirk again. Since returning to the Burrow, she had woken every morning with the intent to talk to her father, and every day had found excuses not to.

Molly asking Addie to help out with the chickens.

Members of the Order coming over to discuss progress with the Ministry Infiltration.

Arthur stopping her on her way out the door to ask about some sort of muggle technology.

And when she was finished with these, she would convince herself it was too late in the day to see him, and tell her herself she would try again tomorrow.

But on the ninth of January, she woke up to a quiet house. She wandered downstairs to find the kitchen empty. Arthur had gone to work, Molly had gone to Diagon Alley to buy new potion ingredients, Fred and George were off with Lee Jordan again, working on a secret project Addie had yet to be told about.

As Addie stood in the middle of the empty house, she realized that she was out of excuses. Her chest felt as if it was squeezed in a vice, every breath a struggle, as she pulled out her wand and disapparated.

Dirk's tent was back where it belonged in the caves, and this was where Addie went. She passed through the crowd around the fire, noticing the way their eyes followed her as they hadn't before.

They know, she realized. She wasn't sure how, but the way they watched her confirmed it.

She hesitated just outside the tent, scared to lift the flap and enter. The earthy smell of plants filled her nose as she stood there, hesitating. She might have stood there forever, frozen in indecision, if a passerby hadn't given her a gentle nudge, causing her to nearly tumble inside. She was forced to step through the flap of the tent, and then there was no going back.

Dirk was with his plants as always. He walked around, shooting water out the end of his wand, watering each plant with care.

"Dirk?" Addie said quietly. He froze, but didn't turn. "Dirk," she said, louder, and he turned to face her.

He looked an absolute mess. His stubble was overgrown, his hair sticking out in every direction from running his hand through it constantly. Deep purple bags were prominent under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept since their talk at the park. And his eyes...his dark eyes were so sad that they broke Addie's heart.

"Addie," he said, his voice cracking. He cleared his throat. "What...what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to apologize," she said, still standing awkwardly by the entrance. "For the other day. I shouldn't have run away like that."

He shook his head. "You have nothing to apologize for. What I did..."

"I forgive you," Addie said, softly, not letting him finish. She looked at the ground as she said it, not wanting to see his expression.

He was silent for a long time. So long that Addie was forced to look up, to see if he had heard her. He had moved to stand before her, tears in his eyes. "Oh, Addie." And then his arms were around her, and he was hugging her. And that hug was her undoing.

She clutched at him, hugged him tight as tears spilled down her cheeks. She was clutching at the past she had never known, and the future that had opened up to her with the truth. Here was her father, the man she wished for every night as a child, and now he was hugging her, just like he used to when she was a little girl.

The past was so wrong, and so many mistakes had been made. But he was her father, and in the end, that was all that mattered. It was why it had been so easy to say those three words.