Stumble - A Fred Weasley Fanfiction

Chapter 51: 1 Day Before

The next month passed by in something that almost resembled peace. No Death Eaters showed up at the Burrow, and Thomas stayed absent from Addie's life. No one was attacked or injured. There was barely as much as an accidental bruise as the month of April passed by.

Addie enjoyed her time with the Weasley's, making the most of every second, knowing that it wouldn't last forever. She visited Dirk, played with Marlee, spent every moment she could with Fred, and she waited.

But on May 1st, Addie woke up, not knowing that today would be the day that everything changed. The morning passed the same as every other had, and the afternoon was uneventful as well. But that evening, as Addie was walking past Fred and George's room, a pale, freckled hand reached out and pulled her inside.

And in that room, everything changed.

"Hey!" she complained, rubbing her arm. "What the hell?" She looked up into three scared looking faces and her annoyance faded to fear. "What's wrong?" Fred, George, and Ginny were standing there, looking solemn and very, very afraid.

Ginny held up a gold coin for Addie to see. "I got a message from Neville back at Hogwarts. Harry, Ron and Hermione just showed up. Everyone is getting ready to fight." Addie examined the coin closer, reading the message spelled out around the edges of the coin for herself. "I'm going to fight," Ginny said firmly, bracing herself as if she was expecting someone to tell her no.

"How would we get there?" Addie asked. "You can't apparate inside Hogwarts. And I think Hogsmeade will be pretty guarded."

"It is," Ginny said. "But Neville also said to apparate inside the Hog's Head." Ginny reached out and flipped over the coin, showing the message on the other side. "Aberforth is on our side. He has a way in."

Fred furrowed his brow. "I didn't know there was a passageway from the Hog's Head to Hogwarts. It wasn't on the map."

"What map?" Addie asked.

Everyone ignored her question. "What are we doing here then?" George asked. "Let's go."

Fred cast a glance at Addie, and she knew immediately what he was thinking. "I'm going," she said firmly. "I'm fighting."

"But-"

"I'm going," she repeated. "If you're going, I'm going." She raised her eyebrows. "So, are you going to stay behind with me?"

Fred looked like he sincerely considered it for a second. But in the end, he shook his head. "No, I'm going."

"Alright, then," Addie said. "That's settled." She turned to George. "Are you going to let Charlotte know?"

George shook his head. "She doesn't need to be dragged into this. She's gone through enough trouble because of me already."

"What about mum?" Ginny asked. "She'll never let us go."

"We just go," Fred said, looking pained as he said it. "We have no other choice."

Addie didn't like it, and she knew how hurt and scared Molly and Arthur would be when they found out. But she knew it was the only choice they had. "Then we need to go now," she said. "Before she figures out we're up to something."

"Okay, we meet outside in five minutes," George said. "Grab your wands, change into something more suitable to fighting," he eyed Addie's pajamas as he said it. "And we'll go. Stay away from mum if you can. She'll be able to tell something is up."

They split off, Addie running to her room to change. She pulled her hair back from her face, grabbed a sweater off a chair, and stopped for only a minute to think about what they were doing. This was it. This was her chance to prove herself to the Order. The chance to do something.