Notes: Challenged to spend the night in the cemetery during Halloween, you are surprised to find company until dawn.
Warnings: Fred x gn!reader; mention of anxiety; small plot at the end; SFW.
It was a stupid idea, for an even more stupid joke, you felt stupid for doing it, there were too many "stupid" for just one sentence and yet you continued with the challenge. Of all the games you could have suggested for the group, you had to choose "Truth or Dare", as if that couldn't turn against you, brilliant. Now here you were, holding your leather jacket tightly around your body and trying to figure out how you were going to get into the cemetery so late at night without being seen, truly incredible.
With momentum and strength that made your arms shake as you had to pull your own weight, you jumped over the wall and cursed your entire group of friends for putting you in this situation. Luckily for you - if had any luck in being in all this - there was no one in the cemetery to catch you, everything was very silent, with a strange fog covering the graves, the only light that illuminated the place was the moonlight and some streetlights that were too far away from each other. A shiver ran through your body as you walked between the tombs and realized that the only ones in that cemetery were you and the dead.
It was better to get it over with, you pulled out your cell phone and turned on the camera, a photo would be enough to convince them that you spent the whole night there, then you found a way to get rid of the locator spell that revealed the place you were in last hours. Finding a position that illuminated your face well but still showed the cemetery behind you, you pressed the button while giving the camera the middle finger, you just wanted to leave as quickly as possible. Your eyes closed at the surprise flash, you swore it had turned off.
- Who is the photo for?
A male voice asked and made you jump and look in the direction, right next to you was a tall boy, probably a few years older than you, with wild red hair and a curious smile and look. Where did he come from? And how did he approach without making a sound? You immediately pulled out your wand in fear of the unknown, who seemed too strange for you.
- Who are you?!
- Hey, calm down, calm down! My name is Fred, Fred Weasley, I was also a student at Hogwarts, I won't do you any harm, I just wanted to know what a freshman was doing in the cemetery - he raised his hands helplessly.
- I'm not a freshman! And how can I be sure you won't do anything?
- My wand is in my pocket, if you want you can take it, I just want to talk.
You walked over and placed your wand against his neck while you took the one from the boy's pocket and put it in your jacket. In one quick movement you moved away from him, lowering your wand but still not putting it away. Fred rubbed his neck, still in shock. Silently, he took a small step back and sat down on the nearest tombstone.
- You're badass... I think I was wrong to worry, but after all, what the hell are you doing alone in the cemetery at this hour?
- First you tell me, after all, it seems to me that you are in the same situation.
- The party I was at ended later than I expected, I didn't get a ride so I was walking home when I saw someone jumping over the cemetery wall - he revealed and it seemed true.
- I was challenged to spend the night in the cemetery, when dawn I can leave - you put away your wand.
- How stupid... - you agreed but didn't say - ... Aren't you afraid of seeing a ghost? - a smile appeared on his face.
- I'm not afraid of ghosts.
- And angels?
- Why would anyone be afraid of angels?
- Yeah, I said it without thinking - he shrugged and stood up - Well, then I'll leave. Was a pleasure to meet you.
- No! Wait! - you said without even thinking and the smile on his face increased - I still have your wand... - disguised.
- Oh, that's true, I forgot.
He approached you with his hand outstretched, waiting for you to give it back to him, and you were about to give it back, but you hesitated. A better idea popped into your mind, at the last second you pulled the wand back to you and put it away.
- I will return your wand on one condition.
- Condition? The wand is mine!
- If you help me remove this locator spell, I'll give it back to you and we can get out of here - you imposed.
- Locator spell? - he laughed loudly - There's no way to remove a locator spell! You have to wait for the duration to end.
- What do you mean there's no way to take it off!? - you widened your eyes.
- Yes, I'm really sorry, now can you give me my wand back?
You looked down at your feet feeling even more stupid for having accepted all of this, you thought and thought but no idea that could get you out of this without being ridiculed came up, before anxiety could take over you raised your head with determination.
- No. You will spend the night here with me.
- What?! I have nothing to do with this!
- That's because you scared me, when dawn comes I'll give you your wand back and we'll get out of here.
Fred stared at you in disbelief, thinking of several great names to call you with the anger he felt. With an irritated sigh or grunt - it was hard to tell - he turned his back to you and walked away. Now it was you who was in disbelief and ran after him, "where are you going?!" You called but he didn't answer you. When you found him, Fred was resting on top of a grave, arms crossed.
- Fred?
- Do you want me to wait? Okay, but I'm not going to stay upright until dawn - you laughed and sat on the tomb next to him.
- Thanks for staying.
- As if I had much choice.
For a long time, the two of you stayed like that, sitting on top of the tombs side by side, waiting for the sun in silence. There was a cold breeze that sent shivers down the back of your neck from time to time, making you cross your arms tighter against your body. Fred didn't seem to mind that much, his thoughts were far away.
- Can I say something? - he said suddenly, breaking the long silence, almost scaring you.
- Yes.
- You have terrible friends, I would never let a friend stay in the cemetery alone, never! - he seemed really angry for you.
- You can't talk much, none of your friends gave you a ride and now you're in the cemetery too.
- Yeah, I'm, right...? - he said more to himself than to you - I think we both have shitty friends - you laughed.
- ... I would have given you a ride - he looked at you.
- ... Thanks - he smiled.
The conversation between you after that started shyly, but soon you were both laughing. Fred was actually very funny, and even though he had every reason to be mad at you, he chose to forget about it and make you laugh. He preferred to ask about how things were at Hogwarts now than to frown until the first ray of sunlight appeared. He told you about the school's secret passages, about the incredible things he invented and how he gave the teachers trouble when he was a student, how he always had a prank ready for each of them. Fred listened to you talk about the things you had done too and smiled every time you were proud that you hadn't been caught. In the end, to your surprise, you were very similar, even if still different.
Only when you ran out of topics did notice that the sun had already risen, he then got up from the stone tomb and stretched.
- Let's go? We have to take advantage of the fact that no janitor or anything like that has arrived yet to catch us.
Agreeing, you got up and followed the path he took, arriving at a gate that was very well locked. Fred looked at you and held out his hand and he didn't need to say anything for you to understand that he wanted the wand. As agreed, you returned it. With a spell that wasn't just a simple Alohomora, Fred managed to unlock the gate.
- George and I invented this spell when we were still in 5th grade.
- Who is George? - he was silent for a while.
- An old friend - he said and opened the gate, which creaked.
Maybe it was all in your head, but the outside of the cemetery seemed to have a much lighter air. You took a deep breath and closed your eyes, realizing how tired you were and just wanted to get back to your dorm before a teacher or monitor noticed you were missing.
- Well, then I'll go, it was nice talking to you, Y/n - Weasley announced.
- Ah, yes, it was nice talking to you too, thanks for the company...
But when you opened your eyes and turned to him there was no one, how had he disappeared so quickly? It was just a matter of seconds. You found it really strange but you didn't think about it too much, wizards disappearing in the blink of an eye was considerably normal, maybe a little rude, but normal. Shrugging and starting to go on your way, you pulled your cell phone out of your pocket to check how the photo you took had turned out. And at that time something really strange happened. In the photo there was only you, there was no one next to you, nothing, not a single strand of Fred's red hair appeared in the photo even though he was right next to you at the moment you took it. But as the flash was on, something behind you lit up and shone, you zoomed in to get a better look. On the tombstone behind you was a photo that reflected the light, and just below was engraved the name: Fred Weasley (April 1, 1978 – May 2, 1998). His voice echoed in your mind: "Aren't you afraid of seeing a ghost?... And an angel?" A shiver ran through your body when understood what had just happened.
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