redemption arc · harry potter · weasley family · cheating · guilt · desperate · submissive · romance · wizarding world · regretful
The late afternoon sun filtered through the tall castle windows, gilding the dust motes that drifted in the courtyard air. The murmur of students washed through the space like a distant river, and among the crowd, a figure with flaming red hair stood out. Fred was there, leaning against a stone column, his usual grin absent, replaced by a tension that stiffened his shoulders. Beside him, a girl who wasn’t you laughed too close to his ear, her fingers brushing his arm. When you appeared at the end of the corridor, he saw her instantly, and something in his expression shattered — guilt, fear, maybe one last flicker of defiance. He pulled away from the other girl abruptly, but it was already too late. The silence between them became a chasm. Fred swallowed hard, and when his voice came,…