"ANGER"

ANGER: a strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure, or hostility; That was all Birdie Potter had been feeling the last two days, she was tired and she was just frustrated, she hated everyone and everything in sight but when Fred Weasley walked in with that annoying face of his and a bouquet of all her favorite flowers in his hand, Birdie wasn't so angry anymore.

No, she was furious.

"What are you doing here?" she looked up, her brows furrowed and her lips curled into a frown, "Please, I don't want to see anyone right now, so can you just get out"

"Robin, just hear me out—" Fred took quick strides to join her besides her bed and Birdie pushed herself away, creating as much distance between them as she possibly could.

"It's Birdie and I don't want to" Birdie said, her voice as cold as her hands that usually were warm even on winter days.

"I love you" Fred said desperately, "I know I didn't say it when I should've have, but I'm telling you now — I'm in love with you, and in every way possible, sometimes when I think about you it physically hurts me, I wasn't ready back then to say it, Robin, but I am now — I love you."

Robin stared at him, unable to say anything else before she opened her mouth, "Get out"

Fred sighed, putting the flowers on her bedside table that barely had any space left because of the empty glasses of sleeping draught laid on top of them. He gave the girl one last look before reluctantly walking out of the room and into the hall where Lorelei was tapping her foot anxiously, she immediately got up from the chair making her way to the defeated looking redhead.

George joined his brother's side, "How'd it go?"

"Really, George? What does it look like from my face?" Fred said frustratedly, he sat down on one of the chairs with his face buried in his hands, "She hates me, I've ruined it"

"Fred, get up" Lorelei said, her tone stern, Fred sighed once again before standing up — his shoulders slumped with either exhaustion because he hadn't slept well those past two days or because of disappointment, Lorelei looked up a bit — fuck that tall bitch, "Listen to me, you're not going to cry in public — stop feeling sorry about yourself, you messed it up, it's on you, but it's also useless to keep kicking yourself for it, shit happens in a relationship — get over it, besides Birdie got in a car accident just two days ago — she needs time, you couldn't have expected her to just jump into your arms and tell you how much she loves you, so I'm saying this with the most annoyance in my heart — stop sulking"

"You're terrible at comforting people" Hope whispered in Lorelei's ears, Lorelei turned back to give Hope a look, "What? Just saying"

"I'm not trying to comfort him" Lorelei rolled her eyes, "He has to know things take time, he can't expect everything to work out perfectly all the time"

"I hate to say it, but I agree with Bubbles on this one" George sighed, putting his hand on Fred's shoulder, "You've got to give her time, mate"

"I'm gonna go in now" Hope said, then she gave a look to the twins, "Behave while we're gone, George — you're in charge, make sure your brother doesn't go around looking like one of those girls from muggle movies who've just broken up from someone"

"Oh, yeah, as if George would be able to help" Lorelei scoffed, George looked scandalized.

"Come on, let's go" Hope nodded, nudging Lorelei and motioning for her to follow her into the room where Birdie was, Lorelei followed Hope reluctantly, scared that she was going to see Birdie in a state she didn't want to.

And she did.

The girl had lost all her shine, Lorelei always admired the way Birdie could light up whatever room she was in, but this wasn't the same Birdie she used to be — the same one who spent three hours trying to make her brother laugh in the hospital wing, cared for her best friends by volunteering as a temporary caretaker in the Hospital wings, the same girl who spent hours trying to learn healing spells in case her friends got hurt.

Instead it looked like in place of her Birdie someone had placed a doll, she was still, the same expression on her face for more than a minute until Hope cleared her throat.

"Hope? Lore?" Birdie asked, her voice cracking — it was almost like everything that she'd pushed back into a dark closet came flooding forward, her best friends' concerned looks told her that she did in fact looked as terrible as she could imagine, maybe even worse.

"Hey" Lorelei said softly, making her way to the bed, and sitting down on the stool next to her bed, Birdie didn't wait one second before wrapping her arms around her best friend, no that was an understatement — Lorelei Black was Birdie Potter's sister, soulmate and her life all in one, and those two days without her had been miserable.

"Get in here, Lupin" Birdie and Lorelei said together, making a little space for Hope to join them in the group hug. Hope chuckled, joining the two and hugging them just as tight.

"Thank Merlin you two came" Birdie said, wiping her tears as an involuntary chuckle escaped her lips, "I was going crazy in here"

"We couldn't just not visit you" Lorelei said, "Everyone's just really strict about getting out of the house, I had to beg Ms Ross to chaperone us, and then beg again to stay outside the building — it took some convincing but it happened"

"Just look at her" Hope joked, "Who could say no to that face?" she used her hands to point at Lorelei's face who waved her hand in the air as if to dismiss her.

"Not me" Birdie smiled, "How's it been with Sirius?"

The three friends talked to each other, complaining about their lives and at some point, Birdie had a full on breakdown because of how sad she's been in the miserable looking hospital, and all Fred Weasley could do was listen to Birdie cry, unable to do anything. Soon enough, the nurse arrived — telling them the visitor hours were over and ushering them outside, before Lorelei walked out of the room Birdie called out her name. Lorelei turned around.

"Tell Frederick he looks hideous, will you?"

🫐

"HOW WAS BIRDIE?" Remus asked the two girls, placing a plate of salad with mac and cheese in front of them, "Did she seem ok?" Remus knew how hard it was to see a friend in pain, most of the times he had been the friend in pain, but he remembers the absolute panic in his heart whenever James, Sirius, Sirene or Marlene would get injured during Quidditch, it felt like his heart had dropped to his stomach and all he could do was watch and hear them scream in pain until he could finally walk inside the Hospital Wing, normally they'd make a joke about Remus 'getting a taste of his own medicine' but Remus knew they'd always try to hide their pain whenever he was around.

"Dad, she got hit by a bus two days ago, what do you think?" Hope asked her father, a deadpanned look on her face, "She's miserable, I wish we could take her out of there"

"Don't start making a plan about breaking her out of St. Mungo's" Remus said, he sounded genuinely scared — as if the girls might break into a sprint and take their friend home with them.

"Relax, uncle Moony" Lorelei shoved a spoonful of mac and cheese in her mouth, "To do that we'd need at least one adult, which we probably won't get, unless..."

"I'm not helping you break her out of the hospital, El" Remus shook his head, "Honestly, you kids scare me"

"Please" Hope scoffed, "As if you all were any better, our professors are literally scarred because of you"

"We were just kids back then" Remus tried to reason with his daughter.

"What are we then? Old people in a nursing home?" Lorelei raised her eyebrows.

"Eat your food, you smartarses" Remus said, setting down some muffins for them to eat, "If the food tastes shitty, shove it down anyway, Molly's gone out grocery shopping and my cooking skills are not what I'm known for"

"Actually I don't mind it" Lorelei shrugged, "You can't really go wrong with kraft mac and cheese"

"Yeah, dad you're acting like you whipped it up from scratch or something" Hope snorted, Remus turned to give her a look.

"Hey, moon—" Sirius walked in the kitchen with a packet of chocolate in his hands, he paused when he saw the two girls in the kitchen, "Hey, Hope" he then passed an awkward grin to Lorelei, "El" he had actually been trying to cheer up his mate, Sirius knew firsthand how frustrated Remus got whenever he was stressed, and in original Lupin fashion — chocolate was the best way to de-stress.

Lorelei looked up and then back to her food and took another bite, Hope looked at her bestfriend and then her father, her father gave her a look, "Hi, Sirius"

"I was just here to give Remus the chocolates he wanted," Sirius came forward joining his friend and handing him the box of chocolates, "but now I see he's cooked food, and not told me about it"

"Back off, Pads" Remus slapped Sirius's hands away from the pot of mac and cheese, "These are for the kids"

"I was a kid years ago" Sirius whined, taking out a plate of the mac and cheese and then sitting down at the table, "How was Robin?"

"Birdie" Lorelei corrected him, "She's as good as a person who got hit by a bus two days ago can be"

"Not good then?" Sirius asked and both Lorelei and Hope shook their heads, "I wish Harry could be here, he'd—"

"I'm gonna eat in my room" Lorelei grabbed a tray from the drawer, putting everything on it and then grabbing a bottle of water, "Hope, you coming?"

"You got candy in your room?"

"A whole box"

"Be on my way" Hope grabbed all of her food, giving her dad a side hug as both of them disappeared making their way up to Lorelei's room.

Sirius sighed, Remus placed a hand on his shoulder, "She'll come around, Padfoot, she's just a little stubborn, but she warms up — she's just like you, actually."