Yours, Fred | f. weasley x reader

Chapter 36: The Enemy Of My Enemy

"It's not Myrtle," you said quietly, "ghosts don't knock." The door of the cubicle cracked open and Veronica looked at you in surprise, her eyes were bloodshot and swollen and she was sniffling a lot.

"Y/L/N? What do you want?" she said and she narrowed her eyes at you, as if remembering herself, and you backed away from the cubicle, "nothing, nevermind. I'm probably the last person you want to talk to right now."

You turned to walk away but Veronica spoke up again, "wait! I didn't mean..." She opened the door of the cubicle and stepped out, wiping her nose with a tissue. In the light of the bathroom, you could tell that she'd lost weight and she had dark circles under her eyes and a sickly pallor to her skin.

You were genuinely shocked and you stepped closer to her, "what happened to you, Veronica?" She looked at you and then laughed in disbelief while more tears fell down her cheeks, "you know, you're the first person to ask me that since school started back two weeks ago." You said nothing, you just looked at her warily, not sure why she was telling you this.

"My friends aren't talking to me," she said as she dabbed her eyes with more tissue.

"Why not?" you asked her and she sighed shakily, "have you not heard the rumours about me?"

You shook your head awkwardly, "um, no I haven't. I've been busy with classes and Quidditch and...stuff."

She cleared her throat and looked straight at you, as if she were mustering up the courage to tell you, "my dad is a Death Eater." You felt your jaw drop and took an automatic step back, but regretted it instantly as you saw her wince dejectedly at your reaction.

"That's how my friends reacted when they found out, and I don't blame them," she paused for a moment and then continued as more tears fell from her eyes and she hastily wiped them away. "Mum didn't know when she married him, and when she eventually put the pieces together, she spent years hoping he wouldn't go back to them. So when she found his cloak and mask over Christmas, she and I packed our things and left. Moved in with a relative in Yorkshire."

You were speechless, you couldn't imagine what she was going through, "I'm sorry, Veronica. That's...that's really horrible."

She nodded once in acknowledgement, and then averted her gaze in shame, "you know, I used to think Muggleborns were the ones with dirty blood. But I've come to realise that the only ones with dirty blood are those of us related to people like them."

"No one can control who their parents are, whether they're good or bad, magic or not," you said, suddenly understanding why she always insulted your blood status. She was projecting her own repulsion of being related to a Death Eater onto you, and while it didn't excuse how she treated you, you understood why she'd acted that way.

"That's true, I suppose," she said quietly, then she stepped closer to you and took a deep breath, "look, I um- I just want to...apologise...for everything I've ever done, or said to you. I know nothing can excuse what I did, but I just want you to know that I'm sorry."

You gaped silently at her, completely in shock at what you were hearing. You found your voice and finally responded, "I really wasn't expecting this when I came into the bathroom today. This has to be the most civil conversation we've ever had. Well maybe the only actual conversation we've ever had."

She gave you a small, awkward smile, "and that's on me. I know you tried to be civil with me but I was just...so angry, all of the time. And because I knew what my dad was I always felt...wrong. Tainted, even. So I took it out on someone who I thought I could treat as inferior." She looked you directly in the eyes, "I know it doesn't mean much, and that it just sounds like a load of words and excuses, but I really am sorry for how I treated you, you didn't deserve it."