An Affair to Remember (Fred Weasley)

54) She dances

Fred woke up with a hammering headache the next morning. He felt as if his limbs had turned into jelly, and he had to fight to even open his eyelids which felt heavier than a ton of bricks. The sun shining on his face caused a painful groan to escape his lips. "What the fuck..." he mumbled to himself, resting both his hands on his forehead and pressing down hard.

After laying in bed like that for a few moments, he slowly propped himself up on his elbows, eyes squinting to shield himself from how bright the lights were. With steady, clumsy movements, he managed to stand up straight and make his way to the bathroom in the hallway.

His fingers gripped the edge of the sink as he stared at himself in the mirror. He looked like an absolute wreck, dark circles, sunken cheeks, chapped lips. He blinked at his reflection a few times, trying his best to recollect what happened last night.

What had happened last night?

The last thing he remembered was dancing drunkenly with someone and the next thing he knew, he was waking up in his room, completely disheveled. He brushed his teeth and washed his face, racking his brain the whole time to extract any sort of information that he could find.

As Fred re-entered the hallway, his ears suddenly filled with the soft sound of music. Normally, his hangover would cause him to tune out any music in an attempt to dull the ache in his head. But the strumming of a guitar, the most lightest of voices accompanying it did quite the opposite to him. He didn't recognise the song, but he found it very peaceful to listen to.

And as she reads aloud, ankles hanging off the bed

She'll read to nobody, or was it something that she said?

What song was this? And why was it pulling Fred towards itself? He felt his feet carry him down the hallway, the music becoming louder and louder until it was the only thing he could hear apart from the clanking of a few pots and pans from the kitchen.

She howls, she dances

She howls as she does

Adrienne was busy cooking her breakfast in the kitchen, a spring in her step as she lightly danced, humming to the song to keep her occupied. Fred leaned against the wall, crossed his arms over his chest and watched, she looked very happy this morning. The corner of his lips were flickering in a smile but he had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself.

She sang along to the song on the radio that Fred had never heard before, but could now hear a million times if it meant that he would get to see Adrienne like this every time he played it. A very small, tiny part in him made him want to walk over to her, grip her waist and pull her into a dance, pressing his forehead against hers, the both of them smiling as they moved around the kitchen together, completely and absolutely in love. He wanted to whisper a 'good morning' to her ear, kiss her on her cheek and then pull her even closer to himself until they were one.

Fred snapped out of his reverie, scolding himself for even thinking these thoughts. If he was to get through this week, he would have to keep his thoughts at bay. He stood up straight and made his way to the kitchen counter, but Adrienne still didn't notice him.

"She knows her body, the kind that turns you into gold" Adrienne sang to herself.

Fred couldn't emphasise on how perfectly those lyrics described her. 

Adrienne knew her body. She knew each curve, each stretch mark and each scar. Each and every one of her pimples, her dark circles and blemishes. Whether it was the baby hairs on the back of her neck or the patch of spots on her right shoulder that she had once been insecure about, she knew it all and turned it into gold, gold that made her shine. Gold that made Fred believe that Adrienne truly was all she could ever need for herself to be her best.