An Affair to Remember (Fred Weasley)

55) Thunderstorms

"Don't take in the whole thing, just the tip"

"That's what she said" she chuckled. I could hear that joke coming from a mile away and I rolled my eyes.

When I pressed the grape to her lips, she smiled a mischievous smile. It was quite an odd idea but seeing her smile that way was worth it. She bit into one half of the grape, giggling slightly, and I couldn't control the tiny laugh that I had been trying to stifle too. What on earth were we even doing? Once she was done taking her half of the grape, I popped the remaining piece into my mouth, the both of us laughing like little children at what we had just done. 

That was until my gaze fell on her lips. They had just the slightest bit of grape juice covering them, shining under the dim lights. I found myself thinking for the millionth time that day...what would her lips taste like?

The lodge was slightly dark as none of the lights had been switched on and the sun had hidden behind the clouds, giving it a drowsy, honey-like atmosphere. "You've got grape juice on your lip" I finally pointed out.

Adrienne stopped laughing, trying to get it off, but she missed. "No, over here" I corrected her, resting my hand on her cheek and running my thumb lightly under her lower lip. I heard a little gasp from her, her eyes gazing into mine. Were we both thinking the same thing?

"Get it off for me" she whispered, her own eyes flickering to my lips for just the briefest of moments. I could never be sure if this was what she wanted, but I couldn't stop myself. 

And so I did. I did get it off for her. Turns out we both really were thinking the same thing.

--

Fred didn't come out of his room the next morning. In fact, he stayed in there the whole day. Adrienne tried to distract herself by doing pointless things. She tried to bake cookies and burnt them. She tried to read a book but her eyes kept running over the same sentence until she let out an annoyed groan. She tried to watch TV but not a single show caught her interest. All she could think of was Fred.

Her heart screamed at her to just talk to him, but she didn't know how to. She was afraid that she would forget what to say and make a fool of herself, so she kept quiet, maintaining her presence in the living room and finding other things to occupy her.

The hours flew by and the sun set back into its little home behind the mountains, but the moon didn't take its place. Instead, a flurry of thick, heavy clouds rolled in, hiding even the stars from Adrienne's view. The soft rumbles indicated the beginnings of a thunderstorm, how perfectly it fit the mood of the two people in the lodge. 

Adrienne finally decided that there was no point in sticking around in the living room, so by the time the clock struck 9:30 PM, she got up from the couch with a tired sigh and made her way to the bedroom. The raindrops now thrummed forcefully on the roof of the lodge and were quite disturbing to listen to as they were loud.

Adrienne tossed and turned in her bed, but the raindrops and the thunder only got stronger, and in a matter of minutes, Adrienne's windows were rattling, causing her to hide under her blankets. Adrienne loved the rain, but thunderstorms scared her. 

She remembered that as a child, she would cuddle with her teddy bear to keep herself at bay from getting too scared of thunder. When she had sleepovers with Draco between the ages of 4 to 7, he would hold her close and tell her funny stories to distract her. As she grew older, it was the solace she found in her friends sleeping around her in the Slytherin dorm rooms. When she got married, it was Noah. And when she was with Fred...

His hugs and whispers of reassurance had always comforted her the most.

But now, no one was there to distract her from her fears so Adrienne covered her head with a pillow and slipped under the blankets, squeezing her eyes shut and hoping it would all go away. It was when she was finally started to tune out the thunder that she heard a loud shout from Fred's bedroom.