Riptides (Fred Weasley Fan Fiction)

Chapter 28

The next day wasn't easy. Lyssie felt a mix of excitement and stress. She agreed to go to Fred's family home for Christmas, but now, she's been having second thoughts. What if Fred didn't really mean to invite her over and he just felt sorry for her? She didn't know those people at all and now, she was supposed to spend Christmas with them?

She knew Fred's twin brother, George, and saw Ron couple of times. They had Potions together, but she didn't have a chance to talk to him. There was Percy as well, the Prefect, and Ginny, the youngest of the family. Lyssie knew that Ginny played Quidditch, but similarly to Ron and Percy, they have never really spoke. But she didn't have problems with meeting people she's seen already. The real issue were Fred's parents and his two older brothers, Bill and Charlie. What if the family wanted to spend some time together and now, she was about to become a huge obstacle? Lyssie knew that they didn't have many opportunities to spend time as a family. Fred, George, Ron, Ginny and Percy were at Hogwarts, Bill worked in Egypt and Charlie was in Romania, taming dragons.

Lyssie wanted to meet them, of course. All of them seemed so interesting and she felt that she could learn so much from them. On the other hand, she wasn't sure if she was going to be wanted in the Weasley's family house.

"I can't wait to see my parents," Pansy said as she was packing her trunk in the morning. The train was supposed to leave at two, so the students still had a lot of time, but those, who managed to get out of bed, were now getting ready to leave the castle. "I thought Dumbledore were going to make us stay here over the holidays."

"It wouldn't be so bad," Daphne answered. She was brushing her hair. Her trunk was packed and ready to go. "I stayed last year. It was quiet, but not bad."

Lyssie thought that she should also start packing, so she got up and collected some of the clothes from her drawer. She made sure that they weren't wrinkly and put them carefully on the bottom of her trunk. She decided to take just a couple of T-shirts, two pairs of jeans and some pajamas. It was just a couple days, after all.

"You're going somewhere?" Pansy asked surprised. "I thought you will be staying in the castle after... you know."

"I was supposed to," Lyssie answered. She added the book she got from Fred to the truck. "But Fred invited me to stay with him and his family."

Daphne opened her mouth shocked.

"You're still hanging out with this Weasley?" she asked.

"Leave her alone," Pansy said. Lyssie was surprised with her reaction. Maybe she changed her mind after Fred and she had her back during the ball? "That's so romantic, Lyssie! I wish somebody invited me for Christmas like that! He wants you to meet his family!"

"Does he?" Lyssie hasn't thought about the invitation like that. She remembered all the cheesy movies that were on TV around Christmas. Indeed, inviting someone over to see their family was always shown like a big deal.

"He sure does!" Pansy twittered. "That's so exciting! You have to tell me everything when you come back!"

Daphne didn't feel like having this conversation, so she went to the bathroom to collect all her cosmetics and toiletries.

"You know, I don't think it's like that," Lyssie said. "He felt sorry for me. I told him that I don't have anyone to spend Christmas with."

"Do you always have to be so negative, Lyssie?" Pansy asked. "Live in the moment for once. And now, excuse me, but I have some mistletoe and I want to use it on Zabini."

"Zabini?" Lyssie asked surprised.

"I can't believe I've never noticed what a great guy he is!"

Pansy left the dormitory skipping. Lyssie smiled at the door when she left and came back to packing her trunk. Maybe Pansy was right and there was no need to be so nervous?