Catch Me, I'm Falling | Fred Weasley

Chapter 16

The girl who had accidentally nudged Olivia was Luna. She put her hand to her mouth.

"Oh! I'm so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going and I..." Olivia stopped her, putting a hand on her arm.

"It's alright, don't worry about it. I was just about to leave anyway," she reassured her.

"Is there anything I can do?" Luna asked, but Olivia only shook her head.

"Go on, It looked like you had somewhere to be." At that, Luna's eyes flitted to a spot in the room, then back to Olivia. At her nod, Luna gave Olivia an apologetic look and scampered off, clutching a small crochet purse. Olivia didn't blame the girl at all.

For now, Olivia had a far greater problem. Her pretty white dress was now covered in a splash of vibrant orange. The wet spot reached from her chest to her crotch, spreading over the majority of the dress's front.

"I think I'll head back to my dorm," Olivia sighed, surveying her utterly ruined outfit. She'd have to apologize to Naomy for ruining her dress.

"Wait, don't go yet. The party barely started," Fred protested.

"I have to soak it so it doesn't stain-" Olivia began but was interrupted by a suddenly cheery George.

"I can do it. I'm great with clothes." Olivia turned to Fred, who nodded in confirmation.

"It's true. If anyone can get that stain out, it's George," he said.

"How about you go with Fred to get some clothes and I can take care of your dress," George chimed. Olivia frowned.

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to take you away from your party," she motioned around the space.

"Nonsense, we'd love to help," George said, earning a nod of agreement from Fred.

"Come on. I can lend you something of mine," Fred said quietly. He took her arm and led her up to their dorm, George trailing behind.

"We weren't expecting company. Wait here a moment," Fred said quickly, darting inside. Shuffling echoed, as if he were trying desperately to clean up a mess. Olivia and George didn't even have time to start a conversation before the door swung open revealing a breathless Fred leaning against the doorframe. Sweat gleamed on his brow.

"Come on in," he swung the door open wide. Olivia stepped in, looking around at the space. There were trinkets everywhere. It looked as if this room had become their temporary lab. The perfect space for tinkering with various experiments. It was messy, despite Fred's efforts, but Olivia liked it. It was like a physical manifestation of the twins' silly energy. And it smelled like... gunpowder and mischief with a hint of something sweet. Perhaps candy.

"Nice room," she noted with a smile.

"If you say so," George said, plopping onto the bed. "I'd say it's a bit of a mess, but 'nice' sounds better." Fred was already strolling to his closet. He pulled out a jumper with a large letter F front and center. He held it up.

"How about this?" he asked.

"Sure, that would be great," Olivia answered, putting her hands up. Fred understood and swiftly chucked the jumper into her awaiting arms.

"For bottoms... this." He tugged a pair of grey joggers out and walked over, handing them to Olivia.

"Thank you," she said, grateful for their kindness. She studied the clothing in her hands. Would it smell like Fred, too? Of course it would.

"We'll let you change," George jumped up and the twins closed the door behind them. Olivia made quick work of peeling the ruined dress off and slid into Fred's clothing. It was soft and that combined with Fred's clinging scent made it feel like wearing a hug. Fred's jumper went down to her knees and the joggers looked even more ridiculous, but Olivia couldn't care less.

"All done," she called. The twins re-entered, deep in conversation. As soon as George saw her, he snickered. Fred only showed surprise. The clothing swallowed her, draping across her in odd ways.

"You really are tiny," Fred commented. Olivia crossed her arms, but the oversized clothing only gave her the appearance of an angry toddler.

"Am not," she protested. George shook his head, visibly trying to hold back from laughing to the point where tears streamed down his face. He snatched up the dress and strolled out of the room.

"Ignore him," Fred told her, sitting beside her on what she now realized was his bed. "It looks cute on you."

"Really?"

"Mmm," Fred hummed as a yes, turning slightly away from her. Was he... blushing? Yes, that was a blush creeping up his neck. Olivia Sparks had made Fred Weasley blush.

He changed the topic. "Want to go back out there?" Olivia considered for a moment.

"No, I don't. I'll go if you do, though."

"How about we stay in here? We could play wizard chess," Fred offered.

"That sounds nice. Well, except for the wizard chess. I'm terrible," Olivia complained. Fred grinned.

"Is that so?" He poked Olivia playfully. She nodded, then poked him back, defiance framing her features. Fred gave a mock gasp and poked her back. Before long, he was tickling her. Olivia, now gasping for air, refused to give up. She pushed him to the side and tickled his sides, which she soon found were his weak spot.

"Nooo..." he moaned in defeat.

"I always win, Weasley."

"We'll see about that." In one swift movement, he flipped her, straddling her in a way she couldn't escape. The two were having too much fun to notice their position. They were close, precariously so. But the two were so in the moment that they didn't realize it. Instead, Fred tickled Olivia mercilessly until she begged him to stop.

"P-please st-top," she begged through giggles.

"Only if you admit defeat," he bargained.

"Y-yes, you win. Just make it stop." Fred laughed and rolled off of her. The two lay in breathless heaps.

"You're evil," Olivia breathed. Fred turned on his side.

"I was only joking. Why must you make so many accusations?" he said, mischief glittering in his eyes. Olivia's shoulders shook in silent laughter. It only made her stomach ache harder. Groaning, she pushed herself up into a sitting position, her eyes catching on the experimental joke products scattered across the room.

"What've you been working on?" His eyes lit up.

"Want to see?" Olivia nodded and Fred jumped up like a flea, running over to a pile of random objects. He pulled out a tray of prototypes.

"This," he pointed to the dangerous sweets, "Is ton-tongue toffee. We've been working on it recently."

"Can I... try?" Olivia asked, suddenly curious. Fred pulled the tray away from her.

"No. That would be a bad idea. I really don't want to send you to the hospital wing," he warned. Olivia pouted.

Fred, who handed her a lemon drop, said, "Have this instead."

She snatched it from him and popped the sweet into her mouth. She moved the candy with her tongue so she could speak, but her words still came out a bit muffled.

"Good, I don't really like getting pranked anyways."

Fred muttered a soft, "No one does," with a chuckle. Olivia chose to ignore him and continued.

"But pranking on the other hand..." Fred's widened and a grin swallowed his face. He was already spinning plans. Except now, the twins had a partner.