More Than That

Chapter 41

They had agreed to go in the hot tub after dinner, no matter how wary Fred was of how the jets worked, and Sage was quickly sliding on one of the bikinis that she'd brought. It was nothing special, just a white triangle top with matching bottoms. She then quickly threw her hair into a bun and made her way down the stairs to where Fred was already waiting for her in a pair of obscenely good-looking swim trunks. Seriously, quidditch did wonders for his legs.

Fred whistled as she descended the stairs. "I like your bikini," he said with a cheeky smile and held out a flute of champagne once she reached him.

She rolled her eyes. "Thanks. I see you found the champagne already."

"Well I was looking for wine and found this, and I figured that you would never say I couldn't open it on my birthday."

Sage laughed. "It's not your birthday."

He shrugged and took a sip from his glass. "Close enough. Now c'mon, I want to see how this thing works."

Sage turned to walk outside but of course, had to pause to give Fred a glare when she felt a slap on her backside. Fred only smiled shamelessly, unbothered by her unspoken scolding.

It took Fred a moment to get into the water because he was 'suspicious of the jets' which really meant 'scared of the jets', but when they were finally both submerged in the warm water up to their shoulders, holding their flutes of champagne out of the water, a synchronized sigh was released into the air.

"Merlin, it's pretty out here," Fred said with his eyes glued to the countless stars that speckled across the sky.

"I know, it's so clear," Sage agreed.

Fred turned to her and asked, "Do you know any constellations?".

Sage shook her head. "Nope."

"Me neither," Fred said and turned back towards the sky. "Let's make our own names."

Sage laughed and scooted closer to him on the underwater bench, manually lifting his arm and sliding underneath it. "Okay." She pointed towards a cluster of stars that seemed to be brighter than a few of the surrounding ones. She was sure that it was a real constellation with a real name, but she just saw pretty stars. "I name that one Herbert."

Fred burst out laughing, nearly choking on his own laugher and having to take a few deep breaths before he settled down again. "Herbert?" he asked through a chuckle.

Sage shrugged. "Yeah, that was what I named my pet turtle when I was little. I accidentally killed him when I let him out one day, so I figured he deserved to have a constellation named after him." She blew a kiss to the sky. "Rest in peace, Herbert."

Fred laughed again. "Okay, fine. Herbert. What about those ones over there?". He pointed to another group of stars. "The ones in a lopsided circle."

Sage hummed and thought for a moment. "Amelia."

Fred's eyebrows raised. "Amelia? Where'd that come from?".

Sage shrugged. "I dunno, it fit her vibe."

Fred laughed and bent his head down to give Sage a quick kiss. "You're cute."

Sage giggled and sat up to crawl onto his lap, setting both of their glasses on the side of the tub. "You're cuter," she said and kissed him again.

"We're really one of those couples, aren't we?" Fred asked after Sage pulled away.

She shrugged. "I don't care. I'm just happy that we're a couple."