my best friends brother - fred weasley

xxxvii. christmas night

I got one present for Christmas, it was a red sweater, with a yellow 'C' in the middle of it, that Molly knitted for me. It was matching with everyone else, even Sirius and Lupin got one. We christened the sweaters with a snowball fight, I landed a few rather violent snowballs on Fred's face, as a way to get back at him for leaving me without a word last night. Our Christmas dinner was full of chatter, arguably the loudest and happiest meal that was had in the house in years. I spent the day trying my hardest to avoid all conversation with Fred, sitti8i9ong as far away from him at all times. 

I spent the night bonding with Lupin over hot chocolates, he told me about Tonks, another member of the Order that he had romantic interest in, and I told him about Cedric. We talked for hours, filling up each others coffee cups over and over again. He told me about my mother when they were younger and how they met, I filled him in on Umbridge and my awkward interactions with Snape, which made him laugh harder than I thought he would. We were laughing about the time the Marauder's map insulted Snape when the Weasley kids walked back into the room, and my mood dropped when I laid my eyes on Fred.

"Hello." He smiles and trots over to me, kissing me on the forehead. Some of the snow on the tips of his hair brushes against my eyelashes.

"Hi." I reply bluntly, looking down at my almost empty cup.

"You okay?" He asks, sitting down next to me. 

"Never better." I tuck my knees up under my chin and fiddle with a teaspoon that's laying on the table.

"Seems like it." He sighs, turning to face the sink, where George is shaking off the snow from his hair. "Do you wanna talk?"

"No."

"Alright, I guess we can talk later." He taps his knuckles on the table before heading out the room and up the stairs. I glance up at Lupin, who's trying to stifle his laughter.

"What?" I ask, raising my eyebrows at him.

"How long have you and him been dating?"

"A few months, why?" I shrug, taking my final sip. 

"You two are already like an old married couple, I bet you already have a night time routine at Hogwarts, right?" He smirks, already knowing my answer by my shocked expression. "That's what I thought."

 ⊱✿⊰

That night, I couldn't stop tossing and turning in bed. I listened for Ginny and Hermione's quiet snores before pulling myself off the bed, grabbing a book off of the first bookshelf I could see, and lazily making my way into the dining room. Sitting cross legged in one of the chairs, I look down at my book and notice it's 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz', a book that my mother used to read to me every night as a child, I left for Hogwarts. I get a few chapters in before I hear a creak in the floorboards behind me, making me jump. 

"Woah, easy." Ron mumbles, shuffling over to the sink, filling up a glass with water. 

"Sorry." I whisper, chewing on my nails as I turn back to my book. 

"What are you reading?" He asks, sitting opposite me

"Wizard of Oz." I glace at him and see him screwing up his nose.

"Huh? What's it about?"

"A girl, a lion, a scarecrow and a tinman." 

"So there aren't even any wizards."

"No. But there are witches." I keep my eyes on the book, trying to avoid as much conversation as possible

"That's misleading."