It's Nice To Have A Friend

37) Love

At breakfast, Fred had barely eaten a thing. When they had returned home they hadn't spoken about Hiram, or about the punch. Fred just wanted to sleep and hold his girlfriend close.

What should've been a beautiful night had turned out to be quite upsetting. He was officially together with the in his eyes most exceptional girl in the world, and yet the night had gotten a dark veil instead of a golden one.

"You're not getting Hiram's words get to you, huh?" Poppy asked worriedly, believing that eventually they'd better speak about it. He looked up and met her eyes.

"No, not what he said about me anyway." He mumbled. Hiram could say anything about him, it didn't hurt anymore, nor did it made him insecure any longer.

"I feel so bad for Hermione and Mary. They don't deserve this. Hell, nobody deserves that based on who they love." Fred sighed deeply, while shoving away his bowl of cereal.

"I've said some terrible things, Poppy." He confessed, his cheeks blushing a deep shade of red. It wasn't just Hiram's words that left him a nasty taste, it were his own words as well.

"Like what?" She wondered innocently, giving him her undivided attention.

"I was heartbroken and I let that get in the way of the bigger issue. I accused them of not loving me, of lying to me, when they loved and still love me so much."

He forced himself to look at her, to be able to see any kind of disappointment in her eyes. If they were in this for real, she should know what he had said to his best friends.

"You were hurt because you were in love, Fred. You just didn't understand what they were going through. You're even getting their baby now, I think that's a big act of love." Poppy took his hand and gave him a warm smile.

She thought it was sweet he cared so much, but even if he might have said some painful things, it didn't make him a bad person.

"I love them a lot, Poppy. They are family." He smiled sweetly, as he thought about how one day, he could say he helped them get a baby. He couldn't have imagined that years ago, and yet right now he knew it was something he badly wanted.

"I know." She traced his jaw with her finger, loving to see him like this. His caring personality were one of the things she loved so much about him.

"Sometimes I wish I could understand it, you know?" He said.

"I want them to feel seen. I mean, I try, we all do, but in the end we never know what that feeling is." Fred was fully aware that even though he tried to hear them and tried to imagine what things were like in their shoes, he'd never fully know.

"I do." Poppy spoke softly, giving him a sad smile.

"You do?" He questioned, slightly confused.

"I've dated girls in the past." She shrugged a little, but took her hand back on instinct as if she was expecting an argument.

"Really?" He wondered, his voice soft.

"Yeah, never a long lasting relationship, but I've been involved with all kinds of people, including women." She told him, relaxing just a little bit.

Poppy wasn't ashamed, never had been, she was open and honest, but with Fred things were different. He was insecure quickly, and she didn't want for this to change anything. However, now she had gotten the opening to share this with him, she felt like the right time.

"Does that bother you?" She asked him quietly, slightly scared.

"No, baby, of course not." He said, without missing a beat. Fred stood up from his place and walked around his kitchen counter to wrap his arms around her.