Ardent Adversaries

Chapter 20: New Years

I spend the days after Christmas that lead up to New Years becoming friends with the Weasley's, Hermione and Harry. Ron, Ginny, Harry and I bond over our love of quidditch and talk about our favorite teams and discuss flying together once school starts up again. Fred, George and I talk all things pranks and even pull a few on the rest of them, minus Molly and Arthur. They tell me about their plans to open a joke shop and I wholeheartedly support their goals. Hermione and I discuss school and our future plans. As soon as she tells me she wants to go into the ministry I know it's the perfect fit for her. Lupin and Tonks drop in frequently and I notice Sirius and Remus share a kiss in the kitchen. I smile at my uncle and he blushes profusely as does Remus. Ginny, Hermione and I love to watch Tonks change her facial features to literally anything we can imagine and it amuses us to no end. It's safe to say that I am thoroughly enjoying my time at Grimmauld Place.

New Year's eve rolls around and the girls and I spend the day preparing food while the boys put up decorations. The day passes by quickly and I head upstairs with Hermione and Ginny to change out of our sweaty clothes. I throw on some jeans and a lowish cut black long sleeve shirt and then head downstairs to rejoin the group. Lupin and Tonks are sitting on the couch with Sirius discussing something that I can tell is meant for adult ears only. I grab a cup of punch and then scan the room for Fred, finding him in deep conversation with his twin. As soon as he sees me he says something to his brother and then comes over to me.

"You clean up nicely," I say to him jokingly.

"I was just about to say the same to you," He replies with a smirk, which I'm quickly learning is one of his signature facial expressions.

"Touche," I say as I hold out my cup to cheers with him. We clink glasses and I lean back against the wall to survey the scene around me. Everyone is mingling and chatting with each other and it fills me with such a happy feeling. Molly calls us into the kitchen for dinner and I take my usual seat between Fred and Sirius. Plates are piled high with a various assortment of foods and we all dig in and load up our plates. I grab stew, salad, shepherd's pie and a glass of pumpkin juice and dig in. Per usual, the food is delicious and everyone falls silent as they feast on Molly's cooking. Once we all take a few bites of the meal, conversation restarts and the volume increases tenfold. I can barely keep track of what the topic of conversation is and just try to chime in where I can.

After we finish dinner, Molly magically clears the table and replaces the dinner plates with dessert plates. There's an array of tarts, puddings and pies and once again we load up our plates, never able to get enough of Molly's ability to prepare a meal. Conversation during dessert is softer and is much easier to follow along to. Fred and I sit close together at the table, our knees touching, as we discuss some ideas for products for his shop.

Dessert ends and we all gather in the living room to continue chatting. Fred sits next to me on the couch and casually drapes an arm on the back of it as he begins a deep conversation with Ron about the Chudley Cannons. Ginny interjects to give her two cents about the Hollyhead Harpies and I take that as my que to join in. Tonks is chatting with Hermione about ministry affairs and Remus and Sirius are standing by the punch bowl with Molly and Arthur. Conversations flow easily between everyone and before we know it, midnight is approaching. Everyone is standing up now and dancing lightly to background music. We all await the countdown to midnight and to 1996 eagerly, gathering close around the radio.

"Okay folks, it's time for the moment you all have been we've been waiting for all night," The radio host says. "Let's get this going."

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one! Happy New Year!" We all cheer. Fred turns to me and takes a half step closer to me. His eyes flit from my eyes to my lips and I can feel my heart pounding in my chest. I think for a moment that Fred is about to kiss me, but we're jolted out of the moment by George slinging his arm around Fred's shoulder. He looks at me for a second with an unreadable expression on his face before he allows himself to be pulled away by his twin.

"So," Hermione says, sliding next to me and bumping my hip lightly. "You and Fred huh?"

"What?" I ask shocked. "No, no there's nothing going on, we're friends."

"Mhm okay," Ginny says, suddenly appearing on my other side. "I've seen my brother get like this before. He likes you."

"No he doesn't Gin," I say. "We're friends just like I've said before."

"Whatever you say Olivia," Hermione says and she and Ginny exchange a look. I roll my eyes and set my cup down.

"I'm gonna head up to bed," I say, rolling my eyes. "I'll see you girls in the morning." I head upstairs and into my room to change when a hand wraps around my arm. I turn around to see Fred standing in front of me.

"Liv," He says softly. "I think we got interrupted a few minutes ago." His eyes once again look at my eyes and then my lips before returning to my eyes. His hand slides down my arm to grab my hand and then pulls me flush against him. Fred's other hand reaches out to tuck a piece of hair gently behind my ear.

"Fred...," I look into his eyes.

"Can I kiss you?" He asks, his hand lingering on my cheek. His thumb strokes my cheek gently and I nod my head yes. His lips meet mine, gentle at first, and fireworks explode in my head. He traces the seam of my lips with his tongue and I open my mouth to him. Our kiss grows heavier as his hand on my cheek slides to tangle in my hair and I grab his shirt in my fists to pull him closer. The hand that was holding mine moves to grip my waist and tugs me closer to him. I can feel his hardness against me and I hold back a moan. He takes a step back and I bump into my door. My hands abandon their place on his shirt to gently grab his face and he groans a little into my mouth as I tug at the hair at the base of his neck. I feel myself flush at the noise he makes. I hear footsteps on the stairs and we pull away from each other. His lips are swollen and his face is flushed. He grins at me.

"Night, Liv," He says, still smiling at me as he walks backwards to his door.

"Night Freddie," I reply with a stupid smile on my face. I open my door and enter my room quickly before shutting it behind me. I lean against the door heavily and run my hands through my hair. What the fuck is happening? I just snogged Fred bloody Weasley. A little laugh escapes me and I shake my head before changing into sweats and a hoodie and crawling into bed, a smile still on my face.