Yellow - {Fred Weasley}

Chapter 40

"Thank you so much for watching her," Fleur said as she pulled Victoire from her bassinet. I smiled and gathered the rest of her things. "It was no problem," I replied, adding, "Fred and I enjoyed having her here." A knowing smile pulled her lips upward. "He's ready for one, isn't he?" I smiled too, looking back toward our bedroom where he was changing out of his work clothes. He never did change before he settled in on the couch.

"He is, but he also wants to wait a bit." Fleur nodded and waited as I piled Victoire's toys and clothes into the bassinet. "There, that should do it," I murmured, watching as she pulled the bassinet over to our fireplace. "I'll see you soon," Fleur promised as she stepped into the flames and called out the name for hers and Bill's home. I waved as they disappeared, already saddened by the absence of Victoire.

Fred reappeared from our room, adjusting his jumper as he stepped into the living room. "Did they already leave?" he asked, looking around as he noted their absence. "Yeah, she had to get her home so they could go out." He nodded and twisted his ring around his finger as he got lost in thought. I glanced over at the calendar, mentally calculating how much time was left until George and May's wedding. With a shock, I realized that the twins' birthday is tomorrow. With everything going on, between the accident and the wedding, I lost track of time.

I walked over to Fred and took his hands in mine. He jumped a little as I broke him out of his trance. He stared down at me questioningly as he rubbed his thumbs over my knuckles absently. "You know what tomorrow is, don't you?" I asked softly, smiling as I looked up at him. He glanced over at the calendar and his eyes widened. "I do now." I chuckled and squeezed one of his hands in my own. "Do you want to go out tonight or tomorrow to celebrate?" 

He paused for a moment to think, turning his eyes upwards as he ran through his schedule in his mind. "Well, Mum usually likes to do a family celebration on our actual birthday so... tonight?" Fred smiled hopefully, adding, "We haven't had a proper date in ages." My smile widened and I nodded. "That sounds lovely. I'm going to go change, and then we can go." He looked down at his outfit and frowned. "I should change too." 

"I think you look fine, love," I said, looking him up and down with a frown. He shook his head. "No, because you're going to look beyond stunning - y'know, more than usual - and I'm going to be the tosser that showed up in a jumper and sweats." I giggled at his remark and turned towards our room. He stood in the living room, staring after me. "Are you coming or not?" I asked over my shoulder, pausing to see what he would do. "You want to change together?"

I turned and looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "I mean... if you're going to take my clothes off later I don't see the harm in you being there when I put them on." His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. I laughed loudly and continued on to the bedroom. Moments later, when he finally unfroze, I heard him thundering down the hall. He shut the door behind him and made a beeline for the closet.

Ignoring him for the moment, I grabbed a pair of plain black tights from the top drawer. I pulled my favourite white sweater out of the fresh pile of laundry I hadn't put away yet and tossed it onto the bed. When Fred moved away from the closet, I rummaged around until I found a black and white plaid skirt. This will do nicely. 

I stepped around Fred and shimmied out of my jeans. They were still a bit too tight, but I can't really blame it on the holidays anymore. I sat on the edge of the bed and rolled up one side of the tights before sliding them on over my foot, then over my leg. When it was over my knee, I stopped and rolled up the other side before doing the same thing. I stood and pulled the tights up over my thighs and let them settle just above my hips. I then pulled on the skirt and used a spell so it fit just right.

When I glanced up, I saw Fred standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom. He looked really nice in black pants and a black sweater. I shook my head to regain my focus and took off my shirt only to replace it with my sweater. I leaned forward and reached under the bed for my boots, which I found easily due to wearing them fairly recently. They were simple, just black suede ankle boots with a little bit of a heel. But they pulled my outfit together nicely.