Yellow - {Fred Weasley}

Chapter 41

Sunlight filtered into the room, warming my face and making me never want to get out of bed. That, and the fact that Fred is still lying beside me. He appears to be sleeping peacefully, but he must be dreaming because he'll smile every now and then. The sun cast a glow behind him, making his hair look even more red than it already is. Though the sun didn't touch his face, I could see every feature clearly. 

Though it was barely spring, he was already a little tan. His freckles stood out more than usual. I even noticed a few that weren't there before. I lightly ran my finger over one that had appeared under his eye, pausing when he shifted in his sleep. I slowly removed my hand and sighed softly. After a few more moments of just lying there, I closed my eyes and attempted to fall asleep again.

I was almost asleep again when Fred moved closer to me and draped his arm over my waist. I opened one eye to look at him, laughing at his sheepish grin. "You can go back to sleep, I just wanted cuddles," he murmured sleepily. "You can have all the cuddles you want," I replied quietly. He grinned and sat up for a moment. Before I could even ask what he was doing, he was lying on top of me, one arm around my torso and the other on the bed next to us. Fred's legs tangled with mine as he laid his head on my chest.

I giggled at his actions but I enjoy when he does this. He's like my own personal weighted blanket. He let out a content sigh and cuddled up closer. "That's better," he said, voice muffled by my shirt. Another giggle fell from my lips as I looked down at him. "You're a dork." He snorted indignantly and sarcastically replied, "You're one to talk."

"Oh whatever," I replied, playfully shoving his head. We shared a laugh before falling silent again. I looked down at him, feeling my face heat up as I realized that neither of us slept in clothes last night. Most of the marks on his back have faded, but I can still see a few mingled in with old scars. Smirking proudly, I lightly ran my nails over his skin and traced the visible ones.

Fred shivered at my touch, tightening his grip on me. My smirk only grew as I dragged my nails up his neck and into his hair. Once I reached his hair, I started to run my fingers through it. He relaxed a little, practically melting while I played with his hair. He's always loved when I do this, even before we were dating. That probably should've been one of the signs that he liked me because he never let anyone else play with his hair.

He started to fall asleep again after a few minutes of me doing this. I smiled down at him before closing my eyes as well. I continued to run my fingers through his hair, but my hand began to grow tired. My arm felt heavy, as did the rest of my body, and I sighed slightly. My movements slowed before they finally stilled altogether. Between the warmth of the sun, Fred, and Fred's weight on top of me, I was asleep in no time.

**

As I faded back into consciousness, I was vaguely aware of Fred tracing shapes on my arm with his finger. I peeked down at him with one eye open, laughing a little as I noticed he was drawing shapes with my freckles. He peered up at me as he stilled, flashing a crooked smile in my direction. 

"Good morning," he said humorously. I chuckled good-naturedly and smiled back. "Having fun?" I teased, laughing again when he nodded contently. "Very much so." I hummed in response and trailed my hand about midway down his back. "So... you wouldn't mind if I traced these?" 

He looked up at me again, eyes dark and serious. My heart began to race in my chest and I stopped what I was doing. "Why'd you stop?" he asked cautiously, scanning me with a hint of concern. I reached out and cradled his face in my hands. "I just don't feel like doing anything right now, except laying here being lazy."

The traces of concern slipped out of his expression and a jovial grin took its place. "Oh, that's perfectly okay with me. Buuutttt," he smirked suggestively, "It is my birthday." I widened my eyes in an exaggerated way, jaw dropping. "What?! No way."

Fred gasped and sat up straight. "You mean... you didn't know?!" I shook my head, playing along. He put a hand over his heart and fell back dramatically. "You wound me, woman."

He tried to sit up, but I gently pushed him back down. I hovered over him, enjoying the way he froze in surprise. I've never done anything like this before, but I can see the intrigue in his eyes. His eyes flitted between my dangling necklace and my eyes before landing on my lips. He propped himself up on his elbows and I leaned down to kiss him gently.

I pulled back after a moment and leaned my forehead against his. "Happy birthday Freddie. I love you."

He sighed and pulled me down on top of him. Fred pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead and squeezed me tight. "I love you more, MJ." I snorted and pushed him back by his face. "Not possible, dummy."

Fred laughed and wrapped his arms tightly around my waist, locking me in place. "Wanna bet?" he asked lowly, eyes serious but alight with what could only be described as pure love. I chuckled and put my hands on his cheeks. "I would bet my life, Fred Weasley."

He rolled his eyes and rolled over so that I was under him. "Don't bet with your life, Marley Black. I couldn't stand the thought of you losing it." We shared a wry grin and I leaned up to kiss his cheek. "It's just a saying my dear." 

"I know," he sighed as he put his full weight on me. I wheezed as I struggled to adjust to it. It's not that he's heavy, but I wasn't expecting him to just flop down on top of me either. 

"What do you want to do today?" I began to run my fingers through his hair, watching the way my ring glittered in the light. Fred shrugged, then mumbled, "I'm good to just lay here all day." I laughed and shook my head. "That won't do, love."

He looked up at me from where he laid. "Oh really?" I rolled my eyes and tugged on his hair a little. "It'd be fine to me. But I'm pretty sure our families want to celebrate as well. Ya know, it's kinda tradition at this point."

The man sighed dramatically. "Fine. I guess we can go to your dad's or my mum's or something. I don't care. I was being completely serious about staying here all day."

"I know love, but we have plenty of days to do just that. Maybe tomorrow, even. But you're celebrating today. I haven't gotten to properly celebrate your birthday as your girlfriend yet."

He frowned up at me. "Yes you did. The year before the war." I snorted and shook my head, still playing with his hair. "No, I didn't. We weren't dating until after that. Remember, I was in hiding the one birthday we spent together." His eyes got that faraway look as he went through his memories, frowning slightly as he realized I was right.

"I thought we go to celebrate one together. I guess not. We never celebrated one of yours as an actual couple either, did we?" 

I shook my head sadly. "We didn't. You 'died' in May and my birthday's in July. And we didn't start dating until the August before that." Fred sighed sadly. "We're all messed up, MJ." I laughed and ruffled his hair a little. "Maybe. But that's okay. We're together now." He hummed contently and snuggled up to me again.

My hand stilled and he looked up at me quizzically. "But we still have to get up to go celebrate. So let's get a move on." Fred groaned and buried his face in my chest. "Do we really have -"

"Yes."

***

This chapter is genuinely so bad -
I've been stuck on this part for months. I have no idea why it's been so hard for me to write for this one lately :( Like I have so many good ideas but I just can't articulate them. Hopefully it gets better soon. I'll likely focus more on the party next chapter.