More than friends (Fred Weasley x Reader)

~18~

I remember my summer romance as if it was yesterday. However, I also remember the fling he had with Angelina. The gapping ache in my chest that appeared after Ginny had told me what she saw. The awkward silence between George and I when we hung out without Fred because he was off with her. The way she laughed at his jokes, the way he held her hand as they ran upstairs to his room. At the time it had made me angry in a way I wasn't able to explain, when my oblivious denial was in full control. 

That's why I found myself in the whirlwind that was my love affair that spanned from June to August. When I found myself in the arms of a muggle boy that lived down the street from me my whole childhood. The first time I saw Owen was when I was six years old. His family had just moved in to the beautiful blush colored house that I had always found myself admiring on family  walks. It was on one of those family walks when we came across the moving van that was parked outside of the house. He was holding a medium sized box that was filled to the brim with Hot Wheels cars, what beckoned me towards him was one of the little green cars that had fallen out of the box and had started  to roll down the driveway into the street. I could see his alarmed expression as he began to fumble with the box in his hands, trying to reach the toy car in time.

I recall running towards the car, my bright blue glittery jelly shoes squeaking as I ran across the pavement. I was able to stop the little car with my foot right before it reached the end of the driveway. I picked up the car and turned around to hand it to the flustered boy that I had seen before. When I met his shining blue eyes, my 6 year old self took note of the fact that they had matched my beloved jelly shoes. "Here you go!" I chimed, putting the car back into the comedically full box.

"Thank you!" He beamed as his smile grew.

"Do you collect these?"

"Oh um I have a couple, I think adults might enjoy giving them to me more than I enjoy collecting them."

"My name is y/n by the way. I live in that red house over there." I declared pointing towards the only house I had ever known.

"Nice! My name is Owen."

"Do you need any help with the boxes?"

"Oh I think my parents and I will be fine. Thank you though."

I watched as he walked towards the front door that had been agape during our whole conversation, the curls of his black hair bouncing with each step. My parents had been talking with his parents. Little did I know our parents friendship would grow with the years causing us to see each other quite a lot. We didn't grow to be incredibly close friends like the twins, Lee, and I but we still formed a close bond. Visiting the cabin during winter vacation and building snowmen in the front yard, learning to ride our bikes together, and even running our own lemonade stand the summer of third grade. We had begun to drift apart after I enrolled at Hogwarts.

We didn't share with him and his family that I was witch, they wouldn't be able to understand and nevertheless I wasn't allowed to use magic in front of them. My parents came up with a story that they had enrolled me in this completely different boarding school in Scotland in order to coverup my wizarding education. However, when I came back over the summer this year Owen wasn't the flustered boy that I had met. He had sprouted into a 6'3 young man, which I couldn't help but note was the same height as Fred. He had joined the rugby team at the local secondary school and it seems as though the freckles he sported all those years ago had doubled. I had spent time with the Weasley's over the summer but due to Angelina and Fred's connection I spent a lot of time with Owen. 

It didn't take long for Owen to confess his feelings. He was much more of a direct person than I was, he enjoyed being straight to the point. I hadn't suspected that he had feelings for me but I didn't want to ignore the exceptional times we spent together. I still frown at the way that I was able to run into this relationship despite my unruly feelings for Fred but the month of June had left me in a fragile state. Owen was kind and particular, he never let an ounce of summer go to waste.