More than friends (Fred Weasley x Reader)

~19~

The dress my mother had sent me was the most amazing gift I had received in years. Especially after being a muggleborn American who had moved to Britain before I could experience a muggle middle school or high school. Therefore, I never thought I would be able to go to a school dance. I remember a night I spent at the Weasley's with Hermione where we had shown all of the Weasley kids a ton of classic muggle romcoms. A couple of them didn't get it but Ginny was enthralled by the music and the sense of community that the movies portrayed. Fred wasn't shy to express how interesting he found the concept, he enjoyed the corsages and the dancing, but mostly took note of the characters who spiked the punch bowl.

I had always dreamed of arriving to a school dance with Fred on my arm. Our arms twined together as I rub my thumb across his blazer adorned arms. The way he would settle his hair and coordinate my corsage and his boutonniere to have matching marigold flowers. Being able to adjust his tie as our moms watched in awe, cameras in hand.

Despite how unruly Fred was on the outside I knew he had a very good attention to detail. That's why all of their pranks have been so successful, how he arranged the perfect timing to get into Snape's classroom without getting caught. How when he and George pranked Ron and changed the color of his hair he chose green because it would be particularly shocking. How he plants secret tricks in the most beloved treats of the Ravenclaw students in order to get a good laugh.

I really missed him. I am so angry at him but his absence is more difficult than I thought it would be. I still can't believe he asked Angelina to the ball, especially after Hermione and Ginny had clearly stated that he had chose me. I know he doesn't like Cedric, it was especially clear after their fight but he also needed to grow up and accept the fact that I can have other guy friends.

I realized this reminiscing had been distracting me from my divination book. I've noticed that once some of the run on tangents on omens and crystal balls had started it would make it harder to focus. It was right when I finally started to feed into my fire-omen notes that I had overheard a conversation coming from two Slytherin students.

"Have you heard about Fred Weasley and Angelina Johnson?" The first Slytherin student asked.

"Merlin's beard isn't it what everyone has been talking about?" The second student answered.

"He's looked miserable for months, it's really weird. The last stunt him and his twin pulled was that whole fiasco with the age line."

"He even looks miserable around Angelina, I wonder why, he's the one who asked her to the ball."

"Yeah but did you notice how that one Gryffindor girl stormed out right after, it seems connected."

"I don't know, the twins just don't really seem the same right now."

I never really thought that I would be able to overhear gossip about my own circle but it really hit me. Fred has been off for a while. I haven't really known how to talk to him recently, we haven't seen each other in a couple days. With the ball coming this week Angelina has been pulling him every which way in order to get him prepared. George, Lee, and I have been hanging out a lot with the other Gryffindors though, especially with the holiday season being here we've been having a lot of fun decorating our dorms to make it feel a bit more jolly.

 That's the only downside with the ball, since it is set for Christmas Eve we haven't been able to return home like we usually do during this time of year. Luckily, after the ball Dumbledore has prepared the train station to send students back home the morning after if they wish to see their parents for the remainder of winter break. Before the huge fiasco that has been our sixth year, the Weasleys and my family had arranged for the Weasleys to stay at my family's house for the remainder of the break. The twins had visited our house a couple times over separate breaks but they have never stayed for longer than a hangout. Usually if we have stayed anywhere it's been the burrow given the amount of space it has. I just hope everything goes okay after the ball.