Except For You ~ {Fred Weasley}

Chapter 28

I feel y/n relax her shoulders once we get back to the warm of the castle, loosening her grip on her sleeves. Del comes up next to her and smirks knowingly, her eyes flickering to my hand. y/n scowls at her, batting her away.
Del slips the camera from y/n's hand, flicking through the pictures. Her smirk grows and she shows y/n the one I took secretly.
"Yeah, I know, I was there," she mumbles, trying to snatch the camera from Del but she holds it out of her reach.
"Did you kiss?"
"Unfortunately not," I answer for y/n, grinning lopsidedly.
"Oh my word, you're both acting like you don't know I can't date until I'm sixteen!" She complains, and I throw my head back in laughter.

Cedric shows up in front of us, walking backwards. "Hufflepuff is having an after party. You all coming?" George and I nod, so y/n and Del follow us.
"Wait, I'm still in Slytherin colours," Del says, looking down at her outfit.
"Don't worry." y/n takes out her wand and waves it, saying a simple charm, instantly changing the colour of her clothes into yellow and black.
"Oh so now you know transfiguration spells?" Cedric teases, and I see her flush.
"Hey, she couldn't pass up a comfy hoodie from her boyfriend, could she?" I joke.
"For the last time, we're not dating!" She exclaims, stomping her foot cutely.
"We know, we know, we're just playing." I dip my head and whisper into her ear, "Plus we all know you want to date me over Cedric."
She scoffs, rolling her eyes. "I have never said I wanted to date either of you." y/n and Cedric exchange a look. "I've only ever said I like both of you," she adds, as if it's no big deal.
But it's not. Not to me at least. She finally admitted that she likes me. To my face.
"I guess now it's who can kiss her first on April eleventh," I say instead, smirking.
"Oh-ho, you think I'll be that easy to kiss?" She asks, following Cedric through the Hufflepuff-barrel tunnel.
"You aren't?" I ask, feigning surprise.
"No!" She scoffs. "My first kiss has to be magical. And not a 'spur-of-the-moment' kinda thing."
"Well, I'll definitely find something magical for you Miss Salty." I grin cheekily, and Cedric is somehow keeping a straight face while watching us. "Although, kissing me will be magical anyways," I whisper in her ear so Cedric can't hear, and she rolls her eyes.
"Oh come off it." She mutters, pushing me away and accidentally tripping into Cedric's arms.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, thanks." She straightens, glancing over at me as I watch her with a smirk. I stick my tongue out at her and she returns the face, making me laugh and shake my head.

I watch Cedric as he walks around with y/n, introducing her to his friends. Half of them start looking very confused after a moment. Judging by the points to the hoodie, I guess that they don't believe they aren't a couple.
They walk away from their friends, leaning on each and laughing, making me feel like I'm going to explode out of jealousy. I walk up to them, sick of drinking this badly-spiked punch.
"Woah, are you two drunk already?" I say behind them, and they turn.
"There isn't any alcohol at this party Gideon."
"Oh. Oops."
"What did you do?" y/n exclaims, making me smirk.
"A few things," I chuckle.
She quirks an eyebrow. "Anything illegal?"
"Pushing the limits."
She looks at me sceptically. "Fine." She turns back to Cedric, talking to him about something.
I walk past her and whisper into her ear, "Kidding. I'm way better at spiking punch than whoever already has." I watch pink rise to her cheeks at our closeness, but she continues talking to Cedric like nothing happened. I chuckle and move away, trying to find George.

When I find him, he's snogging Del, so I turn on my heel and head back through the crowd. Quickly spotting Cedric's tall frame, I make my way over, hoping y/n is still with him.
Thankfully, I was right.
"You don't mind if I steal her, do you?" I ask, a hand on her waist, pulling her close to me. Cedric looks at y/n, then shrugs.
"She looks cool with it," he answers, his hands in his pockets.
I lead y/n away from him and too the dance floor. I feel her trying to walk backward.
"What's wrong?" Turing to face her, her head drops, her hair hanging forward.
"I'm bad at dancing," she mumbles, looking at her feet.
"I don't think I believe you." I smirk, continuing to lead her to the dance floor.
"No, no, no. Mr Trouble!" She groans when we reach it and I don't let her leave.
"It'll be fun!"
"It's not fun when it's embarrassing!" She hisses, hugging her sleeves tight. I take her hands and pull her toward me.
"Don't worry! They have good songs here! Remember the night of the party?"
"That was so embarrassing!" She puts her face in her hands. I take them again.
"Actually, everyone loved you."
"It was still embarrassing."
"Okay, well... Just close your eyes and pretend your home alone." She looks at me for a moment.
"You have to close your eyes too."
I laugh, then nod. "Okay, I'll close my eyes too."
She nods and closes her eyes, so I close mine too. The song changes to a much more upbeat one, and I feel y/n tapping her foot.

After a minute it gets to the chorus and y/n moves closer to me, her hands on my shoulders and she leans up to whisper in my ear.
"This is a muggle song!" She whispers excitedly.
"Good?"
"I know the lyrics! I like dancing when I actually know the lyrics."
"Good!" I correct my tone, and she pulls away, her hands dragging down my arms until she finds my hands. I grab hold and she squeezes back, making me smile.
"You can open your eyes if you want," she says, tugging on my right hand. I open them and see she already has her eyes open.
"Did you cheat?" I ask.
"Whaat?" She says in an obvious lie. "I would never!"
I chuckle, pulling her close then spinning her. "Sure."
"I feel bad," she says when we connect both hands again.
"What? We're at a victory party! How could you possibly feel bad?"
"I hate that we left Cedric alone." She frowns, looking to her right.
"Nah, he has a bunch of friends."
"Yeah, I guess." She looks back at me. "So... How's life?" She asks awkwardly. I throw my head back and laugh. "What, no snarky remarks?" She smirks.
"I was getting there."
"Oh, were you now?"
"Always!"
"I'll trust you this one time," she responds.
"You should trust me always!"
"Ah, I don't know about that yet."
"Look, if I'm going to be your future boyfriend-"
"I never said-"
"We all know it was going to be me! Anyways, you have to trust me!"
She laughs.
"I have to trust the person who dropped a water balloon on my head?"
"You said I made that up to you!" I exclaim.
"You did. But I know you still feel bad. So I'm using it as black mail."
"Oh, you little..." I pull her in closer to me from the side, ruffling her hair and making her laugh. She beats my hand away.
"Gideon!" She screams when I start tickling her. I stop tickling her and she takes a few deep breaths, then whacks me in the arm. "Are you trying to kill me?"
"Before I get to kiss you? Not yet Miss Salty."
"Yet? So you intend on killing me?" She asks, smirking.
"Maybe. You're too hot for this world." I smirk as I watch her face flush, and she looks down at her hands. "What, no snarky remarks?" I ask, smirking.
Within a second, y/n's arms are around my neck. My hands find her lower back and I pull her in, hugging her tight. "What's this for?" I breathe, feeling like the entire world has blurred, even sounds and smells.
All I could hear was the beating of my heart and her breathing softly, the smell of y/n's lavender and coconut hair filled my senses.
"It's for genuinely meaning a compliment," she whispers back.
"I mean all of them," I answer, stunned that she didn't think I did.
"Thanks."