Golden Boy

21. Nightmare

That evening, after her extremely eventful day, Camellia was humming in the shower as she washed her hair when she heard the bathroom door open.

She peeked around the shower curtain only to see Fred softly closing the door and turning around to beam at her. "Zina just left, she looked furious," he said, and Camellia smiled. "I need to shower, too... mind if I join you?"

She nodded, and after undressing, Fred stepped into the shower with her. They talked quietly as they washed each other's hair and body, both completely blissful and wonderfully exhausted from before. Camellia couldn't get over how powerful she'd felt when she'd put Zina in her place, and how it couldn't have happened any better. After that, there was no way she'd be bothering her or Fred anymore if she didn't want to get hexed on the spot.

Fred's dominance and aggression with her before had also boosted Camellia's confidence in their relationship- seeing how angry he'd gotten just from Adrian flirting with her gave her butterflies, and it ensured her even further of how much he really cared about her. All of that, plus the general excitement of re-opening day, had left Camellia achy and ready for a good night's sleep.

However, that good night's sleep wouldn't be coming for a while, as a few minutes after Fred and Camellia had finished showering, the two couples had come back from their double-date.

Camellia was sitting on Fred's lap in the loveseat playing with his hair when Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione came through the front door. They were chatting and laughing loudly, looking like they'd had the best time.

"Hey, guys," Camellia said, smiling at her four friends. "How was the date?"

"Totally incredible!" Ginny said excitedly. "Why haven't we gone to a Muggle movie theatre before?
I loved it!"

Harry beamed at her as she spoke, and Ron seemed just as thrilled and baffled by the cinema as his sister. He was vividly recounting a scene from the movie to no one in particular, but Hermione was listening and laughing with him anyway.

"What did you see?" Fred asked.

"Charlie's Angels," said Harry, still grinning at his girlfriend's glee. "Apparently these two loved it-Ron particularly liked Cameron Diaz."

Ron scoffed. "Well, she's bloody gorgeous! You saw her! Right, Hermione?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and blushed, smiling in her agreement. The four continued to tell Fred, George and Camellia about their date in detail, the two Weasleys explaining their understanding of a projector to the best of their abilities. Frankly, it was adorable.

But eventually, it was Fred, George, and Camellia's turn to talk about their day- and there was certainly a lot to talk about there.

"Are you joking?" Ron gasped. "Pucey actually came by?"

"Yeah, he did," Fred said, the mere memory irritating him. "Prick wouldn't leave Cam alone. I had half a mind to drag him out to the street and deal with him right then and there."

"I'm glad you didn't," Camellia said reassuringly.
"Not that it wouldn't have been the fight of the century, but it would have definitely looked bad for the shop."

Fred grinned at her. Camellia wanted to go on and tell the group about her victory over Zina, but with George in the room, she decided against it. She'd tell Ginny and Hermione later.

The moon had risen already, and the sky was a beautiful deep blue. Had they been at the Burrow, the night might had been dotted with a million stars, but as the London skyline shone brightly outside the window, not a star was to be seen.

The seven friends continued in laughter and conversation, until a small hoot announced the arrival of Errol at the open window carrying a letter, along with the Weasleys' shop owl, Leticia, the latter carrying a dead mouse.