Just Another Boy - Fred Weasley

2. Pretty

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Fred slept in on Sunday until about two o'clock. It was about the only day this week that his mother hadn't woke him up. Curious as to why she so graciously let him sleep, Fred headed downstairs to see Molly in a cooking frenzy, while his dad sat reading the Daily Prophet on the sofa. Fred scratched his head and looked outside, where George was playing quidditch with Ron and Harry. Hermione was reading a book under a tree, occasionally glancing up to watch. Fred grabbed leftover pancakes from the refrigerator and sat down, waiting for his mother to shriek about it being two in the afternoon, but she carried on. Fred didn't know what enchantment had taken over her, but he hoped it stayed.

To test his mother's enchantment, Fred finished his breakfast and left the plate on the counter without washing it. He slowly backed away, body tense and preparing for Molly to absolutely lose it. But she never did. Fred rose his eyebrows and grinned. Today was his day. He changed out of his pajamas and into his clothes, then went outside to see what George was up to with the other three. Things were as they were before, but Hermione seemed to be talking with the guys now, and by the looks of their faces, saying something smart they didn't care to listen to.

"Morning!" Fred called out to them, strolling up with his hands in his pockets.

George floated in his broom and looked down at Fred. "Just woke up, did you?" he asked him.

"I'm surprised too," Fred said. George lowered his broom to the ground, and Ron and Harry followed. They fell into a circle and Hermione ran over to join them. "What's got her acting so crazy anyway?"

Ron smiled. "She's nervous about meeting someone new, and wants to have impressive cooking," he said.

"Right..." Fred trailed off and squinted at Ron. "Who's new?"

George playfully smacked Fred in the chest. "Sofia's back from France, you dim-wit."

"Yeah, I told you that months ago," Ron said and scoffed.

Fred never remembered anything that wasn't very important. "Who?" he asked.

Hermione interjected. "Serafina. She was in Ravenclaw, remember?"

"Ohh," Fred said and raised his head. "She's coming here?"

"Yeah," Harry said. "She came back to Hogwarts in the middle of the school year and we caught up."

"Why's she going by Sofia now?" Fred twisted his face, furrowing his eyebrows.

Hermione winced. Ron and Harry lowered their heads slightly. "Don't worry about it," Ron told him, shaking his head.

Fred shrugged it off and grabbed an extra broom from the shed, joining the game. He could barely remember what Serafina- or Sofia- looked like. He remembered messy brown hair that was almost always in a lopsided bun, a round baby-face, and her nose was always buried so far in a book that he was confident she couldn't possibly be reading it. She'd always looked more like she was hiding, than reading. They'd never talked much. He'd tried a few times, but she was typically unresponsive, so eventually he ignored her back. He wasn't mad, he assumed she just didn't care. It did sting a bit when she was friendly enough with George, though.

Fred spent the rest of the day relaxing, doing whatever he felt like doing, since Molly was so busy, and Arthur was doing whatever it was he was doing. However, Molly stopped cooking at some point and that's when she screamed Fred and George's names to get inside immediately. The peace had been a wonderful experience while it lasted. Reluctantly, they went inside and faced their mother, who ordered them to clean the bathroom, and tidy up Bill and Charlie's room for Sofia.