Just Another Boy - Fred Weasley

6. Soaked

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After her moment with Fred at the mall, Sofia and him had gone back to normal the moment they reached the Burrow. Sofia justified it as Fred's fault for pretending to lose her purse, then annoyingly revealing he was just sitting on it the entire time. He broke a lipgloss and it spilled all over the interior. She was mad and she did not hide it, glaring at him through all of dinner, and ignoring all of his attempts to laugh it off. There would be no laughing this off until she got the raspberry scent out of her purse. Sofia was rather good at holding grudges, and she planned to make this one last.

She wasn't sure what compelled her to be so soft toward Fred at the mall. Maybe it was the childlike wonder on his face that warmed her heart. But once they'd left, he was the same old Fred, full of trouble and an irritating personality. Fred wasn't so bad, but Sofia really liked that lipgloss. And hey, she'd known the lipgloss for two months, that's weeks more than she'd known Fred.

It had now been a week and a half since her arrival. She'd spent a lot of time with her friends, especially after accusing them of ditching her at the mall to have mini dates. They felt bad and cleaned up their act. Today, Mrs. Weasley had asked if they could help her in the garden. She'd been so busy the last week that she forgot to harvest everything and needed help to get it done quicker. Ron complained, but Sofia, Harry, and Hermione were happy to help. It was the least they could do to thank the woman for cooking them meals all week.

Sofia was carrying a basket toward two apple trees that Molly told her should be ripe enough to pick. Hermione was picking tomatoes with Ron, and Molly had Harry cutting herbs. When Sofia reached the tree, she began inspecting the apples, then picking the ones that were ready. It didn't take too long and was really quite simple. The tougher part of the job was getting the ones up high. She managed most of them, which were easy to reach when jumping, or shaking the branch. But the last one, the one she'd avoided the entire time since she knew wouldn't be able to reach it, wouldn't budge. Sofia looked around for a branch but couldn't find anything. She looked back up at the apple.

Attempting to not look like a total goof, Sofia stretched her arm as far as she could, and jumped slightly. Her fingers only grasped it and she groaned. "Ron, can you-,"

A pair of large arms reached over her head and yanked the apple down effortlessly. Fred spun around her figure, with his hand on her waist, and stopped in front her. He smiled naughtily at her. "Need a stepping stool, Sparky?" he teased her, and continued walking by her, biting into the apple, his eyes never leaving hers until she whipped her head the other way.

Sofia brought the apples inside and left them on the counter. Ginny, who had also finished outside, was sitting on the sofa with a book. Sofia walked over and sat next to her, roughly throwing her body down. Closing her book, Ginny smiled impishly at her. "What?" Sofia laughed.

"What's going on with you and my brother?" she asked without missing a beat.

"Me and Ron? Nothing, he's my friend," Sofia said, knowing very well that Ron was not who she meant.

Ginny gave Sofia a look of disbelief. "I'm not talking about Ron, Sofia. Fred."

"What're you talking about?" Sofia scoffed and shifted her glance to the window. "I barely know him."

"He's always flirting with you," Ginny said. "And he's always following you around. He's never wanted to spend this much time with those three until you came along."