MISCHIEF MANAGED// FRED WEASLEY X READER

36. Malfoy Poses a Question

After that Yule Ball nonsense in Transfiguration, Fred was definitely acting different. Not different in a good way. He avoided eye contact at dinner, which made things exceedingly awkward. Not only that, but he didn't once ask me to pass any food, nor did he use the nickname that was starting to grow on me. 

"Y/N." 

I looked up. It was George speaking to me, rather than the twin I'd hoped. Nevermind that, though. "Don't you have remedial potions tonight?" 

"Yeah. Unfortunately." 

"Remedial potions again?" Hermione, who sat on my other side, gave me a blithering look of pity. "Snape wants you to practice terribly often, doesn't he?" 

"I didn't know your grades were that awful?" Harry piped in. "If anyone should be taking remedial potions, it's Ron." 

"Oi!" Ron protested. 

Just then, a loud hoot came from the other side of the room. "HEY! POTTER!" 

The sound of Draco Malfoy's voice was the last that I'd hoped to be hearing on this awful, unforgiving evening. It came from the Slytherin table, where he had stood up on the bench. 

"Care to go to the Yule Ball with me?" 

It was unfortunate (for him), that he'd made this show of affairs so public, seeing as he must've known he was about to get rejected in front of the entire school. 

Hogwarts had gone quite silent, and the entirety of the school seemed to be staring at me. I could feel Fred's eyes on me like a ticking time bomb. My face continued to heat up, like the surface of the sun had suddenly attached itself to my cheeks. 

Fred's expression turned into disbelief when I still hadn't said anything, and in a usual dramatic fashion, he stood from the table, and promptly left the room. 

"That's quite enough!" Professor McGonagall's voice was magically amplified, and her imperious  scolding echoed across the Great Hall. 

Amidst the gasps and the 'oohs' and 'aaahs', I puzzled over my lack of comeback towards Malfoy, who had now sat back down and resumed his dinner. 

"Were you...were you going to say yes?" Hermione asked, slightly breathless. That thought, which I'd thought to have only crossed Fred's mind, was apparently burdening others' minds too. 

"No, of course not." I angrily shovelled peas into my mouth. "Why would you think that?" 

Harry was looking at me with utmost concern. 

"Y/N isn't going to take Draco Malfoy to the ball, right?" 

"Obviously not, she's courting Fred Weasley?" 

"I thought she was with Cedric Diggory." 

"This chicken is delicious..." 

"I wonder what's going on with Y/N? She's been so secretive recently." 

"Y/N is obviously too stressed out by the Golden Egg." 

"Y/N HAS to go to the ball with Cedric Diggory!" 

"Enough!" I stood up, grasping my head as if it were to fall off my neck. My outburst only caused slight unrest amongst the Gryffindor table. 

"Are you alright?" Hermione asked, apprehensive. 

"I'm--" I paused. "I'm--going to see--going to talk to--" I grabbed a chunk of bread. "I'm going to talk to Snape." 

"Snape?" Everyone chorused.