Novus Orbis | Fred Weasley x Insert | ON HIATUS

Chapter 16 - The Quidditch World Cup

The evening comes quickly, and after they're done eating dinner, the twins pull out their face paint to eagerly ask Y/n if they would 'paint it like the emerald hills of Ireland'. Laughing, she indulges them, sitting them down and getting to work.

"Stop moving, Freddie," she tuts, as she dips her thumb in the green and dabs his nose again. "You're going to mess it all up."

He laughs loudly, cheeks unnoticeably pink at the nickname, but tries to stay still, sending quips at the girl here and there until she's finished.

"You're next, George." Scooting her stool over, Y/n switches back to her other hand to begin the base paint of white.

Making quick work of it, she gets up and goes over to wash her hands in the basin.

"All done," she says, "don't touch your faces if you can."

The twins compliment her on her work, thank her, and admire each other's faces. Fred picks up the green face paint and looks at George, nodding his head towards where Y/n is scrubbing her hands, back facing them. They grin evilly, and as soon as she's done they grab her and wrestle her down into a chair.

"No, guys! Stop it!" She screams, kicking to no avail as Fred straddles her waist, his weight keeping her down while George holds her arms firmly (but without hurting her). "What're you doing?!"

"You've got to get into the spirit of it, love!" Fred laughs, dipping his finger in the white. "Stay still unless you want this to smear all over your face."

Struggling a moment more, Y/n gives in with a heavy sigh and thumps her head back on the wood, closing her eyes. She feels Fred's digit brush lightly against her cheek, the cold paint making her skin tingle. He doesn't do her whole face, simply something a little below her right eye. His finger goes away, and she swallows in anticipation before another finger comes back and brushes over the same place again. She can feel him sit back, George lets go of her wrists, and she opens her eyes to gaze up at the ceiling high above her.

"All done," Fred says, and he winks at her. "Go look in the mirror."

He stands up off her, holding out his hands for her to grab. She does, and he pulls her to her feet. Walking over to the full-length mirror propped up in the girls' corner, she reaches a hand up to touch her face just under where the paint is, admiring Fred's work.

There's a small strip of white, and in the middle he's planted a small, simple, green shamrock. Her face breaks into a smile and she turns around to where he and George wait by the table with grins.

"This is brilliant!" She compliments. "Thank you."

"Alright! Time to go!" Arthur says, sticking his head inside the tent a moment later. "Come on!"

-

They trudge to the stadium behind Arthur, cold wind whipping around them and causing them to rub their hands together and cup them to their mouths to breathe hot air into them—excited nonetheless.

"Seats a hundred thousand," Mr. Weasley is saying to Harry. "Ministry task force of five hundred have been working on it all year. Muggle repelling charms on every inch of it. Every time Muggles have got anywhere near here all year, they've suddenly remembered urgent appointments and had to dash away again...bless them," he adds.

"Prime seats!" Says the Ministry witch checking their tickets. "Top Box! Straight upstairs, Arthur, and high as you can go."

Looking down at the ground, Y/n sees that the stairs into the stadium are carpeted in a rich purple. They clamber up the stairs, flights and flights and more flights to the top, gasping for air all the way. They finally reach their seats, a small box set at the highest point in the stadium and set exactly halfway between the golden goal posts. Roughly twenty purple-and-gilt chairs stand in two rows, and as they file in, Y/n can't help but smile at the incredible view. So far, the box seems to be empty except for them, until she hears Harry call out a name.