Just A Bet ● Fred Weasley × Reader ●

25 - Five Stages of Grief (Love) - Depression Pt.2

"Come oooooon!" Lee tugged my arm, trying to get me to go to Hogsmeade with him and George. "It'll be fuuuuun!" He tugged harder, pretty much using my weight to keep him stood. If I let go, he'd fall flat on his arse and I would cackle.

"I'm not third-wheeling you and Georgie!" I chuckled. He can't seriously want me to third-wheel. Those two were already awkward when out within a three foot radius of one another. Add a mopey teenage girl, and you get the whole package.

His dark face turned a deep pink. "Ah- uh- erm- what? W-who said anything about you being a tag? We're..." He paused. "Eh... just friends! Yep! ...yep." His nervousness sold me. There was no way he was hiding his crush for this long, and George was completely oblivious. Lee was so obvious!

"Sure~" I nudge him and wink.

"Shove off, l/n!"

"Am I wrong, though?!"

"I- well-"

"Exactly!" I shove him. It hadn't gone over my head that everyone had been trying to cheer me up these past few days. With Fred and Angelina having made it to second base - kissing and gand-holding in public - my mood had lessened by a lot. Too much, I'd say. Gettin up was hard, the want to go to virtually any class was gone because I basically shared all of them with Fred.

And clearly, the others noticed. But I tried not to let any of it get to me. Fred was allowed to be happy. I wasn't, I guess, but that's beside the point. The real point is that I shouldn't let someone else get me down because that will, in turn, affect everyone around me.

"Whatever!" Lee tugged on one of my braids. I had gotten into the habit of wearing them more. They honestly suit me more now than they did in my first year.

"Okay! Okay!" I pry his hand off my hair. "Let's go."

His hand dropped immediately, a smile spreading across his face. "Yay!" He grabbed my wrist and practically dragged me all the way to Hogsmeade, managing to find George along the way.

George was dressed casually. With it getting warmer out, winter jackets turned to jumpers. Thank goodness. I wasn't sure I'd be able to withstand any more cold. I'm moving to Italy... That's a lie. I love it here and wouldn't change it for the world.

"Hey, Munch." George grinned as we approached, standing between Lee and I, but I don't fail to notice how he stands just a bit closer to Lee.

And then I hear the laughter. It's the same laugh that's plagued my dreams for months now. The laugh I can't seem to shake from my mind... His... Fred's...

Maybe ten meters away, he was in the grass, laughing at something under him, then I saw Angelina smiling with him. Oh... He was laughing at her... And the look in his eyes... Like he could love her for all eternity.

●Fred's POV●

I laughed at something Angelina said, but it felt too forced for it to be real. Because it wasn't. It wasn't real. Never was. Never will be. She can't be the one I love if I already love someone else.

y/n...

Angelina takes a quick glance behind me, but I don't bother to check. Probably a squirrel or something. Her face falls as her eyes meet mine.

"I need to talk to you..." Her voice switched, going  from joyous to serious in seconds.

My heart plummeted, sitting on my lungs, crushing them with its already hefty weight.

"... Yeah?"

"I..." She began, but then her lips pursed, like she couldn't finish the whole sentence. "Remember when I said I love you last month?"

I remembered that day clearly. It was abrupt and welcome in an uncomfortable way that screamed 'friends.' "Yes?" I ponder. Why would she be bringing this up now?

She took a heavy breath, looking away as she manuvered out of my grip, sitting on her own. "It was... a lie."

Now my heart thumps. Not with excitement, but dread. She was lying when she said she loved me? I mean, that's fine, but her feelings were never genuine? My mind looped on itself like a broken record. She couldn't be serious... Could she? Then again, the was always relatively serious in situations where feelings came into play.

"I only kissed you on the night of the Yule Ball because I thought that if I did, you'd finally realize that you actually love y/n instead... I didn't realize you ever actually felt anything for me like that, and I'm sorry for letting this go for so long without you knowing that my feelings weren't real."

Saying that my heart soared would be incredibly rude, so I think it. I feel it. The weight is lifted.

"But I thought actually liked me." I almost joke, but refrain.

"What? No. Wait, you don't like me either?"

I finally laugh. "No! You're just a friend."

"Oh, thank Merlin!"

We both burst into our own fits of laughter.

"Seriously, though. I think you actually helped me realize something," I say.

"Like what?" Her head cocks to the side.

"That I love y/n."

"Good! Now earn her back."

That's when reality smacked me in the face. I don't have y/n... She despises me, and for some reason, me dating Ange made that worse. I just lost Ange as my distraction - and I mean that in the nicest way possible because if I didn't have her by my side, I probably wouldn't make it through the year - and I also lost the only girl I've ever truly wanted months ago...

Now I only had weeks before the school year ends, and she returns to her awful mother, a sour heart in her chest. A heart too warm to ever experience the cold.

"My advice? Tell. Her." Angelina's hand met my shoulder, patting gently while I was lost in my case of existential dread.

"I can't."

"Why? You just told me your feelings for her."

"It's different. The woman hates me! And it's deserved, obviously, but I can't just..." My voice trailed off, my mind coming up with every possible scenario for what would happen if I ever confessed to y/n, and none of them led to a good outcome...

"You can, though."

"I know. And that makes it worse. I'm a coward."

"I can't argue with you there..."

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A/N - Hehe! As promised, dawling ;)

Until next time, darlings! Xxx