Just A Bet ● Fred Weasley × Reader ●

41 - Five Stages of Grief (Love) - Acceptance

New Year's Eve. The night where everyone stays up until midnight to celebrate the beginning of the new year with their loved ones, sharing a kiss when the clock strikes twelve. 

 Remus and Sirius had been off on a mission, an order by The Order, but they were back for new years. Bill invited Fleur, who had her hands on his biceps and was smiling with more love in her eyes than what I had the capacity for. Ginny told me she wanted to try shooting her shot with Harry, good for her. Molly and Arthur were beside one another, Charlie was back in Romania, Percy had to take up a shift at the ministry, Ron and Hermione stood awkwardly beside each other. I could smell the tension. 

George was confidently by himself.

"Alright! Let us begin the countdown!" Molly cheered and everyone followed. 

"Ten!" 

Fred came up beside me.

"Nine!" 

"You excited for the new year?" He asked. 

I replied with a shrug. "Last half-year at Hogwarts."

"Eight!" 

"True. So... no date for the kiss, eh?" 

I crossed my arms, giving him an incredulous look. "Oh, don't sound so full of yourself, Fred. You don't have a date either."

He dismissed what I said with a smirk. "Yeah?"

"Seven!"

I dragged my eyes to the enchanted fireworks Fred and George had set up not too long ago. No muggles could see them. We were in a chilly field far from any muggle town or city. "Yep." 

"Six!" 

"Well, what if I told you I had a date by the end of tonight?" he said. 

"Five!" 

I stared at him. My heart plummeted to sit on my lungs. "Who?" 

"Four!" 

His smirk turned into a full-blown grin. "No one. I'm joking." 

"Three!" 

Relief hit me like a brick, but I ignored it the best I could. "Don't joke like that, Fred."

"Two!"

"Why not?" He leaned over until he was eye-level, which was a little too close, but also not close enough...

"Because I don't like it." 

"One! Happy New Year!' 

"Then you're just going to have to deal with it." His hand grabbed me by the waist, pulled me close, then his lips were on mine in a matter of seconds. 

At first, he didn't move, as if waiting for me to give the go-ahead. But Merlin, he got the go-ahead when I accepted the fact that I was in love with him months ago on the train. My hands trailed up his body, finding their way to his jaw, then moving around his neck. His one hand held me by the back, effectively keeping me from collapsing. The other cupped the back of my head, keeping me in a proximity that I was more than okay with. 

If you were to ask me at the beginning of year six if I would have enjoyed his lips moving on mine, I would have screamed and threw up, but now, now I realize just how dimwitted I was back then.

The world around us disappeared. The banging of the fireworks dimmed, people's cheers muffled. It was as if the clock stopped ticking, leaving only Fred and I in the silent complexity of time slowed to an impossible pace.

Then he pulled away, panting, cheeks flushed, lips just the slightest bit pinker than before, hair deliciously disheveled. 

"I guess I have a date now," he said through sharp breaths. 

I licked my lips before responding. His eyes tracked the movement, pupils blown. "I guess so." 

The moment was shaken when George whistled a cat-call, grinning at his twin and I. Actually, everyone was grinning at us. 

"Finally!" Ginny groaned out. "We have been waiting for this moment for foreverrrr!" 

If my cheeks could get any darker, they just did. 

Ron grumbled something about an 'insufferable arse,' and tossed George a galleon. 

Fred turned back to me, ignoring his gawking family. "Speaking of galleons." He reached into a satchel he had on and handed me the one hundred galleons I had given him on Christmas. "I definitely lost the bet before you." 

I stared at the sack of money. "What?" 

"y/n, I lost the bet long before it was even made. Maybe not the friend part, but I definitely lost the bet." 

"How? The bet was friendship."

"And I skipped past wanting to be our friend."

My breath caught. Skipped? What did he mean 'skipped?'

"y/n." He hooked a finger under my chin and force me to look into his captivating brown eyes. "I may have seemed like a total dick during our entire time at Hogwarts, but I never did it because I hated you. I did it because, if I didn't, I'd slip up around you. And I have. A lot. But Love, this was never just a bet to me. And..." 

He went silent, letting me sit in apprehension. He seemed to enjoy it though. I was growing frustrated. 

"Spit it out," I demanded. 

He took his hand in mine. "I would be honored, if I could be your boyfriend." 

I stopped breathing all together, but then I did breathe and said the first thing that came to mind.

"Yes."

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A/N - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! I am so happy, you don't even know! Screaming, kicking, giggling like a little girl on Christmas morning! 

This journey has been so incredible and I am so happy that I got to share the love story of Fred and y/n! Thank you so much for reading! 

I'll see you in the next fic,Darlings! Xxx