Absolutely Smitten - Fred Weasley

Two

When Violet had first started at Hogwarts it was needless to say that she was ecstatic, she was one of few children who could send a letter back claiming to be in any house and still be welcomed home the next holiday. When the wrinkled hat yelled the word 'Hufflepuff', after just seconds of sitting on her head, an overwhelming joy kicked in as she sat herself at the same table her late mother had sat at many years before. It was at that table she met Anju.

Anju Veer was a bubbly, outgoing eleven year old girl when they first met, and the silver haired metamorphmagus still possessed those traits as she walked down the cobbled paths of Diagon Alley beside Violet.

"Well, your summer sounds much more exciting than mine so far," Anju's lip curled slightly, "Does reading another romance novel count as falling in love?"

Violet snorted, quickly lifting her hand to cover her mouth, before dragging it back to her side. "I haven't fallen in love. Merlin, calm down."

"I think I remember what he looks like from that amazing prank on Umbridge last year," she grinned.

"Don't even think about it, Anj-" Violet started, but the girl before had already started to change.

Violet had watched her transform many times, but every time she couldn't stop staring with wonder. It was like all the features on Anju's face were melting and regrowing into some one else's. This time, her hair grew back into her head like it was being sucked in, turning ginger. Her dark skin became pale and dotted with freckles, her lilac dress replaced with ruffled hogwarts robes.

"He's not a student anymo-"

"I know, but this is the last thing I saw him wearing," Anju said before Violet could correct her.

"Okay, but it's still a little off," the nit-picker scrunched her nose, "He's a lot taller, and his hair is a darker red-"

Anju smirked as her appearance molded back into it's usual self, "You've got quite a vivid memory of him, hm."

"It's not like that, I'm just good at remembering faces," she shrugged.

"Well then, clearly my memory needs to be refreshed..."

"I don't want to go in there."

"Yeah you do," Anju tugged on Violet's arm despite her protests. "You just need an excuse to, and your best friend dragging you in is a perfectly reasonable one."

Violet's eyes searched the sky like it would give her something to argue back, but eased up at the same time. Slowly, she began walking, almost unaware of her movement as if she didn't need to be pulled. Part of her knew that Anju was right, of course she wanted to see Fred again, but that didn't mean she was ever going to. Until now.

An energetic buzz emitted from the open doors of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes as an abundance of children hustled through the towering shelves of magical pranking devices. Bursts of colour gushed from every surface like it could not be contained inside the stacks of packages lining the walls. It was like Violet had just entered wonderland; it took her a moment to take it all in.

"There he is," Anju nodded in the direction of a tall redhead, before squinting, "Or is that Joe?"

"George. Their names are Fred and George," Violet corrected her, "And to be honest, I don't really know which one that is."

She was lying. Of course she knew that the boy standing ahead of them was George. She didn't know how she knew, she just did. Maybe it was the way he stood, hunched over a little more than she remembered Fred to. Maybe she was wrong, and the twin nearby really was Fred. But something in the way he smiled at the customers told her she was right, as when he did, nothing made her heart leap like it did the first time she saw Fred smile.