[1] Lemons into Lemonade ✓ | FRED WEASLEY

Chapter Thirty One

When Aubrey found out about what the twins had agreed, she laughed for a solid five minutes before finally speaking. Fred was not amused: at first, he joined in with her but five minutes was taking it a bit far.

"You're going with George? Oh, hon, that is ... very odd," She laughed, "Should I be jealous?"

"Why?"

"Because you're going with my crush?" She said, before bursting into giggles again, "Oh, you're taking George."

"Don't worry," Fred said casually, "He'll switch places with you a few minutes in and it will be completely platonic."

Rather than make the girl calm down, this remark only made Aubrey laugh harder, "Why did you need to clarify that? Surely that's just a given! Will there be slow dancing?"

"There will not be slow dancing," Fred assured her, "George has two left feet as do I so it wouldn't really work now, would it."

"And the twin thing?"

"Thought you said that was a given."

Fred had expected the teasing to continue for ages but after that one night, it appeared Aubrey was done. He liked to think it was because she cared about him but in reality, she just wasn't really the type of person to keep going with things like these.

Sadly, Lexy and Angela's reactions were a little more dramatic and prolonged. At first, Angela had said 'no' in disbelief so many times that Fred was starting to doubt reality whilst Lexy simply squealed about how they were going with brothers. These reactions hadn't died down sadly, only increased as time went on. Only Kenny seemed disinterested, even a little annoyed that he was going with one of the twins, his grudge still firmly holding.

With all the hassle regarding Ludo and dates, Fred had almost forgotten about the other crucial element of the Yule Ball: the dress. Luckily, Lexy and Angela had remembered and on the first day of the Christmas holidays, they announced that he was coming with them to Gladrags, whether he liked it or not.

Usually, Aubrey was surprisingly relaxed when it came to how Fred dressed her but before he left, she marched up to him, her finger outstretched in a menacing fashion.

"Fred Weasley," She whispered, "You have already proven you can do wonders with my hair but I want you to choose a killer dress because that is my money - "

"Well, technically it's your parents' money, they sent it over."

"My money," She corrected, "And I am going to have to look at pictures and things for the rest of my life so make it good. Preferably yellow or gold ... go with gold, it brings out the tiny little flecks in my eyes."

With Aubrey's warning in place, he felt even more stressed about dress shopping than almost every other aspect of the plan, even the bits with Ludo. 

Fred had never been in Gladrags before but was instantly overtaken by a perfume smell which was pleasant yet also slightly stale, as if the floral aroma was being used to cover years of rot and  neglect. The entire place felt somewhat similar, a thin layer of dust covering an intricately carved countertop and the windows slightly grimy. Still, the dresses seemed alright, if slightly frilly and he reckoned he could make do.

The best part of the shop, however, was not anything inside but rather Kenny's expression, a strange combination of disgust and confusion with just a hint of snobbery.

"This is a bit cosy," He said, a little too loudly so the shopkeeper turned.

"Kenny, keep your voice down!" Angela hissed, giving the man an apologetic smile, "Okay, remind me what colour is your tie? Red, right?"