[1] Lemons into Lemonade ✓ | FRED WEASLEY

Chapter Thirty Five

"I thought Lexy seemed so sensible, I can't believe she let this happen, " Fred mumbled as George stood by him, leaning against the door frame and laughing quietly to himself.

At this, Aubrey pursed her lips slightly, "Hon, don't blame Lexy, George said he would get a drink and he found one - "

"I was joking!"

"He's always ... always joking, isn't he?" George interjected before laughing again, "But I love him, he's my brother."

"Come on, George, we can do this later," Fred murmured, clearly a little embarrassed by his brother's open emotions, even though Aubrey thought it was sweet, reminding her why she'd like him in the first place.

"Well, what do we do with him?" Aubrey asked, "Wait, I have an idea ... Fred, I'm doing it! Thinking spur of the moment!"

"I'm so proud!"

"Okay, I'll find Lee or Lexy or someone who will remember what happened to fill us in and you ... you get George to the dorm before he accidentally reveals our secret," Aubrey said firmly, bending down to whisper, "The password to the common room is Amortentia - "

"Shhhh..." George cut in, "Don't tell him, he's a Hufflepuff ... wink."

"He wishes," Aubrey replied sweetly before turning to Fred, "Okay, now go!"

After a few seconds of Fred being stunned by her leadership, he shook his head, snapping back to reality, "I'll meet you up there ... try not to get drunk yourself."

With that, the two parted ways and Aubrey dashed back into the Great hall, logically scanning around the room for the two people in question. In the far corner of the room, Lee and Angelina were sat, laughing over something. Even though Lee probably at least somewhat helped George get drunk, she didn't want to sabotage his chances with Angelina so chose to go to Lexy instead, who was situated by the nibbles table, her hands full of Ice Mice.

"No, come back!" She was squealing when Aubrey came over, as one of the mice had wriggled out of her hands, "You're food, stop leaving me! I - "

"Hey, Lexy."

Aubrey's arrival gave her such a shock that Lexy's hands opened and all the mice tumbled out, using their newfound freedom to veer around chaotically, inevitable squashing their noses against the wall.

"Are you Fred or George?"

"Fred," She replied.

"So, are you here to apologise for swapping with George or are you here just because," Lexy asked, "That's right, I know you swapped, George is a lightweight ... a super lightweight with loose lips ... oh my God, that sounded awful! I just meant bad at keeping secrets."

Aubrey's heart began pounding like a drum, "Um ... what sort of secrets?"

"Nothing big," Lexy replied, "Just that you two swapped and that he's a better Beater than you although that's not really a secret."

"Um ... ouch?" Aubrey replied, looking sheepishly down at her feet, "Can you tell me why George was drunk and who gave it to him? Oh, and if he spoke to anyone else too?"

Lexy shrugged, "Not sure, reckon it was just some Durmstrang guy, I didn't see, I'm afraid. I do know that he only spoke to me and Angelina a little bit though. I can tell you about where Roger and Fleur went though, it was outside and then they came back looking dishevelled ... sex in rose bushes - "

"Tasteless," Aubrey cut in.

"No, that could have been me!" Lexy moaned, "Anyway, are you here to dance or something or just to ask about George? Sorry, I shouldn't be huffy, you only came with me as a favour, I bet you really wanted to go with Aubrey the whole time - "

"No, I didn't, Lexy," She assured her, "I was happy to go with you but things just got intense unexpectedly. Sorry for running off like that."

"It's okay," Lexy replied.

"I'm also sorry for running off now but I still have urgent business to attend to," She replied, gritting her teeth and preparing for Lexy to get upset. Instead, the blonde simply sighed before smiling a little.

"Don't worry about it, things happen. I can just third-wheel with Angela and Kenny," She glanced over at the couple who were pressed up against the wall in a fierce embrace, "Or on second thoughts maybe not ... the point is, I'll be fine. See you around, Fred."

"Bye Lexy."

• • •

Fred and George's ascent up the stairs had earnt them several raised eyebrows and Fred felt the extreme urge to shout, "We're brothers!" at everyone who assumed what was happening. Despite the Fat Lady's protests, she couldn't technically do anything to block Fred now that he knew the password and the twins managed to get upstairs with little problems.

"Aubrey ... wait," George stood very still, before sniggering, "It's not Aubrey thought is it, Aubrey ... it's Fred."

"Not so loud," Fred grinned, "But yeah."

"I don't wanna be quiet," George replied as they walked into the dorm, "Everyone is still ... still dancing their hearts away, nobody cares, Fred."

Although the walk back to the dorms hadn't been too long, George already seemed slightly more capable; that was the Weasley way it seemed, drunk fast and sober quickly making them the ideal partiers.

"You know..." George paused before shaking his head, "It sucked that you didn't tell me, Fred, really sucked. You ... you forced me to be the leader, I'm not the leader! I - I work behind the scenes, you know that but I ... I didn't want to be an arse about it."

"Well, you know now," Fred replied, taking a seat next to his brother who flopped onto the bed, "I'm sorry, George, I really am. This sucks, I don't really know what to say except sorry."

"Well, you suck at words that aren't jokes," George grinned, before turning to him, "I feel less mad already but I feel like I should be mad for a bit longer."

"I get that."

"It's ... it's hard to stay mad, you know?" George said, "Everything is suddenly so odd but I guess it's good to know now, at least I kind of have my brother back, even if you don't look like you. It's just - "

"Mental."

"I was going to say that."

"I know," Fred grinned, "And to save you later lectures, Aubrey is average height, not tiny."

The two turned as they heard somebody running up the stairs, Aubrey standing in the door a few moments later.

"It's okay, George didn't tell anyone," She said breathlessly.

"Well, of course not!" George replied, "I'm ... I'm kinda drunk but I'm not an idiot. I'm .. I'm smarter than drunk than Fred is sober."

"Hey!"

Aubrey considered this, "He has a point."

The two of them laughed, whilst Fred raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, I'm not liking this new alliance."

For a few moments, the alliance was great but even that came to an end as George was asleep within five minutes of her arrival. The night had been hectic but Aubrey wasn't sure what else she would have expected from a school dance, especially given how much had happened leading up to it.

As George was asleep, Fred decided it was probably best to head back to the dorms and Aubrey, being the newfound Gentleman that she was, insisted on walking him back to the basement. The Castle was considerably less noisy now considering most people were in bed and the ones who weren't were keeping to themselves. Although both of them were too tired to speak, there was a shared sense of accomplishment between them, smiles on both of their faces.

As they drew up to the door, Aubrey said, "Well, I guess this is goodnight, hon."

"Yep," Fred replied, "All in all, not a terrible night."

"Other than my meltdown which we shall not speak of."

Fred shrugged, "If you want. I have a good feeling about this, with our new alliance, we'll have this solved by next month or my name's not Fred Weasley."

With a small smile, Aubrey replied, "Well, be prepared to change your name then, hon."