Honey Bee *Fred Weasley

Half- Lie (53)

Honey came back on the morning of Christmas Eve carrying a big box of decorations for her and Sirius to put up. All the adults were awake in the kitchen and the children sleeping when she came in, and they woke up to Sirius loudly singing Christmas sings with Honey as the two of them decorated the house.

They were excited to see her again, after her having been gone for nearly two weeks, so they didn't even question when she put them to work hanging things from the ceiling. She looked different, and not just because her pale skin was back to its sunkissed glow that she had before she started staying inside more. She looked more like herself, but she also looked sad.

Christmas went as it normally did, and in some ways even better for her, and her sad look from that morning forgotten about until she sat with Fred on his bed later in the day with a serious face. George had wandered off somewhere leaving them alone.

"Is everything okay?" He asked her curiously, not understanding the look she had on her face.

"I'm breaking up with you," She said, taking him a little by surprise. At the same time though, he knew it was coming.

"Why?" He asked her calmly, even though he knew why.

"Because I can't-" She started, but she stopped herself for a moment and turned to look at the wall instead of him. "You deserve more than I can give you. No matter how much I wish it isn't true, I am going to die. We won't grow old together or get married or anything like that and it feels like I am holding you back from the future that you could have. It's selfish of me to stay, so I'm just going to go somewhere so that you and everyone else can heal and forget about me."

"That's bullshit and you know it," Fred tells her, calm still but sounding impatient.  "Leaving would be selfish, not staying. You should be enjoying your time with us- letting us spend time with you- instead of running away from your problems. None of us want you to go at all, much less early. As for holding me back, you are doing the exact opposite."

"What are you going to do when I'm gone?" She asked him suddenly. After a minute of him not answering, she continues. "You are George are going to open your joke shop and become rich and famous and live this big and beautiful life that I can't be a part of. You need to understand that, and with me here, you aren't. You are pretending that it's not happening and it is. You have to move on from me."

"I will," He said, and even though she could hardly hear him she knew it was a lie. He knew she knew, but continued anyway. "But only if you stay and let me love you for as long as I can. It's true, I don't want to think about life without you. Every time I do it hurts, but I swear that if you stay,  I'll move on- but only when I have too."

"You're lying, Fred."

"I'm not," He said, though that time he wasn't. She knew what that meant, and that was that his brain said it was true but his heart said it wasn't. A half-lie that he half-believed. "So will you stay?"

Honey's eyes finally met his again, and she pursed her lips, thinking. She knew she should go, but after all that and all that they've been through, how could she? She held out her pinkie to him, making him smile finally, and link his with hers instantly. He knew since she started he could talk her out of leaving because he didn't know what he would do if she did. 

"I won't go back to school," She told him, not being able to help but smile back, "So you can practice then."

"One condition," He said, making her raise an eyebrow. He held up a key that he had taken out of his pocket and put it into her hand.

"And what is this?" She asked curiously.

"George and I bought a shop in Diagon ally, and it's got a flat too. That is the key."

"Are you asking me to move in with you?" She asked him jokingly.

"I am. It hasn't got much in it yet, but we can fix that," He told her with a grin. "I don't think George and I will be staying at school much longer either, so you would be alone there for long."

"I accept, as long as I get to pick the paint."

The next morning, the three of them left saying they were going to spend the day together, which wasn't a lie, and headed over to show Honey the place they had picked. It was a little farther away from where all the main shops were, but once she was told of their plan to decorate she had no doubt that people would be attracted too it. Sirius, who she had told of their plan since it required them moving out, offered to pay for them to get furniture and stuff for the flat, mostly because he wanted Honey to be happy and wanted to spend as much of the Black fortune that he could in spite of his parents. Knowing that Sirius was serious about his offer, they didn't think twice about excepting it.

Since the twins didn't want Molly knowing about the shop quite yet, they didn't tell her that it was a shop underneath, and made sure she flooed there when she went to check it out and help them move some of their things. She was emotional, to say the least, but pleased at the same time. She understood why they were getting everything set up over Christmas, thinking that they wanted to make sure Honey was settled and not that they were going to leave school early. The picture that Fred took of Honey painting the wall of their bedroom light blue became his new favorite.