𝐈𝐍𝐕𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐁𝐋𝐄 || 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐋𝐄𝐘

➳ THIRTY ONE

XXXI. THE MEANING

The Christmas holiday slowly faded away, leaving Ruth, Poppy and Katrina preparing to head back to Hogwarts. The triplets sat at the dining table, finishing off their breakfasts while their parents brought their trunks out to the Knight Bus.

"Are you excited to see Fred again Ruth?" Katrina asked. She attempted to be casual but ended up giggling along with Poppy.

"She totally is," Poppy added. "She's been smiling all morning."

"I can already see the reunion," Katrina said before Ruth could even open her mouth. "You jumping into his arms, him spinning you around and then-" She finished her sentence by pursing her lips, causing Poppy to erupt into another fit of giggles.

After that, they were hurried out to the Knight Bus by their parents. The drive to Kings Cross station was much shorter than usual, and consisted of being tossed around inside the bus and the sound of heavy rain against glass, as the clouds had decided to split and let the rain pour.

"We'll see you all in the summer," Allie said, hugging each of her daughters tightly once they arrived on the platform. "Make sure to write to us."

"Good luck with the quidditch championship. I'm sure Gryffindor will win again," Shane said to Poppy and Katrina. He then turned to Ruth and ruffled her hair. "And Ruthie, please don't talk to any boys."

"Dad," Ruth mumbled while she fixed her hair. Poppy and Katrina started their teasing again, making Ruth go bright red since her parents were listening.

After their trunks were safely stored in the end of the train, the three girls boarded the train. Ruth found Casper easily, for he was wandering the corridor of the train.

"How was Christmas Casper?" Ruth asked cheerfully, giving her friend a quick hug.

Casper smiled once they broke apart. "Great, thanks. We went to visit my muggle aunt in France."

Before Ruth could reply, someone tugged harshly on the back of her jumper. "Fred and George are in this compartment, Ruth! Come on!" Poppy exclaimed. "You too Casper!"

Before they could object, Ruth and Casper were dragged into the compartment. Ruth was squished against the window with Casper beside her, who looked more than uncomfortable. Fred was seated opposite Ruth and she smiled shyly at him. He returned the smile, not shyly at all.

"Long time no see Weasleys," Katrina said, plopping herself down next to George, who was beside Fred. "We really appreciated you two ditching us before Christmas."

"You weren't entertaining enough," Fred shot back. "You got bored and decided to leave you all."

"Lee!" George exclaimed as the carriage door opened as in walked a dark boy with dreadlocks. "How's things?"

"You'll never guess who I had dinner with over the break," Lee Jordan said as he sat down. Nobody guessed, so he continued. "Umbridge."

"You poor thing," Poppy commented just as George asked "Why?!" quite loudly.

"Mum's friendly with her at work," Lee rolled his eyes. "The amount of dirty looks I got during my starter alone is unreal."

"I have an idea," Katrina pipped up. "Why don't we go for a walk?"

"Why would we-" Poppy began but he words faded as she made eye contact with her sister. "Actually, I agree. A walk would be super fun."

Katrina stood up and tugged on George's arm, pulling him to his feet while Poppy did the same with Lee.

"We're on a train," Fred pressed, slowly getting to his feet. "Where are we going to bloody walk to?"

"You should stay here," Poppy said, pushing Fred's shoulder so hard that he fell back into his seat. She pulled Casper up and forced him to follow George and Lee out of the compartment. "It'll be a quick walk, and we'll want our seats back."

Ruth groaned as her sisters closed the compartment door, leaving Fred and Ruth alone. She covered her face with her hands, feeling her skin burning.

"You're sisters are quite..." she heard Fred trail off, unable to find an appropriate adjective.

"Tell me about it," Ruth said, looking back up at Fred. He was looking around the carriage, biting his bottom lip.

"So," Ruth said before anything could get awkward. "You left early before Christmas because everyone was boring?"

Fred chuckled. "I didn't mean you," he said, quickly moving to sit beside her, his arm resting on the back of the seat behind her head.

"Well that's what it sounded like," Ruth said playfully. When Fred only chuckled again in reply, Ruth asked another question. "How's your dad?"

In Fred's letter that Ruth had received over the Christmas break, he had told her about the incident that had happened to his father. Ruth was almost brought to tears as she read about Mr Weasley's snake attack, unable to even fathom that happening to her own father. She had written back immediately, sending her wishes of good health.

"He's ok," Fred sighed. "Go out of St Mungos yesterday, he got these things called stitches," he laughed. "They're a muggle thing. Mum went ballistic."

Ruth laughed along with him, glad that he was keeping positive. That's one of the things she liked about Fred, he was almost always laughing and joking.

Once their laughter died out, Fred looked down at Ruth, which caused her to look back up at him. The corners of Fred's mouth twitched upwards before he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.

This kiss was nothing like the ones they shared in the Astronomy tower, but Ruth's stomach still exploded with butterflies. It was slow and comfortable, as opposed to quick and thrilling.

"What does this mean?" Ruth asked as soon as they pulled apart.

Fred raised an eyebrow. "What does what mean?"

"You kissing me?" Ruth whispered, feeling embarrassed for some reason. "Now and in the Astronomy tower?"

"I should ask you the same thing," Fred smirked. "Since you told me to kiss you in the Astronomy tower."

"That's because you were about to but then stopped," Ruth proclaimed. "Like who does that?!"

Fred responded by grabbing the side of her face and kissing her hard on the lips, pulling away far to quickly. He then removed his arm from behind Ruth and looked straight ahead of him.

"This means that I like you, Rue," Fred said flatly, not looking at her. "Or fancy you, whatever you want to call it."

Ruth giggled and readjusted her position, so that her back was against the window and she had the perfect view of Fred's side profile. "Well, I like you too, Frue."

Fred turned his neck to look at her, his head leaning against the wall behind him. "Frue?"

Ruth nodded. "You called me Rue, so I'll call you Frue. Frue and Rue."

"Frue and Rue," Fred repeated in a hum, leaning towards Ruth again.