Scratches (Fred Weasley)

(173) Valentines

If Florence had learned a thing or two about Fred Weasley in the two years and something months that she had dated him, it was that he could plan a date as good as he planned pranks.

Of course, like his pranks, they were never flawless. They could be well planned and structurally organized, but there would be something, either minuscule or wide-scale, that would go wrong.

But this year, the mistake wasn't Fred's fault.

The day had started off fairly good. Since it was a Friday, Florence was still requested to go to work in the morning, despite her asking if she could have it off. Apparently, she wasn't the only one trying to get a day off on Valentine's, so the best she could do was half a day. Fred, ever the innovative genius, decided to bring lunch to her. With Julien's help, he managed to set up a nice romantic meal in his office for Florence to 'accidentally' walk in to when Julien had asked her to bring some paperwork to her desk.

Florence, as expected, loved it.

Fred had a whole half a day planned for the two of them, which he and George had carefully thought of a month before, the two helping each other come up with ideas on how to surprise their ladies.

However the flaw came in the form of Molly Weasley, who had came to their apartment later that day, an urgent look on her face. Florence was on the couch, fast asleep in a nap that she did not plan to slip into, when the redheaded woman barged in to the apartment.

"Mum, hi it's—"

"You and Florence have to come to dinner." she said hastily, cutting off her son in mid-greeting, "You absolutely have to, Fred. And your brother too. Where is George?"

"He's visiting Lisa at Hogwarts, left this morning. I'm sorry, why do we have to come to dinner?"

Florence sat up, still a little disoriented from being stirred awake from her nap, "Molly? Hi—"

"She's gonna be there." She said, almost in a panic, making Fred's brows draw closer together, "Who are we talking about?"

"Your brother's French girlfriend..." Molly said, "Bill was talking about dinner plans on Valentine's, and I thought he was talking about taking your father and I to a nice dinner, and the next thing I know he's thanking me for agreeing to have dinner with him and that Fleur girl."

This made Fred chuckle, "Mum, there's nothing to worry about. Fleur's nice... at least, from what I've heard..." his voice dropped down to a whisper, "Plus Florence and I kinda have this thing... So I don't think we can make it to dinner."

"Why not?" Molly frowned, "What thing? Are you two busy?"

"Well-"

Molly made a beeline towards Florence, plopping down on the couch beside her, "Florence, dear, are you and Fred busy tonight?" she asked, the girl still a little disoriented from her nap. She looked over to Fred, who had concealed his panicked look. Florence shook her head, unaware of Fred's plans for the two of them for the evening, "No, not at all Molly..."

"Great!" The woman beamed, enveloping her in a tight hug, "I'll see you two at the Burrow at 7pm." she stood up from the couch, stopping to pat her son on the shoulder, "Mum..." he tried again, only for Molly to beam up at him, "I'll see you at 7, dear. Dress nicely, won't you?" and with that, she marched herself out of the door, feeling accomplished.

Fred sighed in defeat.

If Florence and his mum had something in common, it was that they were both adamant on things that they wanted, and couldn't be stopped even if one tried.

"So..." Florence chuckled, "Dinner with you parents... and Fleur and Bill... Should be fun."

Fred sighed once more, sitting down beside his fiancée, "Well, not my definition of fun, especially tonight. But she looked really distressed, seems like she really needs us to be there."