Finding Yourself : Fred Weasley

49

     I hesitantly take the beans from him and look at them. I have five in my hand. He has five in his as well. "If you are going to make me do this you have to eat all of yours first," I say seriously. He lightly laughs. "Okay fine." He inspects them for a few seconds before picking one up and putting it in his mouth. 
     After a few seconds, he smiles. "Kiwi. Your turn."  "I will once you are done."  "Come on, it's more fun if we take turns." I take a deep breath. "Okay fine..."
     I look down at the beans and pick up a yellow one and quickly put it in my mouth. After a few nervous seconds, a sweet flavour runs over my taste buds. I give a sigh of relief. "Honey."  "See, it's not so bad eh?"   "Not yet," I say, causing a light laugh from him. 
 
     After a few minutes, I want to stop. We only have one bean left, but I don't want to risk it anymore. I have gotten swamp water, blood, and milk. He has gotten leather shoe, cheese, and strawberry. 
     "Let's do it together. Deal?" He says excitedly. I nervously nod. "Deal..." We look at each other and together we put the beans in our mouths and wait a few seconds for the flavour to hit. 
     Please don't be vomit... Please don't be vomit... "Shit! It's vomit!" I say while spitting it out in complete disgust. I quickly take a drink of my butterbeer to get that flavour out as soon as I can. Fred bursts out in laughter. I give him a fake frown and wait for him to stop so he can tell me what his was. 
     When he stops he smiles at me and takes a drink. "I had pepper." I make a face. "Nasty." He shrugs. "It wasn't that bad. But you wouldn't be able to take it, you thought the milk one was nasty."   "Because it was. Milk is gross," I defend while trying not to laugh.
      "Who thinks milk is gross but blood is good?" He lets out small laughs. "I am lactose intolerant," I can't help but laugh a bit. "So the blood was good? What are you, a vampire?" We both laugh for a minute before smiling at each other. 
     He hands me a chocolate frog then unwraps his own. We quickly eat them before they hop away. Then we look at who we got on our cards. "I got Merlin," I say slightly disappointed. I always get him. "I got Helga Hufflepuff. Want to trade?" He offers. "Definitely." we hand each other our cards. I take another drink of my butterbeer before looking at him again. 
     He is looking at me with a smile. He is looking at me a way I've never been looked at before apart by him. A caring sort of loving look. The same one I catch myself unknowingly giving him. I turn red and look down, letting some hair fall in my face. 
     "What's wrong?" He says softly. I nervously look back up at him. "Honestly?" I ask quietly. He nods. I think about how to word it. "I don't know how to do any of this."  "Any of what?" He asks confused.
     "The dating stuff. Romantic stuff. I've never had any kind of boyfriend. I never have even fancied anyone before now, so I didn't even know what it was I was feeling at first. Maybe it's just because I'm a quiet person and not very confident. I don't know. I just... Don't know what to do..." I try to make sense of what I mean, and I try not to make it sound bad. 
     He sits quietly for a few seconds. "Do you fancy me?" he asks quietly, his face turning a light red. I blush as well and struggle to think of the right answer. Yes, I do, but how do I say that? "Because I fancy you, Charlie," He adds softly. I get a small tingle in my chest. 
     I lightly nod. "Yes, I fancy you, Fred," I say nervously. A soft smile slowly spreads across his face, as does one on mine. We both let out a small laugh before looking back at each other. "It's okay that you don't know how. I don't know if I do. We can figure it out together." I smile a bit more. "I'd like that." 
     He finishes his butterbeer then stands. I quickly do the same. "Where are we going?" I ask curiously. "Back to the castle. It'll be quieter and less crowded. Unless you don't want to."  I look at the time. It's almost when I said I'd meet Harry. 
     "I told Harry I'd meet him at the Shrieking Shack so we can talk. If it's okay I will meet you at the castle after we talk." He nods. "I'll walk you there," he says with a smile before holding out his hand. I nervously take it. 
     We manoeuvre our way outside into the cold. His hand is warm and comfortable in mine. It sends a warm feeling up my arm. I hold his hand a little tighter as I smile up at him. I can't believe I almost wimped out of this. I would have never forgiven myself if I had. 
     Cedric was right. I do feel happy with him. And he does take my mind off things and distract me. He gives me a warm feeling that I have never felt. It's like the warm feeling you have while sitting next to a fire with a cozy blanket in your pyjamas and a cup of cider or hot cocoa. Then multiply that by 100. This is something I don't think I could ever get used to. I hold his hand tighter and he does the same to mine. I never want to let go.