Before you (Fred Weasley)

CHAPTER 58

"Bella I'm late for work!" I said rummaging through my cupboard for a shirt.

I finally found one, buried in the bottom, it was an old Hogwarts shirt. It would have to do, I was getting pretty late. I removed the shirt from the cupboard and from it fell a box on the floor. I picked it up and opened it to see the locket that Ron had given to me after he had found it in Fred's dorm.

I had completely forgotten about it, maybe I could ask Fred about it today?

I pocketed the box and put the shirt on, disapparating after bidding Bella goodbye.

I walked as fast as I could to Obscurus, pushing the door open in a hurry when I got there.

"Sorry I'm late" I apologised to Elias who was seated in his usual place behind the counter.

"Don't worry about it, get to work" he grumbled from behind his copy of the Daily Prophet.

I set my bag on the table and began organising the pile of books on a table. The shop even had a restricted section, which I wasn't allowed to go to yet. While I was working, the door opened, indicating that we had a customer. I walked up to them to greet them, realising it was Jenna, standing arm in arm with another man. Was that McLaggen?

I couldn't even be rude to Jenna, it was not worth getting fired.

"Oh, Alice, you work here? How..interesting" she said, a smirk on her face.

"What do you want Jenna?" I sighed.

"Now now, don't be rude, I'm a customer after all, I can always complain" she said, innocently tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Cormac looked at Jenna as if she was the most beautiful thing on Earth. She moved on pretty quickly from Fred didn't she?

"How can I help you?" I asked.

"I need a book" she said.

"Oh I didn't know that, I was wondering why you were at a book shop" I rolled my eyes.

She ignored my comment and told me the book she wanted.

I looked for the book in a shelf and handed it to her.

"That will be 16 sickles" I said.

She took the book to the counter and payed for it. Cormac whispered something in her ear and she squealed in delight, pulling him in for a kiss.

The two of them really deserved each other.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful until about 2 PM when another customer showed up.

I looked to see that it was Fred, pretending that he didn't know who I was.

"Um, excuse me, can I get a copy of 'How to woo a witch' by Gilderoy Lockhart?" He asked innocently.

"Follow me to the back, I'll show you where it is" I said with a straight face, taking him to the back of the library. It was much cooler and darker over here, sort of like a hidden room filled with shelves of books. I had tried to convince Elias to add some more lighting there but he was afraid the books would catch fire.

I stood on my toes and reached up to the topmost shelf when I felt Fred suddenly tickle my sides from behind.

"S-stop it" I tried not to laugh too loud, turning around to face him and smacking him lightly on the chest.

He placed his hands on my hips, pushing me into the bookshelf behind me.

"Hi" he grinned, the sides of his eyes crinkling.

"Hi" I smiled back as Fred lowered his head and kissed me deeply, leaving me a bit breathless.

"You know, I'm still at work" I panted lightly, hoping that Elias couldn't hear us.