Finding Yourself : Fred Weasley

56

     "So let me get this straight. You and Fred Weasley, your boyfriend, are staying here alone together while everyone else is off at Hogsmeade?" Reno asks as I try and brush through my hair. "First off, he isn't my boyfriend. Second, you are making it sound like a big deal. The first and second years will be here, and some professors. Besides, what would we do alone together that is so bad?"  
     Cedric laughs as he wraps his scarf around his neck. "You're joking right?" I shake my head. "Not at all. We are probably just going to work on a couple of pranks."  "I meant about the boyfriend thing," he clarifies. "We haven't talked about a title for us," I say with a shrug.
     "Charlie, he kisses your cheek and calls you 'love'. You have been on a date and have kissed twice. Just commit to it. go see him today and tell him 'oh, by the way, you are stuck with my blind, cheese-loving ass and you are now my boyfriend'. It'll clear everything up," Reno says while taking my hairbrush from me to help detangle the mess on my head. I pick up a box of cereal and start to slowly munch on it.  
     "I don't think it is that simple," I say with a light laugh. "For you, I think it would be. Fred fancies you and you fancy him. You have both said it to each other. Just ask him clearly what he wants and boom. You will be in a steady relationship," Cedric adds. 
    "Don't you have a date to be getting to Diggory?" I say while throwing a piece of cereal at him. He lightly laughs. "I'll see you guys later," he says with a wave before walking out. "See you later," Reno and I both say. 
     "So you really have no interest in things getting more physical with him?" Reno asks as he continues to brush my hair. "I didn't say that. I just don't want us to rush anything. I like our relationship and I don't want to ruin it. Why? How fast are you and Ludovic mo moving?" I ask both curiously and nervously.
     "I mean, not too fast I don't think. But we have been together for about four, almost five, months now. But I don't want to go too far while we are at school." I can definitely agree with that. 
     "I haven't talked to anyone about it, but when I was down in the lake I had a dream. It was about Fred," I say turning lightly red. "Ooo, what kind of dream?"
     "I think we were living together, and he was in the shower and I was saying how I needed to shower too and that you and Cedric were going to be there soon. We talked about telling everyone something, something that might upset Harry, but I don't know what it was," my face turns redder the more I speak. 
     "Maybe you were getting married or pregnant or something," he suggests. I just shrug and get up. "I don't know. I'm going to go ahead and go through. Fred and I are meeting up in the Great Hall"   "Okay. Have fun. I'll see you later." I wave with a smile. "You too. See you Reno," I say before walking out.

     By the time I get to the Great Hall Fred is already there. There are several first and second years in there as well, but other than that the hall is empty. I walk over and take a seat next to him and smile. 
     "I have been meaning to ask you something Fred," I say while setting my bag on the table. He looks at me and smiles. "What would that be?"  "My family is taking a trip to France when the school year ends and I can bring a few friends along. I asked Cedric if he would like to go. But I was wondering if you maybe wanted to as well." 
     His smile grows. "I would love to. If my mum lets me. She is a bit protective, but I'm sure my dad could talk it into her." I smile more. "Brilliant! I um... I have one question though," I start to get a bit nervous. "Okay."  "When um... When you meet my family what will I introduce you as?" my face turns pink. 
     He turns to me a bit more. "Well, I was thinking as your boyfriend. I planned on introducing you to my family as my girlfriend." My face colour deepens, but I can't help but smile. I lightly nod. "Okay. I'm okay with that." We both lightly laugh. 
     I clear my throat and then turn to my bag. "Shall we start planning then?" I ask, the smile still on both of our faces. He nods. "I believe that we should." He gets a few things out and sets them down as well. 

     I lay my head onto the table and sigh. "Fred, we have been working on this for hours now," I mumble against my arms. "I know, it's been great hasn't it?" He says as happy sounding as he did when we started. I swear when it comes to planning pranks these twins can never get enough. 
     "I was actually thinking that we find something else to do," I turn to face him while keeping my head on the table still. "Okay. Like what?" he asks curiously. I shrug. "We could walk around and explore or something," I suggest. 
     His face suddenly lights up. "You could take me into the Hufflepuff common room. I've never been in there," he says, an excited tone in his voice. I sit up and laugh. "And you never will be, you're a Gryffindor." 
     "Come on. It'll be fun." I shake my head. "I am not giving you the opportunity to sneak in and set up pranks. No way. Never." He lightly laughs. "Okay, fair enough. What about I take you into the Gryffindor common room then?'
     "Take me in there? Aren't you worried about getting in trouble?" I ask a little nervously. He laughs loudly. Yea, that was a pretty stupid question. "I dunno Fred. You may not be, but I am a little worried about it." 
     He stands and collects everything off the table, even my stuff. "Come on. It'll be fun. I won't let anything happen to you, trust me." He gives me a wide smile. I look at him for a few seconds. I can't resist that. I stand. "Okay fine." He smiles more.  
     "Brilliant! Come on!" he takes my hand then starts to walk quickly. I try my best to keep up with him. But when we get to the stairs it starts to get a little difficult and he has to slow down for me. 
     When we finally stop we stop in front of the large portrait of the Fat Lady. He looks at me. "Plug your ears," he instructs. "Why?" I ask curiously. "I don't want you knowing the password. What if you sneak in and set up some sort of pranks?" He says with a smile. I roll my eyes then cover my ears tightly so I can't hear anything. I watch Fred as he seems to argue with the portrait for a minute or two before she finally decides to swing open. 
     When she does he looks at me with a smile and holds his hand out. I take it, starting to get nervous. He walks inside, pulling me along. I look around curiously. We walk into a large, warm, circular room that has many different chairs and couches. There is a large fireplace on one wall. The other walls have many different portraits on them. It is honestly a bit overwhelming how much red is in the room. 
    "Woah, I don't think I have ever seen so much red in one place before," I say in alight amazement as I continue to look around. "Come sit with me," he says, I look over at him. I was so transfixed by the room that I didn't notice him walking away and sitting down. I walk over and sit next to him. 
     "She can't be in here! She's not a Gryffindor!" one of the first years who was sitting by the fire says. His two friends also looking over at us. "You had better watch yourself if I hear it going around that she was," Fred says, his smile still there. "George and I will come up with something new just for you." 
     The boy and his friends get up and walk out a little quickly. I roll my eyes at Fred. He could have bribed them with candy or butterbeer or something. Oh well, I suppose if he and George don't have anyone to prank they would be pretty miserable. 
     I look at the table in front of me and see it has a Wizarding chess bord out. I move and sit on the floor. "Let's play," I say with a smile. He sits across from me and makes the first move. I think about it a second before I make mine. 
     "Fred. I know I've asked you before, but what is your family like?" I ask as he thinks about his next move. "Well, they can be annoying sometimes. But for the most part, it's nice. My mum is pretty protective, but not so much so that it's overbearing. She knits us all sweaters with our first initials on them every year for Christmas. She has started to make one for Harry and Hermione as well."
     I can't help but smile. "My grandmother used to that before she passed. They wouldn't have our initials on them though. And they were always so itchy." We both lightly laugh. "My mum usually sends me a few sweaters or something for my birthday and Christmas, she must have gotten too busy this year or something," I lightly shrug. 
      He looks up at me, I give him a smile. "What about your dad?" I ask before he says something about it. "He's nice. He is obsessed with muggles, Finds then fascinating. He is a little strange, but he is kind to everyone."
     I smile a bit more. His family sounds so nice and happy. My family isn't bad, they just are different than me. I look at the board then smile at Fred. "Checkmate." He looks down. "What? No way." I lightly laugh. "Yes, way."  "How? I never lose." I shrug. "I guess I'm just better," I jokingly say. "Rematch."  "Okay." 
     
     "Fred we have played five times. Give it up," I say with a light laugh. "How are you doing it? You have to be cheating."  "How could I cheat?"  "I don't know, but I will figure it out."  "Well good luck. Because I am done playing." I move back onto the couch. 
     He sits next to me. "So you admit that you were cheating?" I shake my head. "No. I wasn't cheating."  "Mhmm. Okay. Fine." Fine? I didn't think he would let that go so quickly. He quickly leans over and starts to poke and tickle my sides. 
     I start to laugh as I try and push him away. "Hey, stop! I'm ticklish!" He starts to laugh along with me. "I know! I will stop when you tell me how you cheated!"  "I didn't!" I say in between laughs. No matter how much I push his hands away he doesn't stop. "Fred! Please!" He still doesn't stop. There is only one possible way out of this. 
     I look up at him and quickly put my lips against his as I try and contain my laughter. He starts to slow down, and it isn't long before he stops completely. He leaves his hands on my waist, but they are no longer moving. 
     I can feel his smile against mine. After a few seconds, he slowly pulls away. "I know what you're doing."  "What am I doing?" I ask curiously. "You are distracting me from finding out how you cheated." I highly laugh. "Whatever you want to think." He lightly laughs before putting his lips back to mine. 
     I put my hand lightly on his cheek and he pulls me closer. Before I realize what I'm doing I lightly bite his bottom lip. He pulls back slightly, probably being surprised, before kissing back a little harder. I gently start to run my hands through his hair. He moves down and starts to lightly kiss my neck. 
     I put my other hand on his chest. I pull his hair a little when he starts to kiss a little harder. He lightly runs his hand along my side. His breath is warm against my neck, it sends small chills down me. 
     "I think I'm going to vomit," A voice says loudly. We quickly pull away and look up to see George walking over. He sits in a chair. My face turns a bright crimson colour to match the room. "Hi-ya Georgie. How was Hogsmeade?" Fred says, his face also a deep red. 
     "It was the same. I take it things here were good," He says with a smirk. "I um... I beat Fred at chess five times," I say to clear the air. George laughs. "I hate to ruin your good day, but Harry, Ron and Hermione, as well as a bunch of other Gryffindor's are heading here now." 
     Fred and I look at each other before I quickly stand. "I'll see you later Fred." He stands and kiss my cheek. "See you later, be carful leaving," He says before sitting back down. I smile at him then walk out of the portrait hole. 
     Lucily there was no one there to see, but as I turn to go down the stairs I am met face to face with Harry. I smile at him. "Hey Harry. How was Hogsmeade?"  "It was fine. What are you doing here?" He asks curiously.
     "Oh um, just hanging out with Fred. I should be going. There is something I need to to in the Hufflepuff common room," I say while starting to take some steps around him. "Okay, see you later," he says while watching me. I smile and wave then walk off.