Pushing it down and Praying - Fred Weasley -

"Oi, Riddle."Fred ran.

Sylvia's jaw tightened.

Fred dropped onto the bench across from her without invitation, George snickering somewhere behind him.

"Go away, Weasley."

"Can't. Tragic really."

"You seem to survive tragedy well enough."

"I manage."

She finally looked up.

Big mistake.

He was grinning again. That stupid, lazy grin that made it seem like nothing in the world could truly touch him.

It irritated her beyond belief.

She took one deep breath.

"What do you want?"

Fred spun his wand between his fingers. "Important question."

"I doubt that."

"You wound me," he spoke dramatically.

"I can live with that."

Fred leaned forward slightly. "Go to the ball with me?"

The noise of the Great Hall suddenly felt distant.

Sylvia blinked once.

Then looked around slowly.

A few nearby students had already gone quiet.

Watching.

Of course they were watching.

Waiting for the joke.

Her lips twitched into a dry chuckle. "That was funny."

Fred's grin faded just slightly. "I'm not joking, Riddle."

Her stomach dropped unexpectedly.

"Oh."

For one horrible second she just stared at him.

He looked completely serious.

That somehow made it worse.

Because if he was serious, then for one stupid, dangerous moment she wanted to say yes.

Wanted to know what it would feel like to stand beside someone everyone already loved.

Then the whispers started again behind her.

"Why would he ask her?"

"He's taking the piss."

"why would he want to bring her to the Yule Ball."

The warmth in her chest died instantly.

Sylvia's face cooled back into something sharp and untouchable.

"Then never in a million years, you bloody buffoon."

Fred blinked.

Not hurt exactly.

More... caught off guard.

Sylvia snapped her book shut and stood.

"Find someone else to embarrass."

She brushed past him before he could answer.

But as she walked away, her chest burned with something infinitely worse than anger.

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ 🂭 ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.