Serpentine ; Fred Weasley

Twenty-six

Fred and I went to get something to drink at the leaky cauldron.

We sat in on of the few booths together and I could feel his eyes on me as I looked into the room, watching the different people.

"What're your plans?"

At the sound of his voice, I looked at him and raised my eyebrows to question what he was asking me.

"After school, I mean."

"Oh. Uh— I dunno." I shrugged. "Deciding a career is difficult."

"You think?"

I nodded, moving my finger around the edge of my glass while staring at the pumpkin juice that filled it.

"Not everyone has one passion that they want to pursue a career in." I said. "My passion is reading but what exactly can I do with that?"

Fred shrugged.

"Open a bookshop." He said. "Or be a writer."

"Be a writer?" I asked. "And what would I write about?"

I watched as he placed his chin in the palm of his hand.

"How you submit to a very hot ginger."

Rolling my eyes, I let out a small chuckle and leaned back against the seat.

"Martha and my brother are dating." I blurted, causing Fred to raise his eyebrows at me while his smirk dropped. "Apparently they have some type of open relationship while Martha is still in school and Carter is okay with her sleeping with other people..."

Fred scooted closer to me and grabbed my glass of pumpkin juice, raising it to his lips. I watched him, seeing his Adam's apple bop as he took a sip.

"And you don't like the idea of Martha being with your brother?"

"Of course not." I said. "Especially not now when she isn't my friend anymore."

Fred leaned back against the seat, now sitting right next to me. He spread his knees and his thigh pressed against mine.

"I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend." I said. "And then I need you to come with me to dinner in a few days."

Fred looked at me, a curious expression on his face.

"Dinner?"

"My mum has invited Felix and his family over for dinner." I sighed. "I just found out when I met his older brother on my way out of Flourish and Blotts."

When I looked up at him again, he was already staring at me, his soft eyes going over every feature on my face.

"Okay." He said in a whisper. "I'll come to the dinner and pretend to be your boyfriend."

"Yeah?" My face lit up and then I threw an arm around him, hugging him tightly. "Thank you."

I felt his nose brush against the crook of my neck and I closed my eyes, staying in the hug while enjoying the warmth coming from his body.

"I should get you home." He whispered and pulled out of the hug before he stood up.

I watched him as he leaned over the table to grab his glass, downing the liquid in it.

"You don't have to. I know how to get home."

"Yeah." He smiled. "But I wanna see where you live."

He then grabbed my glass of pumpkin juice and I laughed as he emptied it.

I stood up and he grabbed my coat, handing it to me before putting his own on.

I stepped out of the booth to take on my coat, closing it before I pulled my beanie from my pocket and pulled it over my head.

"I live in Chester, you know." I said and Fred turned to me while pulling a beanie over his own head, then we walked towards the door together.

"You do?" He asked. "That's up north, isn't it? Close to Manchester..."

"Yes." I nodded. "You live in Devon, right?"

"Orrery St Catchpole." He nodded. "It's a small village."

"Yeah, I'm familiar."

When we got outside, I grabbed Fred's hand and with my other, I pulled out my wand, apparating to the street in front of my house.

I let go of Fred's hand, seeing him stare up at the house.

"It isn't much..." I breathed, staring up at the rather small house.

"...but it's home." He grinned at me. "Ron said the same thing the first time Harry saw our home."

I pressed my lips together before looking up at the house again.

"That's my room." I said and pointed to the window to the right on the first floor. "I would invite you in... but my mum is kind of in shock about the thing with Felix and I, and my dad doesn't know about you."

Fred smiled comfortably at me, judging me with his shoulder.

"It's okay. I just wanted to make sure you got home alright." He said and turned his body towards me. "You should come visit the Burrow one of these days. I'm sure mum would love to meet you."

I blushed, looking away and towards my house.

"Though... we'll have to wait a little. We aren't spending Christmas at home."

I looked up at him.

"No?"

"No uh... we're spending it with some friends." He said. "Though I can always ask if you can come around. Can't promise anything but I'll give it a try."

I shrugged.

"It's alright." I assured him. "I don't want to cause an issue. We can wait."

"Okay." He said quietly. "I'll see you soon, then. I got your letter by the way."

"Yeah?"

"I was going to write you back tonight, but I suppose now that we've talked, I don't have to." He smiled, tilting his head. "Though write me about that dinner so I know at which time I should come around."

I nodded as I tugged at my bottom lip with my fingers, watching him.

His cheeks were red from the cold and he had his shoulders pulled up to his eats.

He was cold.

"I will." I said. "Now get going. You're freezing."

He chuckled and leaned down to kiss me before either of us got to react, and the words that then slipped from his lips, caused us both to freeze.

"I love you."