Fred stood up and clapped Aiden on the shoulder before heading over to where his friends had gathered. You and him weren’t the closest, but you weren’t outside each other’s orbits. You always thought he was handsome and he thought you were pretty. But you weren’t anything more than friends. 

“Since when is she dating Aiden?” he asked the girls, figuring they’d have a better idea since it was news to him.

“Two weeks, I think. Officially,” Alicia said. “Cute, aren’t they?” 

Fred looked back over at you. You were giggling at something Aiden said, tucked under his arm. Some of his friends had sat down around the two of you. 

“Yeah, cute.” 

Fred had held girls’ attention before. He flirted with them, handing out cheeky smiles like candy. He usually waited for them to show any sign of interest before sending a wink their way. 

He didn’t quite understand the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach as he briefly watched you and Aiden together. 

You knew that the female population liked Fred and George. They were attractive, funny and athletic. They would argue that they were smart too, but you decided not to include it in your head since they didn’t apply themselves in class. 

“Shame their blood traitors,” you heard a Slytherin say in passing. “Fred? Oh, how I love a beater…”

“You take Fred, I’ll take George,” her friend said with a grin before they turned a different direction giggling. 

You rolled your eyes. Yes, being beaters on the quidditch team gave them an excellent physique, but the twins were more than their bodies. 

You and Aiden broke up the Gryffindor Common Room. It wasn’t anything too messy or loud, but you were crying when you left. Of all the people to witness it, Fred was the one who followed you out. 

“Are you alright?” he asked. 

You wiped at your tears. “Peachy.”

“Come on,” he said, holding out his hand. “Let’s go for a walk.”

You took his hand and walked with him. You didn’t drop it. You knew he had gotten himself a girlfriend, but he had followed you out and asked you to go for a walk. It felt nice. But you couldn’t quite tell if it was platonic or if something deeper laid beneath it. 

After you weren’t sniffling anymore, he walked with you all the way back to Ravenclaw Tower. You thanked him. He rocked on his feet as if debating something, but then only said it was no problem and wished you a good night. He had been debating if a hug would’ve been appropriate, not that you knew that. 

A few days later, you heard that Fred’s girlfriend had exploded on him after hearing about your walk. She was definitely giving you a cold shoulder, but she didn’t break up with Fred. They were together for a few more weeks. You were pretty sure that they broke up before O.W.L.s, but that was all you heard. 

You regularly received letters from your closer friends over the summer. Getting one from Fred surprised you. Somehow it had that same almost more than platonic but not feeling to it. You wrote back and you kept receiving letters for each one you sent. Each seemed to toe the line, but never crossed it. 

When you got back to school in the fall, you found yourself hanging with the Gryffindors more. You think they took a liking to you when you were with Aiden. You hadn’t lingered around after the breakup in the spring to give him space and the issue with Fred’s girlfriend, but you felt you could be in their atmosphere now. 

Despite having sent you letters - which you hadn’t expected - Fred has his eyes set on Angelina. She flirted back with him, giving as good as she got. It was clear they would get together once they stopped pussyfooting around the idea.  

Fred noticed when you weren’t around. He thought everyone noticed it. There were a few lunch periods when he searched for you at the Ravenclaw table, rather than with his friends. He sat next to you when everyone was outside. You had this little laugh you let out when someone told a stupid joke, the kind of joke people usually groan at. 

It didn’t bother you that you had little moments with Fred but he was going for Angelina. You were happy that you two people you considered friends were having a good time together. 

It came as a surprise to no one when Fred asked her to the Yule Ball. Like everyone else, you thought the way he asked her was hilarious. 

You personally didn’t have a date to the ball, but that didn’t stop you from going. There was more to a dance than slow dances, and you were having a good time with your friends. You hung around the Gryffindors for most of the dance. 

“You mind if I have one dance with our resident eagle?” Fred asked Angelina. 

She kissed his cheek. “Go ahead, Weasley.” 

She smiled at you before turning to go get a drink. Fred turned to you and held out his hands. You allowed it. It felt strangely good to be held by Fred, even if it was only for one dance and as only friends. For one song, you thought about what it might be like to date the redhead. Then the song ended. Angelina wasn’t back and Fred's hands didn’t leave your body. He held you close to him as your dancing changed to match the pace of the new song. No one said anything about it, and when Angelina did return, his hands only lingered a second too long before letting you go in favor of her. 

Despite them becoming official, you and Fred still had something. It wasn’t scandalous. It was rather simple, and seemingly always done with Angelina’s permission. If there was a party and both you and Fred were there, he’d have at least one dance with you. He’d always dance with you until she came back. 

You had a handful of inside jokes with him. You could force him to study. He’d sit outside with you when it was nice out and everyone else wanted to stay inside. He’d ask you for your opinion on products he and George were working on. 

Angelina didn’t seem to mind. She’d wave when the two of you walked out somewhere. She knew that you had a special friendship with Fred, and she had also heard from both you and Fred that nothing happened on that walk after your breakup. He was just a good friend. 

Angelina and Fred dated for a while. You still heard a girl or two talk about how fit he was and say that Angelina was so lucky. And for a while, you thought that they might make it out of Hogwarts. They were going so strong. 

Sixth year ended and you received letters from Fred, more than the previous summer. 

Fred almost invited you to the Burrow. Angelina came for a weekend, but she was his girlfriend. Fred didn’t think he could invite you and only you without it being weird for his family. If Lee and Alicia and maybe if Harry and Hermione were already over, he could’ve invited you. But if you were coming over, he didn’t want to be distracted by too many other people. 

That was nothing to think about for too long. 

Not when he had Angelina. 

The fall of seventh year was similar to the spring. You swore you were spending more and more time in the Gryffindor Common Room. It had gotten to the point where the Fat Lady didn’t bat an eye at you giving the password alone. 

For Christmas, the twins gave a few people coupons to use at their future jokeshop. George didn’t understand why Fred wanted to give you so much, more than Angelina, but he didn’t press it too much. Maybe he figured you’d be less likely to actually use it. 

You weren’t keeping track of Fred and Angelina’s relationship. You were too busy with N.E.W.T. level classes to entertain a boyfriend yourself. Just about any free time you had was spent with the Gryffindors. 

“Something happen?” you asked as you sat down next to Fred, across from George and Lee, in Study Hall. 

The girls were a bit further down the table, whispering. Usually they sat closer and included the boys in said whispering. 

“Johnson ended things,” George said. “So…” He waved his hand subtly. 

“So there’s a riff… okay,” you said, taking out your things. 

Not that you were choosing sides, but you were closer with Fred than you were Angelina. It was Fred who ensured you kept coming back to the Gryffindor Common Room after dinner for Exploding Snap and testing joke products. 

At the next Gryffindor party, Fred kept you close. His arm around your shoulder, sending George to grab more drinks so you didn’t have to move, the works. You didn’t think much of it. It was his first party being single in a while and you were someone he’s comfortable with. 

“Dance?” you asked at one point in the night. 

He nodded and followed you. It started with a slow dance. It always did. And then it used to be until Angelina came back. There was no girlfriend to separate you. 

His hands were on your body, roaming slightly more than they used to but nothing extreme. You held him close. You’d be lying if you said you weren’t enjoying it. 

After a few songs, he dropped his head near your neck. 

In a low voice, he asked, “Do you want to go upstairs?”

You immediately pulled away from him. Merlin, you did want to go with him, but it felt like he and Angelina just broke up. 

“I’m not a rebound, Fred,” you hissed. 

You turned and walked away. You left the party. Fred stood there for a moment frozen in his place. You weren’t a rebound. You were who he thought he should’ve been dating all along. Yet he didn’t chase after you. He let you leave. 

The rest of the spring, which wasn’t much to begin with, went by rather quickly. You buried yourself in your studies as best you could as an excuse for not being around as much. You still sat next to Alicia in Charms and helped Lee with Astronomy. You just forced yourself to put some space between you and Fred. It was more difficult than you wanted to admit. 

But once you graduated, it was easier. You knew he and George had secured a place in Diagon Alley for their jokeshop. You had your own job. All you really had to do was not reach out. And you didn’t. Nor did you hear from Fred. 

Months passed. It was supposed to be a fun, girls night out, but throughout the day, your friends started bailing one by one. You had finished getting ready to go out by the time the last one called. 

You weren’t going to let a perfectly good night go to waste. You went out by yourself. Maybe you’d entertain some bloke’s attention for a while. 

You were two drinks in and dancing with some girls you had never met. You felt a presence behind you. And then two hands found your hips. The way this person moved with you was far too familiar. You turned your head and stumbled back into Fred. 

“Careful there,” he said, smiling. 

You gaped at him. How had he gotten more attractive in a few months? 

But also, where did he find the audacity to just come up to you and grab your hips? 

“Is this okay?” he whispered in your ear, a concerned expression taking over his face. 

You blinked. Then you nodded and continued to dance. It felt like those times when his hands lingered on you after a slow dance ended and Angelina hadn’t come back yet; all innocent but you knew you were liking it a little too much. 

Or a lot too much. 

You turned and grabbed the side of his face. “I’ll be right back,” you said. 

You went to get a new drink and then went back to Fred as you said you would. You did scan the bar for George or maybe Lee, or really anyone you knew from school. There was no one. 

Once you were back, Fred’s hands found his place on your hips again and he held you closer than before. It quickly shifted to how you danced after Angelina broke up with him. It was less innocent. His hands slipped under the hem of your shirt so he could feel the heat of your skin. 

Your heart rate sped up. It was becoming a lot and you loved every bit of it. There was the music, the drinks, Fred being there… You could feel his breath on your neck. You weren’t sure if you were imagining it, but you swore you could feel his heartbeat and it was pounding like yours. 

After a few songs, he asked if you wanted to take a break. You nodded. You had missed him more than you wanted to admit to yourself. He grabbed your hand and brought you with him as he went to order himself a beer. Then he led you over to a table. 

“What’ve you been up to?” he asked rather nonchalantly. 

You told him about your job, rather vaguely. You didn’t think it was anything too interesting. It was just a day job and you knew that Fred’s jokeshop must’ve had better stories.

But he listened intently. He leaned over the table as you talked. 

“The jokeshop, that going well?” you asked when you needed a break from talking. 

“I barely get a night off. It’s great, but exhausting. Not sure I’d want it any other way.” 

Fred wanted to ask why you hadn’t been to see the shop, but he knew why, and now that he had you in his sights, he knew that he couldn’t mess this up. He kept the conversation going. He made sure it reached the same level of easiness and closeness that you had had during school. 

“Got one more dance in you?” he asked. 

You finished your drink and smiled. It felt just like old times, all those parties at Hogwarts. He held you as close as ever, and when the song was over, he didn’t let you go. He walked out of the bar with you. 

“It’s been good-” you started to say but stopped mid-sentence. 

Fred was looking at you with the softest gaze you’d ever seen from him. He took a half-step closer to you. He traced the edge of your face with his fingertips and your breath caught in your throat. 

“Fred? What’re you-”

But Fred cut you off. “Something I should’ve done years ago.”

His hand, which had lingered near your jawline, gently cupped your face as Fred closed the gap between you. His lips found yours. He didn’t waste any time in pulling you closer with his other hand on your hip, and then moving you against the brick wall. 

You immediately matched his energy. Although, internally, you wanted to laugh at him. Should’ve done years ago. There had never been the right time. You were practically two ships passing. One of you was in a relationship or too freshly out of one to have allowed for it. But it was nice to know that he felt that. 

He would later tell you that he thought he should’ve waited for you to break up with Aiden. He should’ve never dated that other girl. He knew she wasn’t the one when she got angry at him for comforting you. He told you that he had a feeling you were special back then. And then he spent all this time kicking himself for never taking it that step further.