no weasel for anyone else

F R E D  W E A S L E Y

"Fine you know why I didn't go? It's because... God... I- I'm in love with you Y/n L/n! You have trapped me in a chokehold of love.”

Draco raised an eyebrow at the Weasley, having to stare for a moment to figure out which one, exactly, he was talking to. Fred and George were by far the most mischievous of the bunch – Draco could still recall days during their school years when he’d walk out of his dorm and hear someone shouting about another Weasley prank. It became his goal to avoid them as often as possible so he didn’t fall victim to the pranks as well, and it generally worked out for him.

Unfortunately, that also meant that Draco had no idea which twin he was currently speaking to. Best to just use his last name, in that case.

“I’m just naturally like this, Weasley,” he said, giving him another one of his wide, fake smiles and reaching for a champagne glass from a passing tray. If he was going to be talking with the Weasley for who knew how long, he would need it. “And what, exactly, brings you here? Last time I checked, you and your family weren’t exactly rolling around in galleons. Unless that’s changed?”

Not that he cared at all. Draco figured he could at the very least make a few quips at the man before abandoning him to… whatever it was he was doing.

A curt nod was all Fred gave in response, watching the boy in front of him squirm in a way that was so familiar to Fred. He couldn’t tell which one he was, though being either Fred or George were probably equally horrendous to the Malfoy heir. With anyone else it might be fun to tease them, play up on their guilt and insecurity of getting their name wrong. With Malfoy he doubted the boy would even remember which twin he was currently speaking to even if Fred revealed it to him. So he let Draco do another bad impersonation of a smile and watched him do his best to break Fred’s oh so fragile confidence.

“Surprisingly we don’t throw the one sickle we all share at causes just for appearances sake. Rather prefer to get my own hands dirty if I’m being honest. It does wonders in people forgetting who I’m related to, any experience with that?” Fred replied. Was the Weasley wealth really the best he could do after all this time? He hardly doubted his quip did much damage either. Fred didn’t find himself caring much if it did.

There just seemed like so many more important things to think about then Fred’s dislike of the main school-time bully of his little brother. Like how he was finally going to turn the cart successful, or where he was going with Katie, or how he was going to help them all get out of this shithole of Bellatrix Lestrange as Minister of Magic. Let Malfoy walk around smiling, pretending his last name still meant something, that it was better than Fred’s under the guise of an archaic belief.

where: st. mungo’s midsummer fundraiser 

when: 21 june 2004

Doing his best not the catch the attention of the man in front of him, Fred took another glance referencing his face before going back to his sketch. While he didn’t approve of the Slytherins or generally like any of them, Fred had to admit Draco Malfoy had some beautiful friends. Zabini would make a perfect face model for the fountain he was looking forward to changing. Making the other statues beautiful while Percy was stuck as a house elf would really highlight his brother’s unique looks. Making Bill or Ron the goblin might lessen that effect however, and Fred was still on the lookout for the last face.

Katie twirled away from a neatly lined platter of treats, the hem of her distinctive red dress spinning just above her knees as she did so. “ Probably longer than one would think. They aren’t always the most detail-orientated around here, ” she laughed, absentmindedly clasping her hand around his. Everything about the evening was perfect. Being with Fred felt wholeheartedly right—like all the stars had aligned in some sort of weird cataclysmic once-in-a-millennia event. The thought of reconfiguring the statues’ faces on a night like this one seemed thrilling, and perhaps that is why he was her best friend. Or more than best friend? That part was still unclear, but Katie knew all would be revealed in due time.

“ I wouldn’t be against a little redecorating. ” She said, a tone of levity reciprocating his own. Katie never did well at these types of events. She never turned down an occasion to dress-up, but anything her department deemed mandatory was always less attractive in nature. Fred’s presence however was elating. It took her mind off the current political atmosphere and the circling tensions of the evening. The world was their playground—they could escape the truth of reality, safe in their own paradise even if only for the night. Even if only reconfiguring a few statues and possibly ruining a few unsuspecting wixen’s night along the way.

She gave his hand a tight squeeze, tugging his arm as she begin wandering toward the back side of the spewing fountain. “ We are going to need a distraction—a way to buy time so we can dismantle the protective charms,” she sharply turned toward him, lips hovering above his ear as cool breath echoed the sentiment. “ And a possible escape route in case anything goes awry. Maybe back to one of our places instead, which thinking about wouldn’t be such a bad thing. ” She grinned at him mischievously, not entirely teasing on the latter matter.

“Are you sure you haven’t been thinking about this before?” He asked, squeezing her hand but turning his body to face hers. She wasn’t asking any hard questions, just ones that he imagined a Hit Witch to be trained to ask. Knowing her background at Hogwarts however, he wouldn’t put it past Katie to see the fountain she passed every day at work in the same light he did. “Seems awfully convenient you know the logistics of how to pull this off. You weren’t planning this with George or Lee first were you because that would just hurt.”

With his usual dramatic Fred placed his free hand over his heart feigning injury. There was probably very little that Katie could do it actually hurt him after their years of built up trust and friendship. Any jabs made his way Fred knew were in good fun and with the same humor the rest of their friends shared. Being with Katie was easy like that to the point he sometimes wondered how lucky he was to have her in his life. She was probably the person who understood him best besides George and she always knew how to support him without damaging his own pride and ego.

When: September 14th, 2003 Where: Wizarding Wireless Network HQ, Hogsmeade With: @weaselfred

The rush of getting caught made his heart race ten times faster than usual. Lee felt fifteen again, running through the hallways with his best friend in tow, giddy over never knowing what disastrous results might land them in Filch’s office.

Only this time, as Lee casually crawled through a window he had purposefully left ajar on his last day, Fred disarming anything that stood in their path, the consequences were much more dire than detention with Filch. And even though Lee’s best friend had a bigger reputation of getting in to trouble more than he had getting out of it, he couldn’t imagine having a better partner in literal crime by his side.

Lee slid through the opening, passing his–or rather, what used to be his–desk. Newly devoid of any character, it sat vacant, waiting for its next victim to suck the life out of. There was a familiar jar of candy sitting on Tilden Toots’ desk (wanker) that Lee always took when he walked by. Instinctively, he took one and tossed it to Fred while popping the other in his mouth. “Bunch of bullocks,” he muttered, maybe half to himself, half to Fred.

There were only a handful of places where complaints could be stored, Lee thought. And if he was going to get sacked, he had a right to know who had complained. And besides, he was only telling the news how it should be reported. Basing truth over myth, something that the Wizarding Wireless Network News clearly didn’t value anymore. Breaking in, it was only fair. And besides, what were they going to do now if he got caught snooping? Fire him?

As if he had done it a thousand times before, Lee flicked his wand at a drawer near his desk in search of the file. “And for what? Because I said Dolohov sounded like a brainwashed prick?” he grumbled. “He did.” Could have called him much worse, believe me.” He peered behind him, eyes lingering at the neon sign that lit the room. His heart stopped, a longing hitting what he wasn’t quite yet ready to deal with.

Fred followed after Lee, pocketing the candy that his best friend threw his way. It had been an easy decision to break into the wizarding wireless network, one that he hadn’t even needed convincing to do. They were fools for firing Lee, even more so for spouting the nonsense the sacred twenty-eight tried to clog their ears with. “Dolohov can fucking suck it for all I care. Let the WWN turn into a propaganda machine and watch them fail.”

Walking over to the nearest desk, Fred used his wand to start going through the easily accessed drawers. There was never anything useful in those that weren’t locked or warded but you never knew what you could come across. “Can’t come crawling back when things flip again. Start your own shit, you’ll be rich.” Though to be fair, that’s always what he and George had thought would happen when they left school.

And that hadn’t exactly panned out.

open  /  21 june 2004

The night was just starting, and Draco was already ready to go home. He couldn’t, but he could dream of being under his covers rather than under the scrutiny of his peers, eyes glued to him no matter how subtle they tried to be about their gossip. It had been this way for years now, but the disgrace his family suffered seemed to follow him wherever he went. 

He would change that, one day. It would take time and effort, but Draco would restore the Malfoy name to where it once was. It was why he was at St. Mungo’s in the first place; donating was a good cause, yes, but more importantly, people would see a Malfoy being charitable. Good press, his mother said once when she sent him to his first charity gala. As the Malfoy heir, it was his duty to not only marry, but lead the family with pride – the exact opposite of his father.

It was hard to do so when people kept staring, though, and getting on his nerves. Draco sighed loudly and turned around, giving whoever it was a plastic smile. “Can you ask your question already? I can feel your stare from over here.”

Despite it being early into the event Fred left Katie, letting her talk to work colleagues and their friends while he searched for George or Lee. Charity events and Ministry parties had never been Fred’s scene, the event reminding him too much of wearing the stuffy Hogwarts uniform and being expected to sit still and listen to the professors. As a Weasley he’d never been good at that, and as one of the twins it had been the subject of his nightmares. Fred would much rather be anywhere else, but this was an excuse to get together with friends all in one place and Katie had been required to attend due to her profession. It had also given him the good excuse to spend more time with her.

Once she was done with workplace greetings and politics of course. Until then it was up to Fred to tray and figure out if any of the wealthy wixen wanted to invest in an up and coming prank cart. Very lucrative, and perhaps getting new life thanks to Harry’s own donation. Leaning against the wall Fred tried to pick out his next target, assessing who would probably be the most likely to place their investments. Instead of finding any luck with that he ended up making eye contact with Malfoy.

“As always just wondering where you get your dazzling smile Malfoy,“ Fred commented instead of asking the real question that popped into his head every time he crossed paths with Draco, ‘Why are such a little shit?’ 

where: st. mungo’s annual fundraiser

when: 21 june, 2004

“How long do you think it would take for anyone to notice we’ve replaced the fountain faces with our own?” Fred asked, leaning towards his date while not taking his eyes off the extravagant statues in front of them. There were certainly numerous wards and protection spells placed on the sculptures, but that only egged Fred on more wondering how the twins would be able to pull it off. He figured it would take maybe a few days, or weeks for anyone to even look at the faces closely enough to see they resembled certain someones and he had a strong desire to change the goblins face to that of one of his elder brothers. Percy would be in a right mood once he saw it and that was Fred’s half motivation for doing anything.

Flora’d showered, she had. Seven times. In three hours. Yeah, her skin was raw under brand new clothes, and yet, still, it lingered. She didn’t need the other to finish the question, the sniffing was enough. “Sulfur? Yeah. Yeah, that’s exactly what you’re smelling.” She nodded, paused, pausing to shake her head, but went right back to nodding. It didn’t bother her anymore, she hardly noticed it.

Her stomach growling, that, however, she noticed. That was the more pressing issue if you asked her.  “There was a fight today, it’s fine, nobody got hurt, I even have both eyebrows this time. It’s fine, you wanna eat? I’m starving.”

“And who won? I think you’re missing a chunk of hair in the back of your head.” Fred motioned to the imaginary bald spot, hoping it would cause some short moment of panic. He’d spent the morning moving some of the puff’s to the new location at the Carrows, uncertainty lingering in his stomach until eventually, like all other thoughts that involved George, it turned to anger. So who cared if he’d become business partners with Flora without his brother’s opinion? If George cared so much about it he probably wouldn’t have bolted at the sight of him.

Plus their cart was gone now thanks to George. He hadn’t quite gotten the full story on it but the already rough few weeks had turned into a rougher few days. This was his new plan a. “Is the sulfur going to make the food taste like onions again? Either way I’m willing to tag along if you’re buying... or charge Charlie. Put it on the IOU tab he’s sure to owe you.”

open

diagon alley

The Diagon Alley’s florist has given Cho quite a great deal on the sunflower seeds and the white gardenias. It’s way cheaper than at the Muggle shop down her street. And the florist has wrapped the flowers up so neatly in newspapers for her, it looks like a proper bouquet. They’ve even placed the seeds inside a small cardboard box. She pockets the box carefully, cautious to not spill its content, and puts the flowers inside her large canvas bag, the one she always brings with her for weekend’s shopping days like this one. Cho pays the florist and thanks them before moving on with her shopping.

When it comes to shopping, Cho has never been good at keeping to her list. A maximalist at heart, her approach to it is to buy what she thinks she needs in the future. Hence why, the next thing Cho knows, she’s hauling a huge and heavy copper cauldron around. Flailing about as she tries to remember the spell for making things smaller. Her hands grasping at the cold copper.

“What is that spell again?” Cho huffs, finally placing the cauldron on the ground of the quieter part of Diagon Alley. She tugs her hair behind her ear and dusts off her hands. Looking around for familiar faces. When she spots one, she waves her hand at them and smiles apologetically, trying to get their attention. “Hey! Great to see you. Please tell me you remember first year spells better than I do.” 

It had been a slow sale day, made even worse by the fact that he had no one to keep him company during it. Their already measly cart was struggling as it was and hiring Ron to take on more hours was stretching their profits thin now that George wasn’t pitching in free labor. All together that had forced Fred to close business early and now he was left with much more free time than he was used to. Looks like it was back to laying around Oliver’s place.

It was on his way back that he was interrupted, turning to find Chang yelling out to him. “You know if you can’t remember first year spells you might want to get that checked out Healer Chang.” Fred strolled over to her, a smile gracing his face now that he had some company. Thankfully it was Cho, someone who he assumed hadn’t heard of the twins falling out and the general mess of his life lately. Well, she might have hard about the trouble a Beltane and seen him, Charlie, and Andromeda dragging Tonks through St. Mungo’s but that was further down his list of worries. What mattered was that she would probably not be a person to ask what had caused his life to become such a mess recently.

“But I suppose since I’m such a generous person I can help you out. What do you need?”

“It’s lucky you’re still keyed into my wards, mate, or you wouldn’t have been sleeping quite so peacefully. Maybe I would finally get some peace and quiet though, eh,” Ollie said, though his tone was full of fondness for his friend. Plonking himself down on the bed which was definitely not big enough for two grown men, Ollie gave himself a moment to think about why Fred had decided to move in without any sort of warning - but decided that was perhaps a discussion to be held over pizza, rather than straight after waking Fred up from his nap.

“What do you fancy? I’m going for mighty meaty and some garlic bread, can’t go wrong there,” Ollie grinned. “Practice was…okay,” his grin seemed to slip a little, frowning at the tension he was feeling with regards to Captaining the team these days. “I’ve been trying to motivate Blaise Zabini to do more morning exercises. I don’t think he likes my methods, but so far it seems to be working as a motivator even if Blaise is very disgruntled about it. He’s more aware in the mornings now. Reminds me of having to drag you and George out of bed in the mornings, sometimes aided with a aguamenti,” Ollie chuckled.

Flicking his wand, Oliver summoned the telephone that his mother had insisted he had installed into the flat and dialled for the pizza delivery. “Beer?” Ollie asked, pushing himself off the bed to head across to the fridge. “So, how long do you plan on staying? You know you’re welcome as long as you want, but just so I know how long to buy food for two.”

“Aye you know you’d just find me in front of the door. Don’t think a couple of wards would keep me out do you?” He chuckled, rolling once again to move out of the way for Oliver. They were too old and too big to be trying to fit into one bed at their grandpa age but Fred would share some space for his friend who was kindly letting him stay. This is how it should always be! Oliver was a lot more easy going than most people Fred ran across. Maybe it was because he hadn’t incessantly asked him for loans lately. 

He frowned. Would Fred even have a reason to ask Oli for loans in the future? While Fred almost refused to consider a future without the cart he also wondered if George would really go about abandoning it. He couldn’t imagine them as Ministry workers, couldn’t imagine George sitting still long enough behind a desk to even get a task done. There was just no way.

“It’s like you read my mind,” he hummed, still a little lost in his thoughts. The edges of his mind felt fuzzy from the sleep he’d just woken up from. “Don’t tell me you’re hosing down Blaise Zabini in the morning. Probably could get him out of bed if you promised him no more team bonding exercises. Maybe if you stop crying in the showers after every loss as well. You still do that don’t you?” 

Oliver’s quidditch antics were infamous and Fred assumed the quidditch lover who’d gone pro had only worsened his habits. “Maybe a week or two, should be gone during the day manning the cart still. Probably only around for romantic dinners, unless you’re all booked up for the future? Heard theres a high demand for quidditch players right now.”

cobblestones & ice cream cones | open

The evening drew near, and the streets of Diagon Alley had nearly emptied – all the mummies and daddies wanted to be home in time for supper, shopping could wait. Gringotts had been busy, but, like clockwork, as the sun went away, so did their clientele. The cobblestoned streets beckoned, as did the lure to be home with his girls, but it was a feeling rather than any actual reasoning, that he should wait, just a moment longer, before heading home. A familiar face fell into his line of vision in almost an instant, and a smile brightened his features. Bill raised his hand in greeting, lengthening his stride to catch up to them.

Though he’d always deny any and all similarities between himself and his mother, there was no question that Bill was a bit of a mother hen. Of course, he wasn’t as much a worrier or as much a busybody as Molly, but he’d inherited her need for an open-door policy. If someone needed a place to stay or a hot meal or a quick conversation, there wasn’t a way Bill could possibly say no. He looked a bit frightening, especially with his newly-accessorized face, but smiles came easily to Bill and a greeting always seemed to be exchanged. 

“Haven’t seen you in a while,” Bill said lightly, “Everything goin’ alright at the moment?” He glanced around him – would have offered a drink or a cup of coffee, even, but only Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour beckoned. “Can I buy you, erm, a cone?”

It had been a quiet evening. A lot of quiet evenings since Fred had stopped speaking to George and by default of avoiding the flat, Katie as well. Living with Oliver wasn’t nearly as hectic as things usually were when you had someone who looked identical to you and followed you around everywhere and also happened to have the exact same obnoxious humor as you did. Oliver surprisingly didn’t feel the need to do everything together. It was a weird change. Very strange to say the least.

Fred was on a stroll back to Oliver’s home when he saw a flash of red hair. Weasley. And that was all it took for him to swiftly turn around and try and escape before he could be seen. There was only about two Weasley’s that Fred wouldn’t mind seeing at the moment and with those sort of odds Fred didn’t want to take his chances. Unfortunately it seemed that his bright red hair had also been spotted, and he turned around in time for Bill to ask the worst question possible.

“Things are going fine,” Fred wheezed. Bill hadn’t exactly been one of the two Wealseys that Fred would want to see but he was definitely a better option of the bunch. “Couldn’t be better actually. Sold a puff today.” A lie but completely plausible with how many time he’d seen Daphne Greengrass over the months. He doubted Bill would even check. “Free ice cream, you trying to bribe your way up the sibling’s list?”

Who: Oliver & @weaselfred​ Where: Oliver’s home

Training had been difficult today. The wind and rain had been against them all day, pushing broomsticks to the limit and battering bodies. Their reserve beater had taken a good tumble off his broom when the rain made everything a little too slippery, and Oliver had taken a bludger to the shoulder when his fingers slipped off the broom handle trying to dive out of the way. Though the team healers had checked him over, he knew that his shoulder would be a lovely shade of purple in the morning. Even so, it had been necessary to persevere. Not every game would be played in ideal conditions.

It did mean, however, that when Ollie returned home all he really wanted to do was crack open a beer and order some lazy takeout before retiring to bed early. As he stepped through the front door and hung his broom up, Oliver frowned at the sight of a coat that was most certainly not his own. “Hello?” he called out, though he reached for his wand just in case. There were people keyed into his wards that would always be able to get in, and he hadn’t felt a disturbance as he entered, but there were always people who could slip into cracks in wards.

The living room and kitchen were empty, and Ollie jogged upstairs to see that the door to one of his spare rooms was closed. Opening it with his wand up, Oliver let out a sigh of relief at the red-headed man who was sprawled out on his bed. Waking him up with a nudge of his foot, Oliver shot his dear friend a grin. “Fucking hell, Fred. Warn a man before moving into the spare room, eh? I’m gonna order pizza, want some?”

Fred could feel someone in the room, rolling over as Oliver nudged him and opening his eyes. He’d waited until Oliver had gone to practice to sneak into the apartment, spending most of the morning at St. Mungo’s and then going back to the apartment and pressing his ear against the door until he was sure that George wasn’t inside. The whole time he’d been on edge, sure that Katie would come bursting out of her apartment and he’d have to explain why he was being sneaky, or worse they’d have to talk about last night. No, worse than that would be Katie barging out of her apartment and fleeing again or walking past him like he didn’t exist. It had been sheer luck he’d managed to even get to this bed without any other bad things happening in that time.

Maybe he’d used up all his bad luck, he’d certainly hope so. Except– Fred made a mental note of a cart item idea. Bottled bad luck, he’d think about that later. 

“Come on Ollie, I thought you’d love the surprise. Nothing better than living with your best mate eh?” He wasn’t sure if Oliver would consider Fred his best mate but well, close enough. He’d thankfully not put up a fight about Fred seemingly moving in but would eventually ask what had caused it. There was no way anyone was going to believe that Fred and George were willingly and amicably spending time apart from each other. Maybe Fred could blackmail him into not asking by finding out Wood slept cuddling a quaffle or held a seance in his apartment before every game to win. He was thinking about going through his friends things earlier and then remembered why he hadn’t. He didn’t want to run the risk of finding a secret love not to Percy or something else Fred had no desire knowing.

Propping himself up on the bed, Fred rested on his elbows. “If you’re offering I’m not going to turn it down. How was practice?”

He had his fingers wrapped around an empty glass of what used to be some sort of pop, eyes searching his surroundings for the nearest rubbish can while on his way towards whatever direction was producing the perfect smell of freshly baked bread. The Falcons had been training the team rigorously the past few weeks in preparation for a game the next, so technically Cedric shouldn’t have been thinking of sweets and breads and yet there he was. Eyes went wide at the sight and he threw a hand threw his unkept hair in deliberation of whether or not to give in. Eyes bigger than his stomach and whatnot. 

Within the next minute, the man was walking straight out of the bakery with a boyish smile and his hands wrapped around both a croissant and a bag of muffins he just figured he would pick up too since he was there. More than he needed, at that. Looking towards the first set of eyes he felt on him, Cedric gave the other a smile. “’ve got muffins if you’d like any,” she spoke while rattling the white paper bag in his hand, the other lifting the croissant to his mouth for a bite. 

“Oi you do?” Fred asked, his head snapping at the offer of free food. Even though he wasn’t too poor anymore thanks to Charlie paying off the twins outstanding rent debt, it was still in his best interest to not pass down free food. Especially muffins. 

Fred went for a grab, lifting the bag out of Cedric’s hands but still keeping it within reach in case he wanted to grab it back. Diggory was a good person and Fred’s vindictive emotions had already been claimed by one person in particular. No need to make even more people want to run from his company than he already had. “You’ve got to be careful of who you offer these to you know. Don’t want someone to take advantage of you Diggory. There’s just so many bad people out there.”

Katie melted into Fred like a popsicle on a hot summer day. The nervous clamor of her heart rang loud in both ears, drowning out the rest of the world for a brief moment in time. Fred’s arms were strong anchored at her waist. His lips were soft, leaving her breathless. She wanted to stay like this forever, completely enamored by his touch.

That feeling sent a volt of electricity through her veins. Did he feel it too? Or had it all been fictionalized in her head?

There was a rickety split second of uncertainty, causing Katie to break away from him in a panic. Her cheeks burned hot. Her fingers, now empty of him again, nervously twitched at her side. She was only thinking of herself and felt foolish—just like a stupid little girl, really. What about him? What about the worries that led him up here alone? The thought settled uncomfortably in the pit of her stomach as she stared at him, desperately searching for some sort of explanation.

She opened her mouth, but nothing poured out. What was she supposed to say? I fancy you. That sounded so stupid ( was she suddenly fourteen again? ), and didn’t at all captivate how she really felt. I think I might love you. That was too heavy, all while being laced with so much uncertainty. She nearly choked on that uncertainty. Katie was never reserved with her feelings, but everything with Fred was different. The way he always made her heart skip a beat at the most unexpected times. Fear lumped in the back of her throat over the thought of losing him. Why now was that fear paralyzing her with such silence?

So Katie didn’t say anything, thinking it would somehow cushion the blow of rejection. She pivoted away quickly, unaware she dropped her now very crumpled Beltane Wish on the ground in the midst of her dramatic exit. She came up here to breathe, Fred was always her breath of fresh air. It seemed ironic he’d somehow managed to take all hers away tonight instead. She was overwhelmed trying to figure out what it meant, and how she could suddenly feel like she was without air when she was also without him.

Maybe it was a test of endurance. How long could she withstand her heart? Or maybe the test was for him? Was he supposed to chase her? Would that be her big sign from the universe? Would it solidify how she felt for someone who was labeled as her best friend but secretly so much more than that?

Nothing was that black and white though, so it proved not to matter anyways. Katie wasn’t the chased. She was the chaser, and she managed to slip away again under the thinly veiled canopy of nighttime and intrigue.

There were no combination of words that could truly capture how Fred was feeling in this moment. He wasn’t sure if this kiss lasted a lifetime or only a few seconds. He really wasn’t sure of anything besides Katie’s warm lips and his need to press the two closer, his arms strengthening around her waist. 

It was like discovering he’d been missing something all this time. Like a click in his mind that what he’d actually been wanting this whole time was Katie. Her soft smile, her captivating jokes, her quirky rainbow pants, Fred wanted that to be a part of his everyday life. He–

Katie broke away, the act stopping any further thoughts in his mind. Now the only thing he felt was confusion as he tried to follow her absence and instead come up with empty air. Why’d she stop? Fred opened his eyes, catching a very wide eyed Katie looking back at him. Did she regret what had just happened? The air around the two became uncertain as they stood there, Fred wondering what could be going through Katie’s mind.

It hadn’t seemed like a mistake, (because how could a kiss like that been a mistake?) but he’d never seen Katie be so quiet about anything. His mind tangled together, any thoughts further than what? scrambling into a clustered mess. He really needed Katie’s lead on this, any explanation or comment or perhaps another kiss to tell him what exactly he should be thinking about what occurred because now that it happened they couldn’t take it back. Merlin Fred didn’t want them to take it back but he couldn’t exactly get the words out of his mouth to tell her that. For once a witty remark seemed to allude him and he was left scrambling for air.

And then it was too late, his hands reaching up a second too slow to try and grab Katie’s arm as she whirled around. She was a lot faster than he remembered and she managed to flee from their hideaway as Fred fumbled to get his legs to work properly. He was taller than her, had longer strides but she still managed to evade him. Should he chase after her?

That was exactly what he wanted to do right now but he willed his legs to stop. Merlin, she’d thought this all was a mistake hadn’t she? Katie had run from him like he was the plague and now that he was no longer staring into her eyes trying to find any semblance of a sign as what to do he realized that he was probably the last person she wanted to see right now. That’s why she’d run. So instead Fred made his way over to the railing, pausing to scoop up her Beltane wish from the floor and then sliding down so that he sat on the floor.