m&mwp. Merry Christmas, mew!
"Today, I saw my friend kissing a guy. Am I ever going to kiss someone one day?"
— Kohinata Nanoka, Koi Kaze
He was only there because Molly had asked him to be. And it was only because she'd threatened him with numerous, extremely creative and painful sounding hexes that he hadn't immediately refused her request.
And so, it was out of pure fear that Fred found himself walking through the pouring rain and towards the Black Lake.
Upon arriving at his destination, he immediately spotted who he was looking for. A small girl sat near the body of water, her back against a large tree and her knees pulled against her chest.
"I know Molly sent you," she muttered. "Go away."
Fred rolled his eyes, shrugging off his jacket and throwing it in her direction. "Don't be stupid, Lucy. Get up and let's go back to the castle before your charming sister decides to disembowel me."
"I'll ask her not to. Just go away."
Fred, however, was more fond of his bits than Lucy had guessed, for instead of turning and leaving, he moved closer to her and knelt before her, allowing his umbrella to cover them both.
"Put the jacket on," he said simply. "You'll catch your death otherwise."
It was only when she'd wrapped the jacket around her shoulders that he continued, "Come on, then. This is me taking the bait, Luce. Tell me what's wrong."
Tugging the jacket more tightly around herself, the teenage girl shook her head.
Fred frowned. "Will you tell Molly?"
"Now you're being stupid," Lucy scoffed. "Really, I'm just thinking about things. It's nothin—"
"You couldn't have just thought somewhere dry?" Fred interrupted, standing upright. When she made no attempt to follow him, he sighed heavily. "You're really going to sit here? Even though it's raining and cold and nearly curfew?"
"Since when have you ever cared about curfew?"
At this, the older boy shrugged. "I was hoping it would motivate you to get off your arse. Or, at the very least, motivate you to tell me what it is that you're mooning over so that we can get back to the castle before we freeze to death."
"You'll think it's stupid."
Fred rolled his eyes. "I think that sitting out here in the rain is stupid."
"I think Rose is stupid."
"Rose?" Fred asked incredulously, stunned at the sudden malice that laced his cousin's voice. "What did Rose do?"
Lucy glared up at him, finally looking him in the eye. "She kissed Malfoy."
Fred almost dropped his umbrella. He looked away for a moment, wondering if any girl in the world actually knew how to give a straight forward, easy to understand answer. He was getting tired of these guessing games.
"What? D'you fancy him or something? You really shouldn't, Luce. He's two years older than you and a right prick at that."
"I don't fancy him!"
Fred groaned inwardly. "Then what?"
"It's just..."
"Just what?"
"I've never kissed anyone before."
He really did drop his umbrella at that. "That's the problem? You came out here, not because you wanted to catch pneumonia and get out of exams, but because Rose, who's two years older than you, beat you to kissing someone?"
His words were in vain though, and Lucy cast her eyes downwards, handing him the the fallen umbrella wordlessly. Slowly, she began to stand, gnawing on her lip as he stared at her, shaking his head.
"I just...I...I told you it was stupid," she murmured and for a moment, Fred felt guilty. "I'm so, so stupid..."
"You're not stupid. Just a bit over-dramatic," Fred replied, taking her arm and tugging her under the umbrella. "You know, Luce, the longer you wait the more special it'll be. And besides, you're thirteen. The boys your age haven't opened their eyes yet. And when they do...well, I bet the offers will start pouring in, all right?"
"I don't care about special."
The cold really must've been getting to him, because he would swear that he wouldn't have done it otherwise. Yes, it must've been the cold that possessed him to lean over and place his lips on those of his younger cousin's. In his defense, it was chaste, quick and he pulled away almost immediately.
"There," he muttered, mindlessly wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "You'll stop whining now, won't you?"
Fred's pace quickened and before long, Lucy was scurrying to catch up with him. She was shocked, to say the least, but she found that the tears in her eyes were drying and the frustration clouding her mind was fading.
She'd been kissed. She no longer had to worry about whether or not it was going to happen. And, more importantly, she was even with Rose. And Merlin...she'd been kissed!
"I've just got to drop by the library," Fred said suddenly, interrupting her train of thought. "You should go see your sister."
He'd sprinted away before Lucy had the chance to stop him. So, in consolation, she whispered a quiet "thank you" before hurrying off to the common room, ready to tell her sister almost everything.