Coffee
Chapter 1
Fred walked down the dreary streets of New York City in his finest muggle clothes. He and George were opening another shop on a street of wizard vendors and this was Fred's third trip to the large city. He kept his head down as he walked through the rain. He knew he had to aparate back to his has soon, George was having an engagement party in little under an hour, but he continued to walk through the streets for no reason. He felt compelled to walk, to not go back to the house he was being forced out of in a few months.
George and Katie had already set a date for the wedding, December, three months from the twins twenty-forth birthdays. He had to open a new shop, find a new place, write a speech, and plan a honeymoon in the next five months. He knew it wasn't much, but he was happy to be busy, even if he didn't want his brother to get married.
He felt something collide with his shoulder and he looked up as he spun around to see what he had walked into.
"I'm so sorry," he said to the beautiful woman facing him.
"It's okay," she replied after hearing his thick British accent. She couldn't help but become drawn to him, his red locks soaked to his head and his blue eyes shining brightly. It also helped that she was a sucker for foreign accents.
"No, my fault, wasn't watching where I was walking," he said not wanting the woman to leave. She was so beautiful, like an angel with curly golden brown hair that was drooping from the rain. Her lips were an appetizing pink while her eyes were a deep amber that seemed to hold the world in them.
"Buy me a coffee and I'll forget about it," she said daringly.
Fred had never known a girl to ask him for a date, plenty of witches approached him in the joke shop, but never asked him for a date, but was this a date?
"I'd love too, but I don't know where to get one," he said wanting to pull his wand out and conjure two steaming cups of coffee, even though he didn't like them, but he was on a muggle street and suspected the amber-eyed beauty was a muggle, too.
"I'll show you, if you have American money of course," she said with a joking smile.
Fred dug deep into his pocket and pulled out what he had. He had switched some of his money on his first trip, but he had no idea how it worked. He held in his hand a tight roll of bills, unsure how much it was worth.
"Right this way, sir," she said before taking Fred's cold hand into hers, which was warm, reminding Fred of a summer day at the Burrow. She pulled him down the streets while Fred pushed the money back into his pocket and ran along with the girl.. She eventually pulled him into a small shop and he watched adoringly as she shook the water from her hair.
She pulled him over to a booth and they sat down across from each other.
"Ani," she said with a smile as she extended her hand over the table.
Fred took the woman's hand and kissed it softly, which was his normal habit when a beautiful girl held her hand out, "Your name again?" he asked politely.
"Uh, um, Ani," she said after stumbling around a bit and looking at Fred oddly. She pulled her hand back slowly and touched the spot his lips had touched, which had sent tingles through her hand to her heart.
"And your name?" she asked cautiously. He seemed odd now that she thought about it. What normal man walked around New York City with a large wad of cash in his pocket and kissed women's hands.
"Fred," he said with a smile.
The woman forgot about how odd Fred was and enjoyed more than just one coffee with him. She laughed at all of his jokes and started to like his little quirks.
Fred was feeling much the same way, though he hated the coffee. He sipped it slowly and as he took one sip he caught a glimpse of his watch. "Bloody hell," he said after spitting his coffee back into his cup in surprise. "I, uh, have to run," he said as he pulled the wad of cash from his pocket. He threw a bill on the table hoping it would cover the tab.
"Wait," the girl said not wanting him to leave. Even though he was odd, he as charming and sweet and she thought he was definitely from a different world. "Are you going to be here long?" she asked hoping she could see him again.
"No, I'm going back to London," he said as he stood up. "Um," he said as he began to think of what Harry and Hermione had called the muggle communication. He tapped his foot and rubbed his closed eyes as he thought, "Telephone," he said excitedly. "Can I have your telephone number."
She again thought he was odd, as he had to fight to remember the name of a telephone, but it wasn't creepy, it was quaint. "Sure," she said before writing her number on a napkin and handing it to him.
He held the napkin gingerly and before running from the shop he kissed her on the cheek quickly. He ran into a deserted alley and after making sure no one would see he aparated to his house, where George was waiting ready to kill him.
"What have you been doing?" he asked angrily before waving his wand at Fred. Fred looked down, in one hand he held the napkin and in the other his wand, and instead of the soaked muggle suit he was wearing a pair of dress robes.
"Business," Fred lied before walking to his room. He set the napkin on his dresser and running a towel over his wet hair before walking down to his brother.
"Mum and Dad will be here any minute," George said as he looked at his watch. He began to pace back and forth as if he were stressed out, but the twins never got stressed out, never.
"What happened, George?" he said worried someone had been hurt or killed.
George looked at is twin, ignoring Katie who had just walked into the room, "Oh, nothing, unless you count Percy refusing to come after all these years and Harry and Ron getting attacked."
"Are they okay?" Fred asked worried that the two were dead or stuck in St. Mungos for the rest of their lives.
"Oh yeah, Harry just had to regrow a finger and Ron's arms are cut up again," George said before their parents aparated next to Katie.
Fred had to push the attacks and the woman from his mind as the guests arrived. Charlie showed up in the fireplace with his youngest child, a red haired infant, in his arms while the older one held to tightly to his legs. His wife came next carrying the usual large assortment of baby things. Bill arrived in the fireplace with his only child, and Fleur followed him, her stomach bulging. Harry and Ginny aparated, and Fred noticed that Harry was playing with what he guessed was recently regrown while Ginny elbowed him. Ron arrived through the front door, having been forced not to do too much magic and using the knight bus. Hermione was right behind him.
Lee Jordan arrived with his latest girlfriend, a witch Fred remembered winking at him in the store. Oliver Wood arrived, his wedding band still shining brightly, escorting the girl that was once Angelina Johnson, but now Angelina Wood. Most of the guests arrived at once, Fred was unable to welcome them all, considering they had invited most of their old Gryffindor friends and a lot of business owners in Diagon Alley.
Fred walked into past Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Hermione, both of the girls yelling at the two boys to stop scratching, in Ron's case, or playing with their wounds from the attack.
"Oy, Hermione, I'm a big boy now," he heard Ron say before he began to scratch at his arms again.
Fred helped clean up after the party and he walked slowly up the stairs as George was saying to goodnight to Katie. He could here their whispers, which he knew contained the sappy words professing their love for each other. He rolled his eyes at them and walked into his room. He undressed quickly and looked at the napkin for a few minutes before lying in his bed. He stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, waiting for sleep to claim him. He was thinking of the girl, how beautiful she was.
"I could marry a muggle," he said oddly before falling asleep.
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A/N: You've taken the time to read... so please review!
