Hey, readers! I thought it would be nice to whip up a "cute" Valentine's Day chapter. Unfortunately, I didn't do it in time for Valentine's Day. However, I still wrote it.

Thanks for reading! –alienoctopus

ALSO—Usually, I write flashbacks in italics throughout the chapters. Considering this chapter is entirely a flashback, I'm not using italics.

So I'll write postcards, and I'll forget to send them

It was seven in the morning on a Hogsmeade Saturday.

Many of the girls in Hogwarts were already awake, taking showers and applying makeup as it was the day after Valentine's Day—which meant many girls were going on a date whether it was with their boyfriends or a new beau.

But what was strange was that fourteen year old Fred Weasley was awake.

He sat up in his four-poster bed, curtains closed, fiddling with a handwritten note he meant to give to someone days before.

He was trying to draw up the courage to give it to its intended recipient.

"Fred, what are you doing up?" George opened the curtain. George wiped sleep from his eyes, which gave Fred a moment to hide this note under his pillow without his brother noticing.

"I dunno. I think I heard something and couldn't get back to sleep." Fred answered quickly.

George scanned his brother's face. "Is something wrong?" He asked tentatively.

"No."

"Are you sure? You've been muttering to yourself. Almost woke up the entire floor."

"You'd know if something was wrong, wouldn't you?"

"I guess," George admitted, "Well, Lee's not going to be up until breakfast, and Ivy probably won't be awake until noon, so don't get too excited over our Hogsmeade trip."

"Why would I be excited about going to Hogsmeade?" Fred asked defensively.

"Don't tell me that you forgot Zonko's is releasing a new product today!"

"Of course I didn't forget. I just can't get back to sleep is all."

"Well, I can. See you in a couple hours, brother."

Fred nodded at his twin.

Fred waited until George's curtains were closed and closed his own.

He took out his note and read it.

Maybe I should just toss it, he thought.

Maybe I shouldn't.

No, this is a bad idea.

Fred began to feel angry with himself. He was a Gryffindor, for Merlin's sake! He should be brave, not anxious.

He took out the Marauders' Map and examined it, looking for a particular name.

His eyes scanned the girls' dormitory, but the name wasn't there.

He looked in the Great Hall, not there either.

Fred was about to give up. This was a sign from Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. This was a bad idea.

But then he saw it.

The name and the footprints were almost motionless outside the Quidditch pitch.

Fred swallowed hard.

He grabbed his cloak and ran out of Gryffindor Tower.

He slid down banisters, took a secret passage, and raced out of the Great Hall.

The cold wind hit his face like a ton of bricks. He thanked Merlin that he took his warmest cloak with him, but cursed himself for not having the sense to also grab a scarf.

He walked slowly to the Quidditch pitch, trying to catch his breath.

Then trying to steady his breath. It was shallow and quick, like his racing blood.

He saw the body that the name and footprints from the map belong to.

He had to catch his breath again.

"Ivy!" He yelled to the body.

It turned around. Ivy's fresh face was wonderful to see amongst the snow, made brighter by the morning.

"Fred? What are you doing out here?" She asked.

"I was looking for you. What are you doing out here?"

Ivy blushed. Her eyes glanced quickly at the Quidditch pitch. "Nothing." She said sheepishly.

Fred looked at the pitch. Oliver Wood dove his broomstick as close to the ground as he could get, and pulled back up.

"Oh." Fred said, realizing why Ivy was awake and outside. The courage that had swelled in his chest on the way out had shrunk back down immediately.

"What?" Ivy asked defensively.

"He's been eying you, too, you know." Fred said.

"Who? I don't know what you're talking about." Ivy didn't take her eyes off her feet.

She felt embarrassed. She didn't want Fred to know she fancied Oliver.

She was confused about fancying Oliver. Such a large part of her felt even stronger about Fred. But lately, Oliver had been taking notice of the young Gryffindor. He offered to accompany her on her walks around the castle. He played a few games of Exploding Snap with her, as well as saved her a seat at dinner. Ivy couldn't help but feel attraction towards him.

Ivy didn't want Fred to know any of this.

"Wood. I think he fancies you, too."

Ivy's blush deepened.

"He does," Fred said. "If he's not talking about Quidditch, he's asking about you."

"Oh." She breathed. "Do you think he'll ask me to Hogsmeade?"

Fred's heart dropped into his stomach. "It's kind of late for that, isn't it?"

"I suppose." Ivy said, watching Oliver fly.

Fred felt bad. He felt like with those words, he had hurt Ivy. "But you never know. He probably will."

Ivy didn't notice the monotone of Fred's answers. "Oh, I hope he does." She gave Fred a small smile.

"If he's smart, he will."

The two stood in silence, not knowing the other's thought. If they did, things would be much different.

If Ivy knew what Fred was thinking, she would know that Fred was holding a small piece of parchment with the words, "Will you go to Hogsmeade with me, but not as friends, you know?" scrawled across it.

Ivy would embrace Fred and they would go inside and get properly dressed, and go on a date, and be together.

But she couldn't read his thoughts.

If Fred knew what Ivy was thinking, he would know that Ivy preferred him over Oliver and that she really only was attracted to Oliver as a distraction from himself.

Fred would toss the note aside and ask Ivy in person.

But as Ivy couldn't read Fred's mind, he couldn't read hers.

Fred had to do something. He had to make some sort of move.

So he kissed her.

They stood there, frozen in strange adolescence, until Fred pulled away.

"What was that for?" Ivy asked. She didn't sound angry to Fred. He couldn't tell if she was happy about what he had just did, however, and chalked it up to absolute surprise.

"Listen, Ivy. I care about you." Fred said plainly. Ivy's heart swelled at the words. "So I don't want you to go wasting your first kiss on something no one knows about. We're always going to be friends. Having our first kiss in between us is something neither of us will regret."

Ivy was flabbergasted. She had no idea what to say. She had no idea what to even think. Before she could even get out a word, Fred spoke.

"I'm going to go back in, then." Fred said.

"I'll see you at breakfast soon." Ivy said, trying to get her attention back on Oliver.

Fred nodded and walked back into the castle, discarding his note in the snow.

The snow bled into the ink until the words were indiscernible.

Neither knew that the other felt just as heartbroken.

Fred handled his heartbreak better than Ivy did, though Ivy dated more than he did.

Fred was able to throw himself into something he loved. He was able to be constantly distracted with his brother and their inventions.

Ivy didn't have that. She knew she didn't have anything. She immersed herself in finding someone to stand in for Fred.

Maybe she could learn to care about something else.

Their interaction that morning was forgotten by nightfall, as Fred and George were far too invested in trying out their Zonko's purchases, and Ivy was deep in conversation with Oliver Wood.

But when they both lay to go to sleep, their thoughts were of each other.