It wasn't until five in the morning that Auden's parents and Mrs. Weasley returned to Grimmauld Place. Fred had fallen asleep on Auden's shoulder. Auden had been sleeping on and off for the past five hours and when Mrs. Weasley arrived, she found herself jerking awake while Fred continued to sleep.
"Don't wake him just yet, dear," Mrs. Weasley whispered. "Let him sleep. You can tell him the news later."
"What's going on?" Ron asked at once. "How's dad?"
"He's alive and he's going to be just fine," Mrs. Weasley responded as Auden's parents hung up their coats.
There was a sigh of relief among everyone in the room.
"We can go visit him on Christmas day," Auden's mother said, looking at the tired eyes staring up at her. "But for now, I think everyone should get some sleep."
"I agree," Mrs. Weasley said. "Everyone upstairs…now."
"Want me to get him?" George asked Auden, gesturing to Fred sleeping against her shoulder.
"Sure," she whispered, reaching over and pushing Fred's hair out of his eyes before George levitated his twin up off of her.
Auden slowly walked to the room she had shared with Hermione and Ginny over the summer. Ginny walked in behind her and immediately flopped on her bed without a word. Auden pulled down the covers on her own bed before climbing in and pulling the covers back up to her chin. Within seconds, she was asleep.
Fred woke up at eleven. At first, he was confused. He was in the bedroom he had shared with George over the summer, not in the kitchen where he last remembered being. He looked over at George's bed and found him snoring, still sound asleep.
Mum must be back by now, he thought. He threw himself out of bed, determined to figure out what had happened to his father. Fred found his feet leading him down one floor to the room Auden and Ginny were sharing. Once he got there, he slowly opened the door and peeked inside.
Ginny was sleeping on her side, facing the wall away from Fred. She was curled into a ball and Fred could only see her head sticking out from the top of the blankets. He moved his eyes to Auden's bed and smiled softly.
Auden was lying on her stomach, her head facing him. The blankets were pulled up to her chin and one arm was lying on the pillow, curved above her head, while the other one rested on the pillow just in front of her face.
He tiptoed over to her bed and sat down on the edge. Now that he was closer, Fred noticed a small section of Auden's hair was resting across her face, just under her nose, making it look like she had a mustache. Fred nearly laughed, but instead he slowly and carefully brushed it away and behind her ear, letting his fingers trail over the back of her ear for just a moment.
Auden smiled in her sleep and Fred found himself smiling as well. He wondered what she was dreaming about. He didn't want to wake her, but at the same time he wanted to know about his dad and he didn't want to hear the news from anyone but Auden. He decided he could wait a little while longer, though. She just looked so content.
He continued to softly stoke Auden's hair for a few more minutes, before she rolled over onto her back and slowly opened her eyes. "Fred?" she asked sleepily.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up," he whispered.
"It's okay," she smiled. "Did you sleep alright?"
"Yeah I did, but I wanted to know about-,"
"Oh my gosh, that's right, you don't know!" Auden said, sitting up suddenly.
"Relax, you're going to give yourself whiplash," Fred smiled. He didn't know how he was so calm right now, but he was nonetheless. He had no idea what had ultimately happened to his dad, but for some reason that he couldn't explain, he felt like things were okay.
Auden smiled. "Your dad's fine. We're going to visit him tomorrow."
Fred felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Auden. She lightly rubbed his back and buried her face in his neck.
"Thank you," he said, finally letting her go.
"For what?" she asked, her expression one of confusion.
"For just being here. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't been here last night. Honestly, I probably would have lost my cool and gone tearing off to St. Mungo's and looked like a complete nutter."
"It's nothing," she answered. "I wouldn't dream of being anywhere else. I wanted to be here for you and besides, your dad's practically family to me. I care about him too."
"I know you do," Fred smiled, tracing his finger down her jaw. He noticed her shiver slightly and he smiled.
"You know what I think we should do?" Auden said, an excited gleam growing in her eyes.
"What?" Fred asked.
"We should cook lunch for everyone. Our parents got in so late last night and your mother especially must be exhausted. We could surprise them and have the food ready for when they wake up!"
Fred grinned at her. "I'm not much of a cook, but I guess I can give it a go."
"Don't worry, I'll help you. Now, go get ready and meet me in the kitchen in twenty minutes."
"Whatever you say," Fred replied in a business like tone as he stood up to leave. At the doorway, he turned around and glanced back at Auden. She was grinning and humming to herself as she picked out an outfit. Fred smiled absently as he watched. The good mood was infectious.
"You're wasting time," Auden said playfully, noticing he hadn't left the room yet.
"Sorry, sorry!" he said, laughing as he darted back to his room.
Twenty minutes later, Auden was putting a pot of water on the stove to boil. She had decided to make spaghetti and salad. They were both simple enough to make and one of the few things she could cook that Sirius had all the ingredients for.
She looked up at the sound of footsteps to see Fred entering the room, rubbing his eyes and yawning slightly.
"Oh, good, you're finally here," Auden said, handing him the box of spaghetti before walking back to the pantry for more ingredients.
"What am I doing with this?" Fred asked, confused.
"When the water starts boiling, pour it into the pot," Auden called from the pantry.
"Boiling?" Fred said, pretending to be confused.
Auden stuck her head out of the pantry. "When it starts bubbling really fast," she said.
Fred laughed. "I was just kidding. I know what boiling means, believe it or not."
Auden rolled her eyes before disappearing into the pantry again.
"You know, I never knew you could cook," Fred said, as he stood at the stove waiting for the water to boil.
"I guess I'm just full of surprises," Auden said, coming to stand next to him. "But really, I only know a few basic things. Spaghetti's actually pretty easy. I want to learn how to make other things, but I haven't gotten that far yet. " She began making the salad, completely aware of the fact that Fred was staring at her intently. "The water's boiling," she told him, glancing at the pot from where she was standing.
"Oh, right, sorry," Fred turned toward the pot quickly and dumped the spaghetti in it.
"Now stir it," Auden prompted, smiling at him.
"I don't have a—oh," Fred smiled sheepishly as Auden held up a spoon. She laughed and threw a piece of lettuce at him.
"Watch it or I'll squirt you with the faucet," Fred warned.
"You wouldn't!" Auden cried, widening her eyes.
"Try me," Fred answered, grabbing the faucet and placing his finger under it so that if he turned it on, the water would go everywhere.
"Don't you dare," Auden said, backing away as Fred slowly moved the handle on the faucet. He just smirked at her.
"What are you two doing?" asked Sirius coming into the kitchen. Fred jumped away from the faucet and went back to the task of stirring the spaghetti.
"We were cooking for everyone," Auden said to Sirius. "We thought it would be a nice surprise."
"Seems to me like you were about to have a water fight," Sirius smirked.
Auden blushed. "Sorry."
"Don't worry about it," Sirius told her. "I was the same way when I was your age. In fact, I remember when I was staying with Harry's dad, we had to wash dishes and James thought it would be funny to dump a whole pot of water on my head."
Fred and Auden both laughed. "What did you do?" Fred asked.
"I wrung a dishrag out over his head. His parents weren't too happy when they found a soaking wet kitchen and two soaking wet kids."
"I don't blame them," Mrs. Parker said, walking into the kitchen. "Keep stirring that spaghetti, Fred."
"Right, I keep forgetting," he said, blushing and turning back to the pot.
"Why are you making spaghetti anyway?" asked Auden's mom.
"It was Auden's idea," Fred answered. "She wanted to surprise you and my mum."
"Are you surprised?" Auden asked.
Mrs. Parker smiled and kissed her daughter's forehead. "Yes, and this was very thoughtful of you."
Mrs. Weasley was thrilled to see that Fred and Auden had cooked for everyone and she seemed equally surprised that Fred hadn't tried to use magic to speed it up.
"Auden was just so excited about it, I thought it wouldn't be fair to use magic," Fred smiled as he placed his hand on Auden's knee under the table. She grinned up at him and placed her hand on top of his.
"You actually did a pretty decent job," she grinned. "I'm proud of you, Freddie."
"I'm proud of me, too," he teased.
Auden snorted and rolled her eyes as Fred leaned over and kissed her cheek.
Early the next morning, Mad-Eye and Tonks arrived to escort them all to visit Mr. Weasley. They found him on the fifth floor of St. Mungo's in the animal related injury ward.
"Hello, everyone!" he called cheerily as they walked in to see him.
"How are you feeling?" Mrs. Weasley asked, taking a seat beside him and rubbing his forehead. "Loads better," Mr. Weasley told her. "I was talking to one of the Healers today and we wanted to try something new to help fix the bite so he fixed me up with stitches!" Mr. Weasley looked ecstatic at this concept.
"Stitches?" asked Mrs. Weasley.
"Yes, a kind of Muggle way of healing where they kind of just sew up injuries. It's incredible!"
Mrs. Weasley's face was growing angrier and angrier at the thought of Mr. Weasley experimenting with Muggle remedies.
"I think I'm going to get a cup of tea," Fred said loudly, taking Auden's hand and pulling her away.
"Me too," George added.
Harry, Ron, and Ginny followed them out of the ward and into the hallway.
"Glad we got out of there before mum started yelling at him," Ron said.
A few hours later, it was time to leave. Mr. Weasley looked rather sad as he watched them go. Auden could only imagine what it would be like to be stuck in a hospital on Christmas. She felt even worse considering that on their way to get tea, they found out that Neville's parents were in the permanent spell damage ward. None of them had known that they were here until today. Except for Harry, apparently, but he claimed to have been sworn to secrecy.
When they arrived back at Grimmauld Place, they found that Sirius had spent the day decorating for the holidays and was in an exceptionally good mood to have guests over for Christmas.
Hermione arrived at Grimmauld Place that afternoon and Lupin, Tonks, Kingsley, and Mad-Eye joined them for dinner that night. After dinner, they sat in the living room and Mrs. Weasley insisted on listening to Celestina Warbeck's Christmas broadcast.
"Isn't she just a lovely singer?" Mrs. Weasley asked, beaming around at all of them.
Everyone nodded, smiling, only to keep Mrs. Weasley happy. Personally, Auden thought that Celestina sounded like a screeching cat and she didn't doubt that everyone else thought so too, but they didn't want to say anything to Mrs. Weasley.
"So," Fred said, halfway through Celestina's broadcast.
Auden looked up at him. She was sitting across his lap with her forhead resting snugly against the side of his neck. Fred's arms were both around her, pulling her comfortably to his chest. "So what?" she asked.
"I just wanted to make sure you had a good night last night. I know it wasn't ideal under the circumstances, but I tried to make it special."
Auden smiled. "Fred, I already told you that last night was perfect."
The night before-Christmas Eve-had been Auden and Fred's one year anniversary. In the last minute rush to go to Grimmauld Place, Fred and Auden had both forgotten each other's presents at school. Fred had also been planning to bring Auden back up to the tower he had brought her to earlier in the year, but now that they were at Grimmauld Place, that plan had completely fallen through. Instead, after everyone had gone to bed, Fred had snuck into Auden's room and led her back to the kitchen. On the table were two lit candles and two chocolate cupcakes. He had even caused some mistletoe to eventually appear above their heads, leading to a few jokes about Nargles and one romantic kiss. Auden had loved every bit of it, even if Mrs. Weasley had been the one to do the baking.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Fred whispered.
"I'm just glad we got to spend last night together," Auden said, gazing up at him.
"One whole year," Fred sighed. "I can't even believe it."
"Neither can I, but I've enjoyed every minute of it," Auden told him, leaning up to kiss his cheek. When she pulled away, Fred turned his head and gently kissed her on the lips, causing her to smile as she kissed him right back.
The rest of the holidays passed by quickly. Mr. Weasley was released from the hospital on the last day of the break. His arm was still bandaged but he would be able to remove them for good in a few days.
For once in her life, Auden was not looking forward to going back to school. She didn't want to see Umbridge ever again, but she was going to be there waiting for them with her stupid pink outfits and high pitched laugh.
Quidditch practices started up again once school started. They weren't the same without Fred and George joking around anymore. Angelina had managed to find replacements for Fred, George, and Harry, but they replacements were nowhere near as good as the original members had been.
"How was practice?" Fred asked Auden as she plopped on the couch next to him one night towards the end of January.
"Cold," Auden said. It had snowed the day before but Angelina had insisted that today's practice go on as planned.
"You're shivering," Fred observed, his tone concerned.
"Yes, that's typically what happens when people go outside in below freezing temperatures," Auden replied with a smile as she wrapped her arms around herself.
"Come here," Fred said, pulling her onto his lap and quickly rubbing his hands up and down her arms to try and keep her warm. "Honestly, it was stupid for Angelina to hold practice in the snow."
"Yeah, but it's still going to be cold for a while, snow or no snow," Auden said. "And we have to practice. You know how it is just as much as I do."
"Yeah, but still," Fred sighed. "Someone's going to get sick and that won't do the team any good either."
"True," Auden agreed, snuggling into Fred even more and trying to stop her slightly chattering teeth.
The following night was the first DA meeting after the holidays. Harry stuck to his word and began teaching them how to cast a Patronus Charm.
"Think of a happy memory. The happiest you have. Allow it to fill you up," he instructed.
At first, the room was filled with wisps of smoke coming from people's wands, but then a horse erupted from Ginny's wand and galloped around the room before disappearing.
"Fantastic, Ginny!" Harry yelled gleefully.
Auden closed her eyes and tried to think of the happiest she ever felt. She had a lot of happy memories but she wanted to pick the one that would be the most powerful. Finally, she settled on the Yule Ball when Fred had first kissed her.
She opened her eyes and concentrated on the memory. "Expecto Patronum!" A shimmering mist flew from her wand and took the form of a chimpanzee. The chimp happily ran around her. It even made chimpanzee sounds, causing Auden to laugh.
"How did you do that?" Fred and George asked together as the chimp disappeared. Formless mist was still coming out of their wands.
"Just concentrate really hard on the memory," she said as she watched a rabbit appear from Luna's wand, an otter from Hermione's, and a dog from Ron's. It was interesting to see all of the different Patronuses.
She instructed Fred and George to close their eyes. When they did, she told them to think of their happiest memory and concentrate on that memory only before saying the spell.
"Expecto Patronum!" the twins yelled simultaneously and their faces lit up with joy as foxes appeared before them and ran swiftly towards the other end of the room before fading away.
The room was filled with people laughing and expressing their joy at being able to produce a Patronus, but the cheerful atmosphere quickly changed once they heard a huge bang that shook the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Everyone in the room froze and the last wisp of mist faded away as another bang shook the entire room. One of the mirrors covering a wall shattered. The pieces fell to the floor, revealing a small hole.
The members of the DA assembled behind Harry, who was inching closer to the hole in the wall. Fred pulled Auden behind him and shielded her protectively, holding his wand out in front of him.
The voice that spoke from the other side of the wall was the last voice that Auden wanted to hear: Umbridge. Before anyone had the chance to move, she had blasted the wall apart. Fred protectively shielded Auden from the flying stones and bricks. The rest of the DA was running for cover as well, but there was nowhere to hide.
When the smoke cleared, Auden could see Umbridge clearly. She was standing defiantly in the newly created hole, her wand held up in the air. Behind her stood Filch, and a few Slytherins, including Malfoy, who had grabbed Harry by the collar of his robes.
"Everyone who is standing in this room right now will receive a detention for tomorrow night at eight in the great hall," Umbridge said in her cheery voice. "You have broken the rules and you will all receive punishment for it. Especially, Mr. Potter." Then, she walked away, followed by the little posse she had brought with her.
"Who do you think told her about the DA?" Katie asked on the way back to the common room.
"We'll find out soon enough," Hermione said. "I jinxed the signup sheet, remember?"
"What will have happened to the person who told her?" asked Auden.
"Well, actually, their face will be covered in boils that spell out the word 'sneak.'"
"You're brilliant, Hermione, really you are," Ron said in amazement.
"Thanks, Ron," Hermione answered, blushing faintly.
The next morning at breakfast, the whole DA knew who had betrayed them. It was Cho's friend, Marietta. She had taken to trying to hide her face with her collar, but it didn't do any good.
"I always knew she was no good," Fred said as he and Auden watched Marietta leave the great hall.
To add to Marietta's misery, Cho was no longer speaking to her. Auden sort of felt bad for Marietta, but then again, she had tattled on them and got them all in trouble. Plus, she had never really liked the D.A. and had mostly stopped coming to meetings after a while. Auden knew Marietta's mother worked at the Ministry and it was a risk for her to join in the first place, but still, what she had done was a betrayal to her friends. She should have just not come to meetings at all, or signed her name on that list.
As for Harry, Dumbledore had come to his defense by saying it was he who had initiated the army. The Minister believed him and sentenced him to some time in Azkaban, but Dumbledore had escaped and was now apparently on the run. Harry amazingly only got off with a detention like the rest of the DA. The downside of this was that Umbridge had been appointed the new headmistress of Hogwarts.
That night, the DA assembled in the great hall for their detention. The four house tables had been replaced with enough desks for everyone. A piece of paper and a quill sat on every desk. Umbridge was sitting at the front of the room, looking smug.
Auden took a seat next to Fred while Ron sat on her other side.
"Today, you will be writing 'I must not break rules.' Two hours should be enough time, I think," Umbridge said, taking a sip from her cup of tea.
Auden glanced at Fred and they managed to smirk at each other. They were writing exactly what Umbridge had told them to write at their first detention with her. The cuts from that detention had just about healed, but now they were reforming on Auden's hand, more noticeable than before.
After an hour had passed, Auden managed to look to her left, where Fred was sitting. She could see his eyes watering, but other than that, his face was determined and his jaw set. He wasn't going to give Umbridge the satisfaction of showing her how much pain he was in. He could be stubborn like that sometimes.
Two hours later, Umbridge finally dismissed them. Nobody spoke a word as they disappeared to their common rooms.
"I'll go get the murtlap," Hermione said the instant the Gryffindor's had reached the portrait hole.
"I don't know what I'd do without her," Ron mumbled as he sat on the couch, clutching his hand.
"Admit it, you'd be lost and confused," Auden said, sitting beside him and examining her own hand. It was red and raw and covered in blood. It was gross. She still couldn't believe this was being tolerated as a punishment. It was insane. And the worst part was that Umbridge had looked on with a satisfied grin on her face for the whole two hours. It was as if watching students write in their own blood was amusing to her.
Hermione suddenly returned with enough bowls of murtlap for all of them and Auden gratefully stuck her bleeding hand into her bowl.
"I just realized that I officially have nothing to look forward to anymore," Fred said suddenly. "I can't play Quidditch, the DA's over, and it's all because of that toad."
He was genuinely upset, and it broke Auden's heart to see him like this. She didn't even know what to say that would comfort him.
"I feel your pain," George said and Harry nodded in agreement.
Nobody felt like talking much that night. Eventually, everyone drifted up to bed until only Fred and Auden were left in the common room.
"On the bright side," Auden said, attempting to lighten the mood, "there's still the Hogsmeade trip on Valentine's day. Do you still want to go together?"
"Of course I do. I wouldn't miss it for the world," Fred answered, smiling faintly, but staring straight ahead into the fire.
Auden felt like hitting her head against the wall. Umbridge was taking all the joy out of everyone and everything. D.A. meetings were the only time Auden had actually seen people smiling, but now even those had come to an end.
"Auden, I'm sorry," Fred said. He seemed to have noticed her expression.
"It's not your fault," she whispered. "I just hate seeing you like this."
Fred finally looked at her. "I want you to know that my behavior has nothing to do with you. I'm just...it's Umbridge. She's making my life-our lives-a living hell and I don't know how much longer I can put up with it."
Auden nodded. "I know," she managed to whisper. "She's driving me mad."
The days dragged by and soon it was Valentine's Day. Hermione had told Auden the night before that she had scheduled an interview between Harry and Rita Skeeter that Luna's father would be printing in the Quibbler. The interview was to be done during the Hogsmeade trip that day.
"Hopefully more people will believe you now that they'll know the truth. You need all the support you can get," Auden told Harry at breakfast. She glanced towards the door to the great hall. Fred hadn't come down yet, and she was beginning to worry. They had agreed to eat a later breakfast together before heading to Hogsmeade, since Fred was expecting a last minute delivery to arrive that morning and needed time to pick it up from the Owlery. Apparently, he didn't want it dropped from an owl in passing as it flew over the table. But it was already a little past eleven and he wasn't here yet.
"Although who knows how many people believe what's written in the Quibbler," Ron said, bringing Auden out of her thoughts.
"Ron, Luna's really nice," Auden said.
"I know that. Really, she's grown on me. But still, do you believe there are Crumple Horned…things flying around everywhere waiting to be found?"
"Well, no," Auden said.
"Exactly," Ron replied. "Anyway, where's Fred?"
"I don't know," Auden said in frustration. "He told me last night to meet him at breakfast but he's not here yet."
"There he is," Harry said, pointing to the doorway.
Auden whirled around and sure enough, Fred was frantically jogging towards her. Auden found herself grinning widely. Fred looked happier today then he had in a while. She jumped up from the bench and ran towards him, throwing herself against him in a hug.
"Happy Valentine's day," he whispered.
"Happy Valentine's day," she whispered back. "Where were you?"
"I was in the Owlery. I had ordered a package and it came a little late."
"Oh, and what might this package be?" Auden asked, grinning.
"Ah, that's for me to know and you to find out later," he answered, tapping her nose. "Are you ready to go?"
"Of course," she answered. She turned around and wished Harry good luck on his interview before being dragged away by Fred. "Where are you taking me?" she asked. He had refused to tell her anything beforehand.
"You'll see," he answered. He dragged her past all the Hogsmeade shops, past Honeyduke's, past the Three Broomsticks, and past Madam Puddifoots. They finally stopped at the very end of the village street.
"I don't get it," Auden said, looking up at Fred.
"We have to Disapparate to get there," Fred told her. "Take my arm."
Auden took his arm and squeezed her eyes shut as she felt that familiar squishing sensation. Seconds later, it was all over and she opened her eyes. She was met with a sight that almost knocked her over backwards in shock.
They were in Diagon Alley, standing in front of a tall building that was painted with bright colors. A giant sign on the outside read "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes."
"You did it! You got the place you wanted!" Auden yelled. The last time they had discussed the joke shop the twins hadn't been sure whether or not they were going to buy this place or not.
"Yeah," Fred nodded happily. "George and I can move in anytime. We just have to say when. Right now the plans are to move in this summer."
Auden was excited for them, but then the thought came to mind that Fred and George would no longer be living right next door to her and it made her just a little bit sad.
"Promise I can visit you whenever I want?" she asked.
"Of course…you can even live with us if you want to."
"My mother wouldn't like that idea very much," Auden responded with a half smile. As much as she would love to live with Fred and George, her mother would say no. And her father would definitely say no. There was no use even considering mentioning it to him. He'd probably keel over right then and there.
"Would you like to see the inside?" Fred asked.
Auden nodded excitedly, so Fred took her hand and led her through the front doors.
"I know it's empty and creepy looking now but picture all of our products lining the shelves in boxes. This place is going to be colorful too. Lots of color." Fred was so excited that Auden couldn't help but be incredibly excited as well. This was his and George's dream.
"Can I see the flat?" Auden asked.
"Sure, come on," Fred led her up the stairs in the back of the shop to a very nice flat. It was the perfect size and even though it was empty besides the appliances, Auden could picture the twins' things lying around. It was perfect.
"This way," Fred said, leading her through the living room to the kitchen. When her eyes fell on the table, Auden gasped. It was set for two, complete with plates, a tablecloth and even two candles.
"What's this?" she asked.
"If you don't mind, I thought we could spend the day here. And do you want to know the best part?" Fred asked.
"What?" Auden asked.
"I'm going to cook lunch," Fred answered. "I would have made dinner, but we have to be back at the castle by then, so..." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously as if what meal he cooked really mattered to Auden. The fact that he had brought her here at all was incredibly sweet. She was the first person to see the shop after it had become his and George's. That meant a lot.
"You are?" Auden was impressed. "The man who kept forgetting to stir the spaghetti?"
"Ah, but I've been practicing," Fred said. "In fact, I will be making you spaghetti today."
"Because of all the fond memories?" Auden asked.
"No, because it's the only recipe I learned," Fred shrugged.
Auden giggled and wandered back into the living room. "What are those for?" She pointed to two beanbags in the middle of the room.
"Ah, a makeshift couch," Fred grinned, flopping down onto one of the beanbags. "So we wouldn't have to sit on the floor while we waited for it to be lunchtime."
Auden smiled and lowered herself down beside him. "Can we light a fire?" she asked, pointing to the fireplace as she shivered slightly.
"Don't see why not." Fred stood up and lit a fire before sitting down beside her again. "Cozy," he remarked with a smile.
"Very," Auden replied, turning to grin back at him. "But..." She looked around the empty room and let out a breath, "I'd say it still feels a little new. I think it needs some...breaking in." Her lips turned up even further into a grin.
"Yeah? What do you suggest?" Fred asked, grinning back.
Auden leaned forward and rested a hand on Fred's cheek before pressing her lips to his. In a moment, Fred's arm was around her waist, pulling her closer. "I'm in my own flat kissing my girlfriend," he mumbled, pulling away slightly. "And there's no one around to catch us or interrupt." He sighed happily. "Merlin, I love being an adult."
Auden giggled as Fred went in for another kiss, deepening it quickly and pulling her even closer to him, which Auden hadn't thought was possible. Eventually, they managed to roll off the beanbags, causing Fred's head to hit the floor with a tiny thud.
"Oh, Merlin, are you okay?" Auden giggled from above him as she slid one hand to the back of his head and rested the other on the floor beside Fred's opposite shoulder.
"I just hit my head and a beautiful girl is looking down at me asking if I'm okay. How do you think I feel?" Fred whispered, reaching up and sliding his fingers into her hair. "I'm also praying you aren't a figment of my imagination and/or possible head injury."
"Well, you have always been a bit delusional," Auden said, leaning down and kissing him again. "Invest in a couch first, before any other furniture," she advised. "A big one, too. That way we won't have to do this on the floor."
"Mm," Fred agreed as Auden kissed a trail down his jaw and the side of his neck before making her way back up to his mouth. Fred gently rolled her onto her back, positioning himself above her this time, all without breaking the kiss. Auden's heart was pounding so hard, she was sure Fred could hear it. Besides that, her stomach was turning into a puddle of hot lava and her brain was losing the ability to form a coherant thought. No matter how many times she kissed Fred, it always happened. She wondered if he ever felt the same way.
"I love you," she whispered as Fred kissed the spot on her neck just below her earlobe.
Fred sighed contentedly in response as he continued to kiss her neck and collarbone. Finally, he moved back up to her lips and kissed them once before pulling away and rubbing a thumb over Auden's cheek. "Hungry yet?" he asked.
"Are you?" she asked.
Fred nodded and stood up, pulling her to her feet before kissing her once more. "Come on." He led her back to the kitchen. "Now, sit down. You aren't allowed to do anything except drink this butterbeer." He handed her one from the fridge.
"So did the fridge come stocked with food?" Auden asked, sitting down at the table as Fred busied himself making their lunch.
"No, I actually asked Dobby if he could bring the food here this morning. He was more than happy to."
"Hermione wouldn't approve of that," Auden smiled, watching Fred move about the kitchen, his hair and clothes still rumpled. Auden expected she looked the same way. They'd have to remember to make sure they looked presentable before going back to school.
"Hermione never has to know," Fred said, throwing a wink over his shoulder as he replied to Auden's comment.
"Are you sure you don't want help?" Auden asked.
"No, none," Fred answered simply.
Fred managed to successfully make the spaghetti without ruining it. After they ate, Auden offered to help with the dishes, but Fred did it with a flick of his wand.
"Easy as pie," he said casually as he stepped forward and stuck his fingers through the belt loops on Auden's jeans, pulling her towards him. He flicked his wand at the radio and it turned on. Amazingly, a slow song was playing.
"May I have this dance?" Fred whispered, offering her his hand.
"Yes, you may," Auden answered and just like that, they were dancing all around the kitchen and Fred was holding her as if he never wanted to let her go.
A/N: This chapter's title is from the song Baby Blue Eyes by A Rocket to the Moon. It's one of my favorite songs and it fit with the end of the chapter.
Also, I got a question from Weasleygirl31 about whether or not I'm going to have Fred die in this story and I forgot to answer it in the last two chapters. I have an idea about how that whole scene is going to go and I don't want to say too much, but I will tell you that Fred will not die :)
