More reviews please, thank you to all those that have reviewed!!!!!!!! I love you like you have no idea!!!!!!!
Fred shifted nervously in his seat as the tie claimed a personal vendetta around his neck. He cleared his throat to try and ease the uncomfortable silence, but that didn't seem to be doing much. All four sat uncomfortably silent on either ends of the large dining room table. The head of the table had obviously been set for Emerald's grandmother. On her right was Josh while Heidi was on her left. Emerald sat next to her mother while Fred sat next to Josh, who had done little to ease the discomfort of the situation. They waited in awkward silence for the main guest to arrive and according to Fred's watch, she was ten minutes late.
Fred couldn't help but notice how awkward they all looked. Fred and Josh were dressed in suits, Josh's was black while Fred's was a deep navy. They both wore silver ties tied extremely tight to the point of suffocation. Emerald and Heidi weren't fairing much better. Heidi had changed out of her colorful sari and wore a forest green dress reminiscent of the 1950's. The neck was high with a short cap sleeve and her hair in the same bun as earlier. Emerald wore an empire waist dress that was a pale gray and a turtle neck loosely around her delicate neck. She had put her contacts in and had pulled her hair tightly back, showing off every detail of her face. To complete everything, a string of pearls was draped casually around their necks, nestled in the fabric of their clothing. Everybody's faces were straight and everybody looked fairly pissed off.
Josh glanced down and checked his watch, letting out a heavy sigh and looking up to meet everybody's gaze.
"I'm sorry," he murmured. "She's later than usual." Heidi warmly smiled.
"It's all right, she'll come down eventually." Fred mentally rolled his eyes.
'It can't be that hard to make it down a flight of stairs, can it?' He mentally thought to himself. He looked up to see Emerald staring at him with a little smile on her face.
"Sorry." She mouthed. Fred merely shrugged his shoulders, as if to say that it was all right. She smiled at him before they all perked at attention when they heard a set of doors slowly sliding open. Fred's eyes widened. Did they have a bloody elevator in the house? He would have to check that out later, when he wasn't stuffed into a suit and being choked to death.
The three family members rose to their feet and Fred quickly scrambled up to join them. He only heard one set of footsteps and another sound that sounded like…wheels. He furrowed his brow together as a tall man pushing a proudly sitting woman in a shiny wheelchair to the head of the table. There was no doubt that this proud woman was Emerald's grandmother. As soon as she had situated herself in her chair and had nodded, everybody else sat down. Fred was surprised when everybody remained silent while they too placed their napkins on their laps.
"Emerald, I see that you're finally wearing the pearls that I gave you." She said, the words coming from her lips robust, yet shaky. Emerald politely nodded.
"Yes grandmother, they're very beautiful, thank you." Fred raised an eyebrow. Her tone was much quieter and softer than what he was used to. In fact, looking at her now, it appeared as if her entire demeanor had changed within the blink of an eye.
"And Heidi, your pearls look lovely as well. I don't think that any proper woman can exist without a fine strand of pearls." She said with a bright ring in her voice. Heidi nodded with that same, polite smile as a large bowl of soup was individually placed in front of each person.
"Yes mother, how very true." She smiled in almost a cocky manor before she turned her attentions to Josh and Fred.
"Joshua, who is this…boy?" She asked, the happy ring suddenly gone from her voice.
"Mother, this is Fred Weasley…the boy that's here to stay with us…don't you remember me telling you?" The woman eyed him with a raised eyebrow.
"I do not recall being informed about this boy staying with us, in my home." She said, her voice becoming suddenly harsh. Fred sunk back in his seat slightly, desperately wanting to disappear.
"Mother, there's no need to be harsh. Fred's traveled…"
"Fred? Is that your name? Speak up young man." Fred suddenly straightened up, her strict voice nearly scaring him to death.
"Y-yes ma'am…my name is Fred Weasley." He said with as much confidence as he could muster. The woman nodded, her lips pursed together slightly.
"Well, Fred Weasley, my name is Kathleen Shepherd and you are welcome in my home…" She suddenly glanced over at Josh. "Why exactly is he here, Joshua?" His mouth opened as if to answer, but nothing came out. Josh sat in his seat with a dumbfounded look on his face.
"Well…mother…"
"Fred's my boyfriend." Emerald suddenly spoke out. "He's come to stay with us for a few days over holiday and I'm going to stay with his family for New Year's." Kathleen's head whipped around to stare at her granddaughter with pure shock on her face.
"You are too young to be dating, Emerald!" She exclaimed. Fred mentally smirked. This woman really was old-fashioned, it was almost shocking.
"Grandmother, I'm eighteen, it's fine for me to be dating. Besides, Fred's a really nice boy, you would really like him if you took the time to get to know him." She said, pushing away her soup with a loud sigh. Fred sat nervously, his eyes flicking from Emerald to her grandmother. The air was thick with the impending battle that was about to take place.
"I have not approved of this boy, you are not allowed to associate with him." She said strongly.
"But that's not fair!" Emerald shot back. The two seemed to be at war with each other instantly, but Josh swooped in to try and salvage the dinner conversation.
"Mother, please try not to be upset." Josh said, reaching out to take Kathleen's hand. "Fred is a very nice boy and…Emerald is very fond of him." Kathleen retracted her hand and rolled herself away from the table before the servant suddenly appeared and took over rolling her wheelchair.
"I am not hungry anymore." She said, keeping her eyes away from the family. She was rolled out of the room and back into the elevator where she disappeared upstairs. Emerald kept her eyes down, letting out a heavy sigh.
"I'm sorry Fred." She said, picking up her head with her eyes focused on him. He shook his head, trying to wipe the sad look from her face. Fred had never seen her look so disappointed before, it was almost troubling to see her so upset.
"It's okay, I understand." He said meekly.
"You'll have to excuse my mother." Josh commented. "She's very old-fashioned and doesn't approve of people choosing who they date…she wants Emerald to have an arranged marriage like she had." Fred's eyes widened.
"You can't be serious." Emerald nodded with a small smirk.
"There's a lovely Irish boy waiting for me, his name is Kent and he enjoys playing chess and rugby…oh yes, he's a wizard. Grandmother made sure of that." Fred furrowed his brow together.
"So none of you are magic…except for Emerald?"
"No, Emerald's the only one that's so specially gifted." Heidi said, love clear in her tone. Fred smiled slightly.
"So you're engaged? When were you planning on telling me this or was I just a toy for you to play with until you got married?" Emerald giggled.
"Sorry, thought I'd get this whole boyfriend thing out of my system before I got married." Fred laughed.
"You know, not many people enjoy being used like that." He reminded her, waging his finger as if to scorn her. Emerald shrugged her shoulders.
"I know, but I have a feeling that you'll get over it."