Fred's Point of View
After waiting for a while, and already downing a few beers, Lee was starting to get a little bit impatient. He hadn't met Carly like George and I had, but none of them knew her as well as I did. None of them also knew how well I knew her.
When we hit the half hour mark even George was beginning to wonder if the girls were showing up, or if we had been stood up. I meekly defended Carly, but I didn't want to go too far because George and Lee might think it would be suspicious that I'd defend Carly that far.
Everything turned out all right though, because not too long after George started having doubts Carly entered the pub and immediately approached our table. I could see she was mildly annoyed, but the others didn't pick up on it.
She engulfed George and I in one big group hug and gave us a peck on the cheek, and then surprised me by doing the same to Lee, who had a big grin on his face as he introduced himself.
"So, where is my date?" George asked Carly.
"Your date? YOUR DATE is the reason why I'm so late. I am usually timed and orderly and you would know that, but she-" Carly stated, loudly emphasising 'your date' but before she could finish a girl timidly approached our table and stood behind Carly.
This girl wasn't ugly, but at the same time she wasn't attractive. She was probably chubby, but she had chosen nice clothes to hide her figure. She was on the shorter side, much shorter than Carly. George and I weren't overly tall, but we were still a tad taller than the average male, so Carly's friend was much shorter than George. She had blonde hair that had been lazily pinned back, and it was quite oily. She had on a minimal amount of make-up. All in all she was rather plain looking, and would probably look a lot better if she put more effort into her appearance. Good on her though I suppose, not conforming to society's standards for women.
"Oh! Hey Ellen. Um, this is Fred, George and Lee. George is um, my friend that you'll probably be friendly with. He's the one in the plain green shirt." Carly said to her friend, pointing out George.
"Got it." She said to Carly, nervously looking at George and I to spot any differences she may need to know if she can't see our clothing. Good luck, even our own mother has difficulty telling us apart.
"Guys, this is Ellen. She's been my best friend since year seven." Carly stated, waving her hand towards Ellen, George and Lee muttered 'hellos' and I could tell they were trying to calculate what year that would be in Hogwarts terms.
"Carly, let's go to the toilet!" Ellen giggled, tugging on Carly's arm. Carly rolled her eyes and sighed, but followed her friend Ellen into the toilet.
We all watched them leave, and as soon as they were out of eyesight and earshot, we all leaned in to begin talking about the two girls.
"She's not my type." George simply stated, not even bothering to put it lightly.
"Ellen, your date? Or Carly, the girl that you both know. Because damn, Carly would be anyone's type. She's hot." Lee whistled, prompting George and I to exchange a glance. The look on George's face was worry, but he broke out into a grin when he saw my smirk.
"Lee my friend." I began.
"I would not even go there. She's taken." George said to Lee.
"Aw, man. All the good girls are always taken. Who snagged her?" Lee asked, sounding disappointed and lowering his head in defeat.
George sent me a look again, and I just winked at him. As George and I were getting ready we decided to not tell Lee whom she was going out with until after he met her.
On my first impression of Carly she looked exactly like the kind of girl that Percy would go after. But after getting to know her, and seeing her dress in more of a natural environment, her attractiveness seemed to grow. I'm not sure whether it's because I got to know her true personality, or her more casual wear on our outings made her look prettier, but she was definitely a lot more attractive to me now. That scares me a little.
"You'll find out in due time." I replied, and Lee only sent me a shrug as he turned to George, obviously finding the upcoming topic more interesting.
"So you're not interested in your blind date? How are you going to get out of this one?" Lee smirked, and I nodded, also interested in how this would all pan out.
"I dunno, I guess I should get to know her first. I'll buy her a drink and talk to her a little bit, but as for first impressions, definitely not my type." George replied, leaning on the table and I could see he didn't really want to go through with this, but because he was the nicer twin it was in his nature to go through with this.
I opened my mouth to inform George about how I felt about Carly when I first met her, and how I feel about her now but I quickly shut my mouth. Carly was not my girlfriend, or anything more than a friend to me now. Using that example would not make George feel better about his current situation. In fact, it would just make me look bad and make it look like I felt something towards Carly I shouldn't have, when I only think she's pretty.
"Guess it's just me and you then bro, trying to pick up." Lee said to me, preparing his fist for a fist pump with my own. I bumped his fist apathetically, and it was then that Carly and Ellen returned.
"Hey Ellen, let's go to the bar, I'll buy you a drink." George muttered, jumping off his bar stool. Ellen looked excited as she followed him through the crowd towards the bar, not before beaming a bright smile at Carly, who gave her a thumbs up as she jumped onto the bar stool where George previously sat.
"Don't get too excited, he's not that into her. He said she's not his type." I said to Carly, who sent me a smile.
"No worries. She said the same thing in the bathroom, which is quite odd because the one time she saw you she said you were cute. But I suppose thinking someone your friend is hanging out with is cute, and someone you're supposed to date yourself is cute is two different things." Carly replied, wrinkling her nose in confusion, which I unfortunately found utterly adorable.
"So why were you late anyway?" Lee asked, looking quite bored and looked as if he wanted to start up conversation.
"Um, I'm not entirely sure. Ellen texted me really late notice; saying she'd be at my place at nine, the time I was meant to meet up with you guys. I don't have an owl, so I couldn't owl you guys to let you know so I raced here with her as soon as possible. I really am sorry." Carly pouted.
"I think we'll let it slide this time, right Fred?" Lee asked leaning to me "But I didn't know you were a witch"
"Oh, I guess the twins haven't told you much about me then?" Carly asked Lee.
"Nope, nothing. All they've said is you're off limits, but they wouldn't tell me who you're dating. I would like to know, I'm quite curious now." Lee asked Carly.
"Oh, okay. Um, yeah I'm a witch but I didn't go to Hogwarts. Ellen is a muggle though; so don't let your guard down around her. And I'm dating Fred's brother." Carly stated, answering Lee's questions.
"Wow, Charlie finally got a girlfriend? How is the long distance thing working out?" Lee asked Carly, and I actually let out a laugh as I felt second-hand embarrassment for him.
"Actually, no. I'm Percy's girlfriend." Carly giggled, and Lee nearly spat at his drink as his eyes bugged out of his head at what Carly revealed.
"Well, that's quite embarrassing. Excuse me whilst I go to the bar to get a drink and hope that by the time I get back the conversation topic has changed." Lee stated, quickly jumping off his stool and barging through crowds to the bar.
I shook my head at Lee and smiled, and then turned to Carly.
"Then there were two." She said to me, and I sent her a warm smile.
"So the current trend seems to be awkwardly slinking away to the bar to escape said awkward moments." I stated.
"Yes, but it doesn't seem to be going too well for them. Shall we be unfashionable and actually go to the bar in a stylish manner, not to escape awkwardness but because we are awesome individuals?" Carly asked, offering her arm to me.
"Yes, we shall." I replied, grabbing onto her arm as we made our way from the table to the bar.
As the pub was quite packed, it was hard to keep holding her arm. She noticed this as she led the way and quickly slid her hand down my arm to grasp my hand tightly in hers. I then noticed her appearance for the first time tonight.
I instantly felt bad at not noticing her appearance because she looked really good. But I was a little tipsy, when she walked in I was too relieved she showed up to notice, and when we were talking I was trying too hard to not look suspicious to the others that I might possibly have a crush on my older brother's girlfriend.
I had never seen her wear anything figure hugging, even in her conservative and street wear she dressed modestly. But her figure hugging dress showed off a perfect hourglass figure. That, and her pretty face made her look amazing. No wonder why everyone seems to think she is out of Percy's league, she seems to be out of any Weasley's league.
We made it to the bar and we dropped hands as she put her arms on the bar, as I got out my wallet.
"Alright, well, I'll buy you a drink. What do you want?" I asked Carly, who immediately furrowed her eyebrows and crossed her arms.
"I don't let guys buy me drinks. Not because I'm stuck up or because I'm afraid of being drugged. I do not believe in the theory that a male has to buy a girl's attention in the form of alcohol. Any girl who lets a guy buy them a drink is a prostitute, but cheaper." Carly scowled in a well-rehearsed statement, but it made me grin.
Even in the wizarding world there was still that stereotype that guys had to buy a girl a drink in order to continue a conversation or advance romantically that night. The fact that Carly, a gorgeous girl who could have any man shower her with gifts was refusing to let a guy buy her a drink on moral grounds, well she was making it a lot harder to not fall for her.
"Then don't stress, I'm buying you a drink because we're friends." I said to her, getting the bar tender's attention.
Yep, that's right. Carly and I are only friends.
