Coffee and Common Mistakes
Fred had barely managed to get his old, hand me down laptop to boot up when a flurry of brown hair, plum colored stockings, and the smell of coffee whirled into the seat next to him.
"Thank god you're taking this seminar too, I thought I'd be the only one. Really, I can't believe that they're still letting Snape teach advanced chemistry after the disaster that was Organic last semester," the woman said, shoving a cup of something hot into his hands and rummaging through her bag. She drew out a notebook and a pen as she continued her rant. "And after Harry gave them all the proof they needed that it wasn't him that set the fire. Honestly, if my parents weren't so proud of this University I'd have already filed at least twenty complaints with the Board of Education."
Fred stared at the woman to his right, his mouth gaping open as he tried to place her. Despite her disheveled appearance she seemed quite confident in her actions, yet he could not think of one instance of where he might have met her. And she was surely someone he would remember. After all, no one he knew would go about in a knee-length skirt and a sweater covered in cat hair if they could help it. As she continued to rant, he brought the cup up to his mouth and grimaced at the taste. Dirty Chai Latte, heavy on the espresso and far too bitter for his tastes.
Eventually, the lights above them dimmed and Professor Snape (an absolute snake in the grass, if the woman was to be believed) slunk towards the podium. The woman rolled her eyes and opened her notebook, ready to get to work. The rest of the class was uneventful, though Fred kept sneaking glances at the woman next to him as he tried to place her. Any brief, misguided dates were stricken from the list. She didn't seem the type. And from her focus on her academics she wasn't Ron or Ginny's friend. And she certainly wasn't anyone that George had introduced him to.
Two miserable hours later, the lights flickered back on as Snape called out the homework assignment due the next week. To his surprise, the woman jumped up quickly. "Sorry to run so quick, but I've only got ten minutes to make it across campus. See you next week," she said with a wave as she excused herself from the aisle. "And don't forget the coffee!"
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Fred glanced between the two cups in his hand as he walked up the aisle, debating on which to hand the woman when he got to his seat. The vanilla latte, extra shot of syrup or the blacker than Percy's soul Italian roast? Personally he preferred his milk with a dash of coffee, but after the tar that he was handed last week he wondered whether the woman had the same coffee taste as his brother. (George, for his part, had been stumped by the woman when Fred had mentioned her, declaring that he had no female friends outside of Alicia and Angelina. Then again, it probably hadn't been the best idea to ask him after eight lagers and a cider.)
Luckily his decision was made for him as the woman reached for the cup in his left hand (vanilla latte, damn his luck) and made a soft noise of contentment as she sipped it. "Extra syrup, just the way I like it. You always did make a girl feel loved."
"Er, right," Fred said, clearing his throat as he set his drink down. "Look, I don't mean to offend but who -"
"Take your seat, sir, or I will take ten points from your final grade," Snape's voice rang out through the lecture hall. Fred blushed beet red and quickly took his seat. The woman shot him a grin and twirled her pen in her hand, ready and prepared for class. Fred pulled a frown and picked up his cup, resigned to a fate worse than having to dig through Ron's pigsty of a room for his copy of Footballers Monthly.
Again, the woman begged off to her next class before Fred was able to get her name.
xxxx
Six weeks into the semester and Fred found himself laid up in bed sick with the flu. As much as he tried, he was unable to convince George to go in his place, Snape's strict three absences only policy looming over his head.
"No way on earth, dear brother, could you convince me to take that man's class again. I did it once three semesters ago and my G.P.A. is still showing the scars from it. I'm surprised you haven't failed out of that class already just by being my brother."
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Big brown eyes laced with concern where the first thing to greet him as he took his seat in Chemistry the next week. "Are you alright? I was getting worried when you didn't show up last week."
Fred shrugged and opened up his laptop. "Laid out with the flu," he said.
"Well, I'm glad you're back. And I brought you a copy of my notes. I'd read over page three before Snape comes in though, he's due for a pop quiz and he likes the more complicated math problems," she said, sliding him a stack of printed papers and a steaming cup. Fred blinked, not expecting either the notes or the coffee. "I hope you don't mind, but I got you something a bit sweeter this time since you hardly touched the first one."
"You're absolutely brilliant," he breathed as he reviewed her notes and sipped at the sugared coffee. Not his first choice but still better than what he'd been forced to drink on the weeks she brought the coffee. She quirked a smile at him before turning to her own notes.
True to her word, Snape swept in ten minutes later and announced a quiz that, Fred was certain, would have decimated his chances at a B had it not been for the woman's kind word of warning. He was barely able to get out a thanks before she flitted off to her next class.
xxxx
"And you're certain you have no idea who she is? And you've never been able to introduce yourself to her?" Alicia asked later at the pub. Fred shook his head and lifted his lager for a long drink. She gave a low whistle. "She doesn't think you're George, does she? It wouldn't be the first time a bird would have confused you two."
"He said he had no idea who she was, though at this point I'd believe he was having me on. His words were, and I quote, 'Alicia and Angelina are the only two female friends I've ever had.'"
Alicia snorted. "The only two he hasn't wanted to sleep with, you mean."
"Nah, he's always wanted to sleep with both of you. More so once he found out you two were a couple," Fred said with a wink.
"Pig," she shot back without any heat.
Whatever else Alicia said was lost to him as the woman in question breezed through the door, followed close behind by a dark haired, bespectacled boy and, oddly enough, by his brother Ron. When she realized his attention was elsewhere, Alicia turned in her seat and groaned. "That's her, isn't it? Well, go on then. Ask for an introduction."
Fred glanced at her, worried he'd offended her earlier, but she seemed far too amused to be bothered by anything else. "Right. Any words of encouragement?"
"Don't accept your shortcomings. Embrace them as valid excuses," Alicia said, lifting her mug in a mock toast.
He made a face, certainly not the words he'd been hoping for, before making his way towards his brother's table. He slid in next to the dark haired boy, certain he'd seen him before (perhaps buried underneath a pile of dirty laundry in Ron's dorm room), and waited for an opening in their conversation.
"Care to introduce your older brother to the woman who's brought him coffee for the last two months," he said with a grin.
The woman and dark haired boy turned to him, the woman's brows drawing together. "What on earth are you on about, George? We've had science classes together for the past five quarters. I'd have hoped you knew who I was by now." Fred quirked an eyebrow at her and made a mental note to replace George's laundry detergent with corn startch.
"S'not George, that one," Ron said, his surliness slipping into place at the sight of his older brother.
"Then who have I been bringing coffee too for the last two months?"
Fred grinned and reached his hand across the table. Too confused to refuse, the woman shook his hand. "Fredrick Gideon Weasley, at your service. And I'd love to take you for a proper coffee sometime."
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