"I'm forever yours, faithfully."—Faithfully (Journey)

"George, can I ask you a favor?" Fred asked.

"Yeah, anything," George asked. It was a few hours after they had closed the shop, but Fred and George had been in the back room, working on new products.

It was summer again and Fred knew that Cassie hadn't seen or heard from Josh since he had visited her that day just before Christmas. It was just as well because neither she nor Fred wanted to see him and they had both been happier with him completely out of the picture.

Fred absentmindedly stirred the cauldron sitting on the table. "Will you come shopping with me tomorrow?"

"Shopping?" George looked up from one of the beanbags on the floor, where he had been making a sketch of a possible new product. "Why, you can't pick out your own clothes anymore?" He smirked and raised an eyebrow.

"It's not for me," Fred said quietly, lifting his eyes to meet George's. They stared at each other for a moment before George understood and jumped up, flinging his paper aside.

"Seriously?" he asked.

"Seriously," Fred nodded. "I want to ask her to marry me."

"Do you think it's too soon? For her, I mean."

"It's been a year," Fred said nervously, shrugging one shoulder. "I mean, she said her relationship with me is stronger than it ever was with Josh."

"Well, if you're sure she's ready."

"Yeah, I think she is," Fred nodded. "What do you think?"

"I don't think that's my assessment to make," George said. "You're the one dating her. If it feels right, then I say go for it. Does it feel right?"

"Yeah," Fred answered almost at once, "and I'm completely sure that I want to do this."

George nodded. "Okay."

"Okay?" Fred repeated.

"Yeah," George answered, nodding again. This time, he broke into a grin and pulled Fred into a hug. "Congratulations."

"I'm not married yet, Georgie. Not even engaged, for that matter."

"I know, but I want to be the first to say it. I had to get a head start."

Fred let out a small laugh. "So, tomorrow it is, then?"

"Tomorrow it is," George agreed.

"Why are there so many to choose from?" Fred complained as he and George walked along the display of rings that seemed to have no end.

"Who knows? Don't girls care about that sort of thing? You know, the shape and how shiny it is and all of that?"

Fred gave George a perplexed look. "But who cares?"

"Girls do," George sighed. "Don't ask me why, because I don't know. I will never fully understand girls."

"That makes two of us," Fred mumbled. "I don't even know where to start."

"Well, pick a spot and start looking." George nudged Fred a little closer to the display.

A saleslady ended up helping Fred pick out a ring. It seemed so overwhelming at first, but by the time he left the shop, he had picked out a lovely ring that he was completely satisfied with and one that he was sure Cassie would love.

"So," George said as they entered their flat later on, "when do you plan on popping the question?"

"I was thinking next Friday night after work. I'll invite her over for dinner and-,"

"Are you going to cook for her?" George asked with a smirk.

Fred paused. "You know what? You're right. I'm a rubbish cook. Maybe I should take her out," Fred said.

"Nah, don't," George advised. "I think you should just stay in tomorrow. Cook something together or pick something up from the Three Broomsticks if you want, but I think you should stay in."

"Why do you say that?" Fred asked.

George shrugged. "I don't know, but Katie always loves to stay in rather than going out. She says it's more romantic, even if I don't know how to cook anything."

Fred nodded. "Okay, I'll do that, then."

George smiled. "I'll even make myself nonexistent for the night. Katie and I can have one of those said romantic evenings that she loves so much."

Fred laughed. "Speaking of Katie, when do you plan on asking her to marry you? You do want to marry her, right?"

George nodded. "Yeah, but I'll let you have your moment first."

"George, no," Fred said, stopping in the middle of the living room to look at his twin. He felt as if he had just ruined something for George. "If you want to propose to Katie, then you should. There would be nothing wrong with us having a double wedding."

"No, it's okay. You came up with the idea first. I haven't even bought a ring or-,"

"We were just at the ring shop, George," Fred said, tapping his brother's head.

"Fred, it's fine," George laughed. "I'm perfectly happy with waiting a little longer. Don't worry about it."

"Okay," Fred said after a moment.

"So, next Friday I'll go over to Katie's right from work," George said, "and then when I see you the next day, you'll be an engaged man. I don't believe it." He pretended to wipe tears from his eyes.

Fred laughed and hit George over the head with a rolled up newspaper lying on the table. "Well, believe it, because it's happening."

George smiled. "Are you nervous?"

"Not now, but I will be when the time comes."

"Hey, just think that once you do it, it'll be all over, even if she says no."

Fred felt his face paling. "But I don't want her to say no."

"If she does, I wouldn't worry," George said. "I'm sure you'll be able to find another girl who can put up with your scary face every day." He made a face before breaking into a grin.

"You look just like me!" Fred exclaimed.

"You're right. In that case, you're stunning."

"Even more stunning than you, I'd say," Fred joked.

"Didn't you just point out we look the same?" George asked. "But it doesn't matter because I'm still more handsome than you."

"Whatever makes you feel better about yourself, Georgie," Fred grinned before hitting his brother on the head with the newspaper once more and walking towards his bedroom. Just before he shut the door, he felt the newspaper collide with his head and heard George laughing and yelling "Score!"

"Fred Weasley!" Cassie let out a yelp as Fred grabbed her shoulder from behind, startling her. She had been sitting in his flat, reading a book and waiting for the twins to finish work. She hadn't even heard anyone come in.

Fred began to laugh at her reaction and she swatted his arm. "Sorry," he managed to choke out through his laughter. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's not funny," Cassie protested, but she was laughing now as well. "Where's George?"

"He's going to Katie's for dinner," Fred answered. He took off his bright magenta work robes and tossed them over the arm of the couch before flinging himself down himself. He looked over at Cassie and smiled. "He'll be over there until at least early morning, so that means we have the flat all to ourselves tonight."

Cassie smirked. "Well, in that case…" she trailed off, put her book aside and stood up., her smirk widening. She jumped onto the couch and began tickling every bit of Fred she could reach.

"You're evil!" he cried through his laughter.

"I know," she said, laughing and trying to keep her balance as Fred frantically tossed and turned as he tried to get her off.

"Stop, stop," Fred finally said, sounding breathless. Cassie paused and Fred took the opportunity to grab her wrists. It was then that Cassie realized her mistake. She saw the glint of mischief in Fred's eyes, causing her own eyes to widen.

With a laugh, Fred sat up, gently pushing Cassie to the other end of the couch so that he was now straddling her instead of the other way around. "You're going to get it now!" he said. With that, he began to tickle her. He started with her stomach and Cassie squealed with laughter. When she tried to push his hands away, he moved to her neck, then her arms, then back to her stomach.

"Fred!" she gasped, still squealing with laughter. She squirmed around, trying to free herself, but it wasn't working. Fred was too strong. She did however finally manage to get him to lose his balance and they both tumbled off the couch. Fred instinctively reached out his hand and put it behind Cassie's head so that she wouldn't smack it against the floor.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"No," she whimpered.

"What?" Fred asked, already beginning to roll off of her.

Cassie changed her expression at once, letting a grin spread over her face as she pushed Fred the rest of the way off of her and rolled on top of him. She began to tickle him again, laughing crazily.

"You—you-," Fred began, but he was laughing too hard to finish his sentence.

"You've been too much of an influence on me," Cassie laughed.

"I'll say," Fred gasped out before he managed to push her off of him again. They spent the next few minutes in that manner, each trying to fight off the other and reclaim the upper hand in their tickle fight.

Five minutes later, Fred had trapped Cassie under him again and she had her hands on his chest as she tried to push him off. Her hand hit the chest pocket of his shirt and something fell out and landed on her stomach. Fred froze and Cassie lifted her head to see what the object was. It was a small square box, but she didn't get to look any closer, because Fred snatched it back up and held it in his fist.

"What's that?" Cassie asked curiously.

"Nothing, I'll tell you later," Fred said quickly. He was still gasping for breath, but he wasn't meeting Cassie's eye.

"No, you can tell me," she said, laughing. "Does it have to do with a new prank product?"

"No," Fred said in a whisper.

"Then what is it?"

"I—it isn't the right time," Fred mumbled.

"Okay," Cassie said, giving up. Her smile faded. She wondered why it was such a secret.

Fred took a deep breath and rolled off of her. She sat up and looked at him. Finally, he lifted his head and returned her gaze. "Well, I guess I can tell you. Why not, right? You were going to find out anyway," he shrugged. "Mind you, this isn't how I planned on doing this, but…" he trailed off.

"Fred, just do it," Cassie said. "Whatever it is, just do it."

Taking a deep breath, Fred uncurled his fist and held the small box in the palm of his hand, turning so that he was facing her.

"What is it?" Cassie asked once again, raising an eyebrow.

Fred shifted onto one knee and pulled open the box, revealing a beautiful, shiny ring. "Marry me?"

A/N: There's probably only going to be a few more chapters of this story after this one, which is sad because I've had a lot of fun writing it, but I originally was going to end this story back when Josh proposed, Cassie said no and then got together with Fred. I'm glad I didn't though, because I've really enjoyed writing all of the chapters after that.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed so far and don't be shy to review if you haven't yet or to review again if you already have :)