A/N: Thanks everybody for the birthday wishes. I had a great day, and hearing from you all made it even greater. This one's a little shorter than usual, but gives us all a glimpse into Fred's head. I really hope you enjoy!
The grandfather clock in the corner was ticking, and it seemed to be all Fred could hear. The ticking of the clock, counting the seconds going by that Winona still hadn't returned to the common room.
George sat up from where he'd been trying to doze on the couch. "She's probably not coming back, Fred," he said around a yawn. "She probably got busy with something else, or maybe she's had a vision and had to take it to Dumbledore. Whatever it is, we'll see her in the morning."
"I'm gonna wait awhile longer," said Fred stubbornly. His twin sighed, sitting up properly and rubbing at his tired eyes.
"Fred," he began, and Fred knew he wasn't going to like whatever came next, "it can't keep going on like this."
"Like what?" Fred asked innocently. George narrowed his eyes and Fred felt chastised without words. "What do you expect me to do?"
"Just do something," George said, beyond exasperated. "The two of you are going to drive me insane. Every time you're even in the same room, it's like you could cut the tension with a knife."
Fred said nothing, staring across at the portrait hole. It was creeping ever closer to two in the morning, and still Winona hadn't reappeared.
George huffed, the sound echoing with annoyance. "I'm going to bed," he said, standing to his feet. "Don't stay down here all night – you've gotta at least get some sleep before the task tomorrow."
"Yeah," said Fred distantly. "I will."
George didn't believe him, but all he could do was roll his eyes. He clapped Fred on the shoulder before leaving with a sigh, making his way up to the dorm. Then he was gone and Fred was alone in the common room, staring at a door he knew in his gut wouldn't be opening any time soon.
He was jolted from his light doze when the portrait hole opened. He sat up, spine straight as a rod, waiting for Winona to appear, but instead it was just Harry and Ron making their way inside. "Hey," he said, and the pair came to a stop, seeming surprised to find him there. "Winnie isn't with you?"
Ron and Harry exchanged a glance. "She and Hermione never came back from McGonagall's office," Ron said with a shrug. "Dunno what's taking them so long…"
Harry was staring right at him, a frown on his face. "You're waiting down here for Winnie?" he asked curiously.
"I just wanna make sure she gets back okay," Fred shrugged like it wasn't a big deal, like his insides weren't twisted up in knots of anxious worry. "I've got some reading I wanted to get done, anyway," he added, gesturing to the book balanced on the armrest of his chair. Neither of them were convinced, but he didn't particularly care what they thought.
"Whatever," said Ron with a yawn. "C'mon Harry, let's get some sleep and try again in the morning."
"Try again?" Fred asked, unable to stem his curiosity. "You haven't figured out the task yet?"
Ron's face hardened into a defensive sort of glare. "Of course he has," he lied, then gripped Harry's shoulder and began to push him towards the stairs. "We'll leave you alone to pine for Winnie," he added scathingly.
Fred didn't bother responding to that, just made a crude hand gesture in his brother's direction and mentally added him to the top of their 'to-prank' list.
Left alone in the common room once more, Fred sunk back into the cushions of the armchair and returned his eyes to the portrait hole. There was another possibility that tickled at the back of his brain, one he didn't like at all.
Winona could have gone back to Nott.
He didn't think she would, but the fire in her eyes as they'd last parted made him wonder. She was a human storm – awesome and unpredictable – and while he didn't want to believe that she could be cruel enough to go back to Nott solely to teach him a lesson, he had to admit it was a possibility.
He must have fallen asleep again, fitful and weak, because the next time he was woken up it was by a hand shaking his shoulder and the drab light of the Scottish day streaming in through the window. "Fred," said a familiar voice.
"Win," he said without stopping to think, blinking up at them blearily only to realise with a sinking swoop of his gut that it wasn't Winona at all, but rather Angelina. She was stood over him with her hands on her hips, glaring down at him unhappily, and Fred winced. "Ange," he said, struggling to salvage the conversation. "Did I fall asleep reading again?"
Angelina wasn't having any of it. "You waited down here all night for Winnie?" she asked, voice edged with steel.
"No," he lied, but she didn't believe it for a moment. Geez, he was really off his game.
"Where is she, anyway?" she asked, glancing over his shoulder like Winona might have been crouching behind the armchair he slept in.
Fred's insides turned to stone. "She's not upstairs?"
Angelina's eyes were hard. "She never came up," she told him shortly. "Her bed wasn't even slept in last night." His girlfriend saw the panic in his eyes, and she softened a little. "I'd thought she might have been with you," she confessed.
"I've no idea where she is," he said honestly.
"Well, you know Winnie. She probably just got caught up sketching and forgot time existed again," she murmured, but it was hardly said with fondness, arms crossed tightly over her chest.
Fred's brow furrowed and he stood to his feet, casting the common room a narrow-eyed stare. It was entirely possible Winona had just fallen asleep in the Astronomy Tower or gotten swept up in talks with Dumbledore over the fate of wizarding kind again, but something deep within was telling him otherwise, telling him something was wrong.
Still, he searched the room with his eyes, trying to imagine her waltzing through the portrait hole, hands covered in paint, hair speared by a pencil atop her head.
"You're never going to love me like you love her, are you?" Angelina asked so suddenly, so bluntly, that Fred nearly choked on his own tongue. He whirled around to look at her, finding her torn between anger and pain.
He didn't know what to say. How was someone supposed to respond to something like that? Especially when the true answer wasn't what he knew she wanted to hear.
Tears appeared in Angelina's eyes and horror swooped in his gut. He couldn't stand it when girls cried – and it was a million times worse now, when it was because of him.
"I just liked you so much, Fred," Angelina began. Fred winced, watching as she bared her heart to him. Like floodgates opening, words came pouring from her mouth, rushed and honest. "I liked you so much I was willing to ignore the way you stared at her, and the way you smiled at her, the way you wouldn't ever shut up about her."
"Ange-" he tried to say.
"I'm not finished," she snapped, and like an obedient child, Fred fell silent. "I thought maybe, over time, I could get you to love me instead. And I guess it's my fault, for thinking I could do it. For putting myself on the line for so long. I was just so blinded by you. It was stupid, and I take responsibility for my part. But you're not without blame, Fred."
Fred swallowed thickly, and despite being taller than her, he felt like he were looking up into the face of a giant as she stared him down. She was a force of nature, he realised. He shouldn't have treated her like she wasn't. Like she was something he could keep in his back pocket, a backup if things didn't work out the way he desperately wanted them to.
"You shouldn't have strung me along for so long," Angelina said, and he knew she was right. Knew he'd been a right prick. And he wished there was some way he could take it all back. "You shouldn't have kissed me and thought of her. You shouldn't have spent the night with me, then gone to sleep to dream of her. It was cruel, and it was selfish."
For a moment, Fred couldn't find his voice. "Yeah," he finally rasped. Some part of him hoped she might slap him – he certainly deserved it – but Angelina wasn't the firestorm Winona was. She wasn't the kind to make him hurt with her fists. She was the kind to make him hurt with her words. And she was terribly good at it. "I'm sorry," he said, meaning it deep in his core.
"Yeah," Angelina whispered. "Me too."
They stood in silence a minute, and Fred wanted to pull out his wand and send a spell at the ticking clock in the corner, reminding him that Winona was still missing, and that now he had neither of them. In his selfishness, had he lost them both?
"We're still friends," said Angelina, the words taking him by surprise. "But I'm going to need some time."
"Of course," he hurried to say, meeting her eyes, so round and sincere, sparkling with pain. Pain he had caused. "Ange, if I could change it…" he trailed off, unable to finish.
Would he change it? If he had the ability to dig deep within himself and change the way he felt at a fundamental level, would he take the chance to change the way he felt about Winona?
Angelina smiled sadly, as if she could hear the storm of thoughts roaring through his head like a deadly typhoon, demolishing everything in its path. "You're in love with her, Fred," she said softly, sadly. "Do something about it."
She was the third person to say as much to him since the night before, and the words resonated deep within him, echoing like lyrics shouted by a roaring crowd. "I'm sorry, Ange," he said again, because it was all he had left to say. It was all there was. Just apologies and regret.
Tears were gathering in her eyes now, glittering at the corners, threatening to spill down her face. Fred felt like utter shite, staring at her, wishing there were some magical way to fix everything he'd broken. But even he knew magic had its limits.
"Bye, Fred," she said, choked up. It felt like a definitive ending. Like she were severing some tie that had grown, cutting it like a ribbon. Freeing them both.
Angelina turned and made her way back up the stairs, disappearing into her dorm, and Fred took a seat back on the couch and dropped his head into his hands.
He'd royally fucked up, he knew that. He'd made a mess of some of the most important relationships in his life. But most prominently, he was disgusted at himself for the feeling of relief that followed. He was nothing but relieved now that he and Angelina were over, and that was maybe the worst part of all.
George came down from the dorms to find his brother with his head still in his hands. "Please tell me you at least got some sleep," he said reproachfully.
"Winnie never came back last night," was all Fred said in response.
"She probably just fell asleep sketching again," George shrugged. "You know how she gets."
Fred didn't reply, staring hard at the portrait hole like if he concentrated hard enough he might be able to make it spit Winona out into his arms.
"Come on, she's probably down at breakfast already," George said.
Fred knew he had a point, and with a sigh he stood to his feet. "Give me five minutes?"
George nodded and took a seat on the couch while Fred raced up to the dorm. He took a lightning shower and changed into jeans and an old jumper, then wound a scarf around his throat and stuffed his feet into shoes. Meeting George back in the common room, together they made their way down to breakfast.
Harry and Ron were sat at the very end of the Gryffindor table, and by silent agreement the twins fell down onto the seats opposite them.
Fred had just opened his mouth to ask them if they'd seen Winona when Ron spoke over him. "Have either of you seen Hermione?"
The twins glanced at one another. "No," George answered him. "But Winona never came back from McGonagall last night, either."
"What could McGonagall have needed from them that would take the whole night?" asked Ron, face scrunched in confusion.
Before either could answer, Dumbledore appeared up at the front of the room and the students filling the hall fell obediently silent. "If you'll all make your way down to the lake, the second task will begin in thirty minutes," he said to the waiting school. Once he'd turned away the students erupted into chatter.
Fred turned to Harry. "Did you end up figuring out the egg?"
Harry and Ron exchanged a glance. "Uhh," said Harry weakly.
Then Lee was suddenly gripping the twins' shoulders, tugging them impatiently towards the doors. "Come on," he whined, dragging them forcefully, Alicia and Katie beside him. "We have to go now if we want to get good seats."
They relented and climbed to their feet. "Best of luck, Harry," Fred told him. "And if you see Win, can you tell her I'm looking for her?"
Harry hurried to nod. "Same with Hermione."
They split ways and Fred followed his friends out of the castle. The moment they were away from the bulk of the students, they all converged on him, questions alight in their eyes. Alicia reached out to slap him hard across the back of the head. "What the hell is your problem?" she demanded hotly.
Fred realised now the girls were all glaring at him, while Lee and George just looked awkward. "Problem?" he parroted like an idiot.
"Ange was a mess this morning," Katie explained, a little less hotheaded than Alicia. "She wouldn't tell us what happened, but obviously you did something."
Fred was a little surprised Angelina hadn't told them what happened, but he supposed he was relieved she hadn't gone yabbering about how he'd broken her heart. If she really wanted to, she could probably turn all his friends against him over this. He was suddenly really glad Angelina wasn't the vindictive type. "Where is she?" he asked, scanning the nearby crowd.
"She didn't want to come to the task," said Alicia primly. "She's taking a self-care day."
"A what?"
"What. Did. You. Do?" Alicia seethed, stabbing her finger into his chest.
"We broke up," he explained quickly, feeling like if he didn't she might slap him again. "She broke up with me, I mean."
Alicia crossed her arms over her chest and looked to Katie, the pair communicating silently in the way usually reserved for he and George. "Why?" Katie was the one to ask, suspicious.
Uncomfortable, Fred looked away. "That's not really-"
"Oh, come off it," said Lee, pushing them to get them moving again, herding them all like sheep in the direction of the lake. "It's obviously because of Winnie."
Alicia gasped. "Is that where she was last night?"
"No!" cried Fred, beginning to feel rather ganged-up on. "I don't know where Winnie was last night. I waited up for her but she never came back to the common room."
"So this is about Winnie," Alicia hissed, eyes intense. He had a feeling there was a right and a wrong answer to this situation. But he couldn't for the life of him figure out which was which.
"Leave it, Leesh," said George, coming to his brother's defence. Fred could have melted into the grass with relief.
"Excuse me for defending my friend," Alicia sneered.
"Fred's your friend, too," said Lee rationally. "I think the best thing for us all to do is not to take sides."
"Lee," said Fred thinly, "there are no sides. We're all still friends, okay? This isn't going to tear us apart."
The boys looked satisfied while the girls appeared unconvinced. Frustrated, Fred sped up until he was far enough away from them so he didn't have to talk. Somebody caught up to him, however, and while he'd been expecting George, he was surprised to find it was Katie, a frown on her face.
"You going to yell at me, too?" Fred asked her flatly.
"Nah," she said. "I'll be honest, I never thought you and Ange were right for each other."
Fred blinked. "Well, just come out and say it, why don't you?" he drawled sarcastically.
Katie didn't respond for a few moments, staring at the path ahead of them, footprints leading the way down to the lake where the task would take place. "Treat Winnie better than you did Ange, okay?" she finally said.
Fred's train of thought came to a screeching halt, then took a few more seconds to reboot. "Sorry?"
"It doesn't take a genius to see what happens next," Katie told him. "You're not with Ange anymore, so you and Winnie are free to be together."
He bristled. "Who says we'll-?"
"Anyone with eyes says so, Fred," Katie rolled her eyes. "Winnie means a lot to me. She was the first real friend I made back in first year. She's had a rough time lately, what with the whole Seer thing, plus Adam – I just want to know you'll be good to her."
Fred had no idea how to respond to that. Everyone was treating it like an inevitability, like they knew more about the situation than he did. It was like everyone around him was seeing it in crystal clear clarity, while his eyes were still fogged over and blurry.
"You hearing me, Fred Weasley?" Katie pressed when he took too long to respond.
"Yes ma'am," Fred hurried to say, adding a playful salute for effect.
They reached the edge of the water where the bulk of the crowd was gathered. There was a regal desk set along the bank where the judges were sat, talking quietly amongst themselves. Lee charged ahead and got them all a good place near the front of the crowd, where they all had a perfect view of the water.
"What's this task meant to be, again?" Fred asked the others as they settled in to watch.
"I heard the judges stole something from each champion, and now they've gotta look for it in the lake," said Lee eagerly. Fred could just imagine him with a bucket of popcorn in his hands, shovelling it into his mouth as he watched the spectacle before him.
"Stole something?" Fred wondered aloud. "What could they have stolen?"
The minutes blew by along with the whistling wind. Fred didn't even want to think about how ice cold the lake was going to be for the champions, so he turned his eyes to the crowd, scanning it like second nature, searching for one person in particular.
All the champions eventually arrived, and at exactly half past the hour, Bagman's voice boomed over the gathered crowd. "Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle," he said, voice amplified by magic. "They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One … two … three!"
Fred watched as the champions all made their way into the lake, Harry the slowest, seeming to be chewing something with great urgency. He spotted Ron making his way through the crowd towards them as Harry disappeared into the lake's inky depths. The expression on his younger brother's face was anything but comforting, and instantly he knew something was wrong.
"What is it?" he asked once Ron reached them, fingers tapping out an uneven beat on his leg, nervous without really knowing why.
"We know what the judges took from the champions," Ron said, looking awfully pale even in the cold of the day.
George inched forwards, curious. "What was it?"
Ron gulped, looking paler still. "A person," he revealed tightly. "They took the person that each champion would miss most."
And as Fred began to put together the pieces, he turned his eyes to the water, heart sinking down to his feet. "But the most important person to Harry is…" he murmured, struggling to believe it.
"Winnie," Ron confirmed grimly, nodded once. Heart racing, Fred glanced away from the water long enough to note his panic mirrored on his brother's face. At his searching look, Ron continued. "They have Hermione. That's why McGonagall wanted her, too."
"Who's Hermione most important to?" asked George critically.
Ron's expression soured. "Krum, I s'pose."
Fred stopped listening, staring at the surface of the water. It was still like glass, giving no hint to whatever was happening within its icy depths. Fred tried not to think of Winona down there in the dark. She must have been bewitched – probably by Dumbledore – in order to keep her underwater without needing to breathe. But he wondered whether she were conscious, aware of the water pressing in around her.
And who knew what sort of awful things were down there? Fred thought suddenly that the giant squid could very well have been the least of her problems.
What was Dumbledore thinking, letting her do this? Fred would have thought he'd put his foot down, refusing to put his handy Seer in any sort of danger. What did it say that he had? That the task truly held no real risk, or perhaps that Dumbledore didn't care for Winona's life as much as they all assumed?
"When will we know?" Fred heard himself ask, sounding just as anxious as he felt.
"In a little under an hour, I s'pose," George answered him. He felt his twin slap him between the shoulders. "She'll be fine," he added in an undertone meant just for him.
"I know," Fred replied. Because he did. Winona could handle whatever was thrown at her, there was no doubt about that. But the thing was; he wished she didn't have to.
Time ticked by, slowly at first, then even slower the longer it went on. It was like somebody had charmed all the clocks to run at half their usual speed. Shifting his weight from foot to foot, he stared intently out at the glass-like surface of the lake, just waiting for a head of shiny blonde hair to appear.
Fleur materialised first, coughing up water and saying something in rapid French to a disappointed looking Madame Maxime. Cedric appeared next, Cho bobbing at his side as they helped one another to the edge of the lake. Krum and Hermione followed shortly after, the latter looking rather ridiculous with her bushy head of hair weighed down with water.
Fred expected Winona and Harry to surface shortly after, but the minutes ticked by and there was no sign of them. Dread coiling in his gut like a pile of knotted, hissing serpents, Fred watched as the time limit ran out and still neither Winona or Harry had appeared.
"What happens now?" he asked Ron anxiously. "Does Dumbledore go get them? Are they going to be okay?"
Ron made a face at him, even though he hardly looked unbothered himself. "I dunno," he said quietly, staring hard at the still water like he might be able to make them appear through sheer force of will alone.
Fred felt frozen, limbs locked into place. Time still ticked by and the crowd was muttering amongst themselves, loudly wondering if Harry Potter and his stolen friend were even still alive.
Then, just when Fred was about to barge his way through the crowd and grab Dumbledore by the robes, something burst through the still surface of the water. The crowd fell silent as they watched two heads of blonde hair splutter and cough for air.
Relief flooded Fred, so potent it nearly buckled his knees, as he watched Winona swim clumsily towards the bank, doing her best to hold up the struggling young Beauxbatons girl beside her.
Before Fred knew what he was doing, he was pushing his way through the students gathered at the water's edge, forcing his way to the front, then almost tripping in the sludge-like mud of the embankment. The water was so icy it was almost hard to tell the difference between cold and hot, but Fred didn't care, wading into the water to reach Winona halfway.
She pushed the Beauxbatons girl into his arms, and he slid his hands under her arms to help lift her out of the water. Then Fleur was there, taking her little sister from his arms and holding her tight to her chest, leaving Fred free to turn to Winona.
Her Weasley jumper – the deep purple one with the giant golden W stitched onto the front that he knew to be her favourite – was soaked through, clinging to her body like a woollen second skin. She was trembling from head to toe, lips blue and teeth clattering together noisily as she wrapped her arms around herself in a fruitless attempt to find warmth.
She looked up at him and seemed to do a double take, apparently not having noticed he'd been the one to meet her. But the surprise quickly morphed into a smile that was bright like sunshine even around her chattering teeth, and Fred was helpless but to draw her into his arms, pulling her tightly against him and rubbing his hands over her arms to try and warm her up.
She huddled into his side and her small hand fisted in the fabric of his shirt, and his heart absolutely did not skip a beat. Together they trudged through the water and mud up to the bank where Madam Pomfrey was waiting, thick blankets in hand.
It wasn't until Fred had taken them and was settling two over her trembling shoulders that she snapped out of her daze. "Harry," she breathed, letting go of Fred's shirt to grip the corners of her blankets instead. "Where's Harry?"
Fred quickly looked over his shoulder, relieved to find Harry stood beside a grinning Ron and tired-looking Hermione. "He's right here, Win," he said, turning her slowly, their shoes squelching loudly in the mud.
Harry looked up in the same instant and the two cousins met one another's stare. A moment passed between them, gratitude and pride the only two words Fred could think of to match the expressions they wore, and then Winona smiled peacefully and turned back to him with a small sigh.
He thought she was going to say something, and found himself on the edge of his proverbial seat. Before she could form words, however, Madam Pomfrey reappeared, a vial of bright orange potion in her hand.
She ordered Winona to tilt her head back and, although wary, Winona did as she was told, swallowing the mixture with only a small grimace. Steam shot out from her ears, and her nose crinkled at the unfamiliar feeling. "Better?" Pomfrey asked briskly.
Winona nodded once. "Yes," she said, quiet but relieved. "Thank you."
Madam Pomfrey nodded once, raked her eyes over Fred as if convinced he must have some injury also needing attending to. He shot her his most innocent smile, and with an unimpressed humph she turned and headed back over to the Beauxbatons girl who was still coughing something awful.
Winona's shivering was beginning to slow, the sound of her chattering teeth melting away. But she was still soaking wet, and Fred didn't plan to let her out of his sight any time soon. He kept his arm around her shoulders, tucking her into his side like it was where she belonged.
He definitely didn't notice that she wasn't complaining, or the way she wrapped her arm around his waist in return, small hand resting gently on the jut of his hip.
Bagman began to speak, voice amplified by his wand, announcing the champions' scores. Fred wasn't particularly interested in any of them other than Harry's, and he amused himself with watching droplets of water drip from the ends of Winona's soggy hair until Bagman finally got to the Boy-Who-Lived.
"Harry Potter used gillyweed to great effect," the slimy scammer continued. Fred shot him a dark look that went unnoticed by all except Winona, who looked up at him in confusion. He shook his head once and she dropped it, turning her attention to the scores. "He returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Mr Potter was first to reach the hostages, and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely his own."
Winona went still against Fred, body fraught with tension as she listened, not seeming to even breathe as she waited for the score.
"Most of the judges," and here, Bagman gave Karkaroff a very nasty look, "feel that this shows moral fibre and merits full marks. However … Mr Potter's score is forty-five points!"
Winona broke out into applause along with the rest of the crowd, breaking away from Fred and squelching her way over to her cousin, whose cheeks had gone pink under all the attention. She gripped his head in her hands and brought it towards her, pressing a sweet kiss to his forehead, right beside the famous lightning scar. Harry's cheeks went even pinker, and he playfully pushed her away.
Winona's smile was radiant as she spoke to him, too far away for Fred to make out the words – he really should invent something that let you eavesdrop on things that were too far away – but she looked happy, and so did Harry. He said something that made her laugh, head tilting back in the way it always did, eyes shut with her eyelashes fanned out across her cheekbones.
"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June," the git Bagman continued quickly, seeming awfully keen to wrap it all up. Fred supposed he didn't want to risk a run in with anyone he owed coin to – like he and George. "The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions."
And with that the second task was over. Fred watched as Pomfrey reappeared, impatiently ushering all those who had been in the lake back up to the castle. Winona was caught up in the flow of the group, but she managed to toss her head back, searching the crowd for someone – for him.
Their eyes met across the muddy patch of the bank, and her lips lifted up into a tentative smile that he returned with enthusiasm until somebody knocked into him hard and he lost sight of her in the sea of students.
George found him, Lee, Alicia and Katie all trailing in his wake, and together they began to make their way back up the path to the castle, stuck towards the back of the crowd. Everyone was abuzz from the success of the task, but Fred couldn't have possibly cared less.
Alicia and Lee were talking excitedly about the merpeople they'd seen at the end of the task, and George was saying something to Katie in low tones that Fred didn't care to overhear.
He wondered where Winona was; had they taken her to the hospital wing, or had they let her escape back to her dorm? He knew which one she'd have rathered do.
When he finally got back to the common room, it was to find it packed with gossiping Gryffindors. He saw nearly everyone there, including Harry, who was now changed into dry clothes and laughing with Dean and Ron by the fire.
Fred made the unconscious decision to go to him, and his feet carried him there without his permission. Harry looked up as his taller shadow fell over them all, but when he saw who it was, the curiosity faded from his eyes.
"She went up to her dorm," he said without bothering with a hello.
That made Fred feel kind of one-track minded – which, okay, he was – but he could be completely gone for Winona and still be a functioning human being. "You did great today, Boy-Wonder," he told Harry playfully.
Amusement flickered across the kid's face, and he rolled his eyes. "Don't you start," he groaned, but there was an unmistakeable warmth in his voice as he said it.
Fred grinned, a tiny bit wicked. "You'll have to tell us everything, of course," he said eagerly. "All about the merpeople, and what kind of goodies they have hiding down there. Also what the gillyweed stuff was you used," he added, a thought coming to him. "We might be able to use an ingredient like that."
"Use it as an ingredient?" Harry echoed, confused. "An ingredient for what?"
Fred pasted a playful smile onto his face. "Time will tell," he said mysteriously before reaching out to clap him soundly on the shoulder. "Great work, Harry, really. I'm glad I had my money on you."
Harry rolled his eyes, and with a final grin Fred left him to his friends. He wandered over to the stairs, glancing up to the right and for a moment wondering if there wasn't any way at all to get around the magically imposed no-boys-allowed rule on the staircase. But they'd tried everything in the past, so he doubted he'd miraculously come up with a way around it now.
Besides, Angelina was still up there, either crying her eyes out or seething with fury – neither of which he particularly wanted to be witness to – so instead he turned to the left and made his way up to his own dorm.
There was a party going on downstairs in Harry's honour, but before he could even think about getting into the spirit of things, he had to change his shoes. His socks were still soaked through from the lake, his toes long since gone numb.
Somebody started the music downstairs, and it drifted up the staircase and into the hall with the dorms. Fred reached the sixth years' door and pushed it open, already beginning to shed his outer coat in favour of something a little lighter. It wasn't until he'd tossed the coat onto the end of his bed that he realised he wasn't alone.
He'd swear both his heart and brain stopped working at the sight of Winnie stood in the doorway to his bathroom, barefoot and wet-haired, a pair of his pyjama pants and one of his old Puddlemere United shirts hanging over her smaller frame. She had a towel draped around her shoulders, and was using it to dry the ends of her bright hair.
They stared at one another silently, Fred so stunned by her appearance that he couldn't for the life of him think of anything smooth to say.
"Win," he finally said, like an idiot. "Hi."
Her lips twitched as she kept on rubbing at her damp hair. The amusement in her eyes disappeared rather suddenly, replaced by uncertainty. "I tried going to my dorm, but Ange was in there – she's really upset. Apparently I'm the last person she wants to see right now. So I got out of there before I made things any worse and figured this was my next best bet."
Fred just stared, the realisation that they were all alone striking him, making him feel like the floor was swaying beneath him. At his lack of a reaction, Winnie glanced down at herself self-consciously.
"I helped myself to your trunk," she added needlessly. "I hope you don't mind."
He wanted to tell her that seeing her in his clothes made something deep inside of him purr like a great cat. He wanted to tell her that if she only ever wanted to wear his clothes from now on, he'd happily relinquish everything he owned. He wanted to tell her that he couldn't wait until she eventually gave them back smelling of her – all vanilla and charcoal.
What he actually said was:
"I don't mind."
Short and to the point, but Fred had never really been someone to wax poetic in a serious moment. As far as he was concerned, poems were only good for teasing purposes – as his sister had proved back in their fourth year. Why bother with a hundred flowery words when you could say the same thing in ten, sincere all the same?
Winnie was still staring at him, probably waiting for him to say something, but what could he say? So he fell back on what came easiest – he cracked a joke.
"We look like drowned rats, don't we?" he asked, letting a grin split his face as he finally kicked off his shoes at the end of his bed, then peeled off his shocks and tossed them in the hamper in the corner. "Could be worse," he added as he foraged in his trunk for dry clothes. "We could have been naked."
From Winnie there was only silence, and he shut his eyes, never regretting opening his mouth so much as he did in that moment. Why did he have to be such a colossal prat?
He opened his eyes and turned to look at Winnie with a smile, hoping to play it off, only to spin right into her. She'd moved silently across the floor, that towel still hung over her shoulders, blonde hair damp from the lake and the shower she'd probably just taken.
Now she stood inches away, staring up at him with eyes the colour of a storm, endless and loud and peaceful all at once. She didn't say anything, but he wished she would, if only to cover the sound of his own racing heart.
"You just about scared me to death today," he'd said before making a conscious decision to speak. "Why would you even agree to do something so reckless?"
It was more or less what he wanted to say, but it came out a little more venomous than he'd intended. That peaceful look in her eyes melted away, replaced by a raging hurricane that made him want to duck for cover. She took a large step away, going back to drying the ends of her hair, staring out the window instead.
"Dumbledore asked me to do it," she said, voice like steel. "What was I meant to do, say no? Besides, it's not like I was actually in any danger."
"You don't know that," Fred argued. "What if the bewitchment wore off? What if the merpeople went back on whatever deal they made with Bagman and skewered you like a kebab?"
Winona had the gall to roll her eyes. "I'm too valuable to Dumbledore," she said flippantly, like it were a fact of life. Fred supposed it kind of was.
He wasn't sure anything was as valuable to that crotchety old wizard than a student with such unique abilities, not to mention having such control over Harry Potter. Sometimes Fred thought the headmaster saw it like a game of chess. Like Winona was his queen – protected, yes, but at the end of the day? Expendable.
"He'd never let anything happen to me," she finished with a shrug, like that was all there was to it. Fred crossed his arms over his chest, frowning down at her in disapproval. "Oh, come on," she scoffed suddenly. "If I were anyone else, you'd be grilling me about the merpeople, and the giant squid, and the bewitchment Dumbledore used."
"But you're not anyone else."
"That isn't fair, Fred," she cried, letting go of the end of the towel so it hung limp around her neck.
A droplet of water was rolling from her jawline, trailing down to her collarbones. Fred followed it with his eyes, swallowing thickly. "Do you want to be like anyone else to me?" he asked, the words unbidden. But once they were spoken, they couldn't be taken back.
He watched the way her stormy eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed in suspicion like she thought she might be walking into some sort of trap. "What does that even mean?" she demanded.
He was in too deep now. What was the point in backing away? What was the point in stopping? This was it, the tipping point of the dangerous game they'd been playing for so long now. Was anyone going to win, or was this going to burn them both to the ground? The not knowing was the worst part, but the only way to find out was to charge forwards and get the answers for himself.
He took a large step towards her, disappearing the space between them. He heard her breath catch and something in him purred again, holding her stare captive in his own. "It means I want you to tell me what you want us to be," he said, finally just throwing caution to the wind.
In for a Knut, in for a Galleon, right?
Winona's eyes went wide and she blinked, seeming to struggle to process what he was saying. He let her think, watching her, noting the different emotions seeming to fight one another for pride of place behind her eyes.
She pursed her lips in thought, and his eyes darted down to them. Everything that was stopping him before now was gone, his worry nothing but a star on the distant horizon. Angelina and him were done, Winona and Nott were over, and she was staring at him like she wanted him almost as much as he wanted her.
But still he waited patiently, waiting and waiting until finally her eyes flickered down to his lips, and it was all the permission he needed.
Winding a solid arm around her middle, his hand splayed against the small of her back, he used it to pull her flush against him. Then, without hesitation – because Merlin knew there'd been enough of that to last a lifetime – he swooped down and pressed his lips to hers.
A/N: This week's spotlight review goes to: zZSweet-JasmineZz – thanks so much for your review. Hearing that you get happy and excited every time I upload is the best feeling. I'm really glad you're enjoying the story, and I hope you liked this one!
To those who I know will be wondering: this ending of the chapter doesn't mean everything will magically work out from here. They've still got a lot to say, and a lot to work through. But they're definitely heading in the right direction. See you again soon with another chapter!