Sorry for the long pause in between updates. I hope I can be forgiven? Especially because of the following, which you'll review, riiiight!? ;D

CHAPTER 9

If I thought I was excited, I hadn't been anticipating Mathilda's reaction very well. 'WHAT DID HE SAY!' She screamed through the dormitory. It was a good thing I had waited till the others had gone down for breakfast. I had laid awake all night thinking about the brief kiss. I was still none the wiser about what it all meant but none of the flutters in my stomach had died down.

'I don't know, he just said "I'll see you around, Cecil"' I told Mathilda, trying to imitate the deeper voice of Fred Weasley. Mathilda squealed. 'I have to admit Cecilia Wiggleswade, I had not expected this to ever happen!' She said, but she said it with a grin and I couldn't help but grin in return. 'Me neither, to be honest.' I replied. We grabbed each other's hands and giggled. Mathilda had decided that her knees couldn't handle her weight anymore and she let herself fall down on Aurora's bed, which happened to be the closest. I sat next to her, my back straight and my legs pressed together. 'Fred Weasley kissed you.' She said to the air. I just grinned wider. She turned her head to look at me. 'I might just be more excited by your first kiss than by my own.' She said with a laugh.

She jumped back to her feet. 'I have to do you up! You have to look your best at breakfast.' She exclaimed and for once I didn't protest. I wanted to look my best. 'Nothing too much..' she murmured to herself as she dug through her make up bag. 'What are you going to say to him?' She asked me as she went to work on my face. I shrugged nervously. I had honestly not really thought about that yet. I mean, all night I had been imagining how he'd ask me to be his girlfriend and how he'd kiss me again and how it would all turn out perfect, but those were just fantasies. What would I do if I saw him in the corridors today? What could I do?

'What would you do?' I asked Mathilda. Mathilda stopped hiding the blemishes in my skin for a moment to tap her chin thoughtfully. 'Well I would pull him into an empty classroom and snog him senseless, but I don't think that's entirely your style.' She said with a chuckle. I chuckled too but in my mind I was already embarrassed at the thought of it.

When we finally went down to breakfast I felt like I looked positively pretty but as my eyes shifted over the Gryffindor table the only redheads I saw were his younger brother and sister. I stood at my toes to look over the entire hall but I couldn't spot him and his brother anywhere. Maybe they had had an early breakfast.

I didn't see him the entire rest of the day either though, except for a moment during dinner but he was laughing with his friends and I didn't really feel like it was in my place to interrupt. The next day I didn't see him much either and on the third day no opportunities fell onto my path either. Before I knew it, it was the dawn of the Easter holidays and Mathilda was putting on her coat and looking at me sternly. 'You listen to me Cecil, I've got it from some very trustworthy sources that the Weasleys are staying at Hogwarts for the holidays so take that information and do something with it!' She told me motherly as she was checking if she had everything she needed with her. She was leaving her trunk at school as she'd only go home for a week. She'd bring her homework assignments in her backpack. She'd be going home to her dad and his newest girlfriend. She wasn't looking forward to the latter but she, for some mysterious reason she didn't want to confide in with me, didn't want to go over to Adrian's over the holiday. Aurora had told me not to worry about it but the way Mathilda refused to even look at me as I asked her about it made me want to know more.

'I'll miss you immensely.' Mathilda said as she had swung her bag over her shoulder and clasped me into a tight hug. 'Don't be ridiculous, it's only a week.' I said, knowing I'd miss her too. I walked her down to the Entrance Hall and waved her off as she and the rest of the students who'd be going home for Easter disappeared in the drizzling rain.

I decided not to dwell too much on spending the week without my best friend and instead tried to focus on the Fred Weasley-problem. The case was that he had made no move whatsoever to talk to me after he had kissed me. Admittedly it hadn't been much of a kiss but it still definitely was one. It couldn't have been just an accident or a slip. I still got red in the face at the memory of his lips on mine. I sat down at the Ravenclaw table and saw him and his brother and his friend Lee Jordan sit at the Gryiffindor table across the hall. Even from this distance I could still hear his joyous laugh and see his clear blue eyes. I sighed as I looked at him, blowing the hair out of my face.

Normally most people stayed at Hogwarts over Easter but everyone who normally went home over Christmas but decided to stay for the Yule Ball had decided to go home now instead. It was way emptier now than it normally was this time a year. Unlike before, the amount of Hogwarts students seemed to be pretty much equal to the amount of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students now. I was joined by Aurora and Robin. Cho had gone home with Cedric to visit his parents and Marietta had her yearly Easter brunch at her grandmother's house so she had gone home as well. It was just Aurora and me in the dormitory.

'Cecil?' Aurora asked as she sat across from me. I looked up from my toast, still a bit sleepy, and looked at her questioningly. 'We wanted you to be the first to know.' Aurora said but I merely frowned. 'Know what?' I asked and Aurora looked sideways at Robin and Robin grinned as well. My eyes shot down to the table to see their hands intertwined with each other. I started grinning too. 'Well, bloody finally!' I exclaimed.

As the newly coupled enthusiastically explained how they had gotten together at last I listened politely, a smile plastered on my face, because I was happy for my friend, I really was. But still, after a little while my eyes drifted from her and her boyfriend to behind them where I could see my redheaded crush throw cereal across the table to his housemates.

Despite my stern talking to by Mathilda, I didn't find an opportunity to talk to Fred at all. In the following days he was always with his friends and brother and I already felt awkward enough as it was. It was now Monday, March 20th, a couple of days after the beginning of the holidays, when the mail came. I had gotten a letter from Aidan as promised and I quickly skimmed it over, deciding to reply to him later that day and I was about to get up from the breakfast table when another owl perched itself down in front of me.

I frowned and sat back down. It was a Ministry owl, as the purple harness with the pouch at the front (emblazed with the Ministry emblem) indicated. 'For me?' I asked the owl but it merely gave me access to its pouch and I took out the purple Ministry envelope. The owl flew off immediately. Something started to nibble at my brain and it wasn't until I turned it around and saw at the front written "Cecilia Wiggleswade, Hogwarts Castle, Ravenclaw Table" that I gasped. The internship! They'd owl in March!

I ripped open the parchment and quickly read it over.

Dear Ms Cecilia Wiggleswade,

It is with great joy that I can hereby inform you that you've been selected to follow the internship program at the Ministry of Magic. More information and instructions on what to do next will follow within the next week. All that is left to say is congratulations and we will look forward to working with you over the summer.

Kind regards,

Abbey Kettledon

Assignment Officer

Department of Magical Education

Department of Magical Law Enforcement

I was so elated that I shrieked out in happiness, so pleased with myself that I didn't even notice all the startled looks thrown my way. I looked around automatically for Mathilda but I cursed inwardly as I remembered that she had gone home. Even Aurora hadn't come down for breakfast yet. I couldn't eat anymore with all that excitement so I jumped up from my seat and started stalking out of the Hall, planning to wake up Aurora if I had to, but I was stopped by none other than Fred Weasley and his twin.

I blinked up at him, shocked by his sudden appearance. For almost two weeks I had tried to find a moment to talk to him or see if he had any interest in me whatsoever and he hadn't shown any so far, but now out of nowhere he was there before me again.

'Hiya Cecil, what were you screaming about?' Fred asked me with a grin and I blushed furiously. 'I wasn't.. Well, not loud anyway.' I muttered. He waved away my concerns. 'You got some good news in the mail?' He asked again and I nodded, showing the two brothers my letter. Their eyes scanned over the contents and they both made a face. 'Are you willingly spending time working for free at the Ministry of Magic in your summer holidays?' George asked and I blushed a little deeper red.

'It's an amazing opportunity. I'm so young and I really want to work at the Ministry after Hogwarts.' I tried to explain. 'Never mind.' The twins said in unison. 'It's incredible you got in though.' George said. 'Don't forget to invite us to the party.' Fred reminded me. I blinked though. 'What party?' I asked, too surprised to feel shy. 'It's great news right? That calls for a party! You are throwing a party, right?' Asked Fred and I nodded automatically. 'I, uh, yeah, I suppose I am.' I answered slowly. I mentally hit myself in the head. 'After the holidays when everyone's back.' I said, buying time. They both nodded. 'We'll be there!' They once again said at the same time. Then they strode away past me, out of the Great Hall. What had I gotten myself into?

Although Aurora was excited for me, I knew I needed Mathilda for this particular situation. I wanted to write her but I knew that by the time I had gotten her reply she'd be almost back already so I decided to test my own patience and started counting down the days till the end of the holidays. And I tried to get as much homework and studying in before that. It was two months till the O.W.L.'s and I was determined to do well. Scratch that, determined to do great.

Every day I woke up at a reasonable time, had a quick breakfast and then went up to the library to study. Sometimes Aurora and Robin would join me and Robin's help proved invaluable as he had already done his O.W.L.'s (or the continental European equivalent of it) and knew exactly how to study for it. Halfway through the holiday the weather started to clear up a bit and we started studying in the courtyards just to soak up some of the March sun.

On the evening the other students were set to finally arrive back I made sure to be at dinner early and keep a place for Mathilda. She was one of the first to walk into the Great Hall, having come from Hogsmeade. Her eyes scanned the Ravenclaw Table and I waved to get her attention. She grinned, waved back and ran over, her cloak billowing behind her. She dropped down next to me, letting her backpack fall to the ground and letting her cloak fall off her shoulders and grabbing my hands right after. 'Did you get to talk to him?' She hissed and I laughed at her determined look.

'Well, yeah..' I said and she squealed. 'Don't get too excited though..' I muttered and I quickly explained the situation. She didn't seem to share my worries though. 'Why shouldn't I be excited about that!?' She asked, shovelling potatoes into her mouth. 'You got that prestigious internship and the boy you like is coming to your party.' She spoke while spitting her food over the table. 'What party!? I'm not throwing a party!' I exclaimed and Mathilda rolled her eyes. 'I'll throw you one. I'm pretty sure I told you I would if you got the internship anyway.' She told me. I didn't remember any such thing.

She did manage to calm down the nerves that had plagued my stomach since the beginning of the week and by the end of dinner I was almost excited at the thought of perhaps having a party. I didn't go to many parties (or almost any if I was being truthful – if it weren't that Mathilda hadn't dragged me out to one or two perhaps) but maybe this would be alright. Fred would see how cool I could be. Or could pretend to be. I smiled sideways at Mathilda; her relaxed and down to earth attitude always makes me feel better.

I almost fell backwards off the bench in shock when Adrian Pucey pounced on Mathilda from behind. She let out a shriek but her widened eyes quickly narrowed when she saw it was her boyfriend. 'What is it Adrian?' She only said but he ignored her dire demeanour and wormed himself in between me and her and faced her saying 'Tilly, I've missed you, love.' I almost burst out laughing at hearing him calling Mathilda "Tilly". I guess I shouldn't laugh too hard though because my family calls me "Cillyhead" and Mathilda knows it.

'Adrian, I really don't feel like-' but we never got to find out what she did or did not feel like because Adrian hurriedly closed the distance between them and kissed her forcefully. For a moment I thought she was going to slap him because Mathilda really didn't like being interrupted but then she swung her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. I suppose she really did like him.

After a few moments it started to become a bit uncomfortable for the people around them, including me as I sat right next to Adrian and it was when Adrian pushed her backwards a bit, his hand moving up her leg and she started leaning back, almost with her hair in a third year's food as he awkwardly sat behind her, that professor Snape appeared next to us like an icy statue. 'Mr Pucey, I'd appreciate it if you could do Slytherin proud and not quite fondle your Ravenclaw friend in this manner so publicly.' He said and Adrian quickly pulled back, the both of them sitting up with flushed cheeks and swollen lips. 'Slytherin would be very proud!' Someone called out at the Slytherin table behind me, followed by a lot of hushed laughs but the professor decided to ignore them. 'I'll be on my best behaviour professor.' Adrian told him and Snape seemed to find that sufficient and stalked off back to the teachers' table.

'I'll be on my best behaviour professor!' Mathilda imitated him and he shot her a half-hearted glare. She looked smug. 'Don't look at me like that or I won't invite you to Cecil's party that you're going to help me plan.' She said and Adrian's eyebrows shot up. 'A party? When?' He asked and she bit her lip while thinking. I was just impressed how easily they seemed to have gotten over whatever fight they were having. 'Let's just do it tomorrow. The homework load won't be as bad as by the end of the week and we can double it as a "back at school" party.' She said. 'Why is it Cecilia's party?' He asked her but then he turned to me 'Why are you throwing a party?' he directed at me. I blushed at the sudden attention. 'I got an internship at the Ministry this summer.' I muttered. He looked impressed. 'That's very commendable!' He said, taking a sip of Mathilda's pumpkin juice. 'You're only like fifteen still, right?' He asked and I nodded.

During the course of the evening Mathilda and her boyfriend worked their magic and as I got up the next morning and went to breakfast, many people from all different houses came up to me at the breakfast table to quickly tell me that they'd "be there". When Mathilda sat down next to me I asked her what she had planned. 'Just a classroom party, you gave me very short notice!' She said. 'I didn't ask Cho by the way, but I know you'd want to invite her so I invited Cedric instead so she'd come along with him.' Mathilda said with a roll of her eyes and I laughed. 'How gracious of you.' I said with a chuckle.

I was giddy all day during class. Even though it was Mathilda really who'd be throwing it, it was officially, in name at least, my party. I hadn't thrown a party since I celebrated my tenth birthday. And that was only a couple of friends and all the family anyway in my parents' living room. This was different!

After History of Magic that evening Mathilda dragged me upstairs from the fourth floor to the Ravenclaw tower so we could get ready. 'I've got Adrian busy on the classroom and he has a mate who can get food and drinks and I'll focus on you.' She said. 'Shouldn't we have dinner first?' I asked and she huffed. 'How can you even think of dinner at this point?' She asked with apparent outrage, shoving me into a chair and digging into her bag for her hairbrush.

'How are things with you and Adrian anyway?' I asked carefully as she had started to brush my hair and hum joyfully. The humming stopped immediately as I asked. 'How do you mean?' She replied. I took a minute to formulate an answer. 'Well, you were fighting..' I tried but when she didn't react I went back on that with '…right?' and she sighed, putting her brush down and hugging me around the neck from the back. 'I know you're a good friend Cecil.' She said and I tried to awkwardly hug her back from my position as I frowned. 'But things are going fine. He just said some things I wasn't happy with but we've solved our issues, I promise you.' She told me and I nodded. 'Alright, but if you ever need to talk; you can tell me anything, yeah?' I said and she squeezed my shoulders. 'Yeah.' She replied and I could tell from her voice that she was smiling.

She let me borrow one of her dresses as she took way more clothes to Hogwarts than I ever did (we have a uniform we wear the majority of the time; what's the point?) and when I looked into the bathroom mirror I decided I looked quite alright. I thanked Mathilda for all her efforts but she waved my gratitude away with an airy attitude. 'You know I love these things, it was all my pleasure.' She said modestly.

We stood side by side looking in the mirror. Mathilda's short sleeved light coloured floral t-shirt dress looked nice on me and it made my hair look lighter as well. My short heeled sandals couldn't compete with the too high platform shoes Mathilda was sporting underneath her Chinese look-a-like red dress. They made her look a lot taller than me while in reality it only differed about five centimetres. She looked gorgeous though, her thick brown hair flowed down in her usual perfect blow-dry do and her lips were painted a dark red.

'Adrian won't be able to tell what hit him.' Mathilda said, a pleased look on her face as she looked herself over, ironing out the creases in her satin dress with her hands. 'Same for Fred Weasley by the way.' She added with a glance to me. I laughed. 'Whatever Tilda.' I said shyly. I did look less frumpy than usual though.

When Mathilda had put on her last coating of lipstick it was finally time to go. I felt the butterflies that had been gathering in my stomach all day intensify with every step in the direction of the old Ancient Runes classroom. We were met outside the door by Cassius Warrington, Adrian's friend. 'You guys are late, the party started over an hour ago.' He said when he saw us. 'Fashionably late.' Mathilda corrected him. He rolled his eyes but then looked at me. 'Congratulations with the internship Wiggleswade.' He said. I flushed. He rolled his eyes again.

'Aidan's inside, he left me out here to wait for you guys.' Warrington continued. 'He did!? What a jerk, leaving you out all alone!' Mathilda exclaimed as Warrington opened the door to the classroom. Half her sentence was drowned out by the noise inside though, the classroom obviously charmed with a silencing charm. 'Inside, quick! Before Filch comes to investigate!' Warrington shouted over the music coming from inside. We hurried in.

The atmosphere was electric. There was lots of smoke in the air of the people smoking all around and I could see that everyone was having a great time; laughing, drinking and snogging. The classroom didn't look much different. They had just dimmed the lighting a bit, pushed all the tables and chairs to the side and enlarged the room a bit. On the blackboard there was a message chalked down saying "Congratulations Cecilia!" but as I read it, the words hustled up and rearranged to "Cigarettes in ashtrays and empty butter beer bottles by the wall!" How grown up was this party, eh?

'Cecil, Mathilda!' I heard someone shout at our right. We spun around on our feet to see Aurora and Robin make it through the crowd of students, closely followed by Marietta. 'Great party!' Robin said as they reached us. I couldn't help but grin. I hadn't arrived a minute before and I could already tell he was right. Not that I was much of an expert.

'Yeah, yeah, where's that wanker who calls himself my boyfriend?' Mathilda replied, getting on her toes so she could look over the heads of everyone else. 'Wanker?' Aurora shout-whispered to me and I shrugged. 'Don't ask.' I answered.

Mathilda caught sight of Adrian and patted my shoulder accompanied by a 'Find Fred and bat your eyelashes at him.' before she sped off and disappeared into the pack of dancing people. My heart was about to beat itself out of my chest as I thought of facing my crush. 'Don't worry, you'll be okay.' Aurora said, sensing my nerves. 'Will I?' I asked with a chuckle, only half joking.

'Will you what?' Another voice shouted at me from behind. I turned at my heels and was suddenly faced with the sole reason (if we were being honest with ourselves) for this party. 'Nothing!' I shrieked in half a panic as Fred Weasley grinned down at me. 'Calm down love, it's your party for Merlin's sake!' He said with a loud bellowing laugh. My skin was burning at the attention. 'You don't have anything to drink I see, you want something?' He asked and I opened my mouth only to close it again, in disbelief at his sudden interest. He let out another laugh and then took my hand and pulled me to one end of the room where there was a table reserved just for butter beer bottles and a couple of bottles of firewhisky.

'Butter beer?' He asked, leaving my hand cold as he let it go, but before I could answer he had already shook his head saying 'What am I saying, you got your internship! We need to celebrate a little bit harder than just butter beer!'

He grabbed a bottle of the firewhisky and took my hand once again and walked me to another table, pushed against the wall, so we could sit down. 'Where's your brother?' I asked and he glanced at me sideways as he took out his wand to un-pop the cork in the bottle. 'You ask about George a lot; people might think you have a massive crush on him instead of me.' He said. Why did he enjoy embarrassing me so much?

'No, it's just that you're always..-' 'Yeah, that we're always together, I remember. You said so before.' He interrupted me with a chuckle. My mind had never been so blank before and I just stared at him in both confusion and amazement. He took a swig from the bottle. He offered me some. I shook my head, but he pushed it in my hands. 'Let loose a bit, love.' He said in a whisper as he leaned in close and a shiver ran up and down my spine. Before I could take a swig we were interrupted by a group of Hufflepuffs. Although they weren't in their uniforms now, they were easy to recognize.

'Felix!' I shrieked. I jumped off the edge of the table to give him a hug, perching back onto my previous seat after. His friends were screwing around behind his back but he didn't pay them any attention.

'Congratulations on your internship Cecilia, and what a great party you have here!' He complimented and I grinned. 'Thank you, although the party is all Mathilda and her boyfriend.' I entrusted to him. Felix' eyes glided away from me to my side. 'You know Fred.' I said by means of an introduction and Felix nodded. From the corner of my eyes I couldn't quite read the impression on Fred's face, but for some reason this whole ordeal was making me uncomfortable.

'Last time we met, Cecilia was my date.' Felix joked, holding out his hand for Fred to shake. Fred did him the honours and said with a chuckle 'and this time she's mine.' He said. My heart sped up quite a bit because of that. So he thought of this as a date? 'You think we'll have swapped around again the next time we meet?' Fred said with a laugh. 'Or that the next time Cecilia's meeting you, I'll be your date.' He said. Felix laughed. 'I can only hope.' He said good naturedly.

Felix was called away by his mate Peter and he smiled apologetically at me. 'I'll talk to you later, alright?' Said Felix and I nodded. He followed his friends back into the crowd. I looked down, too nervous to look at my "date" and noticed I was still holding the bottle of firewhisky.

I took a swig as well, not eager to appear like a wimp. It almost came back up as the strong liquor burned my throat but I could force it down and limit it to a humiliating cough, making Fred laugh.

'You're an innocent lass, aren't you? It could've been your first kiss too the other day, for all I know.' He said fondly and I must've blushed even more because he let out another laugh (he seemed to be laughing a lot) and grabbed the bottle back, setting it down next to him. 'You're kidding me!? It was!?' Fred exclaimed. This was too much.

I jumped off the table, tears stinging my eyes. He was mocking me, why did I ever think this dream could be a reality? But before I had a chance to run off in the direction of the exit, he had grabbed my hand and spun me back around. 'Don't worry so much, Cecil.' He said and before I knew it he had pulled me into his arms and had pressed his lips against mine.

At first my eyes widened in surprise but then my lids fluttered closed as the sensation washed over me. This was a real kiss. The last kiss had been a peck in comparison but this was different. His lips were warm and soft and they moved against my lips and I was torn up between worrying about whether I was doing it right and just totally being overwhelmed by the great feeling that came with the knowledge that it hadn't been just a fluke; Fred Weasley had meant to kiss me, it wasn't just an accident or anything, and he was kissing me again right now.

He pulled back and looked at me, a soft smile on his face. 'How was that for you?' He asked and I barely managed a 'Cool' as I was left completely out of breath. 'Yeah?' He asked. 'It was "cool"?' He asked sarcastically and although I blushed, I couldn't help but grin at him as well. 'Well, if that was "cool", I'm certain I can do better than that.' He said. He jumped off the table as well, which I didn't realise he was still sitting on and let me back into the crowd. 'Where are we going?' I asked when we left the classroom.

I felt a lot more vulnerable now we were alone in the empty corridor, the cold March night chilling the stone of the walls and floors and cooling the air. I could see my breath as I breathed out. Fred pulled me along silently. He made a shushing noise. 'We have to be quiet. It's after hours.' He whispered to me and I nodded as if this whole experience was the most natural thing in the world to me. This was exhilarating. I was sneaking around the school after hours with the boy I liked, who had just given me an unforgettable kiss.

We seemed to have arrived at whatever place Fred had been leading us to. 'Come into my humble mansion, Cecil.' He whispered as he held aside what appeared to be a tapestry with an open door behind it. I stepped in carefully. I looked around and saw that it was a narrow hallway, another door at the other end. It must've been one of the numerous secret passageways hidden around the castle. I didn't know many myself but the twins were infamous for knowing all about them. Before I could put anymore thought into it, the sound of a door shutting was heard behind me and two arms had snaked around my waist.

I turned around in Fred's arms. 'What's this place?' I inquired and he leaned in. 'Some privacy.' He replied in a low voice and once again I felt a shiver go through my body at the feeling of his breath on my cheeks and the vibrations of his voice so close to me.

He didn't waste any more time and captured my lips with his, deepening the kiss soon after, his tongue exploring my mouth. I let it all wash over me with both excitement and nervosity. Was this snogging? Was I snogging someone now?

His hands slid down from my waist to my hips and then back up to my waist and around my back and I liked the feeling of his hands on me, partially because it was him, but also a bit because it was cold and the friction generated heat.

My hands were resting on his chest, nervous to do anything with them but my lips were eagerly moving against his and it was when I opened up my mouth a bit wider and hesitantly touched my tongue to his that he groaned a bit, giving me a surprised sense of accomplishment. Did I do that? I didn't even know that I was capable of doing that to a boy. But there it was; I had just made Fred Weasley give out a moan.

His hands grabbed a hold of my hips and turned me around, pushing my back against the door we had come in through. I felt like I was in a romantic novel (and I had read many of them) as he pushed the hair that had fallen out of my do behind my ear. He pulled back for a short second, smiling down at me only to lean down further, pressing a lingering kiss to my exposed collarbone. I let out a quivering sigh that embarrassed me but I didn't have a lot of time to feel embarrassed because he pressed down another one.

His lips feverishly made their way up and down my neck, his hands roughly pushing me against the door. I couldn't think straight and part of me was panicking but then his lips went back to my own and my train of thoughts derailed completely as my own hands went to his hair. His lips left mine yet again to work their magic just below my ear and his fingers started pulling at my dress. I desperately tried to catch my breath.

This was going too fast, I decided, I only just had my first kiss after all. But here I was, Fred's lips sucking at my skin and his hands trailing up my leg and I was suddenly in a panic when I realised I had no idea what to do with the situation. What if he had certain expectations? I couldn't meet those, could I? No, I couldn't, I had to be firm. But if there ever was a thing I was no good at…

His right hand was kneading the top of my thigh, my dress pushed up just a bit and his other hand was slowly sliding up the dress covering my stomach in the direction of my chest. We were rudely interrupted by a lot of noise outside of the secret passageway. 'What the fuck?' Fred swore as he pulled back. I felt guilty about feeling a bit relieved, awkwardly patting down my clothes. Fred hurriedly opened the door and pulled aside the tapestry. People were running past.

'What's going on?' Fred asked one of the people who briefly came to a halt to answer him. It was hard to tell without a uniform, but he appeared to be a Hufflepuff student a year above me. 'Filch broke up the party. Most people managed to get away but I heard a couple of sixth or seventh years, or something, got caught.' He said, immediately running off after dropping the news.

'Oh shit! Who told him you think?' Fred said, turning to me. 'I don't care, I just don't want a detention!' I replied and he laughed. 'Fair enough.' He said. 'You're going to the Ravenclaw Tower I'm presuming?' He wondered out loud and I nodded. 'I know a short cut.' He simply said. I didn't ask how he knew where our common room was.

He did know a short cut and due to it we were up in front of the common room door in minutes. It was silent in the staircase and it was either because everyone from Ravenclaw at the party had been caught or because they had already all safely returned. I was hoping for the latter.

'Well, this is your stop.' Fred said, trailing off as his eyes went from the door to me. 'Last one for good luck?' He asked and in his typical Fred Weasley fashion he didn't wait for a proper answer because he kissed me deeply, making it a sweet goodbye. 'I'll see you around, Cecil.' He said and I laughed as I realised that was the same thing he said last time he had kissed me. He backed off down the stairs at first, blowing me a kiss but then turned on his heels to go down the circling staircase. I leaned over the railing. 'See you around, Fred Weasley!' I shouted back at him.

Weeeell..!? Review to let me know what you thought! :D