Chapter six: Weirdoes and double dating

"Weasley."
"Mm."
"Weasley!"
"Yeah, I'm awake! I wasn't sleeping! What do you want?"
"Time to get the hell out if you don't want to rouse suspicion."
Fred lifted his head from the pillow it'd been resting on and looked at Oliver. He was already up on his feet, getting dressed and buttoning his shirt. He seemed to be in an awful hurry.
"Hey, what's the rush?" Fred asked, yawning slightly. He had been asleep. Hadn't got much of it last night, so he'd figured he'd earned some. "No one's going to find this place any time soon anyway."
"While you might feel differently about your education, I actually have classes that matter to go to. And I'm late for Ancient Runes."
"I didn't know you took that subject."
"There's lots you don't know about me, Weasley," Oliver said, leaning forward and kissing him lightly. Then, he straightened himself up again and threw a pillow in his face. "Now get up. Don't want to see you get expelled because of me."
Fred grinned, sitting himself up nimbly and stepping out of the all too comfortable bed to put on his robes. "Glad you care."
"Don't flatter yourself, Weasley. I just don't want it on my conscience, 's all," Oliver answered smoothly, but Fred could see a glint in his eyes, telling him he did care, but didn't want it to seem that way.
"Yeah, well. Meanwhile, would you kindly hand me my underwear?"

Fred lingered in the Room of Requirement for a bit longer than Oliver did. Wood took his leave in a haste, after a quick goodbye-snog.
When Fred had got tired of just lying in the bed and looking at the indifferent, dull ceiling, he got out of the room and closed the door. It immediately disappeared, taking care of all problems for him. He made his way to the Gryffindor common room, where Lee was playing Wizard's Chess with some boy from second year that Fred did not recognise.

"Oi, Weasley! Come 'ere," Lee shouted as he saw Fred make his entrance, "I've got a message for you. Ah, damn you, Reed, that was my last Knight! I'll get you for this."
"So," said Fred, sitting himself down beside Lee, watching one of Reed's pawns chop the head off Lee's bishop, "what's the message?"
"Your brother's looking for you," Lee muttered, concentrating fully on the game. "Said he's got something important to talk to you about."
Fred frowned. "Right. Do you know where I can find him?"
"Saw him exit the Great Hall earlier with Katie Bell. Figure they're out on the courtyard or something."
"Thanks." Fred stood up, patting Lee on the back. "Hey, and good luck. Can't let this second year loser slaughter you. No offence," he added, looking at Reed with his kindest smile.
"None taken," the second year student said, looking rather pleased Fred had addressed him at all.

The courtyard was empty except for a very familiar redhead, who had parked himself on the grass. Fred could see his copper mane flutter and wave from the wind from behind. He took a deep breath and walked forward until he was a bare metre from him.

"So here you are," said Fred. George didn't move; he'd noticed Fred's presence before he'd spoken. Fred sat himself down beside him, and George met his gaze in a defying sort of way.
"Here I am," he answered coolly. "What brings you here, then? Haven't you got somewhere more important to be right now, say, for example… anywhere else?"
Fred nodded. "I deserved that," he said, and his brother's defying look turned to a puzzled one. "I know I haven't been around a lot lately, and I want to come clean. At last."
George stared at him. "Come clean? You've done something horrible, then? Ah, don't tell me – you've killed someone."
Fred gave a short, dry chuckle. "No, not that horrible. Jeez, what do you take me for?"
"If you'd killed Filch we'd all been thankful," muttered George and looked out at the stunning view that was Hogwarts' surroundings. "Wouldn't have blamed you."
"Yeah, him I could have murdered," Fred grinned. But he felt something jerk in his stomach when he thought of what he had to tell his brother. After that, he figured, things wouldn't be as jovial. "But no, seriously, George… I've been keeping something from you, that I shouldn't have."
"No shit," George mumbled. "Sneaking off from class, staying out all night without me knowing your whereabouts… I'm sorry to sound like mum, but it's kind of irresponsible, isn't it?"
"I'm sorry, George, it's just… I couldn't have done it any other way."
"Could you just come out and say it now? You're really keeping me on tenterhooks here."
Fred took a deep breath once again. This was it. He knew he had to do it, otherwise he'd drown in the shame of keeping something that big from his twin, his closest friend. And whom could he trust in the world to keep the secret… if not George?

"I'm… well, I've… I'm having a relationship with Oliver." He closed his eyes, burying his head in his hands. "There you have it. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I really am, I just didn't know how you'd react, and then we'd been going at it for too long to claim it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience… it just felt like it was… too late…"

George sat silent for a second, not uttering a single word, barely breathing. Then, he exhaled heavily, and spoke.
"How long have you…"
"Half a year," Fred whispered, still hiding his face from George. He didn't want to face his glance in case it was judgmental, angry or any of the sort. His tone of speech was quite blank, as though he was withholding all emotion. Perhaps saving for a giant outburst later on?
"Oh." He didn't sound amazed, not even surprised, just… vacant. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Told you, I didn't know how you'd react, I didn't want you to think I was…"
"A weirdo?"
"Yeah."
"I already knew you were a weirdo," George said slowly. "Only thing I didn't know was, you've got a strange taste for men."
Fred lifted his head and looked at his brother. It seemed he was perfectly calm, he was taking it very well. Not only the news of sexual orientation, but also that his brother had been having an affair – a relationship, however you defined it – with their mutual friend and Quidditch captain.
"You're not mad?"
"Actually, I'm… I've got something to tell you, too."
"You have?" Fred felt the relief wash over him like a wave. Rather than feeling angry with his brother for keeping things to himself, he was relieved that he hadn't been the only 'sinner' of the two. "Who is it?"
George looked at him incredulously. "How do you know it's a person?"
"Well…" Fred shrugged. "I suppose it's that twin intuition, you know."
His brother eyed him, looking fairly amused at the whole situation. "Okay. It's Katie Bell, anyway."
Fred nodded. "Can't say I'm surprised. She's had an eye on you for a long, long time, mate."
"That she has," George agreed. "Been fooling 'round with her all term, you know, and then earlier today we decided to tell people. To date. That sort of stuff."
"Good for you!" Fred congratulated him. It all felt kind of strange; sitting in the grass, having a heart-to-heart conversation with his brother, when mere minutes ago, he'd felt like his announcement might prove the end of their friendship all together. But it felt good. Now Fred knew for sure, whatever happened, George would always be there for him. And he would always be there for George.

"Sure, I hadn't planned on it, but I guess it could be cool having a girlfriend. Hey, maybe we could double date some time," George said lightly.
"I don't think so, mate," Fred retorted, smiling. "Oliver's not exactly the kind of guy you take out on dates. More the kind that ambushes you and drags you into rooms with nothing but a bed, and…"
"Eww!" George disrupted, grinning. "I don't even want to know, brother dearest." He patted him on the shoulder. "I'm fine with the gay thing, just… keep the details to yourself, okay?"
"Okay then." Fred heaved himself up; he had grass-stains all over his robes, but it felt like it'd definitely been worth it. "Feel like going to class? We have Potions in a while."
His brother made an ugly grimace. "Potions? Oh, great. That'll make my day."
"Yeah, well, at least we'll be together."
George beamed at him. "Yeah. At least we'll be together."
Thus, Fred dragged him up on his feet, and they walked off to the gates of the castle – one of them light at heart, the other one bottling his sorrow and disappointment up inside of him.

Whether it'd work out for either of them, time would tell. But one thing was sure – they'd stand by each other's side.

Totally asexually, of course.