The roads, which were still wet from dew and yesterday's rain, shown like black ice, creating snaking paths between all the buildings.
"Ok, I guess that was kind of worth it." I said.
"Told you."
We walked back to Honeydukes in silence. It started off peaceful, but by the time we had dropped down into the secret tunnel, I was starting to feel antsy.
What if I made him think that I didn't like his date he set up? He obviously likes going there to watch the sunrise. From the perfect way he planned it, he must have come many times before. What if I made him feel like I thought it was stupid?
"Rita-" Fred started, but I cut him off. We stood in the corridor next to the witch now, the opening to the passage slowly closing.
"I really did like it, Fred. I thought it was nice. I'm just- tired." I said quickly, but winced internally at how much worse it all sounded now.
"Sorry about that." He said, switching his weight from foot to foot. "Next time I won't make plans for a weeknight... I mean-! There doesn't have to be a next time if you don't want there to be, we could just kinda forget that happened-"
"Do you want to forget that happened?" I asked, not letting the worry leak into my voice.
"No, no, of course not!" He stammered, flushing a light rose color.
"Me neither." I said awkwardly. We stood there for a moment in pure awkward silence before we decided it was probably a good idea to head towards the dorms.
"I'll see you at breakfast, I guess." He said, rubbing the back of his neck. I hummed in agreement before hurriedly going to my dorm. Now I truly knew what authors meant when they wrote about your face feeling as if a thousand tiny hot knives were dancing along your face. Except there were a little wrong in their calculations. It felt more like a billion.
I sat down next to 'Mione at the Gryffindor table a few hours later, feeling the tiredness just dripping off of me.
"Are you okay?" She asked slowly, as if afraid of the answer.
"Mm-hm."
"Where were you this morning? I woke up because I needed some water, and you weren't there."
"Oh- Er. Fred and I kinda went on a sorta date I guess?"
"Why was that a question? And how was it a 'sorta date'?" She asked. I groaned and put my face in my hands.
"I don't know, 'Mione... I'm not really sure it was a date. I don't think we ever really clarified that. I'm not even really sure that we're dating! And I've never really been on a date before, you know that. So how am I supposed to know if that was just a 'friendly outing' or if he was actually trying to be romantic!"
"I didn't know Fred Weasley could be romantic." Hermione said, scrunching up her eyebrows.
"Neither did I! I'm not sure what Fred Weasley is right now."
"You just need to DTR, is all." She said, cutting up her eggs and toast.
"Excuse me?" I asked.
"What?"
"What the bloody hell does 'DTR' mean?" I asked.
"Oh. It's from this one book series I read a long time ago. It was so amazing, vampires and demons and werewolves and angels- Sorry, getting off topic- but anyways it means 'determine the relationship.'" She explained.
"So... I just need to figure out if we're dating and if that was a date?"
She smiled. "Precisely."
Yes well, Hermione Granger, that's easier said than done. I saw Fred in the halls today even less than I usually do. And whenever I tried to gather the courage and go up to him, he seemed to disappear. It was as if he was trying to avoid me.
Merlin's pants, what if he was?
Well Rita. You've done screwed up this time.
All day long all I could do was wonder and worry if I upset him. Maybe he really was trying to be romantic, and I had laughed in his face.
What if he was mad at me now? Did he still want to go to the Yule Ball with me? Because usually when you avoid someone it means yo don't want to spend time with them, and that's what you do at dances.
I went down to the Great Hall a little early for lunch, not sure what else to do with my spare hour. When I walked in, I looked around for familiar faces. I saw Hermione sitting at the far end, with Fred and George sitting on either side of her, grinning.
"What's going on here?" I asked. "You look like you're planning Ron's murder. Hermione, are they making homicidal plans?" I asked, pushing George further down the bench so I Could sit next to my bushy haired friend.
The twins feigned hurt. "I can't believe you would even think that about us," George started.
"Much less say that about us!" Fred finished.
"Worse." Hermione responded, looking at me, as if the twins hadn't said anything. "They're planning how to put their names in the goblet."
"What?!" I yelled, jumping up. "It's a dangerous competition! People die in this stupid tournament!" I said.
"But think Rita!"
"The fame."
"The thrill!"
"The money to start our prank shop!"
"You have fame! You're even greater pranksters than the Marauders! Don't tell my father that. If you want thrills, let's blow up some bathrooms! If you need money, I can-"
"No, Rita. We have to get the money ourselves! We don't want you to throw your inheritance money at us."
"We want to feel like grown adults." George said.
"And grown adults we shall be!" Fred said with a mischievous grin. He pulled out a small phial as did George. I eyed them warily, not liking where this was going.
"Ready Fred?"
"Ready George!"
"Bottoms up!" They chorused as they linked arms and downed their respective phials of odd sparkly liquid. Nothing happened as the whole hall waited in tense silence. They looked at each other before jumping over the line and stopping in front of the large goblet. Again, everyone waited.
When nothing happened, everyone cheered and they highfived before throwing slips of paper into the cup. Still nothing happened. Until they had lowered their gards, of course.
The cup suddenly glowed before violently spewing out their slips. The enchantment around the goblet sent the twins flying backwards. When they sat up, they looked as if they had traveled forty years into the future- at least.
"You said-!"
"No, you said-!"
I scoffed in irritation before grabbing up my bag and marching from the room.
"Idiots."
A few hours later, classes were over for the day and I was walking towards the library, mumbling incoherently.
"Stupid boys. Stupid twins. Stupid death wishes. Stupid cup, stupid tournament, stupid Dumbledore, stupid fame, fortune and thrills. As if!" I said angrily before rounding the corner and running into something.
I landed harshly on my arse, my bag slipping off my shoulder causing everything to fall out everywhere.
"Sorry- Oh, hello Fred." I said awkwardly as I stood up, brushing off the non-existent dust.
"Rita." He acknowledged awkwardly. This whole day has just turned out to be so bloody awkward.
It was silent for a few moments before I spewed out,
"Your stomach muscles are hard, I think you gave me a concussion." After I said this I mentally slapped myself and wished there was a red tapestry behind me; I would blend in nicely.
He stared at me for a moment before saying, "It's my coffee abs. From staying up too late planning pranks and drinking coffee." We just stared at each other in stunned silence, before we bursted our laughing.
He was leaning against the wall for support as he laughed, and I was literally crying buckets by the end of it.
"What the bloody hell is that even supposed to mean?" I asked.
"I'm not sure- I don't think I got enough sleep last night."
"You're telling me! Maybe next time you shouldn't plan three am adventures!" I said, still laughing.
"Does four am work for her highness?"
"How about noon on a Saturday?" I suggested.
"Make that one this Saturday in Hogsmeade and you've got yourself a date." He said, and we stopped laughing.
"So are we dating then?" I asked, the awkwardness coming back.
"I don't know... I wasn't sure if you wanted to. I was kind of worried to talk to you today- I thought maybe you had changed your mind about wanting to go to the ball after this morning." He said.
"No, of course not! I was thinking the same thing about you. I thought maybe I had made you feel bad; like I made you feel like your plans you made weren't good enough. I was worried you were avoiding me because you were mad." I confessed.
"It seems we both need to communicate a little better then." He said, laughing slightly. He stood up, now slightly towering over me. "I s'pose this is where I'm supposed to ask if you would be my girlfriend?" He said.
I hummed in mock thought for a moment. "Only if you asked my father first." I joked. His face paled and his eyes grew wide.
"I don't really have to do that, right? You aren't going to make me do that, are you?"
"I can't tell if you're joking or not. How would you like me to answer that?" I said, grinning.
"I'm not sure myself."
"Okay then. Yes, you do have to ask him first. Only because it's fun to watch you squirm." I said. Oh, how wonderful it is to be evil.
"Fine. I'll go owl him right now if you wanna be that way." He said, marching off. I laughed before realizing he was serious, and actually heading towards the overly.
"What, Wait!" I cried after him. Now what did I get myself into?