Hello readers. Second upload in a week this time as I had missed one over the Christmas period. I am hoping to keep up with a weekly upload on a Monday.
I hope that everyone had a lovely New Years' and that you are having a good 2023 so far – all of two days we've been in it at least.
Here's chapter 6!
Chapter 6: Arse Kicking and No Kissing.
She woke up the next morning in a cold sweat. She groaned as she recollected what she had done last night. Had she really almost kissed her friends' older brother?! If Harry hadn't interrupted their moment last night, would she have kissed him? No, she told herself, Fred's a friend and Ron and Ginny's older brother. Kissing him would have been a disaster of epic proportions. Problem was, Esmerelda knew deep down that none of that would have stopped her.
How she was ever going to face him again she had no idea. She already had issues with how expressive her face was. She could never hide how she was feeling because it would no doubt show on her face. That often got her into trouble. And it would be no different today. Esmerelda knew that as soon as she locked eyes with Fred, she'd turn bright red and completely and totally embarrass herself. She was, however, glad of one thing. Today was a Saturday, meaning that she could hide herself away in her dormitory all day without drawing too much attention to it. With that in mind, Esmerelda rolled over, pulled the duvet over her head, and fell back asleep. One thing that she had neglected to take into consideration, however, was that she had a particularly persistent best friend who went by the name of Hermione Granger.
"What are you still doing in bed? Are you ill?" Esmerelda rolled over and glanced at the clock on her bedside table. 11 o'clock.
"Hello, Hermione, pleasure to see you." Esmerelda tried pulling the duvet back up to its original position over her head before rolling over. As it was, however, Hermione was sitting on her bed, pinning the duvet down.
"You do look a bit pale. Are you alright?" Hermione enquired with a worried look on her face. "Do we need to go to Madame Pomfrey?"
"Honestly Hermione, I'm not feeling my best today, so maybe I should just go back to sleep." Hermione looked even more worried. "I'm not ill," Esmerelda clarified. It didn't look as though Hermione was going to leave any time soon. "Right. Promise you won't laugh at me?" she asked Hermione.
"I wouldn't ever laugh at you, you know that. Come on, I'm your friend, you can tell me anything." Hermione moved herself into a more comfortable position on Esmerelda's bed, ready to listen.
"I did something embarrassing last night." Hermione glanced at her curiously. "Something boy related."
"Oh."
"I may have almost kissed someone."
Although Hermione and herself had had differing experiences with the opposite sex over their time at Hogwarts, she knew that Hermione didn't mind listening to her boy problems.
"Someone I know?"
"Uh, not really."
Esmerelda felt bad for not telling Hermione the whole truth, but she figured if Hermione knew that it was someone they were close with, it would only be a matter of time before she discovered that it was Fred she had almost kissed.
"Okay, so what happened? Why did you only almost kiss him?"
Esmerelda could see that Hermione was intrigued now. She enjoyed when they got to have their girl chats, them two, and sometimes Ginny.
"We were sort of interrupted."
"By who?"
Esmerelda thought about how to respond. "I'm not entirely sure." Another lie. "We heard someone approaching and I ran." She buried her face in her hands. Reliving what had happened last night brought back the embarrassment she had felt when she had turned back and had seen Fred standing there, leaning against the stone wall. She hadn't even thought about how he must be feeling this morning. "Ugh, the shame," she said out loud.
"It's not that bad, honestly. Was it at least someone you wanted to be kissing?" Hermione asked.
"Honestly, I hadn't really thought too much about it before last night." Hermione didn't look too convinced by this answer.
"Okay," Esmerelda continued, "I can't deny that I've felt something before, when we spend time together, but I've always tried to push those thoughts to the back of my mind."
"Do you think that maybe the reason you've been pushing those thoughts to the back of your mind is because you're afraid that they might mean that you really like this boy?"
Esmerelda moaned and flopped back onto her pillows. "Why do you have to be so smart?" She lifted one of the pillows surrounding her and used it to smack Hermione with.
"You know I'm right," Hermione said in a sing-song voice.
"So what do I do then?"
"Well for starters, you can't hide in here forever. You're bound to have to face him soon anyway. You might as well get it over with."
"You're probably right, Hermione."
"I am."
"I guess I should get up and get dressed then. Can't lounge about in bed all day." She rolled out of bed and stood up. "Thanks Hermione."
"No worries. I'm always here when you need me," Hermione replied with a smile.
"So, while we're on the subject of boys, what's going on with you and Ronniekins then?" Esmerelda wiggled her eyebrows.
"Esmerelda Evans, I swear to God." Hermione reached for a pillow, and Esmerelda had the good sense to duck as it was hurled in her direction.
"You missed."
…..
It wasn't long before Esmerelda had to face the awkwardness caused by last night's actions. As she descended the stairs, she spotted Fred with George and Lee in the corner of the common room, presumably scheming about something or other. They had been working an awful lot on their Skiving Snackboxes recently but had been keeping fairly hush about the whole thing, especially when in the presence of Hermione. As Esmerelda and Hermione made their way across the room to where Harry, Ron, and Ginny were sitting, Esmerelda glanced up at Fred, who clocked her, and swiftly turned his gaze to the floor. Right, she thought, well I've royally fucked that up then.
She sat down glumly next to Harry as Hermione took a seat in between Ron and Ginny and turned her attention to their conversation.
"Have you seen the new Educational Decree that Umbridge had Filch putting up in the Hall the other day?" Ginny asked incredulously. "She's forbidden the existence of any extra-curricular activity that she has not personally okayed."
"Do you think she's caught wind of what we're doing?" Ron asked.
"It does seem awfully coincidental," Esmerelda added.
"We'll just have to be even more careful then." Hermione stated defiantly. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"I've heard that the Slytherin team have already been given permission to practice though," Harry said glumly. The others had been trying not to bring up Quidditch around Harry and the twins ever since their ban, but it was a part of Hogwarts life, and was entirely unavoidable.
"That old hag!" Ron blurted out. "We asked her before Slytherin and she told us she needed some time to consider it!"
"Surely she can't say no though, can she? Not after she okayed the Slytherin team." Hermione stated, although somewhat unsurely.
"No, Hermione's right," Ginny said. "It'll be fine. She can't stop us from playing. If the other teams couldn't play, Slytherin wouldn't even have anyone to play against." Ron looked slightly convinced.
"Did you see the other decree?" Ginny asked, looking amused.
"Which one?" Harry asked.
Ginny put on a high-pitched voice and sat up very straight before reciting, "Girls and boys are not permitted to be within 6 inches of each other."
Ron burst out laughing at both Ginny's dreadful Umbridge impersonation and the absurdity of the decree. "She's got to be joking, surely."
"Half the 7th years will be in detention within the week," Ginny chuckled. It's true that laughter is contagious, as, within a minute, they were all laughing hysterically.
From across the room George's voice called out, "And what on Earth are you all pissing yourselves about?"
Once he'd composed himself, Ron answered. "Umbridge's new decree."
"The one about extracurriculars? I did see that, yeah." George frowned.
"No, the other one," Ginny replied. "But don't you worry, Georgey, I reckon you'll be safe." The look of utter confusion on George's face set them all off again.
"Oh, I get it. You're on about the 'no fraternising with the opposite sex bullshit' that Filch put up yesterday. Well, if I'm safe, then so's Fred. It's not as though he's been doing any fraternising recently either." George sat down next to Ginny.
Fred's eyes subconsciously darted to Esmerelda as what George had suggested sunk in. Clearly, she had been thinking the same, and her gaze met his. The ridiculousness of the situation hit them both, and the slightly panicked look on Esmerelda's face melted into a ridiculously large grin, as she hid her face in her hands. She looked back up at Fred, who winked in retaliation before a grin appeared on his face too.
It appeared that nobody else had noticed their brief interaction, as they were now too preoccupied discussing which Slytherin girl was going out with fellow fifth year Blaise Zabini this week. He did make for an interesting source of speculation, as it appeared that he had had more girlfriends this year alone than most people might have in a lifetime. Ginny was convinced that he was going out with Pansy Parkinson, whereas Harry had heard from Padma Patil that he was in fact currently dating one of the Greengrass sisters. George, on the other hand, was convinced that the multiple girlfriends were a facade - and the truth was that Zabini was in fact in a long-term relationship with one, Draco Malfoy.
Esmerelda couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Blaise and Draco, hand in hand, skipping through the streets of Hogsmeade, on their way to Madame Puddifoot's for a romantic afternoon tea. This suggestion created such an explosion of laughter, that Ron spat his pumpkin juice all over Ginny, who then had to be calmed down while Hermione cast a scouring charm to clean up the mess.
Focus soon turned to Harry, who Ron and the twins were enjoying winding up about Cho Chang.
"It's obvious that he likes her, I mean have you seen how much of an idiot he makes of himself when she's around," Fred said.
"I mean, he did also ask Cho to the Yule Ball last year, but Diggory beat him to it. I reckon she'd have said yes if she hadn't already said she'd go with him." George added.
"Pretty sure he dribbled pumpkin juice all over himself at breakfast the other morning when she smiled at him, too," Ron mentioned.
"Umm, you do know I'm right here?" Harry said exasperatedly. "And I'm not that pathetic!"
"Yeah of course mate," Ron answered noncommittedly. "But you've got to admit, you do act a bit of a twat when you're around her."
"Oh thanks Ron," Harry replied sarcastically.
"I think you just need to ask her out," Fred agreed.
"Oh okay I'll just ask her out then shall I?" Harry groaned. "It's not as easy as that." He looked dejected.
"Leave Harry alone. He'll ask her when he's ready to," Hermione said sternly, but even she didn't look too convinced.
"So, Esmerelda, anyone taken your fancy lately?" Harry asked. She could tell he was desperately trying to change the subject and because she was a good cousin, she reluctantly let him.
"Uh nope, not at the moment." She made a conscious effort not to glance over to where Fred was sitting as she knew that he would be raising his eyebrow at her right about now. She also knew herself well enough to know that if she did look over to him, her own face would give her away. She was many things, but subtle was not one of them.
"Not gonna lie, I'm kind of glad to hear that," Harry said. Esmerelda looked confused. "You've dated some real shockers and if you were dating someone, I'd have to prepare myself to kick his arse if he ever hurt you."
Fred snorted, and everyone turned. Esmerelda's eyes widened. "Sorry," he said, "I'm just picturing you kicking someone's arse, Harry. I wish you could see what I can see, you'd find it hilarious."
Harry looked mildly offended.
"Thanks Harry, that means a lot." Esmerelda was trying to salvage the situation. "It's nice to know you're looking out for me." Fred was still trying not to laugh, but luckily Harry was presently unaware of that.
"You're welcome," Harry replied smiling.
"And Harry?" she asked.
"Yeah?"
"You just let me know if you want me to kick Cho's arse okay?" she smirked.
Harry chuckled and looked over to her before rolling his eyes. "I give up," he said.
…..
Now that the situation with Fred had become slightly less awkward, Esmerelda enjoyed the rest of her Saturday. After leaving the common room, she - along with Harry, Ron, and Hermione - headed down to the lake to enjoy what was probably the last of the mild weather. As it was, they had to bundle up against the nippy November wind.
"We've got another Hogsmeade weekend coming up soon," Hermione brought up. They'd been sitting in silence for a good few minutes, enjoying the fresh air and watching the Giant Squid gliding through the water out on the lake.
"Oh yeah," Ron answered. "I'd forgotten about that. It's the weekend after next right?"
"Yep," she replied. "Last one before Christmas. I was thinking we could walk in together and then split up to get a bit of Christmas shopping done. We could then meet up at lunchtime for a Butterbeer and some food in the Three Broomsticks?"
"Sounds like a plan," Esmerelda agreed cheerily. "At least we can hopefully get our pressies sorted early this year. Some people," she nudged Harry, "left theirs really late last year and then panic bought some really crap gifts at the last minute."
"Hey, your gift wasn't that bad," Harry said defensively.
"Harry I love you, but if you ever get me an earwax remover again, I will have to disown you," she replied.
"Well you probably wouldn't need more than one anyway…" Harry joked. Ron laughed.
Esmerelda turned to face Ron. "Don't you laugh, or that's what I'll be getting you for Christmas this year." Ron swiftly shut up. "Or even better," she continued, "I could regift you mine."
Ron groaned. "I hate present shopping. One downside of having such a large family is the number of people you have to buy presents for. Maybe I'll just take a leaf out of Mum's book and start knitting presents for everyone, so I don't have to buy any."
"Not sure I'll be able to find much use for a jumper with four arms and no head hole," Harry joked.
"It would probably go well with a three-legged pair of trousers though, right Harry?" Esmerelda added. "Better get knitting then Ron. Those misshapen clothes aren't going to make themselves."
Ron thought it over. "So maybe not knitting then."
"I think that's probably for the best," Esmerelda concluded. Harry grinned.
…
I hope you enjoyed the chapter - I had fun writing this one as it's a bit sillier.
What will Esmerelda and Fred get up to in the next chapter when they go on the Hogsmeade weekend? We'll just have to wait and see.