Chapter 12: Blue Velvet if You Please
"So you've found my secret hideout then?" Fred asked nonchalantly, flipping through the book in his hands.
"I'm just annoyed that you found it first. This place is incredible." She continued to look around, admiring the floor to ceiling bookshelves and the thousands of books they contained. Over on the far side of the library was something she hadn't noticed yet. There was a large bay window at the back of the house, with beautiful stained glass within. Just below, there was a built-in window seat, covered in soft, blue velvet. It looked very inviting.
"What are you doing up here anyway?" Esmerelda asked Fred after a minute or so. She made herself comfortable in the window seat, snuggling into the corner. She bent her knees and brought her feet up, hugging her legs as she did so.
Fred turned in the rickety chair, which gave a creak. "I couldn't sleep. Reading normally helps and I didn't want to keep George awake by turning the light on. How about you?"
"Same," she replied. "Not the keeping George awake part, but the can't sleep part."
Fred smiled. "You seem to have trouble sleeping quite a lot, if your frequent night-time strolls around the castle are anything to go by." He put down his book and turned to fully face Esmerelda.
She shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. I have an overactive mind," she replied. "It never shuts up."
"Much like you then," Fred retorted.
Esmerelda frowned and stuck out her tongue. "You're one to talk."
"Fair enough," Fred conceded. "Neither of us can get a moment of peace. Not even from our own brains."
"Did you only find this place tonight?" She asked him curiously. It really was the perfect place to relax and have a bit of alone time. Esmerelda was kind of annoyed that Fred had found it first.
Fred shook his head. "Found it in the summer. Before you arrived, we played a game of Hide and Seek one day when we were trying to avoid doing any housework, and I stumbled across it then. No one found me. Spent ages up here in the end. By the time I came down, they'd all given up and had gone for sandwiches. Bloody bastards."
"Can't blame 'em really. Your mum does make excellent sandwiches."
Esmerelda decided to take the opportunity to ask more about what had happened last night. She hadn't had the chance to properly ask Ron or Ginny yet, and Mrs. Weasley had only confirmed that Arthur wasn't doing too badly. "How was your dad today?" she asked tentatively. "It must have been really scary being woken up in the middle of the night like that. I can't imagine."
Fred didn't answer immediately. Esmerelda could see that he was remembering what had occurred less than 24 hours ago. His face looked pained.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. I know it's been a tough day for you all and I doubt you want to relive it now."
"No, it's alright, I was just thinking. I can't believe I was in Dumbledore's office less than 24 hours ago. It really has been the longest day," Fred replied. "Dad is doing well. He's pretty battered but he was lucky that Harry found out when he did. If he'd been there until morning, who knows how bad it could have been."
Esmerelda nodded. If only Harry could think of it that way instead of blaming himself for what had happened.
"Have they said if he'll be home for Christmas?"
"They aren't sure just yet. We can always go and visit him though," Fred answered positively. "What are your plans? Weren't you supposed to be home with your parents?"
A pang of guilt filled Esmerelda's mind. "Hermione thought to send owls to both of our parents to let them know what had happened. Brilliant forethought on her part I have to say. I probably would have completely forgotten and then given my parents a heart attack when I didn't turn up to meet them this afternoon. I should probably owl them tomorrow to update them actually." She made a mental reminder to do so. "I'll most likely stay here a bit longer and then head home for Christmas morning and then I'll just see."
"Okay, as long as you're definitely here for New Year's Eve," Fred said directly.
"Why? What's so interesting about New Year's Eve? We're stuck in a safe house for the Order, it's not exactly going to be Times Square or the central-London fireworks display."
"The Order are coming over," Fred replied with a glint in his eyes that suggested she should know what that meant.
"I know that the Order are coming over Fred, but what does that have to do with us? No offence to them, because they're all great, but how does a bunch of middle-aged Order members coming over excite you?"
"Because," he said, as if she should have caught on to his implications by now, "they'll all be occupied doing boring grown-up Order stuff downstairs, drinking their sherry and what not. This will leave us with many, unsupervised hours with which to do as we please. I was thinking we'd start off with some Butterbeers around 8 and see what we can get up to after that."
"You really are a terrible influence on your younger brother and sister Fred Weasley," Esmerelda replied with a condescending tone. He raised his eyebrows, knowing this was an unusual approach for her to take.
She smirked. "Oh alright. Drunk hide and seek does sound fun," Esmerelda conceded, considering Fred's loosely concocted plan.
"Right, shift over." Fred had given up on the ancient, rickety chair and had shuffled onto the window seat next to Esmerelda.
"Um, excuse you," she said, faking disapproval.
"This window seat is plenty big enough for two, you know that," Fred retorted. "And if we can't fit, then your arse must be the issue."
Esmerelda swatted his arm but shuffled over nonetheless to make room.
"This is way comfier than that dreadful chair I've been sitting on for the past hour," Fred said. He too leant back, wedging himself comfortably. Unlike Esmerelda, he stretched his legs out, his feet poking slightly off the side.
He rested his head on her shoulder, and she felt herself tense up. Mustering courage, she prepared to ask him the question that had been on her mind for days.
"Fred, are you and Angelina a thing?" she asked softly.
Fred gently raised his head off of her shoulder and looked at her curiously. "No," he replied. "Where'd you hear that." He looked slightly affronted, and Esmerelda worried that she'd been wrong to ask.
Her nerves were failing her a bit now, and she was wringing her hands in her lap, unable to make eye contact with the boy next to her. "It's just, you seem quite close and the other day when we were sat in window at Hogwarts, she returned your bag which you'd left in her room." Fred remained quiet so Esmerelda carried on. "And that night when I came across you in the classroom, you'd been crying over a girl, one that had upset you. I thought maybe that had been Angelina." She shrugged and continued studying her fingernails.
Suddenly, Fred chuckled, the vibrations of his laughter reverberating against her shoulder. "I'm not seeing Angelina," he said, smirking. "I'll not deny that we are close, but we very much consider each other good friends, and nothing more," he emphasised. "She returned my bag because we've all been meeting up in the girls' dormitory once a week for Gobstones and Firewhiskey. It's safer doing it up there than in the Common Room." He chuckled. "Besides," he said with a grin, "I think Georgey-boy may have a thing for Angelina."
Esmerelda giggled. "Why not do it in the boys' dormitory?" she enquired. "Surely it'd be easier considering the difficulties getting into the girls' dorms."
Fred furrowed his eyebrows. "Yeah well maybe if Kenneth wasn't such a snitch…"
"He'd have told on you?" she asked.
Fred shrugged. "Wasn't worth the risk either way."
He grinned at her sneakily.
"What?"
"I can't believe you thought Angelina and I were a couple," he said, shaking his head. "Do you really think I wouldn't have mentioned something like that?"
She shrugged and smiled. She hoped the relief she was feeling wasn't obvious on her face.
Esmerelda yawned, keen to change the subject. "How's the joke shop procurement coming along?" she asked, leaning further into the corner of the window and resting her head on one of the wooden panels. She turned to look at Fred. "I hope you don't mind, but I know about what happened to Harry's Triwizard winnings." She couldn't read his expression, but he didn't look upset about what she'd told him.
"I figured he might have told you," Fred replied. "Do the others know?"
"Not as far as I know. I think Harry's only told me, and that was because I'd half-guessed it anyway," Esmerelda told him. She rested her head back on the panel but continued talking. "I'm really glad you're doing it, you know. I know I give you grief and joke about it, but I do really think it's a brilliant idea."
Fred considered. "Do you really? Don't tell George this, but sometimes I worry that we may have all the brilliant ideas but lack the skills to execute them. I mean we hardly got 6 OWLS between us, and Merlin knows how we'll do on our NEWTS."
She saw the worry on Fred's face. "I don't agree. Exams may be able to tell you how well you can remember facts about the Goblin Rebellions, or how much reading you've done on the purpose of a certain Potions Ingredient, but they lack the ability to judge so many other things. Both you and George are incredibly intelligent, so ignore the exam results and focus on the things in life that you care about."
Fred smiled. "Thanks." For a moment, they sat in silence. Fred yawned and stretched out his legs again. He turned and rested his head on the other side of the wooden panel, folding his arms in front of him. He conjured a blanket and placed it on top of himself, stretching the other side over to cover Esmerelda. She smiled but was too tired now to say anything in response.
Esmerelda felt her eyelids getting heavier, and moments later, she drifted off to sleep.
…..
"Shit!" Esmerelda sat bolt upright as she realised what had happened. They'd managed to fall asleep in the window seat, and by the looks of the sky outside, it was definitely early morning. She leant over and nudged Fred awake. He blinked a few times, eyes adjusting to the unfamiliar surroundings.
"Did we fall asleep here?" he asked, stretching his arms out and rubbing his neck. Sleeping partially sitting up wasn't the most comfortable of sleeping positions.
"Yep, seems that way."
"And it's morning," he realised after looking outside. "Oh, we should probably head downstairs before anyone realises that we're not in our beds."
Esmerelda nodded. The pair walked over to the door and crept quietly out into the hall. Esmerelda headed downstairs, with Fred just behind. When they'd reached the second floor, where the girls were sleeping, she turned to face Fred.
"Same time tonight?" Fred whispered jokingly.
"You'll have to wait and see," Esmerelda replied. Fred smiled and carried on down the next flight of stairs to his room.
As quietly as she could, Esmerelda opened the door to the room she was sharing with Hermione and Ginny. Oh. In front of her, she could see that Hermione was still sound asleep, snoring lightly. Ginny's bed, on the other hand, was empty. This meant that she had already gotten up and had most likely seen that Esmerelda wasn't in bed. Esmerelda yawned. She crawled into her bed, hoping to get another hour's sleep or so. She'd just have to deal with any questions later.
Fred reached his room, and quietly tried to open the door. As he did so, it creaked loudly. He stood still, hoping desperately that the noise hadn't woken his sleeping brother. He glanced over to George's bed, where he seemed to still be sleeping soundly. Thank Merlin. He didn't want to risk opening the door any further, so squeezed through the partially open door and over to his bed. As he tucked himself in, he didn't see that in the bed behind him, his brother was lying there, eyes open.
…...
"Esmerelda, we've saved you some breakfast, but if you don't come down and eat now, you won't be hungry for lunch."
Hermione sat down on her bed, and lightly nudged Esmerelda awake. This was the second morning in a row where Hermione had woken her up.
"Wait, what time is it?" Esmerelda asked groggily. She looked out the window. It was certainly a lot brighter than it was when she had gone to sleep.
"It's almost 10," Hermione said laughing. "Yesterday must have really exhausted you. It's not like you to sleep in this late."
"Is everyone else up?" Esmerelda asked.
"I think Fred's still in bed too," Hermione replied. "George said he was sleeping like the dead when he woke up this morning."
Esmerelda felt herself redden slightly. She hoped Hermione hadn't noticed. "I'll just get dressed and then I'll meet you downstairs in about 5 minutes."
"Okay, make sure you do. I'm afraid Ron's been eyeing up your breakfast so you'd better hurry if you want it to still be there when you come down." Hermione rose off the bed and left the room.
Esmerelda quickly pulled on a pair of comfy jeans and one of her dad's old band t-shirts. She pulled her hair up into a messy ponytail, with two pieces of wavy ginger hair falling to frame her face. She looked in the mirror above the chest of drawers. She looked tired. She rubbed her green eyes, which gave away her lack of sleep. Her stomach rumbled, letting her know it would appreciate some breakfast so she left the room and walked downstairs. Hopefully Ron hadn't tucked into her breakfast just yet.
"Oh hello dear, have a nice sleep?" Mrs. Weasley questioned as soon as she rounded the door to the kitchen.
"Good morning Mrs. Weasley. Um, yeah it was alright. Always a bit difficult the first night sleeping somewhere different." Mrs. Weasley smiled sympathetically. "I've left you some breakfast. Eggs, bacon, and toast."
Esmerelda's stomach growled once more as she spotted the plate of breakfast foods placed on the table for her. She started to tuck in almost immediately. "Thank you," she said, turning to Mrs. Weasley.
The others were all still in the kitchen, chatting and finishing their cups of tea and coffee. Esmerelda looked around and realised that Fred must still be in bed as he was absent from the group at the kitchen table. Just as she finished that thought, he strolled into the kitchen, and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek as she handed him a full plate of breakfast too.
"We've got some very late risers this morning," Mrs. Weasley stated. "You all must be exhausted. It's been an emotional couple of days."
Fred and Esmerelda caught each other's eyes and smiled knowingly. Esmerelda looked away and saw that George looking curiously at her. She turned her attention back to her breakfast.
From the far end of the table, Ginny spoke. "When I got up this morning, Esmerelda, your bed was empty. I thought maybe you'd just gone to the toilet or something, but I went in there first thing and you weren't there."
The gaze of everyone at the table turned to her. "Oh, I didn't sleep very well and quite early this morning I was just laying in bed unable to sleep, so I grabbed a book and headed downstairs to read. I came back up a little while ago and managed to get a couple of hours of sleep." Ginny seemed satisfied with her response, and the conversation moved on.
"So," Fred started after Mrs. Weasley had left to go upstairs, "for New Year's Eve, Georgey and I were thinking we'd take advantage of the adults being distracted with their own plans, and we'd have a lively party of our own upstairs, courtesy of some alcohol that we'll 'borrow'." Fred had used air quotes around the word 'borrow', which had elicited a concerned look from Hermione.
"I don't know Fred," Hermione said, "stealing alcohol from the adults just seems a little bit risky. Surely they'll notice."
"They definitely won't," Esmerelda chimed in. "I accidentally found the wine cellar during the summer. The place is full of all types of alcohol. No chance they'll miss any of it if we take a little bit."
"Plus," added George, "we've bought some Butterbeer to add to the selection, so we won't really need to take much to supplement what we've got."
Hermione still looked nervous. So did Harry.
"What if they somehow find out?" Harry asked. "Sirius has been so generous letting us stay here and use the house for the Order, I'm not sure we should be doing something like this."
"Harry, have you ever listened to the stories Sirius has told us about his time at Hogwarts, and just his teenage years in general?" Esmerelda asked, laughing. "He was the biggest rebel of them all. If anything, he'll be impressed that we've done this."
Harry thought about what she had said and nodded. Hermione still looked unconvinced.
"Come on, Hermione." Fred said. "We're not doing any harm. We just want to have some fun and make some memories. Under the current circumstances, and assuming that the thing that we're all dreading does happen in the next few years, we'll regret it if we don't enjoy ourselves while we can."
Hermione seemed at least partially convinced by Fred's logic and nodded too.
"Excellent," George said playfully, "should be a fun night." With that, the twins left the kitchen and headed up the stairs.
Ginny turned to Hermione. "I'm surprised you caved."
Hermione looked at her with a sort of confused expression on her face. "So am I," she laughed. "Those brothers of yours honestly. If the joke shop idea doesn't work out, they should really consider a career as lawyers... or car salesmen."
…
So, Fred and Esmerelda seemed to have gotten away with their little sleepover in the library…or have they?