Chapter 13: Unrequited Love Potions?
"You've been keeping something from me, Freddie," George said as he sat down once they'd reached their room.
Fred raised an eyebrow. "I have no idea what you're talking about George. You broken into the Butterbeers already?" He busied himself with tidying up a pile of clothes that he'd dumped on the floor while unpacking.
"Don't even." George replied. "You're a terrible liar."
Fred could feel his palms starting to sweat and his pulse quicken.
"Why didn't you tell me?" George asked. This time, his voice was quieter.
"Tell you about what?" Fred asked in response.
"About you and Esmerelda," George replied, nudging Fred with his foot. Fred reddened. He found that he couldn't make eye contact with his brother. "I saw you come in this morning. Your bed was empty for hours, and when you came back, you had a big smile on your face. And then, when Ginny asked Esmerelda why she hadn't been in bed this morning, it just clicked." He shuffled around in his chair but maintained his focus on his brother. "So what is it then? Are you dating? Are you sleeping together?"
"Merlin, George, no that's not what's going on!" Fred replied sharply.
"So what is going on then?" George asked calmly.
"I don't really know," Fred answered honestly. What was going on? Him and Esmerelda were friends, but he couldn't deny that there was something else, a spark, that meant that whenever they were together, there was a tension in the air that excited him. But, what did it mean?
"You don't know?" George repeated questioningly. "How do you not know?"
Fred thought about the situation. "I mean, we're friends. But I think there may be something else there too. And we have almost kissed a couple of times now."
George's eyes widened. "What happened? What stopped you?"
"Harry, and then Neville" Fred replied, laughing. When George looked at him confused, he clarified the story.
"So what were you up to last night then?" George asked. "Because I don't believe the story she told Ginny for one minute." Fred smirked.
"Neither of us could sleep, and we unintentionally found ourselves in the same room trying to look for somewhere quiet. We ended up talking for a while, and then we just fell asleep. Nothing scandalous." George raised an eyebrow. "I promise," Fred said.
"Did you want there to be?" George teased.
"You know I'm not like that. I don't just want to hook up with people. That's one of the reasons Darcy broke up with me. She just wanted something casual in the end, and that's of no interest to me. Probably explains why she's now 'hanging out' with Cormac McClaggen." Fred grimaced.
"But if you had the chance, would you want things to progress with Esmerelda? Do you like her?" George asked sincerely.
"I think I might," Fred confessed. "But I don't think she would feel the same anyway."
"I wouldn't be so sure," George replied.
….
Esmerelda jumped as she heard a tapping on the window of her room at Grimmauld Place. After breakfast, she had come up to the room and had been reading for a while on her bed. She looked up from her book, and saw that the tapping noise at the window was her tawny owl, Owlivia, returning with a letter. She hopped out of bed and unlatched the window. The owl shook her feathers and clambered onto the windowsill and stuck out her leg, waiting for the letter to be untied. Esmerelda did so, and then reached into her suitcase and produced an owl treat before jumping back into bed to read the letter.
Dear darling Esmerelda,
We were surprised to receive the letter from Hermione yesterday, telling us about what had happened to Mr. Weasley. How awful that something like that could happen, and right under the Ministry's noses! We hope that he is doing okay. If he's at St. Mungo's, he'll be right as rain in no time.
If it doesn't interfere with anything that is going on where you are, we would love for you to come home as soon as possible, so that we can spend some time together. We haven't seen you in ages! We know that you want to be back with your friends from Christmas evening onwards, so we want to get as much time as possible with you before you go. I'm sure Harry probably hasn't changed his mind about wanting to stay at Grimmauld Place, but do remind him that he is always welcome.
Send our absolute best wishes and love to everyone there, especially Arthur.
See you soon,
Love Mum and Dad
X
Esmerelda placed the letter on the duvet after she had finished reading. She really should go home, and she desperately wanted to see her parents. With all the craziness of yesterday, she hadn't had time to think about how much she missed them. She'd write a response, and head home tomorrow morning by floo. Floo was much more convenient than the two-hour train journey she'd have to do to get home otherwise. Once the response was written, she placed it on her bedside table. She'd give Owlivia a break after she'd travelled so far. She returned to her reading. She had borrowed a book on the history of love potions from the school library for the holidays and was finding herself thoroughly engrossed. Love potions were apparently one of the only potions that create a completely unique effect depending on who smelled (or ingested) them. Esmerelda had never smelled a love potion before, but she'd heard some of the older Gryffindors, who were taking NEWT level potions, talk about what they could smell when brewing the potion. Some of the girls were giggling about the scents that they recognised and trying to guess if they were linked to any of the boys they knew.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Mrs. Weasley's voice emanating loudly from downstairs.
"FRED, GEORGE, PACK IT IN!" Esmerelda could hear, echoing through the corridors. "If I see any more of your wretched joke items I will personally burn every single one of them! We are trying to have an Order meeting. If I were you, I would head upstairs and make sure that we don't hear another peep out of you for the remainder!" Shortly after Mrs. Weasley had finished her tirade, Esmerelda could hear two sets of footsteps sloping miserably up the stairs. The owners of the footsteps were mumbling incoherently as they carried on up to the second floor. Esmerelda peered out of the room and saw Ginny lurking around the corner.
"What was that all about?" Esmerelda asked Ginny curiously.
"Mum caught Fred and George using some of their Extendable Ears to try and earwig on the Order meeting in the kitchen." Ginny looked slightly amused at her older brothers, both now 17, having been bollocked by their mother only moments earlier.
"Those Extendable Ears really are amazing," Esmerelda conceded.
"They are," Ginny admitted. "It's just a shame their inventors are such heavy-footed loud-mouths. Mum could hear them 'whispering' from down the hall." Ginny rolled her eyes and Esmerelda laughed. She could easily picture the boys, whispering very loudly in the hallway and trying to get their Extendable Ears to reach the kitchen door before Mrs. Weasley swung the door open, revealing their genius plan.
"Where have you been all morning?" Ginny asked, when they'd finished laughing at the boys' misfortune.
"In our room. I brought a book with me that I've been really looking forward to reading," Esmerelda responded. Ginny nodded. "I've had a letter from my parents too. Came just a few minutes ago."
"Were they okay about you coming here last minute?" Ginny asked.
"They were sad not to get to collect me from the station, but they completely understood my need to be with you all, especially under the circumstances. I've replied. I'm going home tomorrow morning and then I'll stick to my original plan of being back before Christmas dinner. Wouldn't want to miss your mum's famous roast."
Harry, who had overheard their conversation on his way out of the boys' room, chimed in. "Did I hear you're heading off tomorrow?" he asked, joining the two girls leaning against the wallpapered hallway walls.
"Yeah," Esmerelda confirmed. "Just had a letter off Mum and Dad asking me to come home tomorrow. It'll be nice to see them, and you all aren't up to much here until Christmas, as far as I know," she added.
"Ah, well we'll miss you just the same," Ginny stated.
"I'll only be gone four days," Esmerelda laughed. "You'll hardly even have time to miss me."
…..
At dinner, a few hours later, she let the others know of her plans for the next morning and clarified with Mrs. Weasley and Sirius that it would be alright for her to return on Christmas as she had planned. Once all the details were sorted, she headed up to her room to make sure her suitcase was in a suitable state to be closed. It was not, and took a few minutes to straighten it up and make sure that all of her belongings could be squished in.
"You're only going for a few days," she heard a voice from the doorway say, "what do you need all that crap for?" Fred opened the door further and came in, sitting himself on Ginny's bed across from her. He propped himself up against the headboard, legs stretched out straight.
"Well, you never know," Esmerelda replied, not looking up from her suitcase. "My parents are notorious for throwing last-minute Christmas parties, so who knows how much of this I might need. Plus, I've got presents for Mum and Dad as well as my cousins and auntie and uncle, who are all coming round Christmas morning."
"That should be fun then," Fred responded with a smile.
"Hmm maybe."
Fred chuckled. "You sound less than enthusiastic."
"It's always a bit stressful when the family comes round. My cousins are sweet but very irritating and spend every minute they can trailing after me."
"Can't blame 'em," Fred replied with a cheeky wink.
Esmerelda laughed and blushed. She wished he wouldn't tease her like that.
"No, I suppose you can't," Esmerelda said bluntly, throwing him a smirk as she finished packing up her suitcase, and zipped it shut.
Fred laughed. "We'll miss you when you're at home." Something in his voice hinted at sincerity.
Esmerelda rolled her eyes. "Not you too? I've had Ginny on at me this morning saying the same thing. I'll only be gone a few days. I'm sure you'll be able to find someone else to annoy in that time. Hermione would probably humour you."
"Have you met Hermione?" Fred asked flatly. Esmerelda smiled in response.
"Hmm maybe not then. I guess you'll just have to suffer until I come back." She shrugged and sat down on the bed next to Fred, swinging her legs so she too was leant against the headboard.
"I'm tired." Fred yawned dramatically, inciting another eye roll from Esmerelda. He rested his head on her shoulder, nuzzling himself into her neck.
She tried to ignore the battle that was raging not only in her stomach, but in her mind. "I'm not surprised. We didn't exactly get a good night's sleep last night. I think my neck is still in a crick after sleeping half sitting up." She looked over to Fred, which was difficult because his head was preventing hers from turning much. "If we're not careful, we'll end up repeating last night's uncomfortable sleeping position." She shifted slightly, trying to prompt the tired boy to release her shoulder so they could both stand up. "Come on, Fred, we can't fall asleep like this. Not only will it be terribly uncomfortable, but it may look a bit odd when Hermione and Ginny come back if they find us asleep on each other, sitting on Ginny's bed."
"Would that be such a bad thing?" Fred replied quietly. He lifted his head off of her shoulder and gently placed his hands on either cheek, cupping her face in his hand. His thumbs were rubbing delicate circles on her cheeks.
Esmerelda could feel her heart beating a pounding rhythm, in her chest. Could Fred feel it how fast it was going?
His golden-brown eyes looked caringly into hers, as he lowered his face closer to her own. His lips grazed hers, as she raised her face up to meet his. Jolts of electricity seemed to be dancing upon her lips, and through her whole body. His lips pressed gently onto hers, as he lowered himself slightly, so that Esmerelda could feel the back of her head hit the pillow behind her.
"Oh for fuck's sake," Fred said suddenly, pulling away from her. He quickly lifted himself off of the bed to stand in the middle of the room as the sound of footsteps announced someone at the door. "Every bloody time…"
Just then, the door opened and Hermione walked in.
"Esmerelda, can I borrow your toothpaste, I can't find mine?..oh Fred...hello. What are you doing here?" Hermione asked.
Fred stammered before answering, "I was just about to ask Esmerelda if I could borrow that book she's been reading after she'd finished with it. It looked interesting and thought I'd give it a read." Fred's eyes darted nervously over to where Esmerelda was still sitting, looking dumb-struck.
"What, the one about love potions?" Hermione asked, seemingly amused. Esmerelda couldn't stop herself from grinning stupidly as Fred tried to explain himself.
"Well, yeah, I suppose that is the one. I found them interesting when we learnt about them in Potions and was curious to find out more."
"Oh, okay then," Hermione replied.
"Umm, so yes, Fred, as I was saying, I'll probably have finished it by the time I'm back and I will pass it on to you then," Esmerelda added, trying hard not to laugh at the mortified look on Fred's face.
Fred smiled sheepishly and headed over to the door. "Good night then ladies," he said, ducking out of the room, with a last glance and wink at Esmerelda.
Hermione turned to Esmerelda once he had gone. "He's an odd boy, that one." She grabbed Esmerelda's tube of toothpaste and headed back to the bathroom.
"He certainly is," Esmerelda said to herself.
Esmerelda lay in bed that night, once again unable to sleep, but this time for a completely different reason. Fred Weasley had kissed her. He had kissed her. Surely he didn't go around kissing every girl he flirted with…or did he?
Esmerelda sighed and raised her pillow, bringing it down to smack herself. What was going on? Was it possible that Fred liked her?
She managed to fall asleep at some point in the early morning, thoughts of Fred swirling through her mind, her lips still tingling where they had been kissed hours before.
…..
Aaaah! The first kiss has finally happened. How do we feel about it? Obviously, partially interrupted by Hermione. But don't worry, there are more kisses to come.
I'd appreciate any feedback, comments, etc. to see how you're feeling about the story so far, the developments, or anything you'd like to see happen further on in the story. 'Til next week x