A/N: I am so sorry for the late update! I usually update twice a week or so, but i'm late on schedule this time. I went back to my hometown for a few days and so I couldn't post it up. But nevermind, I wrote alot while I was sulking around the hotel I was staying in.

DISCLAIMER: You know the drill.

ENJOY :D

CHAPTER 7: Hold My Hand

I had taken a long hot shower (so did everyone) and I found out that the Snowball Fight lasted four hours. There was no break though.

I got into my robes and struggled coming downstairs. Alicia, Katie and Angelina were still in the shower. They deserved to be in there longer anyway, they did just fly in the cold weather. Kudos to them!

'Hello you,' Fred said as he helped me walk. 'Thanks,' I said gratefully. He held my waist tight.

'What a waste we didn't win!' Fred moaned. 'Well, I say Hufflepuff needs their own attention too.' I told him. 'Yeah right, and winning the Hogwarts Snowball Fight would get them popular. Right,' he said bitterly. 'And yet you wanted to win so much, why?' I teased, as he kept quiet.

I entered the Great Hall for dinner and sat next to Fred. Everyone looked tired but nevertheless, happy. Hufflepuff the happiest, of course. Ravenclaw and Gryffindor looked very delightful as well, happy to take part. But Slytherin was being a tosser and took everything personally. The Hogwarts banner was changed into the Hufflepuff banner as decoration tonight.

'First and foremost. Congratulations Hufflepuff! For wise thinking and experience beyond I could imagine,' he said as the Hufflepuff table roared with applause.

'We shall honor each and every one of the Houses that took part today. Slytherin, for their phenomenal fort building. Ravenclaw, strategy wise. Gryffindor for creating new ways of attacking by using a snowball and their idea of using the Quidditch team!' he said as Gryffindor applauded. 'And lastly, Hufflepuff! For their smart thinking by playing dead and using magic in stupefying ways! So we shall all congratulate one another and enjoy our feast!' he said as he clapped his hands and we started chewing down on our food.

After few hours of not eating, I was surprisingly not hungry. I had no appetite. I looked down at at the others, they munched down on their food violently as if he were a lion eating. 'Go on, eat something,' Fred urged me. 'I'm not hungry,' I told him as I fiddled with my fork. 'Here,' Fred said as he sliced his chicken and put it on my plate.

'You know I'm not going to finish this, right?' I asked him as he just shrugged.

I took a bite of the chicken and took a sip of pumpkin juice. I looked at Fred. 'But you're not eating too, Fred!' I told Fred who was not touching anything, which was weird.

Suddenly, my eyelids started to flutter and I lost balance, even when I was sitting down.

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I opened my eyes and saw my friends gathering around me. 'What happened?' I asked looking around. I was at the hospital wing. 'You fainted,' Katie said worried. 'I fainted? How is that even possible?' I asked shocked. 'Madam Pomfrey said that your blood sugar level was low. And you're having a fever now,' George said as I took a drink from the nearby goblet.

'Did anyone else faint?' I asked curiously.

'Actually, yeah, Fred fainted,' Lee told me from the corner of my bed. 'Is he alright?' I asked them. 'You woke up earlier though, he fainted at the common room when he didn't have anything to eat.' Alicia told me.

"Sorry, we have to go now. It's pass curfew. Filch's going to kill us if he finds us here." Katie said as they all waved and left the Hospital Wing.

I tore open a packet of Chocolate Frogs and ate its head off first. I got up from my bed. I noticed I was wearing Fred's sweater that his mom knitted for him.

I walked around, searching for Fred and peeked open some of the curtains. Most of the students were unconscious due to the cold weather earlier. I walked towards the bed next to mine and opened the curtain. I saw Fred sleeping peacefully.

I sat down on the chair next to the bed. I didn't want to interrupt Fred's peaceful looking sleep. His hair was spiky and messy. I flattened his hair with my hands and Fred moved a little.

He mumbled something as I sat back down. I looked at his face adoringly. Suddenly he woke up and he looked curious. "You fainted," I told him. "No, you fainted," he told me. "You too," I said as I took a goblet and fed him the water.

"Thanks," he muttered and I put it down. "We both have a fever, by the way," I told him as he cursed. I waved at him goodnight before I attempted to leave. Suddenly he said something.

"Hey Astrophel," Fred said as he looked up at me. "Yeah?" I asked him as he smiled at me. "Come sleep with me," he muttered slowly. "Excuse me?" I asked weirded out. What is he doing asking me to have sexual intercourse with him?!

"Not that kind of sleep, Astrophel," he said as he rolled his eyes. "I'm not a horny wanker." He said as he moved to the other end of his bed and patted at the empty spot.

I didn't know what endowed me. The next thing I knew, I was already in his bed next to him. "This feels much better," he said as he cuddled up next to me, his chin on my shoulder. It seemed like we had the perfect height for each other. Then, I grabbed his hands that were lying a few centimeters from mine and I happily tangled my hands around his.

Fred caressed my hand with his thumb and I in return, gripped it tightly. I felt protected in his arms, felt loved, like I never had before.

"This feels nice," I told him unconsciously, not knowing what had just slipped out of my mouth.

"You have no idea," he told me as I could feel him breathing down my neck. I was delighted to be in the same bed as him. To be in his arms. To hold his hands while I fell sleep that night. Everything felt perfect as if though nothing could hurt me.

"Goodnight," he wished as I fell asleep, in his arms and never letting go of his fingers from mine.

The next morning, I woke up from Madam Pomfrey's instructions to leave the Hospital Wing as many other students were falling sick.

I woke up and Fred was still next to me. I smiled, replaying the memory from last night. I refused to get up and leave this certain spot next to a certain someone. I snuggled deeper into his chest and he shifted a little. He was still sound asleep.

He finally woke up later and his blue eyes came across mine. "Morning," he said as he got up slowly and took a sip of his drink.

"We've got to go, Madam Pomfrey's orders," I told him as he just nodded and gathered our stuff.

We walked upstairs towards the Gryffindor Common Room in complete utter silence. I kept sneaking glances to read his expression, but he just looked sleepy and tired.

"Patronus," Fred said to the Fat Lady and the portrait swung open. We made our way inside and saw that no one was there.

"Bye," I muttered to him as he sleepily said the same and headed to his dormitory.

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I had already told Katie, Angelina and Alicia about what took place yesterday night between Fred and I. All three of them were excited and hugged me congratulations. For what, I did not know, it's not like I'm with him.. Was I?

I headed for the showers and all I could think 'bout was Fred. Were we together? Of course you guys are together! You guys slept together didn't you? My head fought back.

But he acted as if nothing happened awhile ago.

He might be just tired!

And what if he's not?

F-L-I-R-T

No. It's trashy.

Sigh. Fine, do whatever you want.

And my head closed shut for the whole hour. The memory was still swam in my head. I took out my Potions textbook and I sat down at the Gryffindor Common Room with Alicia, waiting for the other girls to come down.

"Chudley Canons always come in last! What makes you think they're beating everyone else this year?!" Lee debated with the twins. My heart skipped a beat as I saw non-drowsy Fred.

Lee took a seat next to me on the sofa as Fred took the furthest. I frowned and caught Alicia's eye, filled with confusion.

"So, Fred. Anything interesting happened lately?" Alicia asked.

"No?" Fred didn't really know what to say.

"Cool," Alicia casually said as she looked at me for a split second. Checking if I were okay. I sighed.

I looked at Fred and gave him a look, indicating that I wanted to talk to him. He got up the same time I did and we walked at the corner of the room.

"About what happened yesterday.." I started, but Fred's expression remained the same: Bored.

"Let's just.. forget about it, yeah?" Fred said silently as my heart sank. "What?" I asked. "I know it's not what you want. It's silly of me to believe that someone like you would fancy someone like me," Fred said as he frowned to himself.

"No, no, Fred!" I started but he pretended like he didn't hear. "I know I'm not good enough for you. So let's just.. be normal friends and pretend like nothing happened, alright?" Fred struggled with his words but then gave a forced grin at me.

I started to crash and burn. How could he just ignore what happened between us yesterday? How could he deny that he has feelings for me now? Is he just playing some kind of game?! I'm pretty sure Fred Weasley is not a heartless person, because if he were, he's killing me!

Fred headed to his dormitory and I refused to go and throw myself at him, begging. Alicia got up from her seat, dragged me by the arms and we headed inside the girl's dormitories.

"So?" she asked.

"He said to forget about it. Saying that he wasn't good enough for me," I said slowly. "What?" Alicia said freaking out. "That's an outrage! That's stupid!" she quarreled with herself.

"How can he just ignore his feelings for you like that?" she asked. "Maybe he was just sick, you know," I answered effortlessly. "I am telling George about this!" Alicia said as she stormed off before I could catch her arm.

The whole day I've been trying to catch Fred's eye, but everytime I do so, he'd look away quickly. I knew today they had Quidditch practice, so I asked Oliver if I could stay at the Quidditch pitch to observe. He said I was more than welcome to.

I arrived at the Quidditch Pitch with Katie. Apparently, she had the same reaction as Alicia about the whole thing.

"All this time I knew Fred, he's never been this.. stupid!" she said. "I dunno about his dating skills, he never dated anyone before," she continued but I just kept quiet, not in a mood to talk.

"See you later," I told Katie as I headed towards the stands and she went to the field and mounted her broom. All the guys were currently absent except for Oliver. He was talking to the girls about the new game plan.

I looked around at the wide field, as much as it's freezing right now, they still had practice. George said it would help them when they do play in weathers like these.

I spotted two red heads mounting their brooms and started swinging their bats around. Suddenly, a broom started flying towards the stands I was on.

It was Oliver. I just smiled at him not sure what kind of gesture would be alright for a guy you barely know. "Hi Astrophel, how are you?" he asked nicely. "Not that good. But I'm alright," I said. "Cheer up then!" he replied and gave me a flirty grin. He flew back to the centre of the pitch and I saw Fred tense up, looking straight at me.

After their practice ended, everyone but Oliver got to the showers. He took a seat next to me and took off his gloves while he panted.

"You'd be amazed how much you can sweat in this cold weather," he started. "So, Astrophel. Is anything going on between you and Fred?" he asked sternly. I could feel my eyes popping out and I started getting tongue-tied.

"What? No. What gave you the impression?" I asked but he just shrugged. "Just been hearing stuff you know," he said as he drank from a bottle of water. His features had never looked so.. sexy. He was sweaty, yes, but not all people could get away with looking sexy while sweating. But fortunately, he could.

I stopped gazing at him when someone called out for me. I turned around and was aware that it was Professor McGonagall who had her serious look plastered all over her face, not that she doesn't plaster it all the time.

"May you follow me please?" she asked as I got up from my seat and wished Oliver goodbye.

"What is it, Professor?" I asked. "Just follow me," she said as we both got into her office.

I sat down on an empty chair as she smiled at me. I got curious. "So Miss Perkins," she started as I just smiled. "You are well aware of your achievement in Potions class, aren't you?" she asked. I did not know what she was talking about. "What?" I asked.

"Professor Snape has been saying that you are the best student he's ever had. It's a very rare gift to impress Professor Snape," she said. "He said that?" I asked curiously, not believing that Snape was capable of saying anything nice about his students, with the exception of Slytherins of course.

"Well, not really. He only opens up with Professor Dumbledore. Professor Dumbledore has decided that you would have a bright future as a Healer." She said brightly. What? Healer?!

"I've always thought I'd end up as an Auror," I answered honestly. "Oh really?" she said disappointed.

"Yes, you obviously do have the grades. Receiving and Outstanding in every subject. Yes, but are you sure?" she asked. "No, maybe I'll think about it," I said as she just nodded. "Alright then, just come to me when you have decided," she said as I exited her office.

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"What do you think of me as a Healer?" I asked Alicia as I ate my breakfast in the Great Hall. Opposite me was Alicia and Angelina; and Katie beside me. The boys however we absent, they decided to pull a prank on a few first-year Slytherins. But they weren't fooling me; I knew that Fred just wanted to avoid me again.

"I think you can do just about anything with your grades!" Alicia responded honestly. "Yeah, but, I don't know. I've always been interested in becoming an Auror, you know?" I said. "No offence, but you don't look much like an Auror," Katie said as Angelina nudged her.

"Look? How are Aurors supposed to look like, anyway?" I asked bewildered. "I dunno. Dangerous looking? You look way to sweet." Katie said. "Maybe that could be an advantage!" I uttered. "She's got a point there," Angelina backed me up. I gave her a grateful smile.

"Fine," Katie gave up and finished the remaining of her sandwich.

"Anyway Astrophel. What happened between you and Oliver yesterday?" Alicia asked quietly. "We just talked. Nothing much." I told them honestly. "So Fred got jealous because of nothing?" Katie continued. Wait, he what?

"He got jealous?" I asked. "You were at McGonagall's office and he got all moody," Angelina said as she gave a sly grin.

"So? It's not like anything's going on," I said disappointed.

First period we had was Charms. As much as I liked Charms, Fred Weasley's my partner. And as much as I like Fred Weasley, I did not like how things are right now. I arrived in class, taking a seat on his left. He fidgeted in his chair awkwardly.

"Alright class. Take down these notes on the Summoning Charms on the blackboard please," Professor Flitwick said as he started writing on the blackboard with his wand.

I sighed and took out my quill and a roll of parchment. Fred did the same. He started writing in his messy handwriting, as I was too distracted to do anything.

I put my right hand (as I was a left handed person) on the table next to Fred's left hand. Surprisingly, he didn't move his hands as it was too close. I started writing the first few sentences from the board and got bored easily. I knew all of this by heart.

The Summoning Charm summons an object to the caster, potentially over a significant distance. This charm could be casted simply by chanting 'Accio'..

I started scribbling lazily on my parchment. And that's when I started feeling flesh brushing over my skin. No it wasn't accidental, cause I could feel someone's hand just lay there. I looked at my right hand and saw Fred's manly hands overlapping it.

I sneaked a look at his face and saw him grinning slightly. What was he playing at?! He kept on playing with my fingers as I stopped writing.

"Fred!" I exclaimed silently to him and took my hands off of his, to my displeasure. "What?" he asked, still grinning. "You can't do this," I told him severely. "Do what?"

"First we cuddled. Then you asked me to forget about everything that happened. And now you're touching me!" I said angrily. "I.." he started but I cut him off. "Save it you little twat!" I hissed and dragged my right arm far away from his as possible. He frowned in guilt and continued writing again.

I sighed in disbelief and turned back to my roll of parchment. Regardless, I can't deny that I didn't like how his skin lingered over mine.

A/N: There you go! Thanks for the reviews so far. And I don't speak French or learn it. So I try to convert everything (but I failed miserably anyway). So if you enjoyed, review! It makes my day a whole lot better (: