Telephones

Chapter 2

Fred starred at the napkin. She was a phone call away, but could he call her? Could he trust himself to not act like a fool? He hadn't acted like a fool when they had coffee, so why was he getting so worked up over it? She was beautiful, yes, but not that extraordinary really. She wouldn't be so beautiful without those amazing eyes, bright smile, the curly locks that seemed to bounce with her step, even when they were soaked, and the way her slender body wasn't rail thin, but perfectly curved and toned. So really, take away all that stuff, and you would have an intelligent, clever, creative, daring, mischievous woman.

He could just call her and see if things work out okay, and if they did, great, if not, so what? He was twenty-two, he didn't have to worry about getting married, so why was he?

"Stupid George," he said out loud. Of course, George was getting married, that's why Fred cared. It wasn't the extraordinary women, whose amber eyes were stuck in Fred's eyes, and those eyes that seemed to hold another world filled with adventure and love, that was making him think of marriage, but George getting married. "Stupid George," he said again trying to convince himself that George was the real reason he was thinking of marriage.

Fred shoved the napkin into the pocket of his robes and refocused on the product he was working on. He needed George's help; neither of them could finish a product by themselves. Fred sighed and went on to the product George had been working on. He finished it easily and set it in the testing box, causing him to miss his twin. They had always worked together, not separately as they were now. George said it would go back to normal after the wedding and the new shop was up, but Fred doubted it. He thought his twin would be stuck cleaning the house while Fred was forced to accept at least one date to stop the people from talking about him.

Fred looked at his watch as he thought about his brother. A month had passed and Katie was involving George in the wedding plans more than he wanted, or that's what he told Fred at least. Fred finally focused on actually getting the time; he had to pack for his weeklong trip to New York.

He walked out of their basement and into the store, and gave a quick wave of his wand to make everything was back in its proper place before locking the doors and aparating home.

He changed in to a casual pair of robes before getting Hermione and Ginny's apartment on the fireplace.

"Oy, Hermione," he yelled expecting one of the girls to appear, but instead Harry and Ron walked into the living room with large sandwiches in their hands.

"'Ey, Fed," Ron said through a mouthful of food, and for some reason Fred thought he looked so young and naïve, maybe even dumbfounded.

"Harry, can you use a telephone?" he asked not wanting to waste time with idle chit chat.

"Yeah," Harry replied after swallowing his food, "Hermione has one here if you want." Fred watched as he pointed to an odd looking object on a table.

"Taught me how to use it, easy, I say," Ron said before taking another bite.

"Tell me how, then, mate," Fred said and paid close attention as the two men struggled to teach him how to use the phone without him actually touching it. "Right then, bye," he said as they begin to ask him why he wanted to use the phone. He pulled his head out of the fire and stood up.

Thoughts of the amber eyed beauty same in Fred's head as he walked up the stairs to his bed room. He waved his wand around, causing everything he needed to float into his trunk. He locked his trunk with a swift flick and crawled into his bed. He fell asleep, the thoughts of the woman in his mind converting into dreams.

He woke up a few hours later with a smile on his face. He grabbed his trunk and lugged it down the stairs, an odd smile still simmering on his lips. He threw some powder into the fireplace and was taken to the small inn he had found on his last trip. He found his room and walked out into the warm sunshine. Through the windows, shelves could be seen flying around while paint brushes moved up and down the walls by themselves. Fred knew the store would be done ahead of schedule; he'd be able to put products on the shelves before the end of his trip.

He walked into the shop and back into an office, he had to rent the apartment out to someone. The twins had offered it to Lee Jordan, who was going to run the new store, but he bought a house down the road. Colin Creevey was also showing up sometime during the week to photograph the store for the Daily Prophet. He couldn't count all the meetings he had, but they didn't seem as tedious when he thought of the napkin in his pocket and the woman who had written her name on it.

A few hours later after countless conversations that Fred thought were almost meaningless considering the people still did the wrong then anyway; Fred sent everyone out of the store and found the only Muggle phone on the magical street.

He stood looking at the phone for a few minutes before actually dialing. After two rings he heard a male voice answer the phone and he thought he'd dialed the wrong number. He asked for the woman anyway.

"Is, um, Hi, can I speak with Ani?" he said unsure if he was asking the right question or not. He waited with his fingers crossed as the man took his time answering.

He gave a curt reply which Fred didn't catch before he heard her voice. "Hello?" she asked sounding, to Fred's ears, like an angel. He remembered it from the coffee shop, though he was unsure if he would be able too.

"Oy, it's Fred," he said in greeting. He hoped she remembered him, maybe even that she had thought of him as much as he had thought of her.

"Really?" she asked amazed that he had called. She had thought he had blown her off or lost her number. "I'm so glad that you called," she said before biting her tongue. She hadn't meant to say that.

"I'm glad you remember," he said smiling widely; maybe she did feel the same draw to him as he had for her. "Would you like to meet me for dinner?" he asked suavely. He had never wanted to date a woman so much or to have her actually like him. He had hated to ask women from the store for dates and would hope the entire meal that they would hate him, or fall in love with George instead.

An hour later they arrived at the restaurant, each with butterflies in their stomach. Dinner went better than Fred could have imaged, as if one of his dreams had come to life, and they left the restaurant arm in arm. The walked down the street talking happily, and to the passerby they looked as if they had known each other for years or were old friends reunited. Their arms were both tingling form the other's touch, but they were unsure if it was good or bad, and ignored it.

Fred let the woman lead him down the streets not really paying attention to where they were going and he didn't realize they were standing in a hallway until minutes after they had stopped. He assumed they were at her apartment, but he didn't want to leave, even though he knew he had to go. He had to talk to George before getting a good nights rest before another stressful day at the store.

"I hope I'll see you later," the woman said as she opened her door. She looked back at him, and as she leaned towards him she placed her hand on his shoulder to push herself up. She kissed him softly on the cheek before going into her apartment and shutting the door.

Fred raised his hand to his cheek, his fingertips lightly touching the tingling part of his cheek that her lips had touched. He had no idea that she was watching him through the peephole with the same adoring eyes he had watched her with the day she shook the water from her hair.

Fred, still half in a daze from the date and the odd way his cheek was still tingling from the kiss, found the most deserted and blocked place he could to aparate back to his room at the inn. He didn't really pay attention to George's head which was talking like a madman in the fire place. He went to bed still not thinking of anything but his date.

He woke up and the spent the entire day thinking of the woman, he couldn't wait to get away from the store and call her.

He dialed the number quickly and smiled when she answered the phone, "Oy, beautiful," he said happily.

"Hi, Fred," she sounded rushed, why did she sound rushed? Fred hoped she wouldn't be to busy to go on their date.

"Are you busy?" he asked as he crossed his fingers.

"I have to study," she said using the four words Fred hated.

"I'll help," he said before hitting himself in the head. He hated studying; he was an anti-studier and everything else that had to do with studying. Why did he do that?

"Really?" she asked think that he didn't seem like the studying type.

"Love too," he said before hitting himself again.

They met at a library and Fred didn't mind helping her study. They sat across from each other, Fred finding the information she needed for not only studying but writing an essay, though it wasn't measured like wizard essays.

"So, you're telling me you think all these mythical creatures," he said saying the word "mythical" as if it weren't even a word, "aren't and never were real?" He was amazed at the close-mindedness of muggles.

"Come on Fred, can you really tell me you think dragons and centaurs and giants are real?" she asked him quizzically. This, in her mind, was the oddest thing about him. He seemed so sure that the creatures weren't mythical, which was impossible to her.

Fred looked at her with one eye brow cocked and his business face on, "And if one day I proved you wrong, what then?"

"That's impossible," she said not realizing that as they were talking their faces were growing closer and closer.

"Humor me," he said before leaning back. He hadn't known their faces were almost touching, their lips almost grazing each other.

She leaned back too, "I'd wash your dirty, smelly socks," she said with a childish smile.

"I'll remember that," he said before letting her go back to her paper.

They continued to work silently and when she had finished her paper, which was very late into the night, they walked outside, Fred carrying her bag filled with books, as they walked again arm in arm.

"So, what year are you in?" he asked hoping she was in some type of secondary training, but he had never known any one who had to do so much research for anything except school, not even Hermione had studied that many books and she was an Unspeakable.

"Well, I got my degree last year," she said and Fred nodded not knowing what she meant, "and now I'm working on my masters, but I'm only twenty-one, if that's what you wanted to know."

Fred was confused by everything except her age, which he fully understood.

They spend the rest of the week crossing their fingers that the other wouldn't be busy or would call, and after they got over the wishing phase of the day, they would spend as much time together, going to a museum, the quaint little shops in the eclectic part of New York, the tiny restaurants that held the best food, a Broadway show, which Fred loved, until it was their last night.

"You can call me from London, you know," Ani said as she stood in her doorway.

Fred smiled, "I will," he said as he took a small step towards her.

Fred kissed her softly, wrapping his arms around her body. He pulled her slender body into his and felt her hands cup his head. He felt his entire body tingle, starting from his heart and he wanted to live in the moment, the way their lips moved fervently yet gracefully against each others. Fred hadn't expected their first kiss to feel so ecstatic, though his cheek was usually tingling as he walked away from her apartment every night.

He pulled back slowly and reluctantly and she pulled him into a hug.

"I don't want a long distance relationship," the both said, almost in unison.

"Just friends then," she said before squeezing him a little tighter.

"Yeah," he said as after pulling back. He caressed her face, his hand starting at her forehead and ending on her chin, where it lingered. "Good bye," he said before walking away, only letting his hand fall to his side when he was out of reach of her. She watched him walk down the hall before going back inside.

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A/N: You've taken the time to read... so please review!