Studies
Chapter 12

Fred lead Ani down the stairs slowly, his heart beating fast, he was finally going to show Ani the wizarding world, or at least a glimpse of it. There was a blindfold covering her eyes but she felt safe with Fred guiding her, their arms interlocked as he carefully led her along. She trusted him enough not to worry about falling down the steps or tripping over something, even though she knew Fred was the one to enjoy one falling down the steps.

She smiled widely, the warm air blowing across her face as soon as they stepped out of the castle. They walked over the grass, the ground still soft from the rain. It felt so nice to be with Fred, even if she couldn't see him.

He finally stopped her and she felt his chest against her back. She wondered what he was going to show her, a picnic on a blanket, or maybe he'd gotten horses and they could ride through the forest together. She wouldn't mind just walking through the forest, it seemed so mysterious and so beautiful, the way it seemed to always be filled with fog.

She felt his hands fumble with the blindfold and as it fell from her eyes she was in disbelief. She was staring at a horse, no two, sort of. There was a man too; he looked rugged as he stood behind the brown horse with no shirt on. She looked closer, he was the brown horse.

Fred waited for Ani to move or say something, for her to show some emotion as she stared at Firenze and a unicorn. They looked phenomenal, the pure white of the unicorn accented by the dark brown coat of Firenze's body.

She took a step forward; something that he thought was good. She wasn't afraid; she was going to take this like the secret about his family.

She stepped back bumping into him and almost falling. He caught her by her elbows and she looked up at him. She had tears in her eyes; she looked terrified and angry at the same time. She broke free from Fred's tight grip and pushed passed him. She started to run away, stumbling to her knees and climbing back up before Fred decided to chase her. He ran after her, unable to catch her, but following so that when she stopped he'd be there.

She ran into the castle, unsure where to go, not knowing how to get away from Fred, how to loose him in the corridors. She ran until she thought she couldn't run any more, and then she continued to run, her breath labored. Finally, a picture opened to reveal a hole like that of the Gryffindor common room, but she knew it wasn't the same. She ran in, the picture shutting quickly behind her.

Fred arrived at the painting, it was shut and the Fat Lady was in the painting, looking rather disapproving of him.

"Please, let me in," he pleaded knowing he was wasting time, he knew she was terrified, in complete shock. "Please," he pleaded again, his voice desperate, he couldn't let her cry, and it was his fault. "I have to talk to her," his voice even more desperate.

The painting finally swung open and Fred walked into the room, trying to stay calm. She was watching, waiting for him to come in. She'd heard him calling her name as they ran, his footsteps falling just meters behind his, his breath just as labored. She'd pushed her terror down and it was replaced by anger, anger at him, anger at the animals she'd just seen, anger over everything.

"You ruined my life!" she yelled harshly. It was like a slap in the face to Fred. He felt the sting in his heart, it was his fault she felt this way, he knew it. He hadn't meant to hurt her; he'd meant to amaze her. He thought she'd feel like a little girl again, seeing a unicorn and a centaur, like all her dreams had come true. She wasn't done screaming, "All that time, and money, the work, useless and ruined!"

School, school meant more to her than him. More than the love they shared, this was worse than a slap across the face, it was like someone had ripped his heart out and thrown it to the ground. He felt the searing pain, like a knife twisting slowly in his heart.

"B-but, Ani, your dreams, they're your dreams," he stammered. He couldn't yell at her, he still loved her; she was still so much more to him than words could break. He wasn't angry yet, just hurt.

"Hasn't anything ever been a shock to you?" she yelled still feeling angry, no matter how much his words had appealed to her heart. "Or do you know everything?"

Fred's eyes were tearing now, he couldn't ignore the pain in his heart, "It shocked me when you placed your studies above me," he said bitterly. He hadn't meant to sound so bitter, to feel so angry about her comments, knowing she was only angry and terrified.

"You could've told me!" she yelled back not caring that she'd just broken his heart into a million pieces. She was so angry and scared everything faded away, her interest in the beasts by the forest had ebbed into nothing, her immense love for Fred was blocked out.

"No!" he spat angrily before forcing himself to calm down, he couldn't get angry and expect her to listen to him. He had to be the friendly man she'd fallen in love with, "If I'd told you, you wouldn't remember, you'd have reacted the same, but you wouldn't remember.

"Ani, I love you more than the grass loves the sun and my love will out live the stars in the sky," his words were so heartfelt, so loving that they started to break through the anger and the fright. He was getting into her, breaking into the woman she was, the woman that had been pushed down because of her fear.

"How could I go on like that? How could we go on like that? I would know all the anger, the pain, the fear, but we would never have the time to work past it, and you," he paused taking a breath trying to fight back the tears, "you wouldn't know. My love would go on, surpassing even the end of the world, the end of time, but living everyday knowing we hadn't worked past that, it would kill me."

The tears fell, they weren't the weepy tears of a broken hearted teenager, but simple glimmering tears of a man whose heart had been broken, not beyond repair, but still broken. A hug from her, a soft kiss, a smile, those things would heal it, but not until she realized that her anger wasn't the answer.

"How could I forget?" she asked her voice soft as her anger started to fade.

"Ani," he said wiping the tears from his cheeks, "there's another world out there," his words were passionate as he pointed fervently to nowhere in particular. "A world you know nothing about, a world that you grew up thinking was just a fairy tale, but its real, love."

She didn't accept it yet, he hadn't said the right words, the anger was gone but not the fear. He looked at her, he could still see that adventurous world in her eyes, behind the fear it was there, the curiosity for things unknown.

"Ani, you're not that girl," he said his words still passionate, "you're not the girl to let things pass you by. You want to know, to know the hidden secrets that lie behind every corner, under every stone. You can't go by living your life without knowing what's really out there."

She didn't speak, she didn't say a word, but Fred knew he'd broken through. The fear was gone, but she was still upset. Her eyes were glassy but she couldn't look at him. She couldn't look him in the eye, not yet.

"They're not," she said softly, so softly he couldn't hear her.

He took a few steps closer to her, the distance that had seemed so short when they'd been angry, seems so far now.

Ani was afraid she'd never have her Fred back, after what she'd said, how could she? She'd been so mean, she'd screamed at him, told him her career meant more than him, but it didn't. He was her world, like she revolved around him. He was the only one she felt safe with, the only one she'd ever loved, the only one for her, and she'd broken his heart.

"What did you say?" he asked his words so kind. Had he forgotten her angry screams already? No, it was just Fred, friendly loveable Fred caring more about everyone than himself. She wanted to cry, to throw herself into his arms and sob uncontrollably, but she couldn't, she'd hurt him to bad to expect him to comfort her.

"They're not," she said a little louder. He had no idea what she meant, he was confused, completely and utterly confused.

He took a few more steps towards her, "What's not?" he asked waiting for his Ani to return, the happy Ani that he couldn't resist, the Ani that could stop the pain he was feeling from the words she'd uttered in anger.

"My studies, they're not more important than you," she said softly. She'd done it; she'd admitted why she couldn't look into his blue eyes that always seemed to see straight through her, she knew they'd be able to see the guilt from those words. She'd felt it as soon as the words had left her lips.

"Yeah?" he asked, he wanted her to say yes, to go on and on about how much she loved him like a little school girl, to act like one of the relentless girls that came to the store, to never give up on trying to win his heart back, even if she still had it.
"Yeah," her words were still soft, still guilty. She finally looked at him, right into his blue eyes. She saw the same adventurous world he saw, the same curiosity, she loved it, but it too was clouded by something that day, pain, pain that she'd caused. "You're my world."

She fought back tears, he wasn't going to forgive her, he was going to be angry with her for the rest of their lives, he'd never be able to forgive her, he'd never forget, he'd never heal.

She didn't know at that moment the pain was almost gone, waiting for her smile before it left. It wanted to see the happiness in her before being defeated, wanted to hear all the feelings she had for him, before shutting the door.

Fred closed the distance, their bodies brushing as one of his hands gripped her chin softly. He tiled her head up, their eyes still locked, "Am I?" he asked. He wanted to hear it again, wanted to know it was true, that he hadn't heard wrong.

"Yes," she said, "you're my world, you're the air I breathe, the breeze on my face, you're everything to me."

"Yeah?" he asked a small smile playing on his lips. He waited for her to say yes, waited for her to smile like she always did. He knew his smile could bring a smile to her lips, but would it now? Could it?

"Yeah," she confirmed before the smile showed itself, it was there, even if just faintly.

He kissed her and shocks flew through their bodies. Their lips moved slowly and in synch with each other, like to the beat of a song. Their tongues touched, and the shocks flew that had never stopped flew more fervently. They felt the world stop and fade away as they stood, their arms pulling each other closer.

Their lips drew apart and they looked into each other's eyes, Fred's pain gone, his heart repaired from her smile, her kiss, her love. He twirled her around, both of them laughing happily. He hadn't told her he was a wizard, but she knew at least about part of his world. They'd gotten over the first hurdle; the others seemed much shorter now.

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AN: You've taken the time to read... so please review!