This chapter is dedicated to my friend bograt who not only recommended her readers my fic, but left me an nice long review. You rock!
Anyway, I hope this is good. I had this chapter all planned in my head from the start (I loved the idea of a complacation like this), but I'm not entirely sure I transitioned it from my mind to paper as well as I had hoped. Oh well: D
Plot twist ahoy!
--Chapter 6-Deceptive--
It is truly amazing how early children are able to wake up on Christmas morning. It wasn't even ten minutes past six went Liam Weasley burst into the room I was sharing with Maddie and Veronica at the Burrow.
"Come on!" he tugged on the sleeve of my pajama top. "Everyone else is already up!"
I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Soon the redheaded little boy came into focus. I yawned, "Tell everyone we'll be down in a few minutes." Liam dashed off with a big smile on his face. I glanced to my left. Veronica was already up and pulling a robe over her nightgown. Maddie on the other hand had pulled a pillow over her head.
"Come on, Mad!" Veronica tossed a slipper at her cousin.
"We don't want to keep the kids waiting now, do we?" I pulled the blanket off Maddie. She instantly curled herself up, trying to preserve her body heat.
"If by kids, you mean James and Sirius, let 'em wait," Maddie's muffled voice came.
"By kids I meant our younger siblings and cousins," Veronica rolled her eyes at me. "Besides, don't you want your pre—"
"PRESENTS!" Maddie sat up like she had be shocked. She jumped out of bed, grabbed a bathrobe, and dashed out the door.
"Well. . ." Veronica began. "I don't know who's worse about getting gifts. . .Angelique or Maddie. To bad Ange is in France this year or we could compare."
"There's always next year." I put my slippers on and follow Veronica downstairs.
"Morning, Mum and Dad." I kissed them each on the cheek. My parents were curled up in an over sized armchair together drinking hot cocoa. "Happy Christmas."
"Good to see you, love." mum kissed me back and patted my head. "How was your term?"
"Fine. . .perfectly fine. . .that means somethings going to happen next term." I sighed.
"So optimistic," dad told mum.
"Aren't I though?" I laughed.
"Can we open presents now?" I heard Everett plead. I looked over to where Ron and Hermione were sitting. Everett was kneeling in front of his parents with a wide-eyed expression on his face.
"Go ahead," Ron said with a wave of his hand.
Chaos ensued. Presents were being tossed to their respective owners, wrapping paper and tissue paper were being thrown into the air, and cries of joy could be heard around the house. I sat near my parents, waiting patiently for my gifts.
"Enna!" Joey called. I looked up to find a blue packages flying towards me. I caught it at the last second. The card said it was from William. I unwrapped it quickly. Inside was a jewelry box."Oh my gosh," I breathed. It was a gold necklace with a small golden star charm. It was amazingly delicate, yet beautiful. Now I felt cheap. I'm always so bad at getting gifts for people. This was my first Christmas as a girlfriend, and I think I fail in the gift giving department.
"What's that?" Mum peered over my shoulder. "Who gave you that?"
"William," I said quietly. I rubbed my neck nervously and grinned. Dad raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Mum, who has never been the queen of sublteness, was smiling in an amused sort of way. I turned away, wishing I could control my blush better.
Soon, I had a nice pile of unwrapped gifts near me. I received a bottle of rose scented shampoo from Maddie, a gold tipped deep violet quill from Veronica, beaded hair sticks (you know the kind that you hold your hair up with) from Angelique, a "coupon" for free hair coloring by James from Sirius and James, a brilliantly pink Pygmy Puff and a box of chocolates from Ron and Hermione, a deep purple shirt from Ginny and Harry (though I suspect that it was Ginny's idea), a new sweater from Mrs. Weasley, a new book and a brightly colored tank top from my parents, and a small, silk bound journal from Ricky.
Now, for Christmas, all of us teens pulled our money and bought a gift certificate with a large sum of money for all of the adults. The gift certificate was for a really nice Muggle restaurant nearby and could be used as soon as the day after Christmas. Ricky and I had offered to watch the youngest kids while everyone else went out for lunch, and after a bit of protesting from the adults, we finally managed to get them to agree to the idea.
The next morning, I got up early to use the shower. With so many people in the house, you really have to compete for the hot water. Out of consideration for the next person, I kept my shower short, and rinsed my hair with cold water.
"Hey, Maddie!" I greeted my bleary-eyed friend. "Sleep well?"
"Hmm? Oh, yeah," she yawned widely. "Why don't you try on the top mum gave you? She'd be thrilled to see you in something more girly."
"Really? And why is that?"
"Something about you underestimating yourself like your dad I think. She just wants to give you a nice ego boost."
I frowned. "I'll try it on, but I'm not saying that I'm going to wear it in public."
"Well, you're not going to the restaurant today. . .wear it around the house."
I sighed and dug the the shirt out of my pile of gifts. "I'm going to get it wet."
"Get what wet?" Veronica asked.
"This shirt. My hair's still soaking and won't be dry for hours."
"You're a witch, Enna. Use your brain." Maddie threw a pillow at me.
"Oh, I'll do it." Veronica grabbed her wand off the bedside table and pointed it at me. She said something softly and I was instantly engulfed in a cloud of warm air. When it had faded, my hair was perfectly dried.
"Thanks."
"Sure thing! Now get dressed."
I rolled my eyes and grabbed a pair of jeans and some undergarments from my trunk. I gave Maddie and Veronica a long suffering look before going behind the dressing screen.
"Do you think that you and Ricky will be able to handle Natalie, Danae, and Liam." Maddie called.
I yanked my jeans over my hips with a bit more force then needed. Of course we could. I'm not completely handicapped when it comes to kids. "We'll be fine, Mad. We use to babysit you."
"Enna, that was mean," Veronica said.
"Well, sorry, but I know we can handle it."
"You almost done?"
"Almost. . ." I pulled the smooth fabric over my head. The shirt must have been made out of some sort of satin.
"Now?"
"It's a bit tight. . ." I tugged at it, trying to cover the inch of skin showing between my shirt and my jeans.
"Come on out!"
I hesitantly came out from behind the screen, with my arms crossed in front of me. Maddie gave a small sigh of annoyance and dragged me over to the mirror.
"Arms down," she ordered.
"But--"
"It's the only way to see yourself properly, now do it! There, you see? You look nice!"
I sort of shrugged. The shirt was nice, I'll admit. It had a low, square neck line, long sleeves, and a rose pattern in a slightly lighter purple. The roses reflected the light where ever I turned. I really loved the shade of purple that it had come in, but it was just tighter and more girly than what I was use to. I mean, I'm not a tomboy, but I've never really liked frilly, sparkly things.
"My stomach is cold," I whined and tried to cover my bare skin again.
"But you look very sexy! Leave it be." Maddie gave me a shove.
"Mum sent me in to find out if you all were up--Enna!" Ginny had come bursting through the door. She was a morning person, so getting up early was no problem for her. "Oh, Enna, you look lovely! Come on, let's show the others."
Before I could protest, Ginny had grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me out the door. I almost tripped, which would have caused us to fall down the stairs, but I was able to catch myself in time. A few seconds later, Ginny was presenting me to everyone that was in the kitchen. I was met with shocked and slightly confused looks.
"Enna looks like a girl!" James stared. I narrowed my eyes at him and gave him my best sneer.
"But a pretty one," Ginny snapped at him.
"I didn't say that she wasn't, Mum!"
"Please stop! I'll go and change!" I tried to get my wrist out of Ginny's grasp, but she wouldn't let go.
"No, you aren't."
"But--"
"Not another word."
I sighed in defeat and sat down to eat breakfast.
"And you know how to contact us if anything goes wrong, right?" Hermione asked Ricky and me in a slightly worried tone. Everyone else was waiting outside for her, but she was having trouble parting with her baby. Talk about separation anxiety.
"'Mione, they'll be fine. Ricky's watched Natalie before, and Enna's good with kids." Ron put an arm around Hermione's shoulder and steered her towards the door. "They know what to do in any scenario that could happen, or you could imagine."
"I suppose. . ."
"Good. See you soon, kids!"
"Geez, mum's uptight," Ricky commented. He was leaning against the counter with a slightly amused look on his face. I smiled happily and bent over to pick Natalie off the kitchen floor. With her soft red-brown curls and huge blue eyes, she was the prettiest little baby I had ever met. And I've met many, believe me.
"Hello, sweetie!" I gave her a hug. Natalie cooed slightly and smiled at me. "How are you this fine day?" She just smiled and reached out her hand to grab some of my hair. I had forgotten to braid it back which meant it was fair game. Natalie grabbed a fistful and yanked it hard. "Ow! That wasn't very nice, Natalie." She laughed. "Could you take her for a moment?" I held the baby out to Ricky.
"Sure. Come here Nats!" Ricky took the baby from me and held her over his head. Natalie just laughed. I grinned and shook my head. I quickly ran upstairs to grab a ponytail holder. When I made it back into the kitchen, with my hair neatly caught in a ponytail, the room was empty.
"Ricky?" I called.
"Living room!"
"Want me to start lunch?"
"Depends. Can you cook?"
"Decently, yes," I laughed. Was I playing house wife or what?
"Alright then."
"What do you think the kids will want?"
"Natalie will be fine with just some leftover mashed potatoes, and I'll bet Liam and Danae would both like some leftover roast beef."
"Sounds good to me. Would you like a sandwich then?"
"Sure, thanks."
I hummed an old muggle tune that my mum use to sing to me and set to work heating up what was left of Christmas dinner. Soon the kitchen was filled with the aroma of hot roast beef and buttery mashed potatoes. As I finished putting the final touches on my sandwich, I called Ricky and the rest for lunch. Ricky came limping into the kitchen with Liam holding on to one leg; Danae the other. Natalie was in his arms giggling away.
"Give me the baby before you trip and fall," I held out my arms. Ricky gladly handed me the baby. As I strapped her into her highchair, Ricky pried the kids off his legs and set them in their chairs.
"In your chair, Liam."
"No," Liam pouted and crossed his arms.
"Liam."
"No!."
"Liam, either sit and eat or naptime is now." I told him, setting his plate on the table. Liam glared at me, but sat down. I gave Ricky his plate and sat down near Natalie. She was pretty good at feeding herself, but I wanted to be careful. Little children can be unpredictable after all.
When lunch was over, we put the kids down for their afternoon nap. Only Danae went down with a fight, but we were able to calm her down easily enough.
"Now we have dishes to do," Ricky groaned.
"I'll dry and put away."
"Why do I have to wash?"
"Because I have delicate, girly hands. Plus I'd rather not get my new shirt wet."
He looked me up and down out of the corner of his eye. I suppressed the urge to cross my arms in front of my chest again. I hated being stared at. It was unnerving. Especially if it was a guy staring at me (even if he was my friend).
"Fair enough."
"Let's get to it. The sooner we begin, the sooner we finish."
We washed dishes in silence. He carefully washed each dish and I rubbed it dry with a towel and put the dishes where they belonged. Ricky finished before I did so he just leaned against the table to wait for me to finish. The last thing I had to dray was a glass. Drying was easy enough, but it belonged on one of the higher cabinet shelves. Even when standing on tiptoe I wasn't able to reach high enough.
"Need help?" Ricky asked me.
"Please!"
Ricky crossed the kitchen and stood behind me. He took the glass out of my hand and put on the shelf with ease. I thanked him and he murmured something about it being no big deal. I was suddenly aware of how close he was to me. His chin could have rested on my head with ease.
I spun around and looked up at Ricky. He was looking at me with the strangest expression in his eyes. I don't know how long we stood there, me leaning lightly against the counter feeling water seep into my shirt but not caring in the least, and Ricky leaning against me ever so slightly, supported by his hands grasping the counter. But all of a sudden the space between us melted away and he was kissing me.
Ricky. Was. Kissing. Me!
I couldn't think, couldn't breathe. The world was spinning around me too fast for me to comprehend anything. The only thing I seemed to be able to do was kiss him back. Ricky moved his hands from the counter to low on my back. They were warm against my bare skin. I wrapped my arms tightly around his waist and Ricky pulled me closer, kissing me with more passion then William ever had.
Oh gods. William!
I pulled back abruptly, breathing hard. I couldn't believe what I had just done. What in the world had I been thinking? Well, I really hadn't been which was a first for me. I looked up at Ricky in horror. I had just cheated on William. How could I have done that?
"Enna," Ricky began. His voice cracked and faded before completing the thought.
I broke out of his grasp and ran up the stairs. Ricky was calling me, but I just ignored him. I needed to hide, to get away as quick as possible! But I couldn't hide out in the room I was sharing with Maddie and Veronica because they would be back soon and would question me to the point where I'd like to throw myself out a window, and most of the other rooms were either occupied by my other friends or their parents, so I went into the room my parents were sharing and buried myself under the covers.
"Enna, are you alright? Ricky said you weren't feeling well."
"I'm fine I suppose, Dad." I sat up and sighed. "How was lunch?"
"Perfectly wonderful!" mum declared as she flopped on the bed next to me. "Are you feeling alright?" she tucked a loose strand of my hair out of my eyes.
"I'm fine, Mum."
"You know we can tell if somethings bothering you," Dad patted my shoulder. "So you'd be better off telling us instead of making us worry."
I blinked once, twice and then burst into tears, "Ricky kissed me!" I cried, making sure to keep my voice low enough that no one outside could hear. "He kissed me! I can't believe he did that! I've now cheated on my boyfriend and he'll hate me and kill Ricky!" I sobbed into my dad's shoulder.
"Enna, were you the one who kissed him?" mum asked me gently.
"No, not really. . .he kissed me first, but I kissed him back. I really didn't mean to, but that's what happened and now I'm a horrible excuse for a girlfriend."
My parents were silent for a moment. "You didn't cheat on your boyfriend," mum told me quietly.
"Really?" I sniffed. Every cloud had a silver--wait, I'm allergic to silver. . .gold then?
"No. It would only be cheating if you had wanted to kiss him," mum wiped a tear off my face. "Just because he kissed you, doesn't mean it meant anything. One of my old boyfriends kissed me when I was dating your father."
"Dad did you know about this?" I sat up and looked at dad in shock. Dad smiled and nodded. "Who mum?"
"Alex Wright, I believe. I think he was trying to convince me that I should date him rather then an 'old werewolf,'" she laughed. "Didn't work too well. I think I would have hexed him into little pieces if Remus hadn't held me back. I yelled at him instead."
"Your mother swore at him enough to make a Death Eater blush," dad laughed and rubbed mum's hand affectionately.
"So every thing's alright then?"
"Between you and your boyfriend? I'm sure it is. But you and Ricky on the other hand should probably talk about what happened sometime soon."
"Who is your boyfriend, Enna?" my dad asked a bit too casually. I love my dad, over protectiveness and all.
"I haven't told you? I'm sorry. I meant to, but it slipped my mind. William is my boyfriend."
"That explains the necklace," mum laughed.
"It's pretty isn't it?" I smiled happily at the thought.
"It's about dinner time. Are you going to eat?" dad asked.
"No, I'm a bit tired. Would you mind terribly if I slept in here tonight?"
"Not at all. We'd love it."
"We'll be back soon." dad kissed the top of my head and left with mum. I snuggled under the covers and let myself slip into a dreamless sleep.
The next morning, I untangled myself from the heap of bedclothes I was wrapped up in and tiptoed downstairs. I hadn't eaten a thing since lunch yesterday and I was starving. I froze upon entering the kitchen. Ricky was sitting at the table. There were two apple turnovers and a glass of milk in front of the seat opposite him, and he looked like he hadn't slept too well.
"Sit, please," he instructed me quietly. I sat down and regarded him nervously. "Eat." I blinked. "I know you haven't eaten since lunch yesterday, Enna. Don't pretend you're not hungry."
"Thanks," I mumbled and took a bite of the sugary treat. Ricky sat patiently until I finished eating before telling me that we need to talk. "You're the second person to say that to me within two months."
"We do though."
"I know."
We sat in silence for a few moments. "I'm not sorry I kissed you," Ricky whispered finally.
"Really? I am." I knew that what I had said hurt him, but I really didn't care. He could have come between me and William and I wasn't about to let him get away with that. "I seriously don't get what is going on in that head of yours, Ricky. You set William and me up for Merlin's sake."
"Who told you that?"
"Maddie."
"Who else?" he grumbled.
"So it's true then?"
Ricky shrugged, "I was thinking that the sooner you two dated, the sooner you'd break up and I'd be able to--"
He was as tactless as ever. "Snog me senseless?"
"I wouldn't have put it so plainly, but in a way, yes."
I didn't even know what to say to that. I just sat there and stared at him, my mouth hanging open slightly. I had meant it as a joke. . .well, kind of. Ricky took advantage of my silence to explain what had happened after William and and I started dating. He told me that he hated seeing us together or not seeing us for goodness knew what we were doing.
I finally found my voice, "You tricked me for your own benefit!"
"Who said anything about that?"
"I'll bet that's what you were thinking."
"No!"
"Even so, you did something underhanded and deceptive, Ricky. I thought you were my friend."
"I was. I am!"
"Friends don't trick each other. You're no friend of mine, Fredrick Weasley." I spat. With one last cold glare, I stood up and left the kitchen.
"William!" I called and ran towards the tall figure with strawberry blonde hair standing in theentrance way to Hogwarts.
"Enna!" William caught me in a tight, warm embrace. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him warmly making sure that Ricky was able to see us. We hadn't made up from our fight the other day, and I wasn't planning on talking to him anytime soon, but I wanted to make sure that he knew I cared more for William than I did for him.
"What was that for?" he grinned as I pulled back.
"A thank you for the necklace," I grinned and pointed at my throat. "It's lovely."
"You make it lovely. I'm glad you like it."
"You have good taste." I touched his cheek gently. They were pink from the cold. Merlin was he good looking. . .
"I'm dating you aren't I?" William kissed me far back on my cheek, right near my ear. I giggled for his feather light touch rather tickled. In a good way though.
"What?"
"Oh nothing. Shall we head up to the library or something of the sort?"
"I'd like that," William took my hand and we head up the stairs.
I glanced back towards the door. Ricky was watching us intently with an unreadable expression on his face. I faced away from him and tightened my grip on William's hand.
-giggles- Yet another twist. Don't ya love it? Ah, there's nothing more interesting than a fight between best friends. So, I hope you enjoyed it!
Reviews:
TrubySCS3: Thanks! Hope you liked this chapter as well. Thank you for the review.
bograt: Ah my best review yet! Thanks a bunch girl! -sighs- We all do need a guy like him, don't we? Someone to keep me grounded. XD If thinks work out like I'm hoping the silver poisoning thing will be next chapter! Ricky being in love with Enna will make this fun, now won't it? Thanks for the awesome review!
phoenixtear19: Thanks you for reading and reviewing! I hope that this chapter explained what had been bothering Ricky for you.
James Jago: Welcome! Well, you know me now and I'm a teen girl! I'm glad you're liking it so far. You know, I sorta figured that Harry killed Snape either in the final battle or a bit before. The delightful Ms. Byrd took over for him. : )
MG: Thank you!
chocoholicbookworm: Like this chapter better? Has a bit of Ricky/Enna in it for you. Thanks for reviewing!
frizzyhead: Well, the Amortentia part in HBP was one of my favorite moments. I'm planning on having it make a comeback later in the fic for some reason or another. -whistles- Hope you enjoyed it!
The Female Nerd: Right on! Good guess my nerdy reader. I've got all the character's info (including parents names) in my profile. scroll down and you'll find Ricky and Veronica under the heading "Weasley." Thanks for reviewing!
Ginevra lily: Thank you!
Until next time,
Anne