A/N: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER :)

PLEASE BE KIND

--

CHAPTER FOUR - I Wanted To Go On A Date...

"Fred? Fred! Are you there!?" someone nudged his shoulder. "FRED!"

"I-I'm here! Wh-what's up?" Fred looked next to him and saw George with a funny look on his face.

"I should be asking you that, Freddie. What's gotten to you recently? You have customers by the way" George turned towards the shelves he was restocking.

"I don't know... " Fred mumbled in confusion. He scanned the items of the children in front of him and, as soon as he finished, he was back to his low energy self again. "What would you do if you did something and this something put someone else in danger?"

"Are we talking hypothetically or is there anything I don't know about?" George cocked an eyebrow.

"Hypothetically speaking"

"Well make sure they are safe then"

"But what if they don't wanna have anything to do with me?"

George looked back at his twin and sighed. "Fred, what did you do?"

"Nothing, I swear. Well not on purpose at least" Fred mumbled as he absentmindedly waved at some girls who were leaving the shop. "I just feel guilty, I guess?"

"Hold on a second, Fred Weasley is feeling guilty? Bloody hell, what's the miracle for?" Lee laughed as his friend threw him a box of Fever Fudge.

"Miracle my ass"

"What are you guilty about?" George asked.

Instead of answering, the two friends watched as Fred slumped on a stool nearby and sighed, a distant look was on his face. They watched him for a moment, not knowing whether to be amused or to be afraid.

"But what is he thinking about?" Lee whispered to the younger twin.

"I dunno, he's been pretty weird lately" George shrugged his shoulders. "How was your date with Verity?"

"Amazing! We're already planning our next date, poasibly by this weekend. You should think about it as well before it's too late"

"I told you already. No. Right now there is too much danger, I don't wanna risk it" Lee rolled his eyes at his words.

"Fine, fine. If that's how you want things to be, then I don't really have much to say to you. But believe me buddy, you're wasting time right now" Lee gave him a slap on the shoulders and then went back to tending to some customers.

As for George, he turned back to Fred and gave him a small kick on his shin to grab his attention. "Will you tell me now what's wrong with you?"

"I wish I knew"

"Of course you know, so tell me" Fred looked at his twin in contemplation. "Go on then"

"Fine. I'm worried about mom and dad"

George frowned in confusion. "What for?"

"I was just thinking that maybe I ruined the family by doing that stunt. They probably think we are hiding something or whatever" Fred avoided George's eyes and sighed.

"Is that it? That's what has been making you so restless?"

"Well yes"

"You are an idiot, really. Even without your stupid and, dare I say, dangerous stunt, we'd still be in danger. Like c'mon, we practically adopted Harry! It's a wonder how we can still live a normal life. If you are so worried, just make sure they are always safe" George shook his head at Fred and went back to the counter. "Now stand up and go help Verity restock some products"

"Sir, yes sir" he stood up albeit hesitantly and began heading towards the back store, unaware of the curious stare his brother was throwing at him.

Fred went on the whole day making potions for the Wonder Witch section, his nose filled with the same scent over and over again. A mixture of sunny and grassy type of scent filled him with comfort the whole time.

"What to do..." he mumbled to himself as he stirred the pot. In that exact moment, Verity came running into the back store with dishevelled hair and cream all over her dress. "What happened to you?"

"Someone set off a Self-Propelling Custard Pie on me, the whole aisle is a mess" she sheepishly said as Fred shook his head in amusement. "Be right back"

Not too long after, Lee came running as well, though he wasn't as much of a mess as Verity. "A little help, please?"

"Yes, I'm coming" he sighed and went to see the damage.

The whole aisle was covered in ash and burnt paper as one product had caused the others to go off as well. A young mother was berating her son strictly and didn't seemed to have noticed the people who had gathered to watch them.

Fred made sure everything was cleaned and refileed as the mother apologized profusely along with her son. All the while George kept his eyes directly on his twin, a curious look on his face.

The commontion had cleared Fred's head from all the doubts and confusion and decided that he would, indeed, go back to visit her. He wanted to make sure that she was fine.

That same night, as soon as he had finished dinner, he went immediately back to his room with the excuse of being too tired.

"Wait, don't you want some pumpkin pie first?" George called out.

Fred hesitated for a moment but then refused. He went and changed his clothes, made himself presentable and when he was sure his twin was also in his room, he went back to the kitchen and took a few slices of pumpkin pie. He went back to his room, silenced the door and apparated away.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in front of a dark house and hesitated to knock.

"Is she sleeping already?" he asked himself nervously as he looked at the watch he got the day of his coming of age.

10 p.m. It wasn't that late, right?

"Are you going to knock or what?" suddenly a voice broke through the silence of the night, scaring him six feet into the air.

He turned around in surprise, his hand grasping the front of his sweater and saw the young witch goofily dressed with gardening gloves, rubber boots and a polka dotted scarf on her head. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a gardening trowel in one hand.

Only now that they were this close did Fred finally realise how much shorter she was, barely reaching his chin.

"What are you wearing?" he asked bemusedly, though the urge to laugh was strong.

"Gardening gloves? What are you doing here at this hour?" she glared at him. "I thought I scared you enough to stop you from coming"

"Not effective at all. Well maybe yes, for a few days. Not scared though, just guilty..." he stopped to take another look at her again. "Why are you gardening at this hour?"

"I kind of lost track of time. I was watching the Death Eaters pace around my house and thought I might as well tend to my garden" she explained as she vaguely waved the trowel around. "So, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to apologise and thank you. Wanna eat some pumpkin pie?" he showed her the small container that he held in his hand. "You have a garden? Wait, is it even possible to do gardening in this weather?"

"Yes. My house is enchanted for it" she pointed behind her and sure enough, she had lettuce, carrots, tomatoes and other things planted. "And can we please stop having two conversations at the same time? It's fucking my brain up and I still haven't eaten shit"

"And here I was wondering when you'd go back to cursing again" he sarcastically said.

As she passed by him, she kicked his shin hard and opened the door with a sneer. "Are you going to come in then?"

"I'm coming, just give me a second with my pain" he crouched down and sighed. "Okay, I'm good. Let's go have some pumpkin pie"

"Drama queen"

"Filthy mouth"

"Asshole"

"Just proved my point" he smirked as he said that. "Where are the plates?"

The young witch pointed at the cupboard above the sink as she took off her gloves, boots and scarf along with the dirty cloak she was wearing.

"You must really feel at home" she said while he sat on the couch and groaned, two plates in his hand.

"What can I say" he shrugged. "After sleeping over for two days, it's almost like home"

"You wish. Scoot over" without waiting, she sat beside him.

They began eating in silence and nobody looked at anyone.

"This is weird, isn't it?" he suddenly asked.

"You can't eat without speaking, can you?"

"Oh come on, let's have a proper conversation" he lowered his plate and sat up to look at her. "You're really pretty"

Unexpectedly, the young woman began blushing, which caught Fred by surprise. "You are so cringe"

"But you still blushed" he replied triumphantly. She rolled her eyes at him and shoved him away from her, as she did so, he caught the strangely familiar mixture of sunny and grassy scent from when he was at the shop.

"If this is your idea of a proper conversation, you must really have been a playboy" she nonchalantly said. "Why did you come, seriously? I told you to stop coming"

"I wanted to make sure you were good here. Any improvement?"

"Nope, but there are days they won't come at all so that's good I guess. I haven't left this place in a while though" she looked up to him.

"Yeah that was smart, they might recognize you. Sorry about that, they are kind of keeping us in check recently. Harry is gone and they are looking for him"

"I figured. Your brother is probably with him and Hermione, right?"

Fred look at her in surprise. "How did you know?"

"I went to Hogwart. Saw them all the time, always in trouble. Not that you were any different with George. Your stupid pranks during the Triwizard Tournament were so good, especially Filch's reactions" she smiled slightly at the memory but soon realized what she had just said.

"Do I know you from school?" he asked with a frown but instead of an answer, she got up from her seat and went to the kitchen

"I think it's quite late already. You should go now" she said without looking at him. "They might notice you're gone"

"But..."

"Good night, Fred" and so, without another choice, Fred got up from his seat, put his dish in the sink and left.

Upon arriving into his room, he noticed that at least an hour had passed and he began contemplating the recent encounter they've had.

"I guess it was a success" he mumbled as he remembered her ridiculous appearance when he arrived. "Hogwarts huh..."

In the next few days, Fred spent most of her mornings and afternoons at the shop tending to the customers and making the products. Though whenever he'd go to bed, he'd constantly apparate away and visit her.

He knocked on the door with a bouquet of flowers behind his back.

She opened the door with an exasperated look on her face. "What?"

"Bought you these" he smirked and gave her the flowers, which she gingerly took.

"Why flowers?" contrary to how delicately she held the flowers, she wondered with a frown.

"Because they are pretty?"

She sighed. "Maybe some plant I can grow in the garden would've been better, honestly. Or perhaps some food. Thanks, though"

"I just wanted to apologize by being so nosy last time, don't worry about it too much" Fred shrugged and took a step away from her. "Well I have to go now, George is being pretty nosy recently so yeah, I'll be back!"

"No need to come back!" she told him but all he did was laugh before apparating away. "He really doesn't listen..."

--

"Pretty Lady!" Fred shouted from outside, a huge grin was on his face and the jacket tightly wrapped around his body.

The young witch open the door, an annoyed expression was her face. "What's wrong with you! It's 6am, asshole!"

"I just thought you might want some decent breakfast" he said while showing her the small plastic bag he was carrying. "You told me food was better than flowers. May I use the kitchen?" he watched her yawned in her muggle unicorn pyjamas, a blanket was tightly wrapped around her shoulders.

"I always fucking eat decent breakfast, thank you very much!" she rolled her eyes when he didn't reply but merely shrugged. "Who the fuck am I kidding... You'd just come in anyway"

"And you want breakfast" he followed her inside and while she laid back down on the couch, he walked right into the kitchen. As he placed the plastic bag on the table, he noticed a small vase near the window of the kitchen.

The flowers he had given her a few days ago were still well watered and preserved maybe with a bit of magic. Fred turned to look at her, a very bright smile was on his face.

"Yeah yeah, make them yummy alright" she mumbled and was soon snoring again.

He began cooking some pancakes for her along with some sausages and eggs. He put them on the table with a heating charm and proceeded towards her. Seeing as she was practically still sleeping, he decided that perhaps letting her sleep some more was okay.

"Sleep well, pretty lady" he whispered to her as he adjusted the blanket on her.

November was already around the corner, soon the rainy season would finally be replaced by snow.

--

"Honey, I'm home!" Fred called out from outside the door, expecting her to open it. Instead, she appeared right next to him, again in her ridiculous gardening clothes.

"Sorry, I don't have any honey here. Go somewhere else" she replied with reddish face due to the hours passed under the sun.

"It's okay. A pretty lady works too" Fred winked but he couldn't actually differentiate if she was blushing or having a sunburn. "Jeez woman, how long have you been under the sun?"

She sighed. "What do you want now?" she asked while waving the trowel in front of his face, sending dirt everywhere.

"Actually, the store is close today..."

"Well shit, it's a Sunday and the first thing you thought of doing was visiting me?"

"Well... I also wanted to go on a date" Fred bit his lip and shrugged.

"Go then. Nobody is stopping you"

"With you"

"Dang, are you already in that stage? I thought we were barely at the 'Fuck off from my house' stage" she pushes him aside and went inside the house, though she left the door open so Fred took it as an invitation.

"Then I'll just stay here and relax" Fred winked at the shocked girl and sat in the couch groaning. "Merlin, I'm so sore"

"Then go back home"

"Too much stress back at home. The tentions are rising, especially since now Death Eaters aren't even trying to hide their activities"

"Well you are my stress" she replied.

"That's probably the sweetest you've been to me so far"

"I wonder why" she mumbled as she watched him groan and crack his neck. "Bloody hell, just stop it will you. You'll hurt you neck!"

"But I'm sore. I've been up last night trying to keep up with the orders for protective gears. Luckily we are closed today and George just let me sleep in without asking too many questions" he then gave her a small container. "Some cookies for you, hope you like it. Mom made them"

She took the container carefully and saw the nicely made cookies. Despite being skeptical about his constant visits, she thought that maybe it was okay to show some gratitude.

"I can't take it anymore" she exclaimed. "Come here, I'll give you a massage"

Fred looked at her in surprise. "Really?"

"The fuck you looking at? Do you want it or not?"

"Hell yes!" as soon as he said that, he laid down on his stomach. "Don't break my back, okay?"

"No promises" she sat on the small portion beside his body and began massaging him.

"Is this finally the day I'll learn your name?" he tentatively ask.

"No" she growled.

"Okay" he sighed.

--

"What do you think they're searching for in a bush?" a voice whispered from behind the young woman, who instinctively used the trowel as her weapon and almost hit Fred straight on his nose if he didn't dodge in time.

"Are you fucking stupid!? You could've lost your face, Fred!" she exclaimed in panic while letting go of the 'weapon'.

"Did I scare you that much?" he mumbled in disbelief, his face still drained from any colors after what had happened. "Merlin's pants, my handsome face!"

"Your ego hasn't really changed much, has it?" she rolled her eyes at him. "Now I'm surprise I didn't hit it despite being so big"

"Ouch, who hurt you today"

She looked at him deadpanned and shook her head. "What are you here for this time?"

"Nothing much, just bored. My potion back in the shop is still resting so I thought I'd come to see what you've been up to" he explained as he stood up and stretched with a heavy looking paper bag next to his feet. "Brought you these, by the way. You wanted them, right?"

She cautiously went to take the bag and was immensely delighted to see the books she had been wanting to read in a long time. "Where did you get these!? I've been wanting to read these in a while…"

"Bought them. Pretty easy to find since they are so brainy, nobody actually wants them" he smirked at her glare.

"How much was it? I'll pay you back"

He shrugged as he looked at the hooded figures staring off the air. "No need"

"I'll pay you back" she repeated with more firmness.

"Honestly, It's really nothing. Don't worry about it" he reassured her and, without giving her enough time to talk back, asked. "How long have they been here?"

"Not too long. They came a few minutes ago" she replied, though still pressed about the price. "Fred, tell me how much"

"They seriously have nothing better to do, do they?" he clicked his tongue at them, ignoring her other comment.

"Very much like you. Coming to disturb me just for your own amusement" she mumbled while kneeling on the ground and tending to some tomatoes, the paper bag placed carefully on her stool to avoid being dirtied by dirt.

"Come on now, I wanted to see you as well" he said with a hand on her head, which was immediately slapped away aggressively. "Calm down, Tiger, I'm going now. They might notice I'm gone" he winked at her.

"Good, please don't come back as well"

"See you then, maybe I'll drop by tonight" and so he apparated away without even considering her words.

--

"Have you ever considered putting up some decorations in this room?" Fred asked as he looked around the living room, his feet was propped on the coffee table.

"Why should I?" she pushed his feet off the table in irritation. She was sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table and was reading a very complicated book about Transfiguration. One of the books given to her by Fred. "Disgusting. Don't put that near my face"

Fred hummed as he propped it back up, now much closer to her. "I don't know, maybe to spice it up a little bit? It's a bit sad in here, not gonna lie"

"Maybe I like it sad" she glared at him and pushed his feet off the table again.

"That's not good" he shook his head in disapproval, again with his feet on the table. "How about I bring you a photo of mine, yeah?"

She looked at him deadpanned, though this time she didn't even bother to push his feet away. "That would be even more depressing, motherfucker"

Fred gasped drammatically. "That's even nastier than usual, woman!"

"Now you know how I feel about a picture of yours in here" she sneered. "And about your feet"

As Fred was about to reply back, someone began cursing worse than her right outside their window. In panic, the young woman got up and looked outside only to see several Death Eaters with cream all over them.

"It worked!" Fred laughed at the sight. "That should teach them not to go snooping around like dogs"

"You did that!?"

"Yeah, Self-propelling Custard Pies. Wonderful aren't they?" he winked at her in delight.

"You're unbelievable..." she was impressed to say the least and it was clearly visible on her smiling face.

Oh how much he liked her smile.

--

As she was washing some vegetables, an apparating sound broke through the silence of the house when Fred appeared from the door.

"You're late" she pointedly said, not bothering to look at him.

"It's been a while since I saw those dudes snooping around here. Since when have they been here?" Fred asked after looking at the window towards the clueless Death Eaters walking around in the dark.

"Don't let me get started with it. They haven't left since Harry has been seen in Godric's Hallows. I thought they'd let go already after not finding shit here" she sighed. "So what did you bring to eat?

"Were you only expecting me for food?" he asked with a fake pained voice, his hand clutching his chest tightly.

"Hand it over, drama queen. You told me you'd give me homemade food for Christmas" she walked up to him with a her hand open. "Come on"

Instead of giving her the food he was holding, he put a christmas hat on her head like the one he was wearing. "Don't be impatient. Let's take our time, it's Christmas"

"You have to go back before George noticed you're gone so hurry up"

"Awww do you feel lonely when I'm not here?" he lowered himself at her eye level and winked, to which she answered with a kick on his shin. "Okay, got it" he groaned.

"I guess somehow your presence has became tolerable" she mumbled after taking the food and setting up the table. "Are you eating with me?"

"Am I allowed to without a kick?"

"Go back home. You are stressing me out" she replied but instead of being offended, Fred laughed at her.

"Actually, I still haven't had a dessert so yeah, I am eating with you" Fred smirked as she turned around to hide the smile she rarely seemed to show.

They sat down at the table now full of homemade food Mrs. Weasley had cooked. Fred as immediately jumped on one of the slices of cake while she ate some Christmas chicken.

"Aren't they wondering where you went off all alone?" she asked.

"Not really, it's like past midnight already. I said I was heading off to bed and charmed a pillow to resemble me. Nobody will notice" he reassured her.

"Yeah until George decides to wake you up for some prank"

"Probably not, my dear brother is practically knocked out on the couch right in this moment. Had too much drinks apparently" Fred shrugged his shoulder nonchalantly, a satisfied smile was on his face.

Then, as she was eating a mouthful of pumpkin pie, Fred took out a small velvet box and placed it in front of her, making her choke. "Woah, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

"What's that?" she sneered at the object.

"My Christmas gift for you. Go on, open it. I swear it's not a ring"

She sighed as he chuckled at her, realizing that perhaps he intentionally made it seem like that. Cautiously, she opened the box an found a really cute medallion with a moonstone at the center.

"It's enchanted. I can rely short messages to you through this, in case I can't come and check if you are still okay" then he pointed at the window. "You know, with them around and all"

"How does this work?" she asked with a curious look on her face.

"Just hold it and think of a message you want to rely to me, it will apear around the moonstone of my own necklace. See?" he showed his own necklace hidden under his shirt. "In case of emergency, don't hesitate"

"Bloody hell, this is impressive magic, good job"

"Yeah, got the idea from Granger's galleon last year. Do you like it?" he observed as she held the medallion in her hand and a short message appeared on his own.

'It's beautiful'

"I don't have a gift to you, though" she softly said.

"It's fine. Just don't kick me out anymore, yeah?" she glared at him. "Okay, okay. Kick me out when it's needed. Actually I do have something I'd like to ask"

"If it's my name, no"

"Oh I gave up on that. It's not even written on your books" he smirked at her, his arms crosses in front of him. "I wanna go on a date with you"

She stared at him without any expression, the medallion resting on her hands. "You don't even know me"

"That's why I want to get to know you better"

"What is it, Fred? Are datable girls hard to find?"

"Not for me" he sarcastically said, though seeing her frown, he stopped. "I just think I really like you, that's the only reason"

She stood up and turned her back to him, her eyes looking right outside the window above the sink. The Death Eaters were long gone and the field was now completely dark.

Fred waited for her to speak.

"Avery Rookwood" she said.

"Who?"

"That's my name. I'm Avery Rookwood, Fred" she whispered as her voice broke.

"Rookwood as in Augustus Rookwood? Is that why..."

"Yeah, they probably recognized me when I helped you that day" she explained as she turned towards him, her eyes completely red. "You don't need to come anymore, it wasn't your fault they are here all the time. Don't worry about it"

"Hey, I wasn't coming just because I felt guilty" he claimed.

"Go away, Fred. You won't gain anything associating yourself with me" she sighed. "I shouldn't have let this go on for so long"