"Don't say you never left me
when your eyes are fighting with your heart
for the truth in the conversation."

Fred Weasley held a grin on his face as he and George began counting up their money for the day. They'd made a killing with their new love potion, and it was selling faster than they could brew it. Fred let out a small laugh before shaking his head and glancing at George.

"Who would have thought your girlfriend actually had a pretty good idea with that love potion nonsense. I thought she was barking mad, personally," Fred grinned, and George simply rolled his eyes.

"You've always thought Angelina was barking mad, Fred. Even in school," George said with a laugh before taking the money to the safe. He charmed it open and placed what they would bring to Gringott's in the morning inside before charming it shut.

"Speaking of Angelina, don't you have a date or something this evening?" Fred said before wiggling his eyebrows with a smirk.

George opened his mouth to say something, but shut it and nodded.

"What?" Fred asked, not stupid enough to let something like that slip under his radar. This was his twin after all, how dare George think he be so daft.

"Nothing… I was just wondering if you'd want to come with. Angelina says she's got this friend, Emily, who'd be perfect for you. Says you're just alike," George said trying to muster up a grin. A part of him knew his efforts were useless, but he had to try. His brother had… changed, been hurt, and George would be damned if he would let his twin just sit around and mope about it.

"George, come on mate. You really think me dumb enough to trust Angelina's judgment in girlfriends for me?" Fred replied with a smirk, but his eyes were hollow. They absentmindedly made their way to the picture on his desk. It was the blonde who had held and broke his heart, smiling as if it were the best day of her life. The glass in the frame was cracked from Fred throwing it across the room, and still he hadn't had the will to throw it away.

It had been 8 months since they'd spoken a word, and Fred would never forget the day he received that damn owl; the owl of his despair, the owl of his nightmares, the owl that tore him apart. He'd wanted to go to her, to take her away from all of that, to pick her up and never let her go. He refused to believe it was what she really wanted. He knew her better than that. She knew herself better than that, or so he thought. Still, he couldn't bring himself to go there and face the rejection he knew he would. Katie would have told him the same thing her stupid letter said. Fred felt his blood boil slightly.

Katie Bell was a coward, a bitch, and the biggest doozy of Fred's life. He'd fallen for her harder than he'd ever thought possible, and now… now she was gone, never to return. He inhaled as he glared at the picture of the girl he once loved… still loved… maybe. He refused to take it down. It moved, it was him spinning her around, and she grinned at the camera right towards the end before it looped. It was one of his favorite memories of the time they'd spent together at Hogwarts.

"Fred, come on. You can't keep holding on to Katie. She's not coming back. You've given yourself more than enough time, you've written her countless letters. She's not interested, bro," George said, squinting slightly for fear of pushing the envelope. It was hard to tell where the line even was with Fred since Katie left. It was stressful, and to be quite honest, George didn't like it very much. His brother wasn't himself anymore, and in turn George felt like a part of him was missing. He harbored great resentment towards Katie for that, and he wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to forgive her, muggle life or not. Irreparable damage to the heart isn't something that's easy to forgive or forget.

"George you don't-" he began to speak, but George quickly cut him off.

"What Fred? I don't understand? I don't understand that this girl ripped out your heart and has ignored you for the past 8 months? I couldn't possibly fathom the idea that she's turned you into a boring, depressing lump that nobody wants to be around? Fred when was the last time you went out with all of us. Me, Angelina, Alicia? When?" George questioned, his eyes narrowed.

"I don't…"

"Oh that's right, you don't remember. Well guess what? Neither do we. Believe it or not Fred, we all miss Katie too. Right now, though, we miss you more. It's like she took you with her, mate. C'mon. Just come on down to the Leaky Cauldron. Ang is off work soon and she's meeting me there, if you want I can tell her to bring her friend. It's about time you loosen up, get over Katie. She's not coming back," George said seriously. Fred inhaled, and glanced at the picture once more before turning it face down.

"Fine. I'll go, but this girl better be gorgeous, and funny, and amazing," Fred said listing off the first three criteria that came to mind, also known as the first three things that came to mind when he thought of Katie. Merlin this was going to be harder than he thought.

"And firewhiskey, there better be lots of firewhiskey," Fred said with a firm nod. George smiled something close to what Fred could only describe as a giddy school girl before he apparated out. Fred presumed he was off to the Daily Prophet offices where Angelina now worked as a reporter to tell her to bring whatever friend this was. He really could have walked… the offices were only just down the block.

Fred let out a sigh before rising from where he'd been sitting at the desk in his loft and walked towards the bathroom to get ready for this… date. Was he ready for this? Not really. Did he want to be ready for this? Part of him screamed no, and another part, a bigger part, the more sensible part, screamed absolutely, yes, more than anything. George was right, he'd become a boring person, and he was tired of it. He was tired of wallowing in his self-pity and his heartache.

He inhaled and glanced in the mirror, ready to become a single, dating man. He hopped in the shower and got dressed in a nice, snazzy outfit. He smiled to himself in the mirror. He looked damn good.

He exited his bedroom into the main living area of the flat which held their desks along with the normal living furniture. George looked up from the paperwork he'd been staring at and grinned.

"Dashing as ever, brother dear," he said with a small laugh, and Fred simply flashed him his signature goofy grin before nodding towards the door.

"Ready to go then?"

"Sure thing"

And with that the pair was off to the Leaky Cauldron. It was a short apparition away and when they arrived Fred was pleasantly surprised, the girl Angelina had brought wasn't half bad looking. In fact, she really was gorgeous. Fred felt himself smile, truly smile for the first time since Katie's graduation as he and George made their way to the table.

"Hey honey," Angelina grinned towards George as he sat down beside her giving her a peck on the cheek.

"Hi Fred, haven't seen you in a while," Angelina smirked towards him, and he offered her a small smile as he took his seat between George and the brunette he was supposed to be here to woo.

"I know. Long time no see, can't say it's been long enough though," he said with a small laugh. God it felt good to laugh again. Angelina shot him a playful glare and Fred simply grinned before turning his attention to the new woman in his life.

"I'm Fred," he said with a grin holding out his hand to shake. She flashed him a smile and shook his hand. Good face, good teeth. Very promising.

"I'm Emily," she said with a grin. He grinned faintly at her, trying his hardest not to compare her to Katie. Surprisingly, it actually wasn't' that hard. Who would have known that after 8 months of wallowing in your own heartache and not wanting to move forward with life moving forward would be so… gloriously simple. He expected this to be terrible, to be failing miserably. He was overjoyed at his success.

"Nice to meet you, Emily," he said with a grin before the four of them decided to order drinks. Fred and Emily hit it off right away, which surprised Fred. Usually Angelina was hardly a good judge of character. At least when it came to girls that Fred would be interested in she was. But Emily was… refreshing, and hilarious. Still, Fred made sure to keep the firewhiskey coming… just in case his heart decided to play games with him like it often did late at night when he couldn't sleep.

"You're really funny, you know that?" Emily said, her speech slightly slurred. It turned out she could hold her alcohol, too. Wonderful. Fred felt his grin grow as he glanced into her brown eyes. They were captivating, inviting, beautiful.

"Why thank you, Emily. I get that a lot. I'm sure Angelina's mentioned our joke shop before. I literally make a living off of making people laugh," he said with a grin. She nodded before leaning a bit closer to him.

"I'm sure you'd make a lot of money as a male stripper, too," Emily said with in a devious, low tone. Fred felt himself flush as he glanced towards her, a seductive smile playing across her face. His grin only grew as his eyes brightened. Merlin… it had been such a long time since…

He grinned even wider.

"Oh do you really think so?" he asked whispering back to her. She nodded slowly and he inhaled her scent. It was new, and sweet, and alluring. He felt apart of himself melt a little as his eyes found hers once more.

"Care to take this conversation elsewhere?" he questioned with a grin. She nodded mischievously before Fred glanced towards George who was talking to Angelina about something or other. He leaned carefully over to his brother.

"Oi, you're spending the night with Ang tonight, gedit?" he said with a smirk, and George's eyes widened slightly before he nodded slowly. A little bit of pride swelled in him as he realized his brother's progress. He smiled towards Ang who simply nodded her head out of the door as if to say 'go on you two…'

He grinned before taking Emily's hand, which was quite small in comparison to his own, but it fit well enough. They walked out of the leaky cauldron and Fred quickly apparated back to the block where Wheezes was. He stumbled slightly as he walked up the block in the dark, the streetlights dimly lighting the way.

He grinned, wrapping an arm gently around Emily's waist. He stopped shortly down the block from Wheezes, managing only to get one house length before he allowed his Firewhiskey to get the best of him. He brought her close, and his lips met hers in a deep, passionate kiss.

"My my Fred Weasley, you're quite the feisty one, aren't you?" Emily said giggling slightly. He kissed her once more before releasing her from his grips.

"And you're beautiful," he said, his own words slurring slightly. He grinned pulling her close once more to kiss her neck.

It was then that Fred saw someone stand up from his stoop and begin to approach them. Instinctively he whipped out his wand and stood in front of Emily protectively.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Fred barked before whispering 'lumos.'

The tip of his wand lit up and shown across the delicate features of a girl he would recognize anywhere. He dropped his wand to the ground as his jaw hung open.

"Fred, Fred what's wrong?" Emily asked from behind him, worried.

"Katie…" The word was barely above a whisper, and he was sure no one heard it but him. All of the progress he felt he'd just made came crumbling down on top of him. He felt a strong cross between wanting to get sick and wanting to cry. His brain couldn't quite seem to focus on anything. He felt like the world was spinning and all he wanted to do was get off. He glanced at her now dark figure, the wand dimly lit on the ground barely accentuating her features. He noticed she had as suitcase, and his eyes found her face again.

"Emily… you need to go home… now," Fred murmured slowly before turning around to face her. She looked up at him, confusion written across her face. He felt a stone of guilt drop into his stomach. She stepped up onto her tip toes and placed a small kiss on his cheek.

"I have no idea what's going on, but… Call me if you want to," she said, trying not to slur her words and give him the best smile she could. In their hearts they both knew that call would never come. She apparated away, and Fred turned to face the girl he'd so longed to see for the past 8 months.

This was all he wanted for so long and now… now that it was happening part of him couldn't help but wish it never did.

"Why are you here?" he asked, struggling to get out the words as he attempted not to let the alcohol and his emotions get the best of him.