Chapter 8

Her hands found a life of their own, snaking up to find themselves tangled in his hair. She pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. He licked her bottom lip, begging for entrance which she willingly gave. Their tongues moved perfectly with each other. His hands travelled down and rested on the lowest part of her back just above her jeans.

"What just happened?" Lily whispered when Fred pulled away, hands still on her body. Fred took a deep breath.

"I love you Lil," He rested his forehead on hers. Lily smiled and looked down.

"I love you too," She said with excitement. Fred kissed her on the cheek.

"So, what do we do now?" She said softly.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm a Slytherin, you're a Gryffindor. My father would never let me date you; he has a hard enough time letting us be friends. Oh Merlin and what will all the other Slytherins and Gryffindors and Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs say..." she started to trail off. Fred tilted her head up so that her eyes met his, and the second they did, her mind went blank.

"Hey," his velvet voice sent shivers down her spine, "it'll be fine, okay? We can still be together, just, in secret. At least for a while,"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," he kissed her forehead, "as long as I know I have you, I don't care if everyone else does or not,"

"You're brilliant," Lily said with slightly rosy cheeks.

"Shall we get some Butterbeer m'lady?" Fred bowed and held out his arm.

"Why of course good sir," She smiled and linked her arm with his. She rested her head on Fred's shoulder as they walked to The Three Broomsticks.

They pulled away from each other when they reached the large crowds of people. They didn't pull too far away though, just enough so it didn't look suspicious. Fred held the door open for her and gave her a cheeky wink as she passed through. They found George, Lee and Angelina at a table, so they went and joined them.

"Ah, you two are friends again I see," Angelina grinned, although Lily could swear she heard a tinge of disappointment in Angelina's voice.

"Probably more than that ay mate?" Lee joked raising his eyebrows at Lily and Fred. Fred laughed it off.

"As bloody if," Fred replied before taking a swig of George's Butterbeer.

George looked at Fred with a sorry look on his face. Fred shrugged. George really believed that Lily and Fred were perfect for each other. He was right, he just didn't know it.

The five left The Three Broomsticks not long after, only to run into Draco and his two air-headed minions.

"Well, well, well," Malfoy smirked "I see where you got to, Scott. Ran off to meet your little slave-boy Freddie,"

"You really wanna lecture me about slave-boys Draco?" Lily nodded towards Crabbe and Goyle. Draco's smirk turned into a slightly annoyed, yet flat, expression.

"My father will hear about this!" He spat, then turned quickly on his heel and stormed off, Crabbe and Goyle hurrying after him.

Fred and George laughed, watching Crabbe and Goyle struggling to keep up with Malfoy.

They started wandering aimlessly around Hogsmead. Lee told them a story about how someone in his Divination class dropped a crystal ball right after lecturing him about holding them carefully. As always though, Fred and Lily weren't listening. They were looking at each other from across the group. Flirting with their eyes.

They reached the other end of Hogsmead, where the snow was returning. Lee skipped around like a four-year-old and tripped on a root that was hidden from the snow covered ground. He fell backward and his torso hit a tree making a mass of snow fall on his head with a thud.

Angelina looked concerned, but George, Fred and Lily couldn't contain their laughter. George was on the rolling on the ground, laughing so loudly it was nearly a cackle. Lily was still chuckling while clutching her stomach, because it hurt from laughing too much. And Fred, well Fred was sobbing through sniggers.

Lee stood up, picked up a bit of snow and rolled it into a ball in his hand then ditched it at Fred, who was gasping for breath because he still couldn't stop laughing.

He made a snowball as well and threw it back at Lee, but he moved quickly and the snowball hit Lily in the back. Lily squealed and threw a snowball at Fred. George then threw a snowball ball at Angelina.

Before anyone could stop it, they had broken into a snowball ball fight. There were balls of snow flying all over the place. Lily had snow stuck in the hood of her jumper, in a place that she couldn't reach, the back of Lee's trousers were covered from when he fell over, Angelina had tree near perfect white circles on the back of her blue long-sleeved shirt and Fred and George had it all through their hair because they'd thrown snow on each other's heads.

It went on for nearly half an hour before Lily, Lee and Angelina surrendered. Fred and George kept going though. They tacked each other and sneak-attacked each other until Angelina intervened.

"Guys we really should be heading back now,"

"Ah c'mon Angelina, don't be a buzz kill," George whined throwing one last snowball at Fred.

"I think she's right," Lily agreed, which was very rare. Everyone looked at her in astonishment. She looked at Fred and smiled.

"Oh okay then!" Fred threw his arms into the air, giving into Lily's breathtaking smile. The five of them made their way back to Hogwarts.

By the time they got back, it was time to go to their common rooms. Lily said goodbye to George and Fred, but Fred offered to walk her to the Slytherin common room.

They walked slowly and talked about their day. Most people had already gone to their common rooms, but Fred and Lily were savouring every single second they had. They both sighed when they reached the Slytherin portrait.

"So I guess this is goodnight," Fred said facing Lily.

"Yeah, I guess it is," She bit her bottom lip. Fred looked around and made sure no one else was there, before giving Lily a gentle kiss on the cheek. She slipped her hand around the back of Fred's neck and drew him down for a kiss on the lips. Just after she pulled away, some Slytherin second years came around the corner. They saw Fred and started sniggering about the Gryffindor boy.

"I'm glad we could be friends again," Lily said to Fred.

"Yeah, friends," he replied slowly and sweetly, with a cute smile on his face and a cheeky gleam in his eye.

He started to walk away, then looked back at her and winked before turning the corner.

She stood there, gazing into mid-air like a six-year-old with a crush. She wasn't though. She was a sixteen-year-old in love.