Weeks went by with Fred putting off talking to you about the kiss gradually annoyed George more and more. Fred would say to him: 'I'm gonna do it! Yeah! I will! Right now! ...maybe later.' and George would go along with it, hoping that this was the best way. Good things come to those who wait, right? George knew that Fred's feelings for you were increasing each day and were crying out to him for you to know, sobbing for the truth to be shown.
George tried everything to make Fred more confident but often failed each time. Fred had almost been able to tell you once but chickened out at the last minute. George even suggested that they change their look a little to boost his brother's confidence. So they both got a hair cut, chopping off inches of their long glossy fiery red hair and lightening the weight off their heads and hopefully their shoulders, metaphorically speaking. This did work; for five minutes. Fred's confidence then plummeted down to the ground again, nailing itself their until he nourishes the seed of bravery into a huge towering tree of success.
Several attempts failed miserably. Fred would usually kick himself, literally, for not telling or asking you. The weeks soon turned into months. The months turned into half a year later, then into almost a year.
It was now Christmas day in the Black's old home (Order of the Phoenix) and the Weasley's, Harry, Hermione and you were gathering round the table for Christmas dinner. Even though it was a dark and dingy house with a tint of misery, this end of the kitchen seemed so warm and friendly; like it had been taken out of the Weasley's home and drawn into this end of the dark kitchen. A decorated Christmas tree with glittering Christmas ball-balls and a light dusting of snow settled across it as warm candles flickered nearby the branches, giving the room the cosy feeling that the Weasley's home always seems to give off. The plump Mrs Weasley helped Mr Weasley settle down into his seat due to his accident that Harry dreamt of. She kissed his balding head with a warm chuckle, patting his shoulder gently with her hand as she placed on a colourful cracker Christmas hat onto his head.
"Sit now!" She chuckled warmly and everyone began to sit down in their seats. You were sat down between Ron and Hermione whilst opposite Fred and George. George winked at you for some strange reason and gave you a cheeky grin. You smiled at him and shook your head, unsure about his weird behaviour. "Right now, presents!" Mrs Weasley chimed as she bent down to pull out a few colourfully wrapped presents from under the tree, ducking from a flying Santa Claus figurine that whizzed by merrily cheering 'Merry Christmas!'.
"And a nice big box for Ron!" Laughed Mr Weasley as his wife handed Ron a brightly coloured box with a ruby red ribbon tied across it. Ron laughed weakly and quickly opened up his present, in doubt that he had actually got anything and that his present was just a big box. Luckily, it was a hand-made jumper made by his mum. His face showed it all; 'What the bloody hell?' You noticed Hermione giggle silently to herself and you raised your eyebrow with a suspicious smile.
"Oh, shut up." She whispered barely, smiling sheepishly. Fred and George got their presents next and Mrs Weasley was deliberately pretending to mix them up by swapping them over and over again.
"There you are, Fred and George!" she chuckled as she handed the twins their presents. When she wasn't looking they swapped them with each other and began to rip open the Christmas wrapping paper. It was always sweet when Mrs Weasley mixed them up and hilarious when the twins confused her to the breaking point of just calling them 'twin number one' or 'twin number two', but Fred and George just swapped the numbers around and that method failed also.
"Fiona," she called merrily and handed you a brightly wrapped present in emerald green wrapping paper tied together with a shiny red ribbon tied in a bow. "Merry Christmas dear, lovely to have you with us." She smiled.
"Thank you," you beamed and gave her a quick hug whilst thanking her. Excitedly, you began to tear open the layers of paper that prevented you from seeing the gift that lay waiting inside to be discovered. Inside was a knitted grey and plum coloured stripy scarf of different shades, remembering that it was roughly the same colour as your Yule Ball dress (according to Fred it was the most elegant shade of purple he had ever seen). You smiled and thanked her again for the wonderful and thoughtful gift. The Christmas dinner and desert was one of the best you had ever had and one of the largest you have ever had, Mrs Weasley always makes too much when it comes to special days. George began to pull some crackers with Fred as did Ron and Mr Weasley. Every single one of them exploded a huge bang and spat out bursts of glitter as the unique gift fell from his prison of exploding paper.
"Bet you want the one with the mistletoe in don't you, Freddy?" George muttered next to his brother's ear with a wicked grin. Amongst the large amount of scarlet red, emerald green and glittering gold Christmas crackers there was only one that contained a small bunch of mistletoe inside and whoever got that present in the cracker would have to kiss the person they pulled it with. Fred's ears turned a little red and he frowned.
"Shut up," he muttered back. The awkwardness between you and Fred was high enough without having made to kiss each other by getting the mistletoe cracker. Fred wished he knew which one it was so that he could give it to Ron to pull with someone else. However, he also secretly wanted to get the mistletoe cracker and pull it with you to maybe relieve the two of you with the awkwardness that shadows over you. But no matter how hard you tried, no one can tell what was inside. Every single one of them weighed the same and sounded the same when you rattled it for a clue. You pulled one of the crackers with Ginny and it exploded into several mini fireworks of numerous colours that took form of a snowman in the air.
"Oh, wow!" you breathed. "Are there anymore like those?"
"Yeah, loads!" Ginny said excitedly. "Last year I got a firework in a shape of a robin that sang to me, it was so sweet! Ron got a snowball in one that chased him around the room until it splattered him in the face." You both howled with laughter as at this precise moment, Ron had gotten the snowball cracker again and began to run around the house screaming with the snowball on his trail. "There's at least three of those, best not get them, eh?" she laughed.
"What else is there?" you asked excitedly, eager to know what other wonders lay inside these mysterious and unpredictable crackers.
"There is one, and only one that has mistletoe inside." said George as he and Fred pulled open another cracker that had an extremely long rainbow coloured slinky that must have been at least three metres long when stretched out properly. Glitter was also burst, floating down to the ground and vanishing a few inches before it landed.
"Mistletoe?" you asked. George nodded as Fred collected up the long slinky that snaked around their feet.
"Mistletoe," George nodded. "Whoever gets the cracker with the mistletoe inside has to kiss the person they pulled it with. It's more fun this way, 'cause then you have no idea who you'll have to kiss! Right, Freddy?"
"Right." Fred said plainly, plonking down the slinky on the long old table. Ron came trudging back into the jolly room wiping slushy ice from his face, having being finally hit by the snowball that chased him.
"Oh, Ron! Did you get the snowball again?" Mr Weasley and Harry laughed at Ron's annoyed face as Hermione and Mrs Weasley pulled another cracker with another mini firework display hidden inside. This time it was a beautiful bright golden star that shone brightly for five seconds before poofing into a ball of golden glitter that fluttered down to the ground.
"Hm." Ron grunted miserably, every year he seemed to get at least one of the snowballs in the crackers and prayed that he didn't get the second or third.
"Cheer up, Ronald!" Hermione said cheerfully as she placed a dusty rose coloured paper hat onto her head. "There's plenty more crackers here."
"Indeed!" chuckled Mrs Weasley warmly as she carefully threw some more at those who were empty-handed. Harry caught a scarlet red cracker and pulled it with Ginny, George received a glittering golden cracker and pulled it with his dad and she threw one over to Fred. The emerald green cracker reflected the warm fluttering candlelight in the lampshade nearby against the paper. Fred stood there for a little bit before he smiled down at you.
"Fancy a go?" He asked, trying to act casual like nothing has ever happened between the two of you.
"Sure," you smiled as you gripped onto one end and Fred the other. He grinned and counted down.
"Three... two... one... BANG!" The cracker exploded into the biggest ball of silver and green glitter yet, swirling around in the air in a synchronised performance that took your breath away. As you lived amongst Muggles and often spent Christmas with your parent's Muggle friends you only had the normal crackers so this was just a complete change for you, and you loved every second of it. As the glitter began to thin, it was getting clear what the gift was inside. Resting on the palm of Fred's hand was the small piece of mistletoe, lightly dusted with a thin layer of silver glitter. You could hear the sniggers coming from Ron and George and even Mr Weasley from seeing his son's face turn a darker shade of pink.
"Oh, look! Fred and Fiona got the mistletoe!" Hermione said as she heard the sniggers. George and Ron began to chant 'kiss, kiss, kiss!' over and over again with the contribution of Mr Weasley as well, who was told off by his wife.
"Arthur! They don't have to if they don't want to!"
"But it's tradition!" Ginny whined a little. "They got the cracker with the mistletoe inside!" Fred swallowed the lump that formed inside of his throat, feeling that the awkwardness had increased yet again.
"L-lips or cheek?" he asked.
"Well, that doesn't really matter does it Freddy? Not after-ow!" George laughed in slight pain from Fred's foot crushing down hard on his, giving him the idea that Fred would hurt him further if he even let the slightest bit slip about him kissing you after the Ball.
"Whatever you want, dear." Mrs Weasley said with a warm chuckle, handing Mr Weasley a bite-size mince pie decorated with a golden-baked shortcrust pastry star on the top of it. Fred nodded and looked down at you whilst biting down a little on his lower lip, unsure. You weren't as short as you was last year and had grown a few inches, making you about his shoulder height but still shorter than him of course. Fred went for the safe option and kissed your cheek quickly, his cheeks flaming in a sheet of red shyness. You felt like that you had to return the favour too, considering you broke off the other half of the cracker. Before he was too far away to reach, you quickly pecked his cheek and scuttled away as you felt your cheeks burn hotter than a dragon's flame.
Later, about eight in the evening, everyone began to settle down into a sleepy daze. Yawns could be heard here and there and some even went to bed early. Soon enough, only the last remaining few were either sneaking in some other treats or sluggishly dragging themselves up the stairs.
"Right, I'm off to bed. Coming you two?" Hermione yawned as she stood lazily to her feet.
"Yeah," Ginny yawned also, trying to stay awake by rubbing her eyes with the backs of her knuckles. "Fiona?"
"Hm? Na, I'm going to stay up a little longer." They both nodded and quietly descended up the long stairs that seemed to go on forever, their feet lightly stomping against the wooden flooring as they dragged themselves to the room the three of you shared together. You smiled and shook your head but then yawned a little too. Your feet then stood you up to stand upright and trailed you across to the kitchen to look for Freddy, your adorable little cat that seems to run off all the time. As you turned round the corners of the dark and dingy house, you were awakened by the sound of a mug being dropped too hard on the table, followed by a small voice cursing beneath their breath. Curious, you decided to find out the voice behind the words. There, slouched in his seat with his feet up on another was George with a slanted blue Christmas hat just hanging onto his red hair.
"Alright, George?" You greeted with a smile. "Have you seen Freddy at all?"
"Why, I am right here my lovely!"
"I meant my cat, silly." You chuckled, rolling your eyes.
"Not me? Aw, shame." He winked.
"I know it's you George, you know that I can tell you and Fred apart easily."
"But I'm Fred."
"No, you're George, George." you said as you folded your arms.
"How can you tell, my sweet?" He cooed mischievously as he tilted back his paper hat back to its rightful place.
"Well," you sighed. "You and Fred are completely different, George. No matter how identical you two are. Plus Fred calls me 'Fi-Fi' and 'Love' sometimes; whereas you call me other names to mock me and Fred, indicating that we have some sort of 'relationship'." You said with the bunny-ears movement with both of your fingers to show the sarcasm.
"Aw, I didn't know you cared for me that way." He chuckled.
"Oh, ha ha, George. That's another thing, Fred always has this glisten in his eye whenever he teases or mocks me. He has this cheekiness in his tone and a different kind of warmth in his laugh that just makes you smile. He has this sort of... quirkiness to him that I can't stop thinking about. And he's always up for a laugh and is normally always smiling. That's another thing about the two of you, I could never understand how you two can be this merry and cheerful all the time. How you're always persistent in achieving laughter!" George begins to grin, growing a little more each second. For he can see who was approaching the kitchen absent-mindedly.
"Aw, I'm touched."
"Give it up, George!" you laughed. "I know that it's you and that you're not Fred."
"Yes I am!"
"No you're not! I can tell because Fred is far more understanding, caring, really sweet and adorable whenever he gets embarrassed and he is a particularly a good kisser-" Your hands automatically slap across your mouth as soon as you realised what you had just let slip carelessly.
"So, that's what you think of me, is it?" A voice said behind you. Your whole body froze in shock. Horrified, you slowly turned to see who that was behind you even though you had a very good idea to who it was. There, leaning up against the kitchen doorway was Fred. A smile beamed from his face as he looked down at you, his cheeks turning into a darker shade of pink after hearing what you had said. You stared up at him with your mouth hanging open a little from your brain being wiped from any possibilities that can help this moment. Without any other ideas in your head, you resulted to the last option and whipped out your wand from your pocket.
"OBLIVIATE!" You shouted quickly and accidentally poked the point of your wand right into one of Fred's eyes, blinding him for a few seconds while you fled from the room, dropping your wand.
"Ow!" Said Fred as his hand swiftly flipped up to shield his eye from the tingling pain. You then dashed up the old wooden stairs as fast as you could, horrified. Fred scooped up your fallen wand off of the floor and blinked a few times to regain his vision. Once he could see after a few blinks, Fred chased up after you, leaping over three steps at a time (he can do it because he's so tall). "Fi-Fi! Fi-Fi, wait!" But you didn't listen, you couldn't. How could you? You had just told him exactly how you felt about him right there and then and were feeling as if you could die from embarrassment any minute.
However, Fred was faster and soon managed to catch up with you and grabbed onto your shoulder gently yet firmly, halting you in one of the many floor's corridors. He continued to hold you in his secure grip, making sure that you won't flee from him again. He raised his index finger up in the air briefly and lowered it as he took a few deep breaths to get his breath back. You took this opportunity to try and escape from this tall teenager but he gently dragged you back.
"Oh no, no, no, no! You're not running away this time." Fred said with an low-breath chuckle. His eyes began to soften and he loosened his hand that was holding your shoulder, releasing you from the trap that clamped you down in your place. You could feel the once moist layer of your tongue begin to dry out like a lonesome plant in the middle of a hot dried up desert disappear slowly. Your bright eyes were fixed upon the chocolate brown ones that stared right down at you with mind-boggling confusion and demand.
"..." Your mouth cracked open the very slightest but then retreated back into sealing itself shut. Fred knew that he had to be the one to break the ice here. A heavy sigh flew past his lips and swirled in the air around him. You could catch the sweet scent of cookies and chocolate drifting up your nostrils, almost tasting the mouth watering treat as if you were having one at this moment.
"Do you like me?" Fred asked simply, getting to the point. You stood there in a silenced stun, confused and unsure about what you have to say. "Do you like me?" He repeated, wanting a definite, precise and truthful answer.
"Yes," You replied, unaware that your lips had started mouthing and speaking words for you without realising first. You decided that this was the best time to be honest with him. "Yes, I do." Fred smiled sweetly and suddenly leant down in smiles to kiss you. It was a short kiss, but it was sweeter than any other.
"At least now I don't have to worry about you not liking me in return."
"What?" You whispered, too shocked to raise your voice the slightest bit due to the surprise kiss.
"Isn't it obvious?" He chuckled.
"Well," you began. "From the staring, the moods and the constant cheesy grins and sighs... I got a slight idea." Fred laughed lightly.
"I should just come out and say it now, shouldn't I?"
"Say what?" You asked in confusion, curious to know what he was going to say.
"Will you go out with me and be my girlfriend, Miss Holloway?" He asked a little cheesily, grinning shyly. You couldn't help but laugh at his brave yet shy attempt to ask you this daunting question. Happily, you nodded. "But,"
"But, what?" You asked cautiously, hoping that you wouldn't regret that.
"We don't tell anyone,"
"Are you ashamed of me, Fred Weasley?" You asked whilst folding your arms, grinning in slight confusion.
"Oh, no!" He said quickly, hoping that he didn't offend. "I just thought that it would be fun to see how long it takes the others to find out about us. Well, except George. He knows."
"Oh," you nodded. You then thought of your best friend, Ginny. It would be harsh to keep such a secret from her, especially as you're dating her brother also. But on the other hand, she does claim to spot everything instantly, so it would be fun to see how long it takes for her to figure out this mystery. After some thoughts and pondering hums, you nodded lightly in agreement. "Sure, it'll be fun."