When February fourteenth finally arrived a few days later, I first woke up feeling like it was just another normal day. Why wouldn't it be? It had never been a big deal to me before. It always had been just another regular day. I was working from seven in the morning until three in the afternoon and then going to see Fred, but we'd agreed to stay in that night. Fred had assured me, however, that he did have some sort of plan and that it would not be boring, to which I had responded that I hadn't thought it would be.
I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary until I'd already gotten dressed for work and had walked into the kitchen of the flat to grab a banana before I'd head downstairs.
On the kitchen counter were two bouquets of roses, already arranged in vases with water. The little card on the first one was addressed to Martha from Tom. And the second one was from both Tom and Martha to me.
To our Sophie. With love, from Tom and Martha.
I smiled and plucked the card out of the flowers with a smile as I read it a second time. And then a third time.
There was also a card on the counter addressed to me from my mother. It was a sweet card with a teddy bear and a heart on it and she'd written in an equally sweet note on the inside.
Once I got down to the kitchen, I saw Kyle standing by the sink, emptying a dirty frying pan into it and charming it to wash itself. On top of his head, he was wearing a red headband with two hearts on springs sticking out of it that wiggled around whenever he moved.
"Not. A. Word." He dried his hands and glanced at me as I tried not to smile. "Rachel's idea. And I mean it-I wouldn't be laughing if I were you because once she finds you, you're next."
Sure enough, when Rachel entered the kitchen a moment later, she had a heart headband on as well, the two hearts dancing around above her head almost jubilantly. She saw me and beamed as she hurried over to her bag and pulled out another one.
"No," I said, backing away from her. For every step I took, she took one towards me. "Rachel, I mean it. No."
"Yes!" She insisted. She chased me around the kitchen and ignored Kyle's demands to take it easy and 'respect his work space'. She finally had to hit me with an Immobulus Charm in order to get me to stay still enough for her to stick the headband on my head.
"I'm not going out to wait tables with this on," I hissed.
"I thought you might say that," Rachel said seriously. "Which is why I charmed it so that it won't be able to be removed until your shift ends at three o'clock."
"You didn't," I said, reaching up to tug at the headband. It didn't move.
"I did!" She said gleefully.
"Don't feel bad," Kyle muttered darkly. "She did it to me too."
"But at least you're back here in the kitchen all day!"
"Sophie, come on, it's fun!" Rachel pleaded.
"You know, this is something Fred would do," I said. "Do I have to watch my back for not only him, but you as well?"
Rachel completely ignored what I'd asked her. "I brought some for Allie and Kayla too," she went on. "Allie will wear hers voluntarily, but I've had to charm Kayla's like I did yours and Kyle's."
"She'll kill you when she finds out," I said, tying on an apron and grabbing my quill and notepad. I looked back up at Rachel and smirked. "Can I be here to watch when you put it on her?"
Rachel laughed. "She comes in at ten, so be back here then and enjoy the show."
"Will do," I said, heading for the door to get started on my tables for the morning.
On my way out, I passed my mother, who was also working this morning and who also had on one of Rachel's headbands.
"She got you, too?" I hissed.
"I think they're cute," my mother said, reaching up to poke at the springy hearts.
"Of course you do," I laughed. "She probably didn't have to charm yours to stay on until your shift is over, then."
My mother laughed and tried to stifle it behind her hand. "No, she didn't," she said. When she saw my face, she tried to look at me sympathetically. "I'm sorry, honey. But you do look cute."
Sighing, I reached up and flicked one of the hearts with my finger. I could feel it bouncing back and forth. "I suppose it's kind of fun."
"The guests love it," my mother assured me.
"They'd better," I said. "Because they're stuck looking at them as much as I'm stuck wearing them."
As my shift went on, I almost forgot that I was even wearing the headband. My mother was right, the guests did like them, especially the children that were there with their families.
Five minutes before my shift was about to end, I went back into the kitchen, letting a tired puff of air out of my mouth as I dropped my quill and notepad on the counter. I heard a familiar laugh and looked up in surprise to see Fred leaning against one of the counters, eating an apple and talking to Kyle.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"I'm here to pick you up and whisk you away for a night of romance," Fred said. "Did you forget already? I'm hurt, Soph."
"No, I meant what are you doing here? In the kitchen?"
"Same answer as before. Waiting for you," Fred shrugged.
"I didn't even see you come into the pub, never mind the kitchen. Besides, you're early. I told you I'm not going out until I'm no longer sweaty and stinking of food."
"I know I'm a little early, but so what? Also, you were busy and I didn't want to bother you," Fred shrugged. "That's why you didn't see me. So I came back here to wait."
"He won't leave," Kyle told me. "He even sweet talked Martha into letting him hang around back here until you were ready." He muttered something under his breath about Fred thinking he owned the place, and Fred rolled his eyes before pretending to toss his apple core at Kyle, who shot him a look. "Not funny, Weasley," he said. "You are in a kitchen, there are rules."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Fred said, tossing the apple core into the trash. He looked up at me and smiled as I made my way over to him. "Nice headband," he commented, flicking at first one of the hearts and then the other, making them wiggle back and forth.
"Enjoy it now," I told him. "It's on my head for another...two minutes and then it's coming off."
"Why not take it off now if you don't want it on?" Fred asked. He reached up and tried to pull the headband off, and he laughed when it didn't budge. "That's right, you can't!" He started to laugh harder as I stared at him with my arms crossed. "Kyle told me what happened," he said.
"Mhm, just keep laughing, Fred," I told him. But the corners of my mouth were turning up in a smile as well.
"At least you look way better with that on your head than Kyle does," Fred told me with a shrug as he took my face in his hands and gave me a quick kiss.
"How much longer is it until you're out of my kitchen?" Kyle asked loudly.
"We'll be out of here the second Sophie's ready," Fred answered.
"Sophie, please get ready quickly," Kyle begged.
"Okay, okay, I'm going," I laughed, pulling off my apron and giving Fred a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll be back."
"I'll be here," Fred called after me. "Bothering Kyle until you come back."
"I have no doubts about that," Kyle sighed. He glanced over his shoulder at me. "Hurry!" He ordered.
"I am!" I called back, jogging up the rest of the stairs as quickly as I could.
When I finally came back downstairs, buttoning up the last few buttons of my coat, Fred was still waiting for me in the kitchen. He was leaning backwards against a counter beside Martha, who was preparing a pot of soup and animatedly narrating everything she was doing to Fred, who was clearly only pretending to be interested.
"I find that adding a little extra parsley really helps," Martha was saying. "And do you want to know what the secret ingredient is?"
"What's that?" Fred asked, looking over at her with a smile.
"A dash of apple juice."
"No way," Fred said, turning around to look into the pot. Now he seemed interested. "Apple juice? There's apple juice in this soup? I've had it so many times before and could never even tell! There's no way. No way."
"You don't even taste it, do you?" Martha asked excitedly. "But I promise you it makes all the difference."
Fred looked up and saw me over by the stairs. "Did you know there was apple juice in this?" He asked.
I smiled. "I did," I told him.
"Of course you did," Fred said. He came over to me and ran his fingers through my hair. "Your headband's gone," he commented.
"It is," I said.
"That's too bad. I liked it."
"Sorry," I shrugged, not actually feeling all that sorry. I'd gone along with it for my shift-even slightly enjoying it. But now my shift was done and the headband was back up in my bedroom, where it would be staying.
Fred snorted with laughter and rolled his eyes. "Ready to go?"
I nodded and the two of us said goodbye to Martha. I reminded her I'd be at Fred's for the night and that yes, I'd be on time for my shift at noon the next day. She laughed, told us to have a nice time, and shooed us out the door.
"By the way," Fred said, once we were halfway down the alley, "these are for you." He pulled a bouquet of a dozen roses from behind his back and held them out to me.
"Where did these come from?" I asked, leaning around to peer behind him. "I didn't see you with these inside."
"Can't tell you all of my secrets," Fred said, shaking his head.
"Well, in any case, they're beautiful." I brought the bouquet to my nose and then let out a squeak as every single flower immediately turned into a butterfly and flew into the air. I flinched in surprise and even sneezed as a butterfly wing tickled my nose on its flight past me.
Fred was laughing from beside me and I smacked his arm with the now empty stems of the flowers. "I can't believe you!" I cried.
"That was wonderful," Fred sighed as his laughter subsided and he leaned in for a kiss. "Especially the sneeze. I wasn't expecting that."
"Well, I wasn't expecting my flowers to turn into butterflies right in my face!"
"Soph," Fred laughed, turning to face me and putting his hands on my shoulders. "Let me explain something to you." He looked as if he were holding in laughter.
"What?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.
"I just gave you butterflies," he said, his eyes lighting up. "Get it?"
I stared at him open-mouthed for a moment before I laughed, squeezing my eyes shut and burying my face in my hands. "Wow," I said, raising my head and swatting Fred with the flower stems again. "That's clever, Fred," I laughed, turning and resuming the walk down the alley.
"Isn't it?" He asked, catching up to me and taking my hand. "All of the trick bouquets are on sale today only," he added as we reached the shop. He gestured to the front window, where an advertisement of the sale flashed brightly. "Fifty percent off. Tell your friends." He smiled as I rolled my eyes.
We went in through the front door of the shop. It was open for another thirty minutes, but it was actually fairly empty.
"Where is everyone?" I asked in slight surprise. "It seems emptier than usual."
"We're never all that busy on Valentine's Day," Fred explained. "People typically have other things planned to do besides go to a joke shop. And most people don't find joke shops the most romantic place to be-even if I beg to differ."
"Really," I said, raising an eyebrow.
"We've got flowers and loads of sweets," Fred said, gesturing around. "How much more romantic could you get?"
"You're leaving out the part that the flowers turn into feathers, butterflies, rubber snakes-to name a few-and that most of the sweets make you ill! When they're not turning you into a canary, that is."
"Ah, well, minor details," Fred laughed, waving his hand around flippantly.
We made our way to the back of the shop and into the back room, where we were met with a frantically pacing George.
"Woah, you okay?" I asked as he almost collided with me while pacing from one side of the room to the other, then spinning around and heading the other way.
He looked up and saw Fred and I standing there. "Oh, good, you're back," he said to Fred, ceasing his pacing and practically barreling over to us. "You're sure you'll be able to close things up here without me?"
"Yes, George," Fred laughed, clapping a hand on George's shoulders. "We're not open for much longer anyway. Sophie and I will hang out back here and straighten up a bit. Verity can handle closing out front and I'll go out when she leaves and finish locking up. We'll be fine, so you need to go get ready and get on out of here."
"Okay," George said breathlessly. He nodded his head a few times quickly. "Okay."
"Go!" Fred urged with a laugh, all but pushing George towards the stairs.
"Okay," George said again. He began tugging off his tie as he went, calling a quick breathless hello to me before he disappeared the rest of the way up the stairs.
"What was that about?" I asked curiously, gazing at the spot where George had disappeared.
Fred smiled as he began straightening up the work table. "He's asking Katie to marry him tonight."
"Really?" I asked, my face brightening. "That's great! No wonder he was unable to hold still."
Fred shook his head and let out a quiet laugh as he put the corks back in a few vials and put them away on the shelf behind him. "Yeah, it's quite pathetic."
"Fred," I chastised.
"I'm kidding!" There was a pause. "Mostly." He laughed when I shot him a glare. "Look, he's nervous for absolutely nothing. He's been with Katie for years. Just over five now, actually. She's very much in love with the ugly prat."
"Fred, the two of you are identical."
"Are we?" Fred asked, feigning shock. "I had no idea." He finished neatly stacking up the pieces of parchment that were on the table and playfully tapped me over the head with them on his way by me to put them away. "Regardless," he said, going back around to the other side of the table. "Katie's going to say yes. There's no doubt."
"Of course she's going to say yes. Where's he taking her tonight anyway?" I asked curiously, resting my palms on the table and peering down into the cauldron sitting on the top. It was coated with remnants of a potion used for the Canary Creams. "This has to be cleaned?" I asked.
Fred glanced over his shoulder as he continued straightening up one of the shelves on the other side of the room. He nodded as I pulled out my wand and waved it over the cauldron, quickly making the cauldron spotless.
"George's plan is to take Katie to dinner and then sneak her into the Hogwarts grounds," Fred went on, answering my earlier question. "He's going to ask her to marry him on the Quidditch pitch. It's where they met. Katie's a year younger than us, so they officially met when she tried out for the team in her second year. Before that, they only knew of each other. We were in the same house, but had different classes and even different groups of friends at first. Then when Katie made the Quidditch team, she became our friend and began hanging around us more and more, even outside of practice. And then in our sixth year-her fifth-George realized he liked her as more than a friend and asked her out. Asked her to the Yule Ball first, actually. And the rest was history."
"That's sweet," I whispered.
Fred nodded and shrugged. "Sure," he said, almost nonchalantly. He looked up and met my eyes. "Merlin's beard, Soph, what do you want me to say?" He asked through a laugh.
"I don't know," I answered.
"You want me to jump up and down and squeal like a girl?" Fred asked in amusement.
"No," I answered indignantly.
"Good, because if you want someone to do that with, do it with Katie when she and George come back." He smiled. "They'll be back around nine-thirty, where we will be waiting to surprise them with an engagement party."
"An engagement party?" I asked with a smile.
Fred nodded. "You'll see when we get upstairs. I've got decorations hidden under my bed waiting to be put up, all of George's favorite snacks hidden in my dresser, and I even baked a cake."
"You did not!"
"Let me rephrase that," Fred said with a chuckle. "I tried to bake a cake. We'll find out later if it's even edible, but if not, I also have one of Martha's chocolate cream pies on standby."
"Did you mention your potentially inedible cake to her and she took pity on you and made you a pie?" I asked knowingly.
"No," Fred said with a cheeky grin, resting his hands on the work table and leaning over it until his face was closer to mine.
"Uh-huh," I deadpanned, staring at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Okay, fine," Fred laughed, letting his head drop down towards his chest in frustration before taking in a breath and looking back up up at me. "Yes. Happy? Will you kiss me now?"
I smiled, despite how much I tried to keep straight face. "Uh-huh," I said again, nodding my head as I leaned across the table too, meeting Fred halfway and pressing my lips to his. I felt his fingertips brush against mine as he shifted his hands closer to me along the tabletop.
"Technically, I am on the clock for another...three minutes, you know," Fred whispered, pulling away just slightly to check his watch before leaning in for another kiss, smiling against my lips as he did so.
"What's your point? You asked for this."
"Aren't you the one always telling me to keep my hands off of you while you're at work?" Fred asked, pulling away and staring at me with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. "And then you think you can come here and throw yourself at me while I'm working? I don't think that's really fair."
I scoffed. "Throw myself at you? That's rich coming from you."
"I've never thrown myself at anyone," Fred gasped, pretending to be insulted.
"Really?" I asked.
"Yes, really," he said.
I opened my mouth to retaliate, but before I could, there was a knock at the door and Verity had stuck her head in. "All the customers are gone. I've straightened up and I'll be sure to lock the front door on my way out."
"Excellent, thanks Verity," Fred said. "Have a good night."
"Thanks, you too. Bye, Sophie."
I said goodbye to her and she left the room. A moment later, we heard her leave through the front door and I followed Fred out into the shop. He stood behind the counter and opened the drawer to the register so that he could balance it before finally closing for good for the day.
"Want to get the alarms and protective charms?" he asked.
I nodded and headed for the front of the shop, where I began putting up the charms. Fred had told me what they were, how to put them up and how to dismantle them not very long ago since I was here so often and spent the night quite a few times as well.
Just as I was finishing up and heading back towards Fred, George emerged from the back room, looking a little calmer, but still clearly nervous.
"Don't you look nice," I said, hopping up on to sit on the counter, where Fred was still working on balancing out the register. He glanced up and smiled when he saw George, and then nudged me, stuck his fingers in his mouth and let out a loud whistle.
"You're looking divine, Georgie, if I do say so myself," he said as George made his way over to us, fiddling with the ends of his sleeves. He was dressed in a sweater and pair of jeans, but they were nicer and slightly more formal than the other sweaters and jeans he usually dressed in. He'd obviously put some time into how he looked without getting too fancy.
"George, she's going to say yes," I assured him gently.
He looked up at me and I saw a flash of gratitude in his eyes for my words of encouragement before he looked at Fred. "Couldn't keep your abnormally large mouth shut, could you?" He asked with a laugh.
"Well, everyone is going to know eventually," Fred responded as if George were dense. He slid the drawer of the register closed again before tapping the pile of earnings from the day and vanishing them from view, sending them somewhere safe until one of the twins could make it to Gringotts.
"Well we can't tell everyone prematurely," George said. "I still have to ask Katie first."
"First of all," Fred said, hopping up on the counter beside me from the side he was standing on. He lifted his legs up and spun around so he was now facing George. He lowered his legs, with a thunk against the side of the counter and set his palms down on the countertop with an equally playful slap. "I didn't tell everyone. I told Sophie. And she's hardly anyone."
"Nice, Fred," I scoffed. "Really nice. Thanks for that."
Fred smiled slightly. "You know what I meant," he said, leaning over to kiss my temple. "It doesn't do any harm for me to tell you. I tell you everything anyway."
"Yeah, including all of your brother's business," George joked with a playful roll of his eyes.
"Sophie isn't going to tell anyone," Fred insisted, waving his hand around dismissively. "She barely speaks, remember?"
"It's true, I'm a mute," I told George with a nod and a slight smile as I nudged my elbow into Fred's side. He squirmed and swatted at my arm as he fought back a laugh.
"Secondly," Fred finally went on, "Katie is not going to say no."
"She might," George countered. "There's a fifty percent chance. A thirty three percent chance if we add in the option of her saying maybe."
"You sound like Percy," Fred said, looking at George in annoyance. "What have you done with my twin? Because I know George Weasley would never be this nervous to ask a girl to marry him. In fact, George Weasley would march right up to Katie and tell her to marry him." He punctuated each emphasized word by dramatically leaning forward towards George before leaning back again.
Meanwhile, I met George's eyes and made a face as I shook my head and moved my hand back and forth at my throat in a no gesture. "Bad idea," I mouthed. "Ask her."
Fred reached over and placed a finger over my mouth without even looking at me as he used his other hand to pull my hand back down to my lap. "Don't listen to Sophie," he said with a smile as he tried to hold back a laugh. "She knows nothing."
"Oh, of course not," I said with a laugh of my own, playfully shoving Fred's hand away. I looked back at George. "Seriously, George, ask her. She'll say yes."
"No, hear me out," Fred said, hopping down from the counter. He held his hand out to me and I took it before hopping down from the counter myself. Fred looked over his shoulder at George and smiled. "Watch closely," he said.
George gave him a look and gestured towards me as if to say proceed.
Fred grinned and turned back to me, taking each side of my face gently between his hands. "Ready?" He asked.
"I suppose so." The words were barely out of my mouth before Fred had dropped his hands to my waist. He pulled me to him and stared down at me, one corner of his mouth turned up into a smirk. "Marry me," he said, his voice low as he continued to stare down at me, the smirk still on his face, but his eyes serious as they stared intently into mine.
I stared up at him for a moment, my mouth hanging open as I blinked twice. And then I unexpectedly began giggling. It started as a short laugh and I turned my head away, but then once I started, I suddenly couldn't stop. The giggles came harder and longer and I didn't even know why I was laughing so hard. Fred backed away from me in bewilderment and I slouched against the counter behind me, one hand clutching my stomach and the other covering my mouth.
"Fred, you broke her," George said in a hushed whisper.
"Oh Merlin," I said through my laughter as it finally began to subside. I straightened up to a standing position and leaned the heels of my hands back on the counter as I caught my breath. I actually had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard.
Fred was now standing back over by George and they were both looking at me in disbelief. "What was so funny?" Fred asked.
"I don't know," I said breathlessly, staring upwards at the upper level of the shop, at the tall shelves reaching skywards and at all the products on said shelves. "I don't know if that actually works on people, but it just didn't feel natural to me! Maybe in the moment, and if the setting was different, but to have it come out of nowhere..." I shrugged. "Besides, Fred-you should know better than to try that on me, of all people. Someone else might want to be asked that way, but not me. When have I ever liked people invading my personal space like that?"
"But, Soph," Fred protested in bewilderment, "I'm always invading your space. And I'm not just anyone."
"I know-I'm used to it with you. I trust you. But that doesn't mean what you just did would work on me. And from what I know about Katie, I don't think it would be her thing either." I looked back at George. "I'm serious, just ask her."
"Yeah, I think I will," he said slowly, still looking at me with a mix of amusement and confusion. He reached out and clapped Fred on the shoulder. "Thanks for trying, though, mate."
"All that happened was I made Sophie nervous," Fred tried to explain. "I took her by complete surprise and she-she..."
"She broke," George told him, mock-sympathetically. "You broke her." His mouth turned up into a grin. "Thanks for the unintentional hype-up, though. Now that I've seen just how badly a proposal can go, I'm not feeling so nervous anymore. Even if Katie says no, it can't be as bad as if she outright laughed at me." He clapped Fred on the shoulder again, pulled on his coat and shouted a goodbye to me before he disappeared through the front door.
Fred remained standing where George had left him, staring at the ground in thought as he shook his head. Finally he looked up at me and let out a quiet chuckle as he smiled and pointed a finger at me. "You're the worst," he laughed. "You couldn't have held it together for ten more seconds? No, instead you got the giggles!"
I laughed again and leaned back against the counter as I looked at Fred angelically. "Sorry," I said. "But you really can't just tell a girl to marry you, you know."
"Why not?" Fred asked, slowly making his way back towards me as he smirked and let his eyes wander over me from head to toe.
"Because," I said, firmly placing a hand on his chest when he got close enough and pushing slightly to keep him at bay. "She has a choice. She doesn't owe anyone anything." I smiled. "And won't it be so much nicer in the end knowing that you offered up the question and she chose to say yes?"
"She could always say yes or no to the demand," Fred said. "Let's practice. I say marry me, you say yes. Ready? Marry me."
"No," I answered immediately with a laugh.
"Jerk," Fred said, reaching up to remove my hand from his chest. He looked down at our now intertwined hands for a moment, looking lost in thought.
"What?" I whispered, a slight smile on my lips. I knew he had an idea. I recognized the look on his face.
Fred's eyes flicked back to meet my own and he smiled sheepishly. "Would you hate me terribly if I stepped out for a moment?"
"For what?" I asked.
"I've just had an idea," Fred said, his face starting to light up as the idea became fully formed and he mentally started hyping himself up about it-most likely also convincing himself that whatever it was was also a good idea. He kissed my forehead and pulled away from me. "I need to talk to Lee," he said.
"Oh, no, he's with Allie tonight," I said pleadingly. "Don't go barging in on their date!"
"It'll be fine," Fred said, his mind already made up. "It'll be quick. Only for a moment." He took my face in his hands and gave me a quick kiss before dashing for the spiral stairs in the middle of the shop and taking them two at a time to the second level. "I just have to grab one thing and I'll be heading out. You go on up to the flat!" he called. "I already picked up dinner and it's on the kitchen counter. There's a warming charm on it so it won't get cold. So there's nothing left for you to do except make yourself comfortable!" He leaned over the railing at the top of the stairs and grinned down at me, panting slightly. "And please don't hate me. I'll be quick, I promise. I'll be out and back faster than you can say fireworks."
"Fireworks!" I exclaimed. "Fred, what-?" But he had already disappeared from the railing and from my line of vision entirely. I let out a long sigh before shaking my head and heading for the back room. "I give up," I muttered.
I spent some of the time I was alone in the flat messing around with Fred and George's chess set. But it wasn't as fun trying to do anything by myself. And I couldn't learn anything new without Fred, so I eventually got up and wandered into his room. I dug under his bed and found the decorations he said he'd gotten for the party. I brought them to the living room and began putting them up. I turned on the wireless radio in the corner of the room and found a station playing some fast paced song by some band that I remembered was called the Weird Sisters. The twins listened to them and I knew Rachel, Kayla and Allie did as well.
Once the music was playing, I got to work on the decorations, every so often humming along to the song that was playing. I waved my wand and got the balloons started on magically filling and tying themselves. Fred had bought entirely too many of them and there was no way I could blow them all up without magic.
Next, I pulled out a bunch of brightly colored streamers. There was almost every color imaginable, which was the same with the balloons. There was no cohesion or theme whatsoever. Just color. Typical Fred.
I hung the streamers in every doorway of the flat and hung a bunch from the living room ceiling, connecting the opposite ends to walls, furniture, and anything else in sight so that they were draped around the room and wouldn't be dangling in our faces. We had way too many streamers as well, and I ended up draping some of the extras around my neck for the time being, until I could put them away. Then, I charmed the balloons to hover just below the ceiling without touching it, and finally, pulled out the last decoration: a banner that I immediately decided to hang over the fireplace. I expected the banner to read something along the lines of Happy Engagement, or Congratulations, but I frowned in confusion as I unfolded it and saw that it read Happy First Birthday.
"Has he lost his damn mind?" I muttered to myself.
"I lost it a long time ago," Fred's amused voice said from behind me.
I jumped and gasped in surprise as I whirled around and saw Fred in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe and watching me in amusement. I hadn't even known he was back.
"You scared me," I breathed. "I didn't hear you come in."
"I expect it had something to do with that out of tune humming," he answered, stepping fully into the room and looking around.
"Thanks," I replied with a roll of my eyes. "But back on the subject of the banner-
"It was all the shop had left." He shrugged nonchalantly as he continued to look around, lightly swatting at one of the balloons over his head.
"It was all they had left and you bought it anyway?" I asked in disbelief.
Fred nodded as he made his way towards me. "I did. It looks great in here, by the way." He leaned in to kiss my forehead. "Sorry for scaring you," he murmured.
I smiled slightly as I gave him a slight nod in response. "So, you didn't really pick any sort of color scheme, did you?" I snorted, gesturing around at the decorations. "But even if you did, it doesn't change the fact that we have a banner that says Happy First Birthday."
Fred shrugged nonchalantly. "We can change it using magic," he said, taking the banner from me and tossing it to the couch. "Why don't we eat dinner and I'll do it later before Katie and George get back."
I agreed and followed Fred to the kitchen, removing the streamers from around my neck as I did so. I pulled out some plates from one of the cupboards and when I turned back around, I saw Fred standing behind me with another bouquet of flowers in his hand.
"I'm not falling for it again," I said, shaking my head as I passed him for the table. I set out the two plates and turned around again to look at Fred. "Last time it was butterflies, and this time it could be moths or something."
Fred gave me a look of slight exasperation. "Soph, they're real flowers this time, I promise you."
I narrowed my eyes at him and he looked back at me earnestly, so I reached out and took the flowers, slowly bringing them to my nose to smell them, keeping my eyes trained on Fred's the whole time. The flowers remained flowers and I smiled. "They're beautiful," I said, lowering my eyes to look down at them as I traced a finger along the edge of a petal. "Thanks, Fred."
"Glad you like them," he whispered. "See, I can be thoughtful on occasion."
I smiled. "You wouldn't happen to have a vase for these, would you?"
"Soph, be serious," Fred answered, rolling his eyes.
"That's what I thought," I laughed.
We eventually settled on putting the flowers in an empty butter beer bottle that we filled with water for the time being, although I found it to be an almost charming look. And then we sat down to eat dinner. Fred had picked it up from the Three Broomsticks this time, to save Martha the trouble of cooking us something for tonight.
"So, I, um, got you something," I told Fred just after we'd sat down. I slid a thin rectangular box across the table to him. "I wasn't sure if gifts were a thing we were going to be giving each other today, but I saw this in Hogsmeade and I thought you could use it-and I'm rambling now so please just open it."
Fred had been staring at me in amusement as I rambled and now he let out a quiet laugh as he pulled the box the rest of the way towards him. "Is it a butterfly?" He teased.
I laughed and shook my head. "No."
Fred lowered his gaze from my face to the box as he tugged off the ribbon and pulled open the lid.
Inside was a leather holder for his wand. It was black with a thin strip of red down the length of it.
"I thought you could use it," I said. "You're forever misplacing your wand when you're working down in the back room of the shop. I mean, in the time I alone have spent in there with you, I must hear you say where's my wand at least once an hour. And then you end up finding it under some parchment or on the floor from rolling off the table or tucked away on a shelf. I know it's because you're busy and distracted by what you're doing because otherwise you're good at keeping it close, but I thought at least while you're working, you might like to-"
"Soph, it's brilliant," Fred interrupted. "This was a great idea. Thank you."
"You can attach it around your waist, around your arm, even around your leg if you'd like," I explained. "Whatever's easiest."
"What about here?" Fred said, starting to fasten the holder around his head.
"I mean, I suppose if you wanted to," I giggled. "Even if you look ridiculous." There was a pause as Fred lowered the wand holder from his head and examined it closer. "You like it, though?" I asked.
"I love it," Fred answered, leaning over the table and pressing a kiss to my forehead. "Thank you." He brought the wand holder over to the counter to get it away from the food, before sitting back down at the table.
"So, will you be telling me what you had to run off and talk to Lee about?" I finally asked halfway through our dinner.
Fred shook his head and took a sip of his drink. "Nope," he said. "I expect you'll find out eventually, but I'm not telling you."
I pursed my lips. "I hope you didn't bother him and Allie."
"I did not," he said. "They were completely unbothered. In fact, they were overjoyed to see me."
"Uh-huh," I said skeptically, taking a sip of my own drink as I narrowed my eyes at Fred.
"I just had to ask Lee a little favor," Fred said. "Nothing you need to worry about."
"Sometimes I feel like I always need to worry," I replied.
After dinner, we cleared the table and got the dishes washed before going to Fred's room and digging out the snacks he'd bought.
"I had to hide them with my socks or else George would sniff them out for sure," he explained as I giggled.
We set bowls of snacks on the coffee table in the living room. The snacks were another thing Fred had bought way too much of. Popcorn, pretzels, Bertie Bott's Beans, Fudge Flies, Licorice Wands, Chocolate Frogs, Sugar Quills and several other things that were either sweet, salty, sugary, or a combination of all three.
"Did you raid Honeyduke's or something?" I asked, finishing crowding the last bowl on the table.
"Something like that," Fred said with a devious smile. I thought about asking him about it, but decided that I didn't want to know.
Once we were done setting out the snacks, Fred disappeared back into his room and came back with one last decoration. Two bags of confetti. He made a beeline for the door to the flat and began magically rigging the bags above the door. I caught on instantly. When George and Katie came back, they were getting confetti dumped on their heads.
"Fred," I laughed, picking up one of the extra streamers and aimlessly fiddling it as I watched him. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you'd gone overboard."
"This is nothing," Fred said, stepping back from the door and admiring his work. "I think we're done here. Now we just need to wait for them to get back."
"Not quite. You still have that banner to fix and hang up."
"Right," Fred said, blowing a puff of air out of his mouth. He looked at me. "How are we doing on time?"
I looked down at my watch. "It's eight fifty-eight. You said they'd be back at nine-thirty. So we have thirty-two minutes."
Fred nodded. "That's plenty of time." He crossed the room to the radio, where a quiet, slower song was playing, and turned the volume up slightly before turning back to me and holding out his hand.
"I'm asking you to dance," he clarified with a smile, tilting his head towards his outstretched hand. "It's customary to accept it."
"Is it really customary?" I asked.
"Only if you like the guy who's asking you to dance," Fred answered.
I laughed and stared down at his outstretched hand for a moment before looking up into his face with a smile. I dropped the streamer I was holding back onto the couch and then placed my hand in his. His other hand went to the small of my back and he pulled me as close to him as he could.
We were silent as we slowly swayed to the music. My hand eventually moved from where it had been on Fred's shoulder to the back of his neck, where I began playing with his hair. He sighed and his eyes slid closed as my fingernails brushed against the back of his neck.
"I almost wish George and Katie weren't coming back," he murmured, bowing his head just enough so that his lips were against my forehead.
"Mm, but they are," I whispered. "And we really can't forget to fix that banner before they get here."
Fred groaned. "I don't want to."
"You bought the wrong one," I pointed out. "And you offered to fix it, so don't forget."
Fred didn't respond. He kept his lips against my forehead, I kept playing with his hair, and we kept moving slowly to the music until the song ended. Fred and I stopped moving, but didn't break apart from each other, even when a fast song replaced the slow one that had just ended.
"It's just after nine," I whispered. "You'd better get to work on that banner."
Fred didn't move away from me. Instead, he gently took my chin between his fingers and tilted my face up before leaning in to kiss me. He pulled away just slightly and whispered, "I don't want to."
"You promised," I whispered back, my eyes still closed.
"I know," Fred answered. He gently leaned in and kissed my forehead.
"Well, get to work," I said with a smile as I pulled away from him and swatted him away from me, towards the couch where the banner lay.
"You know what would be really crazy?" Fred asked with a laugh as he scooped the banner up off the couch.
"What?" I asked, perching on the couch's arm and looking at him with a raised eyebrow.
"What if, after we did all this work, Katie said no after all?"
I froze as I looked at him wide-eyed. "Don't say that," I whispered, my tone horrified, but I was trying to fight off a smile.
Fred stared back at me, looking as if he were fighting off laughter as well. "They'll walk in to all of this, plus-"
"The confetti!" We both said at once as we dissolved into laughter.
"She better have said yes, then!" I exclaimed.
"You were the one so sure she would," Fred told me.
"As long as he asked her instead of ordering her around like you wanted him to do."
"She definitely said yes," Fred assured me. "I promise." He was quiet for a moment before he sighed and looked down at the banner. "Guess I'd better get to work on this, then." He spread it out on the floor and twirled his wand between his fingers as he let a puff of air out of his mouth and studied the words on the banner in thought.
I smiled as I watched him for a moment before noticing we hadn't put out any drinks. I asked Fred if he wanted me to grab some and bring them to the living room. He agreed, so I headed to the kitchen, where I grabbed four bottles of butter beer and some firewhiskey and began making my way back to the living room. On my way past the front window, I happened to glance outside and then did a double take.
"Fred?" I gasped, my eyes wide. "They're here."
"What?" Fred yelped. "It's only nine-fifteen! They're early!"
"I just saw them outside coming down the alley towards the shop," I said, rushing back into the living room. I started to frantically put the drinks down on the coffee table as quickly as possible.
"Shit, shit, shit," I heard Fred muttering, his voice slightly panicked. I heard the banner rustling as well.
"We have to hang it up, Fred. Now."
"But I'm not done!" Fred protested.
"Let me see," I said, turning away from the table to examine Fred's work. Fred stood up and stepped back towards and we both looked down at the banner dejectedly.
Happy First Engagement.
I couldn't help it-I began to laugh. "We can't use it," I said, trying to convince him not to hang it up without him even saying a word in favor of doing it. I just knew he would do it.
"We didn't go through all that trouble not to use it," Fred said. "We have to hang it up."
"Not like this!"
We heard the back door of the shop opening downstairs, and George and Katie's quiet voices as they came inside. We turned towards the sound before looking at each other. I quickly turned back to the banner and pointed my wand at it, painting a bright red X over the word First.
"That'll have to do," I sighed. "Go on. Hang it up."
Fred sprang into action and grabbed the banner before getting to work on hanging it up as quickly as he could above the fireplace. He was even using magic and I still worried it wouldn't be quick enough. And despite the magic, it still was coming out crooked.
"Fred, they're coming, hurry up," I hissed as we heard footsteps on the stairs.
"Well, then help guide me so it's straight," he hissed back. "Instead of standing there rushing me."
"There'd be nothing to rush if you'd done this earlier," I said, turning quickly to help him try to adjust the banner. "Or if you'd bought the right one!"
"This was all they had!"
We heard a key in the lock of the door to the flat and the doorknob began to turn. Fred and I immediately sprang away from the banner, having no choice but to leave it crooked as the door opened and George and Katie entered the room.
"What-?" George began, his eyes falling on the decorations, and Fred and I standing there looking slightly frazzled. But he didn't have time to say anything else because the bags of confetti immediately activated, dumping pieces of shiny, brightly colored paper all over George and Katie's heads.
"Congratulations!" Fred whooped.
In an act of slight panic that what Fred had mentioned earlier could've been true, my eyes darted to Katie's left hand for confirmation that she had, in fact, said yes, and that Fred and I hadn't just made complete fools of ourselves. I let out a sigh of joy as I saw the ring on her finger.
"She said yes," I murmured to Fred with a grin.
"Of course she did," Fred answered, lowering his voice as he leaned closer. "Why, were you worried?"
I swatted his shoulder and shoved him towards George and Katie. "Go congratulate your brother, you ass."
Fred laughed and planted a swift kiss to my temple before bounding over to George, while I made my way to Katie.
"Let's see that ring, then," I said excitedly as she beamed and held her hand out to me.
"He did well," I said, making an impressed face as I studied the ring. "Very well." The ring was beautiful. There was the main diamond which was sat in the center of a gold band that twisted at the top where the diamond sat, and was designed to look almost like a vine. The diamond sat in the center, like a flower. And while it was a regular colored diamond, it seemed to shine and reflect multiple other colors when it hit the light in different ways. It was a simple ring, but with touches of George here and there.
"Oh, it was so sweet, Sophie," Katie said breathlessly. "He took me to the Quidditch pitch, which was where we first officially met and where we had our first kiss. He'd brought some brooms and Quidditch supplies there in advance and we had a competition to see who could hit the most Bludgers. It was most definitely a set up, because it's most obviously him that can hit the most. But I didn't mind. And then once we landed and were putting the brooms away, I turned around and saw him down on one knee."
"Tell me," Fred said curiously, "did he ask you to marry him?"
"He did," Katie said slowly, glancing at George and smiling slightly. "But..."
"But someone started setting off fireworks just after I managed to get the question out!" George exclaimed, shoving Fred lightly.
"It wasn't me," Fred said. "It was Lee!"
My eyes widened as I stared at Fred. "That's what you did? You brought some of your Filibuster Fireworks to Lee and Allie while they were on their date, and you had them go plant them at the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch?"
"I had to get back here to you," Fred shrugged. "So I couldn't do it"
"What about Lee and Allie?" I asked. "Don't you think they wanted to enjoy their own time together instead of doing that for you?"
"I'm sure Allie had a great time. It added a little adventure to their night."
"What kind of fireworks were they, Fred?" I asked. When he hesitated, I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows. "What were they?"
"They were special ones," Fred said. "Customized just for tonight's events."
"A whole bunch of regular ones went off," Katie said. "Then there was a dragon shaped one...then a giant heart. And then there were words."
"Words, huh?" I asked, looking at Fred.
"Yeah, the words marry me," Fred shrugged. "Nothing terrible."
"Question mark or period?" I asked.
"Huh?" Fred looked at me in confusion.
"Question mark or period? At the end of the words marry me. Was there a question mark or was there a period?"
"A question mark," Fred said slowly. "...With the top squiggly part removed."
"Fred!" I cried, leaning over to playfully smack his arm. I smiled slightly. "Now we won't know for sure which method would've worked. He used both. He asked her and told her."
"I appreciated being asked," Katie said with a laugh of her own, "but at the same time, I was standing there thinking that George was asking me while also sending me signals that he didn't want to take no for an answer. And it was very on point with his personality. How could I say no? I didn't know at the time that the fireworks were Fred's doing."
"So I guess Sophie and I were both right," Fred said, leaving George's side and coming over to nudge me. "Truce?" He asked, holding out his hand. When I simply stared at him in exasperation, he smiled. "It's customary to shake it."
"Oh, piss off," I said, trying to swat at his hand. But he closed his fingers around my wrist and pulled me towards him, spinning me around and pulling my back to his chest.
"Would you look at that...you're even starting to sound like one of us, Soph," he teased.
I squirmed around in his arms as I tried to break free, but he wasn't having it. Eventually, he pressed a quick kiss to my cheek and let me go.
George and Katie were now admiring the decorations. Well, more like Katie was admiring them. George had gone straight for the couch, where he'd plopped down onto the cushions and immediately reached for the bowl of popcorn.
"You went all out, didn't you?" He asked, leaning back into the couch cushions as he stuck a handful of popcorn into his mouth.
"Fred's idea," I said. "He bought the decorations."
"And Sophie put most of them up," Fred said. "Except for the confetti, that was all my doing."
"And the banner." I turned my head and disguised my words into a cough as Fred lightly aimed a kick at my leg.
"Speaking of the banner," Katie said, stopping in front of it before turning towards us and gesturing back over her shoulder towards the crooked, sorry excuse of a banner. "What does Happy First Engagement mean?"
"No, see, we crossed this out," Fred said, going over to stand beside Katie and pointing to the crossed out word "first". "It really says Happy Engagement."
"You know, I fully planned on being engaged more than once in my life," George shrugged. "You could have left it the way it was."
Katie grabbed a pillow from the couch and pretended to hit George with it, only stopping short at the last minute so she wouldn't knock the bowl of popcorn out of his hands.
"Watch the snacks!" George cried, holding his hands in front of his face as he clutched the popcorn bowl.
"Yeah, yeah," Katie said, tossing the pillow back onto the couch.
"If it weren't for me," Fred said proudly, "the banner would have said Happy First Birthday. I fixed it before you got here."
"If it weren't for you, the banner would have said the correct congratulatory phrase from the beginning," I said. "If you'd just bought the right one."
"I told you, that's all they had."
"Sure," I answered, collapsing into an armchair and pulling my legs up under me. "Even still, you could've managed to even fix it properly if you hadn't procrastinated."
"They came back early!" Fred cried defensively, gesturing towards George and Katie.
"It's the thought that counts," Katie said earnestly, sitting beside George. He lifted his arm and put it around her shoulders as she snuggled into his side and he offered her the bowl of popcorn.
Fred made a face at me before making himself comfortable on the floor at my feet. I began lightly dragging my fingers through his hair as we passed around the snacks and the drinks and just enjoyed each other's company.
After a while, Fred jumped up and announced it was time for cake.
"Cake?" Katie asked, craning her neck to look after Fred as he headed for the kitchen.
"Fred baked," I informed her, smiling and taking a sip of my drink.
George groaned and buried his head in his hands. "I got so excited at the mention of cake, but if Fred made it, there's no way it's edible."
I smiled and took another sip from my drink, deciding not to mention just yet that Fred had gotten a chocolate cream pie as backup for exactly this reason.
Fred returned a moment later with the cake, brandishing it proudly in front of George and Katie. It was supposed to be heart shaped, but it was dilapidated and misshapen-barely recognizable as a heart at all. He'd frosted it sloppily and there were spots were the icing was too thick and other spots where it was too thin. He had stuck a sparkler in the middle for effect and it was fizzing from the center of the cake, shining light across George and Katie's faces.
"Wow," Katie said dryly. "Between the possible implications of what Happy First Engagement could mean, as well as this misshapen and dilapidated heart cake with a sparkler driven through it, I'm beginning to think you're trying to foreshadow a terrible and heartbroken marriage."
"No, not at all," Fred said dramatically. "The sparkler symbolizes the passion and fire of your relationship. The misshapen heart symbolizes what happens when our hearts are so full of love."
"Fred," Katie laughed, burying her head in her hands.
Fred set the cake on the coffee table and summoned some plates and utensils from the kitchen. He blew out the sparkler and began cutting the cake, passing each of us a slice.
"Soph, you go first," George said, poking at the cake with his fork. "Make sure it's safe. Katie's right-with all the negative foreshadowing here, I'm afraid this cake might kill me. And then my engagement will be ruined before it begins. By next week you'll be throwing Katie that Happy Second Engagement party."
"So you're trying to kill my girlfriend instead?" Fred asked. "Rude."
George smiled and looked up at me. "Go on," he urged, nodding towards my plate.
I looked between him, Katie and Fred, who were all looking at me in curiosity.
"Why don't you try it first?" I asked Fred. "You baked it."
"I'm too handsome to die," Fred answered with a shrug.
I scowled at him before hesitantly digging my fork into the cake and picking up the tiniest bite possible. I took in a deep breath and slowly stuck my fork in my mouth. My face instantly reflected my thoughts as my nose scrunched up. "Fred," I said, through the mouthful of cake that I hadn't even had the courage to swallow yet. "What did you do, mix up the sugar with the salt?"
Fred's eyes widened as George and Katie began to laugh.
"No, I couldn't have," Fred said, hurriedly sticking a bite of cake into his own mouth to try it for himself. The second he did, he made a face of disgust and spit it back out into his plate as he gagged and wiped at his lips. "Bloody hell, that's awful."
I had managed to finally swallow the bite I'd taken, but I washed it down with a sip from my firewhiskey-not the ideal beverage to wash something down with, but it was the only one I had on hand.
George and Katie's laughter was subsiding and George finally sighed as he looked at Katie with a slight smile. "I fear that Fred and Sophie are trying to tell us that our marriage is going to fall apart."
"I'm not trying to tell you anything!" I exclaimed with a laugh. "The banner and the cake are both entirely Fred's fault."
"No, listen-I can fix this," Fred said, standing up and collecting all our plates from us. "I'm going to save the day, just hold on. Don't move a muscle." He jogged off towards the kitchen as I laughed into my firewhiskey.
A moment later, Fred returned with the chocolate cream pie and set it on the table with a flourish.
"Oh, thank Merlin," George said, tipping his head back and letting out a sigh of relief. He turned to Katie and jubilantly kissed her temple. "Our marriage is looking up."
"And I was the one who saved it single-handedly," Fred said with a bow. "Please hold your applause."
"No, I'd say Martha saved it single-handedly," I said, tossing a kernel of popcorn at Fred.
After we'd each enjoyed a piece of the pie, the four of us hung around in the living room together for a while as Fred, George and Katie filled me in on some of their stories from Hogwarts. I heard about more of the twins' pranks and also the time they went to the Quidditch World Cup. Some time after midnight, Katie started yawning, and shortly after that, she and George announced that they were going to bed.
"Bed, sure," Fred said knowingly, shooting George an exaggerated look. He grinned as he watched them head towards George's bedroom. "Make good choices!" He called after them.
"You too!" George called over his shoulder with a smirk as he all but tugged Katie into his room and shut the door behind them with a click.
I surveyed the room around us with a sigh. "What a mess," I said.
Fred rolled his eyes. "Leave it," he said. "I'll clean it tomorrow. With magic. You act like we have to do everything by hand."
"For a while, I was doing everything by hand. Back at Eric's," I reminded him.
"Well, you're not at Eric's anymore," Fred answered, his tone filled with disgust as he spoke Eric's name.
A smile slowly turned up the corners of my lips as Fred came up behind me and I craned my neck to look up at him. "They seemed happy," I said. "George and Katie."
"In general or with our great success of a party?" Fred asked, pulling me against him by my hips and resting his chin on my shoulder as he nuzzled into my neck.
"Both, actually," I said. "Even with all things considered about how the party went. The lopsided disaster of a banner, the salty cake..."
"Thank goodness I was able to save the entire evening with that pie," Fred murmured against the skin of my neck.
I laughed as I brought my hand up to rest on the side of Fred's head, my fingers sliding through his hair. "Sure, Fred, whatever helps you sleep at night."
"The party was great," Fred insisted. "I had fun."
"I did too," I assured him, turning myself around in his arms and kissing him.
He kissed me back for a bit before he pulled away and we headed for his room. The second I walked through the doorway, I froze. There was a giant stuffed teddy bear on the bed.
"What is that?" I asked dubiously.
Fred laughed. "It's a very large teddy bear."
"How did it get here?" I asked. "It wasn't here when I came to get the decorations or when we were getting the snacks out of your sock drawer."
"Dunno," Fred shrugged, leaning against his dresser and casually twirling his wand between his fingers.
I crossed the room to the bed and reached out to touch the bear. "I think he's almost as big as me."
"Mhm," Fred said from behind me and I can tell he was smiling. "And you can't magically send it back to Tom and Martha's either. You have to carry it down the alley tomorrow."
"Says who?" I asked, turning to look at him.
"Says me," Fred replied.
"Well then," I said briskly, adjusting the teddy bear so that it was lying in Fred's spot on the bed. "He's also going to sleep in here with me. You're banished to the couch." I flopped onto the bed and turned my body into the teddy bear's, snuggling against the soft fur. "Mm, he's so soft and warm."
Fred scoffed from across the room before coming over and trying to tug the bear out of my hands, but I held on tight.
"You are not banishing me to the couch in my own flat."
"You're the one who put Benny here," I said.
"Benny?" Fred asked in horror. "You've named him?"
"Of course," I said, still snuggled up against the bear.
Fred tried to tug the bear out of my grip again to no avail. Finally, he came around to my side of the bed and leaned over me, pressing his palms into the mattress. "Can Benny the bear do this?" He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my jaw. When I shifted my head at the contact, he moved on to kissing my lips and gently nudging his hips into mine.
"I'm not sure if he can," I whispered in response to Fred's question as he pulled away slightly. "I could always find out, though."
Fred made a face and leaned in again, giving me another slow kiss before pulling back. "Let go of the bear, Soph," he said.
I shook my head. "I love him," I said with a smile.
Fred groaned. "What have I done?" He laughed, standing up from the bed and heading to his dresser. He pulled out his own pajamas before tossing me a pair of maroon and gold pajama pants and one of his long sleeved shirts. I'd brought some of my own things from home like Fred had suggested, but as far as clothes went, I liked wearing his things when I stayed over. And he seemed to like it as well because he always gave me something without me even having to ask.
I finally let go of Benny the bear so that I could start getting ready for bed.
"Oh, sure," Fred said from where he was still standing over by his dresser. "Let go of the bear to put on my clothes, but not for anything else."
I tugged the shirt Fred had given me over my head and pulled my hair out of the collar as I grinned at him. "Your clothes are comfortable."
Fred let out a snort of laughter and shot me a look as he walked back over to the bed and grabbed the bear, tossing him over to the side that I usually slept on. "Maybe you can sleep on the couch tonight and I'll sleep in here with Benny."
"That would be quite a sight," I said, raising an eyebrow. "But if that's what you'd like, I'll just be going now." I smiled teasingly as I turned for the door.
"Soph," Fred laughed from behind me.
I stopped and looked over my shoulder at him. "Yes?" I asked expectantly.
Fred reached over and grabbed the teddy bear before tossing him onto his desk chair. He turned back to me as he yanked down the blankets on the bed. "Get in." He smirked and tilted his head.
"What did we just talk about earlier regarding asking versus telling?" I asked quietly, still smiling as I continued to look at Fred over my shoulder.
"We talked about how both methods are effective and how neither of us were necessarily right in our theories," Fred answered at once.
"Only because you tampered with the experiment."
Fred sighed and looked at me in exasperation as he leaned forward and rested his hands on the mattress. "I'd really love for you to come to bed now. How's that for a compromise?"
"Well," I began thoughtfully, pretending to consider what Fred had said. "You didn't ask me, but you didn't tell me either, so it seems fair." I pretended to think it over for another few seconds before turning and slowly walking back towards the bed. When I reached it, I pulled back the covers on my side and then leaned over and gave Fred a kiss before crawling into bed and making myself comfortable on my side, turning to face the door. I knew Fred would crawl in behind me and wrap an arm around my stomach like he always did. He'd pull me to him, his chest to my back, and we'd fall asleep like that. I'd feel warm and safe and protected, a stark contrast to how I'd lived so many years of my life.
I felt the mattress shift as Fred crawled in beside me and propped himself up on an elbow as he looked down at the side of my face with a frown.
"What are you sulking about now?" I asked with a laugh.
"I wasn't satisfied."
"With...?"
"With that kiss you just gave me. It was..." he trailed off and stared off into the distance as he tried to think of a word, "lackluster to say the least."
"Lackluster?" I gasped, turning over to my back and looking up at him. "It was a kiss, Fred, a regular, normal kiss. We've kissed each other like that before and you've never cared. Why now?"
"It's Valentine's Day," he pouted.
"I didn't think you cared much for the holiday," I said with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't," Fred admitted. "But in light of George and Katie's engagement, I need a little something extra to even the score."
"This isn't a game, Fred," I told him with a slight raise of my eyebrows and an amused half-smile.
"I know." His eyes wandered over my face. "But as long as you're up for it, I was hoping for at least a good snogging."
I laughed and reached up to put a hand on his cheek. I let out a sigh and smiled at him as I gently rubbed my thumb back and forth over his freckled skin.
"So, what do you say?" Fred asked hopefully.
"You know," I said after a moment, "Benny would never complain like this." I burst into laughter as Fred groaned.
"Benny doesn't even speak," he said.
"Just like me," I said. "We're a perfect match."
Fred shook his head as my hand dropped down from his cheek to his neck, to his collarbone. I ran a finger over the collar of his t-shirt as Fred's hand rested on my waist, his thumb moving back and forth over my hip.
"Answer me one question," Fred whispered. "If you say yes, then I'll go sleep on the couch and you can snuggle up with Benny. If you say no, I get to snog you senseless."
"Okay," I said. "Deal."
Fred grinned. "Does Benny ever give you butterflies?" He asked. "Real or otherwise?"
I pretended to think that over. "I can't say that he has," I admitted slowly, a smile spreading over my face. "But I did just meet the guy-or, rather, bear--so I can't say that's a fair-"
Fred cut me off mid sentence by swiftly leaning in and kissing me. He pulled away just slightly. "It was a simple yes or no question," he murmured, leaning in and kissing me again, slower this time.
"Well-the short answer is no," I whispered.
"Mm, that's what I thought you'd say," Fred answered. His eyes wandered over my face from my eyes down to my lips. "Now about that snogging you promised me..."
I giggled. "I did promise you that, didn't I?"
"You did," Fred answered. He looked up and met my eyes again as his hand found it's way to the side of my head, where he gently pushed my hair behind my ear with his fingertips. He started to lean in for another kiss, but then he paused.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
Fred lifted his head up and gazed towards his desk chair, where Benny the bear was still sitting. "The bear's staring at me," he whispered. He rolled partially away from me and reached behind him to grab his wand from the nightstand. He aimed it at Benny and knocked the bear to the ground.
"That was a little harsh, don't you think?" I joked.
"Nope...now I can't see him and he can't see us," he said, returning his wand to the nightstand. "And now I can kiss you in peace." He turned back towards me with a grin and kept himself propped up on his elbow as he looked down at me. "Now...where were we?"
"I believe you mentioned something about snogging," I said.
"That's right, I did." Fred let out a laugh and smiled down at me for a moment, taking me all in before he finally leaned down and kissed me.