Finally Me ~

Chapter 63

**Alex’s POV**

             

“Happy Valentine’s Day.”

I take the rose Fred is holding out to me, feeling my cheeks turn pink.

“Thanks,” I say. I hand him the small present I got for him and try not to dissolve into giggles like every other girl in the castle.

“Aw, chocolate roses,” Fred says, “pretty and delicious!”

He gives me a quick kiss on the cheek and takes my hand.

“We’re going to have a beautiful lunch followed by Bertie Botts adventures,” he says, “I found a little tea house which is quiet and hidden away.”

I can’t help getting the giggles. I give his hand a squeeze and resist skipping. We walk down to Hogsmead, fingers intertwined. Fred leads me to a small coffee shop hidden away. We open the door and are assaulted with pink.

“Wow,” Fred says, “this is… Festive.”

A cupid drops confetti on us.

“Shall we sit down?” Fred asks. I nod and follow him to a table. He pulls the chair out for me and tucks me in. I’m trying very hard not to giggle, but every now and then I have to turn away.

Once we’re seated I look around at the café. It’s full of couples. Each table has its very own cupid sprinkling confetti. A waitress swishes over to take our orders. We decide to get a few things to share as well as hot chocolate.

“So, nervous about the exams?” Fred asks, playing with my fingers.

“Yeah,” I nod, “every time I think about it my stomach knots up. You?”

“Nah,” Fred grins, leaning back in his chair, “it’ll be a piece of cake!”

I laugh at him, knowing his marks don’t matter. He’s got his heart set on the joke shop and nothing will stop him.

The waitress brings us an assortment of goodies, a blueberry muffin, a chocolate muffin, two choc-chip cookies, a scone and a pile of fruit with a bowl of melted chocolate to dip it in. She places steaming mugs of hot chocolate on the table and I inhale.

“Mmm, smells delicious,” I say.

“This is going straight to my thighs,” Fred says with a grin. I laugh at him and he blushes slightly.

“Ooh, look,” he whispers, leaning towards me, “Harry has a girlfriend.”

I look over and see him with the seeker from the Ravenclaw team. I wrinkle my nose.

“She was dating Cedric,” I murmur, “bit soon, isn’t it?”

“Nearly a year,” Fred says, buttering a scone and passing it to me.

“Yeah, but if you died, it’d take more than a year for me to get over it,” I say. Fred blushes, looking pleased.

“Would it really?” he asks. I blush and take a bite of scone. Fred smiles and dips a strawberry in chocolate.

“So-”

He’s interrupted by loud sobbing. I turn around and see Harry desperately trying to stop his date from crying. She’s sobbing and half-yelling and he looks completely lost. Everyone in the café is staring at them. After a few minutes she jumps up and storms out. Harry drops a few galleons on the table and follows her.

“Awkward,” Fred breathes. I turn back to face him.

“I wonder what that was about,” he says.

“No idea, but she cries nearly constantly,” I tell him. Fred makes a face.

“Glad you don’t,” she says, “don’t get me wrong, it’s fine if you need to cry, but constant crying…”

I laugh.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to have a break down,” I say, “although, this chocolate is so good I might cry.”

Fred laughs and dips his finger in the chocolate, tapping me on the nose.

“Oi!” I laugh, wiping it off. He throws me a little wink and I blush, giggling.

We finish our food and go for a long walk around the village. We find a sport where there’s still thick snow and make snow angels. Once we’ve worked off our morning tea we go and get some Bertie Botts and sit on the swings.

“You first,” Fred says, holding the packet out to me. I close my eyes and dip my hand into the box. I pull out a harmless looking, light yellow bean and bite it in half.

“Corn,” I say, giving the other half to Fred. He chooses a bean and crinkles his nose.

“Tastes like boogie,” he says, passing me the other half.

“Yuck!” I gag, “you always pick the worst beans!”

“You try then,” he says. I choose a red bean that looks like strawberry. I bite it and start to chew. My mouth feels like it’s on fire.

“Chilli!” I squeeze, opening my mouth wide and fanning it. Fred hands me some fresh snow, which helps a little.

“Coconut,” he says, holding a bean out. I taste it. It’s toothpaste.

“Fred, that’s cheating,” I laugh. He grins.

“Okay, this one is,” he pauses, trying to figure it out, “I don’t know, try it.”

I taste the bean. It’s got a smooth, salty flavour with a hint of something that I can’t put my finger on.

“What is that?” I wonder aloud, “I can’t decide if it’s good or awful.”

“Weirdest bean I’ve ever had,” Fred says. I scrape the rest of it off my tongue and flick it away.

“Hey, Alexandra?”

I look over at Fred. He looks kind of nervous.

“Yeah?” I prompt him. He leans over and kisses me softly.

“I love you,” he whispers.

I freeze. For a few moments there is nothing in my brain at all. I mean I am literally just empty of thoughts. Then a little voice tells me to say something. Hurry up, say something. Say it back! No, only say it if you mean it! And then there are thousands of voices, all of them telling me what to do and what not to do. Meanwhile I’m staring blankly at Fred who is becoming increasingly uncomfortable. I force myself to open my mouth and speak.

“Really?”

“Really,” he half-laughs, blushing. Again, blank mind, millions of voices.

“Great.”

“Great,” he repeats, “yeah, great…”

Feeling begins to creep back into me and I can feel the verbal vomit coming.

“No, I mean, what I meant was that, well, I mean, I think that, it’s only, well, it’s just that, in my opinion, I think, well, you see, the thing is, I just….” I clench my teeth close to stop myself from talking. Fred smiles slightly.

“Do you need a minute?” he asks. I shake my head.

“You just shocked me,” I admit. He leans over and kisses me again.

“I tend to be shocking,” he says lightly. I laugh.

“Umm, well, I lo-”

He puts his finger to my lips.

“Don’t say it until you mean it,” he says, “I’ll wait.”