An Affair to Remember (Fred Weasley)

61) Home

"Fred I-I can't breathe" Adrienne finally managed to say and Fred sheepishly unwrapped his arms from around her. They looked at each other, shyly meeting each others gaze, unable to control the small smiles that were forming on their lips. Adrienne pushed away a stray piece of hair behind her ear, "How about we go back inside and you can get some breakfast? You've missed your portkey now anyway"

"Portkey doesn't matter, I'm staying here until the week is up" Fred replied, causing Adrienne's heart to jump with joy. Things were already starting to get better but there was still a very long way to go. But, a hug was a good start.

Portkey forgotten, Adrienne and Fred headed back into the lodge, shutting the door close behind them. Adrienne reheated the plate of breakfast she had made earlier before handing it to Fred. She leaned against the kitchen counter on her forearms while Fred ate his food in silence, the both of them lost deep in thought as they wondered how their next conversation would commence.

"I saw the bird's nest you made" Adrienne said softly, "I put it outside, reckon it'll have a little family to take care of in a day or two?"

"No bird nest ever made by me has ever gone to waste" Fred grinned, magicking the plate to the sink. He drummed his fingertips on the countertop, searching for words to say. But there was so much to talk about that he didn't know where to start. Everything felt as if it was happening so suddenly, they were fighting one minute and making up for it the next.

"I think that-" they both said at the same time, and blushed when they interrupted each other.

"You go first" offered Fred. Adrienne nodded, resting her palms flat on the countertop and nervously patting it rhythimically, "There's so much we need to talk about, so many things, and I just want the chance to explain everything to you for once so we can get this all out of the way"

Fred bit his lip, looking up at her "I'm sorry I didn't let you explain earlier, I guess I was just really upset and confused about everything that I wasn't even ready to listen to myself".

"It's alright, you had all the rights to be upset with me, I did a terrible thing to you" Adrienne replied understandingly. She was largely at fault here, even though it would've been helpful if Fred could have been a bit more responsive when she was trying to apologise to him in the past week.

"We don't have to do this here, how about we go outside to the lake? You look like you could use the fresh air" Adrienne suggested when she noticed how apprehensive Fred seemed. She was determined to do things right this time, and was ready to go through however long it took to bring things back to normal.

Fred pushed himself off the chair using the counter as leverage and followed by Adrienne, they headed out to the lake that stood just a few meters away from the lodge. The soft sunlight dappled the ripples with a golden shine, almost appearing like a polaroid taken of the sun through a dirty camera lens. Fred's cheeks immediately gained some colour from the heat, a light sheen of sweat forming on his cheekbones as he settled under the tree, his legs crossed.

Adrienne sat across from him, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs. Speckles of light shined on her face through the canopy of leaves above her and Fred had to control the corner of his lips from tugging upwards at the sight of Adrienne trying to adjust her seating position so that she could get the sun out of her face.

"So, where should I start?" she asked after settling in properly. "Christmas perhaps?" Fred said.

"Right, Christmas" Adrienne sighed. "As you probably remember, Noah, who I've divorced no by the way, found out about us from this letter that I wrote to you on my birthday but never actually sent it your way. He was mad, really mad. And for some reason, something suddenly clicked in my brain"