Déjà Vu

Chapter 12

"Yes?"

"How was your date last night? You never told us."

Fred finds himself smirking a little bit. He had been right about the date that he hopefully messed up.

"Oh, um, we didn't end up going, actually. I had to work on a project for Ancient Runes," she says while rubbing the back of her neck.

Fred wonders why she isn't cursing him out to them, complaining about how he ruined their date. He would be if he was her.

"Aw, that sucks," Hermione says sympathetically.

Evelyn shrugs. "It's alright. We like staying in, anyway."

He can't see Ginny's face, but he can tell that she's doing something suggestive by the way she leans into Evelyn. "I'm sure you do."

Evelyn laughs loudly, the sound at a volume that's probably a bit loud for the library. "I didn't mean it like that and you know it."

Ginny raises her hands up in defense. "Hey, you guys only have like, two nights together. Excuse me for assuming you're not just sleeping."

Evelyn reaches over and smacks her on the shoulder. Fred feels sick. He should leave. He doesn't know why he's not.

Ginny leans even closer to her, her chin still resting on her hand. "Speaking of that, what's Nick like in bed?"

"Ginny!" Hermione hisses and smacks her on the shoulder just as Evelyn had before, except much harder.

Fred starts to gather up his things so that he can leave before he has to hear any of this, but Evelyn's reaction to the questions makes him pause, half of his things packed in his bag and the other half still sprawled out across the table.

She's not all flustered and shocked at the question like he'd expected her to be. She's quiet when she starts to scratch at the back of her neck, an action that he knows far too well. It's what she does whenever she's uncomfortable or uneasy. He finds himself curiously leaning closer to them, awaiting her answer eagerly.

"What?" Ginny asks, clearly expecting a different reaction. "Is he not good?" She asks this in a whisper, but it's more of a whisper-yell than anything. He can still hear her plenty well.

He leans in even closer, hoping that Evelyn confirms this. It would make him so incredibly happy if her new boyfriend sucks in bed.

"Um," Evelyn starts, voice small. "No, he is."

His stomach drops again.

"He's just, um." She stops there. His hope is back.

Ginny's curiously leaning close to her and Hermione now joins her, leaning in eagerly. If Hermione's pulling away from her schoolwork to listen to something, he knows it's good.

"What?" Ginny asks, nosiness evident in her voice.

Evelyn looks around to see if anyone's listening -- and this is where Fred knows that he'll be caught -- but she miraculously doesn't look directly behind her. She seems to deem their table a private area and turns back to them, and this is definitely where Fred should make his presence known. He's too curious, though.

"I just don't think he knows where it is," she whispers to them, still loud enough for Fred to hear.

The other two girls are quiet for a moment, their mouths probably dropped. "On the surface or on the inside?" Ginny asks.

"Both."

Ginny laughs. "What? That can't be true." When Evelyn shrugs, Ginny's disbelief becomes more exasperated. "What? How have you not told him?! Or shown him?!"