The weekend rolled around in no time. Unlike Tee's obvious disinterest in the romantic holiday, Rose was very excited about St. Valentine's. Not only was it her first time spending the holiday with a guy, it was also her first real date with George.
They'd agreed to not really plan out their day beforehand. Since Hogsmeade was likely to be busy that weekend, they knew there was a high chance of the crowds ruining their plans. So they'd headed into Hogsmeade with open minds. It was nice. Rose had always preferred to just go with the flow.
They'd been blessed with quite a good day for it too. The snow had now completely disappeared. Instead, it was dry and also surprisingly warm for February.
"So is there anything you want to do whilst we're here?" Rose asked, looking up at George. He seemed perfectly at ease, whereas she was actually a little nervous. She knew it was silly though – it was only George. It was just the situation that felt like it was putting pressure on her.
George noticed it too, but he just laughed at her. "You don't have to sound so formal about it."
Rose smiled. "Sorry. It's just all a little new to me, this dating malarkey. I've never been on one before."
"That's okay; neither have I," George reassured her.
"Really?" Rose wasn't really sure why she was surprised – she just expected everyone else to have had more dating experience than her. Plus the twins were well-known at school and quite popular.
"Really," George laughed again, throwing an arm across her shoulders. "So congratulations. You're the first one to take me away from Fred."
Rose laughed as well, winding her arm round George's waist and tucking her hand into the pocket of her robes. She always had cold hands, but it was a good excuse to steal other people's body heat. "In that case, I'm honoured. And not speaking formally, where would you like to go?"
"I'm thinking somewhere less busy?" George suggested with a cheeky smile.
Rose laughed again and elbowed him in the side. "Just what are you suggesting?" She may have won over the milder of the two twins, but George certainly had his own mischievous streak to be reckoned with.
"It was only an idea," said George innocently, his brown eyes twinkling.
"I'm sure it was," smiled Rose.
XXX
True to her word, Tee spent most of the Valentine's Day morning in bed. She'd never really been one for lie-ins, but her four-poster bed at Hogwarts was definitely much comfier than the small bed she had at home.
What was she going to do for the rest of the day? She'd always made a point to spend Valentine's Day with her girlfriends. It was weird knowing that Rose was off on a date. Rose had always been known as a bit of a serial man-hater, so the idea that she now had a boyfriend was still a little bizarre.
Whilst Tee was staring up at the ceiling and thinking to herself, something suddenly hit the side of her face, almost taking her eye out. She started and abruptly sat up. What the hell...
It was a paper aeroplane. It made a rather ungainly loop-the-loop before nose-diving at her face again. This time, Tee was ready and grabbed it before it could do any damage – whether it was eye-gouging or paper cuts. She unfolded it curiously to find a short note scrawled inside it.
'Get up, you lazy git.'
Tee couldn't help smiling. She should have known. Well, tough. Right now she felt too comfy to go anywhere. At least until she was hungry anyway. She groped for the wand on her bedside table and pointed it at the half-crumpled aeroplane that was now performing uncoordinated somersaults.
"Incendio!"
The paper aeroplane went up in a small burst of flames that then disintegrated before they even hit the carpet. Tee lay back down and pulled the covers up snugly around her. Yep, she definitely wasn't getting up anytime soon. Fred was just going to have to entertain himself.
Not long afterwards, she was woken up again by somebody poking her repeatedly in the head. "Oww. Okay, okay, I'm awake!" she complained, opening her eyes and looking round to see who was so eager for her to wake up. "Fred! What the hell are you doing up here?" She scrambled up into a sitting position.
"I had to get you up somehow," said Fred, looking pleased with himself. "Didn't you get my note?"
"I burnt it, you cheeky sod," Tee retorted, self-consciously pulling the covers up around her. There was a reason that boys weren't allowed in the girl's dormitories after all. "How did you even get up here? You couldn't get up the stairs the last time you tried."
"I found a workaround," Fred beamed, grabbing something from the foot of the bed and holding it up. It was his broomstick. "They've never built a room that Fred Weasley couldn't find a way into."
"Good for you," said Tee dryly, rolling her eyes. "So am I not allowed to sleep now? You're going to harass me whilst I'm in bed too?"
"You and I both know that you would never normally be sleeping in this late," Fred pointed out, grinning. "So you're gonna get up and we're gonna go and make you get over this silly thing you have against Valentine's Day."
"I'm not going anywhere!" protested Tee, though her heart did a funny little flip. Was he trying to suggest going on a date or something? "I don't celebrate it, remember?"
"I know you don't. But this isn't a date or a celebration or anything," Fred reassured. "Just because you're not celebrating it doesn't mean you have to be a hermit instead. If this had been any other day and Rose and George had gone off on their own, we still would have found our own thing to do, right?"
"Right," said Tee slowly, reluctant to admit that he was right.
"So stop letting Valentine's Day get the better of you," said Fred cheerfully, winking at her. "And get your broomstick. You'll need it."
Tee sighed. He was totally right. "Fine, you've convinced me. But you've gotta get out first so I can get dressed."
"Are you sure? I don't mind staying," Fred grinned.
"Out!" Tee repeated with more emphasis.
Fred laughed. He tucked his broomstick under his arm and retreated back towards the stairs. "Just one more thing..."
"What?"
"You have hilarious bed hair."
"If you don't get out now, I'm going to start throwing things," Tee threatened.
Fred just laughed again. "I'll meet you downstairs then." He stepped down onto the first stair and waited. The staircase transformed into a slide moments later and his feet slid out from underneath him.
Tee could hear him whooping as he disappeared out of sight. She shook her head. He was certifiably insane... Which was probably why she liked him so much.
She then shook her head again, though this time, it was aimed at herself. She needed to stop thinking things like that if she wanted their friendship to keep working. She couldn't keep expecting or wanting more than that, she told herself firmly.
Though her self-motivation wasn't quite enough to fix her insecurities as well and she ended up taking a long time getting ready. By the time she'd grabbed her broomstick and made her way downstairs, Fred was lounging in one of the armchairs and pretending to snore. The common room was now empty besides him.
