Not Tying the Knot || A F. Weasley Short Story

A New Way to Study

A/N: Not to sound like those one tiktoks where the guy reads the authors notes from AO3 but so sorry this update is coming to you late. I was really stressed with some due dates then (just my luck) I got super sick. I should be back to usual updating now! Thanks for sticking around :)

Things were different now. She knew they would be.

It's unavoidable. Change. The human species despises nothing as much. And yet it is the only constant.

The rest of the day was...quiet. The exact opposite of Fred Weasley's core being.

Nicole was sure he had never been so quiet in his entire life.  She could feel his eyes on her, burning into her in a way new and untamed. Like now that he'd seen her naked, he knew what was under the wrapping paper and he was a child on Christmas.

She wasn't much better, it didn't take long to realize. While they had spent most of the day surrounded by his family, as much as he stared at her, she snuck her own short glances. Was it Christmas for them both?

Wedding planning was a distraction. Picking out color schemes, decorations. Arguing with Ginny and Mrs. Weasley wasn't much of a useful idea, she soon discovered.

The only solidarity she found in red hair today was from the senior. Arthur Weasley. The pair were enjoying some sun shinning into the kitchen. His usual, charming smile had faded into a bit of a lopsided frown, as if he was trying to finish a puzzle and missing some pieces.

He turned towards her, body facing her, "Have we met before?"

"Pardon?"

"Have we met before Freddie brought you home?"

There it was, the final puzzle piece. "Oh... oh uh... that's right! You helped me at the Ministry once!"

His eyebrows furrowed, "Did you not recognize me?"

Could Nicole say that England was full of pasty redheads? Better not. Shit. "I honestly didn't quite catch your name until it was a bit too late. I'm sorry, I sometimes struggle with the accents. By the time I uh... recognized you I was worried too much time had passed if that makes sense."

The interrogation wasn't over. "Why didn't you tell me about Fred? Once you realized I was his father. I mentioned the boys to you didn't I?"

She took a long sip of water, buying a milisecond to allow for some sort of brain activity. Her neurons weren't firing up to standard when it came to this. "Oh well...well I figured it wasn't my news to share. You should hear it from Fred, when he was ready. He was slightly concerned about the reactions."

Arthur chuckled dryly, "Well I understand why." Nicole's lungs remembered she needed air. She joined him in a short, forced laugh. "Guess it all worked out in the end."

He nodded, mumbling to himself as he began out of the kitchen, only to turn around the exact moment Nicole imagined she got away with it. "Can I ask you on more question? My apologies if I've been a bit much, I've been told I can ask too many."

"You can ask me as many questions as you'd like, Mr. Weasley." Though I'd prefer you didn't.

"Why were you at the Ministry that day?"

Nicole was mentally trying to calculate how many boxes shed need to pack her things once this all blew up in her face, "Oh, just some paperwork I was late turning in. Nothing too serious."

He smiled to her, though in a way that made her skin feel dirty. He most likely knew there was more to the story. Thankfully, he had made his exit. Mr. Weasley, unlike his wife, seemed to genuinely want to know her. He made her feel the worst about this tangled web of lies she'd continuously dragged more people into.