Marooned - Fred Weasley

Chapter 16: Terms

And that reason alone is why she said, "Right," although it made her smile drop for some reason. Oliver kissed her temple, pulled her out of her thoughts, "Could you stay with us at dinner? Anne and Mike won't shut up about last time when you made them all laugh, they're begging me to bring you back. They might like you more than they like me."

They'd arrived before the Astronomy tower, everyone was climbing up the stairs.

"Sure, I'll be there," she smiled, pushed her hair away from her face because of the wind outside.

Oliver watched her fondly and gave her back her books, "I'm gonna kiss you."

"Do not kiss me," she ordered, looking at the awaiting teacher and the people walking up the stairs.

Oliver nodded, then he quickly kissed her cheek, "Did it anyway!" and he ran away, leaving her smiling.

_

From the corner of her eye, she saw Fred appear in the portrait hole, arm around a girl she vaguely recognized, kissed her and left her grinning widely, going up to her own tower.

Her head snapped back to her book, feeling the need to clear her throat, and Fred plopped on the couch next to her, "McCauley, you're reading. That's new."

"Weasley, you're being a presumptuous pain in the arse, that's also new," said Sarah, not looking up from her book at him.

She heard him chuckle, "So, is she March's Denise? Last month's Rebecca or last week's Jane?" she asked.

"Alina," said Fred with a cheeky grin.

Sarah took in this name also, hoping she won't be as hurt as the others, "And does she know what she's in for?"

"Of course," said Fred pointedly, "They always know, but at some point I find out they secretly hoped it'll change."

She raised a brow at him, "So you're just the honest bloke, looking for harmless fun and the girls are simply holding you to unrealistic standards that you told them beforehand you don't intend on meeting?"

He flashed her a grin, "Exactly."

"That's crass, Weasley, harmless fun in relationships hardly exists," winced Sarah, then looked up at Oliver who'd just walked in.

He reached her and set a kiss atop her head, "Hey, beautiful."

She smiled and Oliver sat on the couch, threw an arm around her to bring her close.

"Yes, well," muttered Fred, and turned away from her.

They spent the evening talking, they were all friends at the end of the day, Angelina and Katie came in with some exciting gossip that they shared with the group, getting even the guys invested, and Oliver blended right in, it made Sarah smile, to see him and her friends get along, they'd been together a little over three months, now, and he became quite important to her. Fred rarely acknowledged him, though, and it was a shame, to not have her boyfriend and best friend get along, she constantly found herself trying to balance the two out.

_

Sarah's Potions class was walking out, they'd all received the grades of their mock exam, and the grades were not diversified, the majority had gotten 'Poor', which was a failing grade, didn't look promising for many in having an OWL in Potions. People were mumbling, downcast, some on the verge of burning their papers as soon as they walked into the common room.

"What do we have here?" asked Fred teasingly, snatching Sarah's paper from her hands, keeping it out of her reach.

"Weasley! How old are you, seriously?!" she scolded, jumping up to reach her paper.