Insomnia | Fred Weasley |

16. George Weasley and his, oh so perfect timing!

Alex shook her head. "I don't know," she responded before seeing the uncertain look on his face. "Really, I don't."

He gave her a sad smile.  "I'm here to talk about it if you need someone," he told her.

"Thank you," she responded, barely audible before checking her watch and gasping loudly.  "Oh, I'm gonna be late for quidditch practice and it's the last one we have before the match!  Wood's gonna kill me!" She quickly began running down the corridor.

"I'll walk you to the pitch!" He told her, following right behind.

She gave him a suspicious look before he laughed.  "I'll walk you down and head straight back to the castle, I swear!"

Not wanting to waste any more time, they both made a run for the quidditch pitch.  The weather had been terrible in the days leading up to the first match, Alex was nervous about what it would be like the actual day of the match. She could see several teammates heading for the locker rooms to go change into their practice uniforms.

"Alex, where have you been?" Wood called to her over the sound of the wind.  Then he saw Cedric with her.  "What do you think you're doing here?!"

"Easy, Wood!" Alex told him, standing between the two boys.  "He was just walking me down, no need to fear."

"He's not sticking around?" Wood questioned, his gaze hardening.

"No, I've got to go meet with my own team," Cedric told him before looking at Alex. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"See ya!" She told him before rushing into the locker room.

Angelina and Alicia were in there, nearly ready as Alex stripped out of her school uniform and threw on her practice clothes. She fixed the ponytail her hair was in before rushing out onto the pitch with her broom where the team was beginning practice.

Madam Hooch sat in the stands, supervising the practices, or rather, keeping an eye on Harry and Alex. Harry had told her about the conversation she had with Professor McGonagall a few days prior about making sure an adult was around.

"Where were you that made you almost late?" Fred asked with a smirk as he flew right by her.

"I was with Cedric," she told him casually like it was no big deal.

However, she didn't see Fred's smirk drop upon hearing that little tidbit of information. His stomach tightened as he realized he had to start making a move or Cedric was going to have Alex wrapped around his finger. That was the last thing Fred wanted. But how was he supposed to approach it?

They ran through drills, fake passes, trick shots, and so many other things. By the time practice was over, Alex was shivering because of the wind and it had begun raining in the middle of practice.

"Merlin, it's freezing!" She grumbled as the team made their way back up to the castle.

"Oh Alex dear," Fred spoke as he came up beside her. "If you wanted me to snuggle up to you, you could've just said so."

Before she could retort back, he put his arm around her and she immediately warmed up. Her cheeks flushed as they continued walking but Fred continued his conversation with his brother as they made it into the Entrance Hall.  However, despite the obvious temperature change, Fred didn't remove his arm from Alex's shoulder, if anything, he pulled her closer and she felt herself grow even redder in the face.

Talk about mixed signals.

What Fred was saying and what he was doing were two completely different things. Which one was she supposed to look to when it came to his feelings toward her?