because i liked a boy • fred weasley

Chapter 13 - Saturday, October 5th

Talia gets off of her knees from in front of me. She straightens up her dress and brushes the dust off of her legs.

"I have no dignity left," she chuckles.

She was trying to convince me to go to the Gryffindor party tonight, but I'm really not in the mood. I've barely skipped a weekend of drinking since we got here, and I need a break.

"I'm sorry!" I pick up my cat and hold her up. "Della and I made plans and if I cancel on her again she's going to disown me."

"Can you just come with me for 10 minutes?" Talia asks me, "I hate walking in alone."

I nod and agree, throwing on jeans and a t-shirt, knowing that I'll just be turning around after she find Nathan.

I walk with her down the hall and into the common room. Everyone's energy is as high as ever. Normally the vibe would move me more, but everything about being around people is irking me.

"Hey, Nate," I smile at Talia's boyfriend as he tries to hand me a drink, "oh, I'm good. Thanks."

Nathan furrows his eyebrows, but knows that I'll be leaving momentarily. He takes a sip from the cup he just offered me and makes a face, "Good because this is awful."

I chat for a couple of minutes, but tell Talia that I'm heading out.

I think my sour mood started after Hogsmeade. The Chocolate Frogs I bought remind me so much of Pandora. She would give me one in every birthday present, and one would be left in my Christmas stocking at the end of my bed. She started my love for the sweet,

I say goodbye and exit the common room, not making it far down the hallway before my name is called. I turn around and see Fred jogging to catch up to me.

"Where're you going? I didn't even see you inside." Fred stops next to me.

"I was only walking Talia here," I explain, moving to the side so that the students walking to the party wouldn't trample over us. "I'm about to go to the Astronomy Tower then head back to my room."

"Can I come?"

"To my room? I-"

"To the Tower," Fred chuckles. "I'm not that forward."

I agree and we walk to the tower in silence, the only thing you can hear is the occasional squeak of my converse on the floorboards. I unlock the door and lead us upstairs, going straight to the windowsill that I normally sit at.

"Why didn't you wanna come to our party?" Fred asks as I light a cig and inhale. I hand him the first one I lit and then light one for myself.

"Just didn't feel like socializing right now," I shrug and inhale.

"I'm sorry," Fred looks uncomfortable, "do you want me to leave? I can."

I shake my head, "Socializing with you is fine, everyone else, not so much."

I bring my knee up and lean my chin on it. It's a cloudy night out tonight, but you can still see the stars peaking through. A light breeze makes me squeeze myself tighter, trying to find any warmth I can. I put a t-shirt on because I knew the common room would be hot and sticky, but now I wish I had a sweater.

My eyes linger on the small circular scars on my ankle. I rub my finger over them, feeling the difference between the new and the old. I stop myself from lowering my lit cigarette to my flesh right now, reminding myself that Fred is indeed sitting next to me.

"I think I'm gonna break up with Angelina," Fred shares out of nowhere.

I refrain from snapping my head towards him, from squealing, and from acting over interested in the downfall of his relationship.

"Oh, yeah?" I clear my throat quickly. "Why?"

I could name a handful of reasons on why he should be breaking up with her, and they're not at all selfish reasons.

"It's just not as easy as it used to be."

I rack my brain for a supportive answer to give him. "Aren't relationships supposed to be a little hard?"

Fred inhales his smoke three times before answering me. "Maybe a little, sure I could work with that. But something about me wanting to rip my hair out one strand at a time makes me think that something about this relationship is beyond unrepairable."

I don't respond. I don't want to say the wrong thing. I think about this schoolgirl crush that I have on him and think about how long after he breaks up with Angelina I'm gonna have to wait before I say anything to him. How long is appropriate without being disrespectful to both parties involved?

"You're easy to talk to," Fred looks over at me and half smiles.

"So are you," I close-mouth smile.