All The Small Things (Harry Potter) *Fred/OC*

19. Intervention

Tee decided not to follow Ariadne's advice. She really had given it the consideration that she'd sworn to herself she would, but regardless, the answer had still been pretty obvious from the start. She just wasn't interested in Sam like that. That brief moment had passed long ago.

If she started things up with him again, then it would just confuse everybody around them. It wouldn't be fair to Sam and it wouldn't be what she wanted. Tee was grateful for Ariadne's attempts to help, but she knew that she was just going to have to rely on schoolwork as an appropriate distraction from her otherwise muddled thoughts.

For the most part, she was just going to carry on as normal, like she'd already been trying to do. And hope that her head would sort itself out if she busied herself enough. She was lucky, because preparation for OWLs was now in full force in all of their classes. Not to mention their upcoming match against Hufflepuff was also closing in.

Tee had so many other things to think about that she really didn't have the chance to worry about the issues regarding her love life. And with the first opportunity she had for some free time in a while, she was much more interested in just kicking back and relaxing with her friends.

The four of them had sat down by the lake again that afternoon, sheltered by the large willow tree that they'd sat underneath before. The air was quite fresh, but the ground was dry and it was certainly starting to look towards a warmer spring.

"Exams haven't even started yet and I already can't wait for them to be over," Tee commented, leaning back on her elbows and absent-mindedly scanning their surroundings.

"Forget exams. I'm more interested in our final Quidditch match," Fred added, who was reclining against the tree's trunk.

"Not interested in schoolwork. There's a surprise," Rose teased.

"Well, at least I'm consistent with it."

Tee was barely even listening to what they were saying. If she had been, then she most likely would have beaten Rose to making that particular jibe. As it was, she'd noticed Sam and Jensen chilling with a couple of their friends further up the bank. Seeing Sam just brought her crashing back to reality, reminding her of Ariadne's letter and the decisions that she'd made over Valentine's Day.

She was only vaguely aware of Rose saying something to George when her friend suddenly exclaimed, "What on earth are you doing?" Tee glanced back round, but Rose wasn't looking at her.

"What are you on about?" asked Fred innocently.

"Why did you just mess your hair up like that? It looks ridiculous."

"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything," Fred replied.

"You did! I just watched you do it," Rose insisted.

Wondering what the hell her friend was talking about, Tee turned towards her other side. Fred had swept his hair back into one ungainly wave, giving him quite an extreme windswept look. He seemed to be purposely not looking at any of them. Tee bit back a laugh as she sat up.

"Rose is right. You look like an idiot," she giggled, leaning over and playfully swatting his hair back into place. "Probably better if you don't go with that look long-term."

"If it pleases you, then I won't," said Fred teasingly, giving her quite a winning smile in return.

Tee felt her heart perform that oh so familiar flip, but she just rolled her eyes theatrically at him. She'd gotten pretty good at hiding what she was really thinking lately. She casually turned her head away and saw Rose giving her a rather odd look. "What?" she asked, quite startled.