International Love | Fred Weasley

Chapter 18

The Butterbeer with cinnamon brings back happy memories of when I was younger. I have to swallow the lump forming in my throat and hold out the mug towards Fred, "Would you like a taste?"

Fred looks unsure as he places his own drink and accepts my mug. He takes a small sip and seems to think about the taste for a moment.

"It's different, that's for sure. I'm not sure if I like it or not."

I take my mug back and laugh. We sip our drinks for a moment before Fred speaks: "Tell me about your family. You have met most of my siblings: George, Ron, I'm sure you have seen Ginny. Percy is hard to miss."

Placing my drink down, I say: "Well, I have told you about my uncle. My parents both passed away when I was ten."

Fred's expression falls and softly, he says: "I'm sorry, I didn't know that."

"Of course not, how could you have known," I shrug and trace the rim of my mug with my index finger, "My parents passed away the year before I was scheduled to go to Hogwarts. My uncle feared that the thing that killed them would be able to easily find me at Hogwarts, so he decided to sent me to Beauxbatons."

"That sounds awful, knowing you could have gone to Hogwarts and instead get sent to France," Fred remarks with a frown.

"My uncle has been my legal guardian since my parents died. It was that or going to an orphanage which is the worst thing ever to a ten-year-old. I had no other choice than to listen to him. My parents both went to Hogwarts, but my grandparents from my father's side both went to Beauxbatons. My grandfather was French, and my grandmother is from Belgium. I could speak French well at age ten and French lessons are mandatory for non-French students in their first year."

The red-haired boy nods, "That explains why you don't have such an accent like the rest of your schoolmates."

I look up from the mug and laugh. Fred grins and places a hand over mine.

"My parents both met at Hogwarts and always snuck out in the middle of the night to meet each other. Mum would kill us if we would even try."

I laugh at the thought. We finish our Butterbeer while talking about lighter stuff and once finished with our drinks, Fred insists on showing me around the village. With linked arms, we walk through the main street as Fred points out all the different shops when we pass them. Most shops are packed with students and we don't enter most of them. We eat lunch at a place that is located off the main street. After lunch, Fred insists on entering the sweets shop, Honeydukes, and Zonko's Joke Shop where Fred buys a few ingredients for his pranks and I buy a small bottle of Frankie's Itching Soap, always good to have.

With Hogsmeade explored, Fred leads us to the Shrieking Shack. We look at it from a safe distance, behind the fence that protects any curious witches and wizards from getting too close.

"It does look scary, but I can't hear anything you described."

The boy standing beside me laughs. "You would be scared to death if you would hear something, even the Hogwarts ghosts won't enter it and they are already dead."

I cast one last look at the house over my shoulder before we walk back towards the castle. It's slowly getting darker and most students are heading back. We stop near the entrance, to the side in order not to bump into any students, and Fred smiles at me, "I hope you had fun and I made it up to you."

Smiling, I nod, "I had a lot of fun. Thank you for showing me around Hogsmeade."

Without thinking, I stand on my tiptoes to press a quick kiss onto Fred's cheek. The boy looks at me with wide eyes and I smile at him. I want to turn around to walk back to the carriage where I know the rest of my friends are waiting for me to report all about my date. But before I can take a step, I feel a hand grabbing my arm to turn me back around.

Fred smirks at me when I raise an eyebrow. He takes a step forward, closing the gap between us, and presses his lips on mine. I close my eyes and drop the bags I was holding to wrap my arms around Fred's neck. Fred's hand grip my hips. His lips are soft but firm on mine and taste like the Skeletal Sweets we ate out our way back to the castle.  

The kiss doesn't last long and is interrupted by a voice exclaiming happily: "Yes! They kiss!"

"Lee, you owe me a Galleon, pay up!" Another voice laughs. 

I break the kiss and open my eyes. I can't help but laugh at the behaviour of the two boys. Fred presses his forehead against mine and groans.

"I am going to kill both of them."

Another laugh escapes me and I wrap my arms tighter around Fred's neck. I look up into brown eyes that scan annoyed. Fred presses another kiss on my lips before letting go.

"If you don't mind me, I have to have a good talk with two boys."

Fred lets go of my waist and I pull back my arms. I giggle when he leans down and grabs my bags off the ground. When he hands them back and remarks: "You're mine now."

The boy casts one more glance over his shoulder in my direction before heading to the two boys standing a couple of feet away from us. George and Lee are trying to hide behind one of the castle's pillars. The two notice Fred walking in their direction with an expression of thunder on his face and jump up. After waving at me, they start running away. Fred starts running after them.

Laughing, I watch the three running down the hills before heading back to the carriage. The main room is empty and so is our room. Flora must not be back yet. I drop the bags on my bed and head to Aline's room, surely, she must be back already. I find the two girls there, sitting on the bed and eating candy. Flora smiles when I enter and Aline asks: "How did it go?"

I grab a green sugar quill from the pile on the bed and start telling them about my date. They laugh at Fred's suggestion to drink something at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop and the relief on Fred's face when I told him I preferred to go somewhere else. Flora giggles when I mention the kiss.

Aline nudges my leg with her foot, "Didn't we tell you to go for it?"

I agree as I eat the remainder of the sugar quill. Aline tells us about the walk she and Henry went on and how she had managed to cover him in snow. Flora tells us about her date with Zayko and sighs: "He is, you know, a bit cold? I did most of the talking and barely got to know anything about him."

Aline frowns, "You should give him a bit more time, I think. Try asking him about himself. Hopefully, he will open up a bit more."

Flora pouts and opens a chocolate frog. She examines the card before throwing it on the bed. When she has finished the frog, she turns to me and asks: "Are you and Fred a couple now?"

I shrug. Are we?

Aline begins to nod heavily and says: "Henry tells me all the time that I'm his. I'm sure you can be classified as a couple now."

Flora begins to smile and claps her hands: "International love, it sounds so cute!"