[1] Lemons into Lemonade ✓ | FRED WEASLEY

Chapter Forty Eight

She grinned, "No, I told you, hon: Hufflepuff privilege."

"I really should use that more," Fred replied, "Anyway, this is brilliant, we'll be alone - "

"That is brilliant."

Something about her tone caught him a little off guard, taking him a few moments to recover, "Y-yeah... it is. But don't you see? She's not even bothering to come with us, it's better than a sleeper. Once we sort out this little flood, we can leave, maybe even join Lexy and George on their grand Headmaster spotting tour."

She looked down at him with an eyebrow raised, "You do remember this is the first of two weeks detentions, hon? We might not get so lucky next time..."

"True or ... we might."

The 'little flood' turned out to be a bit bigger than expected although it was nicely contained in one area. At first, it felt like an easy task until they realised that neither of them could cast the spell to reverse it. When he did it, there was simply no effect and when she attempted it, somehow the water level rose ... neither was ideal. There were many spells that could have been used but the pair were somewhat distracted by each other's company and came to the terrible conclusion that manual labour was the way to go. Fetching some buckets from the Herbology room, they decided this was the best way to maximise time: solving the problem by dumping the water outside and maybe bumping into Lexy and George as they walked.

"We're not very good Witches and Wizards, are we?" Aubrey laughed around the time of their third water run.

"Is that even a question?" He laughed, "I'm taking three N.E.W.Ts ... or you are..."

She looked around, "Maybe we should just openly talk about being swapped, perhaps the great and powerful Crabapple will overhear us."

"For all we know, Jack and Charlie were the Crabapples," Fred replied, "Ravenclaws are just as devious as Slytherins, they're just smart enough to hide it. Or, maybe Kenny's the Crabapple - "

"Kenny?" She laughed, "Why Kenny?"

Fred shrugged, "He glowered at me when I went with you on the boat back ... shifty fellow."

She laughed again, "I think he's just annoyed that I'm spending a lot of time with you. He thinks you ... or rather me ... are a bad influence on ... well, me."

"Maybe we are."

"I don't know," She shrugged, "I certainly have become a lot more open to spontaneity thanks to you plus I actually trust you to take charge now and then. In fact, I'd go as far to say that there is no power struggle anymore, we're a dynamic couple now - "

"Couple?"

"Duo, I meant duo," She said quickly, her cheeks going red. She wasn't quite sure how that had slipped out, perhaps it was because her possible feelings for Fred had been gnawing at her subconscious for days now. The two neared the back door of the castle and emptied their buckets outside, not saying anything for a little bit before Fred broke the silence.

"Do you think you and George would ever have worked even after you'd switched back?"

She gave a shrug, "Who knows, hon ... actually, I think I do know: we wouldn't. I don't know, it always felt like something was holding me back, I only really spoke to him to prove Ang wrong and as you revealed, I may have never really liked him at all, to begin with..."

"Yeah, yeah," Fred replied nonchalantly, deliberately looking away from her.

"I never wanted to talk about him in that way, it always felt quite ... down to business," She replied, "I never felt all the stuff you're meant to feel."