Dawn was sure Willow was only doing this because of her distraught state at the news of Willmur being petrified, but she always denied it. Willow wished Willmur were there to help them with the party, even though they both knew he probably wouldn't last past 11:00 at night.
"Oh my gosh," Willow exclaims as Dawn was scribbling down some third year's names onto the guest list the girls were making in the Great Hall. The news was flying around to those who were staying over break, and some students had been asking about possible invitations. "You should totally invite Macy! We could, like, sneak her in the night of, and she can experience a true Hogwarts celebration!"
Dawn immediately shakes her head rapidly, which makes Willow frown.
"Nope. No way that's happening."
"Come on!" Willow pleads. "She could use some good friends to hang around with. Plus, it's a good excuse to get closer to her."
"A.K.A. make a giant embarrassment of myself," Dawn says, putting down the quill she had in her hand. Willow smirks, sliding the paper and quill away from Dawn in front of her. Before she can argue, Willow scribbles down Macy's name, with a heart beside it.
"What the hell are you doing?" Dawn exclaims, lurching over the table to try and snatch the paper. Willow pulls it away from her, still smirking.
"She's coming. No arguments."
Dawn groans, leaning forward so that her forehead lands on the table in front of her. Willow laughs to herself, and glances over the other names on the list. Before she can ask who else they should add, she hears someone clear their throat from behind her. Dawn's head shoots up, and her eyebrows raise when she sees who it is.
Willow feels a pit in her stomach, already feeling like she knows exactly who it is behind her. Nevertheless, she turns around, and sees Fred Weasley standing before her. He has the winter hat clenched in his right hand, and a piece of paper in his left.
"Can we talk?" He asks through gritted teeth. Willow hesitates before lightly nodding. Dawn crosses her arms in an attempt to make herself known, and Fred's eyes flicker in her direction. "Alone?"
Without a word, Dawn gets up, and walks straight out of the Great Hall. Before she walks through the giant doors, she gives Fred the finger.
"What's her issue?" Fred asks, sitting down beside Willow, who's taken aback by his closeness. The scent of a warm campfire overtakes her senses, but she surprisingly didn't mind it. She shakes off the haze and shrugs her shoulders.
"Well, I'm just here to give this back to you," Fred's tone was oddly flat, and his face had no trace of his usual mischievous grin. He places the hat onto the table in front of them, but Willow still couldn't wrap her head around what was happening.
"You're just giving it back?"
"Yeah. Would think you'd want it back since it's winter and all," Fred says, and Willow purses her lips. Slowly, she reaches her hand out and takes the hat.
"Thanks."
Fred hums in response, and careful crumples the paper he had in his left hand, sticking it into his back pocket when Willow doesn't say anything else.
"So that's it then."
"I thought you wanted to talk?" Willow asks, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
"I thought I did too. Turns out the feeling isn't mutual," Fred says, standing up and stepping back from the table. Willow started to have the sneaking suspicion that this was about more than just her being distant. He was really hurt about something she had done.
Suddenly she wanted to just stand up too and tell him she did nothing wrong. She wanted to tell him whatever Cameron had said about them wasn't true, and that he was being stupid. There was so much that she wanted to say.
But then she remembered what George had said. The deal she had made.
When she snaps out of her thoughts, Willow sees Fred beginning to walk away. Without thinking twice, she stands up.
"Fred! Wait,"
Without a second of hesitation, Fred turns back around. The hope that had just sunk down to his toes was now resurrected and shining in his eyes. He watches as Willow stands there, searching for the right words.
"D'you want to come to a party?"
Fred licks his lips, not expecting those words to come out of the girl's mouth. He looks down at his feet, and sticks his hands in his pocket before answering. "What kind of party?"
"A Christmas one. On Christmas Eve. Dawn and I are hosting one."
Fred looks back up into the girl's eyes, and sees that her eyes were filled with the same hope that his were. He smiles, knowing what this meant.
"I'd love to."
"Cool," Willow was smiling too, smoothing her skirt and taking a seat back at the table. Fred turns on his heel, his smile growing wider and wider as he leaves the Great Hall.
Just outside the doors, George and Lee had been waiting, leaning up against the wall impatiently waiting for the boy's return. When Fred does eventually round the corner, the two boys stumble to meet him.
"So?" Lee asks, and Fred pauses, looking between the two in front of him.
"I'm going to a party."
a/n:
here's a short little chapter
for you :)
edit:
gifs are being stupid sorry if
it's not working :/
sixteen. INVITATIONS
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