|Red ➼ Fred Weasley|

➼chapter 32; black lakes and golden eggs

Serena rolled her eyes. "You say that like being bisexual is some sort of disease."

"'Course it's not, but it isn't exactly normal."

"And when have you, Magnolia Mulberry, ever strived to be normal?

"Never, I suppose," the Ravenclaw said quietly, staring up at the moon. "I've never once cared about society's outdated opinions. I guess there's no point in starting now."

Serena smiled in approval, wrapping her arm around Magnolia's. "I promise you Nolie, one day, someone will come into your life and completely throw you off balance. And they'll love you just as much as Mona and I love you."

"For someone so sure others will find someone, you don't think it's possible for yourself."

Serena shook her head. "If you're thinking about Fred, don't. We... had a row. It was pretty bad."

Magnolia sighed. "I thought he was exaggerating when he said he would only make things worse, but boy was I wrong. Looks like he did just that."

"So you did tell him Timothée and Fleur Delacour are cousins, didn't you?"

"It was when I was looking for Adalene," -Magnolia's tone went a little sour at the name- "I saw Fred and George. Angelina and Alicia were off dancing somewhere else, don't worry about them. Anyways, Fred seemed pretty upset. He asked about Timothée, so I just told him what I knew. I felt bad... he looked more miserable hearing about his 'competition.'"

"Competition? Against Timothée? For what?"

"For you, obviously. We all know Fred wanted to go to the ball with you, but you went with Timothée because Fred was being dumb. He's more upset about it than he lets on. So, George and I convinced him to tell you how he feels."

The girl scoffed. "Fred made it very clear how he feels about me. Accused me of 'fraternising with the enemy' all because Timothée kissed me-"

Magnolia whipped around to face Serena. "He what?"

Serena figured she probably should have led up to that piece of information. "Erm..." she fiddled with her fingers as she looked for a way to explain. "Well, he sort of sprung up on me, but I don't blame him. He felt really bad afterwards, even apologised in French... well, I think that's what he said in French. At least someone was straight forward with me."

"I'm not excusing what Fred said to you, Serena, but if he saw when you and Timothée, he must have felt pretty mad at himself for missing his chance. People act differently when they're jealous."

The Gryffindor scoffed. "You say that as if he likes me."

"Because it's obvious he does. Boys are stupid, and don't know how to tell a girl they like them. Fred most definitely falls in that category. He was jealous and took his anger out on you," said Magnolia. "A prick move for sure, but I can promise you, he genuinely likes you, a lot. He just needs to get over his fragile pride."

"Well, I think you're wrong."

Magnolia rolled her eyes. "I swear, you and Ramona can't tell when someone likes you even if they permanently stamp it across their forehead."

Serena, ignoring the Ravenclaw's statement, smiled at the mention of their other friend. "She seemed so happy. Glad one of us had a good night."

Magnolia smiled as well. "Yeah, I think Cedric's really good for Ramona. That girl, she has a really big heart. She deserves someone to love."

"Look at us," laughed Serena, "being all mushy and sad."

Magnolia snorted. "Yeah, not a good look on us. But... it has been a while since we've sat out by the lake. It was nice. Even though it's freezing and we haven't got any cloaks," she laughed as she stood, brushing off her cobalt dress that shimmered in the moonlight.