It was a rough match. The Quidditch pitch had been frosted over from the December snow, and harsh winds had made clear vision a struggle. When you combined the weather with Slytherin's less-than-savory behavior, we really didn't have a chance. But that wouldn't stop me from blaming the loss on myself. That was how I found myself here, still showering in the Girl's Changing rooms two hours after the match. I turned off the water and sighed. I couldn't avoid my team forever. I knew exactly where I would find them - drowning their sorrows in the sixth year Boy's Dormitory.
I stepped out of the showers and cursed as I scanned the Changing Room for towels and saw none. And my wand was in the co-ed room. Great. And I thought this day couldn't get any worse. I was just deciding on making a quick dash for my wand when the door to the girl's changing room burst open.
"Oi, Y/L/N, are you trying to drown-" Fred Weasley's words fell out of his mouth as he smirked down at me. "Shit, Y/L/N, when did you get hot?" he said, crossing his arms and leaning against the door. "Get out I'm naked!" I shouted, my cheeks turning red. I attempted to cover myself while throwing the nearest thing I could find - which happened to be my bra - at him. "Turn the fuck around!" I shouted.
"You know, I was enjoying the view. It wasn't much of a problem for me," he said. Nonetheless, he turned around and faced the door.
"You're such an ass," I said, fuming.
"Me? Really? I'm wounded Y/L/N. And to think I came in here to check on you and bring you your wand."
"My wand?" I asked, perking up.
"Yup, I got it right here. I was planning on giving it to you too, but since you were so rude to me, I think I'll hang on to it."
"Are you fucking kidding me Weasley?"
"Nope," he said, popping the "p."
"Give it back to me," I said sternly.
"Ask me nicely."
"Are you serious? No."
"Please may I have my wand back my favorite person in the world."
"I hate you."
"I'm waiting," Fred said in a sing-song voice. I huffed.
"Please may I have my wand back my favorite person in the world," I said, lacing my voice with distain and sarcasm.
"That wasn't so hard was it," he said, tossing my wand over his head. I snatched it out of the air and quickly summoned a towel.
"Now out Weasley. Now," I said sternly as I wrapped the towel around myself.
"Sorry," he said turning around. "No can do."
"And may I ask why not?" I said, attempting to stay calm.
"Katie and Alicia assigned me to Y/N watch. They think you're gonna try to off yourself after this disaster of a match."
"That's fucking ridiculous," I said, scoffing. "And did I say you could turn around?" He shrugged his shoulders.
"I may have exaggerated a little bit. But, they did mention the possibility of self-destructive and rash behavior." I snorted. "I've also been told to retrieve you for the pity party currently going on in Oliver's dorm." I groaned.
"Fine, I'll meet everyone up there."
"Nooo, Katie and Alicia made it quite clear that I was to make sure you get there."
"Fred this is fucking ridiculous, just go." He just looked at me and sat down stubbornly. I groaned again. "Fine. Please at least leave so I can change." He turned around and faced the door again. I huffed and changed quickly. I knew arguing with him would only mean spending more time with him.
We left the changing rooms and walked up to Gryffindor Tower. I was fuming. I knew Katie and Alicia had sent him just to get on my nerves, and boy was it working. I did not like Fred Weasley. In fact I hated him. I suppose my hatred had begun two years ago. Before the incident, Fred and I had been best friends. That is, until he broke my arm during a game of Quidditch one summer at the Burrow. The broken bone wasn't the end of our friendship. In fact, Mrs. Weasley had fixed my bone herself in about six minutes. Our friendship ended right after, when Fred refused to talk to me for months. After he started to talk to me again, I was too hurt and confused to respond. He had shut me out and hurt me, and I hadn't been ready to accept him back into my life. Eventually, he didn't even talk to me. He just pulled pranks on me with George and joked around. I don't really know where all my hate comes from. Actually scratch that, I know exactly where it comes from. It comes from old pain that never went away, because I had been in love with Fred at the time, and he shut me out. I just didn't like to admit that part.
"So Y/L/N," Fred said, breaking me out of my daze. "Care to clue me in on these 'self-destructive behaviors' Katie and Alicia mentioned?"
"Not really," I said. "Actually Weasley, I'd rather not talk at all."
"And why is that?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows. "Is there something else you'd rather do?"
"Yes, I'd rather kiss the giant squid, take a Potions exam, die..." I said sweetly. He chuckled.
"You can try to resist me all you want, Y/L/N, but I'll get you," he said stretching his arms. I gagged and was saved from having to respond by the Fat Lady.
"Password?" she asked.
"Amor secretus," I responded. I climbed through the portrait hole quickly, hoping to leave the red-head behind me. I cursed under my breath when I turned and saw him following me up the spiral staircase. A cheer greeted us when I opened the door to the sixth year Boy's Dormitory.
"There are the lovebirds!" Alicia said, slurring slightly.
"You guys we gone for quite a while," said George waggling his eyebrows. I rolled my eyes and went to sit with Alicia and Katie.
"Thank you guys," I said. "For making tonight so much worse than I thought it could get." Alicia rolled her eyes and Katie pouted. They dropped their voices as the rest of the team engaged in a rant about the dirty tactics of the Slytherin team.
"So really nothing happened?" Katie asked.
"Of course, what did you think would happen if you forced me to spend time with someone I hate?"
"Oh I don't know, you guys would hook up, realize you're in love with each other..." Alicia said pointedly.
"Good Lord Alicia shut the fuck up."
"Alrightie, clearly we've touched a nerve. But Y/N don't you see that he's been in love with you for two years." Katie said as she looked at me.
"He's not in love with me Katie, he wants to fuck me. That's a big difference." I stood up and walked out of the room, despite Katie and Alicia's quiet protests. I didn't care. I was not in the mood for this tonight. I walked up the dorm's spiral staircase, to the very top. "Lumos," I whispered, casting light over the window that was always kept ajar. I pushed it all the way open, and crept out the window. The Gryffindor tower roof was the best place to think at night. I climbed out into the cool winter air and took a deep breath. The cold burned my lungs. It cleared my head as I looked at the stars.
Why was I so upset? Deep down, I knew it wasn't because of the match anymore. I had actually been playing a great game, until Marcus Flint decided to sic the two Slytherin beaters on me. I mostly blamed Toby Somper, who had been our substitute Seeker (since Harry had landed himself in the Hospital Wing again). That left Fred. God, why did he still bother me like this. Lots of guys were horny. I had definitely dealt with other guys hitting on me just because they wanted to hook up. So why was Fred different? Why did it bother me so much? "Fuck" I said, as tears sprung to my eyes.
"Y/N?" said a soft voice from the window below me.
"Shit," I said under my breath, as Fred clambered onto the roof.
"What do you want Weasley?" I said, wiping my eyes on my sleeve.
"I wanted to see if you were alright," he said looking down as he sat next to me.
"Well clearly, I'm doing great," I said sarcastically. "So you can go now." He didn't say anything, just sat next to me in silence.
"Why do you hate me Y/N," he said suddenly, looking at me. I stared at him, and felt anger bubble to my surface again.
"Maybe because we were best friends until you decided I wasn't good enough for you or something. Maybe because you broke my heart." Just as quickly as it had come, I felt the anger disappear. Then I was just left with a heavy weight in my chest. "I don't hate you Weasley. But seeing you just reminds me of everything that happened, and it still hurts. It hurts," I said, meeting his eyes. Then he leaned in and kissed me. And for some god damn reason, I kissed him back. To my surprise, he broke the kiss. He looked at me in disbelief.
"You kissed me back," he said. I groaned and looked away.
"Well, don't expect it to ever happen again."
"Why not?" he said, touching my hand. I slid my hand away.
"Because I still don't like you Weasley."
"That kiss seemed to say otherwise," he said. "So why not?"
"Maybe because I still care about you for some stupid reason, despite all that's happened between us, despite all of our history, while all you want is a hook-up buddy."
"God you're thick," he said, groaning.
"Excuse me?"
"How could you not know that I'm in love with you," he said looking away from me for the first time. "It's pretty bloody obvious." I looked at him with disbelief etched onto my face.
"You're in love with me?" I asked in a small voice. He sighed.
"Why do you think I volunteered to go get you after the match? Why do you think that I spend an unholy amount of time annoying you? Why do you think I didn't know how to talk to you after I broke your arm two years ago?"
"Well - I um -" I stuttered. "Fred this is absurd, you aren't in love with me."
"Oh really?" he said, his eyes burning. "You always wear red on Mondays because you think it will make the first day of the week a little bit brighter. Your best friends are Katie and Alicia, but you'll go to Katie for everyday troubles and Alicia for more serious issues. Your favorite shop in Hogsmead is Zonko's, but you spend more time in Honeyduke's because you have an unholy addiction to Sugar Quills and sometimes Chocolate Frogs. You're favorite book Wizard Thieves because you think the characters are amazingly written even if the plot can be a little dry at times. Also you-" he broke off, looking over at me, where my mouth was hanging open. "Well, you get the point."
"I just...well I..." I trailed off, unable to find words. I grabbed his hand back. "Well, it might please you to know that I'm in love with you too," I said shakily, looking into his eyes. They lit up like a little kid's.
"You mean it?" he asked.
"I do," I said, closing the gap between our lips. He smiled into the kiss.
"You said that would never happen again," he said grinning from ear to ear.
"Shut up and kiss me," I said, rolling my eyes and I pulled him in.