Lupin's words stayed with me for the rest of the night. Everyone was pretty tipsy by the time we left, and it was well into the early hours of morning. Fred put up a fight when his mom told him he couldn't sleep in Charlie's room with me, which was weird and embarrassing and I kept apologizing even though it really wasn't my fault in anyway- and everyone kept being sure to remind me of that. George filmed the whole thing on his phone, and Ron had ended up on the floor, clutching at his stomach and crying from laughter.
Alice slept with me, though, and it was nice to have the moment where it was just the two of us. We talked for a while, only drifting to sleep when the night started to lighten out the window. We came up with a whole plan for the future, where we were both old spinsters living in the countryside of France and all the children of the town would be scared of us because we'd cackle and yell at them from our porch. It was a nice plan, and some of the turmoil from the night settled down in my chest.
In some ways, I knew that I wasn't actually picking Fred for life. I mean, I had already dated Judas, and we sure as hell weren't ever going to stay together the way that Lupin and Sirius Black had. Or Harry's parents had. Or, I guess, even Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had. I'd turned onto my side, watching Alice's breathing slow. Her eyelashes flutter. I reached out and brushed some hair away from her face, and her nose scrunched up for a moment. Lupin's words were floating back to me again- everything is changing. I sighed, then turned to look at the ceiling. Yeah, it was changing. God, for a moment, I missed Judas. It was brief, and stupid, but I did. I missed the simplicity of life that had surrounded my relationship with Judas. We'd been young, and ridiculous, and everything had been pretty okay, aside from all the relationship drama he'd been stirring up.
Alice snuffled a little in her sleep, and I glanced at her, and her hand was grasping at the blanket. I reached out and slid my hand into hers, and she made a strange little grunt. And then she squeezed my hand, and settled down once more.
I woke up still holding her hand, and she was frowning in her sleep. It was early- like, really early. I'd probably only slept a total of three hours, really, but my body felt restless. It was Christmas morning, after all.
I shoved Alice a little. She snorted and rolled over and blinked at me grumpily.
"Morning. Merry Christmas." I said to her, and she groaned, stretching, still frowning. I pushed her again, and she yelped, and shoved me back. I was about to push her off the bed when there was a rap at our door. We both froze, and just blinked at one another.
"Ir's me." The person on the other side of the door said, and it was mom, and she was opening the door wearing a sheepish expression. In her arms were a handful of presents. "I think- well the- the Weasleys seem to open their presents separately, I think." She said. We just stared at her, and she nodded towards the end of the bed. I moved before Alice, crawling on my hands and knees to look over the footboard, and sure enough, there was a stack of shiny wrapped presents. Alice ducked up beside me, resting her chin against my shoulder.
"Damn, that's a lot of presents." She said. I elbowed her.
"Your breath stinks." I said. She moved closer and breathed hotly into my face. I gagged, pushing her away abruptly.
"Girls." Our mom said sharply, and we both withdrew, sheepish and sleepy.
"Sorry mom." Alice muttered, but I simply snorted and shoved her again. Our mom was sighing, and padding over to the bed, sitting in the warm spot that we'd left, pulling the blanket over her feet. She spread her own presents out before her. I turned to watch her while Alice leant over the end of the bed, slowly dumping each present in between us.
"You didn't want to open presents with David?" I ask, and I really honestly didn't mean it to sound as bitter as it came out. My mom simply sighed, and rubbed at her eyes.
"No." She said simply. The answer made my chest constrict a little, and so I didn't push it. Instead I turned to help Alice.
Soon we were opening presents. Most of them were simply labeled with a 'to' and 'from'. When we were little, our dad used to write all sorts of silly cards on each gift, and we'd read them out. Every single one, before opening the gift. Alice had still done it- small notes in her round and neat handwriting. She'd gotten both of us pairs of earrings- simple pearls for mom, little mushrooms for me. I wrangled her in for a wet kiss on her cheek while our mom laughed and told her what a sweet daughter she was.
I'd gotten my mom a new pair of gloves, in Ravenclaw blue. I'd also managed to knit a matching scarf, but I'd done it by hand, and she and Alice spent time giggling at the holes and mistakes in the middle until I was throwing things at them and telling them I had no use for a family anyway. And then my mom had grabbed me around the neck and pulled me to her chest and was cooing about how darling it was and that she'd wear it forever. And then I leaned into her side and opened my present from Ron, which was a box of chocolate frogs, and Ginny, who'd given me some sugar quills and a box of lavender cookies that would help me sleep. Alice had gotten the same cookies, but Ron had given her a book on magic philosophers, which I demanded she let me look at because damn, good one Ron.
Mrs. Weasley had made us all sweaters. Alice's was a Ravenclaw blue, same as my mom's gloves, and she pulled it on eagerly. Mine was a mustard yellow, and I rejoiced in my mom's scowl as I tugged it over my head. Her's was green, and they made her eyes- the eyes she'd given to Alice and I both- pop spectacularly.
"You have to wear it, mom. It'll look so pretty on you." I was telling her as Alice continued to open the rest of her gifts. A box of assorted candies from Bill, which I got the same, and some enchanted hair clips from Fleur. I pressed mom to tell us what she'd gotten all the kids, since it'd been her job to get presents from the both of us, and she told me about how she'd gotten little boxes of makeup for Ginny, and a book on Quidditch for Ron, and a pair of silver earrings for Bill.
"But you didn't even know that Bill would have pierced ears." I cried, overwhelmed by how brilliant my mother's gift giving skills really were. But she just shrugged, and insisted we open her presents next.
There were a lot from mom, but there always were. Alice called it gift guilt- anytime something bad happened, mom tried to make up for it in a surplus of presents the next gift giving holiday. And for mom, everything was a gift giving holiday. So there were new sweaters for us each, and a beautiful set of pink robes for me that I wasn't sure I would ever actually wear but thanked her anyway, and a couple of books for Alice and a new sketchbook with pencils for me.
"Diana- there's nothing from Fred or George." Alice pointed out after a while, patting down the wrapping paper so as to make sure. I turned around on my knees, mimicking her actions, crumpling the pieces in a futile attempt to search and clean at the same time.
"Yeah- I guess not." I said, trying my best not to seem disappointed. It wasn't like I'd anticipated they would actually get me anything. Hell, at the beginning of all of this, I wasn't even sure if they actually liked me at all.
My mom was frowning though, sitting up a little, peering over us. "Are you sure? That's odd, considering how that Fred boy was hanging off you last night."
I rolled my eyes. "'That Fred boy'" I deadpanned to Alice, who snickered.
Turned out 'that Fred boy' had been planning to give me his gift in person. He cornered me just after breakfast, when we kids had been dismissed to the livingroom to discuss our new gifts and drink the mimosas our parents were pouring for us because it was Christmas and they were too hungover to pretend they cared anymore.
He shoved a small box into my hand, and was bouncing nervously as I looked down at it, dumbfounded.
"I just- I- well, I wanted to see your face. So I could know if you actually liked it. Because- um, if- if you don't, that's totally alright. I just wanted- genuinity, is all."
I looked up at him, and whatever expression I was wearing on my face must have made him even more nervous, because he turned pink all the way to the tips of his ears.
"Is- is that weird? I just, I wanted to know-" But I stopped him by putting my fingers on his mouth.
"Freddie, chill." I said. "If it means this much to you that I like it, I'll probably like it, regardless of what it actually is."
When I removed my hand from his mouth, he was grinning. Like, beaming down at me, all teeth and dimples and lopsided. I gave him another look, feeling somewhere in the middle of nervous and exasperated and completely, utterly enamored with the expression.
"Why're you looking at me like that!" I finally exclaimed, stomping a little and flinging my hands up. Fred merely shrugged, tucking his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants. He was wearing a new sweater as well- maroon, with a G on it, and it made his brown eyes look almost green.
"You called me Freddie." He said.
"So?"
"So, you've never called me Freddie before."
I blinked. "I haven't?"
"No."
"Oh- um, sorry-"
"No- no! I really liked it. I like it when you call me Freddie."
"Oh." My brain was totally mush. How was he so cute? How could he be so cute and hot at the same time? And how could he just, like, completely wind me like that? "Okay. Cool. Freddie." I repeated the name a few more times, like I was testing it out. And I was, I guess. But he bounced almost in excitement as I did so.
"Merlin, okay. Open the gift Sterling."
"Yeah- right." I looked down at the little wrapped thing. Underneath the wrapping there was a wooden box that looked homemade. And in that box was a golden necklace, with a small, shiny moon. "Oh wow." I whispered, going to touch the moon, hold it between my fingers. I blinked rapidly when I realized that it wasn't actually metal. It felt almost like- "Rubber?"
"Yeah it's- ah- um, okay." And he was blushing again, and fidgeting, and then scratching at the back of his neck and he looked sheepish of all things. "So, I noticed that you- you chew on your hair a lot. Which, I mean, it's probably not so great for your hair, right? And then, when you do it, you-" He waved his hands towards the ends of my hair, which was handing limp and tangled around my shoulders, "-you'll have these wet ends sometimes. And I just- I thought maybe it'd be better to have something that's like- you know, for chewing on? So I- I made you-" He waved a hand at the necklace. "It's enchanted to just look like a normal necklace. But it's rubber, that's safe to- you know- chew on?"
He faltered towards the end, and was scuffing the wooden floor with his foot. His socks were mismatched- one was plain white, the other had little brooms on it. "Sorry if it's silly." He eventually mumbled, and I was blinked at him, trying to take everything in.
"You noticed I chew on my hair?"
He just nodded.
"And so you- you made me a necklace. To chew on."
He nodded again. Something so overwhelmingly warm and bright bloomed in my chest. And I couldn't help it- I just couldn't handle whatever I was feeling. So I pushed up into him, and pressed our lips together hard, moving into him frantically, grabbing at his shirt, pulling me close to me.
"So you like it?" Fred gasped between kisses. I just laughed, breathless, overwhelmed, and dragged him back down to kiss again.
The rest of Christmas was slow. Quiet. I felt a little bad that I hadn't actually gotten Fred or George anything on my own- my mom had gotten them both earrings as well, apparently, of little golden beater bats. I expressed this to Fred, but he simply shook his head and pulled me close and said that it was totally alright- that I'd had other things on my mind, and it wasn't as if he was being the nicest person in the world when we first got here.
There was a big lunch, which was weird for Alice and I, because usually we only ate leftovers on Christmas. Dinner was smaller, but rambunctious, fueled by day long alcohol intake and the bleariness that the holidays held. Christmas crackers were popped, and Fred placed as many paper crowns on my head as he could collect. Then he force fed me butter toffees until I hit him over the head and plopped myself in George's lap, declaring that he was officially my favorite twin. George had been happy enough to play along, wrapping his arms around my waist and tugging me out of Fred's way despite his loud and frantic protests.
Mrs. Weasley- Molly, Molly she kept telling me to call her- put on Celestina Warbeck at some point, laughing and dangling off of Mr. Weasley's shoulders. Fleur seemed a little standoffish, sitting primly on Bill's knee as he laughed and tried to goad her into joining in the festivities. George spun me around and around until I thought I might puke, and then he grabbed Ginny, and whirled her around until she fell over laughing. Ron and Alice disappeared at some point, and even David seemed in a good mood. He and my mom were curled into one another on the couch, whispering and smiling and I found myself thinking if only, if only he could be like that all the time. Then maybe I wouldn't hate him so much.
Fred pulled me away after a bit, dragging me into the kitchen and lifting me onto the counter as if I weighed nothing. I squeaked and protested, but broke down into giggles when he crowded around me, nuzzling his face into my neck and peppering light kisses there.
"Stop- stop! I don't want to get into trouble with your mom." I whispered, and he scoffed against my skin. I tugged at the back of his sweater. "Okay, fine. My mom."
That made him pull back a little, but then he was just looking down at me, smiling that same loopy smile he'd worn this morning. I huffed up at him.
"What?" I said.
"What what?" He said back.
"Why're you looking at me like that?"
"Like what?"
"Ugh." I covered my face with my hands, and he laughed. I peeked at him through them.
"Stop!" I whined.
"I can't stop if you don't explain what I'm doing."
"Looking at me!"
"But I like looking at you."
I paused, looking up at him beneath my lashes, between my fingers. He laughed, but it was breathless, like he couldn't believe what he was laughing at. I made a little whine in the back of my throat, and he did that laugh again, and then pried my hands off my face, getting in close, tangling our fingers together.
"Let's go on that date tomorrow." He whispered. I could feel his breath fanning my face. I could smell his breath- sweet, like Cedric's, but still different. Cigarettes, cinnamon gum, an underlying alcohol. My eyes threatened to flutter closed. I liked the way he smelled, all close and personal like this. It was so undeniably boyish- a sharp deodorant, dove soap, cinnamon.
"Yeah- yeah, okay."
He was nodding, and his forehead had somehow found mine. "Great. Okay. What should we do?"
"On our date?"
"Yeah."
"Make out a bunch."
He snorted, and I breathed it in.
"Yeah, besides that."
I shrugged. "That's all I want to do."
"You just want to make out?"
I gave him a sheepish grin, fluttering my eyelashes. "Yeah."
He hummed, deep within his chest. It made my heart stammer.
"Okay, we can do that. But what else?"
I shrugged again. "Whatever you want."
"Whatever I want?"
For a second I froze. What did that mean? I squirmed a little, pulling away slightly. "Well, I mean- just, like- within my- my comfort level, I guess. I mean-"
He puffed out a laugh, and then pressed a kiss to my temple. I huffed slightly.
"Would you play Quidditch?" He asked simply. I balked, and then shook my head.
"Nope. Sorry. Not within my comfort level."
He pouted. I gave him an incredulous look.
"I'm a Hufflepuff! We don't- don't do Quidditch. Idiot."
He huffed. I cupped his face in my hands. "Come on. I thought you were going to teach me how to cast a patronus?"
"You're not allowed to do magic outside of school."
I quirked a brow. "Since when do you care about what you're allowed and not allowed to do?"
Fred frowned just slightly, and I blinked in surprise. "I don't want to get you in trouble on our first date."
"But isn't that what you do? Like, get into trouble."
"Not when I want things to go well."
"Maybe they would go well."
"You'd get kicked out of school."
I puffed air into my cheeks, and he offered an apologetic smile. "I can teach you when we get back to school. I promise."
"Pinky swear?"
He held out his pinky. I took it in mine. "You have to kiss it." He told me. And I did.