"Fred, are my butt cheeks different shapes?"
Grabbing his attention, Oshun held her T-shirt up and turned, so the redhead could look at her bum. She was in nothing but a T-shirt and undergarments at the moment.
"What do you mean?" His bushy eyebrows drew together as his eyes appraised her bare bottom.
"Don't look at the dimple on my thigh." Her palm covered the dimple on the upper part of the side of her right thigh. "Does this butt cheek look like it's dented?" She turned more, so he could see the left butt cheek.
"No." He looked so confused as he lay on her bed, shuffling cards.
"Does this butt cheek look more round?" She then turned the other way, so he could only see her right butt cheek.
His eyes narrowed as he pushed himself off the headboard to lean closer. "Actually, yes," he said slowly.
"You're fucking lying." She gasped in horror and turned to the mirror at the dresser to examine her butt cheeks.
"I mean... They're not..." He perked up. "Oh, your butt cheeks are like fraternal twins." He sucked in his cheeks and bit down, appearing to be holding in a laugh.
She squinted at him through the mirror. "Fraternal twins?" she mused, scoffing lightly. "That's supposed to make me feel better?"
"Well..." His head tipped forward and his eyes stared at her ass some more. "I think your ass looks very lovely. Even better with my handprint on it."
She dropped her T-shirt and it spilled down to cover her bum. "Thanks, big head," she said with flushed cheeks.
He sent her a wink that made her knees want to give out beneath her. "Can I see the dimple on your thigh?" he asked, and spun to throw his legs over the edge of the bed as he placed the cards on her nightstand.
"No." Her fingers hooked through the handles of her drawers to pull them open.
"Why not?" He rose to his feet and approached her from behind. His hands circled around her waist and he tugged her into him.
"Because it's weird. Who has a single dimple on their thigh?" she muttered, pretending that the fire in his touch wasn't driving her insane. She pulled out some folded clothes and placed them on the dresser since she was packing for the suite.
"Can I see it please?" He held her gaze through the mirror, his chin resting upon her shoulder.
She stayed quiet for a few moments before she gave in with a sigh. She lifted the right side of her shirt and dipped her head to look at her own thigh dimple.
Fred's head lowered and his eyes examined her dimple. A grin made it onto his lips as his fingertips gently brushed over her dimple. "It's cute," he said earnestly, and straightened himself out. "I like it."
She let go of her shirt to let it fall and she smiled. "Thank you," she said, catching his gaze through the mirror.
He leaned in and pushed his lips ardently into her hair. "Mhm," he hummed through his grin.
"Should I pack all my hygienic products?" Oshun asked, and walked to the bathroom. A gasp fled her lips when a large hand collided with her ass and made her heart skip a beat. "Goodness, Fred."
"I can't help myself, gorgeous." Fred's hands raised in a surrender, but a devilish smirk took over his mouth. "I apologize."
Her eyes rolled as she grabbed a small go-bag to pack some of her hygienic products.
She didn't use any face products except unscented lotion since she had sensitive skin. She used body wash for sensitive skin and it was unscented as well.
"Takahashi, is Malfoy coming?" came the tall boy's voice from the dorm as he got comfortable on her bed once more.
"No. Why?" Oshun zipped up her little bag before strolling back into the room.
"I don't know." His shoulders lifted in a shrug as he shuffled the cards and did tricks with them. "I just figured since you're seeing him again, he'd come."
"Mm-mm." She shook her head and began to neatly pack her things inside of her trunk.
As she placed her belongings inside of the trunk, her stomach flipped and she nearly gagged. But she couldn't hold in her cough and when she coughed into her hand, she saw black.
Her eyes widened as she scrambled to the bathroom and slammed the door shut. She locked it before she dropped in front of the toilet and retched.
Her body jolted as that familiar black substance exited her mouth and splattered into the toilet, hitting the water with a sickly sound. Her arms were curled around the bowl of the toilet, her eyes watering at her own gagging.
"Oshun." Fred's knuckles collided with the other side of the door gently. "Are you alright? What's happened?" The doorknob rattled.
"Hol—" She retched once more. The black substance was like the texture of blood, thick and scarily dark. Her saliva mixed with the black stuff made it string down her mouth. "Hold on!"
Her throat felt scratchy as she flushed the toilet and got to her feet. She quickly washed her hands and rubbed water onto her mouth to clean off the black stains.
"Oshun." The doorknob rattled yet again, impatient. "Oshun Bea Takahashi, you better open this bloody door right now."
"Wait," she called out as her eyes lifted to her reflection in the mirror. She sniffled and blinked to clear the tears from her eyes.
As she was about to rinse out her mouth, a trickle of black crept down her left nostril. Slowly, but terrifyingly. Her heart was thudding triple time in her chest as she gasped under her breath.
She raised her hand to her nose and wiped her index finger across the black. It smeared under her nose and she looked down at her finger, panic rising in her throat.
But her mind was blank, so all she did was stick tissues up her nose until she saw no black and cleaned herself up. She flushed the stained tissues down the toilet and spared a glance at herself in the mirror, ensuring she was clean from the black stuff.
She exhaled a trembling breath and smiled at herself before she turned to unlock the door. She pulled the door open and saw Fred standing there with a vexed expression.
"What happened?" he asked firmly as his hand closed around her chin. He turned her head from left to right to examine her face. "What's wrong? You threw up?"
"I'm fine. I think I just ate something bad at lunch. No big deal." Despite the tingles she got from his worry, she shrugged his hands away from her.
"You didn't eat lunch," he deadpanned.
She laughed. "Oh, see? Perhaps I should've eaten something then." She shrugged it off and went to continue to pack her things.
"Oshun, I'm not laughing." He sat on the edge of the bed, next to her trunk. "What's wrong? Do you feel ill, angel?" His hand raised to palm her cheek before feeling the opposite cheek with the back of his hand and then feeling her forehead.
"No. Freddie, I'm fine." She waved his hand away.
He sat there with aggravation written across his features, studying her carefully.
Her eyes glanced at him. "I swear, I'm fine," she insisted, and placed folded jeans into her trunk.
His large hands grasped her waist to pull her between his legs. "Are you sure?" He tipped his head back to hold her stare.
"I'm sure." She nodded with a small smile, her hands brushing his soft hair back.
He swiftly drew her in onto his lap, so she straddled him. "Do you want anything? Tea?" he suggested in a soft tone of voice. His hands ran up the back of her thighs and up to her bum under her shirt.
Her arms sealed around his neck, hugging him. "I'm fine." She shook her head and planted a chaste kiss on his lips. "Oh, sorry. I just kissed you after I threw up."
"It's okay." He actually kissed her again. Sweet and gentle.
He kept her in his arms. His strong arms wrapped tightly around her and hugged her sweetly, his hand rubbing her back comfortingly.
Her cheek brushed against his as she let her chin rest on her own arm, hugging him back. She loved the worry and care he had for her.
But what just happened was something she didn't even know. It happened a lot now, ever since the first time.
She never knew when, but she would feel her stomach lurch and she'd know what was coming. It was an erratic pattern.
She was just waiting for her parents to give her the go sign, so she could head home and see what they know.
Perhaps tell them what was happening to her too because maybe they knew.
_____
One by one, everyone and their future spouse got sent to their assigned suite by McGonagall.
The suites were located on the top floor in an empty wing. It took a couple weeks for them to get built by the elves, but they were now done. The suites were built all next to each other down the large corridors of the wing.
Oshun said bye to her mates before she and Fred were sent to suite number sixty-nine.
She was on his back with arms around his neck and legs around his waist. He wanted to give her a piggy-back ride to their suite, both of his hands occupied by their trunks.
"Can we do six-nine tonight?" Fred's sultry voice made the area between her legs tingle.
"If you behave, maybe." She made herself appear unbothered by his words because she sort of liked being the one in control with dominance.
"It's a fucking sign, Takahashi," he said in an eager whisper as they headed to their suite. "A fucking sign that we should do six-nine tonight. I'll be the six and you can be the nine."
"Fred—"
"You're the nine because out of ten, I am the one you need," he went on in his own amusement.
She actually laughed, not because it was funny, but because of how cheesy it was. "Weasley," she said with a heavy sigh. Her chin nuzzled in his shoulder. "What on earth am I going to do with you?"
He chuckled through a grin and turned his head to brush a kiss on her cheek. His eyes were beaming with genuine happiness and it made her heart flutter in her chest.
They got to the door of their suite and Oshun hopped off his back to unlock the door with the key she was given to by McGonagall. She turned the knob and pushed the door open.
She turned to Fred. "After you, my pretty boy," she beamed, and gestured a hand out at the open door.
The tall boy smiled at her and walked into their suite with their trunks in hand. She trailed behind him and shut the door behind herself before she took in the suite.
There was a king-size bed with a mahogany bed frame and several throw pillows upon the bed, and a fluffy rug under the bed that was very large.
All the wood in the room was mahogany and in the left corner, farthest from the bed, sat two velvet couches with gems decorating the edges and a coffee table between. There was an attached bathroom with a freestanding bathtub, a fancy shower with two showerheads and a two person sink.
The walls and counter were marble and the floor was tiled. There were bookshelves on one side of the room, and a dresser and closet on the opposite side. The suite was themed with white, shades of grey, and black.
"It's huge." Oshun gasped in delight as her eyes widened. "Bloody fucking hell."
"The bed is nice," Fred commented, putting their trunks on top of the mattress. "This bed is just calling for—"
"Six-nine." Her eyes rolled in amusement. "Yes, Fred. I know."
"Shall we get to it then?" he growled, and rushed to her.
She gasped when he scooped her into his arms and tossed her onto the soft bed, away from their trunks. She unleashed a hearty laugh as he dropped on top of her and kissed her.
Her arms winded around his neck. "As tempting as it is," she said between kissing him, "I want to unpack and get settled first, alright?"
"Anything you want." He pecked her on the mouth sweetly.
Oshun and Fred both unpacked and got settled into their suite. She checked out every part of the room, enjoying everything about the privacy, luxury, and large size of the suite.
Since they had gotten sent to their suites after the feast, they had all night long to do whatever they wanted.
The tall redhead was getting ready for bed first since she wanted to look through the books on the mahogany shelves.
"Takahashi, didn't you say Mavi went home?" Fred's voice came from the bathroom, the door opened a crack.
"Yeah. Why?" Oshun plucked a thick book from the shelf.
"Why did she go home?" he questioned, words muffled by his toothbrush.
"She didn't want to be in a suite with Nott." She snorted a laugh and flipped through the worn book. "So she's staying home for this weekend."
"So Nott has a whole suite to himself, you're telling me?" he said after rinsing his mouth.
"I don't know if they gave him a suite actually, since he's alone," she mused, and pushed the book back onto the shelf before sliding another off. "Might just be in his dorm."
"Hm." He combed his hair with his hands before approaching her from behind. "Anything good?" His eyes peered over her shoulder to see what she was looking at.
"Not really, no." She shook her head, slightly disappointed. She had to keep herself composed when he slid his hands around her waist from behind and began to drop light kisses on the curve of her neck. "Is the water pressure in the shower nice?"
"Believe it or not, it's worse than the ones at the dorms," he admitted, and held her tightly. Almost as though he were afraid she'd slip away from him if he let go.
By the time Oshun was in bed on her stomach and a book in hand, it was past midnight. Fred's cheek rested on her bum, his arms possessively looping around her waist as he shut his eyes to fall asleep.
Her intrusive thoughts were asking her what if she farted? She didn't need to fart, but the intrusive thoughts were being just that—intrusive.
Was this normal for people to do? Use each other as pillows and for comfort? Did people fart during these? Did their stomachs make weird sounds? Did vagina-farts happen?
Oshun shook off those thoughts. She didn't need to fart.
They had switched the lamps on and turned the lights off, so the room was dim. The mattress was unbelievably soft and the sheets were cold—her favourite kind.
The cold sheets rested over Fred's body and his body was on top of her legs since he was using her ass as his personal pillow.
Something they often did was use each other for their own comfort. She used him as her own bed and he used her bum as his pillow. She loved that. Maybe it could be their thing.
Her hands held the book upon the pillow—the pillows were soft, too soft for her liking—and the air was thin. It was quite peaceful with the dim lights, zero tension, and quiet.
Oshun felt nice at that moment. She felt at peace and calm.
Though her peace was disrupted when knuckles rapped against the door on the other side.
She ignored it because it was past midnight—who or what could someone need her for? Plus, Fred was near a peaceful sleep, her in his hold.
He was shirtless with nothing but his Gryffindor sweatpants on. Oshun had tiny shorts on and a big T-shirt.
The door then rattled lightly once again. Another knock.
"Fred." She placed her book face down on the pillow, her body twisting back to view the ginger. "I need to get the door."
"Mmmm..." he mumbled, only snuggling his cheek into her bum even more.
"Freddie," she whispered, her hand reaching back to soothingly run through his hair. "Let me get the door really quick, yeah? And then you can sleep on my bum."
He nodded with a sleepy hum and rolled over, releasing her from his grasp. He scooted up the bed to rest his head on the pillow, eyes still closed, and pulled the sheets over his legs.
Oshun slid off the bed and dug her feet into her slippers. She pushed a stray curl behind her ear as she strolled to the door.
She unlocked the door and pulled it open.
"Draco?" she uttered, confused. "What are you— oh, yeah. Just come right in." Her eyes rolled when he pushed past her and let himself in the suite, his trunk in hand.
"Sorry I'm late." Draco placed his trunk beside the dresser. "I had last minute packing for this."
"Huh?" Oshun leaned against the door after shutting it and locking it. "I didn't know you were coming, Draco."
"And miss this?" He scoffed and waved a dismissive hand. His body turned to the king-size bed. "Yeah right. Why's Weasley on our bed and not the couch?"
She only now noticed that Draco was already ready for bed, pajama pants and all.
"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Fred groaned, his forearm draping over his eyes.
"Spending the weekend with Takahashi." Draco's arms folded across his chest as he stared at the other boy. "Why are you in our bed? The couch is right over there." His chin left toward the couch.
"You're lucky Oshun and I were not fucking when you knocked." Fred sat up and ran a lazy hand through his messy hair. "Or perhaps unlucky—would've made a good show."
Oshun saw Draco's jaws clench.
"Okay. Let's not do this right now," she blurted, and crossed to the bed.
"We're not doing anything, right, Malfoy?" The redhead flashed the other boy a tight smile.
"I'll sleep in the middle. Do you boys think you're mature enough to handle sleeping in the same bed?" she asked, dubious. "Because if not, you can both sleep on the couch and I'll take the bed myself." Her eyes ping-ponged between the redhead and the platinum-haired boy. "So can you guys handle sharing a bed?"
Fred's eyes stared irritably at the other boy, who stared back in annoyance. "Yes," they muttered in unison.
She nodded, pleased. Her slippers fell from her feet as she crawled onto the bed and made her spot in the middle.
Draco tugged his sweatshirt off and revealed a nice set of abs before he went to Oshun's free side. He closed the book she was reading and put it on the nightstand. He climbed into bed and pulled the cold sheets over himself.
She leaned in to Fred and kissed his cheek goodnight before turning to Draco and kissing his cheek goodnight. She lay down and ignored the tension between the ginger and the blond.
Soon enough, Fred lay down and inched closer to snuggle into Oshun. His arms wrapped around her waist, his face hidden in her side.
Oshun could see Draco seemed either startled or dismayed by Fred's doings. It was obvious because Draco never cuddled Oshun or snuggled into her or hugged her the way Fred always did.
Oshun knew Draco's love language was also physical touch, but perhaps he was a bit hesitant on doing big gestures the way Fred did with her.
Draco always held her hand instead. Or played with her hair, or kept his hand on her thigh, or on the small of her back, or hands on her waist. The smaller gestures he did with her.
Fred did small gestures too, but he mostly hugged her in his arms in front of everyone, danced with her randomly, or swayed them during hugs, or picked her up in his arms for his bear-hugs—shamelessly so. He cuddled her when he could, usually when they were relaxing.
Draco never did those things and Oshun assumed it was because of the lack of trust she had in him and the hesitance he had to do those things. She didn't actually know why he was hesitant. She only had assumptions.
Draco and Fred had both gone through traumatic things, and they both had different ways of coping, Oshun knew. But she also noticed that the two boys were both so different, yet so similar.
A few being they were both sensitive once the ice broke, babies for affection, strong, bravado, physically affectionate.
Her eyes met with Draco's after he tore his eyes from her and Fred's entwined bodies. She had her hand curled around his neck, fingers tangled in his red hair.
"What's wrong?" Oshun mouthed to the blond.
Draco shook his head with something nowhere near a smile.
Oshun couldn't sleep now, but she soon felt Fred's body relax against hers and his breaths deep and steady as he was now asleep.
Draco was still leaning against the headboard, eyes averted to his rings. His lips were pressed together, an unreadable expression across his features.
"Draco, are you okay?" She kept her tone a hushed whisper, not wanting to wake up the redhead.
"Yeah," he whispered, an obvious attempt to make his voice sound brighter than he was actually feeling. He even offered a small smile that was, again, unconvincing.
"No you're not." Her brows frowned as her head turned completely to give him her full attention. "What's the matter?"
He was silent for a few beats, twisting the rings that decorated his fingers. "I don't know," he said at last, barely a whisper through his lips. "I think I do know, but I don't."
"Spit words out and let me try to put them together," she suggested, running her fingers through Fred's hair to soothe him as he slept.
"I'm a bad person, Takahashi," Draco muttered, and knocked his head back against the headboard. Eyes looked up at the high ceiling. "I want to be better for you because... you deserve better. You deserve more than the universe, but I can't give it to you."
"I never asked you for such things," she murmured, and kept her eyes upon him.
"I don't only want to give you what you ask for. I want to give you what you deserve," he corrected her in a quiet tone of voice. "For you, I'd tear my heart out—ruin myself. A million times, if anything. And all this time, perhaps I was just holding myself back from you."
"Why?" she whispered, genuinely curious.
His eyes veered to capture hers. "Because I feared that you wouldn't want me or care for me," he confessed.
Her brows wrinkled together. "Draco—"
"Yes, I know," he cut her off knowingly, nodding. "I know you care for me and I know you've done nothing that says otherwise, but I'm talking about in the long run. If I open myself up to you now, I'm screwed later on when you leave."
He laughed under his breath. "A couple weeks ago, I wished every ounce of misery to you if you ever decided to leave me. I want you to be happy, but only with me. Do you know how vile and selfish that is?"
She didn't want to comment on how well he was communicating with her. They only spoke about communication earlier in the day, but he seemed to have already gotten familiar with it. Perhaps he knew how to communicate, but his guards were still too high to properly do so.
"I won't leave you," she said, because she meant it.
"You would be if you choose Weasley." Draco's eyes were darker in the dim light as he held her gaze.
"Don't talk to me about choosing now, Draco." She shook her head subtly. "We have months ahead of us. Let's just pretend the deadline doesn't exist, okay?" Her voice was sweet like honey.
He nodded, but barely. "I have something for you." He shifted slightly as he reached into the pocket of his pajama pants. "I put a spell on it to protect it from any water or damage."
In his palm, he held out a paper ring with a brown colour as the band and a hunter green heart. On the heart were the initials D.M on it in cursive writing.
"A paper ring?" she mused, examining the paper ring.
"I thought you might like this a lot better than something shiny and expensive," he admitted, and his eyes lowered to the ring in his palm. "You're different like that—and I don't mean it in a quirky sort of way. I mean it in a genuine way. But if not, I also bought you an expensive golden ring and I left you another gift in your dorm."
A glimpse of a loving smile flickered past her lips and the flutter in her heart was vivid. "I do like this ring better than something shiny and expensive," she told him softly. "Materialistic items never really meant that much to me."
"With the brilliant way your parents raised you, I can understand that." He took her left hand and slid the paper ring onto her ring finger. "It's like a promise ring, if you may."
"A promise that I'm meant to keep?" she questioned, and held her hand up to take a look at how nicely the ring fit on her finger.
"No, actually." His head shook and he took her hand back in his to lace their fingers. "It's more of a promise that I'm meant to keep and the ring symbolizes it."
"And what promise would that be?" she asked, her thumb caressing back and forth on the side of his large hand.
He studied her features for a moment, a gaily glint in his eyes. "I'm going to be better for you, Takahashi." Sincerity was unmistakable in his tone.
Although she didn't say it out loud for him to hear the words, deep in her heart, she might have actually—maybe stupidly—believed him.