Fred took the green jelly slug she handed to him and popped it into his mouth.
Oshun plucked another jelly slug out, but this one was red. She happily popped it in her own mouth.
"Shit." His brows pinched together in seriousness as he read over his notes from class. "I forgot this shit would be on the exam I have for Potions tomorrow. I haven't been studying this stuff."
"I can help you," she offered, and held out a yellow jelly slug for him.
He sat against the wall next to her since they were doing homework at the end of a corridor in the corner. "It's a lot, Takahashi," he told her as he took the yellow sweet and tossed it into the air before catching it into his mouth. "And you've got your work to focus on."
"It's okay. Let me help you," she insisted, and scooted closer to him, so she was leaning against the same wall as him. Her arm stretched out to drag her book bag and the jelly slug packet that rested over her bag closer to her.
"You're sure?" His eyebrows frowned warily.
She smiled and nodded. "Of course," she said, and bit an orange jelly slug in half. "I can focus on my work later. Let's study for the exam you have tomorrow." She shoved the rest of the slug into her mouth.
He leaned in to kiss her crown. "I've been blessed with an actual angel," he murmured gratefully.
Her cheeks tinged pink as she reached into the jelly slug packet and held it to his lips since it was green.
He opened his mouth as his eyes focused on his work, scrawling on his parchment. She placed the jelly into his mouth and he chewed it, kissing her crown yet again as a thank you.
"I still think it's unbelievable," she said with a giddy smile, and closed the textbook that rested upon her lap.
"Hm?" Fred hummed as he kept his gaze on his work, going through his notes for tomorrow's exam.
"Your favourites are the green and yellow ones, and mine are the red and orange ones. We'll never fight over a bag of jelly slugs," she beamed, and scooted closer to him to help him study.
He smiled fondly at her and kissed the side of her head. "Everything works out perfectly," he muttered into her curls before lowering his eyes back to his notes.
Red and orange were his favourite—ever since he was a kid. But he wanted her to have them.
"Read over your notes—the part you didn't study—and then I'll test you," she said whilst she continued to munch on the sweets.
He nodded and began to read over his notes as she fed him the yellow and green jelly slugs.
As much as he wanted to bring up her loving Draco again, he didn't. Fred knew that Oshun was in love with both of them and she couldn't control it.
It just infuriated him because Fred wanted Oshun. He wanted her to choose him. He wanted her to marry him. He wanted her to have his babies.
He didn't even have a problem with Draco anymore because the boy developed tremendously as a person throughout the several months he was spending with Oshun.
The only problem he had with Draco was that he wanted Oshun too.
Again, it was an issue that none of them could control because there was that old saying. The heart wants what it wants.
Other than that, Fred had no problem with the Slytherin.
Perhaps even deep down, he wanted to become good friends with him. He knew it would also make Oshun happy. Though, he didn't really know where to start to make it happen, so he just left that thought alone.
Fred's eyes shifted over to her lap, where she was digging through the bag of jelly slugs.
He had noticed her hands had been trembling ever since this morning, but he thought it was only in the morning. He thought the shakiness would be gone by now.
Now, he saw that her hands were still trembling and it was past noon.
"Oshun," he called, and brought his hand to hers. His hand held hers and he threaded their fingers, in hopes it would calm the shakiness. "Are you alright?"
"I'm okay," she assured, and gave his hand a squeeze. "My hands are just unsteady. No big deal." She held a yellow jelly slug to his lips with her free hand.
He leaned in and used his teeth to take the jelly slug from her. "You said the same thing about your bruises," he pointed out, chewing the sweet. "That you bruise easily and it's no big deal."
"Because it's not." Her stare stayed on her lap, searching through the packet of jelly slugs.
"Why are your hands shaking, Takahashi?" he pressed, brows bunched together in vexation. "Perhaps you bruise easily, okay. But the shakiness in your hands?"
"I'm just nervous about the presentation I have next period, that's all." She shrugged it off, irritable. "You know me."
And he did. He knew she hated presentations and public speaking and all that stuff—she loathed it. It gave her bad anxiety.
He brought their locked fingers to his lips and pressed a few gentle kisses on the spine of her hand. He kept the back of her hand against his mouth, his warm breaths against her skin as he studied.
"Freddie?" Oshun turned to him with an orange jelly slug hanging from her lips.
"Mhm?" Fred leaned in and with his teeth, snatched the sweet from her mouth.
"I was going to say I love you tons, but since you just took my jelly slug, I will just say I love you." She smiled and dropped an ardent kiss on his lips.
"I love you infinitely, Oshun Bea Takahashi." He grinned and kissed her mouth again.
He truly would not get sick of hearing those words from her or saying them to her. It gave him a boost of love in his heart.
He tried not to think about how she loved Draco too, but sometimes the intrusive thoughts clouded his mind.
Fred's biggest fear at the moment was if Oshun didn't choose him.
If she didn't choose him, then he fell for nothing but for emotional damage in the end. He didn't want to feel anymore pain—especially from the one person who soothed his pain into nothing but warmth and affection.
"Are you going to the party tonight?" she asked him as she rested her head against his shoulder.
"Only for a little bit. George and I always go, so I don't want to break our streak," he replied, scanning over his notes over and over again.
"I can come." Her response took him aback.
"Come again?" he blurted, and angled his head down to look at her.
"I'll come," she insisted, eyes resting on her lap.
"I'll make you cum."
"Yeah." She nodded in agreement and he smiled at the fact that she didn't see what he did.
"Yeah?" His smile turned into a half grin and half smirk. "You want me to make you cum?"
She nodded again, more vigorously. "I'll come. I could maybe just— wait, what? No. Fred." She slapped his arm harshly, having caught on.
He unleashed a loud, humoured laugh. "And anyway, you don't like parties, Takahashi," he pointed out. "You don't do well in big social gatherings like this, you know that."
"But—"
"I can promise you that you've got nothing to worry about," he mumbled into her curls. "I only have eyes for you, remember? You're my only angel. My only girl. My only light."
"Your only angel. Your only girl. Your only light," she repeated in a hushed tone, more to herself. "So if someone goes up to you and tries flirting or being touchy, what will you do?"
"Bring them to my dorm for a steamy night."
Beside him, he felt her stiffen as she lifted her head from his shoulder. He felt her mood change in a millisecond.
"No, I'm just kidding," he quickly said. "I'm sorry. I was just messing around, but I sometimes forget you're sensitive. I'm sorry. I love you." He leaned in to kiss her cheek.
She stared at him. "That's not funny, Fred."
"I know, I'm sorry." He sighed heavily. "No more jokes like that, I swear."
"That wasn't even a joke."
"No more bullshit, then. I promise."
She nodded curtly.
"Come." He gestured for her to come closer.
Her head rested on his shoulder once more. "So what will you do then? If someone flirts with you and gets handsy?" she asked again, more sharply.
"Politely tell them I am not interested and walk away. Keep it simple." He pushed his lips to her head, giving her multiple kisses on her head. "There's no need for drama."
"Good boy." She nodded and brought their entwined fingers to her mouth to skim kisses over his knuckles.
"Are you still going out with Malfoy after school?" he asked blandly, letting his head rest over hers.
"Yeah. We're going to go to Hogsmeade to eat," she told him quietly, and he felt her relaxing against him. "Do you want me to bring you anything back? Anything at all?"
"No. You just have fun, okay?" he murmured as kindly as he could. "But perhaps you could accidentally shove Mal—"
"Very funny, Fred," she droned, and he could just feel her eye roll. "I thought you guys were beginning to be... less hostile towards each other."
The pad of his thumb caressed back and forth down her thumb. "You being the one person we both want doesn't make it a smooth ride," he muttered.
"But I want both of you," she mumbled. "So perhaps you both could just, I don't know, not be so heinous towards each other."
"But it wouldn't be the dangerously handsome Fred Weasley and the decent-looking Draco Malfoy without a bit of bickering, would it?" he said sneakily with a sly grin.
A chuckle elicited from her lips. "I suppose not," she agreed, nodding subtly against his shoulder.
"Let's have sex."
"Right now?" Her head lifted from his shoulder to meet his eyes.
"Why not?" His shoulder lifted in a shrug.
"Er." She blinked rapidly at him, incredulous. "Maybe because we both have classes in thirty minutes."
"Yes. That gives me more than enough time to fuck your brains out against the desk in an empty classroom twice," Fred said coolly, nodding.
Oshun narrowed her eyes at him with the cutest smirk he'd ever seen. "Sex in a classroom?" she mused.
"Role play," he suggested with a cheeky smile. "I can be your student and you can be my professor."
"Can I spank you if you misbehave?" The amusement never left her tone.
"I'd hoped you would." He wiggled his eyebrows at her, now smirking.
"So if you're bad, I'll have to bend you over my lap and spank you." She wasn't able to contain her little laugh as she said this. "Sounds great."
"I'll count each one like a good boy." He chuckled through his nose.
She laughed again, more loudly, and kissed his cheek. "Are you done studying, so I could test you?" she asked, and rested her back against the wall behind them.
"Not really, no. You've been distracting me." He cleared his throat and shifted slightly in his spot.
"Read over your notes, come on, big head," she said, and held a green jelly slug to his mouth.
"I thought you'd stop with the big head nickname long ago." He took it from her fingers with his teeth.
"I like it, so I shall keep calling you that." She smiled luminously at him. "You've got a filthy mind in that big head of yours."
His heart melted at the sight of her smile. Her smile was so beautiful, he had it framed in his mind.
_____
Draco waited by the Potions classroom for Oshun, patiently so.
He had his Potions exam in hand since he and Oshun often did little competitions on who got the highest score. He won in Potions every time and she won in D.A.D.A. every time. He got his exam this morning and she was supposed to get it now.
He was so excited to take her out on a real date. It was nothing big and fancy because he knew she liked casual things—that was just how she was.
But he was so excited. They had never been on a date before. Only spending time in his dorm, her dorm, the library, and everywhere around Hogwarts.
His eyes veered to the door once it opened and he watched the other Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs spill out of the classroom.
He waited until he saw Oshun and she was walking out with Mavi. They were the last ones to walk out of the classroom.
"Takahashi," he called, and pushed himself off the wall he leaned upon.
Oshun's eyes caught his. "Hi," she said with a sweet smile, approaching him.
He dipped down to kiss her mouth before turning to Mavi. "Singh," he greeted, bowing his head.
"Hey." Mavi smiled serenely and turned to her friend. "I'll see you later, Oshun."
"Bye." Oshun smiled at her mate before she was off.
"Where's your exam?" Draco hid his own exam behind his back, towering over the beautiful lady.
"Right here." She pulled out a sheet from behind her and smiled widely. "What did you get?"
"You first."
"I got a ninety-eight!" She was nearly squealing as she said this, bouncing in her spot. She held the sheet up for him to see the ninety-ninety circled in red.
He bit back a smile and groaned in defeat. "Are you joking?" he said as his shoulders slumped. "I got a ninety-six."
Oshun gasped and her dark eyes were saucers. "No way," she said in unmistakable excitement. "No way. I got a better score than you in Potions?"
"Looks like it." He made a bitter face.
But he let the smile show when she knocked her head back and laughed in pride through the most vivacious smile. He smoothly slid his test and his perfect score into his book bag.
Anything to hear that mellifluous, infectious laugh. Anything to see that radiant and precious smile.
"How's it feel, Mister Malfoy?" With her exam in hand, she flung her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, until he needed to dip his head down to hold her stare. "How's it feel that I beat you?"
"Feels degrading, honestly." His hands rested on her waist, but he really couldn't help but smile at the sudden glow in her eyes. "But I'm so proud of you, darling. Good job on getting a ninety-eight."
"Thank you," she beamed, and he took a beat or two to kiss her softly.
"Ready?" Draco took his sweet girl's book bag off her shoulder after she put her exam away.
"Yes. I'm famished," she said, and braided her fingers through his. "Where are we going to eat?"
"Why are your hands shaking?" His jaws clenched as he glowered down at her trembling hand that was in his. "They were shaking this morning too, but I thought it would be fine later. Why are they still shaking?"
"I have unsteady hands. It's no—"
"Bullshit," he cut her off, aggravated. "You paint your nails and toenails all the time by yourself because of how steady your hands are. But you haven't painted your nails in over two weeks." His eyes examined her trembling hands, looking over her chipped polish. "Why are your hands shaking? What happened?"
"Fucking hell, Draco." She yanked her hand from his hold, eyebrows drawn together in frustration. "I thought we were going out to eat, not you barking all these questions at me."
"We'll go once you tell me why the fuck you're hands are shaking and why you have so many fucking bruises all over your body?" He stared at the large bruise on her knee before he lifted his gaze to hers.
The muscle in her jaw contracted. "What the fuck does me bruising easily have to do with unsteady hands?" she snapped annoyedly, and folded her arms over her chest, hands balled into fists.
He took a step closer to her. "Takahashi, if someone is fucking hurting you, then you better fucking tell me." His tone dropped dangerously, his eyes sharp.
"No one is hurting me!" she shouted impatiently. "Bloody hell! Just leave it alone!"
His fingers grasped her crossed arms and drew her closer. He tipped his head down to keep their eye contact. "Watch. Your. Fucking. Tone." His lip curled up in agitation.
"If all you're going to do is grill me with questions, then I'm leaving." Oshun wrenched her arms from his hold and attempted to grab her book bag.
He lifted it higher and further from her.
"Fine. Keep it," she spat harshly, and turned on her heel to walk off.
Before she could even take a step forward, Draco looped one arm around her waist and pulled her back into him. Her back pressed against his front as he lowered his lips to her ear.
"You keep up this attitude and I'll fuck it out of you, got it?" he whispered huskily, and held her tightly against him.
"Fine," she said tersely, but he heard the way her breaths quickened.
"Takahashi, sweet girl, you better watch your fucking mouth and what damn tone you take with me." His voice drew out harshly, a near rasp.
"You watch it."
His eyebrows raised and he smiled. A cold, malicious smile.
She noticed what she did and stiffened. "Oh."
"Mhm." His hum brushed against the shell of her ear, and he could feel her heart pounding against him. "Oh, indeed."
"Can— I-I— we— I—" she stuttered nervously, the blood tinting her cheeks a deep red. "I'm hungry," she blurted out. "We should go eat. Yeah. That's a good idea. Let's go eat food."
"I'll be nice and give you a punishment later for being bad. But right now, how about you try to be the good girl I know you are and answer my question," he said lowly, "Why are your hands shaking?"
"I didn't eat all day because I was nervous for a presentation in one of my classes. I only had jelly slugs during my free period," she muttered, and grasped his forearm.
He knew how bad her anxiety got with speaking in front of a lot of people and presentations. "Is that all?" he questioned sternly.
An exasperated sigh blew from her lips and her head knocked back against his chest. "I'm just hungry, Draco. We were supposed to go eat," she said, wan.
He just studied her for a moment. "Let's go eat then," he murmured, and kissed her temple as he released her from his hold.
He grabbed her hand and gently tangled their fingers together, holding their book bags over his one shoulder. She inched closer to him and with her free arm, hugged his arm as they walked.
"How'd your presentation go?" he asked after a bit of silence, realizing she wasn't going to say anything.
"Fucked it up," Oshun mumbled, and rested the side of her head against his bicep. "I kept stuttering, and then I missed a whole sentence, and then I was talking too fast. I fucked it all up."
He tried not to grin in awe. "It's just one presentation," he reminded her, and gave her an affectionate kiss on the head.
"I know." She nodded subtly as they strolled out of the castle.
The warm sun beamed onto their skins and the warmth felt amazing on Draco's skin. He liked the sun a lot because it made him feel warm and cozy all over—one of the reasons he also fancied Oshun so much.
Warmth and coziness. The things he never felt during his childhood.
Love was another thing he rarely felt during his childhood all because of his odious father.
Which was why Draco felt so breathless and stunned when Oshun told him she loved him. He never expected her to love him because he didn't think he was loveable, but she did and he apparently was.
He was loveable and she loved him.
He wanted her to love him forever. He wanted him to say those words to her every second of the day because it was music to his ears. He wanted her to love him only, but she didn't.
She loved Fred Weasley too.
In a different way, she claimed. She loved them both differently, but so much. That was what she had said.
Draco was quite bitter about that, to be honest.
He wanted her to love him only.
In fact, he was bitter when she confessed that she had told Fred she loved him before she did him.
But Draco tried not to fret over it because he didn't have a problem with Fred. He treated Oshun very lovely, Draco knew that.
Though the selfish part of him sought for Oshun to himself.
Draco and Oshun got to the shop he knew she'd enjoy. It was a bistro shop, one everyone went to since it had opened.
He opened the door for her and allowed her in first before he trailed behind her. They got a booth and he placed their book bags on the inside of his booth. A waiter came their way and they ordered their food.
"Draco, are you going to the party later tonight?" Oshun asked as she stared into the iced-water in her cup.
"I am for a little drink and smoke with my mates. Why?" he mused, and crossed his arms over the edge of the table.
"I should come." She nodded and met his silver eyes.
"No, you shouldn't." His head shook in disagreement.
"Why not?" She frowned and reached out for his hand.
One of his hands were taken by her and placed upon the spot on the table between them. "Because you hate drinking and smoking and parties and any large social gathering," he pointed out.
"But I went to the two ball dances that were held," she said, and grabbed the paper wrapping of her straw.
"I forced you for the first one and the second one, you had Weasley and I watching over you." He cocked his head to the side, appraising her. "Takahashi, you hate parties and everything that happens at them. Why force yourself to go to one now?"
"Because you're going," she said simply, tying the paper wrapping around his index finger. "I could go with you."
His eyes narrowed at her. "Go with me for what? To watch over me? To make sure I'm not getting touchy with anyone else?"
Her silence gave him the answer.
"You really don't trust me?" He placed his free hand over his heart, feigning hurt. "Ouch, Takahashi."
"I do trust you," she insisted, and nodded vigorously. "I just don't trust other people around you."
"But you trust me, correct?" His single brow rose at her.
"I do." She nodded and looked down at his hand as she tried to double-knot the paper wrapping.
"So you've got nothing to worry about," he told her earnestly.
"Okay..." she said slowly as she wet her lips. "Well, what—what'll you do if someone flirts with you and gets a little too comfortable?"
"Tell them to fuck off or I'll rail the absolute shit out of you in front of them." Draco shrugged his shoulders and a devilish smirk curved onto his lips. "Possessiveness and protectiveness looks good on you."
"What about Astoria?" Oshun asked quietly whilst her eyebrows pulled together. Her fingertip traced over the prominent veins that ran along his pale hand. "You and her talk a lot."
He tried not to show how giddy he felt by the simplicity of her touch. It made him melt.
"No, we don't." He shook his head slowly, confused. "I only talk to her when I need to. You know I'd never do that to you—after what she did spreading those rumours."
"What about that time in the library? When you were ignoring me," she mentioned, lifting her thigh over the opposite one. "I saw you guys talking in one of the book aisles."
"Because I needed to talk to her." He leaned back in his seat, never taking his eyes off her.
"About what?" she pressed on, curious.
"My mates," he answered simply. "She still talks to them, so I needed to talk to her about something."
"Then why was she smiling while talking about your mates?" Oshun folded her arms over her chest and held his stare in her steady one.
Draco stifled a laugh. "Because she was smiling? I'm not sure what you want me to say, Takahashi." His voice remained pleasant.
She stared at him, defeated. "You've been very secretive lately," she confessed, and propped one elbow on the table, her chin nuzzled in her palm.
"You're one to talk," he shot back slyly.
"I have certainly not been secretive. You're the one telling me to see you at specific times and you never tell me what's got you in a pissy or stressful mood," she recalled.
His brows shot up.
"It's always 'I don't want to get into it' or 'can we not do this right now,'" she mimicked his deep voice, so very exaggerated.
"I don't sound like that." He scoffed in offence.
"You're right." She nodded with brows bunched together in focus. "It's more like 'can we not do this right now, I'm Draco Malfoy and I use that as a reason for everything.'" She did it more gruff and throaty and slow, even worse. "'I look at myself in the mirror an hour every morning because I'm so hot.'"
"It's not an hour," he protested defensively.
"You're right. It's an hour and a half in the morning, and two before bed."
"How about you don't imitate me?" He blinked at her, startled. "And do you really pay that close attention to me?"
A soft red tint rose in her cheeks. "Am I not supposed to?" Her quiet voice was gentle. "I'm seeing you, so obviously I pay attention to you."
Truth be told, Draco didn't realize she paid that much attention to him, so he didn't think she'd notice his secrecy. Perhaps he was just a bit unfamiliar with the amount of attention and interest and love he got from her.
During the last couple of weeks, he'd been talking to his mate about something because when his mate confessed, it literally stunned Draco. So he'd been trying to talk him down and such, but he didn't realize Oshun would notice the secretive behaviour.
He was talking to Astoria to ask if she noticed anything unusual about his mate and he made sure not to expose his mate, so he kept it short and to the point. Only Draco knew.
Draco just needed to talk him down. That was all he had been doing lately.
That was why he needed Oshun to stay away.
His friend had threatened her because she was a Halfblood and Draco could not have risked her life. He wouldn't know what to do if anything happened to her, but now he was just going to keep a closer eye on her.
When she wasn't with Draco, she was usually with Fred or her mates. Draco knew they would all look out for her—he knew they would look after her better than anyone considering he got beatings from all of them when he hurt her—so he wasn't overly worried about that.
He kept tabs on Oshun and who she talked to due to his insatiable jealousy. He knew everyone she talked to, which honestly wasn't much. Draco himself. Fred. Forest. Joaquin. Mavi. Da'Shylah. Giovanni. Tavius. That was it.
All he needed to do was talk his friend down.
"Draco?" Oshun's angelic, hesitant voice tore him from his thoughts.
"Hm?" he hummed, and met her stare.
"Are you alright?" she asked worriedly, eyebrows frowned.
He nodded and offered a small smile. "I'm okay," he told her, and he only noticed their food arrived. "Eat, my sweet girl. All of it. You need it."
She eyed him with concern as she nodded.
She'd ordered a roast beef sandwich with chips on the side and water. He'd ordered chicken alfredo pasta with cheese bread and water.
Draco watched, mesmerized, as she picked up half of her sandwich and took a big bite of it. She hummed as her face softened in satisfaction.
She smiled as she chewed. Her elbows rested on the table, holding her sandwich to her mouth.
She was in a world of her own as she ate so shamelessly. She popped a chip into her mouth and nodded, approving.
He couldn't help but smile in awe as she ate, unabashed. She always made food look so good when she ate and even though she took generous bites, she managed to eat so politely and pleasantly. She always looked like she was eating the world's best food.
"This is so good. Thank you for this," she said appreciatively after she washed her food down with a gulp of water. "They put a lot of salt on my chips."
"Yeah?" He was smiling too hard and it made his cheeks ache. In a nice way. "Is it good?"
She nodded enthusiastically with a light in her eyes, her mouth stuffed with another bite of her sandwich.
Draco was unable to take his eyes off her as they ate. His heart hurt dearly of joy and he felt empty without her even by his side.
There was no going back now. He was in too deep with her. The only way out now would be through.