The entire time Fred danced with Eleanor, she refused to look at him, focusing her gaze off to the side. However, at one point, he caught a smile developing on her lips, and as he turned his head, he spotted Doncho in the distance, dancing. The two were saying something back and forth, mouthing it over the loudness of the music, but that wasn't what had grabbed Fred's attention initially, no, it was the fact that Doncho's dancing partner was another boy from Durmstrang. And it didn't look like they were dancing with each other in a playful manner either.
Eventually, Eleanor turned her head when they both noticed Fred watching them and cleared her throat. Fred blinked several times before he gave a shake of his head to clear away the confusion.
"Is that Doncho..." His voice trailed off as if he couldn't bring himself to say it. Eleanor's stare hardened, daring him to say something stupid.
"Dancing with another boy? Yes, that's his date Vidar."
"But I thought...I thought you two were..."
Eleanor stopped dancing, taking a step back from him, and folding her arms over her chest.
"You thought wrong, Fred. Doncho and I started talking and became friends, he wanted someone he could talk to outside of his school. He asked me to be there as emotional support so he could ask Vidar to be his date at the Yule Ball. Thankfully, Vidar said yes, but they didn't want to say anything until tonight, it was their way of coming out. They figured if their peers could accept them, the next step would be to approach their parents about it. But as I told you, it wasn't my business to tell because they wanted to make the statement. Now that's it's out there, I can tell you, he's strictly into wands. We play for the same quidditch team."
If it were possible to die from second-hand embarrassment, Fred would have collapsed on the spot. His face was turning bright red, nearly put his own hair colour to shame and it didn't help that Eleanor was waiting on his response.
"Alright, so he's into boys," he said finally, "so that means you don't like him in that sense?"
"He's just my friend," Eleanor reiterated, "I told you. So, you were jealous for absolutely no reason!"
"Whoa! Whoa!" He placed his hands up defensively. "I was not jealous!"
She let out a harsh laugh before shaking her head. "You're lying! You've had no problem with me spending time with Cedric, Harry, with your brothers, or around Lee, but as soon as Doncho showed up, you started to worry."
"That's not true," he said stubbornly, crossing his own arms, "it just so happens that you're one of my best friends and I didn't think Doncho was right for you. I thought he was a little off, that's all."
"Oh, is that so?" she replied taking a step closer to him, closing the space between them. "And who do you think is right for me? I'd like to know."
"I-I-I don't know."
"Fred."
"Well, don't act like you weren't jealous, Ellie!"
The tension was building as their ever-obvious frustration with each other grew. Clearly, they didn't even care if anyone around them could hear their conversation as neither one of them thought of having their talk in a more private area.
"I wasn't jealous until you invited Angelina," Eleanor admitted, "and I wouldn't even call it jealousy, but I know it hurt. I didn't do anything to spite you. I was just trying to help a friend; you could have been a bit more understanding! Or at least asked me before making assumptions!"
"Fine," Fred sighed, "Then let's just split the blame- "
"No! I will not take the blame for any of this. If you're not going to apologise for being a total arse, don't bother talking to me."
With Eleanor getting the last word, Fred watched as she walked away from him, and out of the Great Hall.
Angelina, Katie, and Alicia returned to the Great Hall just in time to witness Eleanor storming out, leaving all three girls to sigh knowingly. They found George first, who seemed just as troubled about the situation as they were.
"Let me guess, he didn't tell her, did he?" Angelina asked as she sat beside George.
He shook his head. "They were dancing for a little bit, then they started talking, but that quickly turned into an argument. So, I'm going to go out on the limb of twin intuition and say that he didn't tell her."
"I guess taking extra long was completely pointless," Katie huffed, "what is he doing?!"
"It's Fred," Angelina pointed out, "he's completely stubborn and doesn't like to admit when he's in the wrong. He probably thought that he could smile at Eleanor, make a joke or two and all would be forgiven."
Suddenly, Fred made his way over to the table where they were all sitting, grumpily sitting down, all the while, looking in the direction of the doors of the Great Hall.
"She just walked off! You know, she thinks she knows everything!" he grumbled. "She kept insisting that I was jealous of Doncho and wouldn't drop it!"
"Fred, you were jealous of Doncho," George told him.
"I was not-"
Fred stopped as his brother and teammates stared at him, with knowing expressions.
"Alright, so I was a little jealous, what does it matter?"
"Freddie, you're my brother and I love you," George said, "but you're being a total git about the whole thing. You were jealous of Doncho and while jealousy is a normal emotion, you took it a bit too far. You made Eleanor feel bad and she got upset with you, rightfully so. And rather than apologising to her, you just wanted the whole thing to blow over. I know you don't like saying you're sorry, but you have to, Ellie deserves an apology. So, go on, go find her before it's too late."
Rather than yelling at him, the girls gave Fred encouraging nods as Katie and Alicia lifted Fred out of the chair and Angelina gave him the push towards the Great Hall. All of them were silently praying that he would do the right thing.
"Alright, now which of you are going to carry me?" George asked them. "My feet hurt."
All three girls walked away, leaving him to sit at the table alone. He pouted for a moment before realising that he could just use the empty chair to put his feet up and relax. From where he was sitting, George could see the entire dance floor, where the majority of students seemed to be enjoying themselves as the Weird Sisters played several upbeat songs. However, as George turned his head, he could see where Harry and Ron were sitting by themselves, looking quite sad.
Without Eleanor offering to dance with them, it seemed they had given up the idea of dancing, even with their own dates. Not wanting to touch that can of flobberworms, he placed his head back and closed his eyes.
Eleanor had attended the Yule Ball with full intentions of enjoying herself, so when she found herself sitting on the steps outside of the Great Hall, feeling quite miserable, the evening felt like a failure. And to add insult to injury, Peeves had been lurking outside the Great Hall, probably forbidden to enter the Ball, and when he spotted Eleanor, he had to make his way over to her.
His new choice of words seemed fitting for the evening when he called her "Lonely Lupin" over and over while making crying noises around her.
"I guess you had to use Lupin since you couldn't come up with any R words to go with Ross," Eleanor said at one point. "I thought you were better than that, Peeves."
Suddenly, Peeves stopped his singing and stared at her. He had been so visibly proud of himself as he danced around earlier, and it looked like Eleanor had wounded his pride once again. He came to stand on the floor, stomping his foot at her. He stuck his tongue out at her before disappearing through the nearest wall, cursing her name all the same.
"Ellie! Ellie!" Looking over, she could see Cedric and Marnie hurrying over to where she was sitting. "Are you alright?"
With concern written all over their faces, they quickly sat on either side of her. "Are you okay?" Marnie's hand rubbed over her shoulder. "You looked ready to punch Fred's head off his neck before you walked out. What did he say to you?"
"It's what he didn't say!" Eleanor huffed. "He wouldn't say sorry or admit that he was wrong. He kept trying to turn it around on me like it was my fault. He was acting like a total tit!"
"Hey! I didn't call you any names!"
All three peered up to see Fred approaching them, rather nervously as he had hoped to face Eleanor only and not the whole pack. He placed his hands in the pocket of his trousers, a sheepish expression on his face, as he looked to the floor.
"Ellie, can I talk to you? Alone?"
Both Marnie and Cedric waited for Eleanor to nod her head, letting them know that she would be fine. Cedric offered his hand to Marnie, telling her that he still owed her a dance.
"Dance?" Marnie said as she was pulled along. "But what if she punches him? We can't miss that!"
She wasn't able to argue as Cedric only shook his head with a grin and led her back into the Great Hall. Once the doors were closed over, Eleanor and Fred were left alone, and the awkward silence returned. Eventually, Fred came over and sat beside her, draping his arms over his legs and looked over at her.
"Doucet seems really happy tonight- "
"Fred, his name is Doncho, not Doughnut, not Donatello, not Donkey- "
Suddenly, Fred started to laugh. "Donkey, that's a good one."
"Fred!"
"Alright, alright, it's Doncho," he said, "the point I was trying to make was that he looked really happy with his date and he has you to thank you for. You were a really good friend helping him and not telling his business. And you were right, it wasn't any of my business and I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. I'm sorry, Ellie."
Eleanor glanced over at him through the corner of her eyes. "Are you really?"
"Of course, I am! I'm really sorry, actually. Do you think I enjoyed having you ignore my existence these last few days? Did you think I liked the idea of seeing you attend this stupid ball with my brother? My twin brother no less!"
"And all of that could have been prevented!" she reminded him. "Remember, I tried to ask you to the Ball. I did ask you to the ball, but you were upset with me!"
"Well, yes I was upset! But it's only because I like you!"
"And it wasn't obvious that I liked you by asking you to go to the Yule Ball with me?! Have I been flirting with myself for the past year and a half, Fred?! If you liked me, why didn't you ask me out before the Yule Ball?"
"Why didn't you ask me!?"
In the midst of their bickering, both Fred and Eleanor had completely neglected the fact that they had finally confessed that they liked each other, even though it had been obvious to everyone around them for months on end. But it finally clicked when both of them fell silent, staring at one another in shock as it all sunk in. Almost immediately, they both blushed and looked away from each other.
Eleanor could feel her heart racing in her chest, to the point, where it nearly made her sick to her stomach. However, before she could say anything, Fred was up on his feet, offering his hand for her to take. And seeing their feelings were all out in the open, there was no reason for her to refuse as she quickly grabbed his hand. He helped Eleanor to her feet and the two of them quietly agreed to go on a walk through the corridors.
Every so often, Fred would playfully walk into her, gently knocking her aside, perhaps it was his way of telling Eleanor to say something to ease the awkward air.
"Do you think we should have said something to George and Angelina before we left the Great Hall completely?" she asked him. "I mean, they were our dates, after all, seems kinda terrible of us to just leave them- "
Suddenly, Eleanor was stopped in the corridor as Fred came to stand in front of her. He placed one of his hands under her chin, shutting her up right away.
"They already know, Ellie," he said, "now, is that really what's on your mind right now?"
"Not anymore."
Eleanor's confidence seemed to have a mind of its own, often leaving her at some of the worst times, or appearing out of nowhere. With Fred drawing closer and closer to her, she knew what was coming and she begged for her confidence to return so that she didn't make a complete fool out of herself.
Growing up, she could remember all the romance movies her mother would watch, stories that usually followed the same premise of a beautiful woman falling in love with a handsome man, they would realise their feelings towards the end and share in the most dramatic kiss as the camera angles would give an all-around view of the magical moment. They would pull away and profess their dying love for each other and then live happily ever after until the credits rolled.
The difference was, Eleanor wasn't looking to profess her love, she was simply trying to figure out how to go about her first kiss.
Sure, she had kissed Fred on the lips at the Quidditch Cup the year before, but she didn't count that because it hadn't led to anything besides only adding onto confused feelings. But just thinking about that moment alone and how happy she had been to kiss him and how happy she usually was when she was around him, Eleanor felt her confidence return.
Her hands reached out and gently held the sides of Fred's face, catching him off guard as he suddenly froze in her hold.
"Can I kiss you, Fred Weasley?"
The way Eleanor said his name, she could have asked to light him on fire and Fred would have gladly still said yes. Her fingers trailed over the sides of his face, leaving his entire body to tingle under her touch. And the way her green eyes trailed down to look at his lips, nearly left him faint.
"Please do."
Fred closed his eyes as Eleanor's face neared his, he could feel the brush of her nose against his skin and seconds later, her lips were pressed against his. Instantly, he remembered how he felt when she had abruptly kissed him at the Quidditch match, knowing that the kiss they were currently sharing was a million times better.
He had been stuck in the same position until he felt her start to pull away. The kiss itself had been delightful, but brief, just leaving him to want a little bit more. His arm reached out, gently touching Eleanor's back to guide her back to him and she took the hint as neither one of them broke the kiss just yet.
But when they finally managed to pull away from each other, it took a few seconds for Fred to open his eyes, just overwhelmed with a mixed sense of happiness and calmness. When his eyes did flutter open, he could see Eleanor touching her fingers to her lips, wearing a giddy smile of her own.
After several moments of sitting in bashful silence, Fred took Eleanor's hand and started leading her back towards the Great Hall.
"Where are we going?"
"Back to the Ball, I'd like to have a proper dance with you."