I woke up the next morning to the sounds of birds chirping outside the window. I got out of bed and drew back the curtains. I saw two robins chirping on the windowsill. I saw a few leaves growing on the trees. A smile grew on my face. The scenery made me feel happy.
I went downstairs to see Fred sitting alone, staring at the fireplace. I walked over next to him and sat down on the floor.
"Morning." He said, not taking his eyes off the fire.
We sat in silence for a minute or two, and Fred broke the silence.
"This fire reminds me of someone." He said, looking at me. I looked over at him with a smile. "Who?" I asked.
"Who do you think?" He said, a smile growing on his face.
"Anyone in your family." I said, thinking of all the red hair.
"Nope."
"Then I give up. Who is it?"
"You."
We slowly turned our heads back to the fire. We sat in silence for a moment.
"Why me?" I finally asked.
"Because the fire is beautiful, like you." Fred said. I smiled and looked at him. He looked at me. We stared into each other's eyes, and for once, I forced myself to stay out of his mind. We slowly leaned in, then heard footsteps coming from the boys dorm. We backed away from each other and looked back at the fire.
Harry and George walked down the stairs and over to us. Harry plopped down in an armchair and George on the floor next to Fred.
"Morning you two." Fred said. More footsteps came from the girls dorms. Hermione and Ginny walked in. Hermione sat in the other armchair and Ginny sat down next to me. Finally, Ron walked down the stairs of the boys dorms. He sat next to Ginny as Fred put his arm around me.
"Alert! Alert!" George shouted, jumping up and using his hands as a microphone. "This is not a drill!" George started running around the common room repeating himself over and over. The others burst out laughing while Fred and I sat embarrassed. He took his arm down and folded his hands in his lap.
"Why do you do this George?" Fred asked the running George.
"Why else would I?" George said, sitting down next to Fred.
"Are you determined to embarrass me?"
"Well that's my job as your twin brother!"
"Oh you'll get it." Fred said, slowly standing up. George jumped up and ran away from us. Fred then took off after him.
"They'll be back eventually." Ginny said. "After they chase each other around the castle at least once, they'll be back."
There was a short pause of silence. Everyone looked at me, and I became confused.
"What?" I asked.
"So, are you two dating?" Hermione asked excitedly.
"No." I said. "No no no no no, we are absolutely not dating. Fred and I are really good friends."
"Like we all believe that." Ron said.
"I'm serious!" I said. "We are just really good friends. If we start dating I'll let you all know."
I stood up and walked up the stairs to the girls dorm. I grabbed my jeans from my trunk and dug around for my red jumper to go with the black shirt I had on. I then pulled something from my trunk that brought tears to my eyes.
The jumper Fred had given me on the Quidditch pitch sat in my hand. I felt tears of joy roll down my cheek. I hugged the jumper tight and put it on.
Hermione and Ginny walked in to the room and I looked at them wide eyed. I threw the jumper off and held it in my hand. Smiles broke out on their faces as they tackled me into a tight hug.
They let go and I looked at them confused.
"What the hell are you two doing?" I said.
"That's Fred's jumper!" Ginny said.
"Yes, it is." I said. "He gave it to me on the Quidditch pitch forever ago."
"Wear it." The girls said in unison.
"Why?" I asked. "Won't that make me seem to attached?"
"No!" Hermione said. "Not at all."
"It'll show him you love him." Ginny said.
"Again, I don't love him." I said. "But I'll wear it anyway."
I put the thicker tan jumper on over my black shirt and smiled to myself. I looked up at the two who wore similar smiles on their faces.
"Let's go to the Great Hall. We leave for Hogsmeade in an hour." I said, the smile I had obtained still not fading.
...
Hermione, Ginny, and I walked down the corridor. Harry, Ron, Fred, and George had already left. I felt uncomfortable wearing Fred's jumper, but I was hoping no one would notice.
We entered the Great Hall and saw Harry, Ron, Neville, Seamus, and Dean sitting towards the end of the table. Fred an George were still gone, so I felt a little better.
We walked over to them and sat down. Ginny sat next to Dean, Hermione next to Ron, and I sat on the end next to Harry.
"What took you three so long?" Ron asked.
Ginny, Hermione, and I looked at each other and Hermione said. "We were waiting on Rhea. She was taking forever getting dressed."
"Oh thanks for that Hermione." I said jokingly. She laughed as Ron looked at me strangely.
"What?" I asked him, becoming annoyed.
"That jumper, it looks familiar." He said.
"My God!" I said. "It's Fred's, alright? If I get another question about it I will jump on top of this table and announce it to everyone okay?"
The others sat silently. The Great Hall started filling with students, including Fred and George. I looked at them as they passed, Fred sitting next to me, and George across. The two looked out of breath, and I giggled at the sight.
"What?" Fred asked, breathing heavily.
"What did you two do?" I asked. "Did you just run a marathon?"
"He...chased...me...around...the...
castle." George said between heavy breaths. We all laughed.
"I guess you told us Ginny." Hermione said.
"I wasn't surprised." Ginny said. "Sounds like you two."
We sat in silence for a moment. I then felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see Malfoy standing behind me. I rolled my eyes and Fred turned around.
"What do you want you back stabbing, arrogant git." Fred said.
"You're one to talk." Malfoy said. "What are you going to do Weasley? Are you going to send your idiot brother's rat on me."
"That's it." Fred said, slamming his hands on the table. He tried to stand up, but I held him down.
"Let me handle this." I whispered in his ear. I stood up and said. "What do you want Malfoy."
"I want to talk to you." He said. "Alone."
"How am I supposed to trust you?" I said.
"Please, can we just talk?"
I paused, then said. "Fine. Let's go."
We walked out of the Great Hall and down a corridor. I tried to avoid looking at Malfoy, still mad at him.
He stopped me halfway down an empty corridor. He forced me to look at him, and I brushed his hands of my shoulders.
"Let's get this over." I said annoyed.
"I want to get back together with you." Malfoy said.
I was speechless as the boy who always hated me still fancied me.
"And why should I date you again after what you've done to me in the past?" I said.
"You shouldn't." Malfoy said. "I've been an arse to you ever since first year because I wanted to be your friend."
"Do you insult your other friends?"
"It depends on my mood."
I giggled quietly. I looked at Malfoy. I looked deep into his eyes, wanting to know if he truly meant what he was asking. I saw he still had feelings for me, and that's when I left.
"I'll think about it." I said. I then walked off and back to the Great Hall.
I walked in and all the others were gone except Fred. My heart went up in my throat as I walked over to him. He looked up and smiled as I sat down.
"Hey." Fred said, looking at the jumper.
"I know you're going to ask if it's yours." I said. "It is. Are you okay with that?"
"Well I gave it to you, so you can wear it whenever you want and I won't mind."
I hugged Fred tightly as a smile grew on my face.
We let go and I saw Fred point behind me. I saw Hermione and Ginny peek in the doorway. I started laughing as I looked at Fred, who started laughing. His brown eyes twinkled from the candlelight, and his hair reminded me of a flame. I hugged Fred again, never wanting to let go.