George approached Belle who was staring off in the direction that her father had taken Fred, a state of shock still evident on her face. The boy watched Belle as she didn't do anything, her mouth was agape and her eyes wide, it looked as if she had tugged on her hair as it was a mess and evident finger traces were lining the top. He too was rather mystified as to what had just happened, of course, his twin had been in a fight before, but this one was different. Perhaps it was because it was out of the blue or because Fred had this fire in his eyes and his jaw was clenched as tight as possible. He had never looked so angered before and the punches he was throwing were much more powerful than ones he had thrown before.
George didn't even know the reason for this fight, all he knew was that it wasn't Fred who initiated any kind of conflict between the pair. It was Enoch. He had swaggered up to Fred with his fists clenched first, he said the first insult, he threw the first punch, the first kick, the first everything. Fred only finished it, packing in the last piece of contact before they were pulled apart. It wasn't like Fred to get this angry, and it scared George, an emotion he never thought he would ever have to feel around his brother; his other half. "What was that about?" Belle asked him, her voice quiet and her eyes not looking at him.
The boy shrugged as Lee joined them, "I don't know, Lee and I were talking, the next minute I know they were ripping each other to pieces."
"I know." Said Lee, as he slung an arm around Belle, "I spoke to that Horace bloke. Apparently, Enoch doesn't want Fred being with you even though he is seeing you as a sister, he doesn't want your heart to be even more broken." He said air quoting around the last part, "Whatever that means."
"What?" Belle looked up at the boy who really wasn't that much taller than her, "I don't understand."
"Just don't worry about it, Belle, it's probably easier and better for you," George stated, "Come on Lee, let's go wait for Freddie, why don't you just go back to your common room?" Belle nodded and let the two boys wander away from her before moving from her spot. She rubbed her cheeks, dragging her hands down her face letting her skin stretch downwards before releasing and answering the riddle that she remembered the answer of earlier that day. Instead of sitting in the common room she went to her dormitory and flopped on her bed.
'Even more broken'?
* * *
The next few days Belle ignored Enoch and tried talking to Fred but he and the other two boys seemed to be avoiding him. Her father was acting cold towards her but then again that was probably because of the full moon coming up in the next week. She was going to talk to Fred but then remembered that he had been moved seats. Just her luck! Belle wanted to do nothing but throw a book at the wall and hope it would bounce back and knock her out so she wouldn't have to deal with everything but it never happened. The only way that it could be sorted is to talk to Fred- something she deemed nearly impossible.
After class, she followed him until she could grab him and corner him. Belle waited until his Quidditch practice was over and watched as all of the team entered the showers and changing rooms until Fred was the last one, sulkily trudging towards it. The girl hid in the shadows only reaching an arm out to pull him under the stands where she was. "What the bloody hell, Belle?"He exclaimed nearly dropping his bat. "What are you doing here?" He asked as if he was fed up and bored.
"You've been avoiding me, so has George and Lee. I know it's about the fight, Fred, tell me what's going on, please." She said, her hand not leaving Fred's wrist. He shrugged her grip off of him and stepped back.
"Nothing's going on." He said, his tone not changing. "Don't fret, Merlin, we won't be around you at all times we have O.W.Ls to study for."
Belle's eyes rolled and she folded her arms across her chest, "That's the biggest load of bullshit I have ever heard. Fred, I just want to know what I can do to fix what's happening."
"You can't."
"Why can't I?"
It was Fred's turn to roll his eyes, "Because it is not you that's the problem." It took the girl a moment to realise what the boy was getting at and her nostrils flared.
"It's Enoch isn't it?" Fred didn't say anything, instead, he shrugged lazily his fingers grazing over the drawstring of his uniform, wrapping it aimlessly around his finger and letting it drop off. "Whatever he has done or said, I don't want you worrying about." She edged closer to Fred who stiffened and his heart rate quickened, involuntarily.
"Is it true?" He asked her in a small whisper. "You and him? You...erm...did it?"
Belle choked on air, her eyes widening and her head shook quickly. "Of course it ain't. I promise you, Freddie, I thought we went over this? The only thing that happened between us is that we kissed. And besides, I didn't want it. I don't know why he is being like this."
"He kept saying stuff about you, your body and the things you said-"
"Nothing happened, Fred," Belle said sternly, her face hardening. "He is lying."
Fred gulped, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down as he nodded slowly and unsurely. "Okay." He mumbled.
It was then that Belle latched onto his face, cupping his cheeks as she rose onto her tip-toes. Fred stumbled back as she pressed her lips to his, her eyes closing shocking him only for a moment before he returned the kiss, his hands on her waist. It wasn't long, in fact, it wasn't even ten seconds long before they pulled back, Fred's forehead resting on hers a wide grin on his lips, revealing his teeth, he breathed, "Finally."