Fred ran through the shop and up to the twins shared apartment, carelessly slamming doors behind him, he ran into the living-room and put on the lights and fire. With all the noise, George was startled out of his bed (and onto the floor). He grunted as he got up, cursing at his twin under his breath as he opened the door. He dragged his feet to the source of the ruckus to see his brother acting like a complete idiot. "What the bloody hell are you doing, jumping around, making all this noise?! You woke me up, you tosser!"
Fred stopped being weird (sort of anyway) and turned to face the sleepy George, beaming like he just won the lottery – which, in his mind, he felt he had. "I asked her! I finally asked her!" He exclaimed, resisting the urge to scream out the window so everyone in Diagon Alley would know.
George rubbed his tired face, not really taking in what Fred had to say. "Asked who? What?"
Fred leaped over a footstool and grabbed his twins shoulders. "(Y/N)! I asked (Y/N) to be my girlfriend!" He specified, shaking George's shoulders in excitement. "And she said yes! She said yes, George, can you believe it? Merlin, I feel like the luckiest man in the world." He threw his arms up and grinned, acting like a little kid getting their first broom.
"Well," George yawned, "can't say I didn't see it coming. But I am happy for ya, Freddie." He noted while patting Fred's shoulder, "But can we go to bed now? I'm tired."
"Bed? I don't think I'll be able to sleep all night!" Fred complained with a smile still stretched on his face.
"Don't you plan to walk her to Uni tomorrow?" George yawned again.
Eyes widening, Fred gasped dramatically, "You're right!" He yelled as he ran into the room and dove on the bed.
George rubbed his eyes as he followed his brother. "Well that's a first." He mumbled, a tired smirk on his face.
******************
November came around, which meant that Fred and (Y/N) had been dating for about three months – and it had been completely perfect. Fred would walk her to and from University most days, or surprise her at work to bring her a snack. He'd helped her decorate and furnish her apartment too, each room was painted a different colour and photos were hung on the walls. Fred also insisted that (Y/N) painted her bedroom walls red because 'it's just the best colour y'know'; so they settled for white and red with black curtains (or as Fred liked to call them: window blankets). He'd stay over occasionally [[innocent sleepover ya nasties]], which George teased him for relentlessly, but Fred couldn't have been happier.
And that's why he decided he had to tell her.
Everything.
Fred shuffled up to her apartment and knocked on the door, hearing a quiet 'It's open!' before stepping in. (Y/N) was sat at the kitchen island – papers and pens and Merlin knows what else scattered on the surface – working and writing frantically.
He smiled at the sight of her and leaned against the table, watching her intently; her furrowed brows, her pursed lips, the way she scrunched her nose and bit her pencil when she was concentrating; he loved to remind himself that this adorable being was his girlfriend. "Thought I told you, you should lock the door more. What if I was some weirdo coming to kidnap you?"
(Y/N) smirked and paused her notes to look up at him. "Fred, you'll never not be a weirdo, but I'm sure I could take you."
They sat like that for a while, making light conversation while (Y/N) worked – until Fred decided he had stalled enough.
Taking a deep breath, Fred reached over to grab her hand and held it tightly to ease his nerves. "(Y/N) I need to tell you something."
This successfully caught her attention. (Y/N) looked up at him, setting down her pen and furrowing her brows, "Is something wrong?" She asked cautiously.
Fred shook his head. "No, no nothings wrong. I just—we need to talk—"
"I swear if you're breaking up with me I'm gonna punch yo—"
"I'm not! No, its... actually kind of the opposite." He cleared his throat and thought of how exactly he wanted to say this, "I I-I um... I'm a u-uh I'm-a-wizard."
There was a silence between them, a little awkward on Fred's part, but he couldn't bring himself to look at her – the only thing running through his mind was how he'd screwed up; she doesn't love him anymore and he'd exposed the wizarding world to a muggle and now he'll have to obliviate her memories of him and he'll never see her again and—
His thoughts were interrupted by laughter – laughter that would normally make his heart flutter, instead made his stomach drop. Why was she laughing?
"Yeah, okay Fred. And I'm Gandalf." Who? (Y/N) picked up her pen again and pulled her scattered papers closer, "Look, you're adorable and all, Fred, but I really need to get back to work."
Oh, right – she doesn't believe him. Of course she wouldn't, why would she? As far as she knows, magic is just a fantasy – something out of a storybook. This just means he'll have to prove to her that he isn't joking.
Warily, Fred pulled out his wand and placed it in front of her. "This is my wand," he explained as she picked it up to examine the intricate design; it was brown and freshly polished, with a handle resembling a pinecone. "It's real – I'm not lying." Despite his attempts, (Y/N) still didn't look convinced. Sighing, he took back his wand and held the handle firmly, deciding on a spell. Merlin, I can't believe I'm doing this. With a mutter of a few foreign words, Fred collected the papers on the desk and the few that had fallen on the floor, and placed them in a neat pile in front of them; completely by magic.
Not sure if that had convinced her, he pointed the wand at a mug sat on the kitchen counter – (Y/N)'s favourite mug – which had a large crack in the side and the handle had fallen off, it had been broken the previous morning, but she didn't want to throw it away. Fred whispered a quiet reparo, then the mug rattled a little in its place and was suddenly fixed – as spotless and chip-less as the day she got it.
Feeling he had done enough, Fred turned to see his girlfriend's reaction. Well in this case, her lack of reaction. Fred watched nervously as she stared at she mug, occasionally flicking her eyes to the pile of papers in front of her.
After what felt like hours, (Y/N) finally looked at Fred; meeting his gaze with an expression he couldn't read. He waited for her to say something, anything to stop his brain overflowing with doubts.
By the look on his face, (Y/N) could easily see that he was nervous, panicked, and maybe a little bit afraid. She didn't know what to say, how could she? It's not like she's been in this situation before! But he just did magic! Her boyfriend is a frickin' wizard?! Is that normal? Of course it's not! How could it be? Magic isn't real – or at least it wasn't until two minutes ago! Panic started to bubble in her stomach; how the hell is this possible?! "What the f—"
"Please don't freak out!" Fred interrupted, "I know it's a lot to take in and I know it's hard to believe – but I-I-I had to tell you! I couldn't keep it a secret anymore – I just had to! I love you and I don't want there to be any secrets between us, and I want you to know everything about me and not just—"
"You love me?"
They both froze. Neither of them had said it yet. Fred looked up in panic to see her looking just as shocked as him; he was quiet for a moment, collecting his thoughts to figure out how he should respond. Well... er I-I-I didn't mean— I... what I meant to say... er..." He paused when he noticed the glimpse of sadness in her eyes – it lasted barely a second, but a second was all he needed to choose his next words. "Yes," he continued sheepishly, "of course I love you. How could I not? You're completely perfect, I've never loved anyone like I love you. You're... youre just..." he paused, trying to think of a word that could possibly even begin to describe her, "j-just perfect."
They sat still, not wanting to disturb the feeling in the room – whatever it was. Fred fiddled with his wand in his hands as (Y/N) tried to put everything together.
After a while, he decided he couldn't stand the silence any longer. "Are you mad?" Fred hesitantly asked, only flicking his eyes to her's for a split-second, before returning his gaze to the table.
(Y/N) let out a small laugh – well, more like a huff of air that resembled a laugh – and shook her head. "No... no I'm not mad." At this, Fred deflated a breath that he didn't know he was holding and finally looked at her, filled with relief. "It's just... this is a lot to think about... y'know?"
(Y/N) looked back to her papers, and the mug on the counter top, then to the wand in Fred's hands; trying to get her brain to comprehend magic – even though it completely conflicted everything she knew – her brain kept trying to understand it based on science and logic (as brains do when they're faced with something new), but that only made it worse as she continued to overthink it; a battle with her mind as it refused to see the simplicity of the subject.
When she finally looked back to him, (Y/N) realised it had been too long since either one of them had said something, and Fred looked a little... off? "I love you too, y'know." She said, quietly, as if she was telling him a secret. Fred snapped his head up at her words, allowing a smile to grace his lips. "But I'm guessing there's a lot more that I don't know, so I just I want you to tell me everything... about you and all this magic stuff."
The couple spent the entire night talking about just that: everything. Fred told her about magic, and Hogwarts. He told her stories about his family and what exactly this business was that he ran with his twin. He even recounted details of the war from how it started to how it ended, even the people they lost on the way. And, come the early hours of the morning, when they had both fallen asleep on the sofa, there wasn't a thing about Fred that (Y/N) didn't know.