I woke up the next day day feeling a large chunk of hair resting on my arm. I cracked my eyes open and saw that Hermione and I had fallen asleep on my bed last night. It was crazy that we both managed to fit in the small bed without falling off. I got up and looked at each of my friends bed, laughing at the sight.
Ginny was sleeping in Hermione's bed with her still braided hair sprawled everywhere over the pillow. Anastasia was laying face down with her dress still on in bunches at her feet.
I decided I would take a shower and get an early take on the day. It took longer than normal for me to wash myself since I had make up smeared everywhere and the eyeliner was irritatingly difficult to get off. Once I finished spraying my apple perfume thoroughly, I put on some comfortable black leggings and a white cream sweatshirt.
When I got back to my bed my barn owl was perched on the window hooting happily.
"I've gotta give you a name soon don't I," I smiled petting her softly right in between her eyes. I took the note she had from her beak and on it was written:
'Meet me by the kitchens
~Fred'
By the kitchens? And what would he want over there? Regardless, I put the blanket back over Hermione, wrote her a note saying where I was going, and headed out. I really wasn't a morning person but walking around the castle when it was empty and the sun was shining through was a surreal feeling. It made me appreciate all the little details about this school and my life.
I turned the corner to spot Fred leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed.
"Well hello there," he smirked, "fancy seeing you here."
"Yeah yeah," I rolled my eyes, "why would you wanna meet by the kitchens?"
"Well you see. Back in the day George and I nicked a map from Filch's office. And that map showed us all the secret passageways of Hogwarts."
"Of course," I gasped, "that's why you two never get caught!"
"Normally George and I use these passageways to hide but today I decided we would sneak into Hogsmead."
"Hogsmead?" I glanced up at him, "and what's that? A room in the castle?"
"Blimey I forget your American sometimes you know," he chuckled, "Hogsmead is the only all wizarding village of Britain. Once you enter your third year you're allowed to go to the village on designated weekends," he explained, "today isn't one of those days but we're going to make it one," he grinned mischievously. We approached a large statue and after Fred said a spell, it leaned forward and showed a gaping hole in the wall.
"Wow that was cool," I appreciated. We started making our way down the dark hall to the exit. I was glad it was dark so Fred didn't see me blush when he reached back and grabbed my hand in his.
"Alright this is our stop," he said pushing the door open on the other side. We entered a weird looking store that was filled with boxes. Once we got out of there I was amazed with the village in front of me.
Christmas lights hung on every storefront on top of the pile of snow that layered each shop. There was a giant Christmas tree in the center of the village with a small group of carolers rehearsing in front of it. Several owls flew above us while the soft sound of music filled the sound of the town.
"This is amazing," I said awestruck trying to take everything in.
"It is, isnt it," he smiled down at me before he led the way down the snowy path.
"I was thinking we could stop at the Three Broomsticks for a drink? And then maybe Zonkos, I promised George I'd restock on more Dungbombs," he admitted.
"Sounds perfect," I replied. I was relieved when we entered the bar and were able to escape the cold air outside. Fred picked a booth in the corner that we both could comfortably sit at.
A woman casually strolled over to us, "what can I do for you kiddos?" she asked. I could see the label on her shirt read 'Madam Rosmerta'.
"I'll have a butter beer please," Fred ordered.
"Could I actually have a cup of hot chocolate?" I politely asked.
"Of course dear! I'll be right back with that," she walked off.
"Ah yes I forgot. I'm with the only wizard alive that hates butter beer."
"Carbonation! I told you I hate the bubbles," I reminded. Madam Rosmerta brought our drinks over to us as I took a sip.
"Mmm" I moaned at the hot taste that instantly warmed my body up, "this is incredible." Fred had also taken a sip of his drink and got a little foam on his upper lip.
"You have a little something," I pointed, "here don't move," I said and grabbed a napking to wipe it off. He closed his eyes and I saw this as the perfect opportunity to mess with him. Instead of wiping it off with my finger I shot my tongue out to wipe slowly across his top lip. Fred's eyes went open in shock as he blushed profusely at my public actions, "there you go! All gone!" I giggled.
"Kind of gave me a sense of deja vu," he laughed bringing up our night at the lake and how he wiped dirt off my face. We stayed in the bar for a bit to keep talking and finishing our drinks. Like a gentleman, hepaid for them and walked me to where this famous joke shop apparently was.
"Holy shit," my eyes went wide at everything in the store. There were rows and rows of products that all had descriptive labels on how they could be used for jokes.
I walked up to a shelf that had a bunch of little mugs and the label read 'Nose-Biting Teacups'.
"Do these actually work?" I asked Fred as he came up and hugged me from behind.
"Yeah George and I got grounded for an entire month after stuffing a bunch in Ginny's room. Mum had to magically stitch her nose back together since they all jumped when she was sleeping," I opened my eyes wide in shock.
"Fred! That's incredibly mean!" I lectured.
"Oh please we were 10 and hardly knew any better," he rolled his eyes. I stood there looking up at all the products while holding Fred's arms that were wrapped around me.
"This is what I want one day," he randomly said, "A shop just like this. If i'm going to leave a mark in this world it's going to be for making people laugh and bringing a little more light into their life," he admitted quietly. I turned my head to peer into his eyes.
"Fred that's lovely," I softly replied, "and if anyone would do it it'd be you and George."
"Thanks Vi," he said as we exited the store. I found an open bench and tugged his arm towards it.
"This has been so fun thank you for taking me," I told him truthfully.
"Anything for you," he teased leaning in closer to me. I smiled as I instinctively closed my eyes and felt him kiss me. Our cold noses tickled each other as his warm lips stayed glued to mine. I pulled away and thought of how to form my next sentence.
"So. You kind of have to meet my dad," I said ruining the moment as his face went white.
"What! Why?" I hit his arm.
"Because doofus! He's been asking and I'm sure he'll come up to us soon since he saw us at the ball together."
"I'm not really good with parents," he said rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
"You'll be fine," I kissed him quickly and reassured him, "plus I know my sister will love you," I winked.
We snuck back into the shop that had the hidden passageway, and pushed the statue back in place when we got back into Hogwarts.
"I have some more post ball damage stuff I think I have to take care of," I told him referring to what happened with Hermione and Ron.
"Yeah I should probably go apologize to Angelina for basically ditching her," he chuckled.
"Hm no you don't she'll be fine," I shrugged.
"Oh is that some jealousy I detect," he smiled widely poking my cheek. I simply slapped his hand away.
"You wish," I grumbled but deep down I didn't want him to talk to Angelina. I wanted to stay with him in the common room all day and announce to everyone that we were together.
Were we though? He hadn't asked me to officially start dating but I'm assuming we weren't just fooling around. I opened my mouth to ask but closed it instead. I didn't want to ruin the day we had since I knew Fred had a hard time speaking about his emotions. I would just wait until he came to me.
"Farewell my dear love, I shall see you in another life," he yelled dramatically throwing his hands up.
"Shut up. I'll see you at dinner," I laughed and headed up the stairs. I cupped my cheeks to rub them since they hurt from smiling all day. I sighed looking forward to going to dinner tonight and seeing him again-
"Don't be mad at me," Hermione shouted as soon as I opened the door.
"What?"
"They practically forced me to tell them. I didn't mean to it just slipped out!" she cried. Ginny and Anastasia both were perched on my bed looking at me with smirks.
"I still don't know what you're talking about," I stated weirded out with their behavior.
"YOU AND FRED OF COURSE!" Anastasia screamed bouncing up and down, "You bloody slut, you didn't tell me anything about that!"
"I knew it too," Ginny smirked, "remember all those times I told you he was looking over. I knew that it was directed at you." My cheeks heated up while they all laughed and pointed at me.
"Shut up you're embarrassing me," I groaned into Hermione's pillow sitting next to her.
"And how was it? The ball with him?" Anastasia demanded while the other girls looked at me.
"It was great he gave me this," I flicked up my wrist to show the charmed bracelet I was wearing, "and yeah we kissed" I gushed again.
"How romantic! Your first kiss with him at a dance," Hermione awed.
"Well uhm," I coughed uncomfortably, "it wasn't the first time."
"What?" Ginny said narrowing her eyes.
"Yeah this might've been-uh-the third time," I admitted trying to not meet their eyes. They all just looked at each other in disbelief.
"I can't believe you didn't tell me," Hermione said shocked.
"Oh yeah really? Miss 'I like Ron but won't admit it'," I threw back. She closed her mouth from saying anything but she didn't deny my claim either.
"Is that where you went this morning then? To meet him?" Ginny pushed.
"Yeah he took time to Hogsmead and it's absolutely beautiful over there," I explained.
"Tell us everything then!" Anastasia squealed. I spent the remainder of my afternoon curled up in Hermione's bed with our Christmas candy in piles around us. I recalled the events of this morning and told the story to them, while they filled me in on how their own nights went at the Yule Ball
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A/N
BOI I JUST WANT SOMEONE TO TAKE ME ON A DATE TO HOGSMEAD IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR IN THIS WORLD
anywho hope you enjoyed this chapter <3