THIRTY ONE
RORY SIGHED AS THE HOT WATER hit her skin in the locker room showers. They had been practicing Quidditch for hours. It was nearly freezing cold, they still had to adjust to the new team, and Rory got hit in the shoulder with a Bludger and was now badly bruised. She was in an overall grouchy mood. She had missed her first Valentine's Day with Fred and one of her last trips to Hogsmeade. Practice wasn't easy either. The McDowell twins and Ginny were good, but it was hard maintaining the same chemistry as they had having nearly the same team for years.
Angelina and Katie had got in a screaming match mid-air about halfway through which made things especially more difficult. Luckily they made up in the last hour of practice. Tensions were high for everyone. A hot shower is just what Rory needed. The water slightly stung her freezing skin but felt good nonetheless.
The girl was silent on her way up to the common room, everyone was. Nobody was in the mood to speak. Rory just wanted to go to sleep, she didn't care about dinner or any of her homework at the moment. She did care about seeing Fred though and hoped he would be around when she got to the common room.
Luckily, he was. He seemed to have that smirk he had when he was hiding something, but she brushed it off.
"Hello, beautiful," he said giving her a kiss, "Happy Valentine's Day."
She sighed, "I'm so sorry we couldn't do anything today, Fred. I'll make it up to you —"
"No need. Do you want to just hang out down here tonight? Why don't you change into something comfortable and come back down. Have you eaten yet?"
"Not yet," she shook her head, "I'll put my sweats on and maybe we can get dinner in a bit."
She went up to her dormitory where Angelina was also changing into her most comfortable outfit. Marina didn't seem to be in the room, which Rory thought was strange but as she thought about it she hadn't seen Marina too much in the past few days. Rory changed out of her practice clothes and into grey sweatpants and a white t shirt, she finally felt comfortable after hours of being cold and sweaty.
She headed down the steps and noticed the common room looked... different. It was now completely free of students except for Fred and the furniture had moved around.
Rory looked around and saw a table with two chairs were by the fire, the wireless was softly playing music, and makeshift paper hearts were hung around the room.
She looked at Fred who was smiling softly.
"Did you do all this?" She asked.
"Not alone," he shrugged, "George and Lee helped a bit. Had to take a lot of convincing for everyone to stay out of the common room for the rest of the night, though. Are you hungry?"
Rory nodded and joined him by the fire. Fred pulled out her chair for her very chivalrously. She giggled and sat down, blush spreading across her cheeks.
"I wish I would've dressed for the occasion," she mentioned.
"What do you mean? I think you're dressed perfectly." He said honestly. In front of them was plated pasta with creamy orange sauce. It smelled delicious. Rory didn't realize how hungry she was until she saw it. She was still in awe at the romantic side of himself Fred was showing. He was more of an unconventional lover, it kept her on her toes. However she enjoyed him being a bit cheesy for a night.
Their conversation as they ate was pretty basic. They shared stories from their day and laughed together as they always did. It felt a bit different though. Like Fred wanted to say something, but wasn't saying it. She ignored it and tried to enjoy their date without worrying about some other factor.
The wireless was softly playing a smooth jazz tune with the voice of a wizard singer who sounded similar to Frank Sinatra overtop. She felt like she were a girl in a movie.
"Oh, I've got something for you," Fred said, looking through his bag which was on a chair.
Rory raised an eyebrow, "We promised not to get each other anything, though."
He handed her a small book, "Well I kept my promise. If I'm correct this already belongs to you."
Rory looked at what he had handed her and saw it was her copy of Much Ado About Nothing that Umbridge had confiscated.
"Fred!" She gasped, "How did you get this?"
He smirked, "Magic."
She rolled her eyes and placed the book down. At that time both of them had finished their food.
"Fred," Rory smiled.
"Are you going to ask me to dance with you?" He said.
The girl nodded with a smile. She loved how Fred could read her mind. He always knew exactly what she was thinking. His mind was hers and vise versa.
Fred Weasley was not a particularly skilled dancer. Unlike Rory, he didn't seem to grasp the concept of musicality or rhythm (the song was clearly in four-four, but Fred was dancing in five-eight).
Swaying and spinning with Fred reminded her of the first time they danced together. It was when she went to the Burrow for Christmas for the first time and the muggle radio station had accidentally played. And then again, at the Yule Ball when she kissed him for the first time.
She felt a sort of security in his arms. Every color seemed brighter and the music they were dancing too just sounded better. Each note was more beautiful as he held Rory close to him.
In that moment, as they danced, her heart began to feel different. She remembered how Fred had looked like he wanted to say something earlier. She felt like her tongue was trying to jump out of her mouth and speak for her. Her heart and her brain were connected, which was a rare occurrence. They were both telling Rory the same thing.
After a couple songs, they sat down on the couch and were cuddling by the fire place. Rory lightly tapped the beat of Fred's heart on his arm and noticed as it quickened and slowed back down again every now and again.
"You're an excellent dancer, Rory." He said softly in her ear.
"I wish I could say the same for you, Freddie, my love." She hummed with a small shrug. He cracked a smile and kissed her. A quick kiss soon turned into a deeper more passionate one. Rory repositioned herself so she was basically straddling the boy. He seemed to enjoy that.
Each time they kissed, she got more comfortable with it. Her innocence was slowly fading. That was not a bad thing like it sounded. Rory saw it as a good thing. Every kiss was another promise of trust between the two. She was allowing him to indulge in her innocence, which was something no one else had been given the privilege of, at least not in the way Fred had.
The boy's love language was without a doubt: physical touch. Anytime he could get his hands on Rory, he did. Whether it was holding her hand, or placing a hand on her thigh, or touching her lower back to lead her through a crowded corridor. He especially portrayed this as they kissed. His hands couldn't ever stay in one spot for too long. Although nothing about her body was ever truly different, he acted as if he was touching it for the first time every time. He always started softly, with a hesitating nature. Then once he knew they were both comfortable, he began exploring. His touch travelled from her legs all the way to her neck and through her hair.
Currently they were rested on her hips, with a fierce but gentle temper, pulling her closer to him. He firmly planted his hands underneath her and quickly flipped her so she was now on her back. He began kissing her neck and was letting out soft moans against her skin.
"You're so beautiful," he said to her between kisses, "I love you so much."
"You what?" Rory gasped, lightly pushing him away. He had never spoken those words to her before, at least not as a romantic prospect, only ever casually as a friend.
He closed his eyes and swore to himself, "Fuck, Rory. I didn't mean to say that. I mean I did! I did! I love you but... I wasn't sure if you did and so it just slipped out but you don't have to say it back and —"
"I love you, too." She said. And she meant it. She felt a sort of satisfaction inside her. Those words lingering on her lips earlier had come out of their cage and she felt so free. She loved Fred. He was everything to her. She never wanted to be without him. Not in a clingy way, but in a way that she couldn't quite explain. Like part of her heart was missing without him near.
"You- You do?" He asked with wide eyes, almost surprised.
She nodded, "Of course I do, why wouldn't I?"
He smiled widely and kissed her again as she let out a soft giggle. Rory forgot other people even existed when she was with him. As the night grew darker, they enjoyed each other's company. Each other's embrace, each other's kiss, and each other's love.
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FRED WEASLEY LOVED BEING IN LOVE. He never thought he'd see the day where he could have a girl as beautiful and kind as Rory to be his girlfriend. He imagined his life would be lived as a reckless bachelor. Now, he was already fantasizing about his wedding at the age of seventeen. It was... amazing. He was living life on a cloud and nothing could knock him down.
No amount of homework or detention was ever going to ruin his mood. Rory Archer was his girlfriend and they were in love!
After Valentine's Day the boy was in a significantly better mood. George and Lee suspected the House Elves had slipped love potion into his food as a seasonal treat. He knew that was absolute malarkey though. He knew they were just jealous that they weren't in love like Fred was. It changes a boy. He felt more mature than they did.
Every time he looked at Rory he realized something new about himself or about the world. Her beautiful brown eyes took him back to the time Sirius told him he didn't understand there were things worth dying for. Because every time he saw Rory, he finally understood.