Seth and I had to explain to our friends that we only kissed to make Fred jealous. To make him feel what I felt when I saw him with Angelina. First they didn't believe us, but then they did. Practice ended at ten pm that night, lasting two hours like usual when we had practice on weekdays. Next practice would be on Saturday, all the way from after breakfast to lunch and then again from after lunch to dinner.
After practice, I got some stuff from my dormitory, then took a bath in the prefect bathroom. I slept well that night. The next morning, Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones got ready before Melba, Callie and I so when we got ready, we had the room for ourselves, which meant we acted like we always did. We danced around the room as we sang this song that we all funnily enough had stuck in our brains.
When we left our dorm and entered the common room, Seth sat on the back of the sofa while Nate was lying in a chair, legs over the back of it and Nick was explaining something, making wild hand gestures.
"Good morning." I smiled widely as I made my way over and jumped up to sit next to Seth. He looked at me with a faint smile.
"Morning. You're in a good mood. 'Cause I'm a great kisser, am I right?"
"No." I chuckled. "I mean, you're not bad but... no."
"Not bad." he scoffed. "I'm gonna act like you didn't just damage my ego."
"Can we go now?" Melba pouted. "I'm really hungry."
"Me too." Callie said while Nate gut up from the chair and wrapped his arms around her waist, placing his chin on her shoulder. "I'm basically starving."
When we walked up from the Hufflepuff basement, we continued up to the ground floor along with some Slytherins who came from the Slytherin dungeon. Callie and Nate were holding hands, fingers intertwined and I found myself once again, wishing Fred and I were still together, that he hadn't cheated and that I had him to hold hands with.
Melba probably saw how I looked at their intertwined hands, 'cause suddenly she grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers.
"You know what?" She asked as she looked at me. "It's Fred's loss, really."
"Then why does out feel like it's my loss?" I asked. "Am I not supposed to hate him?"
"No." she shook her head. "You're supposed to feel whatever you are feeling. It's alright to miss him, to still love him. After all, he's your first love and you were together for nineteen months."
"Nineteen long and amazing months." I breathed and Melba chuckled softly.
"Fucking dykes!" a voice shouted from somewhere in the hallway. Melba and I automatically let go of each other's hands as we turned around to see Adrian Pucey walk towards us.
"What did you say?" Nate asked and let go of Callie to step towards Pucey. "Say it again? I didn't hear you."
"Oh, you didn't hear me?" Pucey pressed before he looked towards Melba and I. "Dykes."
"Nate!" Melba shouted when he grabbed onto the collar of Pucey's shirt to pull him up to his own level.
"You know, isn't it crazy that two girls can hold hands without being called a slur?" Nate asked. "And isn't it crazy that you feel the need to comment on someone's sexuality even though it's got nothing to do with you?"
"Nate, just let go of him." Melba sighed as she stepped closer to him. "It's fine. I'm used to it."
"That doesn't make it okay." I spoke. "You shouldn't have to be used to something like that."
"This is all very touching." Pucey said. "But can you let go of me now? I'd like to get to breakfast and I'm sure the dykes would like top–"
Before he could finish the sentence, Nate punched him in the jaw, letting go of him so that he fell to the floor with a groan.
"That felt fucking fantastic." Nate turned towards the rest of us with a smile plastered on his lips. "Right. Breakfast... shall we?"
He threw his arm around Callie's neck and the twos started making their way to the Great Hall with Nick following close behind, talking about how amazing that was of Nate.
I looked at Pucey as he pulled himself to his feet and awkwardly made his way back to his friends that were laughing and mocking him for getting punched by a Hufflepuff.
"That was... something." Seth breathed. "I mean... if Nate hadn't, I would totally have punched him myself."
"Sure." Melba nodded and patted his chest before she followed behind the rest of our friends. "You totally would."
"Wha–" Seth turned to me and I laughed softly, crossing my arms over my chest. "I could've punched him!"
"You could." I agreed, raising my eyebrows at him. "But you wouldn't. If you did decide to throw in a punch, I'm sure you'd leave a bruise but you're a big softie, Seth. You'd never hurt a fly."
He rolled his eyes at me and I made my way past him, walking towards the Great Hall with him following behind a few feet back. The food was already served, filling up the middle of every table. Melba had already grabbed a pancake when I sat down across from her and next to Nate.
"Did you know that for like two hundred years ago, Hogwarts didn't have any toilets?" Nick asked once Seth sat down on my other side.
"What?" Callie laughed but her face then dropped. "Wait... how were the students then supposed to use the bathroom?"
"They simply shat themselves and vanished the evidence." Nick explained and Melba choked on a piece of pancake, quickly swallowing it down with some juice.
"Nick, please. I am eating."
"Then stop eating." he shrugged. Melba looked at him as he was stupid but he ignored it and continued. "I read it in a book in the library. The Wizarding world first adapted to the muggle world plumbing methods in the eighteenth century so before that, people simply peed and shat where they stood, then used a spell to make it vanish."
"That's fucking disgusting." I said as my face scrunched up at the thought.
"Wait but wasn't the indoor plumping invented in the nineteenth century?" Seth asked. "And not in the eighteenth?"
"Yes, that's true but I never mentioned toilets, did I?" Nick asked. "I said plumbing methods. The muggle world used pots to shit in during the nights, then emptied it the next morning and if they had to go during the day, they usually had a shed outside with this seat leading down to a bucket."
"Can you stop saying shit?" Nate asked as he reached for a pancake himself. "It's not very nice to hear about during breakfast."
"Oi! I remember a few days ago when you went into details about how you made Callie cum."
"You're right." I broke into the conversation. "Nate's talking about orgasms, you're talking about shit, meaning we should all probably watch what we talk about during a meal so we can actually eat without wanting to throw it up."
"I'm with Jules on this one." Callie said. "I would really like not talking about shit... or how my boyfriend makes me cum."
Nate snickered but mumbled an 'Ow' when Callie punched his arm. Seth held up his hand to talk, then pointed at Nate. "Any advice? You see, I'm trying to up my body count this year and–"
"Oh my god!" I groaned loudly. "Stop talking about sex!"
The Great Hall went silent, making me realise how loud I had been speaking. As every other student turned to look towards our group, including Fred, my friends broke into laughter that filled the four walls of the room. I sighed and awkwardly hit my face in my hands as I sunk down a bit.
"You're just pissed that you're not getting some." Seth smirked, reaching over me to grab a croissant while the room was filled with chatter again. "I'm sure there are a lot of guys who would want to bang you but you'd be too awkward to make it happen."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It's supposed to mean that you would be way too awkward and nervous to get any guy hard. The only one you've been with is Fred."
"That's not true! I had sex in July!"
My friends went quiet. Yep, I had not told them that. I didn't think I'd even bring it up. It was just some muggle boy at a club I snuck into because I got bored. I would never have done such thing before I met Fred but then he pulled me out of my shell and now I'm completely confident in my own skin and way more bold than before.
"You had sex?" Callie asked. "As in penis meets vagina?"
"Or vagina meets vagina?" Melba asked. "Cause trust me. That's way better."
"Not when you're straight." Callie argued and in response, Melba flipped her off.
"We all know Jules isn't straight." she told her. "She swings both ways. Right, Jules?"
"Well." I shrugged. "I haven't exactly labeled myself as anything and I'm not planning on it either. I like who I like but in July, it was a guy and I think he was at least twenty."
That made Nick choke on his pumpkin juice. The rest of us looked at him as he coughed. Callie who sat between him and Melba, hit him on the back to help him feel better and it seemed to help after a moment or two.
"You just turned seventeen in June and the very next month you go and have sex with a freaking adult?"
"Yeah." I nodded. "It was dumb, really. I was trying to get back at Fred but he obviously weren't there and sex is way more exciting with someone who's not a muggle."
Silence.
"Didn't we just agree to stop talking about sex when we're eating?" Callie proceeded to ask. "Let's talk about something else. Nick, give us your top three food. Go!"
"Pepperoni Pizza!" he hurried to say, holding up one finger. "Every single type of salad pizza."
He held up another fine and I couldn't help but chuckle at how serious he looked about it, though it makes sense. Nick is very serious when it comes to pizza.
"And pineapple pizza!"
"That's your top three foods?" Nate asked with a raised eyebrow. "I wonder how you're not fat."
"Hey!"
"And pineapple? Seriously?" Melba asked. "That does not belong on pizza."
"Yes it does." Nick frowned. "Seth. Agree with me. We share a pineapple pizza now and then."
"Yeah. Pineapple on pizza is great." Seth agreed. "Just like pizza with mushrooms."
I fake gagged, shaking my head violently. "I have to barf. Mushrooms are disgusting. They taste so weird and they feel all spongy in your mouth. No thank you. But pineapple on pizza? Fucking amazing."
"You are all delusional!" Callie argued. "Pineapple on pizza is the most disgusting thing ever. It's even worse than mushrooms and I don't like those either."
They all continued to argue about pineapple on pizza and I listened in with a smile on my lips. Then it all stopped and all ten eyes landed on something above my head. Then I felt someone lean down and a familiar hand was placed right next to my plate on the table. My smile dropped when I realised who it was and instead, I gulped.
"I need to talk to you." his chilling voice sounded. I could feel his breath against my ear, making me realise just how close he actually was.
"Yeah?" I breathed, turning my head slightly to the side where Seth sat. I couldn't see Fred's face but I got a glimpse of his robes and his scent hit my nose. "No you don't."
"Jules."
"Freddie." I mocked. "Where would you even want to school? You know we can't leave the Great Hall during breakfast meals and I am not about to stand in a corner with you."
"Jesus, Julie. I don't really give a crap about the rules." he told me. Of course he didn't. I knew that. He's Fred Weasley. He and his brother play pranks on teachers and the students. He was a rule breaker.
"Do you see this?" I asked and took the head girl badge off my robes to show him. "This means that I care about the rules, so go back to your girlfriend and leave me to eat my breakfast."
The hand on the table closed into his fist and he let out a quite hum as he leaned in closer, lips brushing past my earlobe with made me inhale sharply. I closed my eyes, sighing when I realised I just openly showed how pathetic I am under his touch. "Fine. I'll just find you later then."
He straightened up and I watched him with my eyes as he made his way back to his table. Then I looked around at my friends who all wanted to say something about it.
"Fine. Let it out. Make fun of me."
"Can I go first?!" Seth held up a hand, then turned towards me. "You looked like you were on the edge of an orgasm just by him being that close to you."
I rolled my eyes.
"You looked like his touch hurt you." Seth continued to laugh. "Like you were in so much pain... sexually."