George had been the one who introduced them.
The twins had been looking for a source of alcohol that wouldn't require paying the Ravenclaw fourth year ridiculously high prices for his muggle connections. They knew that the Slytherin kids were getting it from somewhere else, and Fred had been on a mission since day one to find out where that was.
"It's our sixth year, for God's sake," Fred had ranted to George during their second week back at school, "We can't let those Slytherin creeps throw parties for the rest of our time at this stupid school."
George had agreed hastily, and the two of them spent the next few days reaching out to ever smuggler and gossiper they'd gotten to know over the past six years of causing mischief at this school, desperately trying to figure out where it was the stupid Slytherin house kept their alcohol supply.
"They're probably just rich," Lee Jordan pointed out as Fred mumbled and groaned though his Charms homework on a Saturday night, "They probably can just afford to pay more than we do."
George shook his head at the idea.
"It's definitely coming from somewhere in the castle. That's what Katie pointed out. The bottles are unlabeled."
Fred nodded frantically at his brother.
"Yeah, yeah it's definitely not muggle shit. I bet there's some sort of secret wine cellar that only Slytherins know about."
"Ooh," Lee Jordan paused, tapping his chin, "That would make a lot of sense."
"I bet they have access to a whole bunch of cool stuff we don't know about." George grumbled, and Fred huffed in agreement.
And then one day George found Fred in the hallway, leaving class, and pulled him close as they walked together to DADA class.
"I found someone," He hissed in his brother's ear, "Who knows where it's coming from."
"No way," Fred said excitedly, bumping into George's shoulder, "That's incredible."
"I'm meeting her after class. By the Hufflepuff common room." George said quickly as they entered the classroom, and Lupin gently reminded them that they were already not allowed to sit with one another during class. Fred nodded as he took his seat on the far left of the room, George seated on the far right.
Fred hadn't really been sure what he was expecting, but this tiny American girl in front of him was certainly not it. She seemed sort of standoffish, with her long messy blonde hair hanging in front of her face, and her arms crossed over her huge beige sweater.
"Crabbe and Goyle." She said simply to the two of them. Fred had to hold himself back from mimicking her accent childishly.
"Who?" George questioned, leaning against the wall next to her. She barely blinked, simply flicking some hair away from her face in a bored, nonchalant manner.
"They're third years. Slytherins. My friend Elliot knows them- apparently they make moonshine in one of the boy's bathrooms."
"Moonshine?" Fred repeated doubtfully, crossing his arms, giving his brother a pointed glance. To his surprise, the girl huffed in exasperation.
"Yeah, moonshine. Like the shit they made during the 1920's? Kind of funny how they're using a nomaj recipe, but I guess it gets the job done. Shit's good. Can I have my chocolate now?"
George whipped a chocolate bar out of his pocket, and the girl went to grab for it, but he held it out of her reach.
"How do we get the moonshine?" Fred said with a sigh when the girl gave them both a glare.
"You ask them, obviously. They're pretty happy to share. "
George frowned.
"Are you sure? With Gryffindors? Seems unlikely."
She puffed her chest out a little.
"Are you calling me a liar?"
"Not a liar- just maybe a little ignorant on how things work here." Fred said with a cheeky grin, and she rolled her eyes dramatically.
"Well, they're nice enough to me when I ask for some. I'm sure you guys could manage to strike up a fair deal."
George tutted.
"We don't make fair deals with Slytherins, love."
"Yeah, they're our sworn enemy." Fred added on in a defiant tone. The girl looked between the two of them with an incredulous expression, and then burst into a fit of giggles, and for the first time since he'd met her, Fred realized she was actually quite pretty.
"That's so dramatic. What is this, the 1740's? They're just some younger kids, ask them a little roughly and I'm sure they'd give you a bottle for free. You can find them shadowing that Malfoy kid."
"Malfoy?" George spat, and Fred snickered slightly. The girl looked a little taken aback at their reactions.
"Yeah, Malfoy. That blonde guy? His hair is always like, way over done and-"
"We know who Malfoy is." Fred said gently. George folded his arms beside the girl, nodded silently. She glanced at where George held the chocolate bar sadly.
"So just find Malfoy, and you find the guys, and then you can get your alc. Easy peasy. Can I please have that chocolate bar?" Her tone got a little whiny, and George handed it over with a great sigh.
It had turned out that she was right, in a way.
George and Fred managed to get their hands on some of the Slytherin moonshine, now that they knew what they were looking for and who to ask. Happy with their efforts, the twins didn't think of the girl again until Fred found himself in the library on his own. He wasn't there to actually do anything productive, obviously, but he'd just needed to be by himself for a little while. He had his big headphones on, the ones that indicated to anyone that knew him not to bother trying to talk- as Fred would just bluntly ignore them, when he was in this sort of mood.
He was sitting at one of the tables in the far back, doodling on a scrap piece of paper as the music blasted from his headphones, helping him keep his thoughts on track. And then he noticed some movement from the corner of his eye, and realized that the blonde girl had sat down a couple of seats down from him. She was joined by a taller girl with long, shiny black hair and soft features. The taller girl was giggling about something on her phone, and the blonde girl looked a little frustrated at the situation. Fred watched as the blonde sulked and pouted, much to her friend's amusement. They both wore Hufflepuff colors, and Fred realized it hadn't occurred to him that maybe that's why it was so easy for the girl to be friends with a Slytherin. He looked hastily back at his notebook when he saw she was about to glance in his direction, and jumped when he realized another girl had sat down right next to him. He could hear that she was trying to say something, and he pulled his headphones down slightly, giving her a blank look.
"Which one are you staring at?" The girl said in a cheeky whisper, resting her cheek in her hand. Her dark hair was cut into a messy short bob, and her nose was slightly crooked in the middle.
"Uh- huh?" Fred said back lamely. She gestured to the two girls seated down the table.
"Who were you looking at with that dopey expression?"
Fred felt his face turn bright red.
"I wasn't- I mean- I don't know-"
He stopped when she giggled, shaking her head. Then she stood up gracefully, and went to join the two girls, causing the blonde girl's face to light up significantly.
After then, Fred couldn't get her out of his mind. He'd notice her everywhere- in the dining hall, at Quidditch matches, hanging around the hallways. After a while he found himself pausing in areas he'd seen her hang out around, keeping an eye out for her messy bed head hair. Her group of friends were usually loud, and hard to ignore, with cackling laughs and expressive exchanges. George noticed what was happening pretty quickly.
"Her name's Diana, by the way." He said softly one day during study hall, after Fred caught his eyes slipping in her direction one too many times.
"Huh?"
"The American- her name's Diana." George reiterated patiently, as if speaking to a child. Fred looked down at his notes, shaking his head.
"Okay? Why do I care?"
"Uh- because you like her mate." Lee Jordan piped up from in front of them. Fred let out a soft laugh.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Fred, we walked past the Hufflepuff common room twice today." George pointed out.
"So?"
"We never walk past the Hufflepuff common room."
Lee Jordan nodded.
"It's pretty out of the way." He added on. Fred looked between the boys impatiently.
"I don't even know her. How could I like someone I don't even know."
George shrugged dismissively.
When it was time for the Halloween dance, Fred had briefly considered asking Diana. The thought was gone as soon as it came, though, when Angelina walked into the Gryffindor common room, smiling her bright smile at him. They'd go as a group, she suggested to him and George, and they agreed without any fuss. The dance was fun, as they usually were, and they got pretty hammered thanks to the Slytherin moonshine. But Fred kept finding his eyes drawn to the blonde girl in the corner, giggling with her friends at something a taller, curly haired boy was saying. Eventually Fred was alone at the punch bowl, and the short haired girl was at his elbow again.
"I'm Wilda, by the way." She said a matter of factly, and Fred was confused as to why this younger girl was speaking to him. "-I'm best friends with Diana. Juliet," She gestured to the taller girl standing beside Diana, who Fred noticed was now glancing at the two of them curiously, "-has also noticed you looking at us."
Fred's palms got a little sweaty, but he kept his cool, giving the girl a teasing look.
"You guys seem awfully excited that someone's noticed your group of friends is super bloody loud."
She returned the teasing look, and Fred felt a little out of his element.
"Not just somebody, Fred Weasley."
And then she walked away.
By the time it was getting close to the holidays, Fred had managed to have a couple of passing conversations with Diana and her friends. They'd shown up at a party or two, mostly by chance, and there had been passing 'hello's. Fred learned her third friend was named Peaches, that they were all in Hufflepuff, that Diana used to date everyone's plug, Judas Horn.
"She's sort of the reason he got into it," Juliet had drunkenly hissed to Fred one night as he and George surveyed the party from one of the Ravenclaw couches, "But nobody's supposed to know that."
Eventually, Fred found out from Diana's friends that she was having a rough go of it, but that she never really talked about why. Peaches had told him between flirtatious quips at George that Diana really needed someone to take care of her right now, and that it would be 'absolutely splendid' if that person could be him. They had ran into one another at the Three Broomsticks one Saturday afternoon, while Diana was off hanging out with 'some boys, doesn't matter', according to Juliet.
"Maybe you guys could set me up with her, then." Fred had suggested slyly, and George had clapped him on the back.
"Yeah! Then maybe I could finally get my brother back, instead of this gross pining mess he's been replaced with."
"We would love to set you up with Diana, Fred." Wilda had said haughtily over her tea.
"Oh, oh! We should make a groupchat!" Peaches had cried, clinging to George's arm. He gave her an awkward smile and carefully took her hands off of him.
"That's a good idea." He said, and Fred felt his face grow warm.
"Wait- I meant that as a joke."
But Juliet was shaking her head, already tapping something into her phone.
"Numbers, please." She said quickly as she held her phone out to the two of them. Fred took it with hesitation, glancing at his brother, who looked more than happy at the prospect of finally getting some sort of movement in Fred's love life.