Daphne didn't tease me this time or bring up what she thought had happened in front of anyone. I wanted to try to conceal my lie for as long as possible but I had a horrible feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach.
Out of instinct I started avoiding Fred. Whenever he would try to smile at me in halls or get my attention during meals I'd pretend I hadn't seen. I was scared of him coming over to speak with us and Daphne finding out I'd lied or even worse, I was scared Draco would see me with him.
Though I had been left excited and confused after our encounter on the stairs, I knew Draco could do a lot worse than that. I feared more for Fred, if he were to ever do something to him I wouldn't be able to forgive myself.
My avoidance didn't go unnoticed by the very person I had been avoiding and it was brought to my attention on a chilly Friday evening after dinner in the Great Hall.
I strolled down the corridor, planning to do some light studying in the library before bed. Daphne was busy helping her sister with Charms homework in our room so I decided to leave them to have some time to together.
Echoed footsteps sounded behind me and I got a horrible shiver as I prayed I wasn't being followed. I quickened my pace and I gulped as the footsteps behind me did so too.
Building up the courage I stopped in place and turned on my heel to face whoever was stalking me. My stature immediately softened when I met with Fred's hazel eyes.
"Are you always trying to startle me?" I jeered, walking towards him.
"Are you always trying to ignore me?" he retorted, bringing his hand to rub his chin, imitating the look of being deep in thought.
"Have I?" I asked, but my voice cracked and I didn't even convince myself.
"Come on. Even Gin said she hasn't seen you round much, what's going on?" Fred asked, outstretching his hand to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. My knees stiffened under me and he knew exactly what he was doing to me.
"She knows" I muttered, as looked up into his sparkling eyes. His grin quickly turned to concern.
"About what? About the-"
"the kiss" I cut him off, "She saw my lipstick on your face"
"Was she okay?" he asked, his face still not changing from its unsettled expression. I love that he worried about his sister and how she would take this.
"Yes actually. She said she was happy for us, but don't worry I explained it was only a one off"
"A one off?" he repeated, confusion flickered on his face for a moment before returning back to concern "you thought it was a one off?"
"I'm sorry Fred, I didn't mean it like that. You know I'm not good at getting my words out. I didn't know if you.." I trailed off, not wanting to say anymore so I didn't embarrass myself.
"Didn't know if I wanted more?" he finished my question. I dropped my head and nodded slowly. He brought his large hands out to cup my small face and lifted it to meet his gaze again.
"I thought maybe you were just doing me a favour or felt sorry for me because I was so pathetic for never having my first kiss" I mumbled. He cupped my face tighter and stroked one of my cheeks with his thumb.
"How could you think- of course I didn't just want it to be one off" he paused "What if I took you out somewhere for the day, eh?"
Fred smiled. He had gone back to his cheeky self once he realised I was in fact not rejecting him after all.
I could feel myself positively glow when he asked but still tried to keep my air of calm. This was all very new to me and I didn't know if you were meant to show how eager you were from the get go. I gave an enthusiastic nod and told him I'd be happy to.
"Brilliant, how about Hogsmeade tomorrow?" Fred looked at me for my answer.
"Tomorrow? That's so soon" I bit my lip, thinking I had very little time to prepare, ask Daphne for advice or decide what to wear.
"Why not? It's a Saturday and I don't have plans" Fred shrugged.
I was unsure whether this was his usual confidence or if he had done this countless times before. When I thought back Fred, had never really spoken about dates or girls, only that he'd taken Angelina to the Yule Ball, but I'd heard rumours from girls in their year group.
"Sounds like a plan" I heard myself say, taking the plunge, which was very unlike me.
Saturday morning came and Fred had told me he'd wait outside the entrance to Slytherin house for me about midday, but my stomach churned at the thought of Draco seeing him before I could get there. I made an excuse that I needed to return a book to the library and that I would meet him outside Gryffindor instead to do it on my way.
Thinking of Draco catching us leaving the castle together made my insides lurch but there was no feasible way of getting to Hogsmeade without people seeing us.
I was also thankful that it gave me some time to calm myself down and collect my racing thoughts on the walk over. I hadn't stopped thinking about what he'd said last night about not wanting our kiss to be a one off. He had been so strange with me this past few weeks back at school and I thought maybe this had ruined everything. I was practically beaming to myself as I played the conversation back in my head.
I rounded the corner where the painting of The Fat Lady was situated and Fred was already waiting for me outside. He had his wand out and was making his wallet levitate from his hand to pass the time. I watched him for a moment before he noticed that I was there and I loved seeing his boyish curiosity and determination. His face was twisted in concentration until he looked up.
"There she is!" He called, just as he had that night and came bounding over to me.
He hugged my tightly and lingered for a moment as we pulled away, as if to ponder whether to make any other kind of move. I saw his eyes dart back to the entrance of his common room as if he was checking that no one was around. That stung a little, I knew in my heart he wasn't embarrassed to be seen with me and that he was doing it out of respect to his siblings, but something about it still hurt.
"I'm worried about your siblings seeing us too" I whispered, "how are we going to get out of the castle without anyone seeing us?"
"Ahh if that's what you're worried about then I have a solution" Fred grinned, pulling a tattered folded piece of paper from his inside jacket pocket.
He led the way and I followed, going through parts of the school I didn't even know existed. We took steps down to a dark winding tunnel.
"See this map, me and George gave it to Harry but he's letting me borrow it for the day, said I needed to go get a surprise for Ginny and couldn't be seen going to into town. Poor boy believed every word, I think he might have a soft spot for my sister" Fred laughed. The light in the tunnel was fading fast and absentmindedly grabbed on to Fred's hand in fear.
"Sorry, I'm terrified of the dark" I whispered.
"I know" he whispered back.
He halted when we were in the pitch black and I gripped on to his hand tighter than before, but he let go and placed my hands on his back so we were now in an embrace. He mirrored my hands and smoothed them round my back. I shivered at his touch and felt myself melt further into his hold. He chuckled like he had done before when he could feel my body giving in to him.
"I love it when you do that" Fred whispered, leaning down closer to my level so I felt his breath dance across my face.
He stayed there for a moment with his nose tickling my own, until he pressed his lips against mine. This felt different to our first kiss, it had been soft and sweet, this was now heated and desperate. Fred slipped a hand beneath my hair and on to the back of my neck, softly stroking my skin in circles with his index finger. Goosebumps formed under his touch and he smiled into against my mouth as he felt my body betraying me once again.
His hand shifted from my back to my waist, holding tighter and grinding me closer to his own body.
Suddenly, I felt something hard push again my stomach and my eyes fluttered open as I realised what it was. I pulled away for a moment to inspect.
His bulge had grown, making his trousers tight and his winter coat not long enough to cover it. I let out a soft giggle, but quickly tried to compose myself. Though Fred knew I had never done anything like this I still didn't want to see me as immature or worse yet, just a childhood friend.
"Sorry about that, I just can't help myself when I'm around you" he chuckled, breaking the tension. I immediately eased, as I realised Fred wasn't a scary older boy who would cringe at my amusement but he was still the funny and comfortable boy I had known all these years.
"It's no problem" I giggled and using all of the daring courage I could muster, I softly swiped my hand along the tight area of his trousers. I moved so delicately it could even have been an accident.
He flinched under my touch, closing his eyes briefly and took a deep inhale of breath.
"You'll be the death of me" he whispered, "but let's go into town before I can't keep it in any longer"