If You've Got the Nerve

The next day, everyone’s routine returned to normal. Though I was dying to pester him about it, I didn’t say a word to Fred about what had happened between us at a dance. After I had gone to bed, my mind had restlessly sifted through the possibilities of what his words would have been if we hadn’t been interrupted. Almost in vain hope, I had come to one conclusion that had lulled me to sleep in the early hours, but I didn’t dare speak it aloud.

Everyone was in a tired buzz when they had finally climbed out of bed. I had woken up around 9:30 and was currently seated in the Great Hall – it had been returned to its normal décor, house tables and all – with a steaming mug of hot chocolate. I had yet to see Vinny, but I was determined to apologize for my abrupt departure the moment I spotted him.

I dunked a bit of my roll in my scolding drink, letting it soak up the liquid chocolate then bit off to soggy part. My mum had always stared distastefully at me when I had done this at home. Dad didn’t mind. In fact, I often caught him practicing the same eating habits when he thought my mother wasn’t looking. He’d spot me watching, give a wink, then butter the rest of his bread as my mother walked in to set the rest of the meal.

I finished my roll and took a small sip of the drink to test the temperature before taking a full gulp that warmed me from head to toe. A moment later, I was joined by a rather tired looking Lee Jordan. He snagged a freshly buttered piece of toast from my plate and smothered it with jelly.

“Good morning, sunshine. Late night?” I asked in my most cheerful tone, well aware that he would be annoyed by it this early. He shoved the sugar coated bread in his mouth, not bothering to answer me. I made a face at his messy eating. “Do you even need oxygen?” I asked him in slight awe, half of it mocking. He swallowed his food before shrugging and reaching for more. I tugged my plate out of his reach, holding it high over my head so he couldn’t get to it; he would be too lazy to even try jumping to snatch it. He huffed and turned to grab slices instead from the serving plate. I smiled in triumph, placing my plate down on the table again. The plate made a clang as it hit the table. I stared at its white surface and the crumbs that were scattered across it – the only things on it. I glowered for a moment before sighing.

“Why are you two always determined to starve me?” The answering laugh corrected my conclusion. It wasn’t both twins that had stolen my toast, I saw as the new arrival took a place next to me. I glanced over, catching my breath once before forcefully steadying myself. Fred grinned at me, the slice of toast in once hand with a clean bite taken from it.

“You want it back, Heart?”

“You’re disgusting, Weasley.” I snatched the uneaten toast from his hand and took my own bite out of it. He merely grinned and took it again from my hand.

Luckily, avoiding the subject of the ball, Fred and I had been able to avoid falling into any kind of awkward slump with each other. I hadn’t met with George yet, but I knew that he was never far from Fred. I was also sure that he would question both of us about the night. There was no doubt in my mind that he had spotted us. There hadn’t been a massive crowd on the dance floor when we had been together. My stomach fluttered at the word.

Together.

I glanced sideways at Fred. His gaze hurriedly dropped to stare in sudden fascination at the table. I poked at the oatmeal in front of me with a spoon. Again, my wishful thinking returned. My guessed finish to Fred’s words rolled around in my mind.

“Do you ever think something could happen between us?”

Even thinking about the words had me shifting in my seat with a wave of embarrassment and even shame. Fred was my best friend of four years and here I was hoping that he would want something to happen between us. I ran both hands over my face, rubbing my eyes.

“Alright there, Nox?” A new voice sounded from across the table. I knew exactly who it belonged to. I dropped my hands back to the table and gave George my best attempt at a smile.

“I’m fine, just tired.” He watched me skeptically then loaded his plate up with food.

“So how was your night?” the inevitable question.

“Nothing special,” I replied with a shrug.

“Really?”

“Really,” I confirmed almost forcefully.

“Vinny was good to you then?”

“Yes. More gentlemanly than you were to Alicia, I’m sure.” I stabbed at my oatmeal again. He gave me an almost offended look. Then he decided to get back and I regretted snapping at him.

“You and Fred have fun?” there was a bang under the table and George cringed in pain. My gaze swiped sideways to see Fred glaring fiercely at his brother. Lee looked suddenly awake and very interested.

“You and Fred?” Lee repeated questioningly. I could feel my eyes twitching in annoyance. George let out a held in breath, leaning forward so he could rub his leg that would no doubt have an ugly bruise after the kick he’d received from his twin.

“They were dancing,” he answered Lee in a strained voice. Persistent git.

“We had a fine night, thanks,” I said tersely. George sat up obviously having eased all the pain he could at the moment. I momentarily batted around the idea of taking my own shot at him, but pushed it aside.

“You were?” Lee looked in our direction with nothing but surprise written on his face.

“It was a dance, George. There were a lot of people doing it. Why don’t you go bug them?” I narrowed my eyes at him, daring him to say another word. His hands raised in a sign of surrender.

“All I did was ask how your night went!”

“And I said it was fine,” I retorted shortly, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve just remembered I have a Transfiguration essay due after the holidays are over.” I stood and made my way away from the table.

Ron, who had taken a seat unnoticed by myself, muttered in a panic to Harry who was next to him, “We have an essay due?”

My mind was buzzing angrily as I stormed blindly through the castle halls. I knew I was going to get lost if I kept going, but my irritation didn’t let me think about that. I realized when I was walking down my fifth set of stairs that I was probably acting childish. “So be it,” I muttered angrily to the empty air, leaping the final three steps. I stumbled in my landing, catching myself just in time on a statue of a particularly grumpy looking witch. I stopped to scrutinize the stone. Placing my hands on my hips, I concentrated on mirroring the look on the witches face.

“Anger sort of suits you,” I jumped at the sound of the voice. Spinning around, I had to grab the statue again to steady myself for a second time. “It makes you sassy,” Fred was sitting on the steps with his legs crossed, chin resting on one hand while he smiled lightly at me.

“How the bloody hell did you find me? I must have gone around a million turns.”

“Wasn’t easy,” he shrugged, “but I have my sources.”

“I thought you gave the map to Harry last year,” I asked more than stated, referring to the magical map that the twins used to navigate the many halls, rooms, and passages of the castle.

He nodded, “We did. But you really didn’t think we’d give that gem away unless we had every line of it memorized, did you?”

“And here I was thinking you couldn’t absorb any information.”

“If that’s a dig at my marks – ”

“What were you going to say last night?” I had to ask the question before I let myself chicken out. The color drained from Fred’s face before suddenly coming back in an intense pink that I could just barely see from mu position. I grinned, all the anger disintegrating in an instant. “Is Fred Weasley blushing?”

“Fred Weasley is not. Anima Heart is seeing things.” He shot back, a darker shade coloring his cheeks. I leaned against the side of the statue, watching him carefully, but still grinning widely.

“You are,” I teased, “How come?”

“I’m not,” he argued back, getting to his feet. “Now are you coming back or not? We were going to sneak some sweets from Honeydukes,” he had played the card that he knew I couldn’t resist. My mouth was full of sweet teeth. Dangle the idea of sweets in front of me, and I would do anything. So I shut my mouth and followed him back to the Great Hall.

I’d get it out of him eventually.