If This Is the End, Then Why Am I Still Living?

Cue the reception to Fleur and Bill's wedding, which was a rather pleasant experience that seemed to lighten the mood, although Fred seemed to be glaring daggers at George, who wasn't that far away from Kylah. She sighed, her mind swimming with thoughts about why he would be this upset about it.

She glanced around watching everyone else, some beckoning into a dance with others and Kylah twitched, turning to George after noticing Fred continuing the glare. "What's with him?"

"Oh, he's just jealous," George murmured, "I think I made him mad."

"Jealous?" she questioned, "Of what?"

"I don't think he was a very big fan of the scene in the kitchen."

"What do you mean? We were just joking around...I do the same with him," she muttered, looking over at him, but then she noticed that Fred was approaching his twin and Kylah.

"What's wrong?" Kylah asked, but he brushed past her as if she didn't exist and she felt a lump forming in the back of her throat...She didn't like him, did she? Kylah was just being paranoid, she concluded. Just...paranoid, but it shouldn't have upset her that he ignored her then.

Fred pulled at his twin's arm, trying to get him away from her. She wondered what they had to talk about. He seemed on a mission. She sighed, knowing she wouldn't exactly know. Ever.

The wedding, itself, was beautiful. Fleur looked gorgeous, as always. And Bill is Bill, that's all you can really say about that. The vows were cute, and the kiss was just adorable. You can't not say awh when a couple kisses at a wedding.

Watching the boys putting up the tent for the reception made her smile. It was like nothing could go wrong in this world. Everything seemed so normal now. But, she knew the truth. Everything outside of the Burrow was going mad, going crazy with fear. Voldemort was back, and she couldn't do anything about it.

~*~

Fred glared at his twin. What could he honestly do? He shouldn't be so mad at him, he knew it was what they both did to her. They just teased her, it's what they did. They were flirts, that's all they were.

"What?" George asked, shrugging gently.

"You know perfectly well 'what'" he responded.

"You're jealous. I knew it," his twin responded.

"No, I'm not..." he said.

"You are, though."

"You have no proof."

"Should I go and kiss Kylah again, and then let you answer that?" George asked with a smirk on his face.

"You wouldn't," Fred retorted sharply.

"Because you'd get jealous."

"No."

"That's the only reasonable explanation," George stated matter-of-factly, "You like her. I know it, you know, and she probably knows it."

"Then why'd she kiss you?" Fred inquired sourly.

"She'd kiss you too if you told her to."

"What do I do?"

"Well, don't get mad at her and ignore her again," George muttered, "I'm going back over to her. You going to sulk or are you coming to?"

"I'll go." The two made their way back to either side of her, watching to see what she was looking at, which of course was the current situation of the wedding.

~*~

Kylah's gaze had shifted from the twins back to the wedding party itself, taking note of George's smug look and Fred's annoyed expression. The reception just seemed too happy, and she had a feeling in her gut that it wasn't going to continue. Feeling the twins on either side of her, however, caused her to express a small smile, "What was that about?"

"Nothing," Fred stated simply.

"Sure it was."

"Nothing to worry your pretty little head about," George corrected and Kylah rolled her eyes.

"You know I'll find out anyway."

George shrugged, "Still though." He turned examining some of the other people around as she turned to Fred.

"Why won't you tell me?"

"Don't worry about it."

"But, you know I get extremely curious. You can't just not tell me."

Fred looked at her then. His expression still seemed annoyed. "I think I can."

"But, you have to tell me."

"Make me," he said. These words made him crack a small smile at her.

"Dance with me," Kylah said, taking his hand. "Please?"

He stared at her. "Are you serious?" he asked. She nodded at him. She heard the fast song change to a slow song, and she saw Bill and Fleur dancing rather closely. Her eyes caught sight of Ron, who was simply staring at Hermione.

"Why can't he just admit he likes her?" she asked. She gently pulled Fred over to the dance floor, and put his hands on her hips. Her own hands snaked around his neck before he pulled her close against him.

Fred's eyes drifted away from down on Kylah to Ron before back to her and he sighed, "Maybe he's too scared of what she'll say."

"Well, it is obvious that she likes him," she stated, scrunching her nose, "They just need to swallow their pride and get together already." He hugged her tighter to him after that comment and she blinked, "You okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine," he murmured with a smirk, "More than fine, actually."

"Why is that?"

"I have you right where I want you. I believe you still owe me from coming back on that dangerous mission unharmed."

"I said maybe," Kylah murmured, a blush rising to her pale face.

"Maybe? But, you could've lost me. For good," he said, teasing her.

"Well, I didn't."

"But, you could've." He wrapped his arms fully around her waist. He squeezed her tight again. She let her fingers run through his short pure red hair.

"What is you want me to do for you being safely back in my arms?" she asked, looking down. Her bangs covered her eye again, her hair hiding the blush on her cheeks. He took one hand and gently moved her hair from her face. Kylah smiled up at him.

"I want you," he started. "to..."

"Well?" she asked.

"Kiss me," he finished. He knew she would, just like his brother said, but that was besides the point. He wanted her to mean it. "Right now." Her eyes went wide, and she hesitated. Instead, Fred grabbed her face, both hands on her cheeks, and crashed his lips to hers.

She kissed back, for lack of anything else to do. It took her by surprise, and she felt her heart racing. Kylah breathed heavily when they pulled away from each other, squirming out of his grip before mumbling an apology and slipping out of the reception before apparating herself into the twins' room, where she plopped down on one of their beds (she didn't really care which) and buried her face in her hands.

She heard a crack, and she didn't even need to look up to know who it was, "What was that all about?" Fred inquired, a bit envious she ran from him and not George.

"I know, I know," she breathed, "It was a mistake, it meant nothing. You just wanted it for the moment and to get even and--"

"I never said it was a mistake," Fred interrupted her, sitting next to her and loosely looping his arm around her waist, "And it did not mean nothing."

Kylah looked at him then, confusion obviously in her eyes. She quirked an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean, it did not mean nothing?"

"It meant something, dear," he said, giving her a small smile.

"Something? Care to elaborate?" She was very aware of his hand around her. She didn't think she wanted to hear this, but it was something that she had to hear.

"I thought it was obvious, George said it was obvious," he said, sort of rambling.

"So, it wasn't to just get even?"

"No, you silly girl. I like you," he said. "A lot...

She stared at him in disbelief, trying to catch his usual smirk or joking demeanor in his eyes, but they shown complete seriousness and that made Kylah scared. She didn't know what to think of him. Did she like him? The question echoed through her mind for a while, before she let out a sigh.

"I just..." she hesitated, closing her pale blue eyes and standing up, "I don't know."

"What do you mean 'you don't know'?" Fred asked, obviously trying to hide the hurt in his voice.

"I don't know," she repeated, looking at him as her hair fell in her face, "I can't do this. Not now." And then she found herself slipping out of the room, leaving him behind to stare after her in shock