It's Better If You Do

Chewing on the inside of her cheek, Rose avoided his gaze with a blush, taking a small sip of Firewhiskey. After a moment, Fred started to laugh rather deviously and she cut her eyes at the fiery haired boy, her lips pursed in a pout, "It isn't funny." Mashing his lips together, he continued to snicker quietly, shaking his head.

"I disagree," Fred said lightly, taking a swallow from the bottle in his hand, before realizing it was empty. Shaking the bottle upside down, he shrugged and grinned at her, "I think it's ruddy hilarious. This is just going to prove who has the self control, after all." Huffing, she blushed once more and sat down on the bed.

"It doesn't count if I'm not sober," Rose countered, knowing that she was only tipsy at the moment, and the more she drank the wilder she would become. Bellamy always use to tease her that she would be the most outgoing person there ever was-- if she was drunk all the time. Of course, Rose had only drank in the company of her sister, and never in front of any boys, but she knew Bellamy's prediction was almost spot on. Cursing softly under her breath, she eyed the bottle of Firewhiskey in her hand apprehensively.

Was it really worth losing to get drunk and have fun with Fred? Besides, what if... she dared not even think it, but her cheeks grew a very alarming shade of red and her lips were set in a resolute frown. Fred noticed, and his eyebrows furrowed as he watched her face grow less and less happy, and her cheeks more and more red. He gently sat down beside her and stroked her cheek, his head tilting to the side as she looked over at him.

"Is something wrong?" Fred asked, sounding concerned. She looked down, biting her lip softly. Giving a small, forced laugh, Rose shook her head.

"It's silly, really," she said with a smile, but it didn't reach her sky blue eyes, and Fred raised an eyebrow at her skeptically.

"You're a terrible liar, did you know that?" he said bluntly, before asking in a softer voice, "Rosie? Tell me what's wrong." Sighing, she sat the bottle on the floor, and ran her hands through her hair, before turning her body to where she was fully facing toward him, crossing her feet indian style on the bed. Her hands fiddled in her lap, and she watched them as she began to speak.

"Well... I just don't want something to... err, happen when we're drunk..." she trailed off, her eyes wide as she searched Fred's face, and he remained calm, though a blush crept up his neck and ears. If she hadn't been so mortified herself, Rose would have rather enjoyed the usually unaffected boy be so embaressed. Rubbing the back of his neck, Fred sighed before nodding to himself.

"I won't drink. That's the only way to guarantee something won't happen. And even if you do try," he suddenly grinned at her and raised his eyebrows suggestively. The blonde's cheeks burned, but she laughed all the same, gesturing for him to continue, "I'll stop you. I, Fred Weasley, am too much of a gentlemen for such terrible behavior. However, if you're sober..." and he trailed off with a loud cackle, earning a hard smack on the arm from Rose, that surprised him; it actually hurt. Fred hadn't expected the small girl to put such force behind a hit, but he obviously underestimated her.

Shaking his head and rubbing his arm, he began in a more serious tone, "I'm just teasing you, Rose. I wouldn't... do that. I respect you far too much for that." A small smile curled her lips and she nodded, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. The smile fell a bit as she looked at him hesitant eyes.

"Are you sure you don't want to drink? I mean, it really wouldn't be very fun without you having fun, too," she said quietly, and Fred gave her a wry smile.

"I think it'd be fun just to watch you, to be honest. I've never seen you completely let loose before. It'd be interesting to watch," said with a shrug, and Rose smiled softly at him, before leaning forward and kissing Fred gently. Their lips moved slowly over one another's, and they both realized how much they missed the simple action, even if it had been for a few hours. Barely pulling away, Fred smiled against her lips.

"I win," he murmured, before quickly kissing her. With a rueful laugh, she buried her face in the crook of his neck, kissing at his skin gently.

"Shut up," Rose said, before nestling her cheek on his shoulder. Smiling affectionately at her, he played her hair softly and she gave a contented sigh. Their conversation played over in his mind, and he wondered just what her limits were. She obviously wasn't opposed to snogging, and he wasn't going to even try and push anything beyond that, but he wondered how she felt about him holding her. Curiously, Fred leaned back slowly until his back was flat on his bed and Rose was curled up on his chest. He waited for a protest or rebuff, but none came and he resumed playing with her hair with a wide smile.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, she mused, "You know, I don't think we need Firewhiskey to have a good time, unlike those two thumping around on the roof. Of course, Bellamy needs it to have a good time, so I suppose it's a good thing she's having fun... But, let's just save the Firewhiskey for another time."

Fred nodded, "That sounds like a good idea... And your birthday is coming up in a few weeks, right?" he asked, and she nodded in approval. So he listened. That was an immediate thumbs up in her book, not to mention she paid attention to all birthdays studiously and celebrated them with an almost child like enthusiasm.

"You paid attention," Rose observed, propping up on her elbows to give him a warm smile. "It's June sixth."

Smirking, Fred patted her head condescendingly and teased, "Aw, you're going to be eighteen. My my, you're growing up so fast." Scowling, she narrowed her eyes.

"And when is your birthday?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. A smug, crooked smile curled his lips and his chest puffed out slightly.

"George and I were born on April first, nineteen seventy-eight, but I am the elder brother by four minutes," Fred said proudly. The blonde smiled incredilously at him, and shook her head in awe.

"Then don't even act like you're so superior to me. You're only older by two months and five days!" Rose pointed out with a laugh, but Fred merely shrugged.

"Older is older, my dear." came the simply reply, and she rolled her eyes and scoffed. A mischevious gleam came into his chocolate brown eyes and Fred asked with an innocent air, "What type of good time were you referring to?"

Matching his smile to a tee, Rose wrapped her arms around his neck and murmured, "Well, we do have an awful lot of snogging to catch up on, Mr. Weasley..." Fred's grin grew and he snugly snaked his arms around the small of her back, trying not to snicker when his arms overlapped by a large degree. She was just so tiny.

"An excellent idea, Ms. Lefebvre," he commended. Nodding, Rose smiled brightly.

"I think so too," she said before pressing her lips to his, effectively ending the conversation.