Mischief Managed

That night, I stayed up in my dormitory on my bed, crying silently to myself. I wouldn't talk to anyone, not even Hermione. I had completely ruined everything. I mean yeah, Fred liked me, but now I never would have a chance. And I just lost three of my best friends. Not the way to go.

Soon, I heard footsteps and the door opened. I didn't care, I just sat there, not even looking to see who it was.

"Ella?" It was Ginny.

"Hey," I said quietly.

"Fred told me what happened..." she said, not looking at me. I didn't answer, so she spoke again. "I mean, Ella... how could you do that? I thought you liked Fred..."

I started to cry harder, if that was even possible. Then I turned and looked at Ginny. She sat down on Hermione's bed and watched me.

"Ginny. I - I didn't. H-Harry was j-just having a bad t-time. His scar was h-hurting and h-he needed a f-friend. I was j-just giving him a k-kiss on the cheek. N-Nothing more. O-Of course they walk in and s-see at that moment. G-Ginny, I-I don't want to l-lose him..." I said, crying harder.

"Then talk to him..." Ginny said calmly.

"He doesn't want to talk to me," I sniffed, looking away.

"You don't know that until you try," Ginny said shortly. Then, she got up and walked out. Within ten minutes, she came in with Fred at her side. He still looked completely pissed, and as if he'd been crying, too.

"How did you get him up h-here? I t-thought the stairs went out when b-boys went u-up them..." I said curiously.

"Does it matter? I'll leave you two to talk," Ginny said, closing the door behind her.

"Honestly, Ella, I have nothing to say to you right now," he said.

"Then why are you here, Fred?" I asked.

"Ginny made me."

"Then leave. She's not making you stay."

"I know. It just hurts," he said, rubbing his arm. I sat in silence, staring at him. I had so many things that I just wanted to scream. He's hurting? How does he think I feel? I lost my three best friends in a matter of seconds and he's hurting? What the hell?

"Ella.. if you were just comforting him, why by kissing his cheek? You don't comfort Ron by kissing his cheek. You don't comfort me like that, either," Fred said glumly.

"Just... I don't know, Fred. It just felt right. I mean, like, that it would help. I'm not really sure why I did it. And I mean, it's not like we were snogging. My lips barely touched his cheek when you guys walked in." I had finally stopped crying, and resorted to just sniffling at the appropriate times.

"Honestly, Ella, I don't want to ruin what we have because of this," he said, looking me in the eye.

"Neither do I."

"Well, I think I'm going to head to bed. I'm tired," he said, getting up.

"Fred - wait!" I said, standing up, too. He turned around and looked at me. I knew what I wanted to say. I need you, please forgive me. Please. I need you in my life. We can work this out, and we'll be together forever. Please, just forgive me and give me a chance. I'll make you the happiest boy in the world. Just tell me you want me and kiss me right here right now and promise you'll never leave me. Just promise that you'll sleep beside me, and when you wake up in the middle of the night and I'm asleep in your arms, you'll give me little cute kisses on the forehead that I'll never find out about. Just let me be the girl that you put number one in your life and the girl that you show off to everyone. I just want to be Ella Weasley. I just want you right here, right now. I hate seeing you hurt, and you hate seeing me hurt, so let's just make up, and be the cutest couple in Hogwarts. That's all I want, all I need.

"Umm... Umm..." I stammered.

"What?" he asked.

"Umm.. A-Are George and Ronald still angry at me?" I spit out.

"Yes. Especially Ron..." he said, scratching the back of his head.

I sighed deeply. "'Bye, Fred..."

"See ya', Ella..." And with that, he walked out of the room. I sighed and laid my head down. I remember hearing Hermione and the other girls from our dormitory walking in around 11:30, but I didn't want to talk to anyone at that moment. So, I just pretended to be sleeping. And somewhere into that, I drifted into a light sleep, waking up in random times of the night.

~

The next morning, I woke up, quickly took a shower, changed into my robes, and tied my hair back. Then, I walked down to breakfast and sat down beside Harry and Hermione. Ronald was with them, but as soon as I sat down, he got up and walked out. I sighed and looked down at the table.

"He'll get over it.." Harry said.

I looked over at Hermione, who didn't say anything. Then, she caught my eye and got up slowly, too, and walked away.

"Great. What the hell is her problem?" I asked Harry.

"She doesn't believe that it was just a kiss on the cheek..." Harry said, looking away.

"Fucking great."

Harry just sat there, not saying anything. I assumed he just didn't want to make things worse than they already were.

"Well, I have to get to class," I sighed, getting up.

"I'll catch up with you later, we have Divination first together." Then he stopped and looked at me for a second. "But, Ella, class doesn't start for another hour..."

"I know, but oh well," I said, getting up. As I was walking out the door of the Great Hall, I accidentally walked into someone. A red-headed someone. Ronald turned around, looking full out pissed.

"Sorry..." I said, just as Ronald just walked past me, not saying anything.

"Dammit Ron!" I said, throwing my books down. He jumped and turned around. "Why are you doing this! Why can't you just talk to me? It's not only you! It's George and Hermione, too! Fred and I talked, and sure everything isn't peachy keen, but at least he actually talked to me! And honestly, I don't get why it's such a big fucking deal! I kissed him on the cheek! Big whoop!"

Then, I ran up to him and pressed my lips fully onto this cheek. "See? SEE? A kiss on the cheek is not a big deal! I'm fucking sick of this shit."

I stormed out of the Great Hall and ran to the common room, not stopping for anyone who called my name. Once I arrived in the common room, I saw Fred and George sitting on the floor, deep in conversation. They looked up at me, then looked down within a matter of a millisecond. I quickly turned out of the room and headed towards the Divination classroom.

After my classes were over for the day, I went into my dormitory and changed quickly. Then I walked into the common room and of course, Fred and George were still sitting in the same spot as before. I ignored them once more and decided to head towards the library to try and study a bit. Of course, I didn't think it would work, but it was worth a shot. I walked in, and Hermione was over in the corner by herself, deep in her reading. I sat down across the library and grabbed out my Potions book to study over it.

Then, someone sat down beside me. I looked and Hermione was looking at me.

"Forgive Fred," she said at once.

"Hermione... in case you didn't realize, he's the one not forgiving me," I said slowly. "I swear, I thought you were the smart one."

"I am, and I'm not talking about right now. But when he apologizes about all of this, just forgive him," she said.

"And you know he's going to apologize how...?" I asked, giving her a highly questionable look.

"Ella, when he looks at you, he still has that same glow in his eyes he'd had for years. Trust me, he'll forgive you, he won't let you slip."

I smiled and just sat there. She shuffled awkwardly then said, "I'm sorry for giving you the cold shoulder earlier... I shouldn't have."

"I forgive you."

"Do you? Or are you just saying that because I told you to forgive Fred? Forgive him, he's going to change your life. Me? I'll just be your friend, nothing new here," she said.

"I'm saying that because I need a friend, always. I can't just live life with no one to help pick me up when I fall. I need someone who is there more than one hundred percent, no matter what happens. That's why I'm forgiving you. Because if I don't, I could lose you forever, and I don't need that."

She smiled, then gave me a half-hug.

"On the bright side, October is approaching, so the Triwizard Tournament is getting nearer and nearer," she said, smiling like a fool.

"I'm so excited! I just think it's dumb I can't enter," I said glumly.

"No, it's not dumb, trust me. You shouldn't enter, even if you were able to. It's too dangerous, Ella," Hermione said mother-like.

"I know, I know. Oh well, I hope someone good from Hogwarts gets in, though. We don't want someone like Neville going in and fucking with our chances," I laughed.

"Oh, it'll be someone very, very clever and wise. And brave, definitely brave. People have died in these tournaments..." she said eerily.

"So wicked," I smiled, at the thought. "I wonder what kind of tasks they're going to have to do, though. That's what I'm excited about."

"Yeah, but, I must go now, Ella. I have some studying to do. Professor Snape is giving us a potions test exactly a week from today! I'm proud to see you've already been studying," she said, pointing at my open book.

"Oh yeah," I said. "I'm definitely planning on getting a hundred percent on our first test... a week from today."

She smiled and sped-walked away to the opposite end of the library once more. I sighed, put my Potions book back in my bag, and got up. I decided to go back into the common room and sit by the fire for a while. Once I walked in, Fred and George were still sitting in the same spot. Ignorning the two, but remembering what Hermione had said about forgiveness, I walked past them and to the chair. I noticed Fred and George looking towards me, but I completely ignored them both. Suddenly, George got up and walked up to me.

"Hey, Ella," he said.

"Hi," I said, not looking at him. Then, he bent down and hugged me.

"I'm sorry for being a git, Ella. I shouldn't have."

"It's okay, George."

"Wait, so you're just going to let it go like that?" he asked, looking taken aback.

"Yes."

"Hey, can I ask you to do something for me, then?" he asked.

"Of course. What's up?"

George then bent down beside me and whispered into my ear, "Take good care of Fred, okay?" I gave him a look of bewilderment, but he walked away. Then, Fred walked up to me.

"Ella, do you want to go on a walk?"

"Sure, Fred..." I said. I got up and followed him out of the common room.

"So... I take it you aren't mad anymore either...?" I asked as we got outside. The sun was shining brightly with a calming breeze.

"Nope. Me, George, and Ron all talked about it earlier when we skipped our classes. And we decided that really, why would you lie to us, y'know? I mean, obviously if you spent all last night crying then I must mean something to you," Fred said, looking down at the ground.

By this time, we had already made it towards the lake, glistening brightly. We walked alongside it.

"Oh. So Ronald isn't mad anymore, either?" I asked, looking at the lake.

"I'm not really sure. I think he's still a little sore towards you, but I think he'll get over it once he sees everything else is going to be back to normal," Fred said, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Fred, you and I both know that this isn't just going to go back to normal. Things are different now. Way different," I sighed.

Fred didn't say anything for the longest time. We just walked together, side by side, farther and farther away from the school. Then, out of nowhere, Fred spoke up.

"Ella, I'm really sorry... I just, I don't know."

"Me either."

"I mean, what... what exactly do you want us to be? Do you want to try and be more than friends?" Fred asked.

"I - I don't know what I want, Fred. I mean, if we were to date and it not work out, would we honestly still stay best friends? I mean honestly..." I said.

"I don't know, Ella. But like you just said, things are going to be way different. I don't know if we'd still be able to stay best friends even now. I mean, now it's just going to be awkward if we don't do anything about this," he said.

"I know, Fred..."

Then, we stopped. I looked behind us and we were totally away from the castle, alone. He took both of my hands and looked me in the eyes and just smiled.

"Fred..." I whispered just loud enough for him to hear. "I - I don't even know. Should we give it a shot? But I mean, if we do, what would happen? What if it ruins us? What if we never talk again because we find out we really hate each other? What if you -"

Suddenly, Fred kissed me full on the lips in mid sentence. It felt like nothing I've ever felt before. I swear, there were fireworks exploding in mid-air. Once our lips separated, he was giving his cutest little half smile. I smiled back.

"What was that for, Fred Weasley?" I asked, trying not to laugh.

"You talk too much," he laughed.

"Fred, let's not fight anymore, okay? I need you in my life... And I know that sounds cliché, but I don't care. I really do..." I said suddenly, as he pulled me into a hug.

"I never left, Ella, and I never will. I promise."