Mischief Managed

"Fred, wait. It's not what it looks like!" I said, getting up quickly.

"Oh, so you and my little brother weren't just snogging?" Fred said, steaming with anger.

"No! Well yes, but -" Fred began to walk away. "No! Listen to me, Fred! Look, I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry for everything. I hate that we have to act like we've never once even met before! I hate it! Mine and Ronald's kiss just sort of happened! It was nothing, really. Fred, please..."

He stood there and looked at me, without a word coming out of his mouth.

"So you have nothing to say?" I said, holding back tears.

"Not when we have an audience," he said, pointing towards Ron.

"Ronald, will you please go find Harry or something. Please...?" I asked him. He nodded, gave me a hug, and went upstairs.

"There. We're alone. Now will you talk?" I asked.

"Ella, do you have a clue how much this is hurting me?" he said, beginning to shake.

"Yes."

"No, Ella, I don't think you do. I don't think you have a clue what it feels like to see the girl of your dreams snogging your younger brother. Do you realize how jealous I get of Ron? You two are always together. And I know it's just as best friends, but I'm scared. Because the moment when Ron starts to like you, he'll make a move if we aren't together. He asked you to the ball, and now a week later, he's snogging you. And it hurts, Ella. It hurts that I'm not in his position," Fred said.

"Fred, listen to me. You haven't a right to be jealous of Ronald. We're best friends and that's it. We're going to the ball so I would still be able to go and not make a fool of myself, being dateless. That kiss, it just happened on impulse. But it didn't compare to kissing you. I will admit, it was rather nice, but it didn't have that spark that I feel when we kiss. It was just a small snog," I said, rubbing his arm.

"Ella, god. I don't even know where to go with this," Fred said.

"Tell me, Fred. Why did you ask Angelina right after I said I wasn't going?" I asked quietly.

"I was scared, Ella. I didn't know what to do. If I didn't find a date, I would never live it down. I just saw Angelina and I knew she'd say yes so I just, panicked," he said.

"But you could've came and got me. You know you would've been able to talk me into it. Look at all we've missed because of this, Fred. I could be having a beautiful dress right now, knowing that in two weeks time I'll be in your arms for a whole night of dancing, cuddling, and loving. It would've been a night to remember," I said.

"I know, Ella. Let's just... we'll dump our dates we have now and we'll go together. It'll just be like none of this ever happened. You and Ron didn't kiss, me and Angelina never talked about going to the ball. It'll just be me and you and you and me. It'll be perfect."

"I can't do that," I told him.

"Why?"

"Fred, I'm not ditching your brother for anything," I said, grabbing his hand.

"Not even for me?"

"No, Fred, because I told him I would go with him... I can't just leave him out of nowhere," I said.

"But that's what you told George to do to Angelina, so he could go with Alicia," he said, letting go of my hand.

"Yes, well, I don't like Angelina. And it worked out better for George and Alicia!"

"And it'll work out better for you and me, Ella," he said again.

"No. No, this is different. Ronald is my best friend," I told him.

"Well, I don't know what to say anymore," Fred said, looking very disappointed.

"Fred."

"Yes?"

"I love you, okay? No, not this stupid friend love, fuck that. I mean legit deep in my heart love you," I said, not knowing where my words were coming from.

"Ella, I love you too..." he said.

"Then why won't you ask me to be your girlfriend, Fred?" I asked.

"Because, Ella, I don't know! I don't know if I'm ready, if we're ready, if that's what I truly want. I honestly just don't think we're meant to be together, Ella. I really don't. We constantly fight, we don't get to see each other as often as we'd like. You're in this stupid tournament. I just don't know what's happening anymore," he said, looking down.

"Fred, we can figure it out together," I said, putting my hand on his shoulder.

"No, Ella.. No. Just, fuck. Ella, I need to be alone and gather my thoughts okay? I'll talk to you later, Ella..."

Then, he just left. Walked upstairs and left. I stood there, looking at the boys dormitory. Should I stay standing here? Should I go after him and fight for him? Or should I go to my own dormitory? I sighed and sat down, then curled onto the couch in front of the fire, looking at into it.

It seemed an hour passed when I heard someone come down the stairs. Looking, I saw it was Ronald.

"Ella?"

"Hey," I said, sitting up. "What're you doing?"

"I was checking to see if you were still down here. Did you and Fred work things out?"

"I don't know, to be honest," I said to him. "Here, sit down."

"What happened?" he asked as he sat down.

I quickly explained the basics of what Fred and I talked about. Ronald nodded at all the correct places, and put his hand on my knee.

"Ron, I have a question," I said.

"So do I, but you go first."

"How do you feel about me? What was the kiss about? And asking me to go with you to the ball? What was it all, really?"

"Honestly, Ella, I don't think anything of it. I'm glad it happened, don't get me wrong. And to be honest, I wouldn't mind kissing you again. But I don't think of us as more than best friends. And you truly are amazing, in a best friend way," he said, with a smile.

I smiled back at him, but didn't say anything.

"So you and Fred'll probably get together eventually..." Ron said, looking down at his thumbs.

"Maybe.."

We sat there together. I hugged his arm and laid my head on his shoulder. Together we leaned back and just sat there, not saying anything.

"Oh, what was your question?" I asked immediately.

"Oh, well, I have two. But my original question. Why is it that you've been calling me Ron more than Ronald lately?"

"To be honest, I'm not really sure. Sometimes it just seems better," I said, shrugging. "Now your other question?"

"Can you kiss me again? Just one last snog, just to remember it," he said, looking at me.

"Ronald..." I said, laughing.

"Ella, seriously. When you and Fred get together, we aren't going to get this chance ever again. It's late at night, we're the only two in the common room up. We're alone. I just want to feel your tongue against mine once more, and your body rubbing against mine."

"Ron, I thought that you didn't think of me as more than a friend?" I said.

"I don't. Just, I think that our snog brought us closer, Ella. So please, please just let's do it once more."

"Ron..."

"Shh..." he whispered, putting his index finger against my lips. Then, he slowly pressed his forehead against mine and removed his finger.

"Please," he whispered again, but it was barely audible. Then, before I said anything, he pressed his lips against mine. The same warm feeling came back again. He wrapped his arms around my lower back and pressed me closer against him. I placed my hands around his neck and pressed harder against his body. I felt his hand move from my lower waist and start crawling up my shirt. His hand began to massage my breasts and I felt him snap my bra off. I knew I should've stopped, but I just couldn't. I let him take off my shirt, and I laid shirtless on top of him. His tongue was basically down my throat and it felt so good. I quickly took off his shirt and rubbed his abs gently. Eventually, one thing led to another, and the two of us were completely naked in the Gryffindor common room at three in the morning on the couch by the fire.

I didn't know what I was doing. I had been a virgin and sex was the last thing on my mind that night, but it happened. And boy did it happen.

"Ronald, did that really just happen?" I asked him, as we laid together on the couch, our clothes still laying in front of the fire.

"I think it did," he said while rubbing my back.

"Ron, we need to get changed just in case someone comes downstairs..." I said, slowly getting up. Ronald pulled me back down, and looked me in the eye.

"Ella, we're never going to get this again. Let's just lay here for a while longer, okay?"

I sighed and laid my head back down on his chest.

"Well, that was fun," Ronald said, laughing quietly.

I giggled, as he began to play with my hair.

"I still can't believe we just did that. I've never done it before," I confessed.

"Me either, babe," Ron said.

"Babe?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. The two of us began laughing loudly, just as we saw a light coming from the girl's dormitories.

"Fuck, hurry up and put clothes on," I whispered as I jumped up and quickly threw on my pants and shirt. Ronald did the same, as I put my underwear and bra under the couch. He kicked his boxers under a chair and we sat back down.

We heard footsteps.

"Ella, fix your hair. It's a mess," Ronald said quickly. I took my hair tie and pulled my hair back as quickly as possible.

"What are you two doing down here at this hour?" Hermione asked.

"Talking," I said.

"What about?"

"Fred, the ball, life," I said simply, shrugging.

"Oh..."

"What're you doing?" Ronald asked her.

"I just heard voices and I came downstairs to see who it was. I kinda figured it was you, Ella, because you weren't in bed yet..."

"Yeah, I just can't really sleep," I said.

"Well, then I'm heading back up. Its like three thirty, I don't see how you two aren't tired," she said, turning around.

"Oh, and Ronald!" she said, turning back.

"Yes?" he said.

"Your hair is an absolute mess. Just thought you'd like to know."

I looked at him as we laughed.

"Ron, we really shouldn't have done it..." I said to him when Hermione went back upstairs.

"Ella, look, it's not like you and Fred are dating, okay? You aren't in the wrong. And plus we can't say your first time was with someone who wasn't special because we love each other. Maybe not romantically, but you're like my sister," he said.

"So you're saying you just lost your virginity to your sister?" I questioned, giving him a sly smirk.

"Shut the hell up," he said, laughing.

"Maybe we should get to bed soon..." I said to him, as he wrapped his arms around me. I was sitting on his lap, leaning back far enough to where our heads were both against the back of the couch.

"I just like sitting like this, Ella. I know we aren't romantically together, but it just feels nice to be holding you in my arms like this," he said.

I turned my head towards his and gave him a quick kiss. We smiled at each other as I tried to get up, but he pulled me back down.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Ron," I whined, pulling out the 'n'.

"Ella," he mimicked.

"Let me up, we need to both get our asses to bed," I told him.

"One more kiss," he said, smirking.

I pressed my lips against his quickly then looked at him.

"Happy?"

"That wasn't long," he said.

"Ronald, for Christ's sake we just had sex! I just took your virginity. I think you've had enough for tonight," I joked. He let go as I stood up. He followed suit, as we both began to go up to our dormitories.

"Wait, Ella!" he said quickly.

"Yeah?" I asked, stepping off the stairs.

"I love you."

"I love you, too, Ronald," I said, smiling.

"And I had a lot of fun tonight..." he said. "And thanks for the dress robes."

"I had fun, too, and don't mention it. What are best friends for?" I smirked. He smiled, and went upstairs.

Once I got upstairs and to my room, I laid down on my bed, immediately. Then, I felt like I was laying on something, so I got up and turned on my lamp beside my bed. Sitting across my bed, was a beautiful dress and a pair of shoes on it.

"What the...?"

"What on earth are you doing?" Hermione whispered, so she wouldn't wake up the other girls.

"Hermione, was this there when you came downstairs a little bit ago?" I asked.

"What?"

"This dress..."

She sat up and stared at the dress. "Ella... it's beautiful!"

"Was this there earlier?" I pressed.

"No, it wasn't... And I would know if it was because I checked your bed to see if you were in it. And I don't recall seeing it when I came back upstairs," she said.

"Hermione, whoever put this here put it here within the past ten minutes. You didn't hear anything?" I asked seriously.

"No, I haven't..."

The two of us looked at my bed, and just stared at the stunning dress.

"There's no way this was cheap," I said slowly.

"Who do you think...?"

"I don't know, Hermione. I don't know," I said slowly.

"We'll figure it out in the morning," she said, laying back down. I moved the dress and shoes and placed them nicely in the corner of the room, laid back down in bed, and turned off the light.

That night, all I could think about was how I just lost my virginity to my best friend, how I thought a horrible day turned into an amazing night. I wondered if Fred was thinking about me, or if Ronald was thinking about us. I wondered if things were really going to work out for the better, or if Fred would eventually find out between me and Ron. And the dress... Someone had bought me a dress, but I hadn't had a clue who it could be. I sighed deeply and closed my eyes, drifting into a dreamful sleep.