Mischief Managed

The next morning, I woke up to the shouts of Molly yelling up the stairs.

"C'mon you lot! After breakfast we are to get you on the train for school! Get up and bring your things down with you!"

I groaned, got up, and quickly changed. Hermione was already sitting on her bed, waiting for me.

"Ginny and Ava already went downstairs before you woke up," she said. "But I'm glad, because we seriously need to have one on one girl talk."

"Oh, here we go," I joked, and walked over to the mirror to curl my hair.

"Ella, honestly, you and Fred need to get together. Everyone can see it."

"What are you talking about 'everyone can see it'?" I asked.

"Because you two make it so obvious that you like each other! I mean, seriously, tell me the truth. Do you or do you not like Fred?" she pressed.

"Well, I mean I..." I began.

"Yes or no."

"Well, uh..."

"Yes... or no."

"Yes, Hermione, yes. I do like him," I sighed, putting down the curling iron and looking at her.

"Like who?" asked Ron, who just walked into the room.

"No one."

"C'mon Ella, who is it?" Ron said with a smirk.

"Ronald, seriously, it's no one!" I said, getting annoyed. I put down my curling iron and picked up my mascara, putting it on quickly, and walked out of the room. I made my way down the steps and into the kitchen. Molly had made eggs and bacon, and already had a plate down for me at the table, beside George and Harry. I sat down and began eating, not looking at anyone.

"Hungry?" Harry laughed. I nodded and kept eating.

"Ella, you left your stuff upstairs," Hermione said, coming down the stairs with Ron by her side.

"K," I said, and got up from the table. I went upstairs quickly and walked into the room. Almost everything was out of it, except for my luggage. I pulled out my wand to cool down the curling iron, put that and the rest of my makeup into a bag, and put it into my suitcase. Then, I gathered up any of my clothes on the floor and stuffed them into my suitcase as well. Once everything was packed, I sat down on the bed and looked out the window, thinking to myself. So what if I liked Fred? Was that a crime? And why couldn't Ron just drop it? And why did Hermione have to bring it up in the first place? And if everyone could "see" that I liked him, why didn't Ron know who it was? Or did he know and he was just playing dumb? Did Fred know I liked him? Did he like me?

"Ella... Hello..." came a voice from behind me. I jumped and looked. Of course, it was Fred.

"Oh, sorry," I said.

"Bloody hell, I only called your name about fifty times," he joked and sat down beside me. "What's up?"

"Nothing much, you?"

"You know that's not what I meant. What's wrong? You didn't even talk during breakfast," he said.

"Oh, it's nothing. Really," I said, putting on the best fake smile I could.

"Ella, I've known you for so long. I know when something is wrong, and there is."

I sighed and turned to him. His face was calm, and the worry and care in his voice made my heart skip a beat. I did like him, I really did.

"What?" he asked.

I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him as tightly as possibly. He wrapped his arms around my sides, squeezing back. I tried to fight the tears, but let one slip. I rested my head on his shoulder, and we just stayed there on the bed hugging each other for what seemed like a lifetime. Then, I let go and got up.

"It's about time to go, I reckon."

"What was the hug for?" he asked, getting up as well.

"I just needed a hug," I said quietly and grabbed my things.

"Ella, really, what's going on?"

"Fred. Really. Nothing."

Fred sighed, and I started to walk out of the room. He followed right behind me, and we made our way downstairs together. Everyone was in the living room, sitting around and talking.

"Ella, go ahead and put your things in the car dear, and we'll get going," Molly said, smiling.

I did as told and went outside. Hermione followed behind me.

"What were you guys doing up there?" she asked.

"I was getting my things, he asked what was wrong, I said nothing, we came downstairs," I said truthfully.

She raised a brow and put her hands on her hips. "Ella, obviously he likes you."

"How is that obvious? Because he's a caring friend?"

"Well, I mean..."

"No, Hermione. No."

"Ella, what has gotten into you?" Hermione asked quietly.

"I'm just so sick of everyone assuming we have something going on! I'm so sick of all the questions. So what if we do? So what if we don't? Maybe I don't want to do anything about it! Maybe I just want to stay friends with him!"

"But... why?"

Tears started forming in my eyes and spilling down my cheeks. "Hermione, don't you get it? If we become more than friends, most likely we won't be together forever. So what happens if we break up? We aren't friends anymore, and eventually we'll never talk. We'll want nothing with each other. Fred is one of my best friends and I don't want to ever ruin that. I need him in my life, whether its friend or boyfriend. But at least if he's just my friend, I know it'll stay that way. But we won't be dating forever."

"You don't know that."

"Hermione! I'm fourteen! I doubt I've found my soul mate already. I mean, honestly? Why would I want to risk what Fred and I have now?" I said.

"What's life without a little risk?" Hermione said quietly. Then, she walked away quickly without another word. I sighed and walked around the field where we always played Quidditch. Was this really what I wanted? I hadn't a clue. I sat down in the grass and looked up at the sky, wiping away the rest of my tears. I heard footsteps behind me. It was Ava.

"Hey, Ava, are you excited?" I asked, putting on a smile for my little sister.

"Yes," she said, showing a toothy grin. "But I'm nervous. What if I'm not a Gryffindor like you, Caden, and Jacob?"

"Well, then you'll either be a Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin!" I said, putting an arm around her. "But no matter what house you're in, we'll still love you."

"Jacob said he wouldn't love me if I was a Slytherin," Ava said quietly.

"He was joking."

"Oh."

My sister and I sat in silence for a moment, until she piped up.

"Why do you do this?"

"Do what?" I asked.

"Just sit on the grass and look up. I don't get it."

"It's calming."

"Oh."

"Ella, Ava, are you two ready to go?" came the voice of Arthur Weasley.

"Yes," I said back, and got up. Ava and I made our way to the cars.

"Arthur ordered us three Ministry cars," Molly smiled.

Ava and I got into the first one, joining Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Charlie and Arthur were up front.

"You lot ready?" Charlie asked, looking at us. We all nodded and took off. Before I knew it, we were at the train station. When we got out, everyone else was already there waiting for us. We all walked to Platform 9 3/4 and went through. The train, as beautiful as ever, was awaiting us. I smiled and looked over at everyone else, who were smiling as well.

We all put our things on the train. Harry, Ronald, Hermione, Ava, Ginny, and I all took our own compartment and then we got off the train to say our goodbyes to the rest of the Weasleys.

"I might be seeing you sooner than you think," Charlie grinned.

"Why?" Fred asked.

"You'll see," he smiled.

"I wish I could go back to Hogwarts this year..." Bill said, looking wistfully at the train.

"Why?" George asked.

"You'll see," Bill smiled.

"Yes, you lot sure will have an interesting year," Charlie said, rocking slowly back and forth.

"Why?" we all said at once, almost too loudly.

"You'll see," Bill and Charlie said, grinning ear to ear, just as the train whistle blew.

"Okay, all of you, get on! Go!" Molly said. "Bye, I love you! Be good!"

We all hurried onto the train and sat down. I looked around me, seeing my friends smiling and laughing. I smiled to myself, and couldn't wait for the year ahead of me.