Gred and Forge

The rain still came down in endless sheets as I awoke the next morning. Groaning I buried myself deeper in my warm soft blankets, hoping to doze off once more and just skip breakfast all together. It’s not like I had anything to look forward too, I had to do all my homework today seeing as it is a Sunday, plus Fred wasn’t certainly going to be waiting for me at the bottom of the staircase. Definitely not after yesterday.

Another wave of emotion washed over me as I inwardly groaned. I managed to mess everything up between Fred and me. It would be all fine and dandy if we haven’t grown so close to each other. For the past two months I’ve spent almost every day with him and his friends, friends that were now mine as well. We even made plans to watch the first Triwizard Tournament event together, not say that plans can’t be easily changed but I was really looking forward to it. I looked forward to seeing him every day.

Suddenly I heard the dormitory door open and someone come stomping over to my bed, ripping the curtains back.

“Okay, what the hell happened yesterday?!” Rue stood before me with her hands planted on her hips and her golden curls cascading from the pony tail in the back of her head.

Pushing myself up I sat up, wrapping my duvet tight around my cold body once more. “Well, it’s complicated.” She stayed in her current position, un-phased by the word ‘complicated’. Sighing I continued in more detail, “So, do you remember the night of the Welcoming Feast and how I left my bag back at the table? Well when I went back to look for it a Durmstrang student came up to me and asked what I was looking for. Well after talking to him for a couple minutes I found out that his name is Erik. Well anyway Fred came in and was holding my bag and right away I could feel an awkward tension between the two.”

“Okay and what does this have to do with yesterday?” She asked, not really understanding where I was getting at. Or maybe she was and she just wanted to poke around a little to see what else I had.

“Well yesterday morning before Fred, Lee and I entered the Great Hall for breakfast Erik managed to catch me real quick for a conversation. He asked if I would show him and some of his friends around the castle that afternoon which I accepted because where’s the harm in that you know? Well apparently that pissed Fred off and his jealousy got the best of him when I went to give him and Lee back massages in the library that afternoon. Basically he was making snide remarks and I was getting fed up with it so I told him to stop being so protective and that he wasn’t my boyfriend.”

I took a deep breath and looked at Rue, who has now sat down at the end of my bed and was leaning against the wooden frame. “Well… that was quite the story.”

I rolled my eyes and fell sideways onto my bed, “Rue I need help! What do I do?”

“If I were you,” She started, resting her chin in the palm of her hand, “I would just avoid Fred for a few days, not a lot but just one or two so you both can calm down a little.”

“You know I was thinking about that but I think at this point I just want to be done with Fred, if he’s going to be-“ Rue interrupted me quickly before I could finish my thought.

“No, you can’t be done with Fred!”

I gave her a suspicious glance, “Why not?”

“Well um… Because you just can’t move on from people that you love. You can’t just put them down and throw them out like an old toy or an old photograph.”

“Who ever said that I loved him?” I asked defensively. Fred and I were just friends… Right? No, right now was not the time to ask rhetorical questions to myself.

“No one had to say anything to figure it out Ella,” She stated bluntly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “You two have been heel’s over head for each other since practically a week after you met. No one would spend that much time with someone else without developing some kind of feelings. You spent practically every day together, you can’t just stop.”

“Fine I’ll talk to him again, if it makes you happy.” I agreed, starting to feel awkward I decided to change the subject, “So when’s this date between you and Oliver happening?”

Her face instantly lit up and she smiled, “Today in the library at three! He said he needs someone to help him study for his O.W.L.’s.”

“Hmm, well if everything else goes well that’s not the only thing he’s going to be studying,” I replied cheekily.

“Em!” She exclaimed in part shock.

“I’m only joking. So are you nervous?”

She sighed and looked outside, “Kind of, what if it doesn’t go well? What if he doesn’t like me? What if I don’t like him!?” I could see the panic apparent in her face and I suppressed the urge to laugh, after all she did just help me out a ton.

“Hey, I’m sure it would be fine! If it makes you feel any better I’ll walk you to the library, I have some research I have to do anyway. I’ll sit a couple tables away.”

Rue’s face lit up once again and she looked at me hopefully, “Would you really! That would be great Em!”

I just shrugged and slinked back into a sitting position, “Hey, it’s no big deal. Plus you don’t have to worry about me, I’m not going to stalk you and hide behind any bushes.”

Throughout the rest of the morning I did whatever I could to get Fred off my mind; attempted some homework, read at the most a chapter in various books, took out a pencil and my sketch pad and tried to draw, but nothing seemed to work.

My mind kept on wandering off to the first Hogsmeade weekend next Saturday where Fred wanted to help him with restocking prank supplies, or how we were going to watch the first task together, or about that one time when he felt like pranking George for no reason and I was used as the decoy, to which I did a fabulous job. Miscellaneous memories and plans filtered rapidly through my head as I tried to suppress them.

The day felt like it was going by at a snail’s pace, every five minutes feeling like an hour and the hours feeling like an eternity. Eventually though, three o’clock was approaching and Rue wouldn’t stop pacing around her room.

“Do you think I look okay? This isn’t too casual right? I don’t want to be too fancy either…” She looked into the mirror once again and started to play with the hairs framing her face.

“You look wonderful my beauty,” I commented while lying stomach first on her bed. Of course anyone could be considered a beauty next to me; I was dressed in a pair of jeans and a jumper with my hair up in a messy ponytail and my makeup from yesterday smudged under my eyes.

Rue smoothed her hands over the front of her blue cardigan, readjusting the buttons and pulling on the sleeves. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, and Oliver is probably just as nervous as you are so don’t worry about it.” I looked down at my watch noticing it was five-till three and decided that right about now was a good time to leave. “Its 2:55, are you ready to go?”

She took in a deep breath and turned around letting it out slowly, “As ready as I’ll ever be!”