Gred and Forge

Turns out, Fred has really good luck when it comes to gambling. Harry Potter won the First Task, leaving us to split up the winnings between all that had placed money on Potter, which wasn’t very many. Sadly he had a lot of people against him and being only 14 many believed he wouldn’t do any better than Fleur.

Also as promised, Fred took me to the party that was being held in the Gryffindor common room. Though it started promptly after the task ended, it wasn’t in full sway until after dinner when we arrived. There were tons of students, loud music and plenty of butterbeer for everyone.

“Welcome to the Gryffindor common room love!” Fred gestured to the scene in front of us. Kids were dancing together in clumps, others just simply messing around, and all were still hyped up on the adrenaline rush from the First Task.

To my surprise though, the Gryffindor common room was much different than the one in the Ravenclaw Tower. Here the walls were concealed in red with murals covering almost every inch, plush couches and chairs encased in worn red velvet were scattered about the room in an unorganized fashion. I was most surprised to see that there was only one, lonely bookshelf tucked away in a corner.

The Ravenclaw common room was practically the opposite. It was drenched in navy blue, the carpet and ceiling printed with a map of the stars, and bookcases lined the walls. Columns made from white marble supported the vast ceiling, similar to the windows that mirrored the columns height and stood proudly in between each bookcase. I was even more astounded that the Gryffindor’s only had a painting of Godric Gryffindor on the wall, not a large statue like ours of of Rowena Ravenclaw.

No matter the differences between the two common rooms, Gryffindor still felt welcoming, however cramped and disorganized it may be.

After attempting to look over various people’s heads, Fred ducked back down to my level, “Let’s see if we can’t find George, he has to be here somewhere.”

“Oi, Wealsey!” A short boy, probably in his seventh year, pushed his way out of the crowd. His blonde hair was disheveled and his freckled cheeks were dusted with light pink, the mere appearance of him made me almost afraid to take another step forward.

“Oh, how’s it going James?” Fred asked politely, putting his arm around my shoulders, “This is my girl, Ella.” James looked over at me for the first time with a quick glance. I honestly think that he would have never noticed I was there if Fred didn’t introduce me.

“Pleasure to meet you Ella,’ He nodded then continued on, “Listen, Lee is in the back by the girl’s dormitory entrance. He says he has something for you.”

Fred looked momentarily astonished, “Alright, I’ll go see him. Thanks for telling me James.”

The blonde haired boy disappeared back into mass of students and I looked up at Fred, “What does he have for you?”

Dropping his arm he shrugged, “I’m not really sure but let’s find out.”

"Look what I got a hold of!" Lee whispered in a hushed excitement as soon as Fred and I approached him outside of the Girl’s Dormitory.

It took us a while, Fred passed many friends and acquaintances, but we got there in good time. Both George and Emily were already in the back waiting along with Lee. The four of us gathered closer to Lee as he attempted to pull what seemed like a bottle from underneath his shirt.

"Not here!" Fred whispered urgently, cautiously looking around.

"You want to get us caught?" George asked.

Lastly, speaking in unison they said, "Let’s go to our room."

The boys, along with Emily and I, casually made our way up to the Boy's Dormitories, trying to look as casual as possible. Finally, as George closed the door, Lee revealed to us a bottle of a warm brown-colored liquid.

"Firewhiskey, wicked" the twins chorused as identical smiles appeared on their faces.

We weren't technically supposed to have alcohol on school grounds, other than butterbeer on special occasions. None of the teachers strongly enforce the rule and usually turn the other cheek but since we have foreign visitors this year I have a slight feeling that McGonagall would confiscate it in a heartbeat.

Lee uncorked the bottle and walked over to the small tray of goblets set up next to a wardrobe. As he started to fill them Emily spoke up.

"Aren't we not supposed to have that?"

We all looked at her in slight shock for a moment before George answered, "What McGonagall doesn't know won't hurt her."

"Yeah but what if she catches us? We would get in so much trouble!"

We all looked at her again, not exactly sure what her problem was. She was acting as if this was the last thing in the world that she would expect us to be doing. We were dating the Weasley twins for crying out loud! They are the greatest pranksters at Hogwarts, the all-time troublemakers of our generation! What did she expect them to be doing at parties, playing board games and drinking hot chocolate?

"You know you don't have to drink any if you don't want to," Fred offered.

Emily huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, "Good because I wasn't planning on it anyway."

The rest of us exchanged similar glances of confusion and Lee continued pouring the rest of the glasses. As soon as he was finished he picked one up for himself and brought another over for
George, Fred doing the same for me.

"Want some?" He asked before handing me the goblet.

A strong, unrecognizable scent wafted from the glass and I looked at the light brown mixture. I've never really been a big fan of alcohol but I never was opposed to try something new. "Sure, I'll try it."

"Cheers to Harry Potter!" Lee raised his goblet high in front of us.

We raised our own goblets in the same fashion, smiles upon our faces and said, "Cheers!"

Bringing the cup to my mouth I tilted a little bit in. It burned more than butterbeer and definitely wasn't as sweet but not too horribly bad. I looked at the boy's faces, curious of their reactions, and they all seemed a bit more accustomed to the taste.

Emily stood beside the door as if she was the look-out. "Seriously? You guys are still going to do it?"

"You don't have to stay if it's really bothering you, go enjoy the party," I offered getting slightly annoyed with her attitude.

"We will be down as soon as we finish this," George added after taking another drink.

Emily rolled her eyes, "Fine I'll see you down there I guess." She walked out of the room shouting the door loudly behind her.

"I hope she's not expecting me to chase after her cause I'm not going to," George remarked, sitting down on his trunk.

I took a look around the room while taking another sip. There were only three beds (the twins and Lee had no other roommates), a worn couch and a trunk working as a coffee table/desk with papers strewn across it. The beds were unmade, some clothes had been left on the floor, and it didn't really smell all that great but it wasn't as bad as I would have expected it to be.

"Has this been happening a lot lately?" I asked curious of George's annoyed face.

He shrugged, "We've just been getting in these little arguments here and there but nothing major."

"I say you should dump her," Lee suggested from his bed.

"Just because there's one little thing wrong doesn't mean I should dump her," George replied with a slight edge to his voice. He then turned to me, a worried expression now on his face, "Right?"

"Right." I replied with a curt nod, taking a larger sip of Firewhiskey. I couldn’t help but feel some sort of empathy for him, not when he looks at me almost hopeless, using the same expression that Fred would.

"That's why you're still single mate," Fred teased Lee while walking over to the couch. He motioned for him to come join him and I walked over.

"No, I'm single because ladies can't handle this," he gestured to his torso and I couldn't help but laugh as I sat down.

"So how do you like it?" Fred asked me after he threw his arm around my shoulder.

Looking at my half empty glass I shrugged. For the past few minutes I've been drinking it without really paying attention leaving me with no real opinion on the beverage. "It's not bad; the after taste is a bit much though."

"It takes a little time to get used to," he replied with a wink, taking one final sip of his own before setting it down on the 'coffee table'.

"Well lads, ready to get back to the party?" George asked, placing his goblet back on the tray.

"Ella's not finished yet," Fred teased.

Putting down my drink I stood up, "No it's fine; I'm a really slow drinker. I'll just finish it later."

Lee corked the bottle, "Hold up, let me hide the bottle first." After hastily looking about the room he decided to stash it underneath his pillow.

As we were about to walk out the door Fred quickly grabbed George's shoulder, pulling him back.

"We should get the canary creams out! Put on a little demonstration at the party to get kids interested," He wiggled his eye brows and George's face lit up.

"Good idea! Why didn't I think of that? Hold on Lee," He called out into the hall before running over to his bed and pulling out the suitcase that they kept all their prank materials in.

After gathering a small pouch from within and storing it in his pocket, George put the suitcase back and we were off to the party.

Despite being a bit buzzed, the twins’ presentation of the canary creams went well, earning them a good amount of galleons. Soon after George went off to look for Emily and Fred and I started to mingle with others. He introduced me too quite a lot of people, most I don't think I will remember the names of. We even ran into Vanessa and Maura who were both chatting with Lee. After a well spent two hours we finally found a quiet corner for ourselves.

"I was thinking about going upstairs and getting another drink. Do you want to come with me?" Fred asked me as he sat in an armchair and I sat on his lap.

Turning so I could face him more I smiled, "Sure."

***
It was a small bruise. Stretching my neck to the right I admired it in the mirror. Though it was sore to touch, I still smiled at the thought of it and the matching one on my right breast. Putting down my hair brush I picked up a small bottle of liquid foundation and a small triangular sponge in hopes to cover it up. It was our little secret, no one else needs to judge us for the things we do behind closed doors.

Just as I started pouring the makeup onto the sponge Vanessa walked in from breakfast, already dressed for the day.

“Hey, I was going to wake you for breakfast this morning but you were out late last night so I figured you would want some rest,” Plopping down her bed she looked at me through the mirror, “What are you doing?”

Frozen, with the sponge in my hand, I gently but it down on the table, “Doing my makeup.”

I saw her eyes squint as she looked at my reflection in the mirror. “Is that a bruise on your neck?” She asked, getting off of her bed and walking over to me. As she got closer she gasped, “No fucking way! That’s a hickey isn’t it?!”

Feeling a blush rise to my face I looked away from her shyly. “So, what if it is?”

“Oh my god. You guys totally snogged last night, like a proper one, alone… in his room!” In frenzy Vanessa started making odd hand gestures, a peculiar habit of hers when she gets too excited about something.

Throwing my hands up I laughed, “Okay, so we snogged! Is that a crime?”

“Of course not, but you did come back pretty late last night…”

I looked Vanessa in the eyes, cocking an eyebrow, “You honestly think I would be the type of girl to have sex in the Boy’s Dormitories? I have more class than that thank you.”

She laughed, rolling her eyes, “I was just joking with you Em, calm down.” She sauntered back over to her bed and laid down. “So I want all the details. How was it? Is he a good kisser?”

All the events from last night flooded back to me and I couldn’t stop a smile from appearing on my face even if I wanted too. “Okay so this is what happened……”

***********

We went back to an empty dorm; Fred shut the door behind us, making sure nobody saw. It was much darker now, as night had fallen, and we only bothered to light a few lamps, basking the room in a dim glow. After retrieving the bottle from under Lee’s pillow, Fred poured himself another glass and I sat back down on the couch picking up my abandoned one.

"You want me to fill that up for you El?" He asked from across the room.

Looking at my half empty glass I agreed, getting up and bringing it over to him. He took it then pointed over to the corner before topping it off. "Over there, by that shelf, there are a few records. You can pick one out to listen to if you would like."

"Alright."

I flipped through the vinyl records looking for something that was a bit soft. There was a bunch of punk ones and couple by The Weirdly Sisters, but nothing that was really fitting the mood. Eventually I found an older one from the 70's that would work. As soon as it started playing I smiled to myself pleased with my choice.

"The Apparition’s, classic," Fred commented. Turning around I spotted him waiting for me on the couch. "Our dad gave us that last year, it was one of his favorite bands back in the day. That’s one of their best records you know."

Walking over I sat down next to him and picked up my goblet, “Really? I didn’t know that. Quite frankly I haven’t even heard of this band before.”

Fred shook his head after taking a sip, “That’s a disappointment right there. You hear this part playing right now?” The song’s acoustic guitar was right in the middle of a short instrumental bridge. Just listening to it I got chills. “That’s the musical magic of Hugh MacStamphries, the man’s a genius.”

I turned my head to look at Fred. There was a peaceful look washed over his face, one of enjoyment and serenity. It was then I felt a small emptiness with in me as I started to realize how much I didn’t really know about him. I didn’t know that he liked classic rock, or that he even paid much attention to music. I didn’t really know much about his family other than there’s seven children, all boys except Ginny. I don’t think that I even knew what his lucky number was, and everyone has a lucky number. In that moment I wanted to ask him a thousand and one questions, but I couldn’t figure out how too.

"I didn't know you were into music."

He shrugged, setting his goblet on the ‘coffee table’, "Well sure, how can you not be?"

"So let me get this right,” Crossing my legs I looked at him quizzically, posed like Rita Skeeter would be if she was interviewing someone, “You are an ex-reader and now a music enthusiast too? What’s next, are you a dragon tamer as well?"

He chuckled, sitting up straighter, "Well my brother Charlie is one so it's highly possible."

Laughing I took my first drink, the bitter taste becoming familiar once again. “Have you ever thought about playing an instrument or something?”

He sighed, moving closer to me on the small, ratty couch, “I’ve always wanted to play guitar but my parents have never had enough money to buy me one. On top of that I would probably have to take lessons somewhere, which would cost more money.”

More questions flamed inside of me as I looked at him and the aggravated look on his face.

“I wish I would have saved the money I lost at the Quidditch World Cup, I probably would have bought a guitar with it and taught myself how to play.” Fred’s eye’s casted down wards in thought as he spoke, regret obviously present.

Feeling immensely sorry for him I gathered Fred in a hug. The movement must have shocked him because it took a few seconds longer than usual for him to hug back, but once he did I climbed into his lap and burrowed my face into his neck.

“Thanks Ella.” He whispered it into my ear, the gesture putting much more emphasis and meaning into the words than normal, as if he was suddenly relieved and truly thankful.

Pulling my head out of his neck I smiled and kissed his cheek, “Any time.”

Fred closed the distance between us and kissed me hungrily. I tried my best to match it before he left my mouth, kissing the corner of it and slowly working his way down the front of my neck. I tipped my head back, exposing it entirely to him, my hands starting to weave their way around his own neck. He returned to my mouth, this time the kisses we exchanged were gentler, less demanding than before.

Gently biting down on my lip he pulled away resting our foreheads together, eyes closed. The only sounds in the room were the record slowly playing in the background and our breathing, soft and in time with our beating hearts.

“I love you,” Fred whispered before closing the gap between us once more. His hands slid up the length of my thighs, resting on my hips and pulling me closer to him. His tongue lightly traced along my bottom lip and I parted my lips. As his tongue entered my mouth I lightly licked it, a kissing technique I read in a teen magazine. It was kind of awkward but I just went with it anyway.

After a few solid moments of feverish kissing we separated again, needing to catch our breaths. Fred quickly recovered and worked his way down my neck, finding the soft patch of skin right above my collar bone. A small gasp escaped my lips as he began to bite and suck on it, his mouth doing whatever it damn well pleased. My hand clasped the back of his head bringing it closer to me, not wanting it to move away from the bittersweet embrace.

A few moments later I felt his fingertips play with the hem of my blouse then rubbing against the soft skin of my lower stomach and eventually grazing up my spine. Fred’s lips broke away from my skin. He placed gentle kisses on my collarbone as he started to pull up the shirt, revealing parts of my body that he’s never seen before.

We quickly discarded my shirt, tossing it on the cushion next to us. His fingertips lightly grazed over the now sensitive skin above my collarbone then glided over my torso slowly, down my chest, over the tops of my breasts, and down to my lower stomach. I watched them as they made their voyage
down, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

“Wow you’re beautiful,” Fred whispered, looking into my eyes now, catching hints of my insecurity.

A blush rose through me as I looked back down at his hands, “Thank you.” Suddenly the number of questions soared from a thousand to a billion; how many girls has he said that to before? When was the last time he actually got with a girl? Or the last time he pulled a girl? Or his last girlfriend and who was she? A billion questions, but I held my tongue not wanting to ruin the moment.

“Why do you call me your ‘girl’ when introducing me and not as your girlfriend?” I asked quietly, making little eye contact with him.

“Because you are more than just a friend.”