The Beginning of the End

"Bye guys." Effie said as she hugged Fred and George. She, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were going back to Hogwarts and the twins were going back to their joke shop. She was going to miss being at the Burrow. It had turned out better than she thought, minus the whole death eater attack and the thing with Harry.

"Bye, Effie." They said in unison. Effie smiled but it dropped when she noticed Fred looked like his brain was about to explode.

"What is it Fred?" She asked quietly, trying not to draw attention to them. George smirked to himself and Effie raised an eyebrow. Before Fred could say anything else, George walked over to Harry, Ron, and Hermione and started a conversation with them.

"One for the road?" Fred asked in a whisper. Effie bit her lip out of curiosity. Fred reached up and cupped her cheeks with both hands. He lowered his lips down to hers and kissed her slowly. Effie gripped his sides gently and kissed back. I know what you're thinking, this may have seemed like a more intimate thing than it should have been but it wasn't anything like that. Yes, Effie was trying to make Harry jealous by occasionally making out with Fred but it never got any further than that.

The only reason Effie enjoyed it so much was because she liked the sexual tension that it left hanging in the air. She liked the feeling of someone being attracted to her. The only other person she'd had an intimate kiss with was Harry and look at what happened there. He left her hanging there without a word except for 'I didn't feel anything'. Those words still haunted Effie's mind and it felt like there was an iron hand gripping her insides every time she thought about it.

After about a minute or two, Effie and Fred pulled away. He smiled down at her and kissed her forehead. Effie smiled back and wrapped her arms around his waist and he wrapped his around her shoulders.

"You make sure to write to me, and George too." Fred said, pulling away and brushing her hair out of her face.

"Of course." She closed her eyes feeling happy for the first time. She was happy someone was attracted to her. There was no doubt that she would be happier if Harry just came to his senses though.

Fred nudged her in the direction of her friends and gave her a light tap on the ass. Effie giggled and waved him off, joining her friends.

"Ready to go?" Ron asked. Effie nodded, a small smile still on her lips.

***

The Gryffindor common room was very quiet that night when everyone returned. They had all gone to bed, except for Effie who was sitting on an arm chair, her knees hugged tightly to her chest. She was staring at the roaring fire that was burning brighter than ever.

"Effie?" The voice reached her ears, startling her. She hadn't even heard anyone come down. She turned to look behind the chair and smiled.

"Oh, hey Seamus. How were your Holidays?" She asked, hoping that he wouldn't pick up on the fact that she had been thinking.

"Great. Now tell me, what are you thinking so hard about?" Damn it, she had been caught.

"What are you talking about?" She tried to play it off as nothing but Seamus knew her better than that. They had become too close for her to do that.

"Cut the crap, I know you better than that." Effie sighed and turned to face him after he sat on the sofa.

"I can't believe I'm even thinking this but would it be completely wrong if I had a non committed relationship with someone that isn't Harry. I mean, I love him and everything and I always will but I don't think it's getting any further than where it is now. I haven't done anything, before you start to worry. The idea just came across my mind and I was trying to figure out if it's the best thing or not." She said quietly, biting her lip hard out of nervousness. Seamus sighed, not really expecting that.

"You want my honest opinion? I don't think that it's for the best because it could ruin any chance at a relationship between you and Harry. I know what you're going through, I know you don't think you two are going anywhere but what if? What if, after you do what you're thinking, Harry comes around? What would you tell him? That you slept with someone else? I don't think that would go over very well."

Effie knew that Seamus was right and in all actuality, she didn't really have any interest in a non committed relationship with Fred. She loved him as one of her best friends and probably would hook up with him...several times...if Harry wasn't in the picture like that.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Thanks Seamus, you always know what to say." She said smiling as she stood up. Seamus stood up with her and chuckled.

"Not at first, with you I mean. It was so difficult to actually talk to you about these kind of things because you are so hardheaded and stubborn." Effie laughed and nodded her head. She walked over and hugged Seamus, giving him a kiss on the cheek and then walked up to her dormitory.

She crawled into her bed and pulled the curtains shut around her so that she could sleep in private. She tucked the covers around her tightly and drifted off into a deep slumber. Her classes were starting again the next morning and she had already missed out on a lot of sleep.