Everything Changes // Fred Weasley

chapter 23: snogging a prince on the fourth floor

February 14th, 1995

I've never really liked Valentine's day.

Don't get me wrong, I liked the premise. The idea of dedicating one specific day a year to the person you loved, but I just couldn't get behind how utterly sappy everyone made it out to be.

Why put so much pressure on showing your love for your significant other on some random day in the middle of February?

Maybe it all started when I gave a Valentine to my primary school crush who agreed to go out with me only because they thought that I was Naomi, but changed their mind as soon as they found out I wasn't actually her.

Or maybe it was because I knew deep down that all of my past romances weren't the one.

Either way, I just didn't like the holiday. I thought it was a waste of time.

Until I met Fred Weasley.

The morning of Valentine's day had been an uneventful one for me, but for the rest of my dormmates, it was pure chaos.

Jules spent hours testing out new hairstyles and outfits, trying to find the perfect combination that would leave Kendric speechless, although we all knew that it didn't matter what she wore since it would be strewn about Kendric's bedroom floor soon enough.

Anna was calm; she had laid out everything that she needed the night before and had already planned her look down to the very last detail. She was ready hours before she even planned to meet up with her date.

Naomi on the other hand was a panicked mess.

"Have you seen my black dress?" She cried as she tossed every single item of clothing that she owned out of her trunk and onto the bedroom floor. I knelt down behind her to pick up the discarded clothes, chuckling softly to myself.

"You mean the one with the lace hem?" Anna asked.

Anna was still going strong with her Durmstrang boy. If you saw one of them in the halls, you were bound to see the other. They were never apart for very long. Jules would often bring up the topic of him moving back to Bulgaria at the end of the year, but Anna would quickly change the subject. She didn't want to face the inevitable. That her relationship might not last after the school year was over.

I knew exactly how she felt.

Thinking about leaving Fred behind broke my heart every time, so I simply didn't think about it. That was a problem for future Gem to worry about.

"Yes!" Naomi exclaimed, plopping down into her bed. She was exasperated. Her entire wardrobe lay scattered out onto the bedroom floor, and yet she still hadn't found her dress.

"I think the elves got our laundry messed up the other day." Anna said calmly as she made her way over to her trunk. She pulled out Naomi's black dress and handed it to her, along with a few other items of clothing that Naomi quickly discarded onto her bed.

Crisis averted I joked, but Naomi didn't seem to think it was funny as she shot me a glare from across the room. She quickly shimmied into the dress and had me zip it up as she admired herself in the mirror.

Upon realizing what time it was she grabbed her wand, slipped on her shoes, and rushed out the door, not bothering to say goodbye to a single person.

"She's bloody insane." Jules said. I nodded my head in agreement.

Jules and Anna soon left the room after Naomi, leaving me alone. I had considered staying in my dorm all day, flipping through some of Naomi's old textbooks, but when I opened the window to let in some fresh air, I realized that it was far too nice of a day outside for me to be staying cooped up, especially since Naomi would be at Hogsmeade until late afternoon, so the castle would be free for me to walk around.