They saw each other on the train back to school. Sylvia was squeezing past a pair of girls in the little hallway, holding her copy of The Secret History and her Walkman in one hand and Pigeon's cage in the other. She was listening to The Jesus and Mary Chain on cassette and it made the scene all the more ridiculously perfect, like she was in an MTV music video or the beginning of a movie where the main characters see each other for the first time.
He was stepping out of one of the compartments, looking back in and smiling like he was finishing talking to someone. Then he turned to look down the corridor and he blinked. He was still smiling, it just softened for a moment, the left side of his mouth turning up more than the right. The music literally swelled and he closed the compartment door to step towards her and they just stood there in front of each other, Sylvia's hands full and Jim Reid singing in her ears "aw honey give me one more chance" and Hope Sandoval singing back "oh you're a lucky son, lucky son of a gun" and she thought she might die from the predicability of the moment.
"Hi." Fred said, but she couldn't hear him.
She just looked up at him with her mouth open a little, breathing heavily like she just ran up a flight of stairs and he reached up to slide the little foam headphones off her ears. Sylvia laughed a little and chewed on the inside of her lips. He was leaning against the windows and put his hands in his pockets.
"Hi." He said again. His voice sounded like butter.
"Hello." She said back in a whisper so quiet it was barely audible. She wished he would take his hands out of his pockets and touch her hand or her hair, but he just swallowed and let his eyes wander over her face, leaving a sweet tickling sensation on her skin. His shoulder rose like he was going to reach out and he smiled a little wider, breathing out a little laugh.
"It's good to see you."
It's good to see you. Sylvie tried not to let her disenchantment show, but in doing so accidentally let out a short and harsh laugh. Fred's eyebrows raised and he grinned and dipped his head down a little bit in surprise.
"What?" He laughed.
"'It's good to see you'?" She grinned back, "That's the best you can do?"
He wet his bottom lip and took his hand out of his pocket to rub at his eye with his middle and forefinger and laughed again, kind of abashedly, like he was aware of how silly it sounded. Sylvia smiled, feeling her cheeks warm a little. Neither of them said anything and it went on for just a moment too long, long enough that Fred took a strong inhale and tucked his shoulders up and blinked quickly.
"We saved a seat for you." He threw his thumb back over his shoulder and Sylvia itched her cheek against her shoulder.
"Okay."
"Okay." He nodded and stepped around her, still smiling, "I'll be there in a minute."
Sylvia felt like throwing her book at the back of his head.
In the compartment, Fiona jumped from her seat to hug her and George tugged at her sleeve so she would lean down to hug him too. She felt very wanted then and it reassured her after the confusing encounter with Fred.
"Look, we're playing Uno!" Fiona jumped back into her seat, pulling a foot onto the cushion so her knee was bent up at her side.
Alicia sat across from her and gave Sylvia an exhausted look, "She's already beat me twice."
Sylvie smiled and sat between George and Angelina, very much aware that it was probably where Fred was sitting before.
"How are you so good at a game of chance?" She asked Fiona.
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Bad Decisions | Fred Weasley
Fanfiction"We were together. I forget the rest." Fred didn't like her. In fact, he had decided, first year, that he despised her. Despised is a strong word and he meant every bit of it when he told her to her face. ••• An inspired playlist: https://youtube.co...
