CHRYSALIS - FRED WEASLEY

CHAPTER 8

The following weeks are filled with all of the fumbling awkwardness that comes with dating someone new. Charlie takes her to all the usual romantic haunts, including the ceremonial date to Madam Puddifoot's that all new couples are practically required to go on. He's unexpectedly charming, and Lillie can see his layers of arrogance peel back, one-by-one. She suspects that his spending less time with his Slytherin friends is making him drop his unnatural bravado. Unwanted advancements are replaced with timid gestures of affection: a handhold here, a peck on the cheek there. His smooth confidence remains, but he is surprisingly old-fashioned. It took three weeks of dating (courting, really) for him to finally kiss her.

Lillie is rushing back to the basement, smiling stupidly, when she runs into Fred standing outside of the kitchen, a small sack in his arms.
"Jesus, Fred! I need to put a bell on you. How do you always find me?"
"Don't act so important, I'm just grabbing something to eat from Dobby. Missed dinner," he replies, laughing. Dinner is just an excuse; he'd been watching her name hover with Charlie's in the Slytherin common room for hours.

"I have to tell you something, come eat in my common room?" she asks.

"Sure," he says, mildly. He tries to control his excitement; any time spent with Lillie was a treat for him, especially in a setting as intimate as the Hufflepuff common room. They walk down the hall, descend the short flight of stairs that lead to the basement, and Lillie opens the door.

A warm, yellow glow emanates from the open door, and a rush of warm air hits him. He never gets used to the Hufflepuff common room. It's the only common room to be charmed with a calming spell, and a sense of contentment and clarity settles on anyone who enters. Colors seem to be in sharper relief, and the light of the crackling fire bounces off the stuffed leather couches that form a semicircle around it. The room is one giant circle, with hallways branching off toward individual dormitories. Plants with curving, twisting vines hang from various spots around the room, and part of the right side of the wall is covered in a thick layer of ivy. A huge and long wooden table divides the sitting area from the studying area, where a curved bookshelf holds a small library. Narrow stained glass windows line the perimeter at the top of the room, and throughout the day different colored beams of light shine into the space.

Lillie practically runs to the long couch that sits perpendicular to the fireplace and throws herself onto it, kicking her legs gleefully. Fred strolls over, lifting her extended legs and sitting down before settling them on his lap. His wide hands rest over her shins, giving her goosebumps through her thick stockings. She ignores them.

"What's got you so riled up, then?" he says, smiling. She squeals, squirming in her reclined position. She's embarrassed to tell him, but she needs to get it out. "What?" he says, pinching her thigh teasingly. She collects herself and sits up, removing her legs from his lap and crossing them beneath her.

"He kissed me," she blurts, slapping her hand over her mouth and giggling. Fred's eyebrows shoot to his hairline, and his stomach drops.

He's silent for a moment before speaking, "He kissed you?" He's feigning excitement; he knows he can't be disappointed, or angry. She doesn't owe him anything.

"Yeah, he kissed me! On the lips!" she says, still laughing uncontrollably. Fred feels as though there is a stone in his throat, put there by Lillie's news. He swallows it forcefully, his mouth dry and voice hoarse. 

"How was it, then?" he says, making himself act interested. If he was honest, he'd leave, tell her he can't talk about this.

Lillie pauses before she answers. How was it? It was good. Great, even. It was sweet and kind and gentle; he'd held her face so lightly, she could feel his hands shaking. He'd asked, "Can I kiss you?" with the reserve of a bashful child. When he pressed his lips to hers, she was happy. She didn't get the sparks she expected, but it felt good, like hot chocolate or iced tea or something else that's sweet and soothing. He smiled into her lips and kissed her with such gentle intensity, a type that she never knew existed. She absentmindedly brushes her hand against her lips at the thought. Of course, she can't tell Fred this.