The Chaser : A Fred Weasley Fan Fic

Nine: Spin the Bottle

Weeks passed and I kept my head down, throwing myself into practicing for the Ravenclaw match. I'd go down to the pitch, even when practice wasn't scheduled, just to get a better feel for it, playing out tactics in my head.

It was the only thing that could distract me from the incessant whispering or pained looks that everyone was giving me in the halls. They'd eventually died down but my self esteem was still as low as the floor. I hardly went to meals or spent time anywhere other than holed up in my dorm or at the quidditch pitch.

It seemed Fred had given up trying to rectify things with me all together, he'd be bright and cheery with everyone but when it came to me he'd remain quiet. It was nice to get some peace but it meant that practices had become incredibly awkward.

On the morning of the Ravenclaw match, I decided to sit alone, telling Katie and the others that I needed to focus before we went out. As I sat, trying to force feed myself slices of dry toast, my plate was shadowed by someone standing over me.

"Can I sit here?" Fred asked, a big grin on his face. I nodded, but didn't open my mouth. I hardly ever saw him and George sit apart and even George looked a little agitated without his twin when I glanced down the table at him.

"Tilly, we've got to play a match together in a couple of hours, can you at least look at me?" Fred chuckled, batting my arm with his spoon.

Begrudgingly, I looked up at him. He looked nice today, there was no denying it. His long red hair looked freshly washed and hung neatly just above his shoulders. He looked remarkably clean in his quidditch robes, which was unlike the twins, they were always covered in some kind of potion or grime.

"Nervous?" I smiled back. Fred let out a deep sigh of relief when he realised I wasn't going to snap at him.

"A little" Fred admitted, smiling down at his food. We chatted politely for a while and I almost wondered how I could ever be annoyed at him.

He'd had a big grin on his face all the time we'd been talking until it suddenly dropped from his face. He was scowling past me at somebody who'd just entered the Great Hall and I whipped my head around to get a better look.

Cedric stood, hovering slightly between our two tables looking like a deer caught in headlights. He gave a weak smile and wave before hurrying back to sit with his friends. I didn't return the gesture and turned back to roll my eyes at Fred.

"Have you spoken to him at all, you know, since-" Fred began

"No" I cut him off, "but I don't think I'm missing out on anything"

"What do you mean?" Fred laughed.

"We hardly spoke anyway, if you know what I mean" I said raising my eyebrows at him and tapped at my head, "I don't think there's much going on up there"

Fred chuckled quietly to himself and nodded approvingly, "Like I've said before, he's just a pretty boy"

We cleared our plates and they vanished immediately. We had about half an hour to get down to the pitch to prepare ourselves before the match began and we hurried out together.

"Tilly!" called Cedric, from the doors of the Great Hall. He was alone, not surrounded by his gaggle of friends like he usually was, "Good luck, today"

Fred let out a low disapproving grunt next me, but I smiled back, muttering a quick "thank you", before we carried on out of the castle.

"Prat" Fred muttered, making me giggle.

Students were already filtering down towards the stands from breakfast and soon our small stadium was packed. A familiar lump formed in my throat, but I tried to reassure myself that I was as prepared as I could ever be with all the extra practice I'd been doing. Not to mention the clear, dry day meant that we could play to the best of our ability with very little push back from the weather.