𝖶𝖨𝖢𝖪𝖤𝖣 𝖧𝖠𝖳𝖤 | 𝖥𝖱𝖤𝖣 𝖶𝖤𝖠𝖲𝖫𝖤𝖸

96

THE ARAMBELLA HOUSE

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It was early in the morning and even though we were quite sleep-deprived, Fred and I had a little stroll near the River Thames, hands interlaced and calm breathings as we walked between the immense amount of muggles. The ginger was trying to hide the astonishment in his face, especially because coming to London and going somewhere else other than Diagon Alley wasn't a common thing to do for wizards.

After Fred healed the cut in my lip and the bruise with a simple tap of his wand and a little caress in it, trying to get as far from the Ministry as possible, we ended up at the other side of the city, in a cosy and warm café near Southwark Bridge that had a great view of the river and a good part of the city. Once we got inside, Fred seemed so clueless that I felt an immense fondness at his wide-open curious eyes.

It was a rainy day, nothing new in here, but we were so needy of some light and fresh air that we sat in one of the free tables close to the windows. The café wasn't as crowded as the last time I came here, something I thanked deeply. Soon, a nice waitress approached us;

"Can I have the hot chocolate with whipped cream on it, please?" I asked, smiling kindly at her.

"Sure," she replied, writing it down, "And for your boyfriend?"

I opened my eyes widely, feeling my blood going fast through my veins and I immediately looked at Fred whose face expression was just as surprised as mine.

He got out of his daydream and managed to gaze back at the girl, still quite clueless.

"Uhmm - same as her, please," he replied in a hushed and stuttery whisper.

The girl nodded and she stopped for a second, looking at the two of us with a smile;

"May I say, you two make a really good couple? 'S been donkey years since last time I saw two people matching so well together at first glance."

I was about to correct her but Fred interrupted me first;

"Thank you," he smiled, kind of blushing.

The girl wrote it down and went back to the bar to prepare our orders.

I smiled at Fred, "Why didn't you correct her?"

He shrugged, "I mean, it's kinda a long story, innit? Besides, I think we can both tell ours is not an innocent and normal friendship."

"Sure, but I thought it would make you uncomfortable."

"Not at all," he said, honest. "Did it make you uncomfortable?

I smiled, "Nah, it's just that we've never talked about this."

He took a deep breath, looking through the window;

"Well, lately we never have the chance, do we? Besides, I don't want to have high expectations on being in something more than a special friendship-"

"When we are in the middle of a war," I added, talking at the same as him. We looked at each other and chuckled.

"Yeah, me too. I don't want to have too much-"

"Hope," he completed, nodding. "It's good to be optimistic, but not unrealistic and Merlin knows what happens tomorrow. I can't and don't want to start making you promises if I don't know if I will live to achieve them."

"I'm glad we are on the same page," I nodded, slightly relieved.

"Yeah, although I still want to delight myself about the fact that someone thought I'm a Harpie's boyfriend," Fred said with an ironic arrogant tone. "That's a bloody good title to be proud of, innit?"