Déjà Vu

Chapter 3

Then ~ Fred

The second he got back home from his late lunch with Ginny (which felt like it took a lot longer than it normally did, especially with ten numbers burning into his arm as a reminder of the beautiful girl waiting for his call), he went on the hunt for a telephone.

He ventured into the nearest muggle town and went from store to store (not quite sure where exactly one found a telephone) until he found one, a brick of yellow plastic with a winding cord and a weird circular thing with numbers on it. He stared at it for a while before he even touched it, both in awe and a bit scared of the thing. How the hell was he even supposed to use it?

He carried it away from his body as he walked home, almost scared that it was going to explode on him. It was just such an odd thing; how did his voice get from one end to the other? There had to be some magic in there somehow.

He somehow snuck it past his family and into his room, not wanting to answer any questions, and then stared at it some more. He looked from the numbers on his arm to the machine, then back to the numbers on his arm. How did he know his phone number? He didn't see it written anywhere. Could he only contact Evelyn then? Not the other way around?

He took a deep breath and pressed onto where the number 5 was, but it didn't seem to do anything. He shrugged and copied the rest of the numbers that she'd given him, but still nothing.

He was too embarrassed to ask his dad for help, who he knew knew how to work one of the things, so it ended up taking him an entire hour before he figured it out. He nearly gave up a few times, deciding that nothing could be worth figuring out this puzzle that was harder than any arithmancy work he'd ever been given, but all he had to do was think of who he'd be reaching on the other line to motivate him.

He didn't even know her yet and already, he would do almost anything to ensure that they went on this date. They had barely spoken a few sentences to each other, but there was just something there between them that he needed to explore. He would hate himself if he didn't.

Every time he'd ran into her -- at the Saturday market, at the bookstore, at the park, on the street, at the record store -- his heart had leaped up into his throat, making his breath catch. There was just something about her that pulled him in, and it wasn't even the fact that she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen.

Yes, she was absolutely gorgeous with her dark, dark brown hair that always cascaded around her face beautifully and her skin that made it seem like she'd always just come back from a sunny holiday, but it wasn't only that. It was nearly impossible for there to be anything else for him to be drawn to, seeing as the only experience he had with her was staring at her and a five-sentence-long conversation, but there was something. Something that felt like a cord tied to his insides was pulling him in her direction, unrelenting.

He hoped that when he got to know her he didn't learn that his infatuation was misguided, he knew that he would be much more upset than he should be if that was the case.

He took a deep breath and dialed her number, marveling a bit at the fact that he'd figured out how to use the terrifying muggle contraption, and waited nervously as it rang.

"Hello?" her soft, velvety voice answered over the phone.

He was already smiling, even though they hadn't even spoken yet. "Hey, this is Fred."

"Oh! Hi," she said over the line, voice filled with surprise.

He laughed. "You sound like you're surprised to hear from me."

She chuckled in return, the breathy sound in his ear sending a shiver down his spine. "I just wasn't quite sure that I'd hear from you, is all. I thought that maybe the whole 'broken phone' thing was an excuse for me not to have your number."