𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐞'𝐬 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞┃𝙁𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙒𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙮

Chapter 25: The Prisoner's Visit

It felt as if Gryffindor had already won the Quidditch Cup; the party went on all day and well into the night. Fred and George had disappeared for a couple of hours and returned with armfuls of Butterbeers, pumpkin fizz and several bags full of Honeydukes sweets. (Upsetting me for a bit since I had wanted to tag along.)

"How did you do that?" squealed Angelina, as George started throwing Peppermint Toads into the crowd.

"With a little help from Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs." Fred muttered in my ear and I grinned.

Only one person wasn't joining in the festivities. Hermione was sitting in a corner, attempting to read an enormous book entitled Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles.

Breaking away from the crowd, I reached her. "Hey Mione."

She looked up and smiled. "Rubina, hi. You were incredible at the match."

I beamed. "Thanks." My smile fell shortly after, and I reached out to grab her hand. "Hermione, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." she lied.

"I'm not buying it, spill."

Sighing, she recounted the quarrel between her and Ron about Scabber's death, as tears threatened to spill. I pulled her into a hug.

"Oh Mione, why didn't you tell me before? I knew you both weren't speaking but I didn't know it was this bad."

She sniffed as we pulled apart. "I didn't want to, besides you seemed a bit preoccupied with a certain someone."

I stared at her and blinked in confusion. "I'm sorry, what?"

She gave me a knowing look. "You know what I mean, Rubina Aurora Black!"

"No, seriously, I don't."

She rolled her eyes. "How daft can you be? I'm talking about Fred."

Still not sure what she was going on about, I spoke again. "What about Fred?"

Hermione face-palmed. "I'm talking about your crush on Fred Weasley."

My face radiated heat as my hair went pink and my eyes widened to the size of saucers. "Hermione! You can't go saying stuff like that! I don't like him in that way, we're friends, that's all!"

"Oh sure you are-"

"Rubi! What are you doing here?" Speaking of the devil, Fred showed up. "Come on, let's dance. Hey, Hermione." He nodded in her direction.

"But Fred-"

"No buts." He pulled me up by my arm and dragged me away ignoring my protests, I looked at Hermione to silently apologize but she only smirked and gave me a told you so look. Shaking my head, I turned my attention back to Fred, who had stopped in the center of the room. His hands slid onto my waist, and the breath hitched in my chest, and I slowly brought my arms to drape them around his neck, and we gently swayed to the slow Muggle music.

The world seemed to dissolve around us, as if it was just the two of us. He turned me and my head rested against his chest, as his hands rested on my stomach. I placed mine overtop his and closed my eyes, as I felt at peace, savoring the moment. I'm not sure how long we were there, swaying as one, but someone clearing their throat brought us back.

I opened my eyes to be blinded by the sudden brightness, but once everything came into focus, I noticed a certain troublesome duo consisting of Lee Jordan and George Weasley, standing before us. George with his arms crossed over his chest and smirking, while Lee had a hand over his mouth, muffling his laughter.