Scratches (Fred Weasley)

(77) Unanticipated

Alexander had begged Nicolai to keep silent about their encounter, which prevented her from telling Florence almost immediately. He wanted to discuss it somewhere where other people could not necessarily eavesdrop. It was hard keeping her mouth shut for an entire day, however Nicolai was able to let it out almost as soon as classes ended.

"Xander's got a date for Hogsmeade!" She yelled as she entered the common room, finding Florence curled up on the couch, along with Fred—who obviously wasn't supposed to be there. Her gleeful look dropped, pointing at the redhead as she plopped herself onto another couch. Xander followed suite, also looking at Fred in a very questioning manner, "Why is he in here? He's not supposed to be in here."

"To be fair," said Fred, who looked all too comfortable in his spot, "I did answer the riddle myself. So the eagle let me in." he said proudly.

Florence shrugged, as both of her friends looked to her for verification, whether or not he was telling the truth. "He actually did answer the riddle by himself. Didn't help or anything... But he was just leaving! We both agreed that he could only stay for twenty minutes."

"I did not agree to anything," he declared, "Therefore I shall not go through with these ridiculous terms."

"Fred," Florence said in a firm voice, "Go."

"No," he retorted, snuggling deeper onto the fluffy couch pillows.

"Wrong answer. Try again." she folded her arms over her chest, a frown on her face.

"Yes...?"

"Ding ding! Correct. Now go."

"Pfft. You wish."

"Now, now, Weasley," said Nicolai, "You wouldn't want me to tell Florence about what happened during the summer before third year—" She had no clue what happened exactly, but George had told her about it being a very effective blackmail against Fred. His eyes widened, a faint blush rising to his cheeks, "Don't you dare go there, Clearwater. Don't you dare."

"Wait," Florence interrupted, "What did happen on the summer before third year?"

"Nothing that concerns you, love. Now if you'll excuse me, I shall show myself outside. Bye now!" With that, Fred had bolted off of the couch, planted a quick kiss on Florence's forehead before exiting the Ravenclaw commons.

"Okay," said Nicolai, maneuvering them back to the main topic as the redhead was out of eyeshot, "So Alexander may or may have not been asked out to a date this Hogsmeade weekend." she told Florence, who gaped at Nicolai, her gaze averting then to Alexander, "Really? Who?"

"Olivia Banks," he said meekly, watching the surprise grow bigger and bigger on his friend's face. He sighed, "Look, I haven't got a clue why either. It's as sudden as it sounds."

"Well, it isn't really unlikely that an attractive girl would ask you out, Xander. Have you seen yourself? You're definitely a wonderful sight to see." Said Florence, to which Nicolai snorted.

"You did not just analogize him to a bloody tourist attraction." She laughed, making Alexander frown, as she was yet again picking on him at the most unnecessary time.

"What? Our best mate is gorgeous, Nic. Ofcourse he can attract a few girls himself. Never underestimate the Haddlowe genes."

"I'm not underestimating it," Nicolai said, "I'm just saying that she's Oliver's sister. Remember when Jillian and him had a thing? Ofcourse you do, it wasn't that long ago."

"Where are you getting at?"

"All I'm saying is that isn't it kind of fishy that Olivia pops out of the blue just weeks after the whole fallout with Jillian?"