[2] The Great Orangenie | FRED WEASLEY

Chapter Nineteen

"Fred ... hey, Fred!" Given how odd life had been for the past year, Fred merely dismissed the disembodied voice calling to him in Charms. He had too much on his mind to add yet another mystery to it; Aubrey and his future business plans were taking up a lot of time.

However, after ignoring the voice it only seemed to get more agitated, clearly not wanting to be ignored, "Fred ... for God's sake, get out of your head?"

Finally, he looked up, his eyes instantly turning to Roger who furrowed his brow, "Roger ... was that you?"

" ... no," Roger replied monotonously, "Surprisingly, I have a man's voice," He pointed down to the row below where Lexy was waving frantically, her cheeks slightly reddened probably due to residual Roger feelings. Fred concealed a snigger as her wave accidentally attracted the attention of Flitwick, forcing her to wave him away. Rather than wait any longer, she clambered up, awkwardly moving past people until she got to the end of the row.

"Lexy, sit back down!" Professor Flitwick said firmly from across the room.

"Gladly," Out of the corner of her mouth, she whispered to Fred, "Budge up."

He obliged, shunting into Roger who glowered. Fred offered him a sheepish grin as Lexy slid onto the end of the row.

Roger grimaced, "Your legs touching mine."

"Count yourself lucky, I usually charge extra for this sort of action," Fred replied with a wink, earning himself both a suppressed giggle and light slap on the arm from Lexy.

"I won't be here long, Roger" Lexy promised, poking around him before quickly flicking back, softly whispering, "I was so calm ... so collected, are you proud, Fred? You'd never know I used to like him."

Even if things were off with Aubrey, he was glad Lexy was being fine with him. 

"Very proud ... so what's up?"

"Well ... er ..."

"Take your time," He teased. Her face was screwed up, she'd clearly come over on a burst of excitement but hadn't figured out what she wanted to say yet. Eventually, she nodded firmly more for herself than him.

"I need your help um ... bringing some textbooks with me to ... maybe here at around 8? They're very heavy and George is busy."

He arched an eyebrow, "Doing what?"

For a moment, she opened her mouth to speak before suddenly bursting into a splutter of giggles, "I was about to say me but realised you'd take it the wrong way, George has corrupted me..."

"Your lying skills need work too," He grinned, suddenly twigging what was going on, "Mainly because I can kind of see what's happening."

Her face fell, "You can?"

"Aubrey will be there and you'll force us to talk?" He guessed, "It's very sweet, Lexy and ... I might be willing to talk now just because I ... you know, miss her a lot but I don't think she wants to talk to me at present, she's uncomfortable with this sort of thing and I don't want to force her."

"It worked last time and she reacted to the George disagreement quite similar to this. Anyway, she will talk, I know it..."

"How?" He asked.

"I just do ... I know someone very persuasive," Lexy replied persistently, "Please, Fred? She's sad and you're sad and I know she'll talk, I just know it ... please?"

It vaguely amused him that Lexy thought there was a chance he'd turn down the offer, "Of course, I'll be there."

"Brilliant," She beamed, "You know, this is quite comfy really, might just stay there," At this, Roger's eyes widened with alarm, "On second thoughts, it is a bit crowded ... I guess I'll see you later!"