Promised [F.W.]

Chapter 13

Hogsmeade and The Bets

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It finally came to the time, everyone close to Fred and Aster and knew what was going on between them, they were relieved that Fred and Aster had come to their senses when somehow one asked the other out.

It was one of the thankful times that Ron went to the same school as his brothers. He was one of the few to witness the fiasco that happened on that day. He still laughs when he visualizes the conversation over again.

"Fred, hey," Aster said in an unusually high pitched voice while passing the hallway, "Ron, George, can I speak to Fred for a second?" She asked the brothers, more calmly and voice softer, George nodded with a smile. Once Aster got Fred alone, she turned back to Ron and George, George who raised his pinkie, she hated that she pinkie swore that she'd ask Fred before the first trip to Hogsmeade, which was tomorrow.

"Hey, Aster, something wrong?" Fred asked, concerned, his eyebrows furrowing.

"No, no, of course not," she tried to convince herself more than Fred, "I just wanted to ask you something."

"I actually wanted to speak to you as well," Fred said, scratching his neck, "about Hogsmeade."

"Yeah?" Aster barely got out, "Yeah, that's what I wanted to talk to you about too," she said before taking a deep breath and looking back to George and Ron for a minute, both looked highly amused. "Maybe, do you, do you want to," she sputtered, "Hogsmeade," she drifted off and stared at his shoes.

"Yeah?" Fred answered in a question, causing her to look up at him. George watched his brother, this was one of the first times that he found Fred unable to speak to anyone, and it was hilarious to him and Ron. "Go on a date?" He finally got out, looking at his feet immediately after.

"Yeah," Aster sighed, "yeah?"

"Sure," Fred agreed with a smile before quickly turning around joining George, and Ron running to Aster's side as she started walking off.

Fred met Aster outside so they could walk together to Hogsmeade. Their walk started off quiet and peaceful, like a normal walk that they would in the halls. Then Aster came up with the idea of talking about his family and that she got a letter from his mother about having to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas this year.

"Are you joining us again, we're staying at the castle and it would be so much fun with you around," Fred asked hopefully with joy, he looked at her with a bright look.

"I mean it's not mandatory," Aster softly said with a teasing smile, he sighed sadly as she gave a soft push, "where else would I be, of course, I'm joining you, you idiot."

"Am not," he said in a childish voice while sticking out his tongue.

"Are too," she smiled while ruffling his hair, causing him to pout, "fine, maybe you aren't," she told him with a small, sweet, smile, "you're just a bit of a goof."

Fred laughed, "I'd rather be a goof than an idiot."

"I'm not sure that's how it works, Fred," Aster muttered with a laugh.

In the Three Broomsticks, Fred and Aster were having a conversation about how Fred and George wanted to make a joke shop and open it with their own product as well. Aster watched him talk and listened intently to his plans with Geroge. But after a few minutes, he turned to Aster and quietly stared at her with a smile she adored. Aster quietly liked how much his eyes lit up how much Fred was excited about plans and pranks.

"Really, it's a foolproof plan," Fred argued after telling her about one of the items that he George were working on.

"Well seeing as how it's played by a couple of fools, I guess it's not foolproof," Aster joked with a laugh.

"What do you think George is up to?" Fred asked, looking out the window.

"We can go find out," Aster told him, feeling a bit off the twins have been separated for this long.

"Wait, no," Fred said as Aster got up. "Ginny said she'd kill me if you didn't enjoy this date, Wait," she started grabbing her bag with a big smile.

"Wait yes, this would be a perfect time to get him back for stealing my violin bow and turning it green that one time," Aster told him, "come on, I have some huffle-powder in my bag," she pulled out a few balls that looked to have yellow and black powder in it.

"Are you sure," he smiled, "I don't want to get an angry letter from Ginny."

"Come on, I'll tell her the truth and say it was moderately fun," she joked as she pulled him out of the pub, leaving a galleon for the drinks. Fred muttered something earning a laugh from Aster, "I'll tell her the truth, don't worry," she assured him, but not telling what she was going to say.

"Well, what's the truth?" He asked every second she didn't speak and adding a droning 'Aster' every time she turned the corner. As they walked through the small town, they search for George.

Then after five minutes, Aster spotted him walking past the Shrieking Shack. "Spotted," she muttered, pulling Fred to the side.

Turning the corner, Aster gracefully threw the snowball concealing the powder. The snow dispersed and the substance puffed over and covered George with yellow and black. Pausing from the impact, he turns around and sees Aster innocently waving, with Fred behind her. George waved back before starting to chase after her, a snowball now in his hand.

She ran through the town, dodging the snowballs being thrown after her. But she soon lost him after suddenly going into the candy shop, Honeydukes. "Aster," Lucy's voice rang, "where's Fred?" she asked, ready to fight him if he ditched her.

"Oh," Aster looked through the window then at the blonde haired friend, "I was being chased by George after covering him with huffle-powder," she told her with a proud smile.

"It's like you have that stuff everywhere you go," Lucy smiled, then the conversation was interrupted by a familiar boy wearing green and silver. "Oh, Aster I've been wanting to tell you," She started saying, then the two, now three heard familiar voices outside. Aster turned and saw the twins pointing at her when entering the shop. "This is Antony," she introduced the boy to Aster. The boy looked at her with wide eyes of realization.

"Hi," she quietly greeted distractedly, looking away at Fred who was walking towards them. She was racking through her mind where she had seen him before, but couldn't pin it. "I, nice to meet you, I'm going to go," she said walking up to the counter, grabbing a bar of chocolate then paying for it. She bumped into Fred who had a concerned look.

"What's wrong?" He asked as George met them and wore a similar look.

"That boy who Lucy is with," Aster started, nodding her head towards the couple, "who is he, he looks familiar." Fred looked over and ran through his thoughts before making a noise of recognition.

"He's the one who picked on Lance," Fred said, then made a look, "ew," he spat as George echoed in sync.

"Ew," Aster scrunched up her face then pulled the twins out of the shop. After a few shops down Aster turned to the twins, "where to now?" She asked as she pulled out the chocolate and handed some to the twins then eating some herself.

"Anywhere you want," Fred smiled, Aster nodded and looked around.

"Well," she looked a bit longer then spotted Lucy and Antony walking towards them, "pretty much anywhere but where he is." She turned around and spotted the Shrieking Shack, "let's just go take a walk, the three of us, it'll be a fun adventure."

Or so she thought, not knowing that it would end with her running from Fred. Not exactly her, but George with Aster on his back, while Aster threw snowballs at Fred, using a spell she learnt to bewitch snowballs.

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