Finding Yourself : Fred Weasley

36

     After we get photos in the common room we head out to where everyone is outside the Great Hall. The entire castle has been decorated to impress our visitors and I must say, it is very beautiful.
     Everlasting icicles had been attached to the bannisters of the marble staircase. The suits of armour had all been bewitched to sing carols when anyone passes them. It was quite something to hear "O Come All Ye Faithful" sung by an empty helmet that only knew half the words. Several times Filch head to extract Peeves from the inside of the armour where he had taken to hiding, filling the gaps in the songs with his own lyrics all which were very rude.
     There are Christmas trees in almost every room and they are covered with everything from luminous Holly Berrie's, to real hooting golden owls. There are reeves hung everywhere, and lots of beautiful flowers and plants.
     Everyone is gathered outside the closed doors of the Great Hall, all waiting for the doors to open. Some people are meeting up with their dates that are in different houses or go to different schools. Everyone is dressed all up and looks very pretty and attractive.
     I spot Harry and Ron. Oh, poor Ron. Harry looks nice in his black and white dress robes, while Ron's looks like something similar to old rags from a hundred years ago. We all catch sight of Cho. She is wearing a beautiful silver dress.
     Cedric smiles and turns light pink and I can tell he is feeling nervous. He looks at me. "Good luck with everything Charlie. Please be very careful and find me when you get back," he says softly. I smile at him. "Thanks, Ced. Good luck to you too. Don't trip while dancing." He gives me a nervous smile then wishes Reno luck as well before walking over to Cho.
      "So do I get to meet your date now?" I ask Reno while looking around for who it might be. "I don't see them. You go over to George. He is looking at you," Reno says while looking over my shoulder.
     I look back. I see Fred standing with Angelina. She is wearing a very pretty, dark purple, velvet dress. And as much as I hate to admit it, she looks beautiful. My stomach starts to twist up in knots. No wonder Fred asked her. There is so much more beauty in her. They probably have more in common too. My anger slowly starts to build more up. She could have anyone, why does it have to be Fred? 
      Fred looks amazing. He was lucky to not get dress robes like Ron's. His are black, brown and white. His hair is brushed and actually neat for once. He is looking over at me.
     I look at Reno. "That's Fred," I correct while trying not to let a blush creep onto my face. "It is? How do you tell them apart so easily?" Reno asks amazed. I lightly shrug and look over at him again. This time he is now joined with George, who is wearing the same thing as Fred. Only his hair isn't as neat. He looks good too. 
     "You should go get pictures for your mother," Reno says while looking at me. I lightly nod. "Please be very careful when you leave. Let me know when you get back," He says, I can hear the worry in his tone. I lightly nod. "I will. You have fun with your date. I better get to meet her," I say with a serious smile to him.
     I can see some nervousness flash in his eyes. "You will. Now go," He says while lightly pushing me. I lightly laugh and walk over to the twins. George and Angelina smile at me. I force myself to kindly return it.
      Fred's hand is on her waist. The knot tightens in my stomach and I suddenly have the urge to push it off. I don't though. "Your dress is beautiful Charlie!" she says. "Thank you, yours is very pretty too," I force myself to say while trying not to let my true emotions slip out. It is true though, her dress is very pretty. 
     I smile at the twins. "You both clean up nicely!" I say in amazement. They really do. It is strange to see them in nice, neat clothing and not look like they have been running around.
     "Same to you West," Fred says with what seems to be a forced smile. The knot gets worse.
      Is there something wrong? Why does he have to force himself to smile? Why has he gone back to calling me West? Have I ruined things that badly? I try not to show that I am upset.
     "Do you mind going to get the photos done really quick George?" I ask, not wanting to go do them. He smiles and nods. "Yea." He looks at Fred. "I'll see you inside," he says to Fred before walking away with me.
     We don't talk as we get our picture done, and it isn't very long before the doors open and everyone goes inside. The walls of the Great Hall has been covered in sparkling silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy crossing the starry black ceiling.
      The house tables had vanished, instead, there are about a hundred smaller ones lit by lanterns. Each one seating about a dozen people. The large room looks beautiful.
      We all sit at the tables, I am at one with George, Fred, Angelina, Ron and his date, one of the Patil twins, and Lee and his date. I look around for Reno, hoping he will come over and sit with us. Luckily he does.
     Reno sits next to Patil and a few seconds later a blonde boy with his hair neatly pushed back sits down next to Reno. He is wearing white, satin, dress robes. He is beautiful. He has pale, smooth skin that doesn't seem to have any flaws. His jawline is sharp and his cheekbones are high. His eyes are a beautiful grey colour.
      I look at him for a few seconds in confusion. "Charlie, this is Ludovic Delacour. He is from Beauxbatons and is Fleur's brother," Reno says with a nervous smile. Ludovic smiles at me. "Hello," he says in a thick French accent.
     Oh! This is Reno's date! I smile at him. "Hello. It's really nice to meet you," I say before giving a wide smile to Reno. He smiles back and gives a slight sigh of relief. I will bombard him with questions later, for now, I will just let them enjoy their night.
     Food appears in a grand feast and everyone starts to eat. I don't touch any food. I just get a glass of water and slowly sip at it. Reno looks over. "You usually eat mine and Cedric's filling as well, what's wrong?" He asks me. A worried expression on his face.
      "I'm fine. Just not hungry," I lie, hoping he will be convinced. George leans over and whispers to me. "After dinner when the first dance starts Fred is going to cause a distraction so we can seek out."
     "What kind of distraction?" I whisper back curiously. "You'll see," is all he says back. I look over at Fred right as he looks over at me. I give him a small smile. He looks away. The knot isn't doing anything but growing. I quietly sigh and look over at the champions.
     "Bloody hell, is that Percy?" Ron asks sounding irritated. The twins look in the direction Ron is looking and sure enough, the other Weasley brother is sitting next to Harry and talking. He seems very pleased. Harry doesn't seem like he has much interested in the conversation.
     Sitting next to Krum is a beautiful girl wearing a beautiful blue dress. It takes me a moment to realise that it's Hermione. The big thing that is changed about her is her hair. Instead of it being the messy poof of long curls it is straightened out and tied in an elegant bun.
     "She looks beautiful," I say in awe. Everyone knows exactly who I am talking about. And even though they don't say anything they all agree.
     Soon later the food all vanished and the champions stand. They get into their places and when the music starts all start to dance with their partners.
     Harry is with the other Patil twin. He seems very awkward and definitely is not in any means a good dancer. We will have to have more lessons.
      Cedric and Cho dance very beautifully, but also awkwardly. I can see both of them are nervous, though there are smiles on each of their faces. Cedric seems happy, and so does she.
     Hermione and Krum dance rather well, though he seems like he isn't the best at dancing either. Hermione is a pretty good dancer. Though it is hard to tell.
     The best out of them is Fleur and her date, the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain who's name I can't remember off the top of my head.
     After a minute people start to get up and couples join in and soon almost everyone is dancing. I look at George and he stands. I do too. My heart is racing. I look over where Fred was and see he is gone but Angelina is still there.
     Moments later he quickly walks over and takes her to the dancefloor. He glances at George and I and winks before dancing with Angelina. George quickly puts his hand on my waist and leads me out and starts to dance with me.
      "What are we doing? Don't we have to go?" I whisper to him. There is suddenly a loud pop and the room fills up with a horrible odour. Dungbomb. "If we leave then McGonagall will suspect us. Especially me. Once she sees us dancing she will move on to look," George explains quickly and quietly.
     Sure enough, McGonagall hurries over a very angry expression on her face. "Mr Weasley!" She yells. George looks at her. "I said the best behaviour!"  "I've been here with Charlie the entire time," he says sounding genuinely innocent. She looks at me for confirmation. I nod. "He has professor," I say sounding as genuine as I can. And it isn't a lie, so it is easier to say.
      She gives him a suspicious look before moving on to find Fred and question him. Once she is gone as if we both knew we bolt and hurry out if the Great Hall. I am much slower than George due to my shoes, my dress, and my short legs. He takes my hand so we stay together.
     As we are leaving I look over to Moody who is standing against the wall, his real eye looking to the crowd, his magical one stuck on us. Panic rolls through me, I try to hurry more. We don't slow down. When we don't go leave the castle confusion fills me.
     "George where are we going?" I ask while trying not to have an asthma attack. "Just trust me," he says while also trying to control his breathing. I follow him as we go to the third floor. We hurry over to the statue of the One-Eyed witch and finally stop.
     "Dissendium," George says while catching his breath. The hump on the witch's statue opens to reveal a short slide into a tunnel.
      "You go first," George says. I give him a hesitate look before going into the passageway. He follows and the door closes. I look at him. "There is only one way it goes. We have to hurry. We only have a little under an hour to get there and this takes about an hour," he speaks quickly.
     I bend down and take off my shoes and start to jog. He stays behind me. "So how do you know of this?" I ask to make conversation. "Fred and I swiped a map from Filch's office a few years ago. It had all the secret passageways through this place. We gave it to Harry though last year."  "How come?"  "His Uncle wouldn't sign for him to go to Hogsmeade. So with the map, he could." 
      "So he comes through this way?" I ask. I can't imagine how much this must suck to do all the time. "He did last year. This year he has the permission slip signed though." I lightly nod. That doesn't suck as bad then I suppose.  
      I really wish we could stop. My chest hurts and I can feel my heartbeat in my face. I can tell he is tired too, though he seems to be in better shape than I am. He does do a lot of running away though.