Finding Yourself : Fred Weasley

48

     "Philip Reynolds! I told you this would happen!" I shout as I quickly walk into the boy's dormitory. I look around until I see Reno. He looks over at him as he buttons up a shirt. His expression changes from confusion to amusement very fast. 
     "It is like there is a badger on your head!" He says in a fit of laughter. "I told you it fizzes!" I say while running my hand through my short puffy hair. "You aren't supposed to be in here!" "Get out!" a couple of first years yell. 
     Cedric walks over. "Come on Char. We will straighten it really quickly," He says softly while trying not to laugh. His expression gives it away that he wants to burst out in laughter. "Why don't you put on a shirt?" I say in regards to the absence of a shirt.
     He lightly laughs before pulling a shirt over his head. He takes my arm, "Come on Char." I look at Reno. "You owe me," I say before walking out with Cedric. I can hear him laugh as we walk out. 
 
     "Thank you Ced," I say while running my fingers through my now tame hair. He smiles at me. "You're welcome." I smile back and give him a hug. He hugs back. When he pulls away he takes a few steps back. "Now I'm going to get dressed," He says. I only now notice he is wearing pyjamas. 
     "Okay. Tell Reno I'm sorry."  "I will. Good luck on your date," He says with his smirk. I blush and smile. "You too." He smiles then walks away. I take a deep breath and walk back to the girl's dormitory.  
     There are a lot of girls rushing to get dressed and ready to go out into town. I walk over to my suitcase and open the small bag I never touch. Makeup. I reluctantly pull it out and go over to the mirror and take off my glasses. 

     I don't spend much time on makeup. I do only a very small bit. A bit of light brown eyeshadow, mascara, something I can't figure the name of out that makes my skin look smooth and not freaked and discoloured (thanks rosacea), and a bit of light pink chapstick. 
     I put on a brown sweater with a squared chest and blue jeans. I put in my contacts and brush through my hair as I look at myself in the mirror. "That'll do," I say under my breath. I have never found myself attractive, but put me next to my adoptive family and you would understand why. But often there are times where I'm not a complete troll, I suppose this is one of those times. 
     I side on my shoes and then head out into the cold. I quickly wish that I had brought a jacket. I quickly walk to Hogsmead behind a small group of boys. I would normally walk slowly to try to build up confidence, but I am too cold to care right now. 
     When I finally get into Hogsmead I walk a  bit slower so I don't run into someone with it being kind of crowded. The closer I get to Honeydukes the more nervous I get. And when I finally get there I start to wonder if there are actual butterflies inside of me.
     I take a deep breath before reaching out and opening the door. It doesn't take much to get me to go in once I feel the warm air. I quickly walk in. I look around a bit for Fred. There are at least seven people inside looking at all the sweets. I take a few steps forward and soak in the warmth. 
     "Hey, Charlie." I turn a bit and look up to see Fred walk over. A smile spread wide across his face, making it impossible not to smile back. "Hey, Fred." He stands in front of me. "You look nice," he says a bit quietly. I turn a bit red. He is wearing a red, long-sleeved shirt. It fits him in a very nice way. "You do as well."
     We move out of the way as some more people walk in. "Ready?" He asks me, the smile never leaving. I nod a bit nervously. "Come on," he starts to walk over to the shelves. He quickly picks up a box. I look over and see it's Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans. 
     "I hope those are for you," I say quickly. "Both of us," he says with a mischievous smile. "I'm not eating those."  "Of course you are," he says with a light laugh. He picks up a few other things like chocolate frogs and sugar quills before paying. 
     "Fancy some butterbeer?" He asks as we walk out. A shiver runs down my spine as soon as we step outside. "That sounds good," I say crossing my arms. We start to walk. 
     "I hope I didn't interrupt last night when you and Harry were talking," he says as we walk. "You didn't. Harry just said he wanted to talk to me about everything."   "How did it go?"  "We are meeting up later today and talking."   "Did he seem open to the family thing?"  "I couldn't tell. I did make a joke about him already being a protective brother but I couldn't tell if he reacted well or not."
     "Did he really?" Fred asks while looking down at me. I nod. "He did. He was asking me questions about us and if we are dating and he had a certain tone about it."  "Maybe everything will turn out right," He says with an encouraging smile. I smile back. "Maybe." 
     When we get to The Three Broomsticks he opens the door for me. I quickly walk into the warm, crowed building. I follow behind Fred as he manoeuvres his way through all the people to find us a table. When he finally does we sit across from each other. It's only now that I realize I was shivering, I quickly force myself to stop. 
     He sets all the candy on the table as a woman walks over. "Two butterbeers please," I say with a kind smile. She nods then walks off. "So what do you want to feast on first?" Fred asks with a smile. "You are really going to make me eat those awful beans?" I ask hopeful that he isn't. 
     "Of course. It's part of the day. Did you have a bad experience with them or something?" he asks curiously. I nod. "First year. Reno tricked me into eating four vomit ones at once. I didn't know they were vomit, he said they were peach." 
     He lightly laughs. "I won't do that to you. Come on, it'll be fun." I sigh then smile at him. "Fine. Just a couple though." His smile widens. The woman sets down two glasses filled to the brim. We pick up our glasses and take a drink of the warm, sweet, delicious, liquid. 
    He opens the box of jelly beans and holds some out to me. "Let the fun begin," he says with a smirk that makes me blush. What have I gotten myself into? Whatever it is, I couldn't be more excited.