Bad Decisions | Fred Weasley

Three: Family Matters

She could feel his eyes on her as she sat down on the creaky bleachers that had been set up in the Great Hall, the splintering wood poking at her thighs. He was sat across from his brother, next to Angelina, but his attention was elsewhere. It was like a little needle was pricking at her temple, begging her to turn her head, but she resisted, keeping her eye trained on Dumbledore and the glowing goblet ahead.

As soon as the headmaster began to speak, she felt his eyes shift away from her.

Krum. No surprise.

Delacour. No surprise.

And Diggory. No surprise.

Sylvia had already begun to get up from her seat when the goblet roared to life a fourth time, sending reddish flames high into the air, and she paused. 

Harry Potter. Surprise.

The room was silent except for Hermione's hushed nudging and the creak of wood as Sylvia sat back down gingerly, watching the back of Harry's head as he slowly made his way up to Dumbledore, who handed him the charred piece of paper quickly. It was only when he disappeared into the hallway down to the trophy room that the students were dismissed. Who knew whispers could make such a cacophonous noise?

"What the fuck was that?" Ron hissed from in front of her as they filed out of the Great Hall.

"Oh stop it Ronald." There was just as much resentment in Hermione's voice as she folded her arms tightly across her chest, "You know he didn't do it."

"Yeah, but then who did?" Fred chimed in from beside her, causing her to jump slightly.

Sylvia looked up at the tall boy, who had to dip his head down to speak to Hermione, his hair sweeping down on either side of his face. She just shook her head before hurrying up the staircase with Ron. The rest of the Gryffindors made their way up to the common room, but Sylvia found herself departing from the rest of the group to go to the library. 

It wasn't long before she heard her name being called. She turned around to see Fred jogging up to her, digging his hands in his pockets as he walked beside her.

"Hey," He grinned through an exhale, his voice nonchalant as always.

Sylvia's eyes shifted away and back to him, not letting her confusion manifest in her expression, "Hello."

He never missed a beat.

"Where you going?"

But she knew he was nervous when he had his hands in his pockets. He did it every time he was around her.

She met his gaze for a moment, his eyebrows raised in curiosity. False curiosity, she guessed.

"Library."

"Oh, mind if I join you?"

She turned her head completely to him this time, letting her eyebrows knit. Fred laughed. A bright laugh that startled Sylvia even more, causing her to slow her pace to a halt.

"What?" Fred stopped a few steps ahead of her, still smiling like it was the funniest thing that he was asking to go to the library with her. She just frowned at him and blinked away her confusion, picking her pace up once again.

Sylvia didn't know what to do once she was in the library. She had planned on just wandering, which she did quite often, seeing as there was always a new section to search over. But Fred's following her set her teeth on edge. Not because she didn't want him to be there, no it wasn't that. It was because she wasn't used to this sort of thing. But she thought that she must be looking too far into it.