"Frederick Weasley you give that back!" I scream as I run through the field, chasing after the ginger giant.
I was sitting under a tree and writing in my diary while I enjoyed some of the peace and quiet that is so rarely found at the Burrow. George found me and distracted me with questions about what I wanted for dinner while Fred snuck around the other side of me and snatched the book out of my hands.
"That's private!" He stops running and turns to face me with his famous mischievous grin.
"Something you don't want me reading in here, Winters?" he mocks as he goes to open my diary. I lunge after him but he throws the book to George who is standing behind me.
"Seems too good to just ignore," George says while he holds my diary well over my head. He and Fred had a growth spurt last year so they both tower over me now. I jump up to grab it but he just throws it back to his twin. I run over to Fred in an effort to catch him off guard but he returns the book to George right as I tackle him to the ground. He somehow lands on top of me and pins my wrists to the ground.
"Run, Georgie! Run!" He screams while he holds me to the ground. George takes off running, no doubt to find a good hiding spot for my possession. I struggle to get out of Fred's hold but he's too strong. "Blimey Winters," he says between breaths, "what is in there that you don't want me to read? Must really be something'."
"Wouldn't you like to know?" I reply. We make eye contact and it seems like time stops. My heart drops into my stomach as his face lowers closer to mine.
"FREDERICK GIDEON WEASLEY"
We break our eye contact to see Mrs. Weasley standing on the back porch, holding George by the ear with one hand and my closed diary in the other.
"YOU LET THAT POOR GIRL GO RIGHT THIS INSTANT"
Fred lowers himself down to whisper in my ear, "Lucky you," and bites his lip with a smirk as he comes back up. He releases my wrists from his hold and gets off of me. "I'll get you next time, that's a promise," he says with a wink as he helps me up from the ground.
"You two," Molly says, glaring at the twins, "come inside and wash up for dinner." She lets go of George's ear and the boys run inside. "Mackenzie dear, I am so sorry about them," she says to me as she hands me my diary, "You know how rowdy they get without Quidditch practice all the time."
"Oh yes, I'm aware," I laugh, "maybe we can have a scrimmage after dinner."
"That's a wonderful idea dear, and you really should charm that diary of your's so that they stop trying to read it." She puts an arm around my shoulder as we turn to go inside. I look one way to see vegetables chopping themselves, lasagna in the oven, and a kettle steaming on the stove, and the other way to see Ron, Lorenzo, and Harry watching Hermoine, Ginny, and Courtney practice a dance for a tiktok. I already know the routine, so right as Hermione presses record, I run into the frame and join, immediately sending the girls into a fit of laughter.
"Bloody hell," two voices that I recognize as belonging to the twins choke out from behind us. The recording stops and I turn around to see George holding Fred's chin in an effort to keep his jaw from unhinging while he looks me up and down.
"Thought you said I couldn't dance Freddie?" I tease. He snaps out of his trance to roll his eyes at me and I feel a familiar flutter in my stomach.
"Fred, George, come help me set the table" Molly shouts from the kitchen, "the rest of you go wash up." I run upstairs with the girls to fix my hair and wash my hands for dinner, Ron, Lorenzo, and Harry close behind.
"Oh my god, Kenz!" Court whispers, eyes wide.
"Did you see the way he looked at you??" Hermione adds. I feel my face heat up as I try to hide the fact that I most certainly had. My stomach is still in knots from the interaction. "He is mad for you, I'm telling you!"
"Mione, there's no way," I reply, "he was just embarrassed that I proved him wrong about my dancing abilities and-"
"-bullshit," Ginny interjects, "I call bloody bullshit. I know my brother, and as weird as it is for me to admit because you're my best friend and he's, well, my brother, he was so turned on when he saw you dancing in those shorts." The other girls nod in agreement and I feel like my head is spinning. My mind races with the thought of Fred Weasley finding me attractive. We've known each other for ages! There is no way he could ever look at me like that when there are so many girls in his own year that are way more attractive than I am.
"I hate to agree with her, Kenz," Ron adds, "and you know that I don't see you like that, but that little number was bloody brilliant if you ask me, which means that Freddie is currently going mad while trying to focus on helping mum set the table."
"I agree with her too," Harry says, still in somewhat of a trance from watching Courtney. His eyes are still glued to her, and he looks at her like a little kid would look at an ice cream cone on a hot summer afternoon.
"Oi!" Courtney snaps, "my eyes are up here, yeah?" Harry quickly switches the direction of his eyes from Courtney's chest to meet her own. "Much better," she says and plants a kiss on his cheek, earning an ick from Ron.
Once we finish washing up and debating the possibility of Fred having feelings for me, we finally head downstairs to dinner. Arthur had come home from work and was sitting at the head of the feast Molly prepared. Over dinner, we discuss the previous school year, the classes we were planning on taking the next year, Arthur's experiences with Muggles from his day at the Ministry, and quidditch. "I wish different houses could play for different Quidditch teams," George says, "then maybe we could play a real game with Court, Lorenzo, Kenz and Angelina."
"I quite enjoy the scrimmages we have here," I chime in, "plus, I like quidditch, but not enough to play it at school."
"Ehhh, I don't know, Winters," Fred debates, "I think you're just too scared to lose to us in front of the whole school, that's why you don't play for Hufflepuff."
"Oh really?"
"Oh yeah, all those excuses you make about how you enjoy reffing with Granger and how you don't like the students on the Hufflepuff team are straight rubbish," Fred challenges with a smirk.
"The last time I checked Weasley," I return, "My team has won over your's every time we've scrimmaged." This is true, but was mostly because Courtney normally ends up on my team as the seeker against Harry on Fred's team. He always gets distracted by how hot Courtney looks in her practice uniform, so we win with the Snitch rather than the Quaffle.
"Well that's only because Potter over here can't keep his eyes off Courtney," he sneers.
"Let's have a match after dinner to settle it. Deal?"
"Deal. You're goin down Winters."
YOU ARE READING
When Fire Meets Winters
FanfictionMackenzie Winters has known the Weasley Family since before she was born. She grew up as practically the eighth firecracker. Before her fourth year, she had only ever seen Fred Weasley as a bossy, annoying git, but all that changed when she got move...
