Chapter 9
"We've really got to go." Fred said with a sigh, the time to get to dinner looming over them. "I don't want to either."
"I'm so sick of being itchy." Rebecca said as she stood up, slipping her shoes back on and wishing the Room of Requirement didn't let time pass.
"What?"
Rebecca looked over her shoulder at Fred, finding him looking at her as if he had no idea what she could be talking about. "You know, itchy? Before it gets cold-cold and your elbows and knees itch so much. That doesn't happen to you?"
Fred had never heard of such a thing. "Is your skin dry?"
"Or course it's bloody dry." Rebecca shook her head. "How do you think they would've gotten wet, I've been with you this entire time."
"No, that's not-Can I see them?" Fred abandoned trying to explain what he meant before he'd even really started, sensing that it would be a battle he would lose no matter what. "Here, hold on." Fred held her wrist and pushed her sleeves up over her elbows, running his fingers over the skin gently.
"Careful!" Rebecca's arm twitched under his fingers despite his soft brush. "It hurts."
"That's because you've scratched them sore. Your skin is dry, love." Fred turned to the table the tea had been on and wished for lotion to be in the drawer. So focused on focusing, only Rebecca seemed to have heard that he'd called her 'love.'
"I always thought it was just something that happened." Rebecca said with a small voice, feeling stupid in the way she did when there was something everyone else in the world seemed to just know.
"It's alright." Fred put an application of lotion into his hand and pocketed the tube to give to Rebecca later. "I bet this will make it better though." Rebecca avoided eye contact, unable to deny that it did feel better. "I've decided..." Fred said, ignoring Rebecca reaching for the lotion and pushing her back towards the couch. He slapped away her hands as she tried to roll up the pant legs that he wasn't, speaking on. "Why don't we stay here forever?"
"Forever?" Rebecca echoed, not denying that the idea sounded appealing enough. "I guess we'd miss Hogsmeade tomorrow."
"Oh, never mind then." Fred chuckled. "Can't do that." He rubbed the little lotion left in between his hands and offered one to her, pulling her back to her feet. "Does that feel better?"
"Very much." Rebecca answered, grateful that the only one in the room making her feel inadequate was herself. Talking about Hogsmeade had only reminded her that she hadn't done any work on their pranks in weeks. "I'm sorry I've been such little help--I heard you and George talking about final ingredients that we need to-"
"Don't be absurd." Fred said shocked. "George and I both know that you're working to get Harry ready." They were both quiet for a moment before Fred felt that Rebecca had something she needed to purge. "Any clue as to what the first event will be?"
Rebecca shook her head, reaching for her bag that Fred pulled out of her reach and swung over his shoulder. "Not a one. I've told him I could look like I did at the Cup, but he's forbidden it."
Fred grinned. "Yes, because you always, always do what you're commanded." He shrugged, growing a little more serious. "I don't think he's wrong, but 'forbidden' is probably a step too far. All the same, probably for the best he convinced you not to. The first trial should be the easiest, I would think."
Rebecca walked to the exit, looking back at the little slice of peace they had enjoyed. "You think it was alright then, that I didn't? That he'll be okay?"
Fred turned Rebecca to him and held her by the shoulders. "RJ, he is going to be absolutely fine because he has you--And you're going to make sure he is."
Rebecca nodded, going onto her toes to kiss his cheek gently. After the break with him, Rebecca felt ready for another meal where everyone in the room stared and whispered about Harry while only Fred and George sat across from them, both pretending nothing was out of sort.
Harry was pacing outside of the Great Hall, finding no need to move his path because everyone gave him such a wide berth. When Rebecca and Fred finally turned the corner, he ran up to them and looked her over head to toe. "Are you okay? I keep hearing people talk about you playing with fire!"
"I didn't." Rebecca said, seeing how Fred was smirking behind Harry's shoulder. "I didn't play with it, persay. I did fix the button issue though."
Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm sure I'll never know how you did that then. Just wait until you heard about the interview--It'll be the next disaster to hit, I'm sure." Harry told them how the quill had changed his words around and made things up, making tales out of his answers.
Rebecca spooned Harry's dinner onto his plate, then Fred and George's, and then hers. Whether she had noticed or not, the others had. With how rough things had been going for Rebecca, her solution had been to take care of the others.
Fred looked up excitedly as George began to dig in. "Are we still down for butterbeers tomorrow?"
Rebecca forgot that he had invited she and Rebecca for a drink earlier in the week. "I don't know." She winced and looked at Harry. Rebecca had meant to ask if Harry wanted to be around others or just her in private but had lost the opportunity. "I wasn't sure if you wanted-"
"I've got plans, but you go on!" Harry insisted, reaching to drink from his cup. "Hermione and I have been talking about spending the day together. You see her in your room, I haven't in ages."
Rebecca took a bite of her dinner, seeing how well things were falling into place. Fred put his foot across the width of the table underneath, tapping her foot with his. Harry looked around, unaware of anything going on, and lowered his voice to talk with Rebecca while Fred and George launched into a discussion about something George was rattling off of a list.
"Sirius responded, his last for a while he says." Harry tried to focus on the day he was spending next with Hermione instead of how much he had grown to like getting letters from family. "He also said he'll speak with us in the common room tomorrow night."
Rebecca's head snapped up. "He didn't address anything in his letter to me, did he?"
Harry tilted his head at the question he found incredibly odd. "No...should he have?"
"No, just wondering."
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One of the only benefits--perhaps the only benefit--of how deeply the student body had committed to ignoring Harry and Rebecca by association was that any of the chairs they approached in the common room were immediately cleared.
Taking their now nightly spots, Harry pulled out the chess board in his favourite of their new routines.
"Oh please, Harry." Rebecca sighed, throwing her head back. "Why do you do this to me? Really, I'm begging to know."
"In the beginning it was because I thought you would learn eventually." Harry laughed. "Now? Now it's just hilarious."
Rebecca moved the knight. "I don't even understand how this game calls for 'strategy.'" Harry moved another piece and so did she, randomly deciding which one and which way. "You don't have a plan, you're just-"
"Checkmate." Rebecca had moved her king's pawn exactly as Harry had needed her to. His bishop slid across the board and threw her queen off the board.
"That was utterly pathetic." Rebecca said, disgusted with herself. Harry turned his head as Hermione and Ron entered the common room, Ron leading the two of them to the opposite side as the two Potters. "Still nothing?" Rebecca asked, seeing Harry's face set in a scowl.
"Not a word." Which, while technically true, still felt to Harry like a lie. Ron went out of his way to use the word 'cheater' in any conversation where Harry could hear, making Ron's opinion of Harry clear.
"Yeah, me either." Rebecca sighed. "Molly's about to come up here and ring his damn neck."
"Oh?" Harry hadn't realised her correspondences had been so many. "You're writing to Molly too?"
"I promised I'd be better about keeping her updated this year." Rebecca gave a sheepish smile. "Someone's got to. I swear, it's like everyone gets here and forgets about home--Except for Fred."
"Fred?" Harry asked surprised.
"That seems to be common perception. But, I don't see it." Rebecca said quietly, smiling a little.
"He just seems so..." Harry struggled for the word. "Calm. All the time. It's a little impressive, actually. Does he write back often?"
Rebecca looked out the window, thinking about Fred. "Every week."
Harry set up the game again, bringing Rebecca back to the room. He won again, though not in only four moves which Rebecca considered an improvement for herself. When he finally stood up and stretched, he said he was going to try and get to bed before the others went up.
"Want us to wait for you and Hermione tomorrow? We could all take one carriage, if you want."
Harry shook his head. "No, I don't think so. We're taking the cloak through the witch's pathway." He was quiet a moment. "I just want to spend time with her--without the whispers and the stares."
Rebecca nodded, knowing what he meant. She stood up and hugged him, leaving a hand on his cheek as she looked into his eyes. "Not too much butterbeer, you hear me? It wouldn't kill you to eat some vegetables, some greens maybe-"
"Rebecca?" Harry ended the tangent he knew she was going onto.
"The challenge is Tuesday." Rebecca said, going back to what she had started with thinking about. "It's crunch time."
"Yes, ma'am." Harry said with a mock salute before putting the chessboard away while she did the pieces. Rebecca hugged him good night before climbing the stairs to her room. There was no point in sitting in the common room when Fred and George weren't with them if Harry was going to bed.
Near the top of the stairs, something hit the back of her head and fell to the ground behind her. Rebecca turned around and picked it up, searching the room below to see where it could have come from.
Fred poked his head out from behind the shelf he had hidden himself behind to enchant the paper airplane up to her, smiling. Rebecca opened it and skimmed it, Fred's scratchy handwriting spanning the folded craft.
"Sleep well. We'll leave early? George is going into town with Lee and never wakes up before ten on a Saturday. Looks like it's you and me."
Rebecca nodded to him, agreeing. She was almost a little glad that George had opted to go with Lee though she never would have admitted it. In their room, Ginny was desperately excited for tomorrow's trip--Her first into Hogsmeade.
"Don't forget you both still need a dress!" Hermione reminded from her desk. "You don't want to wait too-too long."
Rebecca went into her trunk to put Fred's note with the others he had written her, looking to Hermione. "I'm heading out early, is there a certain time that you two want to meet and look together?"
"I was just going to look after Harry has decided he was done for the day." Hermione and Rebecca began to laugh at the idea of Harry dress-shopping. "I don't want to drag him along!"
"I'll probably just end up looking next time." Rebecca sighed, thankful that Ginny went into the bathroom to shower. "I can't even think about what I'm going to wear on a single night more than a month away when Harry's competing in a few days."
Hermione understood. "There's another Hogsmeade weekend at the beginning of December, so it's not urgent just yet. How has the summoning charm been working out for him?"
Hermione had made a list of the most useful charms and spells that Harry should know as they would work in any situation. There was everything from defence to offence, protection to indetection, and many other helpful groupings of spells that he and Rebecca had been spending time on.
"It's getting there," Rebecca answered. "I think its just the visualisation that trips him up, he snags at the end every time." Hermione offered a few tips before moving from one class's homework to another, tossing up the offer of second-shower to Rebecca who took it gratefully.
She had a nagging question that she had to ask though, one that she thought would be better asking before she had privacy. "Does Ron ever ask about Harry?" Ginny looked at Rebecca from beside her, already in bed. Rebecca seemed to be bracing herself for whatever the answer was going to be to her second question. "Or ask about me?"
Hermione put her quill down, hating the position Ron had put her in. "He's angry. He will come around, it's just taking him longer than we expected."
Rebecca nodded, stepping into the bathroom and quietly closing the door behind her. Her heart panged with aches of loss at Ron's distancing of himself. She turned the water on with a lump growing harder in her throat, hoping that a good night's sleep would solve all her problems.
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Rebecca finally had a dream that she could remember, though it proved to be a double-edged blade. She may have had a dream, but it was filled with horrible situations with Ron. Ron stood above her in so many different scenarios, always watching as Rebecca was hurt.
The worst, though, was when Ron watched as she thrashed about in a body of water before she was dragged down to the bottom by something that had its grip tightening around her throat.
Rebecca sat up in bed too fast, gasping for air. One of her blankets had tangled around her middle and up to around her neck, the explanation for the choking. She checked the time and found it was just hafter six, too late to go back to sleep and too early to leave the castle.
Opting for a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt under her favourite jumper, Rebecca also grabbed the scarf Fred had lent her ages ago. Snow hadn't yet fallen, but the temperatures outside were cold enough that it was expected any day.
Ginny only stirred softly when Rebecca walked into the corner of her bed frame--Rebecca managed to get ready and out the door without waking up either of the other girls. Abandoning her mutters about 'bloody bedknobs,' Rebecca pulled a chair right up to the fire in the common room she had entirely to herself.
Cozily, she plucked a copy of the Daily Prophet off the table where new ones were put each morning and found that the front highlighted article stole the peace she had hoped to enjoy more than a few seconds.
"What the hell!" Rebecca was glad to be the only one in the common room as she turned the paper to the light to read the lies. The articles were from the champions and while Viktor's and Cedric's mainly talked about their strengths, Fleur's about her fears, Harry's was entirely false. Rita Skeeter, the author, wrote on and on about how he claimed he was on a path for eternal glory and that he and Rebecca had planned a way for him to answer the contest the second it had been announced.
Harry had grown accustomed to waking up earlier than he had any other year to avoid Seamus' ragging and Ron's outright cruelty and, especially with a day such as Hogsmeade with Hermione to look forward to, he had woken early. He had turned the corner from the hall of the boys' rooms to the stairs down to the common room when Rebecca crumpled the paper and threw it into the fire before standing and beginning to pace in front of the very fire eating whatever had upset her so greatly.
Rebecca slid her glasses down her nose, holding the bridge of her nose as she walked back and forth.
Harry stopped from where he was unnoticed and watched her, unsure if she would want to be comforted or to be alone. She stopped after a few back-and-forths, sitting on the edge of her chair and putting the palms of her hands against her eyes. Rebecca took a deep breath, clearly calming herself down.
Harry felt guilt wash over him more fiercely than he had so far. "Every hardship she faces this year comes right back to me--Me and this damned tournament."
Rebecca put her glasses back on and left the common room a few minutes later, leaving Harry to pick up a copy of his own and find just how right her reaction was to the lies that had been written.
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Rebecca had left the tower with a mission: Procure breakfast to drown her sorrows in delectable pastries. The Great Hall, as it was nearly every Saturday at seven, was entirely empty except for the platters of food on the tables.
Rebecca took her usual spot, it just felt right. The muffins were especially beautiful, the chocolate chip practically begging her to pick it. Pouring her tea, Rebecca tried to force herself into a better mood. "Good morning, good morning, good morning!" She nodded to random spots around her as if she were wishing them good morning, the spots entirely empty.
"I'm great actually, thank you for asking!" Had she known that Fleur and Gabrielle, Fleur's younger sister, had entered the hall through the back entrance closer to the quarters the Beauxbatons' students had been given, she never would have continued.
But, since she didn't know, she continued her game happily. "Hogsmeade? I'm waiting for someone, can't. Sorry but-How rude!" Rebecca turned to her side as if someone were there to hear what the nothing had said, her eyes landing on the blonde girls giggling to each other without malice.
"Bloody hell." Rebecca whispered to herself, standing so quickly she nearly knocked herself over with the bench. "Bloody hell! I never-I had no idea anyone else was here yet." She tried to explain the best she could, grabbing the muffins off her plate and backing towards the exit. "I don't do that--talk to myself. Not usually."
Gabrielle laughed and asked Fleur something in French, something Fleur passed on. "She-erm, she asks you would eat with us?" Fleur's accent echoed in the empty hall.
Rebecca looked from one sister to the other and then back, wondering what ulterior motive they could have and deciding that it couldn't have been too bad if they were asking her to stay after seeing her act a nutter. Or, maybe it would become the next piece of gossip for the school to spread around.
"'Ow is 'arry preparing?" Fleur asked, motioning for Rebecca to help herself as she buttered her piece of raisin toast. The hall seemed a lot less lonely sitting with another person, especially two people.
"We've been working on a few different things." Rebecca kept her answer vague on purpose. As nice as the friendly conversation was, she couldn't give too much information and inadvertently give Fleur an edge of Harry--Rebecca would never have forgiven herself.
"Zat is very smart." Fleur nodded to her sister at her side. "Gabrielle does the same with me."
Gabrielle looked up at her name. "Qu'est que tu dis de moi?"
Fleur shook her head, a flash of irritation crossing her face. "Non! The rule was you work on your English to come to 'ogwarts."
Gabrielle frowned. "What you saying with me?" The words left the girl's mouth slowly, the sounds feeling foreign in her mouth.
"She was saying that you're helping prepare for the tournament." Rebecca smiled. "Like how I help my brother." They continued to talk on, covering all the menial topics: The weather, their school work, Hogsmeade. All three of the girls appreciated a topic that didn't revolve around the Triwizard Tournament.
When other students began to make their way into the Great hall, Rebecca began to stand. Fleur had just finished describing their home in France and, when Rebecca cleared her spot, Fleur stood and kissed both of her cheeks.
"If there is one thing 'arry and I 'ave above the others," Fleur said softly. "It is a sister on our side." The compliment meant far more to Rebecca than Fleur could have known. Rebecca had really enjoyed their conversation and found the Beauxbatons' students to have been far from Ginny's original impression.
Harry entered the hall just in time to see Rebecca leaving the table with Fleur and Gabrielle, a smile on her face. "What were you doing over there?" He asked between shoveling forkfuls of breakfast into his mouth.
"I woke up early," Rebecca began, laughing at herself. "Made a fool out of myself. Got a good conversation out of it though, so it ended better than it started."
Harry looked at Fleur over his shoulder, desperately wanting to be suspicious but distracted by her looks. "I did not know it was possible to drool and eat at the same time." Rebecca said, shaking her head at how easily Harry's attention had been swayed.
"I have many talents." Harry said, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "Hermione wants to leave early-early, like as soon as I'm done. You lot leaving soon? I can ask her to wait."
"Don't be silly, they'll be ready soon." Rebecca had considered correcting Harry's thoughts on who she was going with since, as of the last time he would have heard, Rebecca was going with Lee, George, and Fred. But, she also didn't want to have to deal with his dramatics. "I'll probably work my way back up to the common room and see what's taking so long."
Harry grabbed a few portable breakfast foods, nodding. "Have a good time, okay? Today is for fun. No worries until tomorrow."
"You got it, boss." Rebecca gave him a hug and told him to enjoy Hermione. Luckily, Harry was gone before Ron and Seamus sauntered in with copies of the Prophet in front of both of them.
"He just can't get enough, can he?" Ron called, waving the newspaper as if it were proof. As if it were even true!
"It's pathetic." Seamus spat, clapping Ron on the back before laughing with Ron.
Rebecca closed the distance between she and the two boys in seconds, her wand in hand and against Ron's chest as she forced his back against the wall. "No. You know what's really pathetic?" Rebecca grabbed the front of Seamus' shirt and kept him from leaving as he had been about to do. "What's really pathetic is being so thick you can't get it through your head that he never fucking entered--Or, maybe, that what he really needed these past few weeks was his best mate and not whatever arsehole this is that's taken his place."
Other students had begun to trickle into breakfast and walked past, watching as Rebecca continued her verbal-thrashing.
"If you could see for one second, one bloody second, how miserable he is..." Her voice trailed off and she released Seamus so that she could focus solely on Ron for her final statement. "Harry never, ever would have treated you how you've treated him. Never."
Ron watched as Rebecca began to climb the stairs, how the students who saw her coming gravitated to the opposite side and those who couldn't, turned around entirely to not have to walk so close to her.
Seamus scoffed. "C'mon mate, she's just a cu-"
"Don't." Ron warned, not letting Seamus finish the disgusting insult. "Let's eat." Ron led them into their spots as his mind raced over every facet of the words she'd said to them.
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Fred hopped in front of Rebecca, seeing her coming up the stairs long before she saw him as he eyes were focused only on the step in front of her. "Ready?"
Rebecca nodded, holding out the pastries with a smile that had something clouding it. "Yeah!"
"RJ?"
Rebecca shook her head, not willing to let anything she said be what ruins their day. "A hitch hitched, no need to elaborate. Where do you want to go first?"
Fred scoffed and laughed. "As if you even have to ask! First, Zonko's. Have to see if there's been any new items, of course. Then I was thinking Honeyduke's for a nip of something, then we can go on to a few different routes. I wouldn't mind a stop at Gladrags as I haven't got a tie, but it could wait-"
"If you have to stop as well, I haven't got a dress."
Fred clapped his hands to his cheeks. "Hermione's let you get away with that?"
They both laughed at how strictly Hermione kept them all in order, knowing it was because she loved them. "Oh wow!" Fred said, seeing how many carriages there were when you got to the Hogsmeade-headed area early. "We'll be one of the first carriages out! How strange."
"Rebecca! Rebecca!" Fleur's voice rang out across the empty loading platform, Gabrielle behind her in tow. Fred was wildly confused as to why the Beauxbatons' champion was running to them, especially as to why Rebecca grinned and waved to them as the two girls approached. "Can we go cariaging with you, no?"
Fred put all of this behind him and offered a warm smile at the youngest girl's heavily accented English. There would be an explanation eventually, his manners could not be forgotten. Fred held the door open for the collection of girls he found himself riding with and offered a hand to them all.
Once seated Gabrielle said something in French that Fleur wagged her finger at. "En anglais or pas du tout!" Gabrielle rolled her eyes, muttering something in French despite the scolding.
Rebecca slouched in her chair and crossed her arms. "Let me help you." Rebecca rolled her eyes exaggeratedly and let out a bored, "Whatever."
Gabrielle sat back like Rebecca did and repeated her, causing Fleur to laugh and hold her hand to her chest. "Maman will be so proud!"
Fred bumped into Rebecca's shoulder as the carriage went over a bump and Rebecca realised that they wouldn't even know each other. "I'm so sorry, Fred! Fred, this is Fleur and Gabrielle. Fleur and Gabrielle, this is Fred." Fred stuck his hand out and shook both of their hands as they acquainted themselves.
"Son petit-ami, ouais?" Gabrielle asked, discreetly pointing between Fred and Rebecca.
Fleur pretended Gabrielle said nothing and didn't comment on the topic and instead, changed it entirely. "This is nice talking!" Fleur remarked. "You 'ogwarts boys, you seem to always be losing your tongues!" Fred smiled sheepishly, giving a little shrug.
Gabrielle leaned forward in her seat, looking to Fred and Rebecca expectantly. "What do we 'ave to be doing in 'ogsmeade first?"
Fred clasped his hands together, leaning forward to share in her excitement. "If you like jokes, you have to go to Zonko's for sure. Chocolates and candies and all sorts of treats are in Honeyduke's and, if you want something more for lunch or a hot drink, you can go to the Three Broomsticks." Fred gave Fleur and Gabrielle directions to his favourite places, looking to Rebecca for assistance whenever he needed it.
The carriage jolted to a stop when it arrived, Gabrielle jumping to her feet and bouncing out excitedly. "Fast, fast!" She called, clapping her hands so Fleur would exit quicker.
"Faster!" Fleur corrected, waving goodbye to Fred and Rebecca. "We will be seeing you later, today or Tuesday." The words weren't foreboding though, Fleur had enjoyed their company and looked forward to chatting with them again.
Fred turned to Rebecca as Gabrielle and Fleur hurried away, the older sister pulled by the excited younger. Becoming the only students on the platform, Fred snuck his hand down to Rebecca's and took hold of it tightly before raising his other hand up towards the sky and calling out their direction loudly. "Onwards!"
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"It sure is a madhouse in there!" Fred gasped as they fought their way out of Honeyduke's a small bag of sweets chosen between the two of them to share. "And I thought Zonko's had been particularly busy!"
"Must be the extra students." Rebecca rationalised as she stuck her elbow out, Fred linking it with his as they made their way further into Hogsmeade's shopping than they usually did. "Alright, in and out. No need to look, you grab the first tie you see and I'll grab the first dress. Deal?"
"Deal!" Fred said happily. He opened the door and waited for Rebecca to enter, leaving her to grab her needs and Fred his. Fred found his job a lot harder than he expected, the table having every colour of tie imaginable. Unable to know which one he'd seen first, Fred closed his eyes and put his hand out over the table to chose randomly.
"That's one way to shop, I guess." A little old voice spoke beside him.
"Ah!" Fred jumped and yelped, not knowing that anyone had walked next to him.
The old woman looked him up and down, narrowing her eyes. "Get down here, beanpole. Can't even see your eyes all the way up there." Fred did as he was told, finding the woman's startlingly clear despite her age. "Hmph." She grumbled. "Brown. No help there. What about your date's colour? Their tie or dress?"
Across the shop, Rebecca had gone around the rack twice. There were so many options, she had no idea which one she could have possibly seen first or which ones had been designed for witches of this century. A red flash of red caught her attention between two of the poofiest, yellowest dresses Rebecca might have ever seen. Untangling the hanger from the others, Rebecca pulled it off and found that it was different than it appeared, certainly different from those it was between.
The bottom of the dress fell to her ankles, the straps thin and crossing. She turned towards the mirror nearest her, considering it. It certainly wasn't something that she would have chosen for herself, but then again, she never would have chosen anything from a shop like this anyway.
Fred looked around, wondering where Rebecca was and why she wasn't saving him from this bullying old woman. He saw her, meeting her gaze in the mirror she was holding the most brilliant dress Fred had ever seen in.
The woman, sensing Fred's focus shift elsewhere, followed his attention. "Ah, I see." The woman rearranged the ties on the table, looking for the one she had in mind. "You need something to go with red...hmm..."
Fred tore his eyes away from Rebecca, hating the old woman for making him. "She's not my date."
The lady scoffed, finding the tie she knew was the same shade of red as the dress Rebecca had in hand. "Sure."
"I'm serious." Fred hissed, hoping the woman would stop before Rebecca got close enough to hear anythings he said. He had planned on the topic coming up over butterbeer, not underwear!
"Fifteen sickles." The lady gave Fred his total first, turning to Rebecca as he fished out his change. "How're you dear?"
Fred's mouth dropped at the kind tone coming from the shopkeep, miles and miles away from the one she'd used with him. "You keep your change behind your teeth?" The woman asked, shooing Fred away the second he put the fifteen sickles in her hand. "Go on then, beanpole."
Rebecca put the dress up on the counter and started searching through her trousers and coat for where she'd put her pouch of money. "Just moment...beanpole." Rebecca couldn't not use the name at least once.
Fred lingered by the door, pouting however slightly.
The lady tallied up the price and asked if Rebecca wanted it bagged to carry or delivered later. "Owl is fine, thank you. I think we've got a few more stops today." Rebecca counted coins as the woman started to talk.
And talk.
And talk.
From the door, Fred could see how Rebecca tried to find a way out of the woman's stories from her days at Hogwarts. He walked back to her and the lady's face fell. "Oh, alright. Go on then, get outta here before this one starts causing trouble." She gestured to Fred before disappearing to the back of the story, talking all the while though they were leaving.
Rebecca called out a thank you by the door, pulled along by Fred. "That woman..." Fred put his hands to the sky dramatically. "PURE EVIL!" He whirled on Rebecca, pointing. "That's it! We've just found the first challenge!"
Rebecca laughed and bumped against him. "You're horrid! She was just lonely."
"I wonder why." Fred said, turning their path away from the Three Broomsticks, its queue stretching down the block.
"Aren't you a bitter beanpole?" Rebecca raised her hands, letting the name go for the moment. "Where are we going exactly?"
"Beanpoles aren't very conversational, so I think I'll just keep that to myself." Fred turned them down yet another road Rebecca was certain she'd never gone down before, ignoring each and every variation of the same question Rebecca had already asked him. When he came to a stop, they were in front of a dingy pub with a faded picture of a pig's head on the sigh.
"The Hog's Head!" Fred said, presenting the pub excitedly.
Rebecca glanced between the door and Fred, pursing her lips. "Fred?" Fred gave her a little smile and opened the door, waving to the large, bearded man behind the counter familiarly.
"The usual?" The man asked.
"Two, please!" Fred led Rebecca to a booth by a window, out of view from those on the street.
"Usual?" Rebecca asked confused. "You come here a lot?"
Fred nodded and pointed to a table nearby. "George and I've taken to stopping in after scavenging the apothecary bins." The man came by and set two butterbeers down on the table, lessening the frown that seemed natural to his face. "No line, half the price, quieter...lots of things are better."
Rebecca looked around, grinning. "And far more private. But that couldn't have been your goal, was it?"
Fred shrugged, his cheeks pinking as they always did when Rebecca talked about the two of them. "W-why would I want privacy?"
Rebecca moved around the table so that she was beside him instead of across from him, entwining her arm through his and looking up at him. "I was thinking. There's the-"
"No!" Fred interrupted panicked. He cleared his throat and started again, calmer. "No, I meant--I have been thinking." Rebecca took a sip of her butterbeer to hide her smile at how flustered Fred was getting. "The ball is a few weeks away and I know we've been-we've been testing this out and-I at least, I can't speak for you but I think you have liked this and wouldn't-I just mean that things have been going so perfectly and I wouldn't mind-"
"Yes, Fred."
He blinked, stunned. "I haven't asked anything yet."
Rebecca laid her head on his shoulder. "I think if I waited for you to get to the question the ball would have passed."
Fred occupied himself with a long drink from his glass before nodding, the perfect outcome the one that came. "Brilliant."
"I have a little thought though."
"Oh, no." Fred said softly. Rebecca laid her hand on his cheek and tilted his head towards him, leaning forward to kiss him softly. 'Oh no' was right, no matter what she was thinking--Fred would have agreed.
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Fred and Rebecca stumbled as they left the Hog's Head, though not because they had had too much to drink. The wind grabbed them the second they were out of the shelter the pub had provided and pushed against them fiercely.
Fred put his hands on her shoulders, leading her along to the alley they could cut through to get back to the carriages quicker. "That picked up quickly!" He had to shout to be heard over the wind.
By the time they got to the carriages, they were red-faced and sniffly--The wind was bitterly cold, after all. Reaching for his face, Rebecca laughed. "Are my hands cold?"
Fred jumped. "As ice! Give me those-thank you!" He held her hands between his, the carriage beginning to bring them back to the castle. When it didn't feel like he was holding frozen fingers, he released her hands and brought her attention in from where it had focused out the window. "Are you sure you want to wait until the Yule Ball?"
"If you're positive you don't mind." Rebecca turned in her seat and faced him. "Harry needs to focus on the task this week and I find you..." She struggled for the word, struggling further as he ran his hand through his hair to get it out of his face. "Distracting, to say the least. The ball is far enough that I can get my affairs in order."
"'Affairs in order?'" Fred laughed loudly. "I want to kiss you, not arrange a funeral."
Rebecca pulled him into a kiss, knowing it would be the privacy they were allotted in the carriage wouldn't be available in the immediate future. "There, you've kissed me."
Fred shook his head, his hands finding hers again. "I could kiss you a million times and not be done."
Rebecca blushed, not expecting the sentiment to have come from him so easily. "I guess I owe you a million and one."
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<3