When did you become a nervous wreck?
Hogsmeade weekend finally arrived. One would think that Frieda was happy that she finally reached her goal of peacefully being friends with both Evie and the twins. But the opposite was the case. Fred and George would never listen to her when she said they needed to stop with the pranks.
"Are you coming now? We’re already late!," Fred shouted. "That’s what we get for bringing a girl with us," he muttered. George gave him a nudge. "Hey, she’s okay."
"You only say that because you like her. If any other girl behaved like that you would leave with no hesitation."
George blushed. His brother knew exactly what was going on. Usually his crushes were not making him as nervous. Alicia Spinnet for example. He just asked her out and then they dated for a couple of months. It was that easy. But with Frieda it was different. He did not even know how to start. What did he even want to tell her? 'I like you. Can you please be my girlfriend'?
"No need to be nervous! She’s just a little Hufflepuff, remember?"
"Yeah, I think I highly underestimated her impact back then. She’s basically a genius with a big dash of kindness and a hint of coward. But just a hint that’s small enough to play it off as a need of protection. She’s literally perfect. How in the world is she even real?"
Fred laughed. His brother has fallen for a girl they normally would not even give a second look. Sure, she was not ugly but definitely not their type. They usually liked sporty Gryffindor girls who were preferably on their Quidditch team. Frieda was a chubby Hufflepuff carrying around tea everywhere she went.
But George was right, there was something special about her. She was the epitome of kindness. It was the one where she would not think about treating somebody differently than others because of any reason. She even was nice to Malfoy although he insulted her in front of everyone. Nobody told her that Emil dealt with the situation his way though.
"Do you think she will enjoy going to Zonko's with us? Or maybe we could do something different. We could go to...," George was cut off by his brother.
"She liked seeing our invention and what we planned for our shop, didn’t she?" George nodded. "Then she will also like Zonko's. It’s fine. When did you become a nervous wreck?"
"Funny that you’re asking because I don’t even know myself. Do you reckon she put a lovepotion in that tea she gave me? I have never behaved like that in my life."
"You’re joking, right? George, you’re in love. That’s all."
"In love? Don’t be ridiculous now. Maybe I like her a little. It’s just a crush, it’ll be over soon."
Fred motioned towards the stairs "Here comes your 'little crush'," he snickered.
"Hey guys. Sorry that I‘m late. I had some convincing to do."
"Does Evie still have her knickers in a twist over this? I already told you, you are your own person."
"Okay, first of all, don’t talk about her like that. Second of all, it was Emil actually. He didn’t like the idea of us hanging out at all. He said something about you two being bad for me." George gulped. He was genuinely scared of Frieda’s older brother. What if he found out that he liked her? He simply could not.
"Then we should prove the opposite to him. Come on, or we’ll be late," Fred answered.
Hogsmeade was quite nice. If you loved third wheeling. Because that was what Fred essentially did. Not that he was complaining. He loved seeing his brother so happy so it was not that big of a deal.
However if he did not do anything about the situation soon, he would end up with a whiny little bitch for a twin brother. He was madly in love with Frieda and anyone with working eyes could see that.
Everyone except her. You could see the worry in her eyes as she looked at George. She also liked him but was too scared to admit it. Great combination if you asked Fred. He just had to help them a little and then...
He got interrupted by Frieda who was sitting opposite him. They decided to take a break at The Three Broomsticks before heading back.
"Guys, I have to ask you something." "Anything for you," Fred said. "Can you please leave Evie alone?" "Except that." "Pleeeaaaaseee. She won’t let me hang out with you if you don’t do it. And I need all three of you. I can’t possibly decide between you and Evie. Soooo?" Frieda pouted.
But before Fred could decline her pleads, George already answered "It’s okay. I think we can arrange that, right Fred?" "Uhm, yeah right George. I guess." What was his brother thinking?
And it went on like that. No matter what Frieda said, George agreed. This boy has fallen so deeply and he did not even notice. Fred could not bear looking at the disaster in front of him anymore and said "It’s already late. We should probably head out so we’re back in time."
But George could not follow. "What do you mean? We have plenty of time le...," he stopped when Fred gave him the look. It was the look that said 'We need to talk. Now.' "You know what, you’re right. May we leave you alone for a few minutes?" "Uhm, sure," Frieda chuckled.
Fred practically dragged his twin to the restrooms. "What?," George asked upon arriving there. "Are you kidding me? What on earth are you doing? You’re embarrassing yourself out there. I can’t even look at your attempt to flirt."
"I’m not flirting!"
"And what exactly are you doing then? Because I can assure you, that that was not normal behavior."
"I don’t know either. My head is practically empty when I’m around her."
"Yeah, as if that’s news."
"Hey, I'm trying to have a serious conversation here. You have to help me."
"Okay okay. We’ll figure something out. But in the mean time, promise me you won’t do anything stupid."
"Alrighty."
With that, the two headed out to reunite with Frieda who was already waiting for them.
"Do you still want to study for Transfiguration with me? I found a really good book we can use."
Fred thought that it was better if they took a small break from their newest friend but before he could decline the offer, George already answered "Thank you, that sounds amazing. Maybe we can go to the Gryffindor common room. We’ll invite you." Fred facepalmed. Was his brother a degenerate idiot?
So there they were. On a sofa in the Gryffindor common room, Frieda sitting in between the twins a book in her hands she was thoroughly reading in. Fred was on the right side staring at George who sat on the left side staring at Frieda. Was he being serious? They just talked about this.
"Found it! It’s this chapter right here." Frieda handed George the book. "Thank you. What would we do without you?" Probably pulling a prank on Evie, Fred thought to himself.
A little time has passed since the twins started reading and the first questions went through Fred's head. "Hey Frieda, do you know how...," he stopped himself when he saw Frieda sleeping in George’s lap.
"How did that happen?," he half whispered. "I don’t know. She kind of fell asleep and then she sort of sank down and now she’s sleeping in my lap. What do I do? Wake her up?"
"No, just let her sleep for a few minutes and then we’ll carry her back to her common room."
After reading a bit more, Ron walked up to his brothers. "Mum sent me an owl but it was meant for you two. Something about making a student's potion ex... George? Why is there a girl in your lap?" His eyes wandered to Frieda still sleeping peacefully.
Fred laughed as George went beet red. "Our brother over here is in love with this Hufflepuff."
"Am not!"
"Stop denying it already."
"How cute. Are you together or something?," Ron said mockingly.
"He wishes. But I’m working on it."
"Well, good luck then."
As Ron went off the trio remained on the sofa taking in the atmosphere of the common room. The fireplace cracking of the fireplace, the other students around them talking and from time to time a little snore would escape out of Frieda.
"Isn’t she precious?," George asked. Fred did not answer, instead he gave him a weird look. "I think it’s time for her to leave now. Are you going to take the honors of picking her up or shall I do it?"
Without hesitation, George stood up and lifted the sleeping girl up bridal style. "How is she still asleep? Every normal person would wake up from your bumpy ass movements."
"Shut up. Let’s go, before there’s more questions." Fred started walking behind them trying to contain his laughter.
When they went down the hallway, somebody was coming their way. That somebody was no other than Emil. "What have you done to her?," he shouted when he saw what was happening in front of him. Like his sister he had a slight German accent. On her it sounded cute
on him however it sounded scary.
Fred tried to defuse the tension "No need to worry. She fell asleep and now we’re bringing her to her room. It’s not a big deal." Emil narrowed his eyes. "You’re definitely not stepping a foot into her dorm room. Frieda, Frieda wake up!," he said a bit louder while simultaneously shaking her shoulder.
Frieda blinked a few times before realizing what situation she was in. When she finally got it, she panicked and made an abrupt movement in order to loosen the grip George had on her.
"What’s going on?," she asked when he got the clue and let her down.
"I promise you Frieda, if they’ve done anything to you, they are dead men." Fred’s eyes widened but Frieda already knew how to calm her brother down.
"They didn’t do anything. In fact, they were just trying to be nice by not waking me up." "Are you sure that you’re okay?" She nodded. "See you tomorrow then. Today was fun. And thank you for... carrying me." Frieda was clearly flustered.
"No problem. Thanks for the book. We'll give it back when we understood it," George said equally as flustered. "And by that he means never," Fred chuckled. And with that Emil took Frieda’s hand and dragged her towards the Hufflepuff common room.
"If we don’t find a way for you to get with her I’ll freak out. You behave like an absolute idiot and I can’t look at that anymore."
"Yeah, you’re right. But how?"
"I already have an idea."