He behaved like a proper dickhead
Emil was furious. Sure, he did not want his sister to go out with either of the Weasley twins. But when it meant that she was unhappy, he would have made an exception. Now they ruined it though. And after Frieda told him about her fears, he was even more willing to protect her.
The Slytherin looked at his watch. It was almost time for his first lesson. Normally he would not freak out over a little Potions class. But the deal was, that Ollie was also in this class. And Ollie was his favourite person at the school.
He probably would not admit it but he liked him a bit more for just being his friend. Frieda knew about him liking boys as well. He did not want to put a label on it, he simply liked who he liked. The others however could not really know about it. And that is the reason why he would never tell Ollie this.
On his way to the classroom he sensed someone standing around the corner that could be a Weasley. All Emil could see was red. Literally. He stormed to the boy and pressed
him against the wall.
"Oi, what the fuck?"
"What did your brother do to my sister?"
"What brother exactly are you talking about?"
"Don’t try to be funny with me Weasley. I mean the one who looks exactly like you."
Even though Fred was way taller than Emil, Emil had the advantage of being stronger and having more experience in fighting someone. Fred however did not lose his cool.
"I really don’t know what you’re talking about."
"She’s absolutely devastated because of him and unfortunately I will have to pay him a visit because of it."
"I know. I already told him that he behaved like a proper dickhead."
"Come again?"
Emil slowly let go of the redhead in front of him.
"I told him that Frieda might ask someone else if he didn’t hurry up but he got the wrong message."
"But why would he ask my sister?"
"Are you dense?"
"Careful Weasley." Emil clenched his fist.
"He likes her. And he was jealous because I mentioned another boy. So he freaked out. If you ask me, he could use a beating but only a light one."
"So you want to tell me that he only asked Heather Mancini, one of the hottest girls to ever walk the school, because he was jealous of who exactly?"
"Neville Longbottom."
"You’re joking, right?"
Has everyone become mental? Frieda was about the most approachable person ever. Why would he... then he stopped his train of thought. He was exactly the same.
"Okay but what are we gonna do about it then?," Emil asked the boy in front of him who was still recovering from basically being choked.
"We?"
"Yes, we. I mean, only if you want to. If he really likes her we have to do something because I can’t stand having a heartbroken sister."
Fred looked at him "You’re really not as bad as everybody says you are. I might have an idea but for that the two have to play along. Should we meet after classes so we can plan everything out?"
Emil was taken aback. No Gryffindor ever asked him to hang out after school.
"Yeah, sure. Can I bring someone though? He knows Frieda very well and I think he can help us."
"Sure. See you later then."
That was weird but Emil was not complaining. He could use some extra help.
On his way to class he met up with Ollie.
"Cheers mate," the Hufflepuff said.
"Hey."
"I saw you pressing Weasley against the wall. Did you catch the right one?"
"Unfortunately not. But Fred and I talked and it was quite...interesting."
"How so?"
"Did you know that George actually likes my sister?"
Ollie chuckled "Of course. It’s obvious."
"How is it obvious? I thought that the two were taking the piss out of her."
"Are you blind Emil? Just look at him staring at Frieda and you’ll see it too. His eyes are glistening and he gets all nervous. Kind of like...," Ollie stopped mid sentence.
"Like who?"
"Doesn’t matter...So, what else did you find out?"
Emil shrugged the former sentence off and began laughing "I found out that George is jealous of Neville Longbottom when he has Heather Mancini all over him. How is she easier to talk to than my sister? She’s literally the nicest person to walk the earth."
"Well, when you’re in love it’s kind of hard to admit. Especially when you’re not 100 percent sure the other person will like you back. Do you know what I mean?," Ollie said and looked at Emil expectantly.
"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. But Heather?"
"Sometimes you do stupid things when you like someone."
Did Ollie know about him? He behaved strangely, as if he suspected something. That could not be. Emil always made sure he was not noticeably different when he was around him.
He tried to shift the topic a tiny bit. "Anyways. Are you free after school today?"
Ollie looked surprised "Uhm yeah. Why?"
"Fred and I want to make a plan to get George and Frieda together. And since you know her like almost no other I thought you might want to join us."
"Oh... okay sure. Count me in."
The next classes did not exactly go by quickly.
Emil honestly hated school. Not that he did not perform well in his classes. Quite the opposite actually. His mother always appreciated his abilities way more than his sister’s. Which he
honestly did not understand.
So all in all he could not complain. But still, he was not content. Besides Ollie he basically had zero friends, the classes were boring and his mum pressured him to play Quidditch. If he could, he would definitely drop out of school.
There were only few things preventing him from doing so. Frieda for example. Who would be there to protect her? He could not possibly leave her alone with all of those idiots at the school.
And then there was his mother. She would kill him if he left Hogwarts. And what would he do instead? His interest in pursuing a magical career was practically nonexistent. But nobody prepared him for living a Muggle life. That meant that he was stuck.
Frieda ripped him out of his thoughts "Are you alright?"
"Sure. Was just thinking."
"Yeah right. Were you daydreaming about Ollie again?" Emil sighed. Of course she knew.
"Am I that obvious?"
"Yeah. But it’s okay. I don’t think he noticed yet. At least he’s not talking about it."
"So he doesn’t talk about me."
"Well, he does. But not in that way. And even if, I wouldn’t tell you."
"But what does he say about me? Like, is he gossiping or something?"
Frieda flashed her brother a smile. "I told you that I’m not telling you. But he likes you otherwise he wouldn’t talk to you."
"Come on Frieda, I'm your brother. Just give me a few details."
But Emil could beg as much as he wanted to, his sister was persistent on not spilling any well kept secrets between her and Ollie.
"The actual reason why I came is that dad sent us something for the ball. Mum must have told him."
"Since when does dad care about what’s going at Hogwarts?"
"Has he never sent you anything? Like a new quill or a letter with stories from his time at school? Or your favourite sweets?"
Emil shook his head. "Usually it’s mum who sends me stuff. Just last week she gave me new gloves for Quidditch."
"See. She never sends me anything. Not even letters. This is your package by the way." She handed him a little square shaped package wrapped in parchment paper. Emil ripped it open and revealed a small green box. When he opened the box he revealed a silver ring. It did not look special at all but looking at it more closely Emil discovered an engraving. „Für meinen geliebten Sohn". Underneath the ring was a letter.
Dear Emil,
Your mother told me about the ball you’re having. Then I thought about my time at school. I never really share these stories with you because I noticed that your mother always sends you letters but never your sister. So I decided to do it instead. That’s why I never sent you anything. But you have to know that it’s got nothing to do with you. I know I never really tell you but I love you dearly and I’m very very proud of you. Please promise me to always be true to yourself because that’s the best way you could be.
To remind you of that I thought I‘d give you this ring that I got from my father when I was around your age. It means a lot to me so take great care of it.
And now have fun at the ball. I’m sure you’ll find someone special to share that moment with.
P.S. Thank you for taking care of Frieda while I’m not there. You’re an amazing brother.
Emil did not know how to react at first. But he did not even have to think about it. His body knew what to do. Tears were streaming down his face as he read the last few sentences.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah... Dad is just a really good writer."
"I know right? What did he send you?"
"Um, this ring here. He got it from grandpa."
Emil showed Frieda his gift while she leaned on his shoulder.
"I love you, you know that right?," she said.
"And you know that I love you as well, don’t you?"
"Hey Emil... Aaaand Frieda," Fred who just came around the corner shouted.
Frieda raised an eyebrow. "Since when are you two talking? I thought you hated the twins."
"Well... see it’s just that...," her brother tried to explain. But Fred already had an answer.
"We have a potions project together. Is that a problem?," he smirked.
"No, not at all. I just thought that you two aren’t exactly fond of each other."
"Yeah, that’s the thing. You think too much."
"Okay. If you say so. By the way, have you talked to your brother lately?"
Fred grinned. "Are you actually asking me if I have talked to my twin brother I spend the majority of my life with?"
"Well, I’m just asking since he’s been hanging out with Heather a whole lot and I haven’t talked to him since yesterday night."
The tall boy in front of Frieda became a bit softer now.
"Yeah I know. It’s annoying, right. But he’ll forget her soon. At the very latest when he finds out that she is just using him to become a proper member of the Quidditch team."
"Maybe. But then it’ll be too late," she muttered. "Anyways, I need to go now. Evie‘s already waiting for me." The Hufflepuff sounded a bit more cheerful now. Not that Emil did not notice the sad undertones but he just let it slip for the time being.
"Okay, see you later then," he said.
"Wow, that girl is heartbroken," Fred said.
"Yeah, she doesn’t deserve this again. Not after what that douchebag David did to her."
"Who is David?"
"Please never tell Frieda that I’ve told you this."
"Sure. But what exactly can’t I tell her?"
"Okay, to this day she doesn’t know the whole truth about him. He’s also the reason why I was so angry at you in the beginning. So last year Frieda had this massive crush on David. He’s a Slytherin from my year. He was always super nice to her but behind her back he would make fun of her. Frieda collected all the courage she had in her to admit that she liked him. He literally laughed in her face and called her ugly. And then in our common room he went on and on about how ridiculous she was for thinking that he would ever like her. And some more horrible things I don’t even want to repeat."
"That explains quite a lot. But I can promise you, that we never had bad intentions with her. I really appreciate her as a friend and George is a lovesick fool. Seriously, I’ve never seen him like this before."
"Yeah, I guess I kinda get it. But you can clearly see how sad Frieda is. You have no idea how furious I am."
"Why are you mad now?," Ollie asked as he came in.
Emil‘s face suddenly went from grumpy elderly person to teenager that has a crush on the school‘s jock.
"My brother apparently is a huge dick. And Emil is very eager to fix that."
"Ah, okay. Yeah, I recon that he is a shitface because Frieda just passed me and she was crying like crazy."
Emil jumped from his chair "And you just left her?"
"Of course not dummy. I consoled her, no need to freak out. By Merlin, you need to chill for like two minutes and stop interfering with her private things all the time. Her heart is broken but she’ll get over it. In the end, this will only
make her stronger."
The Slytherin looked at his friend confused.
"But... but I thought you were gonna help us."
Ollie’s face softened a bit.
"Okay, don’t take this the wrong way but I think what you two are trying to do is totally idiotic. George and Frieda aren’t little children anymore, they need to figure out their stuff on their own. If you always get involved they will never learn for themselves."
Fred was going to say something along the lines of him not wanting to give up on the whole thing. But Emil was faster "You’re right, I suppose. I gotta learn to let Frieda live on her own. What do you think Weasley?"
"Alright, but don’t come running to me when you’re too annoyed to deal with them, because I’m telling you that’s going to happen."
"Deal."
"Great, so if that’s everything, I gotta go now. My idiot little brother needs help with his homework. So if you excuse me…"
"Yeah, you may leave," Emil grinned.
"Don’t come at me like that Anthemis."
It was all in good fun and Emil finally felt like he made some sort of a friend. Of course the reason for their friendship was not a happy one but it still counted, right?
"Sooooooo, who are you taking to the ball?," Ollie wanted to know.
"I haven’t asked anyone and honestly I don’t think I will. I heard you’re taking Fleur Delacour?"
"Yeah, I was going to. But she bailed on me."
"Oh… Why‘s that?"
"Uhm… she kind of noticed that I like somebody else…"
Emil exhaled sharply before asking "A-and who is that person?"
Ollie seemed to not be able to take his eyes off his lap. He was practically staring there desperately trying to avoid looking directly at Emil. Until he gained some more courage. He looked up and finally said
"That would be you."