thinking about how fred weasley suits the trope, “they fell first, but he fell hard.”
i just know fred has the dynamic of friendly rivals or the classic enemies to lovers.
his partner would have been from another house, specifically a slytherin. or should it be from a different house, it’d be:
- A gryffindor who’s silent at the corner of the common room but was never outspoken about their amusement with the twins’ pranks, or never really cared that much about it, wasn’t just their cup of tea;
- A ravenclaw whose friends are friends with george and fred, and one time when they were all conversing and the twins are bragging about their upcoming invention or some shit, raven goes “yeah i’m pretty sure that’s not how it works;” or,
- A hufflepuff prefect who is the one constantly bringing the twins trouble through write ups and lost house points.
to sum up every possible partner from every house: he’s annoyed with you. and he’s determined to prove you wrong. and a rival will you ever be.
but in the midst of the petty rivalry and shit, you see him in a different light - you didn’t know what clicked, but the moment you fucking caught his gaze at one class about amortentia (if you were in the same year); or in the great hall (if you were not in the same room) - just clicked.
he may have made a face, and while it should have annoyed you primarily - it didn’t. in fact, it made you blush.
goddamn it, we blush over rivals now?
but it wasn’t easy, you know. coming into terms with your feelings about him. but you decided to keep it in and just playfully flirt with him while at the “rivalry” stage of your dynamic.
fred noticed the change in dynamic, of course. he’d notice when your gaze didn’t hold that much stoic as compared to before. it was…playful? when did you ever become playful? and flirty?
but fred being fred, decided to flirt back. without any intentions of being in a relationship. hey, flirting is fun. he was a king at that; if anything, fred flirted with everyone and anyone - leading to a trail of false hopes and whatnot.
the moment the person he’s flirting with (unintentionally at that) confesses to him about their feelings or asks them out, fred sighs and grimaces, the following words being spoken as if he already knew it by heart:
“bloody hell, i’m sorry, i didn’t know…”
“i have to focus on my shop with my twin, if anything, let’s see what happens from there, yeah?”
but it was through a one-on-one talk with hermione and you, have you realised that fred was not serious with his flirting - nor will he ever be.
“you know he prioritises his future first, right?” hermione asks you one night as she sees you with a bag full of candies from honeydukes and some items from zonko’s - a gift you wanted to anonymously give to fred on valentine’s day.
“what?” you’d ask, blushing at the fact you were caught by someone, a close friend of his, at that. hermione sighs, “fred,”
and it is when she motions at the gifts that you were holding did it click to you - she was talking about fred. not just fred, though. you AND fred.
“oh,” was all you could ever reply. “yeah, he has…rejected a lot of admires because he wanted to focus on his future, you know? didn’t really expect that from him - but, you know fred, he’s unpredictable.”
the gifts weren’t gifted, by the way. you decided it’d be best if you ate the sweets; i mean, you tried everything fred loved in honeydukes - it’s about time you’re accustomed with the taste.
how about the zonko shit? well, you asked hermione if she could dispose of it or give it to anyone who were not either fred or george (she gave it to lee).
not only that, but you detached yourself from fred. the flirting decreased, so did the unnecessary rivalry banter. everything decreased until it was diminished.
you thought you were being very sly about it - but, fred noticed it all.
- in the way you only held his gaze for a millisecond before dropping it and turning away from him
- in the way you gave a tight-lipped smile and excused yourself whenever he throws a cheeky wink
- in the way you readjusted your eating schedule (you used to time that with his) an hour earlier than his usual time, so that you were either leaving or not in the great hall when he arrives
- when you silently dreaded being partnered with him, and in return, you remained in work mode, easing your way out of his flirting and going back to work mode
fred weasley noticed it all. and he was going crazy about it.
he started missing your smiles; and the way your voice sounded so good in falsifying your anger directed at him when he knew you were just amused.
he was missing your dynamic - and for the love of godric, fred weasley was and is missing you.
and everything worsened when you were getting closer with george. he didn’t know what the hell happened, but he was sure he didn’t like it.
fred weasley was jealous. he was jealous because his twin was with you, and he wasn’t. hell, he didn’t even know what happened, and why you suddenly became cold around him!
“what’s with you and george?” he’d ask, but you’d shrug. “friends,” you would reply, unfazed. counting the jobberknoll feathers in your hands.
“it doesn’t look like it,” fred mutters. “well, whatever it is in your mind is your own doing, not ours.” you muttered back.
“what the hell did i ever do to you?” he would raise his voice slightly.
and you’d stop counting; you dropped the feathers and excused yourself from class, wanting an escape from the situation fred has pulled you in.
those were all in fifth year. and it wasn’t until the yule ball did everything bite you back in the arse.
fred took angelina to the ball. it fucking killed you. you went alone; displeased and unescorted. you didn’t even know if you looked good. well, at least, fred did. but when angelina leaned in, it was enough.
you ran away from the great hall, and little did you know fred followed suit.
“you left,” fred states. “glad to know you still see me, weasley.”
fred grimaces. has it really been forever? “you shut me out,” fred points out, and you can’t help but feel guilty about it. “you never told me why. i didn’t even know what i did.”
“i don’t want to ruin your dreams, fred.” you’d sigh, defeated. fred raises an eyebrow, “my dream?”
“you’re so determined about your shop. you’ve been dreaming about it since fourth year. i don’t want to ruin that for you.”
fred sighs, and walks towards you. “darling,” he starts, cupping your face and pulls it towards him to meet his gaze, “you’ve wrecked every plan the moment i knew i was head over heels in love with you,” he breathes out, running his thumb over your cheek.
you met his gaze, eyes glossy from the vulnerability. you held his hands that were cupping your face, tilting your head up slightly, you pouted. fred would laugh and tease your lips by kissing the corners, and you’d whine.
“i love you too, freddie,” you’d whisper.
“i’ve known,” he chuckles, “and i’ve been too daft too realise i was in love with you, too, until i lost you.”
you nuzzled your cheeks to his hand, eyes never leaving his. and in a skip of a heartbeat, fred leans in, to which was his first kiss - one that he denied everyone of with the reason of his future - one that everyone knew was his shop, but one that fred was certain was you.
