We danced until the Great Hall was almost deserted, and the band had stopped playing. We walked back to the Gryffindor dormitory, fingers intertwined, a comfortable silence between us.

The common room was empty, everyone else had gone to sleep. Fred stopped in front of the fire, he smiled down at me. Wordlessly, he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, and tilted my chin up to kiss him. The kiss was soft, and short. "Goodnight," Fred whispered.

"Goodnight." I replied.

I gave him one more kiss, which he gladly returned, and I went up to my dormitory. I couldn't stop smiling, my nerves were on fire, I couldn't get over what had happened. I was dating Fred Weasley.

I showered, and got into some comfy pyjamas. Humming softly as I went. I climbed into bed, and fell asleep almost instantly.

*****

I woke up a little late the next morning, and rushed to get ready. Fred and George weren't in the common room, so I assumed they headed to breakfast without me.

As I was getting ready for classes, I paused. "It's Christmas!" I realized.

I slowed down, and pulled on a patterned jumper and some leggings. I put my hair up, and headed down to the common room. Fred, George, Lee, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all down there already. Fred smiled when I came down the stairs, and patted the empty seat beside him. For a moment I thought the night before had been a dream, it seemed so magical.

But the kiss Fred placed on my cheek when I sat with him confirmed that last night was entirely real. George smirked, sitting in the armchair beside the couch. "About time." He laughed.

Fred and I laughed, while Lee nodded in agreement. "Fred, you're a bloody tool. You should've seen her at the ball last night. She was miserable!" Lee teased.

"Only cause I had to go with you, Lee. You suck at dancing!" I shot back, causing everyone to laugh.

Fred wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and I leaned into him. Hermione widened her eyes at
me, I could tell she wanted to know everything.

Ron began throwing presents at us, saying our names as he did. "Who're these from?" I asked.

"Mum, she sent them this morning." George replied.

I ripped mine open immediately, revealing a handmade scarf, a beautiful a salt and pepper mixture of yarn. Hermione also got a scarf, while each Weasley got a jumper with their first initial, Harry as well.

The students who were going home had left early that morning, so we were the only Gryffindors left in the common room. We laughed and messed around for the majority of the morning, enjoying a quiet day off. "Can I talk to you?" Fred asked me quietly.

I nodded and let him lead me to the window ledge we normally sat at with George. "What's up?" I asked, worried as to why he wanted me alone.

"It's nothing bad, don't worry." He reassured me, smiling lightly.

I didn't fully believe him, so I motioned for him to continue. He sighed. "I-I just feel like I rushed into things a little last night. No, not that I don't want to be in a relationship with you, I'm absolutely mad about you. But I feel like I said a few strong things a little fast, and I want to slow down. You're what I've wanted, more than anything in the world, for a long time. And I don't want to ruin this by going too fast. I want to do this whole relationship thing right, and treat you proper. And I feel like I've done things in the wrong order. So, can we start over?"

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean start over?"

"Like this: Hi, you're beautiful, I'm handsome, and I was wondering if you would go on a date with me?"

I smiled in relief, I was worried about where this had been going. "Yes, Fred. I would love to go on a date with you." I laughed.

"Wicked, meet me in the astronomy tower at midnight."

"Okay, it's a date."

Fred kissed my forehead, and brought me back to the couch to rejoin our friends.

*****

Ten to midnight, I made my way to the astronomy tower. I hadn't seen much of Fred after we went to the Christmas feast. He had kissed me, and said he'd see me later. I was assuming he was getting whatever he needed ready for our date, and I couldn't be more excited.

I gave myself extra time to get there, knowing I would have to dodge teachers patrolling the halls. Even on the holidays they won't give us a break on the rules. I snuck around corners, listening for footsteps in each hallway before creeping along, my hand dragging along the wall to stay from the middle of the hallway. I lit my wand every now and then, to ensure I was going to right way. But quickly snuffed out the light after collecting my bearings. I wished I had the marauders map, or Fred by my side to take an edge off the silence.

But with each step closer to the astronomy tower, I got more and more excited to see what Fred had planned. It was our first date, I had wanted this for so long, and it was finally happening.

Finally, I reached the trapdoor that led to the top of the tower. I pushed it open quietly, and climbed up through the hole. I stood up and looked around, and my eyes welled up.

There was a blanket on the tile floor, with a small radio in the middle playing quiet muggle music. Strings of fairy lights hung around the blanket, suspended by magic, giving off a soft warm glow. Fred sat on the blanket, fumbling with his wand nervously. But he shot up to greet me with a smile when he heard the trapdoor close. "Hey, Lou." He greeted.

"Hey, Freddie." I replied.

We stood and looked at each other for a moment, before Fred offered his hand. "Wanna join me?"

I blushed and took his hand. He led me to the blanket, and sat me down beside him. When we sat down, I noticed a small container at his feet. He noticed I was looking at it, and handed it to me. "I asked the house elf's in the kitchen for cookies, and they happily agreed." Fred said, "Want one?"

"How sweet of them." I laughed, and took one.

We sat in a comfortable silence, munching on cookies, while the radio played some classic rock. Not exactly love songs, but it was very Fred.

I had introduced him to the glory that is rock and roll, and he was hooked. He couldn't get enough of Queen and AC/DC.

"Did you have a good Christmas?" Fred asked.

"I did, but this year I enjoyed Christmas Eve even more." I replied.

Fred smiled, and kissed my forehead gently. "Me too, darling."

I smiled, while Fred's eyebrows furrowed, and he looked away. "What's wrong?" I asked.

He sighed and rubbed his forehead, looking for the right words. "I wanted to talk about last night, actually."

"Like I said earlier, I feel like a said a few things too fast. I'm worried I'm going to scare you off, since I dropped the L bomb so early. And I know that's something I can't exactly take back, and not that I necessarily want to. But I want to slow down, ya know?"

I put a hand on Fred's, stroking the back of his hand with my thumb. "It's okay Fred, you're not gonna scare me that easily. I've been pranked by you enough times, and I haven't run yet." I started, Fred chuckled.

"But I understand, I don't want to go too fast either. I don't wanna rush... us. I think we love each other as friends, for sure. I mean, we've known each other forever, and I would do anything for you, Freddie. I think our words came from that sort of place. We haven't gotten to know each other romantically, so I feel like we haven't dropped the L-bomb in that way."

Fred smiled, he looked relieved, and nodded his head. "Yeah, I think you're right."

He cupped my cheek, and brought my face closer to his. I lifted my hand and held his to my face. Fred kissed my forehead softly, slowly. Then each cheek, then pulled away, looking into my eyes for a moment, before he leaned in and kissed my lips.

Just like our first kiss, fireworks exploded inside me. His lips were sweet, from the cookies we had just ate. The smell of firework powder and cinnamon enveloped me, and all my sense were focused on solely Fred.

Fred deepened the kiss, and pulled me closer to him. His hand still cupped my cheek, while the other was gripping my hip, his thumb digging in slightly. I had one hand loosely on his thigh, while the other explored his chest. His muscles were tight and lean under his Christmas jumper, I always loved to look at the way his muscles moved and flexed in different materials. My favourite was by far his quidditch jersey. You could see every flex and movement perfectly, the material was just tight enough, while still leaving room for imagination.

I was thoroughly enjoying myself, when suddenly Fred pulled away. I opened my eyes in confusion, frowning while he fiddled with a watch on his wrist. I had never noticed it before. "Is something wrong?" I asked, feeling embarrassed.

"No! Oh man that was horrible timing. No, that was... fantastic. But we're gonna miss the show."

"The show?"

Fred laid down and patted the blanket beside him. I obliged, and he wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me against his body. I blushed while I nestled into him, my head rested on his shoulder, our lips inches apart. He kissed me once more a little forcefully, before he finally answered me. "The meteor shower."

With a flick of his wand, the fairy lights turned off, leaving us in the darkness of the night. The only illumination came from the crescent moon. My eyes took a moment to adjust, and when they did, I gasped. The sky was alight with stars, and the first glowing beam of a meteor shot across the sky. They went like a gentle rain, almost hard to see. Some blinked in and out of existence in a heartbeat, while others streaked across my entire vision. In between the flashes of light, I would just stare at the stars. Trying to find constellations, far away from muggle pollution and lights, the view was crisp and clear. "Look!" I exclaimed, pointing at a particular large meteor, it feel longer than all the others.

I heard Fred chuckle, I felt the vibration of it through his chest. I raised my head to look at him, he wasn't even watching the stars. He was staring at me with an amused glint in his eye. "What?" I asked.

"You're so cute." He laughed, and kissed my forehead softly.

We laid under the stars for close to an hour, talking softly as we watched the sky. "I always talk about opening the shop with George, it's my biggest goal. But, I don't think you've ever really mentioned what you want to do after we graduate." Fred said quietly.

"Well, I'm not really sure. It doesn't feel like there's a whole lot of options in the Wizarding World. I wouldn't mind being a professor here. I love Hogwarts, and I think I'm pretty good at teaching. It feels really rewarding, seeing that look on someone's face when your explanation just clicks with them."

Fred smiled, "You'd be brilliant, you're super smart. Pretty sure you're the only reason I haven't failed yet. And if you can get through to me, you can teach anyone."

We laughed, laying under the stars awhile longer. When the time between the meteors got to be too long, we decided to head in. Fred insisted on carrying everything himself, and still somehow managed to hold my hand on the way back to the common room. I handled the marauders map, and to our luck, we didn't pass anywhere near any teachers.

The common room was deserted, it must've been close to two in the morning, the Fat Lady had been none too pleased when we woke her with the password. Fred dropped the load he was carrying in a corner, claiming he'd clean it in the morning, and came back to me. He grabbed my hands gently, lacing our fingers together. We stared at each other for a moment, no words passing between us. Fred tilted his head up slightly, and a smirk spread across his face. "Hey look, mistletoe."

I looked up, and sure enough, a sprig of mistletoe was suspended from the ceiling, right above us. "Well, rules are rules." Fred said, bending down slightly.

"Since when have you been one to follow rules, Weasley?" I laughed.

"When they benefit me." Fred replied cheekily.

I laughed as Fred leaned down to kiss me, I could feel the smile on his face as we kissed. He pulled away, still beaming. "Goodnight, love." He said.

"Goodnight, Freddie." I replied.

He kissed the backs of my hands softly, and slipped off to his dorm. Leaving me to wonder where this sudden romantic, soft side had come from with this boisterous, ball of energy that was my Weasley.

Word Count: 2277