The Girl who Survived (Fred Weasley)

CH 44. Future mornings

~Fred's POV~

           The sound of birds chirping was what woke me first. I felt as though the entire time we'd been at Grimmauld Place, I hadn't noticed the outside world. Maybe they were always muffled by the sound of George's snores or perhaps I had awakened with heightened senses. The sun trinkled through the split in the curtains, glaring on my face. I turned my head over to try and escape the light and was surprised by the smell of sweet berries and vanilla. I suddenly felt the pressure next to me on the bed.

             Elodie had woken up last night from a nightmare and crept into my bed. I shot up thinking something was wrong, but once she laid next to me, I knew she just needed to be near me, the same way I needed to be with her. It was the comfort I needed to have the most peaceful night's sleep I'd had in a long time. She said she planned to sneak out before everyone woke up, but I didn't have the heart to wake her now. Most nights consisted of the two of us sneaking back and forth between each other's rooms. We weren't doing anything that we wouldn't do on the couch, but Sirius had his rules, as did mum. It didn't help that Ginny had made a snide comment about my past relations with other girls in front of Sirius.

            She snuggled in closer to me, allowing me to wrap my arms around her a little tighter. It felt like when we laid like this our bodies complimented each other perfectly. But then it was more than that. I'd always thought that Georgie was my other half, constantly feeling like half of a person. But when we were with her, she treated us both differently. We were our own individual people. In moments like this I felt like in fact, she was my other half, my better half. I think it was because it had taken us so long to finally get to where we are now. I knew if I told her that I loved her now she'd pull away and that would be the end. I never asked her why she was so scared of being loved by another person, but the way her mind worked it would probably be due to some reason I'd never fully grasp.

            She let out a little sigh, and then leaned into my chest to take in a whiff of air from my direction. She was waking. I grazed my fingers down her face lightly, as delicately as touching a butterfly. I let them pause when they reached her chin, and her eyes fluttered open. She looked up at me and I saw her pupils dilate for a moment before adjusting.

            "Good morning, beautiful," I said to her.

            "Mmm," She whined lightly. "Ten more minutes."

            "Take as long as you need. But I should warn you, Georgie will be up soon," I told her brushing a hand down her hair. She turned her head to take a peek at him before turning back. "I could get used to this darling."

            "Best not let Sirius or Remus hear you say that" She told me quietly. "Remember, he's already been to Azkaban once."

            "You're not funny Potter," I said as I leaned in to kiss her beautiful lips.

            Kissing her had become my favorite thing. I'd wasted so much time kissing the lips of girls I didn't speak to outside of Hogwarts. She was the best person in my life second to Georgie. Though some days I think it was the other way around. The hope of keeping her for years to come made me think seriously of the future. Further because she said that the idea of her working with me and George everyday sounded perfect to her. I knew she could do anything she wanted, but the fact that she would choose to spend her days with me instead. I couldn't even fathom how happy it would make me.

            No other girl mattered but her. I knew summer was meant to be a carefree time, though this summer was harder. I'd been doing my best to keep her distracted from everything that had happened. Sirius helped me when I got busy with George, but Lupin and Professor McGonagall thought it wasn't the best idea. They said it wasn't good to keep pushing away the healing process, but so long as Sirius was on my side and it was working that's all that mattered. And working it was. She was smiling and laughing again. God how I loved her laugh.