Chapter Text
Either Love is Blind, or Friendship Closes Its Eyes
Chapter One: Thinking of You
'This is getting ridiculous,' he thought to himself, as he looked around the familiar huge, empty room, yet again. 'She is getting ridiculous. Why did she have to keep taunting him all the time?'
"Come and catch me," she whispered tauntingly in his ear, before turning and running off again.
'Why the fuck did she have to keep doing that? Didn't she know that she was frustrating him to no end? And why did he keep falling for it, and run after her each time, when he knew exactly what the outcome would be?'
"Wait! Come back!" he called after her, and started to run. "Stop doing that, for fuck's sake."
She turned back to look at him, smiling evilly, and replies with a simple. "No," before turning around and running faster, her long, dark hair dancing behind her.
Why did she have to be so frustrating? Sighing, he ran after her as fast as he could, but whenever he sped up, so did she. Whenever she was in his reach, she would dance out of it again, leaving him more frustrated than ever. She was usually extremely clumsy, but now she was graceful as anyone, and never slowed down once. She eventually met a dead end, and turned to run again, but he grabbed her wrist, and pinned her to the wall, smiling triumphantly. Finally. It had taken ages.
She didn't look even remotely upset that she had been caught, when since the first time, she had been putting all her effort into not getting caught. In fact, she looked positively pleased.
"It's about time," she whispered, smirking up at him.
He should've felt angry that she was just trying to wind him up, and all along, she wanted this to happen, but he just felt pleased. He leaned in, but just before his lips finally met hers, after ages of pursuing her, there was a loud snoring noise, and Fred woke up with a jolt.
Confusion was his first initial emotion. Then frustration. He had nearly done it. Something he had tried to do for several nights, and then just as he was about to kiss her, something wakes him up. George's snores. He had to resist the urge to throw something.
This was pathetic. He, Fred Weasley, someone who could usually charm any girl he wanted, couldn't even kiss the girl he fancied in his dreams. He supposed he really did fancy her. He tried denying it to himself for a while, but a few nights ago he had to admit it.
There was no other explanation for how she would cross his mind at the most random moments. And these dreams about her... If he didn't fancy her, he wouldn't repeatedly be having dreams about her, where he tried desperately to at least kiss her once.
After his frustration ebbed away, he lay back down, and stared at his ceiling, lost in thought about her. She was so pretty. It was a shock he didn't truly realize it until a while ago. She was probably the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. Long, dark hair... Gorgeous, warm brown eyes... A smile so bright it could easily light up his dark bedroom.
And her personality. He couldn't believe that he didn't realize that she's exactly what he's been looking for in a girl. Why was he so blind?
But why her? Out of all the girls in Hogwarts, why did it have to be her? Why did it have to be one of his best friends? Someone who wouldn't ever think of him that way. She probably saw him as a brother. He didn't blame her. He treated her like a sister for nearly three years, after all. What else could he expect? For her to randomly fall in love with him? No, sadly, Fred Weasley only had his dreams in which he could be with her, and even then she was impossible to get. And in real life, impossible to get she was. Other guys, like Fred, were starting to realize that she truly was so beautiful. They were starting to come to their senses and see how perfect she was too. Not loads and loads of them, but to Fred, there were way too many of them. A couple weeks before the last term ended, he saw some Hufflepuff in her year blatantly staring at her with his mouth open during dinner.
Besides, a girl like her would have high standards. Or at least she should. She wouldn't settle for him. Fred knew it. There are so many guys in Hogwarts, and he knew, however much he wanted to believe otherwise, that she would never see him as anything more than a brother.
But, sometimes, when he thought long and hard about their times together, it did seem like she thought of him as more than that. Like that tome they almost kissed when they won the Quidditch Cup. She seems quite happy to kiss him, even if it was just a victory kiss.
And their little moments. Like when they were extremely close together on the first day of exams. Why was she so nervous? Jokingly, at the time, he had made it seem like she was thoroughly enjoying herself, but now, looking back, he wasn't even sure if that was just discomfort.
And those other times they were close to kissing. Did she was to kiss him? He really couldn't see why else someone would get so flustered. I mean, it is an embarrassing and rather awkward position to get caught in with one of your best friends, but still...
'But she already told you how she felt about you," Fred reminded himself sternly, not wanting to get his hopes up. 'Ages ago. And she only thinks of you as a friend. Nothing more.'
'But then again,' a much more positive part of him said to himself. 'You said you didn't fancy her first. She might've only said that so things weren't awkward. Besides, it's like you said, it was ages ago. You like her now, don't you? Maybe she feels different too.'
Fred definitely liked this positive side to him, but at the same time, he didn't want to get his hopes up only to be disappointed. And chances are, he would be disappointed if he got his hopes up. This way, he could only get what he expected, or something better. Something way better.
'She doesn't like you,' that realistic voice said firmly. 'So don't go getting your hopes up. You'll only end up heartbroken.'
'You're thinking too much, Freddie,' he thought to himself after a while, even though he knew he could control thinking about her about as much as he can control the sun going up everyday. 'Go to sleep.'
He turned over, and closed his eyes, still thinking about her in spite of himself. Eventually, Fred fell asleep with her still on his mind, but didn't dream about her again.
Little did Fred Weasley know, that miles and miles away, that girl that Fred fancied so much, was finally drifting asleep, with him in her thoughts as well. Fred Weasley didn't know that Hazel Knight, that perfect girl for him, was finally falling asleep, because she had stayed up, unable to sleep, because she was thinking about him just as much as he was thinking about her.