Rubi had left the kitchens after having a marvellous time with the elves, who were more than happy to be of company for the girl, and headed to the Great Hall, knowing Harry would be there soon, so she ought to keep him company. Plus, she wanted to see if Hermione had been discharged from the Hospital Wing.

To her disappointment, Hermione was nowhere to be seen but Harry had just taken a seat at the table and Rubi felt bad, seeing he was seated alone. Plastering a smile on her face, Rubi skipped towards her cousin.

"Helloooo, Harold dearest!" She sang, ruffling the boy's hair, who groaned slightly and swatted her hand away.

"Rubi." He groaned, "Please don't do that."

Rubi huffed, placing her hands on hips, "Hmph! You're saying that as if you have the neatest, most well-styled hair out of everyone here!" She expressed, before a smirk made its way onto her face, "If anyone has the best hair, it's me! I mean, look at this!" Rubi began imagining different colours and hair patterns, changing her hair rapidly as if she was holiday, decorative lights.

This caused Harry to grin and he let out a laugh, making Rubi's heart swell with happiness. At least, she could make him feel a bit better during the bitter time he was going through.

Further down the table, a certain redhead was watching the girl dreamily, a soft smile on his lips. He watched Rubi throw her head back and laugh, before she quickly hugged Harry and punched him gently on the arm.

"Hello?" A hand snapped in front of him, making Fred look around. "Yes, thank you for paying attention, loverboy. Now, how about the order forms?"

Fred blinked blankly, "What?"

George fought a grin and donned a serious expression, "Were you even listening?"

"Nope." His twin answered, popping the 'p.'

"Were you seriously staring at Rubi the whole time?"

"Yep." Fred replied instantly, without even a hint of embarrassment.

Lee smiled before sighing, "You do realize at this rate, I think she'll be into Harry and you'll be a loner?"

Fred's eyes widened so much that they seemed as if they were going to bulge out of his head.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He growled out.

"What I mean is if you don't tell her anytime soon, I think she may get feelings for Harry and that's if she hasn't already." Lee stated, casting a glance down the table at Harry and Rubi, now the latter also having taken a seat.

"No, she won't!" Fred protested.

"How do you know that?" Lee retorted.

"Because- because," Fred sputtered, trying not to blurt out that Harry and Rubi are cousins, "Harry's like a brother to her!"

"That's what they all say now, don't they?"

"Freddie," George started, "Lee may have a point. Maybe not Harry but what if she goes after someone else? After all, she may not wait around for you forever." He said, trying to make Fred see their reasoning.

"But what if she doesn't like me, George?" Fred hissed at him.

"She does!"

"How do you know?"

"Because unlike you, we aren't blind, Fred!" Lee threw into the heated argument.

"I don't know."

Lee huffed, his brows knitting together, "You'll never know unless you tell her!"

Fred sighed, "I'm just afraid that it might ruin everything."

George shot a sympathetic smile at his brother, "It won't, Fred. You need to tell her how you feel."

"Tell who what?"

The trio jumped, their eyes widening as their fourth best friend stood beside them, an eyebrow raised, a hand placed on her hip.

"Feelings for who, exactly?"

All the boys paled, glancing at one another.

"Fred has feelings for a girl." George blurted out, making Fred look at him with a deadly glare. Although, at this, they all watched Rubi's face turn stony.

"He does?" She breathed out through clenched teeth. "Wow." She cracked a fake smile, "Good for him. Who is the lucky girl?" She asked, wanting to know the identity of whoever had caught Fred's eye, and possibly vanish them from the face of the Earth.

"Uhh..." Lee shot Fred a look, urging him to tell Rubi that it was her.

"Well, it's a... secret!" He blabbed out, making Lee shut his eyes in second-hand embarrassment and George to make a face.

Rubi's heart dropped and Fred twisted with sadness as he watched a twinge of pain morph onto the girl's face.

"Why can't I know?"

"Because you know this person and will most likely blab to her." Fred half-lied, watching as Rubi shut her eyes for a brief moment before opening them.

"Well," She said, turning her nose up at them, "I guess I won't be telling you lot, who has caught my eye.

Rubi was never going to say this but it came out in the heat of the moment.

"What?!" Fred blanched, his face flooded with shock. He felt defeated. The girl he harboured feelings for had her eyes set upon someone else.

George and Lee exchanged a glance, already having an inkling of who Rubi may be referring to.

"Rubi-"

"Have a good evening, boys."

And she flicked her hair over her shoulder, strutting with an attitude back to her cousin, who looked up again as Rubi slid into a seat next to him, placing her head on his shoulder.

"Well, good luck with that problem, Fredrick." Lee breathed out, and stood up. George patted his twin with a reassuring smile before heading out with Lee. Fred stared at Rubi, his eyes glossing over, until a certain set of determination and almost jealousy took over.

He was going to find out who Rubi was crushing on.

***

Once back in the common room, Rubi got started on her homework, seated next to the fireplace while Harry decided to head up to his dormitory.

One by one, the common room began to empty but Rubi was still carrying on with her task. It was not supposed to be taking her a long time but the young Black's mind kept wandering off, making the task at hand harder to complete.

The space on the couch next to her dipped and Rubi looked up when someone cleared their throat.

Rubi made a face somewhere between a smile and a grimace as she found Fred Weasley beside her.

"Rubi, can we talk?" He asked her slowly, observing the girl carefully in case she decided to smack him.

Rubi sighed and put away her school assignment in her bag, before looking up at Fred expectantly.

"Well?" She voiced out, her tone sounding cold.

"Love, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." Fred began to say, running a hand through his ginger locks. "I just panicked, OK? I don't want people finding out. You would freak out if I told you who it was."

This only made Rubi frown, "Well, who is it if you think I'd freak out if you told me?" Rubi pressed, trying to make the redhead crack.

Fred shook his head, "Can I know who you have feelings for?" Fred suddenly asked, steering the conversation away from him. He wanted to know who it was, so he could have that person's head.

Rubi's face softened and Fred was surprised, as she placed a hand against his cheek, softly stroking it with her thumb, "I'll tell you if the right time ever comes." She promised him. Her tone was soft and there was an underlying emotion of sadness melted within.

Fred froze from her touch and all he did was stare at her blankly, until he suddenly shivered, snapping back to reality. He took Rubi's hand from his face into his two colder hands.

"And I'll also tell you if the time ever comes." He vowed to her, and the two smiled.

"We're good?" Rubi asked him gently.

"Yep." Fred answered and he watched as the girl's face lit up even brighter than the sun.

Rubi was broadly smiling and she sighed, laying her head on his shoulder, her hands going to wrap themselves around his left arm.

Fred smiled at the sight of the girl and he inhaled her hair. The scent was a sweet strawberry. Oh how nice it was.

The two gazed into the fire that was lightly dancing, until Rubi closed her eyes in content. Fred looked down at her when he heard her even breathing, and as he suspected, Rubi had fallen asleep.

Fred gazed fondly at the sleeping girl, and he placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"If I ever get to tell you how I feel, I'll be the happiest person in the world. If someone else becomes yours, that person will be the luckiest in the entire universe to have someone as amazing as you."

With that, Fred's eyes also fluttered shut, the two falling asleep together.

***

Rubi smiled, as she watched her family together once again. They were still in their house she currently lived in, except Harry was there too, who had his room next to hers. But what was making Rubi smile was the sight of her parents in the kitchen, her dad's arms having wrapped around her mother's waist from behind, and the two were slowly swaying, singing a soft tune together.

Suddenly, she felt her house thunder with voices but apparently only she seemed to hear it, as no one else seemed startled.

There were sounds of giggles and "Look at them!"

"Quick take a photo!"

Snap! Snap!

"Now, how about we wake them up?"

"Ready? One, two-"

"Three!"

Rubi gasped as she sat straight up, her eyes opening up and she looked down to realize she was drenched. Rubi's lips thinned and she looked up only to find George and Lee looking at her with shit-eating grins.

Rubi growled, "I'm going to kill you two." Rubi sank back into the couch, letting out a sigh, "It was such a beautiful dream and you ruined it." She huffed.

George and Lee shared a humorous look before turning back to the girl,

"Oh was it about you and Fred living happily ever after with tons of kids?" George said, making Rubi choke on air.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" She breathed out in surprise.

"Well, you seem like you like like Fred." Lee answered, wiggling his eyebrows. Rubi's eyes widened and she jumped when she heard a sudden throat clearing and her jaw slightly fell apart when she looked beside her and found Fred. Then her memory seemed to come back and she surveyed the atmosphere and realized they were in the common room.

Rubi closed her eyes.

Did I seriously fall asleep in the common room? That too with Fred Weasley?

"Good morning, love." Fred breathed out softly.

Rubi smiled at him sheepishly and she squeaked out a reply in return, before dashing up to her dormitory. She felt embarrassed that George and Lee had mentioned her being married to Fred and having kids together, that too in front of the said redhead.

Fred watched her go with an amused smile before turning to his two other friends, narrowing his eyes at them, "Did you really need to wake us up like this?" He growled out.

They cheekily grinned at Fred,

"Well, Freddie," George began saying, "No, we didn't have to but we just proved a point for you."

Fred scrunched his face up in surprise, "What?"

"You daft, dimbo, didn't you see Rubi's face? And yesterday, she was jealous when she found out you fancy someone."

Fred stared at him blankly as his mind raced in other directions. If she really did return his feelings, that would be great but he would wait and tell her at the right time.

"OK, fine, let's say you're right." Fred said, "I will tell her at the right time, and see how things go." He finished, and he watched as Lee and George smiled in triumph.

"Finally!" George exclaimed.

"But do hurry it up, you don't want to lose her." Lee added before he high-fived George and the pair ran off and exited the portrait hole, headed down for breakfast.

Fred watched them go before he smiled to himself, leaning back into the couch, crossing his arms behind his head, "Well, Black, guess things could work out after all." 

Hello!

So that was the next chapter and let me know how it was! I personally liked this one! Take care and see you in the next one! <33

-Serina