Girl Talk -- Summer 1994

I couldn't wait until school started back up.  I had just been starting to flirt and hang out with Fred Weasley.  He was a great guy... and with the owls we had been sending back adn forth, it sounded like he couldn't wait to see me, either.  I didn't want to freak out about the possibility of having a new guy in my life, but something also felt really right about talking with Fred.  He stole my attention unlike any other guy has before.  So I figured it was time to have a good talk with my mum.  I went downstairs, glad to see her standing in the kitchen with Michael.  As much as I loved Peter, I didn't really know him all that well and hardly remembered him.  I was so glad to see that Mum moved on... especially with an old school flame she had.  It was so romantic in my opinion.  Especially seeing them baking cookies together!  

"Sorry to interrupt, but Michael, do you think I could finish helping mum?" I questioned, sticking a finger in the cookie dough and eating a little bit.  "This tastes delicious, by the way," I added with a grin.

I rolled my eyes, letting Jada get away with pretty much anything. I couldn't help but smile when Michael replied with, "Let me go see what Jetty is up to... I've had enough homemaker for the day." We kissed each other while he went off to find my son. I looked at my little girl and realized she really wasn't that little anymore. "Hey, sweetie, what's going on that you have come out of your room?" I teased. I had barely seen her all summer, but knew she was upstairs writing away to some mystery pen-pal.

I stuck my tongue out at my mum and helped her put some blobs of dough onto a cookie sheet to get ready to bake. "Well... have you ever had the feeling of just knowing something is right, even though nothing's really happened?" I asked her, trying to be vague but also wanting to spill my heart out to her. She was my mum of course.

I stayed looking down at the cookies, not quite sure what she was talking about, but then again I think I did. "Well, honey... I believe I might. But with not knowing what you're getting at, I may be completely off track," I told her, turning to put a baking sheet into the oven and setting the timer.

Of course my mother would play coy with me. "Well, let's just say it's about a guy," I said, leaning against the counter and watching my mom's expression. "I mean, we're really close in age. And he's actually really sweet, despite his apathetic attitude he has towards certain things. He's really passionate, too, just about some things one wouldn't think of. He has a sense of humor..." I realized that I had gone off on a tangent just by mentioning that it was a guy. I mean... Fred just... I couldn't help it. And from the letter's... it almost seemed like he felt the same way. But with a guy it was just hard to tell.

I couldn't help but smile and chuckle a little bit at my daughter's excitement. "To be honest, I really do know what you mean." I had had that with Michael while we were at school. And even now, we still had it. It was an amazing feeling and I was so glad to have finally gotten it back. We had come to terms with everything that had happened... we were so young, it was no wonder he did what he had to do. Now, here he was with us... fitting in great. Except Jetty seemed alittle cold to him, but I sort of expected that. "Do I get to know who this mystery man is?" I questioned, looking at Jada expectantly.

I could feel my cheeks get warmer and looked away from my mum and busied myself with some more cookies. "Well, sure," I said, stalling. I wasn't sure if I wanted to admit out loud that it was Fred. It would make me think that we were going to become something. And we weren't even sure ourselves. But what could it hurt? It was only with my mom... not like I was telling my girlfriends or anything. "His name is Fred Weasley," I told her.

The name didn't ring any bells, except for the fact that I think Michael has run across an Arthur Weasley at the Ministry a couple of times. He had to be Fred's father... but I didn't know them. "That's a lovely name," I said, ignoring how Jada's cheeks went red. Teasing her for them wouldn't make her open up more to me. I couldn't help but be curious. She had boyfriends, but none she ever really talked about in more than a few lines in a letter home. "Would you tell me more about him?" I questioned, not wanting to prompt her in questions, but to let her tell m eonly what she was willing to.

I jumped up and sat on the counter as my mum was organizing the mess. "Would I? Oh, God, Mum... he's just so sweet! He's a bit of a prankster at school. Always has a joke to tell... loves making people laugh," I said, staring off into the distance a little bit. "I swear he'll own a store like Zonko's one day or something. I wouldn't be surprised if he got hired there eventually. He comes from a big family... Jetty is in his younger brother's year and he has a sister a year younger than that. But then he has a few brother's older than him, too. And he's a twin. I can always tell them apart, though," I added. There was just something different about them, as similar as they were. "I can't really put that into words, though, how they're different. Because they are two peas in a pod, that's for sure!" I took a deep breath and sighed. "Mum... we haven't even said we were dating or anything like that. We've just been writing, telling each other about ourselves, and just saying how we can't wait to see each other. Is it totally crazy for me to be acting like this?" I asked. I didn't want to sound like a nut-job when I saw Fred next. I mean... seriously. How lame would that be?

She sure filled me with a mouthful about Fred. I couldn't help but smile as she described him. "Honey, I think that you'll have it all put together when you see him on the trainride," I told her, putting a hand on her knee. "You always have it put together, no matter what's going on. I don't think it's crazy, though, sweetie. You know how your Auntie Emmy had always felt about Uncle Sirius and how her brother felt about his wife," I said. Jada was a bit of a romantic. She loved hearing those stories and happily-ever-after stories. I knew that was why she was always a little timid around guys, she wanted her own fairy-tale story. And we all knew how rare those were. But I had a feeling, only a small feeling, that this could be hers if she let it happen on it's own. Without me pushing it or her pushing it. "I wouldn't put too much out there right away, though, when you see him at the station," I told her. "And dress nice in the muggle clothes you're going to wear... you'll have to change, but at least be done up enough but not too much so he can see your natural beauty," I added.

"Geez, way to make me more nervous, Mum," I teased. I was already freaking out about what to wear and it was a month away! "I'm just hoping he's going to invite me to sit wiht him on the train. I mean, it'll probably be with George -- his brother -- and Lee-Jordan -- their best friend. But still... it'd be nice to just be around him." I sighed and buried my face into my hands. "I'm hopeless, Mum," I told her, not removing my face.

I walked over and put my arms around my girl. "No honey... you're not hopeless. Just falling," I told her

I started to laugh. 'I'm not falling, Mum," I said, knowing full well what she meant. "It's just a crush. It's not like we've even hung out in person. Maybe he's just nice to talk to but not to hang out with or be around. So don't get your hopes up," I added teasingly. I knew my mum got a little carried away with some things every now and then. This type of thing being one of them.

I just smiled and continued to busy myself around the kitchen.  "Just remember... if something feels this nice, well, you shouldn't fight it, sweetie," I told her glancing over at her to see that she was staring out the window.  I wasn't even sure if she just heard me.  As much as she hated to admit it, I was sure that she was falling...