The Company We Keep (Fred)

[Livinia Lange]

Staring at the wall was not one of Livinia Lange's favorite pastimes. Drawing a wall with magical vines and waterfalls, yes. Just sitting on a hospital bed with a sprained ankle and possible concussion, no. Staring at a blank, grey wall with not so much as a crack was the most boring thing she had ever had to do. It was all the fault of those stupid third years. If they had not tripped her, she wouldn't have smacked her head on the ground or sprained her ankle, she wouldn't have had to be carried down here by....a gorgeous boy named Fred Weasley. Well, that had been a perk, but she was still annoyed.

She gave an annoyed huff. She was a sucker for knights in shining armor and without him she would still be lying upstairs possibly being laughed at by all that passed. She couldn't help it, but she felt a small smile break out on her face and a blush rise to her cheeks. Fred Weasley really was pleasing to the eye and had been so kind to her. It actually made her numb heart do flips.

She wouldn't call it love at first sight. She didn't believe in such things. Wasn't possible. But, on the ride down (she had ended up being carried piggyback because bridal style just wasn't working. Her ankle kept hitting the other one and she was getting dizzy.) she had just felt something. She couldn't explain it. That tiny little spark of interest that makes your heart do a little jump.

In her little box of boredom she had been thinking about Fred. How she had never really noticed him before, but it had seemed he had noticed her. It felt like he cared even if it was just compulsive caring some people had. But, Livi hadn't seen much real care so any care was special. She didn't keep friends or boyfriends. She hung around with Kamilla and then otherwise she was alone. She liked being alone. But, then again, she liked how warm his hands had been against the skin of her thighs. How easy it was to lean her head into his back and just close her eyes for a moment. How perfectly her arms had fit around his neck.

She let a long sigh escape her lips before resting back against the wall. The pillows had made her drowsy so she had her bed turned to the side and was propped up along the hard, cold, gray wall opposing the one she was staring at.

She leaned over to turn the lamp off. She concentrated better in the dark. It wouldn't be dark enough to make her go to sleep. She was the "has to be pitch black before she could sleep" person. Plus, she needed the concentration. She was going to detail every little moment that had passed between her and Fred, looking for any possible way he, a seventh year gryffindor loner, would know who she ,a fifth year Slytherin lady in waiting, was. She figured he had better things to do with keeping up with every name in Hogwarts. Plus, she was Kamilla Lestrange's best friend, not anyone excessively popular like Kamilla herself or Sofia.

She pulled one of her legs closer to her, glaring at her stomach as it growled at her. She was hungry and figured dinner was just ending. She hadn't been eating much lately, but she didn't skip dinner. That's where all the gossip was spread.

This is going to be a long night she thought. Minus a sketchbook makes it worse.

She sighed glancing at the door. Wishing anyone would come through the door. Particularly a certain someone that might just walk out of her life forever and she would find herself too chicken to try and stop him. She started concentrating harder, willing him to come through the door. Maybe if she concentrated just enough...