cho & fred ✣ luminous, but not clear
@chochangdefy
His hair flaked into remnants of fire and an equal fire burned in chestnut eyes beneath an opaque, morning-blue sky. It was early February in temperate London, but it might as well have been spring in Amsterdam. He wore only a light sweater- one of which his mother would kill him for sporting. You’ll freeze! No mum, it’s not that cold, really. You’ll catch a cold! Better’n catching the ugly; which, sadly, you cannot say the same’ve your other kids. Fred Weasley!
Fred was tired of this fucking curfew and it’d been just days since official notices went out and yet here he was, obediently arriving at shop later than usual because it extended to the early hours of the morn’. On this day, like many other days, George was inside while Fred perfected the look of Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes. Curb appeal was everything; especially as the only shop in Diagon Alley that exploded with every color of the rainbow during these grim and trying times.
He was halfway through spit-shining crystalline windows when the delightful scent of baking breads and brewing coffee wafted through the air and tickled his olfactory nerves. If there was one thing Fred could not resist the temptation of, it was food. And lots of it. A quick shout to George to let his twin know he was not in grave danger but instead wandering away from work before it even began and Fred found himself waltzing into the quaint cafe that somehow made good business even in these times.
“Chop chop, bangers and mash!” Fred shouted- he was well-familiar with everyone who worked there. “The usual, make it double, though. My stomach is never-ending and George, well, he’s been growing round about the middle, if you’ve noticed. Don’t say anything, though. He’s right sensitive. Oh and-- you! It’s Cho Chang!” Sitting quietly at a window table was a girl with hair as black as ink. Fred invited himself to sit across her as his order was placed with a few snide remarks from the bakers; he gave them all a bright and shining grin, which was, happily, returned.
“I’ll have you know, the rash has healed! Turned out to be a bit’ve a burn, you see. S’what you get when you test new products on yourself! Anywho, what brings you here at the crack’ve dawn? Couldn’t’ve been to see ol’ Hubs, could it?” Fred nodded to the oldest baker, a portly man with a bulbous nose that stared them down with a rather frightening look in his eye. “Oh- I know. You were hoping to see me, weren’t you? So sweet, Cho, but really. All you ought to do is owl.”
