If Florence had learned a thing or two about Fred Weasley in the two years and something months that she had dated him, it was that he could plan a date as good as he planned pranks.

Of course, like his pranks, they were never flawless. They could be well planned and structurally organized, but there would be something, either minuscule or wide-scale, that would go wrong.

But this year, the mistake wasn't Fred's fault.

The day had started off fairly good. Since it was a Friday, Florence was still requested to go to work in the morning, despite her asking if she could have it off. Apparently, she wasn't the only one trying to get a day off on Valentine's, so the best she could do was half a day. Fred, ever the innovative genius, decided to bring lunch to her. With Julien's help, he managed to set up a nice romantic meal in his office for Florence to 'accidentally' walk in to when Julien had asked her to bring some paperwork to her desk.

Florence, as expected, loved it.

Fred had a whole half a day planned for the two of them, which he and George had carefully thought of a month before, the two helping each other come up with ideas on how to surprise their ladies.

However the flaw came in the form of Molly Weasley, who had came to their apartment later that day, an urgent look on her face. Florence was on the couch, fast asleep in a nap that she did not plan to slip into, when the redheaded woman barged in to the apartment.

"Mum, hi it's—"

"You and Florence have to come to dinner." she said hastily, cutting off her son in mid-greeting, "You absolutely have to, Fred. And your brother too. Where is George?"

"He's visiting Lisa at Hogwarts, left this morning. I'm sorry, why do we have to come to dinner?"

Florence sat up, still a little disoriented from being stirred awake from her nap, "Molly? Hi—"

"She's gonna be there." She said, almost in a panic, making Fred's brows draw closer together, "Who are we talking about?"

"Your brother's French girlfriend..." Molly said, "Bill was talking about dinner plans on Valentine's, and I thought he was talking about taking your father and I to a nice dinner, and the next thing I know he's thanking me for agreeing to have dinner with him and that Fleur girl."

This made Fred chuckle, "Mum, there's nothing to worry about. Fleur's nice... at least, from what I've heard..." his voice dropped down to a whisper, "Plus Florence and I kinda have this thing... So I don't think we can make it to dinner."

"Why not?" Molly frowned, "What thing? Are you two busy?"

"Well-"

Molly made a beeline towards Florence, plopping down on the couch beside her, "Florence, dear, are you and Fred busy tonight?" she asked, the girl still a little disoriented from her nap. She looked over to Fred, who had concealed his panicked look. Florence shook her head, unaware of Fred's plans for the two of them for the evening, "No, not at all Molly..."

"Great!" The woman beamed, enveloping her in a tight hug, "I'll see you two at the Burrow at 7pm." she stood up from the couch, stopping to pat her son on the shoulder, "Mum..." he tried again, only for Molly to beam up at him, "I'll see you at 7, dear. Dress nicely, won't you?" and with that, she marched herself out of the door, feeling accomplished.

Fred sighed in defeat.

If Florence and his mum had something in common, it was that they were both adamant on things that they wanted, and couldn't be stopped even if one tried.

"So..." Florence chuckled, "Dinner with you parents... and Fleur and Bill... Should be fun."

Fred sighed once more, sitting down beside his fiancée, "Well, not my definition of fun, especially tonight. But she looked really distressed, seems like she really needs us to be there."

"Wait," Florence paused, instantly realizing now that she was in a clearer headspace, "You didn't make any plans, did you? For tonight?"

Fred gave her a look, Florence's facial expression falling, "Honey, I'm so sorry." she said, falling back against the couch cushion. "If I had known, I wouldn't have said yes to your mum. I mean it was a total ambush but I'd have insisted against dinner if I knew we had plans."

"Well, love, it was supposed to be a secret." he chuckled, "Hence the not telling you about it part..."

"I'm an idiot."

Fred chuckled, "It's okay... We still have next Valentine's, and next next Valentine's, and next next next Valentine's-"

"Yeah but... Surely you took some time out of your busy day to plan it for us but now we can't go cuz I said yes to your mum." Florence pouted, "I mean how could it have flown over my head? Of course we'll have plans on Valentine's evening. The lunch was just nice and so sweet, but there's still the rest of the night and-"

"I said it's okay," he smiled, taking her hand in his, "And I'm not that busy."

"You're just being nice about it."

"Maybe," he chuckled, "Look, it might not be the evening that we planned... But on the bright side, we'll get to see Bill in an extremely uncomfortable situation tonight."

This made Florence laugh, leaning in to Fred, "Lucky George."

"Got away just in time, I tell you..." Fred added, "But honestly, its gonna be fun. My parents already like you, so we can kick back, relax, and have plates and plates of my mum's cooking."

Florence nodded, "Molly's cooking is divine..."

"See? Silver lining." he beamed, kissing the top of her head and getting up from the couch, "This evening will be great."

Florence stood up from the couch "I'm gonna go shower. I've been meaning to take one since I got home but I was just so tired."

"Love?" Fred said, before she could make it to the bathroom, Florence swiveling around. "Hmm?"

"Don't know if you Ravenclaws knew, but... Valentine's day is also Water Conservation Day."

She gave him a deadpan look, trying her best not to crack a smile at the cheeky look on his face, "Really? I had no clue." Florence said, her words dripping with sarcasm.

"'Lotta things you don't know!" he called after her as she continued to the bathroom, shutting the door on him.

Seconds later the door swung open again, Florence peeking her head out, "Get in here, loser."

He laughed, following in after her.

---------------

The pair arrived at the Burrow fifteen minutes before 7. By the time they entered, Fleur was already sitting at the living room, Arthur on the opposite couch, looking rather timid. Fleur's eyes lit up at the sight of more people, Florence feeling as though she was uncomfortable sitting with Arthur in silence.

"Ah, Florence. It iz so nice to zee you again." She said, getting up from her seat to give her a proper hug, Florence reciprocating rather awkwardly. She didn't really have any significant interactions with Fleur that would warrant a hug as friendly as the one she had received, but she decided to go along with it regardless.

"Fleur. Nice to see you too. Are you doing good?"

"Oui, tres bien, tres bien. How iz Julien? Laz time I zee 'im... 'e buzy with work, no?"

"Yes, very busy. He's building a very nice career in the Auror business."

"Bien," she smiled, before turning to Fred, "And you Fred, doing well?"

"As well as one can be." he smiled back at her, "I'm sorry George couldn't make it. He went to visit someone today so he couldn't make it for dinner."

"Iz okay, iz okay. I waz not expecting guezt ozer than monsieur et madame Weazley."

At this moment, Molly and Bill descended from the staircases, the looks on their faces suggested that they had gotten in to a disagreement from wherever they had just been. Bill's eyes landed on Florence and Fred, who smiled back rather apologetically. Bill nodded his head, as if to say he understood that they were simply ambushed and roped in to having dinner with them.

"Oh look, mum. Its the people that you invited. Come, Fred, Florence. Dinner is ready." he said rather curtly, before marching in to the dining room, Molly chasing after him, "Oh don't say it like that. What, we can't have your brother and his lovely fiancée for dinner?" they all heard her ask her older son.

"You know why I said it like that." they heard Bill shoot back.

Molly reappeared around the corner, a smile on her face as she beckoned everyone to the dining room? "Come now, you lot. Don't be shy. Dinner is ready."

The first half of the dinner was as expected, very uncomfortable. It was not because of a silence, no. The room was lively with chatter, Molly's chatter, to be precise. She had been going on and on about the food she had made and how it was important for people to be able to cook good food for their family, all the while side eyeing Fleur, who was rather oblivious to the fact that she was the one Molly had been aiming these things at.

"Florence cooks a lot," Molly added after her long sermon about the last dish on the table, "Don't you Florence?"

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, "Well, yes, I cook when I can. When I have the time." she added emphasis on her last few words. Molly smiled at this, nodding her head in approval, "See? One of them can cook, so that the collective pair doesn't starve. I bet Florence keeps my boys well fed. But you should teach Fred there how to cook to, darling. So he can be of some help to you."

This made Fred chuckle, "Well she taught me how to boil water." he said, in an attempt to lighten the mood. Molly gave out a short laugh, before she was back on her agenda, "Well Bill here, well he doesn't know how to cook to save a life."

Arthur sighed, mumbling a short 'here we go' under his breath.

Bill swiped a napkin across his mouth, before opening it to dispute that fact, only for Molly to speak again, "Can you cook, Fleur, dear?"

"Well..." she said, taken rather aback, "I can make chocolat filled crepes." she smiled back rather happily, hoping to appease Molly, "Itz me et Gabrielle's favorite food."

"Crepes, they sound lovely, Fleur." Florence said, trying to be encouraging. The French girl nodded,
"Oui. Ze chef bringz us ze crepe and we go crazy with ze chocolat."

Molly's brows went up, "Sorry, the chef brings you the crepes?"

"Oui. Monsieur Boucher makez lovely crepes."

"I dont think that counts as something you can cook, dear." Molly said, rather patronizingly. Florence sighed quietly, before she and Fred shared a knowing look. Seeing Bill's discomfort  wasn't as fun as Fred had anticipated, and Florence didn't think Molly had the capacity to be as hostile as she was to Fleur.

By the time dinner was over, Florence volunteered to help Molly with putting away the dishes, which she gladly accepted.

The pair were quiet for a brief moment, piling the plates in the sink. It was Molly who gave out a loud sigh, before leaning against a countertop, "I went too hard on her, didn't I?"

Florence hesitated, before nodding slightly, "Unnecessarily, yeah."

"I'm sorry if you had to witness that dear... It's just... I don't know how I quite feel about her yet. She's so... french, and sophisticated."

She chuckled a little bit at this, setting a plate down before speaking, "What so wrong about sophisticated, Molly?"

"Bill is my eldest boy. I think the world of him. I just thinks he's better suited with someone who can provide for him, not be fed with chef made crepes slathered in chocolate all his life." Molly sighed, "I think all my boys deserve that. And Fred's already found you and oh how I wish they'd all end up with someone like you."

Florence blinked back her surprise, choosing her next words rather carefully, "Molly, it's flattering that you think so highly of me, and that I don't have to worry about you disapproving of me and Fred but... I don't think you should be idealizing me."

"I don't have children, but, I've met all your sons in some way or form... and they all have different personalities, despite the fact that they all are, to some degree, very daring individuals. They're going to find women who aren't going to necessarily suit your taste, but will suite theirs." she said, "I guess it was just pure luck that I happened to have met your standards as well."

"Well I suppose you're right..." Molly said, after a few beats of silence, "I guess Bill being with Fleur isn't something that I can wrap my head around yet... Bill is just such a sweet boy and I'm not certain that she's as dedicated to him as he is to her."

"Maybe make the effort to get to know her...?" Florence suggested, "I think that's what Bill wanted for this dinner... had you not invited us."

"Oh I have to go apologize to him don't I?"

"It'd be right to." Florence nodded.

She couldn't exactly grasp Molly's rationalization of the situation, since she wasn't a mother herself. Maybe it was true, what most people said, that mothers always had an instinct to protect their children in any way or form, no matter how old they were.

By the time they finished washing up, Florence and Fred bade Fleur, Bill, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley good bye. Bill walked them out to the front, Florence apologizing once more.

"Hey don't. You two were just innocent people dragged in to this." He chuckled, giving Florence and Fred a hug each, "Thanks for showing up, though."

Home was a quick apparation away, Florence and Fred walking up the stairs hand in hand.

George was sitting at the dinner table, looming over stacks of delivery paperwork when they entered the apartment, the other Weasley twin greeting them with a smile.

"Ah, there you two are." He smiled, before turning to Florence, "Now, I just wanted to tell you, whatever part you enjoyed in your planned evening, I helped think about."

"Bad news brother," Fred said, breaking it to him, "Plan went out the window."

George frowned at this, "Well, then where did the  two of you go?"

Florence sighed, "It's quite a long story."

//////

a.n: okay ik  y'all have questions about the shower bit and I assume y'all feel rather ambushed by it cuz its the first time I wrote something like that in to this book. BUT YOU KNOW, it wasn't their first time because it's implied that they have been doing stuff like that ever since they started living together. Like, come on. They're practically married. Its a normal thing to do. Most of them just happens off screen (for lack of a better term) because writing smut makes me uncomfortable byeeee

-Denise