WARNING! Deathly Hallows spoilers in later chapters!!!!
A/N: This is my first Fred/Angelina fanfic, so review and let me know what you think!!! I'm a little late in writing this, I should have written before Deathly Hallows, so from now on, I'm just going to have to find a way around what happened. This story is from Angelina's POV, as she recounts major events that happen between her and Fred starting before the Fred and George escape in Book 5.
Disclaimer: All credit goes to J.K. Rowling, who created this brilliant world of Harry Potter. Some of the following dialogue and description comes directly from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling.
Chapter 1
"Reckon we should leave them in our dorm? Before we go?" George asked his twin, as they walked in-sync towards the empty Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. A tall, dark-haired girl followed them closely, curiously taking in their every word.
"Nah. Might wreck the place, " said Fred, while plopping down in a seat and taking a huge bite of the turkey sandwich that magically appeared on his plate. Continuing with his mouth full and quickly glancing around them he said, "I mean, it won't wreck our stuff, cause… you know, but it'll make a mess of his."
The twins shared a secret glance, where they were clearly reading each other's mind, and laughed.
"All right then. We'll leave them in the dorm." Fred said, settling the matter, as he ruffled his ginger hair, so it caught the light in a way that made it look like his head was on fire.
Angelina sat down away from them, so she could still hear them, but they wouldn't notice her and stop talking. However, the boys merely grinned mischievously at each other. The twins were being shockingly discreet, yet Angelina had a feeling she knew what they were planning; she had been expecting and dreading it ever since they were banned from Quidditch. What made her feel worse was that her reaction to the ban surely contributed to the excitement radiating off of Fred's face.
"Hey Angela!" A voice shouted coming from the familiar figure plopping down noisily next to her. Angelina hardly could fake a smile. Lee's constant playful abuse of her name was an inescapable part of daily life, as they have been best friends since the age of seven. Angelina permitted it as long as Lee never called her "Angel". That was Fred's name for her. Was.
"What is it now?" Lee demanded, as he immediately noted her worried expression. "You can't be letting ol' Fred bother you again?!"
Shockingly enough, Lee and Angelina even confided is each other the woes of their love life. She attempted to help him pluck up the courage to ask out Katie Bell, who he had fancied for years. And he tried to help her with Fred.
"They're talking about you. And they're planning something." She said, stabbing her roast with her fork.
"Well, they're always planning something. And as long as they're discussing my brawn and brilliant commentaries…" Lee grinned.
"No, Lee, this is different."
"They're probably just causing trouble for that old hag." Lee said, trying to reassure her.
"To tonight!" Fred said suddenly, lifting his goblet of pumpkin juice for a toast.
"To expanding our horizons!" George added with glee as they drank.
Angelina grabbed Lee's wrist as realization dawned on her and the worst was confirmed.
"They're leaving. They're leaving Hogwarts." Angelina looked at Lee's shocked face. He knew it too.
Angelina swallowed hard, daring herself to pull it together. He was leaving. She made a mistake. She let all those weeks go to waste when she very well knew their time was limited. She ended things with him after the ban. Even when it wasn't his fault. Even when things were bad enough as it was, with Umbridge taking control and Voldemort was alive again. But as important as Quidditch was to her, she realized that wasn't why she ended it. Angelina was falling in love with him. And he was in love with her. That scared her. Angelina was independent and strong, and she promised herself that she would never become vulnerable, to trust someone with her heart. But now Fred was leaving, and Angelina couldn't take being just civil and distant anymore.
"Now I know Fred's a right git sometimes, but—" Lee started, but Angelina was already leaving her seat and marching over to Fred.
She sat down next to him, regretting how painfully close she was to him. Within seconds, Lee was on the other side of the table next to George, as if he was getting ready to intervene if a fight broke out.
"Hi." She said cautiously, staring into his hazel eyes.
"Hi." Fred responded, looking confused. Almost immediately he stood up to leave. "Need to go." He mumbled. "Next class."
"Wait!" Angelina said, standing up also. "I'll come with you. I need to ask you something. About… Potions." This was a workable excuse, as Fred was shockingly skilled at Potions. Fred hesitated and then nodded, but continued walking quickly, forcing Angelina to have to run to catch up.
"Fred, wait!" Angelina called to him as they entered a deserted corridor on the way to the Charms classroom. Fred stopped and stared at her, a demanding look on his face.
"What is it, Angelina?" Fred asked impatiently, abandoning the use of her nickname "Angel". She frowned at this.
"I…" She started, staring pointedly away from him. She needed to apologize. But her heart wasn't letting her. "I heard you and George talking." She finally looked at him. Having not been so close to him in weeks, she saw he looked tired and pale. And miserable.
Fred didn't respond, and just stared at her.
With a faint blush, Angelina continued. "You're leaving, aren't you?" She reached out to hold his hand, but Fred looked away from her immediately, and started to walk away. "Hey! Talk to me, Fred!" she yelled, following him. He shook his head and walked faster, desperate to put distance between them. Angelina ran and grabbed him, shoving him into a portrait with a little more force then she intended. Fred flinched, and suddenly noticed her eyes brimming with tears. "Answer me, you git!" She said, both hands forcing his shoulders against the wall.
"Why are you doing this?" Fred asked in a near whisper.
"Doing what?"
"Acting like you suddenly care about me." He said steadily, so his voice would not shake. With this, Angelina let go of him and backed away.
"Fred, I do care about you!" She insisted.
"Don't get me started, Angelina! Everyone was supposed to be united, to stand up to the hell this school is being put through. At a time like this, I needed you! We were amazing for a while! You made this place bearable! And you broke things off because of a stupid Quidditch match, or 'dedication to the team', like you said! If our relationship was that dispensable, after everything we've been through together, then I guess it didn't mean anything to you! But then here you are, acting like you care! After all of these weeks, all of these months—"
"I was falling in love with you!" Angelina shouted suddenly. Fred looked like he was hit by a bludger. "I—I'm in love with you." She took a deep breath, steadying herself. Tears were streaming down her face. "That's why I ended it. It was getting too serious. Things were going so fast. It scared me. I've never felt like this about anyone else—."
And Fred was kissing her. He held her against him, as if they could melt into each other. And everything around her was a blur, all thoughts slipped from her mind, as wonderful sensations replaced them. They stopped for air, feeling dizzy. She grinned at him.
He pushed her away, suddenly alarmed.
"Hey. What is it?" She asked, concerned.
"Why did you do this? Now?" He was yelling.
"What?" Angelina asked, shock and dread immediately paralyzed her.
"I was finally getting used to it! It finally stopped hurting as much! And now… I get the thing I wanted so desperately a week ago, the thing I still want, but now it's too hard! I—"
"You are leaving!"
Fred started walking away.
"Hey! Don't do this!" She screamed.
"You're going to be late for Charms." He said loudly, pointing in the direction of the class, with a threatening look on his face. She blinked in shock.
"Well, aren't you com—?" But Fred already tore down the corridor in the opposite direction.
Angelina arrived late to Charms class, where they were practicing Aguamenti Charms, and she sat down next to Lee who was laughing and sprinkling himself and nearby neighbors with water that fell from the air, as his wand was pointed at the ceiling. George was sitting on Lee's other side and was deep in conversation with his girlfriend, Alicia Spinnet.
Angelina started to try out her charm, but instead of having a jet of water come out of her wand, she emitted hot steam and hot tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Cut that out Lee!" She snapped as her books were starting to get drenched. Lee lowered his wand and stopped laughing immediately when he saw she was crying.
"What happened Angie?" He asked concerned, conjuring a limp handkerchief out of thin-air and handing it to her. She shook her head, frantically wiping her face dry and drawing a deep breath. Lee squeezed her hand sympathetically, and reached around her to squirt George in the ear with water. He jumped and turned around to glare at Lee for interrupting an important conversation.
"Wonder what's got his wand in a knot?" Lee thought out loud.
"They're really leaving, Lee." Angelina sighed, steadying herself.
"No… They can't be. They would have told me if they were." Lee said, looking doubtful, but depressed. Suddenly Alicia jumped out of her seat sobbing.
"You can't be doing this, George! How could you spring that on me like this!" She said, tears streaking down her face.
"Alicia we can still be together, even though I—" George insisted standing up and trying to hold her hand. She wrenched it away in a rage.
"No! That wouldn't work, and you know it! As much as we'd want it to, it wouldn't be the same!" She cried, making her way to the door, leaving her belongings at her desk. With a brief glance at Professor Flitwick, she added, "Professor I'm not feeling well." He gave her a stunned nod as every face in the room was watching since the sudden outburst. She tore out of the room. George sat down and stared at his desk with his the back of his neck flaming red. After a few minutes of stiff silence, the bell rang.
"I should gather her stuff for her. You go ahead." Angelina said briefly to Lee, who left, and went to organize her friend's things.
Emerging into the Entrance Hall a bit late, she was surprised to see it was packed, and pushed herself to the front of the crowd to see what the commotion was. And there they were. Fred and George were standing proudly in the middle of the ring of students, looking very pleased with themselves.
She was so surprised at the sight of them, that she just noticed people shrieking and yelling and laughing around her, there were many students covered in Stinksap; some found the bit rather amusing, and others were simply disgusted. The sight hit her along with a horrible smell.
"What happened?" She asked a Hufflepuff third year standing next to her.
"Fred and George turned the entire corridor upstairs into a huge swamp!" The girl informed her with glee.
"Should be just a matter of time, right George?" Fred shouted to his twin above the commotion.
"Oh yeah, any minute and the Inquisitorial Squad will be here. Followed by Umbridge." George agreed smugly.
"Fred!" Angelina exclaimed, stepping out of the ring of students. She couldn't let him leave, not without saying good-bye at least. An arm of someone in the crowd reached out to stop her. It was Lee. She tried to shake him off.
"Angelina, no. Just let him go." He said, as is trying to tell her that there was nothing she could do. Fred was leaving. She shouldn't try to make amends now, to convince him they should be together when they might never actually see each other again.
Fred gazed at her from a few yards away, for a moment with longing, temporarily regretting his decision. There was more commotion from the back of the hall and members of the Inquisitorial Squad shoved their way through the crowd. He shook his head at her, hoping she wouldn't emerge from the circle, but he caught her eyes for a moment and clearly mouthed the words "I love you".
Angelina smiled in spite of herself, and mouthed, "I love you too". Fred smiled sadly back.
"So!" Umbridge shouted triumphantly from the top of the stairs, with a vulture-like glare at Fred and George. Everyone turned to look at her at the sound of her angry girlish voice. "So… you think it amusing to turn a school corridor into a swamp, do you?"
"Pretty amusing, yeah," said Fred, looking back up at her without the slightest sign of fear.
Filch made his way to Umbridge, with a piece of parchment and looking like he passed his Kwick Spell courses.
"I've got the form, Headmistress. I've got the form and I've got the whips waiting… Oh let me do it now…" He said excitedly.
"Very good Argus." She said. "You two are about to learn what happens to wrongdoers in my school."
"You know what?" Fred said. "I don't think we are." He turned to his twin and said, "George, I think we've outgrown full-time education." It was coming, Angelina thought.
"Yeah, I've been feeling that way myself," said George lightly.
"Time to test our talents in the real world, d'you reckon?" asked Fred.
"Definitely." Said George.
And before Umbridge could say another word, they raised their wands and said together, "Accio Brooms!"
There was a loud crash in the distance and Fred and George's broomsticks, one still trailing a heavy chain and iron peg, were hurtling along the corridor till they reached their owners.
"We won't be seeing you," Fred told Professor Umbridge, swinging his leg over his broomstick.
"Yeah, don't bother to keep in touch," said George, mounting his own.
Fred looked around the crowd, lingering over Angelina's beaming face for a moment, and shouted, "If anyone fancies buying a Portable Swamp, as demonstrated upstairs, come to number ninety-three, Diagon Alley—Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes… Our new premises!"
"Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they're going to use our products to get rid of this old bat," added George pointing at Umbridge.
"STOP THEM!" shrieked Umbridge, but it was too late. As the Inquisitorial Squad closed in, Fred and George kicked off from the floor, shooting fifteen feet in the air. Fred looked across the hall at the poltergeist bobbing on his level above the crowd.
"Give her hell from us, Peeves."
As Peeves swept his hat from his head and sprang to a salute, Angelina broke into an applause with the rest of the school, and felt through her sadness great admiration towards the hero she loved, who was know flying out the open doors into the sunset with his twin.