A Love Like Woe

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Katie Bell realizes she's in love with her best friend, Fred Weasley, the night he asks Angelina Johnson to the Yule Ball, and Katie will do anything to win him back.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I never have and will never own the brilliance that is Harry Potter. That's all the lovely J.K. Rowling m'dears.

Chapter One: Wait, what?

I'm not sure when it happened. I can't even remember how. I'd love to say that I fell in love with him the first day I laid eyes on him, but I can't. As much as I love romance, and think it'd be incredibly romantic to fall in love at first site, the much more practical and realistic side of me knows that love at first site is impossible. Especially with him. I mean, who falls in love with the boy who poured a bucket of dragon dung all over you on the very first day of school? Granted, he was aiming for his older brother, but still! The point of the matter is it was impossible for me to fall for him at eleven years old.

Now most people, when confronted with a bucket of dragon dung, would have ran away from the scene dying of embarrassment. Or at the very least, cursed the prankster into oblivion. But not me. I couldn't help but admire the genius of the prank. I knew even then, that not many first years could manage a levitating spell on their very first day at Hogwarts. I had to find out who this boy was.

Naturally, after confronting him and yelling at him for several hours (hey, even if I did admire the spellwork, I was covered in dragon dung!), I ended the day with my very first and soon to be best friend at Hogwarts. Looking back on the day now I can hardly believe that we ended up being friends in the first place. Very few people can survive being at the end of one of my lectures once I get going. I honestly don't think they're that bad, but that's what Angelina Johnson, my best friend and fellow chaser, always says.

Angelina has always been the smartest of the three of us, her, Alicia Spinnet and me, Katie Bell. Best friends for life. We all share the sixth year dorm room and have been best friends since our first week at Hogwarts. We were never friends that first week. In fact I hated the two of them with a passion. Mostly I think that it was because I wasn't used to sharing a room with four other people. I had been pretty much an only child for so long since my brother moved out. He's ten years older than me, and had been living on his own since he graduated Hogwarts. Need less to say, we got into a fair amount of arguments that week. We caused so much trouble within that one-week that Professor McGonagall locked us in our room for an entire weekend until we worked out our differences. Uniting us against a common enemy really brought us together and we've been best friends ever since.

I tell the two of them everything! At least I did, until this stupid thing came along. I don't know why but I just couldn't admit to them that I fell for my best friend. I know I said Angelina and Alicia are my best friends, but he has always been much more. Although I don't think I'll ever know when I started to fall for him, I know I'll always remember the moment I realized I was in love with my best friend, Fred Weasley.

It happened about six minutes ago.

Today was the last day of classes before the Christmas holidays. This year I was even more excited for Christmas than usual because of the Triwizard Tournament and the Yule Ball. A couple of guys had already asked me to go, but I guess I was secretly hoping that he would ask me, even if we just went as friends.

Anyways, I was sitting with Harry Potter and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger in the common room after classes. Hermione was lecturing them about homework or something or other (I swear she's worse than I am at lecturing) when Fred and his twin brother George came up to us.

"Ron, can we borrow Pigwigeon?" George asked, straight to the point.

"Hey you two, aren't you even going to say hi?" I asked teasingly. Fred to my surprise lifted me up from where I was sitting and swung me over his shoulder laughing.

"Hello Miss Kathryn Bell, to what do I owe this pleasure of making your acquaintance this night?" he asked.

"Put me down you idiot! You're showing my knickers off to everyone in the room!" I yelled. I began hitting him on his back, hoping that would help my situation. Unfortunately, he still hadn't quite lost all that extra muscle he'd put on during Oliver Wood's killer training last year, and it didn't make much of a difference. I could hear Harry, Ron and Hermione laughing from behind me and George was trying very hard not to give into laughter beside me.

"Now normally I'd leave you up there to torture you but I really do need to borrow Ron's bird so…" Fred laughed, placing me onto the ground.

"You're lucky I'm too lazy to do anything right now, cause if I wasn't, I'd curse you into oblivion." I warned him, trying to regain a bit of my honor. He smirked and leaned a bit to look me straight in the eyes.

"I'd love to see you try Kate." He whispered smiling again, then patted me on my head and turned to face his brother.

"Anyways, about that owl?" he asked.

"No, he's off delivering a letter." Said Ron. "Why?"

"Because George wants to invite him to the ball," said Fred sarcastically. I had to stifle a laugh here. I couldn't help it, even after all these years, he still makes me laugh with the littlest of things.

"Because we want to send a letter, you stupid great prat," said George.

"Who d'you keep writing to, eh?" said Ron.

"Nose out, Ron, or I'll burn that for you, too," said, Fred, waving his wand threateningly. "So… you lot got dates for the ball yet?"

"I've had a few people ask me, but I haven't said yes to anyone yet," I replied.

"Nope," said Ron.

"Well, you'd better hurry up mate, or all the good ones will be gone," said Fred.

"Who're you going with, then?" said Ron. This caught my attention. I was pretty sure that Fred wasn't going with anyone yet. If he was, surely he would have told me right?

"Angelina," said Fred promptly. Wait, did I hear that correctly?

"Who?" I asked.

"Angelina Johnson." Wait, WHAT?

"What?" said Ron, taken aback. Obviously he was as confused as I was. "You've already asked her?"

"Good point," said Fred. He turned his head and called across the common room to where Angelina was sitting with Alicia.

"What?" she called back.

"Want to come to the ball with me?"

Angelina smiled and agreed before turning back to Alicia. That was when my head started spinning. It was like my mind had suddenly gone blank but at the same time was bombarded with a million different thoughts at once. Fred couldn't be going to the ball with Angelina. He just couldn't. He was my best friend. Angelina didn't know him like I did. That boy was mine, and if he went to the ball with anyone at all, it should be me. And it was in that moment that I realized; I was in love with Fred. I had fallen in love with my best friend. Now really, how cliché is that?