Disclaimer: I've been at this for five years now. If you don't know that I'm not JKR by now, then there's no help for you.
Author's Note: I was working on OAS (stop that snickering) and this bit of dialogue got in my head and wouldn't leave me alone. Stupid bunnies. I'll probably get to a real Fred deathfic eventually, but not for a while.
"AHHH!! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!" came the scream of Angelina Johnson. She and her fiancé, George Weasley, had finally set a date for their wedding. One year from now, she'd be a married woman.
She remembered spending summers and holidays with the Weasleys and thinking about how awesome a mother Molly Weasley was. Unfortunately, she now wanted to murder her mother-in-law-to-be. Between Molly and her own mother, Angelina was being driven mad; they'd taken over the planning to the point that Angelina no longer had any say so in her own wedding. The flowers, the music, the dress, even what hairstyle she was going to wear were what led her to where she was now: locked in the bathroom of her flat, leaning against the door, and cursing the day she met George.
Suddenly she heard a "pop" and George was standing in front of her, arms folded across his chest. "Care to tell me why my girlfriend is holed up in the foetal position in our lavatory instead of at the Burrow planning our wedding? And why my mum had to owl me to bring you back?"
Angelina looked up at him and said in a slow, even voice, "Our. Mums. Are. Mental." She took a deep breath before continuing. "You ever think that we're making a mistake?"
George took a seat on the toilet, sighed, and buried his face in his hands for a moment. "Angie, I'm going to ask you a question and I want you to be honest, okay?"
"Yeah, sure.
"Do you remember that time at the beginning of sixth year when Fred and I went to see you in the library?"
"Of course. Why?"
"Why'd you choose him?"
Flashback…
Angelina sat in the library, Arithmancy book open in front of her. The mark on her latest assignment hadn't been up to her usual standard. Thankfully, Aunt Septima – Professor Vector – had agreed to let her do it over. At least she promised not to tell Mum and Dad, she thought with a shudder. She could already hear her parents, grandparents, and elder brothers – all proud Ravenclaws – in her head telling her that just because the Sorting Hat saw fit to put her in Gryffindor House didn't mean that she could have Gryffindor grades.
She picked up a scrap of parchment and began making notes on the proof that she was revising. So involved in her work she was that she didn't notice the two identical faces that had plopped in front her until an owl dropped a letter on her head.
"Angie, they're looking for you. I couldn't stop them. Lee." She looked up to see Fred and George waving at her.
"Hullo, boys. I'm busy so whatever insane product you want to test on me –"she started.
"Choose," the twins flatly said in unison.
"Come again?"
"Choose," Fred repeated. "It's time. You can't keep dating both of us."
"You've got to let one of us go. We can't keep going on like this."
"'Sides, Angel, you don't want people calling you a tart," Fred finished with a cheeky grin.
Angelina looked first from one twin to the other and back again. "I…I need time…"
"You've had over a year," George snapped.
"Er, right then. Um…" she trailed off. "Don't you two have detention with Snape or summat?"
"Not until seven. Now, quit stalling, Angel," Fred retorted.
Angelina looked at each of the twins in turn as she weighed her pros and cons. First, she gazed at George. Having kissed both, she knew that he was the better snogger – perfect pressure, just the right amount of tongue, and all that. He typically had a calmer demeanour than that of his brother, but when provoked, he had temper that rivalled both Fred's AND Angelina's. Truthfully, though, she saw him as more of her mate than a potential boyfriend. A mate who happened to be a VERY good kisser. Besides, George loved the ladies and they loved him right back. As a result, she tended to be pretty low on his list of priorities.
Fred, on the other hand, didn't advertise the fact that he fancied her, but he made it known. He'd hold her hand on the way to class and rarely abandoned her for the next girl that caught his attention. Sure their relationship was extremely volatile and their arguments had caused more than a few of their fellow Gryffindor housemates to hide, but they always made up an hour later. Angelina was even willing to concede Alicia Spinnet's belief that her rows with Fred were merely their pathetic attempts at flirting. At the end of the day, she didn't doubt his feelings for her, unlike George.
Having made her decision, Angelina smiled at both of the boys sitting in front of her. "Alright, boys, I think I've made my decision. But I'll give you both one chance to make a last appeal. George, snog me." She watched as the bloke in question raised an eyebrow, but still obliged. As usual, there were fireworks behind her closed eyelids, but she ignored them. "Now, Fred." Fred followed suit. "Hmm…" Angelina trailed off, intending to drag out the suspense as long as she could. Unfortunately, her elbow hit her Arithmancy book reminding her of the proof that she still had to finish and submit to her aunt. "Okay, I choose Fred. Now, off, the both of you," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand before getting back to work.
End Flashback
"Er, what?" Angelina was stunned by the question. "What do you mean?"
"I thought we'd gotten past this, but clearly you still feel guilty for being with me. So I want to know why you chose him over me. What did Fred have that I didn't? Why do we need to be having this conversation nearly four years after his death?"
A shocked Angelina looked up at him. "Do you even have a clue what you're saying?"
"Yeah, yeah, I do. Fred was my twin, my other half and I'll never get over his death. And I've been on that brink of hopelessness, of insanity; you know that, you brought me back from the edge. From trying to…" He shook his head to rid himself of that memory. "But I refuse to have his ghost hanging over our marriage. I love you, damnit, always have. But I can't do this, not until you know what you want. Until then, the wedding is off."
George, having said his piece, pulled out his wand and prepared to Disapparate. Before he could leave, however, Angelina had picked herself up and crushed her lips to his. George resisted for exactly two seconds before he kissed her back. When she finally allowed him air, he gasped before trying to speak. "Angelina –" was all he managed to get out before she cut him off.
"Yes, I do miss Fred, but that isn't what I meant. He has nothing to do with us."
"Obviously he does."
"Fine, you want to know why I chose him? Because he made it known that he fancied me. He held my hand in public; you didn't. In fact, before that day, you'd been acting like we were casual. You acted more like my best friend than someone who wanted to be my boyfriend. You'd ditch me for other girls, you'd ditch me for Lee, and you even ditched me for Percy once. In short, George, baby, you needed to grow the fuck up." She took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm with you now because you've experienced things that did finally make you grow up; we all did. I'm NOT with you because you remind me of Fred; like you said, we've been through that. Yes, his death brought us back together, but other than that, he has nothing to do with us. My relationship with him and my relationship with you are mutually exclusive."
George pushed her away. "I'm not sure if you remember the events of about five minutes ago, but I found you on the floor of our bathroom leant against the door. 'You ever think that we're making a mistake?' Your words, not mine."
Angelina threw up her hands in exasperation. "I give up! It's plain to see that you haven't heard a word I've said."
George crossed his arms again. "I've heard everything you've said. You want to break up."
"That's not what I said! When I asked if we were making a mistake, I meant 'Do you reckon we can Apparate somewhere nice and elope?' Not 'I've decided that I'm still in love with your deceased twin and I'm going to go Self-Avada so that I can I be with him forever.'"
George cocked his head to the side and raised his left eyebrow at his fiancée before he burst into laughter. Pulling her back into his arms, he muttered, "You are truly the craziest bint that I have ever met."
"Bah, you wouldn't have it any other way."
"True. And of course we can elope, provided you're the one that tells our parents when we get back." A smirk spread across his features as he gazed at Angelina's look of horror. He thought about the tongue-lashing he'd get to watch her take once they got back 'round to the Burrow and his grin grew even wider.