"Mistletoe"
"Fred Weasley, if you do not shut your mouth this very instant and start paying attention then I will not let you go to the Christmas Ball!" shouted the oh-so-wonderful (not) Professor McGonagall.
Is it MY fault her classes are so boring? Anyway, I WAS paying attention... hey what was that about a Christmas Ball?
"Christmas Ball Ms?" I asked, giving her my full attention.
"Christmas Ball," she repeated. Okay, so are we going to just sit here saying 'Christmas Ball' to each other repeatedly.
"Yeah but what about it?" I asked. Maybe I should've been paying a BIT more attention.
I heard the girls behind me start giggling- no doubt it was Jemima and Marie. Why do girls ALWAYS giggle when there's a ball mentioned? My mind drifted back to the Yule Ball in my sixth year. I had gone with Angelina and we'd danced the pants off every single person in the ballroom. I smiled as I imagined doing it all over again.
"MR WEASLEY?" Professor McGonagall's scratchy voice brought me back to reality again. I had missed her explanation of this Christmas Ball again and there was no way I'd dare to ask once more.
The class ended shortly after and I caught up with Alicia at the Gryffindor Common Room.
"What's this Christmas Ball?" I asked her, well I sort of pinned her against the wall and demanded an answer.
She laughed. "Don't tell me you didn't listen again. Hmm... too busy thinking about a certain brunette that goes by the name Angelina Johnson eh?" she giggled. I nearly punched her there and then except that she was a good chaser on our Quidditch team and she was a girl.
"It's coming up on Thursday. It's just a Christmas Ball thing, kind of like the Yule Ball last year," she explained after her giggles had died down a bit. "As usual it's recommended to have dates and get all dressed up and stuff and Dumbledore is going to decorate the Great Hall to look all Christmassy. Should be good I think."
I nodded. Angelina, Angelina, Angelina. "So who's Angelina going with?" I asked in my subtle, tactful ways.
Alicia laughed again. "She's waiting for you to ask her Fred!"
"Yeah right..." I muttered. "Well what about you then?"
She shrugged. "Somebody," she answered shortly and then walked off after giving me a wink.
Angelina, waiting for me to ask her? Alicia was probably just being nice afterall, she was the only one who knew I had a thing for Angelina although I'm pretty sure many people had guessed.
At dinner time that night I sat next to Angelina and spent the whole meal glancing at her and then looking down at my food again. Dessert arrived (my favourite, chocolate mud cake with ice-cream and cherries) and I finally worked up the nerve to ask her.
I couldn't help but notice how absolutely stunning she looked. Her earrings must have been new because I had never seen them before and her hair looked really shiny and nice. There was nothing more I felt like doing then just running my fingers through it. Fred! I scowled myself. Get a grip!
"Uh.." I made a gurgling sound. Angelina looked at me strangely. Great Fred, I thought. Great start.
"Are you okay Fred?" asked Angelina, looking at me very concerned.
"Fine," I choked out. A stray chocolate cake crumb went flying out of my mouth and hit her in the face. Oh My God, I thought and felt my whole face turn red.
But Angelina just laughed and wiped away the crumb with the sleeve of her robes. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, hey Angelina?" my voice finally came back to me.
"Yep?" she asked curiously.
"I was wondering..."
"Yeah?"
"If... "
"Yeah?"
"If you were going to be going to the Quidditch practise tomorrow morning?" I spat out.
I couldn't help but notice that she looked a little disappointed. Maybe she thought I was going to... nah!
"Yeah, Yeah I am," she replied quietly and turned back to her chocolate mud cake.
Damn it Fred! I thought. You stuffed it all up!
"Angelina?" I asked, regathering up all the nerve inside.
"Yeah?" she asked, slowly.
"I was wondering something else."
"Yeah?" her eyes lit up.
"Are you going to the ball with anyone?" I asked.
"Yeah," she replied. Angelina seemed to be saying 'yeah' a lot.
"Oh," I said. "Uhh... who?"
"YOU!" she grinned and giggled.
The Ball came around pretty quickly and before I knew it it was Thursday. The classes during the day seemed to fly by seeing as the teachers had nearly given up trying to TEACH us anything. All we did was sit around in circles chatting about who was going with who, what we were wearing, which girls we thought would look pretty etc. I'm sure the girls were doing the same and I'm also sure they didn't think the boys would be talking about it as much but hey, guys talk about this sort of stuff too.
My brother George was going with no other than Alicia, and he had confided that he actually fancied her. My other brother Ron was going with Lavender, a fifth year Gryffindor like him. Harry was going with Hermione but only as friends and my little sister Ginny, who was finally old enough to go to the ball was going with one of Ron and Harry's friend's Dean. Everyone seemed to be in good moods too and we all bustled around trying to organise things.
"Okay," said George. "We'll meet the girls out in the foyer and we'll take them by the arm into the Great Hall."
"Right," I replied. He could have been saying 'Then I'll smash a window on top of your head and make you do backflips' for all I knew. I was too busy trying to make my dress robes sit right to actually listen to him rambling.
The girls I know had gone up to get ready about three hours ago. I couldn't believe they took so long to get ready but when I laid eyes on Angelina I knew that it was worth every second of it.
I tried very hard not to stare but she must have noticed because she went pink. Maybe that was the make-up though. Anyway, she looked beautiful (I know boys shouldn't say 'beautiful' but she really did look it) in these dark purple dress robes that seemed to fit her like a glove. I noticed in the light it sparkled a bit and her hair had some sort of fancy shiny glittery stuff in it. I don't know what it was but it looked damn fine. I couldn't get over how different she looked from when she was on the Quidditch pitch.
"Hi Fred," she greeted me.
"Hi," I stammered and tried to remember what George had told me (that I'd actually listened to). Okay Fred, I said to myself. You can do this. Take her arm, lead to Great Hall, offer dance, offer drink, offer dance, offer drink, offer- how many times was I meant to offer a drink and a dance? I don't want to spend all night in the bathroom!
I offered her my arm and we made our way to the Great Hall silently. Finally we began to speak. At the same time, of course.
"You look great," I said as she said, "Wow the Hall looks great."
We laughed but she was right. The Hall did look wonderful. Dumbledore had certainly gone out of his way to create a Christmas Wonderland. Shades of red, green and white were hanging around the room and fake snow was everywhere. Christmas trees and decorations were everywhere and there was a large space left for dancing that was a bit like a Christmas disco dance floor.
"You look beautiful," I told her again once we were inside.
"Thank you," she turned red again. "You do too."
I must admit I think I looked pretty good that evening. I had bought new dress robes with the money I got from Charlie for my birthday and they were deep blue with this green stuff around the edges. They sort of 'brought out my eyes' or whatever Ginny told me.
We danced practically all night and people started clearing away from us on the dance floor. I remembered the Yule Ball again and it seemed to be a repeat of it, except BETTER! After being completely exhausted from twirling and spinning and doing dips (which I'm afraid to say that she nearly broke my arm) we found a small table towards the back of the Hall.
The music was still thumping really loudly however and we had to shout to be heard. Eventually Angelina moved over really close to me (I thought she was going to sit on me for a second) and she spoke loudly in my ear. It tickled.
"You're still a great dancer!" she told me.
"Thanks!" I shouted back. "You are too!"
"Thanks!"
"Want a drink?"
"Yes please!"
"Okay, I'll get you one!"
"Wait, I'll come with you!"
We made our way to the drink table that Professor McGonagall was watching carefully. The last thing she needed was for someone to put a potion in any of the drinks. "Thanks," I said taking two lemonades from her. I handed one to Angelina and we headed back to our table. But it was taken.
It was taken by George and Alicia. Who were snogging. Snogging. Snogging a LOT. I burst out laughing. It didn't matter how loud I laughed because they wouldn't have heard me over the music anyway. Angelina grinned and we found another table, far enough away so we didn't have to watch Alicia and George playing tonsil hockey.
I waited for Angelina to finish her drink before I carefully, slowly took her hand. At first she looked surprised and tensed up but a few seconds later she smiled and relaxed.
"Hey Angelina I was wondering something?" I said. I didn't want to embarrass myself but she seemed happy so I had to risk it.
"Yeah?" she asked. Haha, I thought. Back on the 'yeahs'.
"Would you like to go out with me? Like as my girlfriend?" I said more clearly then I thought I would be.
I waited for an answer but after a few minutes it didn't come. She just seemed to look at me and then look above me. Back and forth. I waited patiently for her to stop doing it.
That's when I realised she wasn't just looking up and down for the fun of it but because she was telling me something. I looked up at where she was looking and noticed some weird thing hanging above us.
"What's that?" I asked. Or more accurately, shouted because the music was still deafening.
"It's mistletoe!" she exclaimed, obviously shocked that I didn't know.
"Yeah?" I asked. Now it was my turn to 'yeah'.
"If you're under it, you're meant to do this," she explained and before I knew it she leant over and gave me a sweet kiss on the lips. It was soft and gentle and I closed my eyes. All of a sudden I couldn't hear the music anymore and it scared me but then I realised it was because I felt like I was in heaven. As she pulled away I opened my eyes and smiled at her. George had the right idea, I thought.
"So where do you buy this mistletoe stuff?" I asked and pulled her back in for another kiss.
"Fred Weasley, if you do not shut your mouth this very instant and start paying attention then I will not let you go to the Christmas Ball!" shouted the oh-so-wonderful (not) Professor McGonagall.
Is it MY fault her classes are so boring? Anyway, I WAS paying attention... hey what was that about a Christmas Ball?
"Christmas Ball Ms?" I asked, giving her my full attention.
"Christmas Ball," she repeated. Okay, so are we going to just sit here saying 'Christmas Ball' to each other repeatedly.
"Yeah but what about it?" I asked. Maybe I should've been paying a BIT more attention.
I heard the girls behind me start giggling- no doubt it was Jemima and Marie. Why do girls ALWAYS giggle when there's a ball mentioned? My mind drifted back to the Yule Ball in my sixth year. I had gone with Angelina and we'd danced the pants off every single person in the ballroom. I smiled as I imagined doing it all over again.
"MR WEASLEY?" Professor McGonagall's scratchy voice brought me back to reality again. I had missed her explanation of this Christmas Ball again and there was no way I'd dare to ask once more.
The class ended shortly after and I caught up with Alicia at the Gryffindor Common Room.
"What's this Christmas Ball?" I asked her, well I sort of pinned her against the wall and demanded an answer.
She laughed. "Don't tell me you didn't listen again. Hmm... too busy thinking about a certain brunette that goes by the name Angelina Johnson eh?" she giggled. I nearly punched her there and then except that she was a good chaser on our Quidditch team and she was a girl.
"It's coming up on Thursday. It's just a Christmas Ball thing, kind of like the Yule Ball last year," she explained after her giggles had died down a bit. "As usual it's recommended to have dates and get all dressed up and stuff and Dumbledore is going to decorate the Great Hall to look all Christmassy. Should be good I think."
I nodded. Angelina, Angelina, Angelina. "So who's Angelina going with?" I asked in my subtle, tactful ways.
Alicia laughed again. "She's waiting for you to ask her Fred!"
"Yeah right..." I muttered. "Well what about you then?"
She shrugged. "Somebody," she answered shortly and then walked off after giving me a wink.
Angelina, waiting for me to ask her? Alicia was probably just being nice afterall, she was the only one who knew I had a thing for Angelina although I'm pretty sure many people had guessed.
At dinner time that night I sat next to Angelina and spent the whole meal glancing at her and then looking down at my food again. Dessert arrived (my favourite, chocolate mud cake with ice-cream and cherries) and I finally worked up the nerve to ask her.
I couldn't help but notice how absolutely stunning she looked. Her earrings must have been new because I had never seen them before and her hair looked really shiny and nice. There was nothing more I felt like doing then just running my fingers through it. Fred! I scowled myself. Get a grip!
"Uh.." I made a gurgling sound. Angelina looked at me strangely. Great Fred, I thought. Great start.
"Are you okay Fred?" asked Angelina, looking at me very concerned.
"Fine," I choked out. A stray chocolate cake crumb went flying out of my mouth and hit her in the face. Oh My God, I thought and felt my whole face turn red.
But Angelina just laughed and wiped away the crumb with the sleeve of her robes. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, hey Angelina?" my voice finally came back to me.
"Yep?" she asked curiously.
"I was wondering..."
"Yeah?"
"If... "
"Yeah?"
"If you were going to be going to the Quidditch practise tomorrow morning?" I spat out.
I couldn't help but notice that she looked a little disappointed. Maybe she thought I was going to... nah!
"Yeah, Yeah I am," she replied quietly and turned back to her chocolate mud cake.
Damn it Fred! I thought. You stuffed it all up!
"Angelina?" I asked, regathering up all the nerve inside.
"Yeah?" she asked, slowly.
"I was wondering something else."
"Yeah?" her eyes lit up.
"Are you going to the ball with anyone?" I asked.
"Yeah," she replied. Angelina seemed to be saying 'yeah' a lot.
"Oh," I said. "Uhh... who?"
"YOU!" she grinned and giggled.
The Ball came around pretty quickly and before I knew it it was Thursday. The classes during the day seemed to fly by seeing as the teachers had nearly given up trying to TEACH us anything. All we did was sit around in circles chatting about who was going with who, what we were wearing, which girls we thought would look pretty etc. I'm sure the girls were doing the same and I'm also sure they didn't think the boys would be talking about it as much but hey, guys talk about this sort of stuff too.
My brother George was going with no other than Alicia, and he had confided that he actually fancied her. My other brother Ron was going with Lavender, a fifth year Gryffindor like him. Harry was going with Hermione but only as friends and my little sister Ginny, who was finally old enough to go to the ball was going with one of Ron and Harry's friend's Dean. Everyone seemed to be in good moods too and we all bustled around trying to organise things.
"Okay," said George. "We'll meet the girls out in the foyer and we'll take them by the arm into the Great Hall."
"Right," I replied. He could have been saying 'Then I'll smash a window on top of your head and make you do backflips' for all I knew. I was too busy trying to make my dress robes sit right to actually listen to him rambling.
The girls I know had gone up to get ready about three hours ago. I couldn't believe they took so long to get ready but when I laid eyes on Angelina I knew that it was worth every second of it.
I tried very hard not to stare but she must have noticed because she went pink. Maybe that was the make-up though. Anyway, she looked beautiful (I know boys shouldn't say 'beautiful' but she really did look it) in these dark purple dress robes that seemed to fit her like a glove. I noticed in the light it sparkled a bit and her hair had some sort of fancy shiny glittery stuff in it. I don't know what it was but it looked damn fine. I couldn't get over how different she looked from when she was on the Quidditch pitch.
"Hi Fred," she greeted me.
"Hi," I stammered and tried to remember what George had told me (that I'd actually listened to). Okay Fred, I said to myself. You can do this. Take her arm, lead to Great Hall, offer dance, offer drink, offer dance, offer drink, offer- how many times was I meant to offer a drink and a dance? I don't want to spend all night in the bathroom!
I offered her my arm and we made our way to the Great Hall silently. Finally we began to speak. At the same time, of course.
"You look great," I said as she said, "Wow the Hall looks great."
We laughed but she was right. The Hall did look wonderful. Dumbledore had certainly gone out of his way to create a Christmas Wonderland. Shades of red, green and white were hanging around the room and fake snow was everywhere. Christmas trees and decorations were everywhere and there was a large space left for dancing that was a bit like a Christmas disco dance floor.
"You look beautiful," I told her again once we were inside.
"Thank you," she turned red again. "You do too."
I must admit I think I looked pretty good that evening. I had bought new dress robes with the money I got from Charlie for my birthday and they were deep blue with this green stuff around the edges. They sort of 'brought out my eyes' or whatever Ginny told me.
We danced practically all night and people started clearing away from us on the dance floor. I remembered the Yule Ball again and it seemed to be a repeat of it, except BETTER! After being completely exhausted from twirling and spinning and doing dips (which I'm afraid to say that she nearly broke my arm) we found a small table towards the back of the Hall.
The music was still thumping really loudly however and we had to shout to be heard. Eventually Angelina moved over really close to me (I thought she was going to sit on me for a second) and she spoke loudly in my ear. It tickled.
"You're still a great dancer!" she told me.
"Thanks!" I shouted back. "You are too!"
"Thanks!"
"Want a drink?"
"Yes please!"
"Okay, I'll get you one!"
"Wait, I'll come with you!"
We made our way to the drink table that Professor McGonagall was watching carefully. The last thing she needed was for someone to put a potion in any of the drinks. "Thanks," I said taking two lemonades from her. I handed one to Angelina and we headed back to our table. But it was taken.
It was taken by George and Alicia. Who were snogging. Snogging. Snogging a LOT. I burst out laughing. It didn't matter how loud I laughed because they wouldn't have heard me over the music anyway. Angelina grinned and we found another table, far enough away so we didn't have to watch Alicia and George playing tonsil hockey.
I waited for Angelina to finish her drink before I carefully, slowly took her hand. At first she looked surprised and tensed up but a few seconds later she smiled and relaxed.
"Hey Angelina I was wondering something?" I said. I didn't want to embarrass myself but she seemed happy so I had to risk it.
"Yeah?" she asked. Haha, I thought. Back on the 'yeahs'.
"Would you like to go out with me? Like as my girlfriend?" I said more clearly then I thought I would be.
I waited for an answer but after a few minutes it didn't come. She just seemed to look at me and then look above me. Back and forth. I waited patiently for her to stop doing it.
That's when I realised she wasn't just looking up and down for the fun of it but because she was telling me something. I looked up at where she was looking and noticed some weird thing hanging above us.
"What's that?" I asked. Or more accurately, shouted because the music was still deafening.
"It's mistletoe!" she exclaimed, obviously shocked that I didn't know.
"Yeah?" I asked. Now it was my turn to 'yeah'.
"If you're under it, you're meant to do this," she explained and before I knew it she leant over and gave me a sweet kiss on the lips. It was soft and gentle and I closed my eyes. All of a sudden I couldn't hear the music anymore and it scared me but then I realised it was because I felt like I was in heaven. As she pulled away I opened my eyes and smiled at her. George had the right idea, I thought.
"So where do you buy this mistletoe stuff?" I asked and pulled her back in for another kiss.
