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: Well, I woke up this morning hoping that I'd magically turn into the lovely J.K. Rowling, looked into the mirror, yep still me, the non-owner of the Harry Potter series.
Chapter Two: Flying With George
I'm not sure how long I sat by the fire that night until George found me. I seem to recall saying good night to Angelina and Alicia around midnight. I think I made some excuse about wanting to do my homework. I don't think they believed me, considering it was the first day of holidays and I rarely ever do my homework anyways, but Angelina was too ecstatic about going to the Yule Ball with Fred.
Mostly I just wanted to sit by the fire and think things out. Honestly, I really wanted to be mad at Angelina. I really wanted to plot bloody murder but I just couldn't. Angelina had been my best friend for too long, and if you really think about it, I had never told her about my feelings for Fred. Hell, I never even knew I had feelings for Fred until a few hours ago.
Speaking of which, where had these feelings come from? I mean I've always known Fred was rather good looking. How many late nights had Angelina, Alicia and I stayed up late rating the boys in our year? And how many of those nights had Fred or even George for that matter, come up near the top, or at least top five? But it's not even his looks that had made me fallen for him I think, because really how shallow would that be?
The honest truth? I loved him. I loved every single little thing about him. I loved his jokes, the way he could make people laugh in even the most horrible of situations. I love how he has always been there for me, no matter how much he was mad at me or annoyed with me. I love how he convinced me that I had a real talent for Quidditch and convinced me to go for the team in second year. I love that he never runs out of nicknames for me. I love that even though he shows the world this prankster, immature person, he's actually one of the most mature people I know. I even love how he can't go through a morning without drinking half a bottle of Coca-Cola to wake him.
And what I love most about him is how well we just fit together. I think I know him better than anyone else (besides George of course). We finish each other's sentences almost as often as he and George do. I know what he's thinking almost all the time, except when it comes to girls. Because honestly, if I really had known him as well as I think I did, I would have seen this coming. I mean asking Angelina is way out of the blue for him. As much as I love Angie, she's way too serious for him. Maybe opposites really do attract, but still. Angelina and Fred do not make a good match.
It was then that I noticed George. I was sitting in front of my favourite chair by the fireplace, watching the embers die down. I don't know how long he'd been standing there, but I guess it must have been for a while now since I had been so lost in thought.
"Hey George," I said, breaking the silence. He said hey and went to sit on the other chair opposite to me. After what seemed like a long time he coughed then,
"So, Fred and Angelina…" he began, trailing off, trying to guess my reaction. I looked down at the floor.
"Yep" I muttered. I didn't want to look George in the face. I don't know why, but I suppose because I wasn't ready to admit that I liked Fred to anyone else other than myself. I glanced up and realized that George had moved from his seat on the chair across from me and was holding out his hand for me to take.
"Come on, we're going flying." Before I could protest, he grabbed my arm and was dragging me across the common room.
"But George," I laughed. "It's two am in the morning! We can't go flying now! What if we get caught?"
"We won't, I nicked this off of Harry before coming down to see you." He said, waving the Marauder's Map in front of my face. "Besides, where's your sense of adventure Katie? It's not like it's the first time you've been out of bed after hours."
I had to agree with him. Besides, now that he'd mention it, I could really use a bit of flying right about now. Ever since I was young, flying has always been something that calms me down when I'm worried. It's like normally I have a hundred different thoughts spinning around in my head, but once I'm in the air on that broom, it all gets sort of quiet.
After narrowly missing Mrs. Norris on the second floor we made it down to the front doors out to the Quidditch pitch without a hitch. I didn't notice the cold until we got down to the lockers. Luckily though George had a few of his and Fred's sweaters leftover from last year in his locker. I grabbed one of the thickest ones and wrapped myself in it.
"Alright Katie, let's see if you still remember how to fly." George said teasingly, handing me my broom.
"Bring it, George Weasley." I smiled. We raced around the Quidditch pitch for a while, each of us always trying to outdo the other. Flying was really starting to take its effect on me. The cold winter wind blowing on my face felt amazing. After a while, we decided to take our brooms for a spin around the lake. As near as it was to Christmas time, the lake was beginning to freeze over. The snow covering the trees looked so gorgeous, it made me crave the days when I was young when I would go looking for a Christmas tree to chop down with my parents and my older brother Gavin. Flying back to the Quidditch pitch we decided to sit up in the stands for a bit. To my surprise, George pulled out a steaming thermos of hot chocolate for us to warm up.
"Ready to talk now?" George asked. I nodded, taking a sip of the hot chocolate.
"How'd you know?" I exclaimed. He knew I wasn't talking about whether I was ready or not to talk, but rather how he knew that Fred asking Angelina to the ball was bothering me.
"Oh I've known for while now how you've felt about my brother. Besides, it doesn't take a genius to interpret the look on your face after asked Angelina."
"You knew even before I did." I said, glaring at him, hating how well he knew me.
"Hey, don't look at me like that. What can I say? I have a gift." He said giving me a flash of that famous smile only the Weasley twins could pull off. "Besides, that's besides the point. What I want to know is, what are you going to do about it?"
I looked at him in confusion. I honestly hadn't thought that far ahead. What was I going to do about this?
"Here, let me give you a hint. You're going to win him back." George said, giving me a wink.
"What?" I said, a little thrown off balance. I had been thinking George was coming to tell me to move on, that he wasn't worth it, but instead he's telling me to win him back? Now I was listening.
"Look, I'm not going to give you some bullshit story, saying how he's in love with you but is too afraid to ask you out or something, because let's face it, this is Fred we're talking about. I don't even think he realizes it himself. But I know him as well as I know myself, and Angelina is all wrong for him. I know you two are perfect for each other, but he's just going to have to figure that out for himself. In the mean time though, we are going to win him back for you." George finished.
"And how do you suppose we do that?" I laughed.
"Well first of all, we're going to make him jealous. You will be going to the ball with me, and you are going to be the most beautiful girl there. Do you still have that birthday money saved up?" I nodded. I had been saving my money since the summer for something special to buy myself. I hadn't decided what yet, though I had been leaning towards a new broom.
"Good, because I'm taking you shopping tomorrow night in Hogsmeade. Don't you worry Miss Kathryn Bell, but when I'm done with you, he won't know what hit him."
We sat there for a long time making plans on how to win Fred each of them getting more and more crazy by the minute. It wasn't until the sun started to come up that we realized how long we had been out there. We hurried back to the common room as quietly as we could, before saying our good-byes and heading to our respective rooms. I slipped into bed hoping to catch at least an hour of sleep before I needed to wake up.
Before falling asleep, I ran the night's events over in my mind. I was lucky to have George. Although he's never been as close to me as Fred is, he's still always felt like a part of me. He's always been like another brother to me. And as much as I hate to admit it, he always seems to know what's best for me.
George was right; I was going to win Fred back. I wasn't leaving this without a fight.