Next chapter! We meet someone new ;) xx

He didn't know what to say. Days passed and George and Angelina were almost completely inseparable. His arm would be locked around her waist at nearly all times, and she'd laugh and hold his hand in both of hers. What did George have that Fred didn't? Certainly George and Angelina fought less. With Fred and Angelina, not a day would pass when they weren't arguing or ignoring each other. George seemed to be filling whatever void her parents had left her with.

Lee constantly assured him, though. Her home life was so lonesome and aristocratic, and George was the exact opposite, but enabled her dependency on others. It was a recipe for disaster, he would tell Fred. It would die over faster than drinking Draught of Living Death in one fell swoop.

But would it? George seemed quite content to lounge on the couch in the common room with Angelina pressed close, her hands holding his together in a knot of dexterous fingers. She would laugh and fawn over him. There was no telling how long this would all last. Brilliant.

Hogsmeade before the Ball came, and Angelina pulled him to the side. Their most recent row had nearly left her in tears, and it had hardly been three days. How did that work? Why was she talking to him? But still he listened attentively as he could.

"Come with me, I want a bloke's opinion while I shop for a dress. It just seems like a better idea than taking Katie and Alicia. After all, who knows George better than you do?" It seemed to have been logical enough to the Gryffindor witch that was now dragging him by the sleeve of his robe. He said nothing. So quiet was Fred that twice Angelina had turned to give him a quizzical look.

But she seemed to continue dragging him through Hogsmeade that day, and whenever their hands would brush (as she did have quite the grip on his robes) she would stop to turn and scowl at him. He wondered if she felt it too—tense shocks of electricity, just from the slight touches. He would simply shrug at her. Finally they were in the shop she seemed to want to go to. But then, the strangest thing happened. She just stared at him, and stared.

"Yes?" he asked finally, rolling his eyes as she stood expectantly before him. Fancy her or not, she was one of his best friends, and he wouldn't seriously treat her any differently than he had the past five years.

"Well? Pick things out. You know what George likes." There it was again. What George liked. That was definitely a favorite line of hers that day. It wasn't his, though. But he consented and went to gather a few choices of evening gowns for the witch.

He wanted something that would look good on her that she would like, but George would as well. However, he and George had quite varying opinions on the designs and preferred silhouettes of dresses on girls (only because they liked when different parts of the girls were accentuated). So he slipped a dress in, a lovely emerald green number with a loose shawl (he supposed that was for the weird draped-over-elbow effect) and presented the four dresses to her.

Angelina gave them each a light nod and walked into the changing room, where a friendly looking sales witch was waiting to assist her. The dresses were handed to the older woman and she and Angelina disappeared for a number of minutes. Soon she emerged in the first: a red dress that swept down to her ankles and floated in light layers up to her hips. The gown was strapless and she seemed to be having some difficulty keeping it up.

"Don't like this one at all, it's not very comfortable," she said rather bluntly. "The fit is nice, and so is the dress, but...ugh." Without waiting for him to say anything, she turned and went back into the fitting room.

The second dress seemed a bit better for her. It was a deep teal that was showered in razor-thin gold and silver beads that formed subtle patterns along the bodice, and the rest of the dress was decorated with the same beads in little lines. It too was strapless, but seemed to hold itself up better. But still, she seemed only mildly interested. "It's better, but...I look kind of like someone cast a permanent Lumos charm on something." There was an awkward laugh from her before she spoke again, "I'll consider it though. I like it a lot more than the other."

The third went about as well as the first dress. It was another deep blue color, but one shoulder had a strap (with a strange looking flower design of fabric on it). Fred could tell nearly automatically though that Angelina couldn't possibly have been comfortable in it—it was so tightly clinging to her that he could see every dip in her waist and the curves of her chest and hips perfectly.

"This is just a flat-out no. I'm almost worried to try the last one on."

"I think you'll find it more to your speed, Ange. It's just one more, and if you don't like it, you can just buy the second one." Fred again rolled his eyes at her, and in response she had stuck her tongue out to him. But with a nod, Angelina turned and was back in the other room one more time.

When she emerged she looked nervous, but also almost like she was a completely different woman. Compared to the other dresses, this was so different that it was almost shocking: the inner of the dress was breathable and a brilliant emerald color, and there were layers of silk loosely fitted around it beneath the bodice of varying shades of green as well. The dress also had straps firmly situated on her shoulders. To Fred, she could never have looked more enchanting.

"What? Is something wrong with it?" she asked, after a moment of his silence. Snapped from his reverie, Fred shook his head.

"Nothing. Do you like it?" he replied after a beat. She chewed her lip again and surveyed herself in a long mirror beside the door to the other room, gave a slight twirl (she looked almost delightedly surprised at the way the silk layers fanned out) and even admired the shawl that was touching the small of her back.

"Yeah... I do. If it were between the teal one and this one, I think I'd choose this. They're both nice, but this is...so much more my style." Angelina laughed now, a genuine laugh that made Fred grin as well. "I'll be back in a moment, then."

He watched her walk back into the room, a dazed smile and fond look in his eyes until the door closed. But he had seen the sales witch raise a brow at him—she seemed to know more than Angelina had picked up on.

"I'm sure your boyfriend over there will be quite happy seeing you at the Ball," she told Angelina kindly as Fred pulled enough galleons and sickles to pay (savings from when the World Cup bet) and both teens froze.

"Sorry? No, this isn't my boyfriend. He's my boyfriend's brother."

"Twin, actually," Fred added. He and the sales witch exchanged a look before the older witch grinned from the two.

"Enjoy the Ball, dears." With a good-bye the two left, Angelina carrying the large box that held her dress, and consulted the large clock that was outside.

"Goodness, I'm almost late... ah, well." Angelina shook her head slightly and rubbed her thumbs against the box. "You didn't need to buy the dress for me, Fred. I could've paid."

Fred shook his head quite firmly and gave a pat to the witch's shoulder. "I wouldn't have it." The slightly younger teen folded his arms now and looked at the box as well. "It looked brilliant, by the way. I'm sure he'll like seeing you in it." Fred knew he himself would love seeing her enter the Great Hall in the magnificent gown. "Maybe you'll remember to dance with me as a thanks for getting you the dress."

"I'll pay you ba—"

"You'll do no such thing. Just that dance, and it's all repayed. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to be very late for a date if I don't run now," he said simply. Before she could open her mouth to respond, Fred was off and away. He knew she would just be going to see George anyway, and that he did in fact have a date to meet up with.

He saw the blonde Ravenclaw near the Three Broomsticks, where they had agreed to meet, and with a smooth grin he was beside the sixth year prefect. It took her a moment to notice him, but she gave him a haughty look at a small smile.

"Took you long enough."

But Fred didn't mind this—after all, he could spend the length of their date remembering Angelina in her dress for the ball. Alexandra was quite pretty, but she could be cynical and demanding. Those were two qualities that weren't necessarily good things in his opinion, but she was still technically his girlfriend. He saw from the corner of his eye George and Angelina walking hand in hand, delicate box on her other side, and leaned to kiss Alexandra.

"Let's get a couple of butterbeers, then Honeyduke's, then back to the castle, alright? There's something I need to give you, and it's in the Gryffindor common room."

Alexandra nodded, looking only vaguely interested, and the pair walked into the Three Broomsticks. On a whole, their day together was uneventful but good enough to call it successful, and once they were back to the castle he had her wait in front of the Gryffindor portrait hole. A few minutes later he returned, something behind his back, and with another light peck to her lips he held a book out to her.

"I know you want to be a mediwitch once you get out and go to higher school, and this came out a couple of weeks ago..." he trailed off and waited for Alexandra to take it. "I just sort of figured it would be a nice thing."

After a moment of just looking at the book, Alexandra reached and took it. Good. Off his hands now. She thumbed through it, and a scrap of parchment fell out. Shit. He knew exactly what paper was—he'd almost passed it to Angelina, just before he and Alexandra got together (which was mysteriously right around when George and Angelina started dating).

"Ange," she began aloud after lifting the parchment "I like you a lot. I think we should go out on a trip to Hogsmeade together sometime to test things out. I don't bloody know, it just seems like it would be interesting. It's alright though, we don't need to be public. If people started finding out, some problems could arise, after all. Fred." Alexandra raised a brow as she looked at him, folding her arms across her chest.

"Alex, that was over a month ago."

"The book came out two weeks ago. Why did you keep the letter, if it was over a month ago?" Alexandra's grip on her own upper arms tightened significantly, and she was nearly crushing the parchment in her clenched grip now. He responded by brushing hair from her face and kissing her forehead.

"We don't need to be fighting the week before the Ball. There's still plenty of time before evening, do you want to go buy your dress? I can come with you, and then we'll get an ice cream, and it'll be easier than standing here and wasting daylight."

She scowled slightly at him. "I already have a dress, sorry. I think I need to be doing some studying." She released the poor sheer of parchment, and down it fell. She waited briefly, as though expecting him to dive for it, then turned and walked away before he could say anything. However, he did stand around, shifting his weight from foot to foot in mock-confusion and stared after her. He realized this was a good move when he saw her look back at him as she walked.

He picked up the terribly crumpled parchment and shook his head as he went back into the common room.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you're enjoying the story so farrr.
Much love, besos y abrazos~
-PinkBubblegumBliss xx