The Younger Twin
Forgetting Angie's birthday was one of the biggest mistakes in my life. I would say the biggest mistake, but that was when I assumed Ginny wasn't capable of handling magic as well as her older brothers. I had Bogeys chasing me for days. Ugh. The memory still makes me shudder in disgust. No, forgetting wasn't the biggest mistake, but it came close second. If I had remembered, I would have been able to give Angie the best birthday present ever and she would have known then how much I felt for her.
But no, I forgot and Fred ended up with the perfect gift. My perfect gift. Here's what happened.
I was rather rudely awakened by Fred shoving me off the bed. Of course the only way to retaliate was to whip out my wand and give him a good dunking. I escaped immediate retribution by running out of the room. Cowardly, but I knew I would need to choose our fighting ground if I had any hope to win. Unfortunately Mum caught us and threw us outside before too long.
It was really no matter for we just kept at it until we grew hungry. Ginny had joined us throughout the morning and I was once more glad I had learned from my biggest mistake ever. We were laughing and breathless but my breath left me completely when we entered Aunt Muriel's house and there was Angie, looking rather put out. I swallowed, knowing we were in trouble for something.
"Uh-oh," I said, taking a small step back.
Fred tried to lighten the mood by pulling a rather horrifying mournful look. I had to keep myself from cracking up into inappropriate laughter. "What'd we do now?" he asked miserably.
Angie's face darkened and I gulped again. She could be rather scary sometimes, no matter how much I liked her. Although her ears were starting to grow pink and that was always amusing.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" was her reply, sighing slightly as all she got for her irritation was blank stares. I scrambled to think of what I could have possibly forgotten that would make her so angry. Unfortunately my brain was rather slow on the uptake and I came up with nothing.
"Who forgot what?" Ginny asked, startling me since I didn't hear her come up behind us. Fred glanced over at me as if waiting for me to provide him with the necessary information. I could only look clueless back at him. Angie looked rather incredulous. When she did not expound, Ginny spoke up again.
"What?" she asked impatiently and I could almost see her exasperated eye-roll, her cheeks flushed with annoyance, and her hair looking like a wild mane around her face.
Angie huffed and I could not help but notice how cute she looked when she did it. I almost expected her to stomp her foot, but she refrained from that. "And you call yourselves my friends!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration. I blinked and glanced helplessly at Fred, growing rather anxious at this perpetual confusion. I could feel the tense atmosphere and squirmed uncomfortably.
"We are your friends, Angie," Fred said, and his earnestness made a familiar knot appear in my stomach. Angie was pretty smart as a Ravenclaw, but she was absolutely clueless when it came to boys. How in the world did she not realize Fred's feelings for her? It was so obvious! Even now, with Fred's tone slightly laced in irritation, there was love in that statement.
Angie crossed her arms and scowled. "Words!" she cried, and I flinched. The last time Angie was this upset, was back at the Burrow before Bill's wedding. And that confrontation had resulted in Fred getting a face-full of Angie's palm. I cringed inwardly at the memory.
"What in the world are you talking about, Angela?" Ginny demanded and I glanced at her noting how red her face looked and how it clashed with her fiery hair. I wondered if all us Weasleys looked like that when we were angry/upset/frustrated. It was rather unnerving to think so. Tearing my thoughts away from that, I returned to the moment at hand, wondering if Ginny's words would get Angie to actually tell us what was wrong.
"Yeah, what she said," Fred said, jerking his thumb over at our younger sister. I nodded in agreement to both of them. My head hurt from everything my eyes and ears were observing and were trying to put together like a puzzle to form a logical conclusion. So far they weren't doing very well. I was no Ravenclaw.
"Humph," said Angie, turning and walking back to the stairs. I watched her go, wondering if she was going to give us the silent treatment until we figured it out. I wondered what in the world would be that important. She turned back to us once she got to the foot of the stairs.
"Fine then," she said angrily, and I could see her anger boiling just under the surface. "Since you guys obviously have better things on your mind, I'll just go celebrate my birthday by myself."
She stomped away and I gave a strangled yelp. Her birthday?! I thought that was on Thursday! I recalculated the days in my mind and realized with a jolt that today was Thursday. I groaned and ran my hand over my face. I felt Ginny's glare before I looked up and saw it.
"What?" Fred cried, looking stunned.
"Unbelievable," she said, shaking her head in disgust.
"You forgot too!" I pointed out, rather childishly too. It was mostly a cover up of the horrible stupidity I felt. No wonder Angie had been so upset. I felt like a complete idiot. How could I have forgotten one of my most favorite people in the world's birthday?
However after a moment I relaxed, realizing that I wasn't a complete idiot. Whereas I was sure Fred had forgotten a present as well, I had been prepared for her birthday. I had nothing to scramble for. I sighed inwardly in relief. I was jolted back to reality when Ginny flounced out of the room in a huff. I blinked, confused since I had missed that exchange between my siblings. Fred turned to me, his eyes wide with panic.
"Bloody hell!" he cried. "It's Angie's birthday! How could we have forgotten something like that? We're blithering idiots!"
"Hey! Speak for yourself," I said, frowning.
"You saying you remembered?"
That accusation caused me to shut my mouth firmly. He was right. I had no bragging rights at the moment. Well, besides actually having a present for her. However I knew I would need to get to her before Fred did, otherwise he was sure to think up something fantastic to give her and blow my simple plan out of the water. I looked at the stairs and then suddenly glanced at Fred. A light had gone off in his head and I knew he was thinking the same thing I was. We looked at each other for a moment, and then suddenly we were both running as fast as we could toward the stairs, struggling to be the first one at the top.
He tripped me just as I reached the top stair and I fell sprawled on the floor as he leaped over me and knocked on the door. I scowled at him and got up slowly, brushing myself off. Somehow he got Ginny to come out and he immediately begged her to tell him what to get Angie for her birthday.
She raised an eyebrow at him. "You're the lover boy," she scoffed. "Figure it out yourself."
I snickered, Fred scowled, and Ginny looked indifferent to it all. Fred got down on his knees and pleaded with her to come around, but it did no work in the slightest. She pranced back into Angie's room and he stared at the door mournfully for a moment, before he suddenly whirled on me and grabbed my shoulder.
"George, my old, wisest, and best friend," he began generously. I blinked, wondering what he wanted. "Surely you must know what I should get for Angie."
I looked at him incredulously, unable to believe this was happening to me. I sighed however, knowing he would win in the end. He always did and I really did not have the heart to keep him from the one thing that he wanted so badly. I had to help him. It was my duty as the younger twin.
"Well she's a Ravenclaw, so she likes books."
He appeared to consider this, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Right. So I should get her a book."
There was a long pause and I knew he was waiting for me to provide him with the title of the perfect book to get her. Sighing inwardly, I gave in to my way too soft heart and relinquished the title of the book I had bought for Angie for this very day.
"Her favorite is Pride and Prejudice," I offered. He grinned and patted my shoulder encouraging me to go on.
"You're on a good track here, Georgie. Keep going."
I scowled at his patronizing tone and wished I didn't care about him as much as I did. But I did care a lot for him, and Angie; and I knew it was best for both of them if Fred was the one to have her. Of course she might stick with Malfoy in the end (although I don't see how she could), but I certainly would not be the one to break his heart.
"Her favorite part is where Mr. Darcy proposes to Lizzie, and she's talking about why he likes her," I went on to say, and then smiled slightly as the memory of how I had come to that knowledge played in my mind.
I had been surreptitiously watching Angie while she read, and she had suddenly laughed out loud, startling me. When I asked what was so funny, she pointed to the tattered copy of Jane Austen's classic in her lap and explained to me what was going on.
"It's my absolute favorite part," she had said with a grin.
Back in the present, Fred frowned in confusion.
"Who?"
Leave it to Fred to not recognize the names of two of the most famous literary figures in classic reading. I gave him a pointed look. He covered a small wince.
"I mean, yeah. Darcy and Lizzie. Got it." He pursed his lips as he thought hard. I watched him and hoped he would not choose the outside picnic I had been planning for months. However it seemed like the only logical conclusion. I knew he would never settle for just handing her a book with a hearty "Happy Birthday!" No, there had to be something more to it. Grabbing my shoulder again, Fred squeezed it lightly.
"An outdoor picnic, that's what I'll do. And I'll read to her out loud, so it'll be much more romantic. Help me get everything together," he told me. "Thanks little brother, this idea is fantastic!"
I gaped at him as he ran down to ask Mum to make the food. I followed him dumbly, cursing the strange "twin telepathy" thing we had sometimes. My birthday present was officially ruined. It did lighten my mood somewhat to see him shoved out of the kitchen for pestering Mum while she cooked. Fred turned to me again once that mess was over with.
"Now about that book," he said, scratching his head in thought. He gave a long-suffering sigh. Knowing he would most likely endanger us all by getting past the Protective Charm in order to buy her the bloody book, I Disapparated to our room where I retrieved the hardbound book from underneath the mattress and Apparated back in front of Fred. He blinked in surprise and took the book, turning the blue book over to reveal the gold embossed letters on the front cover. He gaped at it a moment before looking up at me.
"When did you get this?" he demanded, frowning skeptically. I shrugged and looked away, not wanting to tell him that I had bought it in order to give it to Angie in the exact same way he was planning to.
"George?" he said firmly, waiting for me to explain myself.
"It's a good book," I said, shifting slightly on my feet and avoiding his gaze. I was also ashamed to admit that I had actually read the book, wanting to know what the fuss was about. I could see why Angie liked it. The main female character reminded me a lot of her. That's probably why I actually read the whole thing.
"It's a girl book," Fred continued, looking somewhat disgusted at my reading habits. I shrugged again, unwilling to get into a debate about it. He gave me a despairing look before he went back into the kitchen to get the food and then out the back door to set everything up. With a sigh, I retired to my own room (well, the one I shared with Fred). I had only just collapsed on the bed however, when a sharp rapping on the wall told me that Aunt Muriel wanted something.
Dragging myself off the comfortable comforter, I walked into the next room where Aunt Muriel was standing, scowling at me as she lowered her cane from the side of the wall which she had banged.
"What's all the commotion?" she demanded to know. "I'm trying to get some sleep. I am one hundred and seven years old, boy, and don't you forget it!"
I rolled my eyes. "You never let me," I muttered, earning a rap against the shins for my "impertinence." "Was there something you wanted Aunt Muriel?" I asked, once her spiel about the "irresponsibility of young people today will lead to the death of all self-respecting wizards" was over.
"What?" she snapped, and then seemed to remember. "Oh yes, tell everyone to keep quiet. I'm trying to sleep."
Refraining from telling her she was being redundant, I nodded. "Yes, Aunt Muriel," I said with a long-suffering sigh. She gave me a glare and then pointed at the door, indicating that it was my time to leave. I did so quickly. By this time Fred and Angie were already outside. I could see their spot from the window in our room, and I slammed my forehead against the pane as I watched them.
After a few minutes I felt a slender arm slide around mine. I glanced down and saw a fiery red head resting against my upper arm. I smile slightly and reached over to pat her arm.
"I'm fine," I said, trying to convince myself at the same time. Ginny snorted.
"Yeah right," she said. "I could feel your wistful vibes from the other side of the door."
I shrugged, looking down at Fred and Angie and wishing I was the one lying beside her, reading her favorite story just for her. Ginny pinched my arm lightly. I jumped and looked down at her. She had pulled away and was now frowning at me, her arms crossed.
"You're really a wimp sometimes, George Weasley," she stated flatly.
I frowned. "Gee, thanks Gin. Excuse me while I go cry in a corner somewhere over my hurt feelings." I rolled my eyes.
My arm began stinging as she slapped her hand against it. "You know you've liked her longer than Fred has. Why don't you just tell her?"
"I can't," I insisted through gritted teeth, turning away from the window and her in order to shut the door. No need for Aunt Muriel to complain about our raised voices once the argument escalated like I knew it would.
"Why not?" she demanded, placing her hands on her hips, her brown eyes flashing. She looked so much like Mum it was almost comical.
"Because," I growled, not expecting her to understand. She had always been on my side in this stupid love triangle thing, but being on my side came with many pokes, prods, and exasperated speeches.
"Well that's the lamest excuse on the face of the planet," she retorted, her cheeks glowing red.
"Well I'm sorry, okay?" I said, turning on her and crossing my arms obstinately. "I'm sorry you think I'm such a wimp. I'm sorry that I care more for Fred and Angie's happiness than my own." I rolled my eyes.
Ginny stuck her tongue out at me and I couldn't help smiling slightly at the ridiculous childish behavior.
"No one is that selfless," she informed me with her lofty opinion. I shrugged.
"You don't have to understand my reasons," I said. "But I've lived with Fred for too long to break his heart by wooing the girl that he's liked for several years now."
"Pshaw, there are other girl's out there," Ginny said, waving her hand in the air dismissively in a way that I thought was rather insensitive.
"Not everyone has enough beings of the opposite sex drooling all over them to pick and choose who they want to snog with," I snapped. "Unlike you, Fred isn't the kind of guy to test-drive every potential date that comes along until he finds the right one."
Ginny's cheeks flushed red and she gave a great screech of rage at my words, stomping her foot and Disapparating. I only felt bad about my words after she left. Running a hand through my hair, I exited the room in order to look for her. She was the only one on my side in this and I didn't want to lose her too.
I assumed she had Apparated into her room and I was right. When I opened the door there she was, glaring out the window. I stepped in hesitantly and cleared my throat. She did not turn around.
"Don't you know how to knock?" she asked shortly. I smiled slightly and walked up to stand next to her. I rapped my knuckles lightly against her head.
"Knock, knock," I said apologetically. Her lips twitched and I draped my arm over her shoulder. "Angie's one of a kind, Gin," I said after a moment. "I'm not going to take her from Fred. They need each other."
"What if she needs you more?"
I was quiet for a moment, wondering what I could give her that Fred could not. I could not think of anything and so I did not answer. With a sigh, she pulled away and rolled her eyes.
"You'd better get busy making her a different present or else Fred will win her over with this little 'gift' of his." She gestured out the window and I saw my twin lying on the picnic blanket rather close to Angie. My throat closed up and I turned away.
"Right," I said, scrambling to think of something I could make her that would trump a favorite book and picnic. Ginny looked amused at my fierce concentration and shoved me toward the door. I left hurriedly. Making my way back to my room, I picked up my wand and tapped it absently against my chin as I thought. Fred was always the one to make up most of the Wheezes we made together. He had the brains, I just followed his directions. Then I realized something.
We had this Wheezes spell that changed a wand into something ridiculous through contact. What if I could make something Transfigure into several different things each time she touched it? I could make it Transfigure into things that were valuable to her. A stuffed unicorn, a Hufflepuff scarf (yes, Ginny had made her one already, but it's always good to have a spare), a picture of Cedric, a picture of us Weasleys, a piece of jewelry, a book, etc. It could be a rather useful present. I would do it.
I had to perfect the spell however. In order for it not to change simply when she set it down and lifted it up again. She would have to leave it alone for . . . six hours before it would change again. That should give her plenty of time, I thought. After a moment of thinking this over, I realized I would need help. I gritted my teeth slightly; I wanted this to be from me and only me. But then I could mess something up and that wouldn't do at all. With a sigh I stood and went looking for Ginny.
000000000
With Ginny's help the spell took only about an hour to perfect. I wrapped it nicely using magic and promised Ginny an island to rule for her help. She rolled her eyes at this but she grinned at me and I knew I was forgiven for my words earlier.
Trooping downstairs, we just made it in time to surprise Angie with the cake and wand conjured confetti and streamers. She was grinning her face off, and she and Fred were holding hands. I tried not to let that bother me. Ginny went forward and gave Angie her gift and then one by one we all gave her our gifts. When it was my turn, I grinned slightly and handed over my gift.
"Specially made for you," I told her with a wink, feeling rather proud of the individuality of my gift. Fred hurried over to me and started punching my arm lightly, begging me to tell him what the Wheezes was. I remained tight lipped however, and simply smirked at his interrogation.
After cake and the guest dispersed, Fred grabbed my sleeve and dragged me up the stairs, tossing me into our room and shutting the door behind him.
"Come on, you can tell your own twin," he begged, but I refused to budge, tightening my lips and not giving him an inch.
"You had your 'special time' without me. Now I want to give her something special without you." For being my twin, he sure did not catch up on my emotions very quickly. It sometimes surprised me how Fred continued to not guess that I was in love with the same girl he was. But then, he had never been really attentive to things like feelings.
"Awww, but that's not fair!" he said, resorting to childish behavior, hoping that would help me crack. He used a look that usually won me over in a heartbeat, but this time it was different. This time I wanted to keep a secret from him, knowing it was better for him not to know.
"Fine then," he said, scowling. "Keep your bloody secrets. You know you'll tell me eventually." He punched me irritably. I knew he was right; it was hard to keep secrets from him, no matter how important they were. I started to say something, but stopped, knowing it really was for the best.
"Yes, George?" he said, grinning hopefully. "You wanted to tell me something?"
I frowned abruptly and sighed in exasperation. He didn't know when to let up. I gave him a solid punch in the shoulder as retaliation for the other punches he had given me and walked out of the room, leaving my twin baffled behind me. I went outside and walked around the house for a little while, clearing my thoughts and wondering if I should tell Angie that Fred's "romantic picnic" and "wonderful gift" was really all my idea.
My eyes gleamed at the prospect. I was rather irritated at Fred's insistence that I tell him ever single thought that passed through my brain and I thought this was an excellent way to get back at him. Mean, but Fred always got away with being mean. Well, most of the time anyway.
Ignoring the voice that told me it was wrong and a bad idea after all the work I had put into today trying to make sure Fred and Angie had their moment, I walked back into the house. I went upstairs and stopped by her door. Lifting my hand to knock, I stopped when I noticed that she was coming up the stairs. I stepped back and waited for her.
She looked surprised to see me and I noticed she had her new book in her hands.
"You going to bed?" I asked, studying her closely, trying to figure out if there was anything different. I had not watched them the entire time, so I didn't know how it had ended.
She nodded. "I'm tired, and I'm not really hungry so you and Fred can have my portion of dinner." I gave her a quick smile of thanks and she grinned slightly back. "Well, goodnight." She moved to open her door and I suddenly spoke up, knowing it was now or never and my nerves were beginning to fail me.
"Angie?" I said hesitantly. She turned and looked up at me expectantly. Bloody hell, did she have to be so beautiful?
"Yes?"
Her voice brought me back and I looked at her. Really looked at her. I knew why Fred had fallen for her. I had fallen for her for the same reasons. Her spirit, her fire, her compassion, her laughter, her smiles, they were all unique and came together to form her. I remembered my plan to thwart the romance of Fred's "brilliant idea" but now found that I couldn't. Looking at her, I know she needed more than me. She deserved someone stronger. And that someone was Fred. Fred could take care of her better than I could, and he needed her. I looked away, sighing softly before turning back and giving her a small grin.
"Happy Birthday," I said finally.
She grinned. "Thanks. Goodnight."
She went in and shut the door as I muttered "'Night, Angie" somewhat mournfully. She would never be mine. She couldn't be. She was all Fred's and there was no way I was going to steal her from him. I made my way back to the room I shared with my twin and opened the door to see Fred sitting on the bed, putting together a rather complicated looking Wheezes spell. I sat down next to him and watched for a little while before getting out my wand.
"You're welcome, by the way," I said, breaking the silence. He looked up at me, startled.
"For what?" he asked. I rolled my eyes and gave him a pointed look. Then he slowly grinned. "Oh yeah. Thanks bro. I had a blast." He pounded on my back with a hand before gesturing to the thing in front of him. "I'm putting together new Wheezes for our shop. What do you think?"
I looked over it skeptically. "What does it do?"
His grin widened. "I thought you'd never ask."
Yes, this is a rather abrupt way to end this, I know, but that seemed somehow fitting. Please review, it really does make my day and I love to get feedback. It also inspires me to write! Anyway, this was designed to be a oneshot, but as you can see it ended up a little bigger than that. :-P I really hope you enjoyed reading this ficlet as much as I did writing it. :-D "See you in another life, eh brothah?"
