Authors Note: best chapter yet. reviews?
GUESS WHO ALYSON IS GOING TO ASK TO THE BALL?
Chapter 5 up ASAP
enjoy~~~
"Canary Creams!" Fred shouted to the excitable crowd. "George and I invented them—seven Sickles each, a bargain!"
It was nearly morning when Harry along with his room mates traveled up the staircase to their dormitory, leaving the crowd to part and diminish.
"You coming along, Fred?" Lee asked, both him and George climbing the stair case, yawns escaping from their lips and sleep in their eyes. Everyone had left, and the three of them were the only ones who occupied the common room.
"Er—no, I'll be up in a minute—I just have to check something." He averted his eyes toward the window. Her owl should be here any moment.
"Alright then, mate." The pair parted, leaving Fred in the dark common room. The fire glowed softly, its flames almost entirely out. He muttered a spell, pointing his wand to the fire, and then the flames were roaring again.
A tapping noise was heard, and Fred turned his head to the window. A black owl, with swirls of grey around the eyes and speckles on the wings, pecked the glass with a letter tied to its scrawny leg.
Fred opened the window, and the owl perched on top of his arm, nuzzling him slightly.
"Come on, Knox." He laughed, untying the letter from the bird. "Alyson is waiting."
The bird pecked at his hand briefly, then seized, flying over to the window and sitting there perched. Fred opened the letter, only to see six letters scribbled on it.
Meet me by the lake tomorrow?
He smiled, and quickly scribbled a response, then tying the letter back around the owl's leg. Knox cooed and flew away through the open window, leaving Fred alone in the common room once more.
He pointed his wand back to the fire, "Aguamenti."
The fire extinguished, the common room becoming black as night. And with the help of Lumos, he went up to his dormitory and waited for morning to come.
The following morning, Fred woke and headed to the Great Hall earlier that morning. No one in his dormitory was awake, and when he climbed down the stairs to the common room, it was cold, and vacant. When he had entered the Great Hall, only a handful Ravenclaws, a few Gryffindor first years, and two Hufflepuffs were found sitting at their house tables. There was not one Slytherin student to be found, and Fred silently thanked Merlin. Three Beauxbaton students were seated at the Ravenclaw table, and about half the delegation of Durmstrang filled the empty seats of the Slytherin table.
He then remembered Alyson's letter, and pocketed a couple of rolls before exiting the front gates and strolled down to the lake.
The grounds were silent, except for Hagrid preparing for his next Care of Magical Creatures lesson.
Finding her by the lake wasn't that difficult. Although the other half of the Durmstrang delegation that was not in the Great Hall was running drills around the lake, she was the only girl in powder blue—actually she was the only girl. She sat on a flat rock, reading another thick book that had moons and constellations on it.
He wondered if Beauxbatons provided Astronomy.
"Nice book," he pointed out. She looked up from reading and smiled embarrassedly at him. She shrugged.
"What's it about?" he took a seat next to her, and studied her as she observed the book.
"Well, it shows you the different types of constellations, and then you have the zodiac signs." She showed him a page, and he pretended to be interested, looking over studying the page.
"And then the different color associations and their symbolism, even the days of the week."
"Hm, so what does red and gold mean?" he asked her, referring to the Gryffindor scarf around his neck.
"Well, gold signifies: the sun, male energy, wealth, financial wisdom, conscious mind, attracting happiness, activity, and intelligence."
He made an impressed face. "Sounds good enough." Fred grinned. "And red?"
"Red signifies: Strength, health, vigor, lust—"
"Brilliant! Sounds like I got it don't it?" he leaned in closer to her, and grinned. She returned the gaze, a smirk played on her lips.
"And danger."
His grin fell. "Well that's no fun!"
She laughed at him, as he attempted to snatch her book. A few Durmstrang students turned to look, frowns plastered on some of their faces; others smirked at the obvious flirtation.
"Let's see," Fred said, finally succeeding at grabbing the book away from Alyson's grasp. "Blue signifies: tranquility, understanding, patience, health, truth, devotion, sincerity, honor, loyalty, peace, wisdom, protection during sleep, and astral projection." He paused studying the page, and looked up at Alyson with a grin.
"So you'll protect me while I sleep?" he winked. She laughed.
"We'll see about that." She grinned at him, and his eye brows rose at her.
"Well, well, well. That should be fun."
Alyson laughed, hitting Fred on his arm, and grabbing her book back. He sat behind her, his arms around her waist and his chin on her shoulder, overlooking the book. At first he felt her tense at the contact, but then she gave it, leaning a little into him. He couldn't help himself, her dark hair smelt faintly like blue berries, and her skin smelt warmly like vanilla. It was a strange mix, but it smelt so heavenly to him, and he sighed leaning into her.
He then remembered the rolls, and took them out and handed Alyson hers. She muttered a thank you, and they ate in silence.
"Fred," Alyson started, picking at her bread but hardly eating it.
"Hmm?"
"I'm worried about Harry."
He stopped chewing his bread and looked up. He felt her shift uncomfortably from his silence, and he wanted to answer her, but he didn't know how.
"I mean—Beauxbaton and Durmstrang—we're too advanced in the Dark Arts. We have an advantage, and Harry's only fourteen. I'm surprised he made it past the dragons. It's just—he could be killed—"
"Harry's really thick. Don't worry about it, Alyson." He paused, moving his lips to her ear. "For me?" he whispered.
He felt her tense a bit again, and he felt her heart beat increase. Alyson's ivory skin tinted red, and Fred chucked softly to himself. He kissed her cheek and stood up, and then started to walk away backwards.
"Eat, I'll see you later." He smiled at her, pointing to her roll that sat on her book that lay on her lap. She returned the smile, and once she placed her roll back into her hands, he turned and headed back toward the castle.
"WEASLEY! JORDEN! Pay attention! You're worse than Potter and Mr. Ronald Weasley."
They looked up from their parchment, and Lee folded his hands in innocence.
"As I was saying," Professor McGonagall, glared at the trio, her voice hard. "The Yule Ball is approaching—a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialize with our foreign guests. Now, the ball will be open only fourth years and above—although you may invite a younger student if you wish."
"Fred!" Lee whispered from the desk next to him. "You could ask Alyson!"
"Yeah!" George agreed, "This would be the perfect time to—"
"Dress robes will be worn." Professor McGonagall hissed, once again glaring at the trio, then averting her eyes to the rest of the class, "and the ball will start at eight o'clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight in the Great Hall. Now then—"
The three sixteen year olds did not hear a word after that.
That evening in the Great Hall, Fred sat waiting for Alyson to appear. He sat with George, Lee and Alicia Spinnet, distant from the conversation that was being said.
He eyed Alyson walk into the Great Hall, but before he could get up, a pair of hands covered his eyes.
"Guess who? She's a Gryffindor, plays on the Quidditch team, and she's absolutely gorgeous." the playful voice said in a sing song sort of voice, and Fred laughed aloud.
"Is it the wonderful Angelina?"
The hands removed from his eyes, and Angelina sat in the space next to him. His gaze averted to the spot he last saw Alyson, in which she was now walking out of the Great Hall. He frowned to himself.
"I wanted to ask you something." Angelina said in a voice that only Fred was able to hear.
"Right, I'm going to have to get back to you on that." He got up, his eyes still set on the Great Hall's doors, and he walked quickly to try and catch Alyson as she walked. When he walked out to the Entrance Hall, he caught her walking out the front gates.
"Alyson!" he called, but when she turned back, she shook her head and kept on walking. He frowned again, and ran to catch her by the arm. The contact made her wince, and she pulled away from his grip.
"What's going on with you all of a sudden?" he asked puzzled.
"Just go back to the Great Hall and hang out with your friends, I'm sure one of them would love to go to the ball with you." She retorted, clearly annoyed.
Fred looked at her with bewilderment, for he had no idea what she was talking about. "What?"
"Angelina is dying to ask you. All the Gryffindors are talking about it."
"You're serious? You can't be jealous, Alyson. We're not even dating."
She looked at him as if someone hit her in the head with a bludger. Her jaw tensed, and then she looked away. "Then why don't you go to the ball with her?" she snapped.
"Maybe I will then."
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
She stomped away angrily back to the Beauxbaton carriage by Hagrid's hut, and Fred groaned hotly before going back to the Great Hall to sit with the others. They noticed his hostility as he entered the Great Hall and as he sat down next to him.
Dinner that night was awfully silent and he was so flamed he didn't even eat dinner.
It was nearly midnight when the twins returned to the common room. George had made Fred feel slightly better about the situation with Alyson by distracting him with the snack boxes, and they brainstormed several ideas. It made him forget about the situation with Alyson, but he knew it was not something to be ignored. When they had entered the common room, they took a seat next to Ron, Hermione, and Harry.
"Ron, can we borrow Pigwidgeon?" George asked after a while.
"No, he's off delivering a letter," said Ron. "Why?"
"Because George wants to invite him to the ball," Fred said sarcastically. He then remembered trying to invite Alyson to the ball, and he felt his chest tense.
"Because we want to send a letter, you stupid prat."
Fred made a mental note to himself to thank George for answering for him.
"Who d'you two keep writing to, eh?" said Ron.
"Nose out, Ron, or I'll burn that for you too," said Fred, referring to Ron's burnt eyebrows from the exploding cards, waving his wand threateningly. "So," he just couldn't get his mind off of it. "You lot got dates for the ball yet?"
"Nope." said Ron.
"Well, you'd better hurry up, mate, or all the good ones will be gone," said Fred.
"Who're you going with, then?" asked Ron.
He stopped, and looked around the common room. He then spotted Angelina sitting by the fire with Alicia, and then he smiled to himself.
"Angelina," he said promptly, without a trace of embarrassment. George looked at him baffled.
"What?" said Ron taken aback. "You've already asked her?"
"Good point. Oi! Angelina!" He turned and called across the common room.
"What?" she called back.
"Want to come to the ball with me?"
She gave Fred an appraising sort of look. "Alright then," she said finally, and then chatted on with Alicia, a smiled played on her face.
"There you go, piece of cake." He said to Ron and Harry. He then stood, yawning. "We'd better use a school owl then, George, come on."
The two descended up to their dormitory, leaving the few Gryffindors left in the common room. Lee was already in his four poster, reading a Quidditch magazine. He looked up to see the pair, Fred just going along while George followed him, his jaw slightly tensed.
"You asked Angelina," George pointed out, changing out of his clothes and pulling on a pair of shorts, leaving his chest bare.
Fred shrugged before throwing a shirt over him, "Might as well go. It'll be fun, Angelina's great."
"So you don't care if Alyson goes with someone else?" Lee asked quite awkwardly.
Fred shrugged. "I guess not." He climbed into his four poster, and stared at the ceiling for a while.
The dormitory was silent for a while, and no one spoke. Soon enough, George and Lee's lights went out, and Fred was left to stare at a dark spiraling ceiling.
He didn't know whether to feel happy, or somber.