Chapter 7
I opened the door to my dormitory, and found Alicia sitting on her bed, her arms crossed.
"Hey, Alicia," I said brightly. I winced inwardly. Too brightly.
She stared at me coldly, but at least she didn't start yelling. She just said, "Look, if you're going to try to convince me not to go to the Yule Ball with Eric, I don't want to hear about it."
"Hey, hear me out, okay?" I said, again too brightly.
I took a deep breath, and then began the monologue I'd been rehearsing all the way up the stairs. "Look, Alicia, I know you're sixteen, and you're perfectly capable of making your own decisions, but I want you to know that I'm your best friend, and I really am just trying to help you. I know you like Eric a lot, but I don't think you should go to the Yule Ball with him."
She began to interrupt, but I held up my hand, and kept talking. She fell silent.
"That said, you're free, obviously, to decide for yourself, and I won't badger you about it again. Lastly, please talk to the twins and Lee- they were only trying to help," I finished, feeling proud of myself for how mature and calm I'd just been.
I'd decided not to tell her about how I thought Lee liked her. If she hadn't guessed, I didn't want to be the one to tell her. It would only make things more complicated. Alicia would never choose Lee over Hale.
I wasn't surprised at the answer she gave, but I was a bit surprised when she didn't yell it. There was still a cold edge to her voice, however. "Alright- I'm going to the Yule Ball with Eric, and you'd better make good on your word, because nothing you say will change my mind, but I'll talk to Fred, George, and Lee. I'm sorry I yelled at them. I still can't figure out why Lee was so angry, I mean, he never gets like that!"
I shrugged. Could she really not have guessed, or did she just not want to say it?
I plopped myself on my bed, and Alicia and I sat in silence for a few minutes. I looked out the window. Several second year Gryffindors were having a snowball fight out on the grounds. My stomach growled, and I was reminded yet again that I'd skipped breakfast.
"Hey, Angelina, I've been meaning to ask you," Alicia said. Now it's her voice that is too bright. "When did you realize that you were in love with Fred Weasley?"
"I'm not in love with him!" I shrieked, throwing a pillow at her. We both giggled in relief. Then tension between us seemed to have evaporated.
"You know what I mean," Alicia grinned.
"Well, I dunno," I started slowly, "It was just- something really stupid, actually."
"Tell me!" she insisted.
"Well, alright," I agreed. It was a good, if slightly embarrassing memory. "It really was rather stupid. I was in the hallway, walking to the Great Hall for dinner with the twins. We'd been in the common room; I think you and Lee had gone to the library. Anyway, Pansy Parkinson- that awful Slytherin fourth year- came up behind, with her tittering friends.
'Johnson,' she said, I have a question for you.' I knew it was going to be something snide, so I ignored her. That girl can't take a hint though, so she kept going. 'I was just wondering why you thought it looked good to wear a bunch of ugly black snakes hanging off your head.' All her idiot friends thought that was hilarious. I wanted to turn around and slap her little face off, but I just ignored her and kept walking. Fred got all angry though, and turned around and told her that he thought my hair was beautiful- much more so than her thin little greasy strands or her ugly little face. That wiped the grin right off."
I realized I'd been staring out the window as I'd been talking. Now I looked at Alicia. "I told you it was stupid. But when I looked at him, at that moment, I realized that I was developing a crush on Fred Weasley," I laughed. "It did make me feel slightly nauseous, I must admit."
Alicia had been watching me with a smile, but her eyes looked slightly sad. I wondered if she was wishing she had a story like that for her and Eric.
"Ange," she said now, "That's so sweet, so… perfect."
"Yeah," I said smiling. "That's what I thought, too."
Hey, I'm back! Sorry, I know it's been like three weeks since I updated, but I put two chapters up today, so I'm catching up. This chapter a bit shorter than I like, but I really wanted to end it right there, so, yeah. Please review, I want to know what you all think about these two chapters!
Thanks for reading!
Julia
