Hi everyone! So it has been a bit since I updated. I have crazy classes right now :-( So here is the Yule Ball!
The Great Hall was shining with stunning winter decorations covering every inch of it. Angelina had never seen Hogwarts look so beautiful and romantic. The couples made their way to a table about halfway up the room and settled in around the table. Angelina thought this is exactly how she pictured the "prom" that her Muggle friend Alex wrote to her about. The table just perfectly fit the five couples. Angelina looked down at the table to realize that it wasn't set up like a normal Hogwarts feast.
"What is this?" Angelina asked, picking up the menu and turning to Fred.
"I have no idea. I don't see any waiters either."
Just then they heard Dumbledore's booming voice and turned just in time to see him leaning away from his plate and food appear out of thin air. "Well at least it's nice to see that Hogwarts still has some surprises," George said across the table to Angelina.
"Come on. I don't care how much you two figure out. You will never know all of Hogwarts secrets."
"True, but we will always try," Fred said.
"And that is one of the many reasons why I love you two," Angelina said before leaning forward and placing her order into the plate.
The dinner was delicious. The house elves spared no extravagance on the dinner. While the feasts at Hogwarts had always been amazing, this meal was beyond anything they had ever tasted. They all ordered different things so they could try everything. Well, everyone but Samantha and her friend from Hufflepuff, who ended up being named Ellie. She was a sweet girl, but she followed everything Samantha did. As for Samantha, it seemed that she didn't like sharing very much. That included George's attention, particularly when it was focused towards Angelina. Apart from the snide remarks from Samantha, Angelina had a great time. She and George fell right back into their comfortable friendship, which she was thankful for, but they had both put up boundaries so that they wouldn't end up fighting again.
After a while, Dumbledore stood up at the front of the Great Hall to begin the actual ball portion of the Yule Ball. Angelina watched in amusement as Harry made his way to the dance floor with Parvati Patil at his side, apparently terrified about dancing in front of the entire Great Hall. Parvati grabbed his hand and began obviously leading him around the floor.
"'At a boy, Harry! Way to take control," Fred yelled across the Great Hall, which gained laughter from the entire table as well as a glare from Harry across the room. Angelina couldn't help but feel a bit bad for him. It was so easy to see how much he hated all that attention. But at the same time, the look on his face was absolutely priceless!
"So how long before Harry trips over his own feet? We are officially taking bets," Fred said, pulling a small notebook out of his robes.
"Half a dance," Katie said, "I will put 5 sickles on it."
"Only five? Come on Katie, as a regular member of this group I expect more from you," George said, trying to gain more money from the exchange, undoubtedly to go towards their joke shop fund.
"I say he will make it through the rest of the dance, but will trip while leaving the floor, that would be so much better," Angelina said, laughing already at the image forming in her head.
"Oh nice," Fred said, "How much?"
"Um, I'll say 10 sickles."
"Why is it that you make bets on your champion falling? Do you not approve of this young man?" Aleksandar asked, unsure of why the Hogwarts students would want their champion to be embarrassed.
"No, Alek, my boy," George said, trying to explain the situation. "Harry is like out little brother, which is why it is always funny when something embarrassing happens to him. Which happens often. For the Boy-Who-Lived he is exceedingly clumsy. Plus, we are hoping to make some money."
"So you do like him then?"
"Of course," Katie said, with exceptional enthusiasm "He is our champion!"
"He isn't every Hogwarts student's champion, you know," Samantha said.
The entire table froze. If Aleksandar had any questions about where the loyalties of the group lay they were cleared up in that one second. Samantha was met with the darkest stares anyone at that table had ever witnessed. The only people not glaring at her were Aleksandar, who looked shocked from the abrupt change in mood, and Ellie, who looked embarrassed by her friend.
"Do you have a problem with Harry, Samantha?" Angelina asked. She had an incredibly threatening expression plastered on her face. While she had never been too close with Harry she felt protective of him like he was her little brother, and no one messes with Angelina Johnson's family.
"No problem," Samantha said, trying to cover her tracks. "I was just saying that Hogwarts does have two champions."
"Yeah, we know that. No one said that Diggory wasn't our champion too. You are the only one here that seems to want to split the school into Diggory supporters and Harry supporters," Angelina said, getting more riled up by the second.
"Come on, Ange. She wasn't trying to start a fight. She is just in the same house as Cedric," George said in an attempt to stop the fight before Angelina became too upset.
"How can you defend her?" Angelina yelled at George. "You are supposed to support Harry more than anyone else. He is like family to you!"
"Angelina, you know I support Harry. I just want to keep you from blowing up the entire ball," George said with a small laugh. Angelina couldn't help but laugh a little as well. She may have been a little out of hand, but Samantha had been a little bitch all night and that had just pushed her over the edge. At this point other couples had joined the champions on the dance floor.
"How about a dance to get all that angry energy out," Fred said, standing up and offering Angelina his hand.
"Sounds great," she said back, taking his hand. As she started to walk away she heard a little of George's conversation with Samantha.
"…he is practically my little brother and if you have a problem with him than you can get another date." Angelina smiled, content that George wasn't letting her get away with the jibe.
The entire school began to file onto the dance floor. Fred and Angelina pushed to the front of the stage to get a better view of the Weird Sisters' performance. All the girls were a bit disappointed that the Nymph Chasers got replaced by the Weird Sisters, but the show was still incredible. Fred and Angelina were having the best time. With any other person she would have felt self-conscious while dancing, wondering if she was doing okay or not. She had never been much of a dancer, but with Fred it just worked. They were just as equally energetic and ended flailing around the dance floor together. Even more than that, Fred actually liked to dance. They would be jumping around like maniacs when suddenly he would grab her hand and spin her into a dip. She slightly noticed that there was a whole area opening up around them. Everyone was probably scared of what they would do. While everyone in the school knew something would eventually happen between Angelina and one of the Weasley twins they were also terrified at the prospect. They could end up destroying the school if they got in a fight or broke up.
But tonight neither Angelina nor Fred was worrying about that. They were just happy to be there together. After a few hours of dancing, both Angelina and Fred were absolutely exhausted. "Do you want to take a break?" Fred asked, "Maybe get something to drink?"
"Merlin, yes! I am so tired!"
The two made their way back over to the table where Alicia and Daniel were taking a break as well. "Hello, lovely," Alicia said as Angelina flopped down beside her. "How is it going?"
"Great except for the fact that it is a bloody sauna in here."
"I'm going to go grab some drinks for us," Fred said as he made his way to side of the room.
"Hold on, mate," Daniel said, hopping up out of this seat, "I'll grab something for us too, Alicia." He leaned down and gave her a quick peck on the cheek before running off to catch up with Fred. Alicia turned to Angelina with a beaming smile only to be met with a raised eyebrow from her friend.
"Don't look at me like that!" Alicia said, "He is very sweet."
"You really fancy him, don't you?" Angelina asked, extremely amused by how embarrassed Alicia was acting. She hadn't really had the chance to see Alicia and Daniel together before since they had eaten dinner with his friends from Ravenclaw instead of their group.
"Yeah I do. And you would think he was great if you got to know him too. But no. We cannot be friends with the enemy!" Alicia said, mocking Angelina's excessively competitive nature.
"Haha. He seems a little too nice for my taste but he also seems great for you. But if this continues into next year you better still whip his arse on the Quidditch pitch."
"I promise to whip his arse," Alicia laughed. "So how is it going with you? It seems like you two are having a great time."
"We really are. He just makes me happy. I'm glad I decided to come with him."
"Does that mean you are going to stop being an idiot and give him a chance?"
Angelina sighed. "I don't know. He doesn't have the effect on me that you are supposed to get from someone you like. How do you feel when Daniel smiles at you?"
"I don't know. I guess the same feeling as when I make a big dive to catch the Quaffle during a match. Like I am nervous but at the same time it's the best feeling ever."
"Exactly. When Fred smiles at me I feel happy, like when I am flying, but I don't get that rush."
"Not ever relationship is like that, with the stomach dropping and all. Don't date him if you aren't interested in him but keep in mind that the best relationships come from people that feel comfortable with each other and just love being together. Sound familiar at all?"
Angelina looked across the room to where Fred was standing with Ron, obviously giving him a hard time about something or another. She hadn't even realized she was smiling until he looked up and sent her a wink which just made her laugh and shake her head at his typical antics. He may not make her feel light headed, but he did make her the happiest she ever is.
Fred made his way back over to the table, stopping to get Daniel away from a group of fifth year Ravenclaws that he was trying to escape from.
"Thanks, Fred," Daniel said as they sat back down at the table and handed their dates the drinks. "Those girls are so bloody annoying."
"No problem mate. I could tell they were driving you nutters."
"So what were you giving Ron a hard time about now?" Angelina asked, always entertained by their Ron stories.
"Hah, the stupid little bugger is all pissy about the fact that Hermione is here with Krum. This morning he was worshipping the git and now he wants to hex him. He really makes no sense." Angelina and Alicia shared a looked and then busted out laughing. "What?" Fred asked, genuinely confused.
"Well, Fred," Alicia said, "Why could it be that Ron is upset about Hermione dating Viktor Krum?"
"I don't know. He thinks he is too old for her. She is like his sister and he is worried about her."
"Um, Fred, I don't think that Ron thinks of Hermione as his sister," Angelina said.
"I know he isn't as close to Hermione as he is to Harry but he still cares about her."
"Exactly. He cares about her," Alicia said slowly, still trying to get Fred to understand what they were saying.
"I'm not following you."
"He fancies her!" Angelina said and then turned towards Alicia and Daniel. "With this one a lot of the time you have to lay everything out for him. Being dense seems to run in their family."
"Merlin! I think he does!" Fred said, finally catching on. "Ron and Hermione? When the bloody hell did that happen?"
"It hasn't happen, you dolt. But it will."
"What will happen?" George asked as he joined them at the table. Samantha was conspicuously absent.
"Ron and Hermione," Alicia said without giving any other explanation.
"What?" George said, turning towards his twin. "Since when?"
"See what I mean about the dense thing?" Angelina said, making everyone laugh. Everyone, that is, except the twins who were still stunned by the idea of Ron and Hermione together.
The group went on people watching. There was such a wide group of people that it was definitely leading to some interesting events. Roger Davies and Mademoiselle Delacour were in the corner of the room not caring that they were acting that way in front of all three schools. It seemed that Zacharias Smith had decided to sneak in some firewhisky to the dance and was now being scolded by a very angry looking McGonagall. Angelina wasn't sure whether or not he would remember that he had detention in the morning. Worst of all was little Ginny Weasley was suffering through another dance with Neville Longbottom. She probably wouldn't even be able to walk tomorrow with all the abuse her feet were receiving.
When a slow song came on Fred jumped to his feet. Expecting to dance more, Angelina stood up as well. "Actually, Angelina, I was wondering if I could grab Ginny for this one. She needs an escape from Longbottom if she ever wants to walk about. Is that okay with you?"
"Of course!" Angelina said. She was always surprised by Fred when it came to his baby sister. The girl had always seemed pretty bland to Angelina, but there must have been something more there. Fred loved that girl so much. Sometimes she even rivaled George, but of course nothing could break those two. Angelina sat back down and watched as Fred cut in. She felt so much affection for Fred in that moment. Even though he could be a bit cruel at times, especially to Ron, he really was a sweet person. Her thoughts were interrupted by a small cough.
"Well, might I steal a dance while my brother is otherwise occupied?" George said offering Angelina his hand.
Angelina smiled up at him and took his hand, letting him lead her out onto the dance floor.
"So, where is your date?"
"Well I may or may not be hiding from her," George said with a laugh.
"Oh, so that's why you asked for a dance. If she sees us dancing she will think you are Fred and leave you alone," Angelina said.
"Obviously," George said with a smirk.
"Hah, glad I could be of service. But really, are you having at least a bit of fun?"
"I am right now." He said, making Angelina blush involuntarily. Recognizing the pattern she was falling back into, Angelina tried to change the subject.
"So it is really sweet how Fred is with Ginny. She is the only person who brings out that side of him."
"Yeah, he is great with her," he said turning them slightly so he could see Ginny and Fred.
"How did that even happen?" Angelina asked with a bit of a laugh, yet actually curious.
"Hah, I know. It is a bit strange. Well, Fred and I are obviously close. We weren't really born with the choice." George said, laughing at some memory that she didn't share. "But we never really clicked with the rest of the family. Our family is incredibly close, don't get me wrong, but Ginny is different."
"Different how? She seems so quiet."
George laughed hard at that. "Yeah, I guess she does while she is here. She is actually one of the feistiest people I have ever met. I think she is just intimidated by everyone here. Plus, she didn't get off to a great start. Her first year here was awful."
"Yeah, what happened that year?"
"Don't worry about it," George said, obviously anxious to get off the subject. "Anyways, she has always been a bit of a troublemaker, so Fred and I took her under our wing. He got closest with her, though. Of the rest of our family she is the only one who gets him. She is also the only one from our family who can tell us apart, like you. Bill is too old, Charlie is off with his dragons, and Percy is, well, look at him." They both turned to look up at the table where the self-important little git was making a fool of himself. "Yeah, and Ron has always been our punching bag since we started teaching him the wrong words for things when he was a baby."
"So that left Ginny," Angelina said, beginning to understand the relationship that Fred had with his sister. She was his protégé and the person he would protect with his life. Again she felt a wave of affection for her best friend.
"Yep. So are you having a fun time?" George asked, moving the conversation away from his twin.
"Yeah, really great. But I always have fun with Fred so that isn't much of a surprise."
"Of course," George said. After a second he continued, "You look really beautiful tonight Ange."
Angelina looked up at him and saw no trace of that permanent smirk on his face. She didn't know what to say to that comment.
"I mean, you always look beautiful," George began to ramble, "but tonight you look even prettier. That dress is perfect. We were all stunned when you came down the stairs. Not that it is strange that you looked that great. Just…oh bollocks."
Angelina couldn't help but laugh. He looked so adorable trying to compliment her and failing miserably. "Thank you, George. I mean, you completely botched that, but I got the point."
"You really know how to make a guy feel great, Ange," George said, adopting that smirk back onto his face.
The song ended so George and Angelina made their way back to their table, which had now become filled with their entire group, including Samantha. She turned to George and asked, "Fred, where the bloody hell is your twin? I have been looking for him for half an hour."
"Maybe if you were nicer to his friends he would have stuck around," Angelina said, not even attempting to hide how much she hated this girl.
"Ange," George said, giving her a warning look.
"Sorry," she said, rolling her eyes before turning to Samantha. "This is George. Fred is over with his sister."
"I should have known he would be with her," Samantha said to Ellie in what she thought was a whisper.
"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" Angelina asked Samantha, calling her out in front of the entire group.
George suddenly seemed like he had to get out of there that second. No doubt he wanted to avoid another fight between his friend and his date. "Hey, Samantha, do you want to dance?"
"I would love to, George," Samantha said even though she was still glaring at Angelina.
"Do me a favor," George said to Angelina as his date walked around the table. "Try not to kill my date before the night is over." Throwing her one last smirk he walked off to the dance floor.
"Merlin that girl is awful!" Angelina said, throwing herself into a chair.
"She isn't that bad once you get to know her," Ellie said. Angelina had completely forgotten that she was there. "She is just threatened by you."
"I'm really sorry," Angelina said, "I didn't mean to make that awkward for you."
"You don't have to apologize." She said moving over to the chair next to her and leaving Lee to talk with the rest of the table. "She has been terrible to you tonight."
"I don't even get it. I haven't done anything to her. Well, besides jump down her throat at the whole Harry thing but I am very protective of him. And she was acting that way before that."
"Don't let it get to you. She just really likes George and she also knows about his feelings for you so she is trying to make herself feel better about the whole situation. Not that that excuses her."
"What are you talking about?" Angelina asked, now thoroughly confused with the conversation. "George doesn't have feelings for me."
"That isn't what he told Samantha."
"What? When?" Angelina asked, her mind reeling.
"Right before he asked her to the ball." Ellie said. When Angelina still looked confused she continued. "You have to have heard about this. That is why you two got in the fight a few months ago right?"
"Yeah, because he asked Samantha to the ball."
"No, because you were mad that he fancied you and was messing up your friendship."
Angelina suddenly looked back at the past few months and realized that they had never actually talked about what they were arguing about. "But if he fancied me then why the bloody hell would he have asked Samantha to the ball?"
"Well, according to her, he was upset because Fred talked to him about how he fancied you. He was sitting outside of the Great Hall after breakfast and Samantha went to talk to him since she fancies him and all and he just started pouring out his heart. It actually was pretty terrible for Samantha to hear," Ellie said, thinking back to her best friend's reaction. "But after a while of talking she told him to go and tell you how he felt and that Fred would understand if you both felt the same way about each other. He asked her if she wanted to go to the ball if things fell through with you. Between you and me I think it was more of a joke than anything else but that isn't how she took it. Anyways, you know the rest."
Angelina was shocked. She should have waited to hear what George had to say before she had run off. She was so hurt at the whole situation when really she was the one hurting him. But she had taken so many steps to get over him. And she was here as his twin brother's date. And his twin brother cared so much about her and treated her the way she wanted to be treated. She looked out at the dance floor to see both boys dancing, George with Samantha and Fred still with Ginny. Why did she have to find this out right when she was beginning to have feelings for Fred? She watched as Fred dipped Ginny so that she was looking at Angelina upside down and the two sent her identical smiles. How had she never noticed how sweet he could be? Then she watched as George spun Samantha in and sent Angelina a look that screamed 'SAVE ME' over her head which made Angelina's heart speed up. How was she supposed to choose between them?
"I think I have spared Ginny's feet enough for the night," Fred said as he ran up to her and grabbed her hand, pulling her from her seat. "I want to dance with you some more," he said with a wink.
Laughing, Angelina let herself be dragged back out onto the dance floor. As they danced, she completely forgot about her newly developed love triangle and just enjoyed the time she was spending with her best friend. After a few more songs Fred suggested they go outside for a bit. It was so hot in the Great Hall that the freezing outdoors felt perfect.
Once they were outside, Fred slipped off the coat of his dress robes and slipped it over Angelina's shoulders. "I'm really glad you agreed to come with me tonight," he told her.
"I am too. This has been a lot of fun. I don't think there is anyone else who could have kept me on the dance floor that long," she said with a laugh.
"That's very true. I was actually surprised by your dancing skills. To be honest I thought you would be bloody awful."
Angelina budged him with her arm as they continued walking. "Sod off. I'm a brilliant dancer."
"Brilliant is one way to describe it," he laughed.
Angelina turned and smiled slightly at him knowing she had no argument there. Fred laughed even harder at the look of unwilling surrender on her face. "So it was really sweet that you spent time with Ginny tonight," Angelina said. "She was probably so tired of Neville."
"Hah, yeah she was. She said yes so she could come to the ball but I think she will be regretting it tomorrow."
"I didn't realize how close you two are."
"She is my little sidekick," Fred said with obvious affection in his voice. "George is the person I am closest to in the entire world but no one is like my baby sister."
"I never thought I would hear to talk like this," Angelina said with a smile.
"Is that good or bad?"
"Good," Angelina said, looking up at him where they had stopped walking.
Fred's expression changed as he looked back down at her. His expression was both amused and curious. He seemed a bit unsure of what to do next. He slowly reached up and brushed one of the curly strands of her hair away from her face. Angelina's mind jumped into overdrive the second he touched her. She hadn't made up her mind about the twins. What if she made the wrong decision? But he was so sweet to her. Tonight had been perfect. But she had always fancied George. Could she really give that up if there was a chance of it finally happening? All these thoughts crossed her mind as he cupped her cheek and began to lean towards her. Then she remembered dancing with him and how everything else had disappeared for those few minutes.
With that thought Fred leaned down and placed his lips on hers.
So this is the new chapter. I would really appriciate feedback. If you are enjoying the story and want it to continue it will happen sooner if I get feeback from you guys. If you don't like the story I would still appriciate your comments on how I could improve :-) Hope to hear back from you!
