Chapter 8- Another Nightmare
After everyone had left, George showed Angelina to his bedroom.
"You can sleep in my bed," he offered as he took his pyjamas off of his bed and onto Fred's,
"Are you sure?" she asked,
"Yeah, of course."
Angelina smiled at him as she sat on his bed and looked around the room. George was nervous. This was the first time a girl had stayed over in his bedroom and he didn't really know what to do. He wanted to comfort her, but would it be weird if he sat next to her on the bed and put his arms around her? Or should he give her space and sleep downstairs? He was so confused.
"Do you have anything I could sleep in?" Angelina asked.
George nodded and rummaged through his drawers to find a t-shirt he hadn't worn in a while. He checked it over, to make sure it wasn't one of Fred's old t-shirts and when he was sure it wasn't, he threw it over to Angelina. He showed Angelina to the bathroom and after getting changed in his room, he sat on Fred's bed and waited for her.
"How am I meant to sleep in his bed?" George asked himself as he stared at the pillow with Fred's wand on.
He stroked it, before looking at the pyjamas that were identical to his and were perfectly folded on the bed. He couldn't do this. It was Fred's bed, not his. The only person that could ever sleep in the bed was Fred and for George to sleep in it would be like him attempting to take his place. But he wanted to stay with Angelina, because of the state she was in. As he argued with himself over where to sleep, Angelina came in wearing his navy t-shirt with a 'G' on that went down to just above her knees and shorts with pink, yellow and white stripes. Her hair was tied up into a small bun and the makeup that had been on her face had completely vanished, but if anything, she looked even more beautiful than usual. She got into George's bed and he stood up, maybe the sofa would be better, he told himself.
"Aren't you gonna stay with me?" Angelina was looking up at him with sad eyes.
He couldn't leave her. Even if it felt wrong to sleep in Fred's bed, it would feel even worse to leave her on her own. He nodded and walked back to the bed. First he delicately lifted Fred's wand and carefully placed it on Fred's drawer. Then, he picked up Fred's pyjamas and opened the drawer for them. However, instead of putting them in, he held them close to his chest, closed his eyes and stroked the soft fabric with one of his hands. He imagined Fred coming through the bedroom door while George and Angelina were sleeping. He imagined him waking George up and angrily whispering in his ear, asking why George was sleeping in his bed and why he was always with his girlfriend. It sent almost painful shivers down George's spine, before he opened his eyes and put the pyjamas into the drawer. He then got into Fred's bed and sat up against the head board.
"How are you feeling?" he asked Angelina,
She sat up, "Confused. Why would someone take my cousin?"
"We believe that the man you saw holding her may be behind various attacks on muggle-borns,"
"But she wasn't just attacked, she was kidnapped,"
"And I promise you, we will find her and bring her back."
A tear crawled down her cheek. George reached over the gap between the beds and pulled her into his arms.
"Sorry for all the crying," she sniffed,
"It's okay, I like being the one to cheer you up," he smiled before kissing her head.
She laughed and pulled her head up. He looked into her eyes that gazed back up at him. The tears that were still in her eyes made them glisten and sparkle even more and as he wiped one of her tears away, her dazzling smile appeared on her face. He knew that eventually the gap between the beds would widen and they'd have to let go of each other, so he couldn't let this chance pass. He felt like all the feelings he had for her were filling him up and now, they were about to overflow.
"Erm, Angelina, being with you has been amazing and lately I've been having feelings for you and I know it's wrong, because you used to go out with my brother and it may be weird but I can't help it and I understand if you don't feel the same and."
He was interrupted by Angelina moving closer to him and kissing his lips gently. Her lips tasted of sweet mints and he felt butterflies flutter in excitement in his belly. When Angelina pulled herself back, she giggled at George's face of surprise and how quickly he was blinking. After the few seconds it took him to let what had happened sink in, he cleared his throat, but his facial expression didn't change.
"I hope that wasn't a test to see whether I've brushed my teeth or not," he smiled,
"Of course it wasn't, you big ginger nut," she giggled, "I kinda have feelings for you too."
They laughed. George couldn't believe that she felt the same way about him, her simple words made him feel like they had been plucked out of a fairy tale and his happily ever after was waiting for them around the corner.
"So, would it be okay if I kissed you?" he asked nervously,
"You don't need my permission," she giggled.
He chuckled before stroking her cloud soft cheek and kissing her. Everything became a blur in the moments that their lips touched and when her hands slid through his hair, tingles went through is body. Never in a million years did he think that Angelina Johnson would have feelings for him and never in a million years did he think that he'd be making out with her.
George was in the exact same place again: infinite darkness with smoke surrounding him. But this time, he wasn't alone. Angelina was standing by his side in a long black dress with her hair tied up and holding his hand. They walked through the darkness until they saw a grey stone wall appear in front of them with blood splatter across it. The smoke clumped together to form the shape of a person and when it sunk back to the floor, Fred was left standing in front of the wall. He was wearing the exact same thing as he wore on the day of his death, but something about him seemed very much alive. There wasn't a spec of blood on him and there was colour in his face. He was back.
"Fred?" George looked at him.
Fred smiled at him and Angelina, "Well, it's not your reflection, George, so yes, it's me."
Angelina let go of George's hand and ran into Fred's arms. He held her close to him and kissed her lips slowly. Of course she'd leave me for him, George told himself as he watched them and forced tears back. When Fred let go of her, he looked at George in silence. The silence between them continued until they ran towards each other and held each other. The feeling of holding Fred made George cry with ecstasy and his heart grow to be three times the size. He never wanted to let go. He couldn't let go. Fred was the one to let go first and George could see a couple of tears falling from his eyes too.
"Look at you crying like a girl," Fred laughed as he pushed George's chest playfully,
"You're crying too, you big baby," George laughed as he pushed Fred back.
He didn't push him hard at all, in fact, George's push was so weak that Fred didn't even take a step back. Despite that, when George moved his hand away, blood began to seep out of his chest and Fred fell to the floor. George ran to him, put one hand on his arm and the other over the bleeding wound on his chest. He felt blood trickle out from under his hand on his arm and when he removed it, there was another wound that wasn't there before bleeding heavily.
"Don't touch me," Fred begged as he struggled to breathe,
"I'm so sorry, I don't understand how I did this," George cried as he moved back from him.
As Fred took his last breath, the smoke surrounded him and eventually consumed him, leaving nothing but dust. There was blood dripping from George's hands making him feeling nauseous. He shook and cried as he stood up and looked at Angelina. Tears were flowing like a high speed river from her eyes. From the look on her face, George could tell that she was almost consumed by anger and her eyes were staring at him like sharpened daggers. She ran at him and hit his chest over and over against with her fists.
"How could you?!" she cried.
She then fell to the floor by the dust that was once Fred and cried into her hands. George rubbed his aching chest before kneeling next to her. The blood on his hands had disappeared which allowed him to but his arms around Angelina and kiss her head. He held her tight, but soon felt a liquid from Angelina's arm and back begin to coat his palms. When he removed them, it was like déjà vu. There was a wound on her back and another on her arm, both rapidly bleeding, both caused by George. She fell to the floor and went pale.
"Please, don't leave me," he begged as he hopelessly watched her.
Angelina looked into his eyes, as she carried on with her fight for oxygen and her voice echoed in the darkness, endlessly saying, "How could you?!" But she couldn't die. He couldn't lose her too, he just couldn't.
George woke up sweating and breathing heavily. He had to convince himself it was just a nightmare, he had to sit up, look over to Angelina and watch her to make sure that she was breathing. After two minutes of just watching her, he lay back down as it wasn't even sunrise yet. He hoped that he wouldn't have another nightmare, but it was obvious to him that there was no point of hoping or praying. So he closed his eyes, and prepared himself for the nightmares ahead.
