The next few days I expected Katie to be down right miserable, and be hung up over that bloody tosser Roger Davies. I was wrong.

And that's where the problem was. Katie seemed just a little too fine with the fact that he had left her for another girl. She wasn't sad, and she didn't even seem angry. This upset me a great deal, and whenever I wasn't around her, I was pressing Angelina and Alicia for answers regarding to Katie's behavior. They had finally had enough of me this morning, and were both successfully ignoring me. A task that is very hard to do, let me assure you.

The fact that Katie wasn't hung up over Davies should be good news to me, but it wasn't. Any normal best friend would be happy that they weren't depressed over the breakup. I wasn't any normal best friend. I, Fred Weasley, fancied my best friend. Me!

I was all too excited the day after Valentine's Day. I woke up extra early and waited down in the common room for Katie Bell to make her way down that morning all sad and in need of some cheering up. She would be close to tears like the night before, and I would be just the person she needed to cheer her up. She would come and sit down on the overstuffed couch next to me, and cry into my shoulder, and I would make her laugh and help her through this rough time. I would come to her rescue, much like any man would do in those muggle fairy tale books.

I would be her knight in shining armour, as they had called it. And she would realize that once she was over Davies that I was the one who had helped her through it, and therefore, I was the one she should be with.

I knew I sounded ridiculously cheesy and so un-Fredlike, but I couldn't help it.

As of late, Katie Bell had that kind of effect over me, and I simply hated it.

She wasn't distraught over the breakup. At all. She didn't need anyone to comfort her, much to my dismay. She didn't look ready to break down crying, so therefore, she didn't need my shoulder to cry on. She wasn't looking to get even with Davies, so she didn't come to George and I for pranks.

All in all, it appeared as if Katie Bell didn't need me.

This put me in a foul mood the past few days. After all, what was a guy to do when the girl he fancied didn't appear as if she didn't need you?

I did everything I could for her these past few days. I held open doors, I carried her broom after Quidditch practice, I walked her to class, and I even did a number of her assignments. They weren't anything too challenging—after all, she was a year younger than the rest of us. When would she see that I was dropping hints left and right for her?

….A week later...

I stabbed my fork into the food on my plate halfheartedly that afternoon, not even paying attention to what I was eating. Alicia was busy studying for some potions exam that we had today. George kept glaring at Lee, who was busy flirting his head off to Angelina, who for once, looked like she was enjoying it. I rolled my eyes at my brother. He wouldn't admit to anyone that he fancied Angelina since first year. I took every opportunity to bug him about it, and he often spat back that I should just snog Katie already. One time he almost said this in front of her, so I stopped bothering him on the subject of Angelina.

Instead, I kicked him underneath the table and cocked my head towards Lee and Angelina. He scowled at me and cocked his head over to the entrance of the Great Hall. My head shot over there immediately, and my mouth visibly fell open.

Katie Bell was flirting with Cormac McLaggen shamelessly, and he was eating it all up. I couldn't tear my eyes away from them. I lost my appetite and my stomach sank. Have some class Katie. You know you could do so much better than McLaggen.

Staring at them for who knows how long left me speechless. It brought me back to when I would compare myself to Davies. Now I found myself doing the exact same thing with McLaggen. What would it take for Katie to see that I was here for her? I would kill to be in that prat's place right now—to have Katie flirting with me. I know I sounded desperate but I didn't care.

George kicked me underneath the table once again. I grunted in response, but still didn't tear my eyes away from the pair.

"Oi, Fred-o, wake up!" George threw what felt like a bread roll at my head, and it bounced off and fell to the table. I flicked my eyes to him and glared.

"What?" I spat. He was really being annoying lately. He just wouldn't lay off the fact that Katie hadn't paid any extra attention to me the past few days, and I was ready to beat him over the head with Alicia's potions book.

George rolled his eyes at me and swallowed whatever it was he was eating. "You know bloody well what, brother." His eyes flicked over to the pair, who were holding hands laughing now. My breath hitched in my throat, and I looked away quickly. Damn bloody twin always knowing what I was bloody thinking...

"Fred, just pluck up the courage to ask her out already, would ya?"

I scowled and whispered back to him pointedly. "I will when you will, George." My eyes flicked to Angelina. George's followed, blushed, and glared at me.

"Deal." He whispered back just as menacingly.

Alicia, who had gone almost the whole day without saying two words, spoke up. "You two are just so hopeless." What was she talking about? How much did this blond girl know?

George fidgeted in his seat and spoke before I could. "What are you talking about, 'Lic?"

Alicia put her quill down for the first time that day and rolled her eyes. She fixed her all-knowing gaze on each of us. "George, just go over there and ask Ange out already, would you?" George was about to speak, but Alicia cut him off. "And you, Fred." She looked over at Katie and Cormac, then back to me. "Just snog her already, would you please? I really don't want to hear her and Cormac tonight."

My stomach felt sick at her words. "What do you mean, you don't want to hear her and Cormac tonight?"

Alicia rolled her eyes and went back to her potions essay. "Fred, honestly, are you stupid or something?" These words confused me further. What did Alicia know that I didn't? Seeing that I wasn't catching on, she sighed heavily. "Katie's been snogging Cormac the past three days every night in the common room, you wanker." She spoke pointedly and stated this as if it were a known fact, and that I must be mental to not know. Those words stung, and my head dropped.

"Oh." Oh? That was all I could say? I felt defeated, rejected, humiliated.

I knew I didn't deserve Katie, and I was just fooling myself thinking that my best friend could see me that way. I was stupid.

Alicia looked up at me apologetically. "Fred, I'm sorry, but you really should just pluck up the courage and tell her how you feel."

I jumped up at this. "And what exactly is that, Alicia? Since you seem to know how I feel, please, enlighten me. I don't feel any special way for Katie Bell. Now get that through your little blonde head, would you already?" Alicia looked hurt by my words, and I was glad. I was sick of her butting into my life for today.

"Fred, I—"

"No, Alicia, I don't want to hear it. Mind your own damn business already, would you?" And with that, I stormed out of the Great Hall. I didn't even see Cormac and Katie standing around, and I didn't care if I did or not.

….Up at Gryffindor's Common Room About an Hour Later...

"Fizzing Whizzbee's." I spat icily to the Fat Lady. She gave me a worried look, but opened up anyways. I took a step into the common room and my head spun when I heard the voices in there.

I saw that Katie was giggling furiously as Cormac Mc-bloody-Laggen was half-dragged her down from the boy's dorms. His tie was tied backwards around his neck, and one of his shoe's wasn't tied. He was smirking, and kept looking back at her giggling behind him.

Katie was another story all together. Whereas Cormac at least tried to straighten himself up, Katie had not. Or if she had, she had failed miserably. One of her socks was inside-out, and the other wasn't even pulled up all the way. Her skirt was wrinkled and pulled up just a little too high to be deemed appropriate for dress code, and her long sleeved blouse wasn't buttoned up all the way. Her tie hung haphazardly around her neck, and her hair was all disheveled, looking like it did one Quidditch practice she had forgotten to tie it back.

Cormac reached the bottom step and pulled Katie down after him, kissing her roughly. She laughed and grabbed him, pulling her up against him. His hands around her waist inched lower and lower... My throat tightened, and I clenched my fists.

I finally had enough. I cleared my throat loudly, and began to walk towards the stairs to my room. "Oi, get a room, would you already?" I spat as menacingly as I could. Katie jumped, and Cormac stepped back a little.

I was now standing next to the couple, about a foot away. I glared at Cormac, who stood a few inches below me. He smirked, and slung an arm around Katie's waist. I clenched my fists tighter. "Just came from one, Weasley." His smirk seemed to get even bigger, and his eyes shone up at mine. I wanted nothing more than to shove my fist in his face, but I refrained from doing so.

I looked down at Katie. Even though I was furious at her, and her hair was all messed up, and her lips were slightly bruised, she still looked so great. I sounded like an idiot thinking that, but I didn't give a rat's ass at this point. I just walked in on my best friend, the girl I bloody fancied walking down from Merlin knows what with Cormac Mc-bloody-Laggen. You could say I wasn't in the best of moods.

Her big brown eyes looked up at mine, confused. She shrugged out of Cormac's hold and attempted to smooth her clothes and hair out, straightening up. "F-Fred, I—"

I simply shrugged, not trusting myself to speak right now. "Whatever, Katie. See you later." I took the steps to the boy's dorms two at a time, throwing myself on my bed, forcing myself to fall asleep.

….Three Weeks Later...

Neither Katie nor I spoke about the whole Cormac incident. I did notice that she no longer was around him anymore, and that he had thankfully moved on to some unsuspecting Hufflepuff girl. About a week after I had found her and him together, we started acting like we normally did around one another, pretending as if nothing had changed. We took Hogsmeade trips together, and I continued to drop hints to her that I was here for her, and that I liked her as more than a friend.

These hints seemed to fly right over her head, much to my disappointment. George would give me his annoying pep talks every night when I was ready to give up on her, and I continued to try to talk him into asking Angelina out. My attempts proved pointless, for he was just as stubborn as me or Katie was. Whenever I got close to him plucking up the courage to confront Angelina, he reminded me of our little bet. When he asked Angelina out, I would ask Katie. I would sigh in frustration, and we would both steer clear of the subject, taking our minds off it with pranks on unsuspecting first years.

There was a particularly warm March day—a week and a half before our birthday—when I was quite literally bouncing off the walls. It had me in high spirits for the rest of the day, and the girls all mad at me. It was great.

George and I just finished gathering up all of the Quidditch equipment that day after practice, and everyone else had either made it back to the castle or was still in the locker rooms, showering before dinner. Oliver was naturally still flying around over head, trying to beat his best time from hoop to hoop. George said something under his breath about Wood and sniggered. I had laughed too, but the joke was unforgotten a moment later.

I grabbed the trunk of balls, and George slung our brooms over his shoulder lazily. I threw the things in the broom shed, and we ambled over to the locker rooms slowly. My muscles were sore from an especially long and hard practice, and it felt like we were walking around for hours before we had finally reached the locker rooms.

I noticed Harry had already left with Ron, and they were walking side by side of none other than Hermione Granger. George and I nodded our hello's to the three of them, and they waved back. Ron ran up to ask George something, and I continued to walk towards Gryffindor's locker room to get a quick shower in before dinner.

Stepping into the steamy room, I stopped in the doorway, listening in on the girl's conversation going on.

"—Lee!" I heard Alicia exclaim. Hearing Katie laugh, I smiled. She hated her laugh, but I couldn't get enough of it. I shook my head and focused on the conversation once again.

"Well, sure, why not? I mean, Lee's been in love with me since forever, so why shouldn't I go to spend the summer with him and his family for a week or two? I think it's harmless." Angelina was talking, and I suddenly felt bad for my brother. Lee wasn't the only one that's been in love with Angelina since day one. George was hopelessly in love with her as well.

I heard a snort, and then Katie speak. "Ange, Lee isn't the only one that's been in love with you since forever, you know." I pressed myself up against the wall even further. What was Katie getting at? Did she know about George? Of course she knows about George, you idiot. The three of you are best mates.

"What do you mean, Katie?" I could almost see all of the girl's expressions. Katie lowered her voice a tad before speaking.

"Honestly, Angelina, are you blind? George fancies you, you idiot!" Alicia laughed at Katie's words, and I smiled. Hopefully this would help George. "And I thought Alicia was the blond one." Katie and Angelina laughed, and I heard Alicia protest, but was silenced by the laughter.

"That's not true..." I heard Angelina say. Did she sound...hopeful?

"Yes, it is. Now just shut up already, would you? I say go for it with George, he really does fancy you, you know." Alicia sighed at Katie's words.

"You're so lucky, Ange. George and Fred are so cute!" My eyes bugged out at Alicia's words. Alicia Spinnet thought George and I were... Cute? She was like a little sister to me. I shuddered at the thought of doing anything with Alicia. "Wouldn't you agree, Katie?" Huh? What was Alicia getting at?

Silence filled the room for a moment before I heard Katie speak. "Well, uh, yes, I mean, um, you know... I suppose they're not hideous." She sounded nervous, and I tried my best not to laugh. Well, at least she didn't think I was hideous. That was a good starting point, right?

"So you like him? Or, one of them? Who would you rather go out with?" Damn Alicia. Whenever she wanted to know something, she got right to the point.

I could almost see Katie fidgeting around at Alicia's interrogation. "Well, Fred, I suppose." My heart sang at hearing her words. She'd rather have me!

"So you like him then?" It was Angelina who spoke. I was eager to hear Katie's answer, but George showed up, and pulled me inside the locker room. I wish I could have hit him. I wanted so badly to hear her answer.

"Shower time!" George sang out. He blindly walked into the room with the girls in it, dragging me behind him. He threw me out in front of him, and both of us had to shield ourselves from the screams and things being thrown at us.

"Get out!" The three girls shrieked.

"Bloody HELL, get OUT!" A shoe hit me in the chest, and something whirled by George's head. I laughed, and turned to face the girls, to see what all the fuss was about.

Angelina was ripping her Quidditch robes on, and throwing anything at the two of us she could grab. Alicia was busy running back to the showers, clutching her clothes to her. She dropped what she had been throwing and looked at me. Katie stood there looking like she didn't know what to do or say—in nothing but a towel. My eyes bugged out of their sockets at seeing her standing there. Her hair was dripping wet, and she was in nothing but a towel. Suddenly, my pants felt tighter, and I dodged another shoe being thrown at me. I cursed myself silently, and looked over to George, who was laughing hysterically, trying to throw things back at Angelina.

"You know, Ange, this look isn't half bad for you—OW!" I looked over at Angelina, who was clutching the robes to her tightly, and George, who was rubbing his head. I laughed, but yelped when something hard hit the side of my head, and I fell to the floor. Everything looked a little fuzzy, and I felt a little lightheaded. I tried to grab something to steady myself, and to keep the room from spinning, but failed. I settled for holding my head, and I moaned.

Seeing through the spinning room, I saw Katie run over and kneel down beside me in her towel. I groaned inwardly at seeing her like this, but tried to play up my head injury to its fullest.

"Fred! I am so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you that hard, and I just didn't think and—" I tuned her out, and tried to focus on keeping my eyes open. I looked at her again. Her hair was dripping down on me, and she clutched the towel up against her.

"S'okay, don't worry, Kates." I tried to smile, and I thought I heard her laugh.

"No, Fred, I can't believe I did that! Is you head okay? Let me take a look at it—"

"—no, it's okay, Kates, I got it—"

And as we both fought over my head's well being, in the midst of our arguing, her towel fell from around her as she leaned over to get to my head. My eyes bugged out, and my gaze flicked up from her face to the rest of her. Her eyes were as big as saucers, and she turned redder than Gryffindor's colors. She clutched the towel around her again, and scrambled backwards a little. The whole ordeal only lasted about three seconds tops, but that was enough for me. I could feel my face burning from embarrassment, and I tried my best to not smile like a fool.

I just saw Katie Bell naked.

Best day of my life.