A/N: Wow, I'm glad to see your very animated responses! Haha. I think that some of you are giving Oliver a bad wrap. I don't think he's a bad guy. He may be flawed and a bit naïve, but I don't think he's a bad person. As one of my writing professors once said, love a character or hate him, it doesn't matter. Even if you hate him, he/she can still be a good, well-developed character. Anyway, many of you are wondering why Angelina told Fred she's in love with Oliver. I could explain, but I think it'd be better if she said it in her own words….

June 19

Flat

I took a break. My hand was beginning to cramp. However, the next part of the saga is just as unpleasant as the exchange with Fred.

Alicia and Katie looked like they were going to kill me.

"YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH OLIVER?" Alicia screeched.

We were sitting in Katie's flat. After the disaster with Fred, I went over to Katie's. Lee was out with the boys, probably enjoying his last night of bachelorhood. I started to tell Katie everything. It was about midnight, but Katie sent an OWL to Alicia. Less than two minutes later, the three of us were in the kitchen.

The living room was littered with extra boxes of invitations, papers, high heels, and evening bags. It was funny to think that tomorrow; my best friend would be getting married. And yet, here I was, slurping tea (with a hint of Firewhiskey), complaining about my love life. I felt kind of selfish, demanding all the attention. We should have been out celebrating, gossiping and having a laugh.

"No, I-"

"THEN WHY THE BLOODY HELL DID YOU TELL FRED YOU ARE?" Katie yelled.

I thought back to a few days prior. I recalled how our heated argument had transformed into a kiss and then that kiss had lead to something more. I hadn't meant to hurt Fred, but the confession had been automatic. The look on Fred's face spoke volumes. In fact, the impulse to speak had been killed so thoroughly, that he left. I watched as he gathered his clothes and put them back on. Finally realizing the damage I'd inflicted, I started to plead.

"Fred, wait, don't go. Let me explain," I insisted.

I sat upright, tugging the sheets around my body. His hair was rumpled, his clothes wrinkled.

"I can't look at you right now," he flatly replied.

With a loud CRACK, he vanished.

It took me a minute to comprehend that he'd just left, probably to never return. A tear blossomed in the corner of my eye. I blinked and the liquid stuck to my lashes. Suddenly, a river was roaring down my cheeks. I felt lower than low, absolutely awful. Angrily throwing back the sheet, I jumped into the shower. I turned the nozzle full blast, shoulders shuddering, my throat too dry to emanate sound. I did not love Oliver, but wanted to love him, but knew I could not. I wanted to displace my feelings for Fred because I'm afraid and I'm mixed up and sometimes, I just want to be free.

I just want to travel back in time, when things weren't so complicated. When my biggest worries were earning good marks and getting Fred to glance my way. When I thought a major crisis entailed frizzy hair and attracting the fascination of exchange students. A time when I could kiss him and think that being sixteen could last forever. But maybe things were never easy. Maybe it was always uncomplicated and my memory is just distorting the facts.

The truth is, I miss Fred. I miss him when he's right next to me. Gazing into his eyes, my lips still pleasantly stinging, I felt responsible. Responsible for our fall out and responsible for driving him into Lavender's arms. I didn't know how he could forgive me. And I was afraid that once we'd made amends, I'd screw up again. I am exhausted of hoping and wishing, only to be disappointed. Do soul mates really exist? Is it all talk, just propaganda intended for the most foolish of fools?

All of this, naturally, doesn't make sense on paper. I sound like a complete idiot or perhaps a tad bit psychotic. But is it possible to care for someone so much and so deeply, that you can't bear to actually be with them? Why does everything have to be so passionate with him?

Surely, it's not healthy to approach your arguments with the same amount of zeal as your displays of affection? It can be draining. You become stir-crazy, scheming up escape routes and sabotage. It's like in order to prove that we love one another, we have to hurt each other. Couples have their ups and downs, but our middle ground is more like the rise before the fall, the meticulous incline that leads to the drop.

I took another swallow of tea before responding.

"I was…exhausted. And mixed up," I slowly explained.

"Exhausted? What does that have to do with anything?" Alicia demanded.

"Look, sometimes love isn't enough. And…I'm tired, Alicia. We're always trying to find ways to scar one another. I keep thinking to myself, maybe it's time I let him go."

"But you guys have been together since Hogwarts!" Katie protested.

How horrible it was, to be criticizing the strength of love and the purpose of monogamy, when your best mate was about to get married. It was cruel, to be revealing all of my anxieties and disbelief, when Katie had such faith in the institution. And yet, I wanted them to understand and pledge their allegiance. I wanted them to smile with enlightenment and agree. I knew it was a useless effort, but I plunged forward.

I nodded, absorbing their outrage as though it were sunlight. I turned to Katie.

"That's the point. How am I supposed to know if we're supposed to be together? I've never been with anyone else. Fred has always been such a big part of my life. But…it would be unfair if we stayed together, just out of tradition."

"Angelina. You're not making any sense. Are you even listening to the garbage you're saying? You and Fred are both hot-heads. That's the only reason why you clash. You know he loves you. Why are you trying so hard to disprove it?"

"But what about Oliver?" I timidly asked.

"What about Oliver?" Alicia barked.

"Shouldn't I give him a chance? He's a nice guy. You both know that. Maybe it's better that I start something with him? And Fred's got Lavender."

Alicia was absolutely livid.

"This isn't the time to rekindle some sort of schoolyard crush on the Qudditich captain. If you were meant to be with Oliver, then something would have happened a long time ago."

"But-"

Alicia shook her head.

"No. You know what your problem is? You want things to come easy."

"Alicia-" Katie interrupted, placing her hand on Alicia's slender forearm. She probably thought Alicia would lose her cool and start shouting. Alicia gritted her teeth, her words clipped and fiery, though never increasing in volume.

"No Katie, let me speak. I think this is absolute bollocks, I really do. Do you realize what you've done? How stupid you acted? This isn't some sort of game, Angelina. Not only have you strung along Oliver, but you've got your paws on Fred. You can't pick and choose, depending on your mood. You over analyze everything, to the point that it drives you mental. You can't just accept things for face value. You've got this annoying habit of picking it apart. When it comes to Fred, YOU are the only girl that's ever mattered. End of story."

"Since when did you become an advocate of Fred?" I sneered.

She was right and my natural reaction was to become defensive.

"Since you started acting like a heartless moron," Alicia snapped.

"Girls, please. May I remind you that TOMORROW I will be getting married? For my sake, I need you to act at least civil," Katie ordered, hoping that her taunt would lighten the mood.

"I'm sorry Kates, but the truth is the truth. Don't deny it, I know you think Angelina is acting like a wanker."

I scowled, guzzling the rest of my spiked tea.

"Well, I think wanker is a strong word. However, I do think she could have handled the situation better. I doubt an apology is going to make him forgive you," Katie reasoned.

"I made a mess of things, I know. But maybe it's better. I feel like Fred brings out this need to self-destruct. Like I've got a panic button inside me. I miss him and yet, I feel like the only thing we're good at is screwing things up. And I didn't mean to bring Oliver into this mess, but at that point, I thought Fred didn't want anything to do with me. He was jealous, sure, but it's a territorial thing. He had Lavender and I didn't want to get my hopes up."

"You know, Lee cheated on me once."

Alicia and I stared at Katie, dumbfounded.

"You never told us that," Alicia noted.

Katie shrugged.

"Oh, it wasn't that big of a deal. It was right after we got out of school. We got into a fight, said some things we shouldn't have said. He went out to a pub and that was that."

"Well, what happened?" I questioned.

"I took him back, of course."

"Ha, and the both of you think I'm stupid one!" I hissed.

"What made you decide to give him another shot?" Alicia wondered, ignoring my triumphant glee.

"Because he was the one who told me. And I figured, he didn't have to admit it. I never would have known. But any coward could do that. I thought it was quite brave of him to come clean, especially since he knew I had the upper hand. It was a possibility that I could have broken things off for good, hated him for the rest of my life and the like. And he had come back, didn't he? He makes me happy. It'd be pointless to hate him; we'd both be miserable."

"Yeah, well, if George told me he shagged some bimbo, I'd-"

"Fred told me he slept with Lavender," I whispered.

Katie and Alicia glanced at each other.

"Well…can you really blame him?" Alicia snidely replied.

"I've never been with anyone else. I never even wanted to. I just didn't see the point."

At this, both were silent.

"There's no time left, is there?" I stoically observed.

Katie shook her head.

"There's always time."