The Truth About Love- Chapter 11
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- I LIVE for the drama and suspense so I'm glad you like it too ^^
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I can't say that too many problems get solved (since every problem solved results in two more major issues) since that's how the drama is, but I can definitely promise that the chapters won't be uneventful...
Katie was the first to leave the common room and crawl into bed that night.
It had been long day and as she changed into her pajamas she tried not to think about the bad things. She had made it through the day, and that was all that mattered. All her assignments had come back with top grades in the class and she had finished the new ones, confident that she would continue getting good results.
She and Leanne were becoming very close friends, almost as good as she was with Alicia and Angelina. It was a good thing since they were a whole year ahead of her, but she felt a little sad at the time that they were spending together without her. Then again, once they graduated there would be a whole year spent separated since she would still be at school, but no one wanted to think about that yet. For Alicia that meant stressing about N.E.W.T.'s and after the first time no one brought it up in her presence again.
Of course that wasn't all Katie had thought about that day, but the majority of her thoughts had been about him. Right now she didn't want to think about him anymore, because every time she wound up feeling broken and empty and she'd had enough of that for the day. But unfortunately that didn't change things. Her heart had been broken, but somehow she still loved him with the pieces.
She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. No, she wasn't going to think about it. She wouldn't think about them. It didn't matter, what she thought of her as long as he was happy. It didn't matter that he didn't love her. If being with her was what he wanted then she was happy for him. The Yule Ball was just a dance, going single would be more fun anyways.
She snuggled under the covers and hugged her penguin stuffed animal. Her eyes traveled to her dresser, where she had placed dozens of photos of her family and friends. Her hand shaking, she reached out and gently touched the picture of him. They were sitting next to each other and laughing. She smiled, as memories of times when just being around him made her heart soar. Now it made that same torn up heart battle with itself over her feelings.
Feeling sad all over again, she took the picture and put it face down on her dresser. Maybe now she could get some sleep tonight.
Don't think about it. Don't think about him. And don't think about her.
. . . .
Alicia set her quill down and rolled up the essay. "I'll be right back, I have to give this back to Fred." She had finished correcting his Transfiguration essay. "Nice job." She said, handing the essay to Fred. "That should score at least an E, because you definitely exceeded expectations even if there are a few mistakes here and there."
"Thanks."
"'Night, I'm going to bed." Katie said as she passed, looking very stressed out and tired. She disappeared up the stairs with her stack of books and assignments.
"Do you think she's okay?" Fred asked. "I don't remember fifth year being that bad, and it's only November."
"That bad?" Alicia said. "It was horrible! It was worse than this year! I practically didn't sleep."
"True. She hasn't had a meltdown yet. You snapped about three weeks into the year." Lee said.
Alicia scowled. "I did not snap. I just got really frustrated and unfortunately that resulted in the fire exploding, but it wasn't my fault! It's one of those things that just accidentally happens."
"Okay, whatever." Lee put his hands up in mock surrender. "Hey did you find a date to the dance?"
Alicia automatically thought of George, and noticed that he was missing. "Um not really, I got asked once but I'm not sure if I'll go with him. Why? Did you?"
"No, just curious. It's all people are talking about." Lee shrugged. "Who asked?"
Alicia shuffled her feet. "Uh… I'd rather not say." She didn't want Fred to tell George. They were likely to freak out and she didn't want that to happen especially since Danny was always a nice person and lost with grace. Part of her actually wanted to give him a chance.
"Why? It wasn't Cedric was it?" Lee guessed.
"Er, no." Alicia said. "It was Danny Malone."
"What?! You can't go with him. No." Fred declared.
"He's on the Ravenclaw team." Lee said.
"We won't let you." Fred added.
Alicia laughed. "You won't let me? Very funny. And just so you know I didn't accept, I told him I'd think about it. I don't think it's a bad idea because this might be the only chance we get to know them. And if the right person doesn't ask then I'll go with him. I wasn't asking for your permission."
"What was that?" Angelina asked when Alicia came back.
"They won't let me go with Danny Malone. Pfft, as if they could stop me. The only problem is that I'm not sure George will ask me and if I wait too long then Danny will probably have promised to go with someone else. Where is George anyways?"
Angelina shrugged. "He disappeared after dinner."
"Oh well." Alicia turned to Angelina. "So Ben Rivers. I think that you should try and forget about Fred and really give him a chance. He's really nice and funny and I think it's cute that he asked you, although it doesn't really matter who we go with. I mean Cho's going with Cedric and they were both on different teams."
"Yeah." Angelina said reluctantly. "But I'm not really sure I'm doing the right thing. I'm so confused that I don't even know why I said yes. I want to move on, I know I have to move on, but I don't want to. And then came along the perfect guy, but I'm afraid that a big part of me only said yes because I wanted Fred to think that I've let it all go."
"Just try to be open minded and give him a chance. I bet you're really going to like him and if it turns out you really can't be with him then tell him that you agreed because you wanted to get to know him and be friends because you've never had the chance." Alicia said. "Simple and it's the truth. I'm going to do the same if George doesn't ask me soon. I'm going to give him four days and if Danny asks me for my decision I just might have to tell him the truth."
. . . .
The next morning was Saturday, but Alicia woke up bright and early anyways. She wasn't the only one, as the Gryffindor tower was filled with noise. Many people were getting ready to venture into Hogsmeade. After getting dressed she grabbed a letter for her parents, which she needed to go to the Owlery to send.
"Hey, where were you last night?" Alicia asked George, who had just come out of his dorm.
"Last night? I just… wanted to be away from everything." He said vaguely. Clearly he didn't want to talk about it.
"Oh… of course." How could she have forgotten? The Yule Ball was certainly coming at a bad time. "I was just off to the Owlery to send this letter."
"Me too."
They descended the stairs down to the common room in silence. As they crossed the common room George finally broke the silence.
"Lee said Danny Malone asked you to the ball."
"Oh. Kind of, but I'm not sure if I'm going to go with him. I think it's a good chance to get to know him though, since he seems like a really great person, but he's not the right person." Alicia said.
"Are you going to give me a clue as to who is?" George asked.
"No… it's my turn to get an answer from you." Alicia countered. "So you tell me."
"Tell you what?"
"Anything."
"Hmmmm. I'm not sure I have anything interesting to say at the moment. Why don't you save your question?"
Alicia smiled. "Okay. You ask then. I guess I owe you for the secret passage."
"You still haven't shown me yours."
"That's true. I'll show you my secret passage when you tell me something no one else knows about you. It's only fair since no one else knows about the secret passage and where it leads to." Alicia smirked. "And I know you're curious."
George grinned. "Alright, it's a deal."
. . . .
Kitoko ran into their secret room and threw herself into Chris' arms before wrapping her arms around him and kissing him. He backed against the wall and they engaged themselves for a full five minutes.
"Tell them." Kitoko said, after she pulled herself away. "Today."
Chris looked at her grimly. "Is this what you really want?"
"Yes." Kitoko said firmly. "It's what I want. And I want you to tell everyone."
"You're not afraid of what's coming? What's going to inevitably happen? What about your sister? You know Amaiko is over ambitious and—"
"No. I'm not afraid. But I see that you are. I can't believe how stupid I've been for the past two months. The only reason you don't want everyone to know is because you're hiding something. You told me that we had to be open to each other." Kitoko crossed her arms and stared him down.
Chris sighed and looked at her, disappointment in his eyes. "I thought that you'd understand. But I'm not hiding anything, and if you want proof I'll tell everyone. Today. Breakfast is in an hour, I'll announce it to the Great Hall if you want. Anything, for you."
Kitoko's expression softened and she looked at him with adoration. "Really? You'll tell everyone? And… and does that mean…"
"Yeah." Chris said softly, taking her face in his hands. "We won't have to hide. And we can go to the Yule Ball together if that's something you'd want."
Kitoko threw her arms around him. "I love you."
. . . .
For the first time since Amaiko had exposed Angelina she and Fred were sitting with the same group of people and avoiding each other's gaze as they were separated only by a large plate of ham and a pitcher of iced tea.
"Anyone planning to go to Hogsmeade?" Katie asked, holding up conversation.
Angelina was staring at her food and eating little. Amaiko had caught Fred's eye and he smiled at her, causing Alicia to roll her eyes in disgust and ignore him as she talked to George, who was looking innocently confused. Lee was at the other end of the table talking to four girls from Beuxbatons, all of whom were looking at him with awed fascination except Kaleigh, who didn't seem to be able to look him in the eye and was blushing.
"Yes, Marko's coming with me to shop dresses since I want his opinion." Leanne chirped.
"Fred and I are." George said. "We need to get some things at Zonko's. And I think Lee's going with that girl he met the other day… what's her name…?"
"Kaleigh." Alicia answered. "And I'm coming too, Tina and Jillian are dress shopping too and you know me, I have a weakness for spending money."
"I'm staying." Angelina said. "I don't think I really want to go."
Alicia picked up a strawberry. "I think you should come, it'll be fun. Besides, you'll be all alone in the castle, we never come back until the castle gates and doors are half closed. Do you really want no one for company but Peeves?"
"Eh, I just don't really feel up to it. And you know dresses aren't my thing." Angelina said, wrinkling her nose at the very idea of it.
Alicia shrugged. "Suit yourself, but we have to go get ready."
Most people were cluttered at the doors of the Great Hall to leave. A good amount of girls were whispering about Kitoko and Chris, and how they had always known he was an arrogant jerk, even though nearly all of them had confessed to have fantasized about him.
"Oh… I hope he doesn't notice me." Alicia had spotted Danny with his friends in the reflection of Katie's earrings (pieces of mirror in the shape of large hearts) and quickly darted out of the Great Hall.
"Hey Angelina." Ben smiled at her. Though his intense good looks made him look like a serious brooding person, his smile completely changed him into an easy-going person.
"Hi Ben." Angelina offered him a small smile. "Are you going to Hogsmeade too?"
"Yeah. Do you want to come? We're just going to hang out at Three Broomsticks and maybe get some sweets at Honeydukes. I just thought since we wouldn't normally get a chance to."
"Um…" Truthfully she was afraid of running into Fred at Hogsmeade. But how will you ever move on? "Sure, it sounds great."
There was something about Ben's smile that made her want to give him a chance, so half an hour later she met Ben and his friends Sherry, Wendy, and Danny by the front gate. Danny smiled and said hi while Wendy managed a stiff hello. Sherry, who was one of the nicest people Angelina knew gave her a hug and linked arms with her and Wendy as they walked into Hogsmeade.
"Hey Angelina can I ask you something?" Sherry asked five minutes later.
"Sure." Angelina had quickly warmed up to four of them. They were friendly and easy to talk to. Even Wendy's icy demeanor had thawed in a few minutes.
Sherry giggled. "You're friends with Fred Weasley right?"
"Yeah." Angelina decided not to tell them the full story.
"Um… has he asked anyone to the ball yet?"
What?! Angelina couldn't believe that Sherry liked him too. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure he's going with Amaiko Fujimara." At least she didn't have to lie. She had no clue if Fred had asked, but after seeing them together she was almost positive they would be going to the ball together.
"Oh. Wendy and I just thought that since Danny and Ben asked Alicia and Angelina it would be cool if we went with Fred and George." Sherry explained. "Then it wouldn't make being in a group so boring."
"Ooooh." Angelina said, relieved that she didn't have to worry about it, not that she was supposed to. Although, she thought as she sat next to Ben and Sherry, I'd rather Fred go out with Sherry than Amaiko. Sherry was such a sweet and nice girl it was impossible to hate her. "Has anyone asked you?"
"Well three, but not the right person." Sherry answered. "I'm pretty sure he won't ask me."
"Aw come on Sher." Danny squeezed her shoulder. "Any guy would be lucky to go with you."
Sherry blushed. "Uh, let's just stay away from talk about the ball, I'm kind of sick of it. Besides, it's not for another month and already everyone's acting like it's happening tomorrow."
"Thank you!" Wendy said. "I can't believe they canceled Quidditch for this. I mean everyone enjoys sports, but the tournament only benefits four people."
"I know, I miss flying." Angelina said longingly.
"We should all race sometime." Ben suggested. "Anyone up for it? Wendy's our best flyer."
"That sounds like fun!" Angelina said. She excelled at flying. "I bet I could lap you around the school." She challenged Ben.
"Oh really? You really think you can beat me?"
"I know I can." Angelina smirked.
"Let's have a race tomorrow then." Danny decided. "A friendly competition." He stressed the word friendly. "But just for the record I'll beat you both."
"Possibly, but I'll be first place. I'm the best flyer on the team." Wendy said.
"But last race you and Danny tied second to Ben." Sherry piped up.
"That's right." Ben and Sherry high fived. "I'm going for a winning streak here."
Angelina rolled her eyes. "Winning twice is not a streak, but I won't give you any chance of that, someone's got to deflate that big head of yours."
"Oh! Burn…" Danny and Wendy said loudly at the same time. "Nice one."
Ben just shook his head. "We'll see who's laughing later, but we definitely don't play nice when it comes to Quidditch so I hope you're not expecting us to go easy on you." He said to Angelina. "You're in for a surprise."
"The only thing that's going to scream surprise is the look on your face when I win." She shot back.
"Oh, she's a keeper." Danny humored Ben. "She doesn't mince words."
"Very honest" Wendy joked.
All of them laughed and Angelina good-naturedly nudged him with her shoulder to let her know that she was kidding. And just maybe I'll keep him too.
. . . .
Tina twirled around in an autumn orange-yellow dress. It brought out the amber flecks in her eyes and the lighter highlights in her wavy hair. "I really think this is the one." She said, stopping in front of the mirror. "What do you think?"
"It's absolutely beautiful!" Jillian said.
"Perfect!" Caroline exclaimed.
"Definitely the one." Kim said approvingly.
Alicia stared out the front of the store, a vacant but wistful expression on her face. Caroline peered out in the direction of her gaze. Kim waved a hand in front of her face. "Alicia… Earth to Alicia…"
"Huh? Oh!" Alicia turned to see Tina. "Oh that looks great! It really does! And I have a necklace that would look perfect with that, you can try it on when we get back."
"It's settled then." Tina said, disappearing behind the fitting room. "I've found my dress!"
"This is all so perfect!" Jillian said. "Well I still haven't found my dress, but I'm sure next weekend something will come up."
"Alicia are you okay?" Caroline asked.
"Oh… uh, fine." She said distractedly. "It's just—no never mind."
Kim and Jillian moved closer. "Tell us! It's okay." Jillian said.
"Nothing… it's, I just… no, it's nothing." Alicia shook her head.
Caroline fidgeted. "This wouldn't by any chance be about George and the ball… would it?" Something in her voice made her sound uncharacteristically nervous.
"Well… kind of." Alicia sighed. "Why? You heard something didn't you?"
"Most likely, she hears everything." Kim said.
Tina burst out the dressing room with her dress on her arm. "What's wrong?"
"It's… I didn't tell you because—Oh Alicia you're going to hate me!" Caroline said. "I really didn't want you to be upset, but…"
"What is it?" Jillian asked. "I'm sure she wants to know."
Caroline shifted in her seat and didn't look at Alicia. "The thing is… I don't really know how to say this."
"What is it?" Alicia's expression was of utmost puzzlement.
Caroline bit her lip and hesitated. "George… he asked me to the Yule Ball yesterday."
I believe that answers at least one of your questions Dana.
If you're curious as to what happens next REVIEW. I got six reviews this chapter and I think that's a reccord so I'm really happy :) And I like to make people who review a lot characters in my story, so if you want to be a character, leave good reviews. And thanks to my regular reviewers Cam, Kaleigh and Dana for leaving the most useful as of constructional criticism, spontaneity, and nice long rants :D