I was walking down an empty corridor while Dumbledore's Army was most likely finishing their weekly session.
"What's wrong?" came Fred's voice from behind me. I whirled around, getting ready to yell at him but stopped myself in the nick of time.
"George? What's wrong?" Ron repeated. Christ, Ron and Fred sounded exactly the same. For some reason I had never noticed it before.
"Nothing's wrong," I lied, blandly.
Ron gave me a look that reminded me so much of mum, I had to bite my lip to stop myself from smiling.
"Look," reasoned Ron. "Just tell me what the bloody hell is going on, all right? It's not exactly brilliant having to see the both of you so miserable." When I continued to remain stubbornly mute, he added, "Is this about Alex?"
I exhaled deeply, shrugging my shoulders. I didn't want to explain my situation to Ron. What the hell did he know about girls anyway? He'd never even had a snog before in his entire life.
He remained, however, to be extremely persistent. "George, tell me," he demanded.
"You wouldn't understand!" I burst out, my voice louder than I had intended. Ron flinched slightly but stood his ground.
"You'd feel better if you let it all out." This was a quote straight from mum and he must have realised it, because his ears reddened. "It's still good advice," he mumbled.
"Ron," I said more softly. "I don't want to talk about it, all right?"
But Ron was stubborn. He looked at me, frowning, as if he was trying to work out the best way to physically beat the truth out of me.
"I'll get Hermione to make some Veritaserum, that'll make you spill the beans," he threatened.
I looked at him, annoyed that he was being so persistent but also quite proud of him for standing up against me.
"You're not going to let this go, are you?" I asked.
Ron smirked, confidently. "Nope."
"Fine," I gave in, exasperated. "What do you want to know?"
He softened his facial expression and immediately looked like mum again, this time because he seemed so concerned. "I want to know what happened between you, Fred and Alex."
I began with a sigh and then went on to tell him about how I felt and how Fred felt and how Alex had chosen Fred over me. "…And he isn't even speaking to me, anymore. He hasn't apologised, or anything, for his despicable behaviour." I finished bitterly. "How dare he let a girl come between us?"
Ron looked at one of the moving paintings on the wall while he thought about this, before inquiring, "You really, really are in love with Alex Robbins, aren't you?"
"Yes," I replied, miserably.
Ron seemed to think about this a bit more and then, demonstrating his extraordinary knowledge and depth, said, "Well, that sucks."
I snorted at his reply and then quoted, "Better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all."
Ron looked at me as if I had sprouted an extra head.
"Ernest Hemingway. It's one of Alex's favourite quotes," I explained. Then I sighed, realising how much my of recent life had revolved around Alex.
"Oh," said Ron.
"You know, I think Hermione's right," I told him. "You really do have the emotional range of a teaspoon."
Ron opened and closed his mouth several times before finally saying, "Let's not change the conversational topic now, shall we?"
I was about to reply with a sarcastic comment when he butted in, "Wait, did Alex ever actually say, specifically, that she 'liked' Fred?"
Now it was my turn to open and close my mouth like a goldfish. Oh, crap.
