Lovers and Laughter

Many thanks to LovelyBones1551, your reviews are very much appreciated.

Fred woke the day of the Quidditch match of Gryffindor versus Slytherin with the sun shining brightly down onto his pillow. However the bright sunlight was misleading, as soon as Fred got out of bed he instantly regretted it. Despite the sunshine, the air was bitter cold.

Fred dressed quickly and before he left the common room, he shook Lee and George awake, then leaving quickly to escape their icy glares, colder than the winter weather.

Fred hurried down the stairs, trying to warm himself. As he reached the bottomed he wasn't paying much attention to were he was going.

Crash!

"I'm sorry!" Fred said and he helped the girl he had just knocked down up, then he realized who it was and his heart skipped a beat.

"Hey, save it for the Slytherins." Raye shook her hair out of her eyes, smiling up at Fred, reminding him of the previous night. Fred's stomach did a cartwheel.

You're such an idiot, he told himself; you're never going to make her see you as more than a friend if you're so clumsy.

"Sorry." Was the only he could think to say.

"Come on, let's go have breakfast." She said, still smiling and she led him down to the Great Hall.

As they walked through the door, they were greeted by a tide of green, silver, gold, and red. Walking past the Slytherin table, Fred was met by the usual hisses. He would have kept moving past them if it wasn't for the badges that glinted on their chests.

WEASLEY IS OUR KING

Was branded across them, as much as he and George could poke fun at Ron, other people, Slytherins most of all, could not.

"Oi!" He began marching towards their table, but he felt a pressure on his arm. Turning around her saw Raye holding onto him, sending electric jolts up his arm.

"Leave it, that's what they want."

"Fine." Fred shot the Slytherins a nasty glare before going to the Gryffindor table, butterflies in his stomach, but whether they were pre-game jitters or due to the fact that Raye's hand was still on him, guiding him back to their table, Fred didn't know.

Breakfast past in silence as it usually did before a game and Fred and George left early to go get ready.

"Look," George turned to Fred as they walked down to the pitch. "I don't know what to do about Angelina, I really like her, but I feel really bad about Lee, he's right, I shouldn't have gone behind his back."

Fred looked at his twin, and could see in his eyes the conflict. "Well for Lee, he's right, but he can't claim a girl forever. I'm not saying what you did was okay; you should have talked to him, but for now I don't what else you can to but wait it out. The damage has been done. As for Angelina, just try to keep the snogging down to a minimum while Lee is around."

"I guess." George said and after a pause added, "Hey what about you and Raye?" A sly smile replaced the frown on his face.

"What about us?" Fred said, trying not to heat up, was it really that obvious?

George snorted, "Come on Fred, I know you almost better than I know myself. You are in love with Raye."

It sounded so simple when George said, not like the confusing reality.

"Is it really that obvious?"

"Well I'm not sure. I've noticed it for a while, but hey, I'm your twin. I don't think Raye has noticed, but I don't know about anyone else. So anyway, what are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know. I think she just likes me as a friend."

"How do you know? But no matter what, you should do something soon, before someone else does." George commented as the reached the changing rooms.

Fred thought about that in silence as the got dressed and the rest of the team trickled in. It was what he was afraid of, someone else charming her before he did. But he was afraid to mess up the friendship they had now. It was better than having nothing with her. Last night he had come so close, but he wasn't sure if he could summon the courage to try again. Maybe it had been a good thing Snape had interrupted.

As the match began, Lee started off commentating with less vigor than usual. He tried to avoid saying anything about George or Angelina unless it was absolutely necessary, and if it was, saying it in a slightly bored tone.

However, as the game heated up, Lee seemed to forget about the hostility between them and focused instead on berating the Slytherins.

The 'Weasley is Our King' song blaring in his ears, Fred focused all of his anger on the bludgers, hitting them constantly at the Slytherins, pleased by the satisfying thunks of bludger hitting green body.

Fortunately Harry eventually caught the snitch, sending a wave a relief over Fred, the game had been brutal, and Fred didn't like seeing his younger brother being laughed at by what seemed like a quarter of the school.

But it was over.

Fred met George on the way to the ground and they joined in on the team's celebration. However Fred's good mood was cut short by the words, "we couldn't fit in useless loser either- for his father, you know-"

Fred and George hardened at the voice, turning around to see the arrogant git Malfoy.

"Leave it." Angelina said, grabbing Fred on the shoulder but he shook it off and started to lunge towards Malfoy, he would have tackled him if it wasn't for three sets of hands that grabbed onto his crimson robes.

"Let me go!" Fred hissed, trying to jerk away from Angelina, Alicia, and Katie. But years of Quidditch had made them strong and he couldn't pull away from all three of them.

Malfoy's jeers and laughs made Fred try harder, twisting and turning to try and break free. Just then he saw Harry and George sprinting past him to attack Malfoy. Watching them beat the little git to the ground made Fred itch to punish him as well.

"LET ME GO!" He yelled, but just then another cry interrupted his.

"IMPEDIMENTA!" Madame Hooch called and the fight ended. Alicia, Angelina, and Katie finally let go of him and for a second he was tempted to go over and pummel Malfoy, but he couldn't hit someone who was already down. And, by the looks of it, he had gotten a good beating from George and Harry.

Fred turned and stormed back up to the castle, still full of pent up anger. As he walked through the crowed, he caught a glimpse of Raye's face, filled with a look of shock.

Anger turned to shame as he walked up to the Common Room.

"Baubles" He muttered to the surprised looking Fat Lady, who probably had already heard the whole story from her friends. Fortunately, for once she just swung open without asking questions.

Fred marched across the common room and sat in a little alcove, staring out the window over the grounds into the setting sun. He didn't pay much attention to anything else as the common room began to fill up, that was until he felt someone's hand on his shoulder.

Looking up he saw Raye looking down at him, a mixture of emotion in her eyes. It looked like sadness, anger, and surprise all mixed up. Fred had no idea what she was thinking.

"Just leave me alone." Fred muttered shrugging off her hand before turning to face the window once more. He didn't want to see her disappointed face. He didn't want to hear her sad voice. He waited to hear her footsteps walking away before he turned back to look, he had probably messed up things for good this time. A wave of numbness passed over him as he tried to block everything out.

It continued as he walked over to sit with the team. He couldn't even get that fired up when he heard that he had been kicked off the Quidditch team along with George and Harry. He couldn't feel much of anything.

Just a sea of numbness.

It wasn't very late when the team dispersed and Fred and George walked dejectedly up the stairs towards their dorm. As they entered it was all empty except for Lee, who sat on his bed facing away from the door.

George and Fred would have gotten into their beds without saying anything, like they had for the past few weeks, if Lee hadn't spoken.

"Today I kinda realized that of all the people to be mad at in this world, you guys aren't the one's I should be mad at. Even though what George did wasn't right, I'm not going to stay mad at you forever. If I did, I'd be no better than assholes like Malfoy. Truce?" he said slowly, and then he turned to face George, holding out his hand.

"You better believe it." George said, a smile spreading across his face and he and Lee embraced, thumping one another on the back.

"Look Lee, I'm sorry about Angelina, I just… I don't know, but it wasn't right."

"Hey forgive and forget. You have my blessing now or whatever." Lee grinned.

"Well this probably is the best thing that has happened all day." Fred smiled and collapsed onto his bed.

"Here, Here!" George and Lee said together.

Fred was happy that his two best friends had finally made up, but that night he couldn't fall asleep. Raye's face plagued him long after their other roommates had come in and everyone had fallen asleep.

Please review and tell me what you think.

-LayRay