Summary: Just one sentence.  They're off to Hogsmeade …

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed again, especially to that certain person who emailed me personally. J

Disclaimer:  Characters belong to JK Rowling except Angela, and plot  belongs to me.

Meet me at Hogsmeade

Chapter 6

Keeping Away

By happythoughts

            "What'd you say, Harry?" asked Ron.

            Harry had just accidentally gasped the name, "Ginny," very suddenly, while having a conversation with Ron and Hermione one night in the common room.  You see, he was trying to think who could have sent him that mysterious note, and her name had popped into his head.

            "Huh? What?" Harry asked.

            "You just said something," said Ron.

            "Did I?" asked Harry quizzically.

            "Um… Harry? Are you feeling okay?  You look a little pale," said Hermione.

            "Do I? No, no … I feel fine …" said Harry, getting up from his chair, but swaying a little while at it.

            "Harry! Are you sure you're okay?  Maybe you should go to bed now," said Hermione.

            Harry agreed and excused himself from Ron and Hermione.  He gathered up his belongings, bid them goodnight, and headed towards the staircase towards his dorm.  He glanced one look across the room, looking for the girl with flaming, red hair.  He turned back around and had to grab onto the railing to steady himself.  If it really was Ginny who had sent him the note, he didn't know what he was going to do.

            Finally, it was the Friday of the BIG DAY.  THE big day.  The Hogsmeade visit.  Tempers were running high and very little talking was going on between Angela, Seamus, Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny. 

            Angela was under so much stress of getting the plan right, and Seamus was greatly irritated of hearing her complaining about it to him every single minute she got.  And well, Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny were just under so much pressure to know what to do that night … they just were out of it all of the time that week. 

            On the night of Friday, the four of them all went to bed rather early for a Friday night.  Each were in their beds, thinking of the day to come. 

            Oh my, I can't believe that I am actually going to do this! I swear, if someone is just playing a cruel joke on me … I have no idea what I am going to do.  I'm going to be so embarrassed! This is absurd … I can't believe this … well, if I'm going to go, I might as well look good … thought Hermione to herself.

            Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! WHAT the hell am I doing here? If it really is Harry … wait Ginny, don't get your hopes up.  It couldn't possibly be him! Oh but if it is! I'll just die … I know it! What if he's just going to make me feel like he likes me, but he really doesn't … I'd never be able to show my face in public again … thought Ginny worriedly.

            I can't believe Ron.  He's the one who practically told Ginny that I liked her, and he's not even trying to apologize to me. What a prat.  If he knew what was going to happen to me tomorrow, he'd probably have jealousy all over his face right now.  Ha. Shows him.  But do I really like Ginny? I mean, she is Ron's little sister, wouldn't he be mad? But then again, he never did actually get mad when he found out it was Ginny who I was talking about in Divination … he was actually laughing.  Does that mean he's making fun of me because I like her?  A girl who is a year younger than me and has liked me for god knows how many years?  I'd rather face a dementor again then go to this blind date … thought Harry for quite some time.

            Well, this is certainly disturbing.  Harry Potter actually likes my little sister?  I'm surprised I'm not beating him up right now.  Hey … I'm pretty hungry, I could go for some cauldron cakes right now … and that was, of course, Ron.  (Typical him)

            "So, it's the big day," said Seamus to Angela on the morning of Saturday. 

            Angela sighed.  "So it is."

            He sat down next to her on the couch and they kissed briefly.  "Aren't you excited?"

            Angela didn't answer.  Excited wasn't the word she was looking for.  Afraid.  Afraid was more like it.  She was afraid that everything was going to wrong.  She was afraid that Ginny and Hermione would be angry with her for doing this whole thing, and that Ron and Harry wouldn't like them back, and then they would all hate her for embarrassing them like that.  She shuddered at the thought.

            "What's wrong?" asked Seamus.  "Are you cold?" 

            Angela shook her head.  But he was right.  She was extremely cold.  She snuggled into his arms more and closed her eyes.  She just wished that she could take back everything that she had done for the past month.  She wouldn't have to live all of these secrets and she could talk to the four of them without trying not to let slip their secrets. 

            "Aw, it's the little two lovebirds, isn't it?"

            Angela opened her eyes.   She found another pair of eyes staring down at her and Seamus, who were both almost falling asleep by then.  The pair of eyes belonged to Lavender.    

            "What is it now, Lavender?" asked Angela wearily.

            "Oh, it's nothing," she said airily, "I was just admiring you two."

            "Right, well I think you've done enough of admiring, you can go now," said Seamus angrily.

            Lavender bent as low to Seamus as she could get, exposing a large amount of her breasts.  She whispered in his ear so that he could only hear what she was saying.  "You know, Seamus, you don't deserve someone who's a year younger than you, she's far too immature for you, isn't she?  I mean, I doubt that she's been any farther than you have, and well, you and I both know how far you have been … now don't we?"

            Angela watched Seamus turn very red.  As Lavender walked away, swaying her overly large hips, Seamus stared after her.  "What'd she say to you?" Angela demanded.

            "Er—nothing.  Just being her same self, the slut."

            "Hmph," said Angela, crossing her arms.  "Really, Seamus, if you don't care about what she thinks, why don't you just tell me what she said? It's really not a big deal."

            "No … you wouldn't like it."

            "Excuse me? I think I know what I like and what I don't like.  Now tell me," said Angela smartly.

            "Okay, well then, if you really don't care about Lavender, why do you care what she said?" said Seamus back smartly. 

            Angela punched Seamus playfully in the arm and said, "Yeah, you're right, I shouldn't care what she said.  Let's go get ready to go to Hogsmeade!"

            Ginny's hands were shaking.  She couldn't seem to get her silver clip in her hair correctly.  She threw it down with frusteration and was just about to put her hair up in a messy ponytail when her lifesaver came in.  "Hermione! Can you try to put this clip into my hair? I can't seem to do it."

            "Er… sure, I'll try. I'm not promising that I'll be able to do it, though."  Hermione took the clip from Ginny and started brushing her hair.  After several attempts, Hermione herself threw the clip down.  "WHY isn't your hair working today?"

            "It's okay, Hermione, I'll just wear something else."

            "No! I always get things right! I must get this!"  said Hermione angrily.  She tried and tried, until Ginny noticed the time on her watch.  "Hermione! It's already 4 o'clock! We have to go down to Hogsmeade now!"

            "Oh my gosh! I'm not even ready! Let me see … here, try this ribbon in your hair, and I'll wear your clip."  Hermione handed her a silver ribbon instead.  Ginny's face fell. 

            "What's wrong?" Hermione asked.

            "Nothing … it's just that, this doesn't quite match with my outfit … the scarf is red and yellow."

            "Oh … well … here!" said Hermione hastily.  She started unbuttoning her robes.  "We'll just switch outfits."

            Turning red, Ginny turned away.  "Oh, Ginny, we're both girls.  Come on now, get undressed," said Hermione.

            Ginny giggled and started changing.  Pretty soon, they were in each other's outfits and ready to go to Hogsmeade. 

            "Ready Harry?"

            Ron and Harry were outside of their dorm just getting ready to leave around 5 o'clock.  Ron was waiting for Harry to get his sack of money out of his trunk.  "Mmph!" came a muffled sound from Harry's trunk.

            Harry emerged seconds later, hair all messed up and robes coming undone.  He brushed himself up and walked towards Ron.  "Ready."

            They walked downstairs into the common room and saw last minute stragglers also heading towards Hogsmeade.  On their way towards Hogsmeade, they were chatting excitedly about buying Dungbombs and where they would set them off.  "Hey … where's Hermione?" asked Harry.

            "I dunno, I think she's with Ginny," answered Ron. 

            "Oh okay …" 

            "Why, where's Ginny?" asked Ron sarcastically. 

            "Oh, shutup," said Harry.  He still hadn't forgiven him about blabbing his secret to her.

            They finally reached the village some time after five and hurried towards Zonko's.  They headed straight towards the "Foul Smells" section and found exactly what they were looking for.  Packs of Dungbombs, 50 in each, were in stacks.  They bought 2 each, totaling 200 dungbombs altogether and went towards the line to pay for them.  There they met Seamus and Angela. 

            "Hey guys!" said Seamus, who was holding some things in his hand.

            "Hey, what've you got there?" asked Ron.

            "Just some stupid things … dungbombs … firecrackers," he answered.

            "Yeah, us too," said Harry.  He smiled and Angela who smiled weakly back.  Harry noticed that she was rather pale and even a little irritated or sad.  He leaned into her ear.  "What's wrong?"

            "Huh? What? No, I'm fine.  What makes you think something's wrong?" she asked puzzledly.

            "Nothing, you just seem a little out of it."

            Angela just shrugged and smiled again.  Awhile later, Harry and Ron had emerged from Zonko's, their sacks of money considerably lighter, and each holding a bag from Zonko's.  It was about 6:30 And unknown to both of them, each of them were feeling rather nervous and sick. 

            "Er … what do you want to do now?" asked Ron uncertainly.

            "What time is it, 6:30? Why don't we go to Honey Dukes?" asked Harry tentatively. 

            "Er … I'm feeling rather cold, I think I'm going to head over to the Three Broomsticks--,"

            "No! I mean … didn't you want to get some Chocolate Frogs?" asked Harry.

            "No … not that I know of.  Really Harry, I'm feeling hungry, I'll just meet you there.  Go on," said Ron, pushing Harry towards the direction of Honey Dukes.

            Ungratefully Harry walked towards Honey Dukes, with any other choice.  He entered the store, which was swarming with buyers.  Not knowing what to get, he looked around for awhile.  He only had 15 more minutes until he had to go to the Three Broomsticks.  Walking around the counters of candy browsing, his stomach began to get butterflies.  Not knowing what else to do, he left the store and started walking towards the pub. 

            Angela and Seamus walked out of Zonko's after they had paid for their things, not talking.  They walked in silence for quite awhile, not really knowing where they were heading to.  A few minutes later, they found themselves staring at a bench that was sitting under a lamp post, which was burning faintly.  They looked at each other and seemed to have made a silent agreement, and sat down.  Angela lay her head on Seamus's arm.  "I hope this whole thing goes well," she said quietly.

            "Don't worry, it will," comforted Seamus.

            "It better! I've been working on this whole thing for a whole month--,"

            "Angela, we need to talk," interrupted Seamus abruptly.

            Angela stopped talking.  "About what?"

            "Well … it's about what Lavender said to me today."

            "Yeah?"

            "I just need to know this.  Where exactly is our relationship going?" asked Seamus.

            This obviously wasn't the question that Angela was expecting.  She took her head off of his arm and looked at him, speechless.  "Where is our relationship going?" she repeated.

            "Yes, that's what I just asked."

            "Well … it's going somewhere at least, isn't it? I mean … we are going out … aren't we?" asked Angela.

            "Yeah! Of course we are, but, are we going to go any farther than where we are now?" he asked.

            Now, Angela could think of this in two ways.  Did he mean to ask if they were going to go farther mentally … as in relationship wise … or did he mean to ask if they were going to farther … she gulped … physically?

            "Uh … I think?" she finally said.

            "You think?" he asked in amazement.  "You mean, you don't know?"

            "No! I don't mean that … I mean … well, what do you exactly mean? Physically or mentally?"

            Now Seamus was the one to be confused.  That was a good question.  Lavender of course meant that her and him had been farther physically … all the way … but being with Angela was different.  He was attracted to Lavender for her looks, but he was attracted to Angela because of her personality.  "Er … both?" he said uncertainly.

            "Um … okay … wait a minute …" Angela finally seemed to have caught on.  "Lavender said something to you about this, didn't she? What'd she say? That was I immature or something?"

            "Erm …" Seamus was in a rough position, and he smacked himself mentally for bringing the whole thing up.  "Yeah … yeah she did."

            Angela sat back into the bench angrily, puffing her cheeks.  "She is really a bitch, isn't she? I'm going to kill her … I'll show her immature…"

Hermione and Ginny themselves were feeling rather queasy.  "Are you feeling hungry yet?" asked Ginny.

            "No … are you?" asked Hermione.

            "Er … yeah, just a little.  Are you almost done?" asked Ginny again.

            "Not really, I still have to buy Harry something for Christmas, you go on, I'll be awhile.  I'll just meet you there," said Hermione. 

            Wanting to jump with glee, Ginny excused herself from the store and started walking towards the pub.  Oh my gosh, it's already 5 of 7! I have to hurry! She thought, panicking.  She started running through the streets and found her way to the pub—

            "OUCH!"

            "Damnit! What the hell d'you think--,"

            "Owww …."

            "Shit …"

            The four voices stopped moaning, when they saw who they had all bumped into.  Who else was it other than Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny? It seemed that they had all used their chances alone to head to the pub alone.  They looked around at each other awkwardly and entered the pub finally.

            "Seamus! Seamus, they're here!" whispered Angela excitedly, when she saw the four of them entering the pub.

            "Have they realized that it's them who sent the notes to each other?" asked Seamus.

            "They must've, cuz' they're talking and everything …"

            "No, it doesn't look like it, they're all looking around the room for something," Seamus pointed out.

            "Are they? Oh my gosh, you're right.  How dense can they be?" asked Angela exasperatedly.

            "Do something," said Seamus.

            "Should I? Okay, I'll be right back," said Angela, standing up.  She walked towards the four of them, and greeted them.

            "Hey guys," she said, greeting them all.

            "Hey," they all said at once. 

            Angela sat down next to them. "Are you guys waiting for someone?"

            All of them tensed up.  "Er … no?" said Ron.

            "Oh, okay, I was just wondering.  I noticed you were looking around the room for something so I wasn't sure.  Ooh! Hermione! I love that clip…" Angela trailed off.  She figured it out.  Wasn't Ginny supposed to be the one wearing the clip? She looked over at Ginny.  She took in a sharp gasp.  She was wearing the silver bow! And … the purple sweater and scarf! Angela started hyperventilating.  How could Ron and Harry not have noticed it yet? Are they really that slow?

            "Angela? Angela? Are you okay?" asked Ginny.

            "W-what? Oh … yeah, I'm fine … um … Ginny!" said Angela, raising her voice a little as if giving a hint. "Weren't you going to wear that clip tonight?"

            At these words, Harry brought his head up.  Clip? Is that what she had said? Isn't that what his note said? She would be wearing a silver clip?  She looked at Hermione's hair.  He gasped.  She was the one wearing the silver clip.  But it couldn't be her! She would have said something by now, at least she would have hinted. 

            "Yeah, I was supposed to, but it just wouldn't cooperate with my hair today … so we just switched outfits," answered Ginny simply. 

            Angela panicked.  "Oh … I see … um … so you're saying that you guys just switched outfits?"

            "Yeah …" said Hermione.

            Angela stole a glance over at Ron and Harry.  They weren't really into the conversation, obviously they had not heard one word that the girls had said.  Angela was frustrated.  She had had enough. First, hearing from Seamus that she was immature … and now that the four teenagers still hadn't picked up on the whole plan. She groaned and stood up. 

"Angela? What's wrong with--,"

            "You four are really dumb, aren't you?" she said angrily. 

            "Angela? Are you okay--," Ron stopped.  He looked at Angela, who's eyes were blazing with anger. 

"Are you four that DENSE?! Here you all are, waiting for your BLIND DATE, and it's already 7 o'clock! Haven't you realized that you four are each other's blind dates?!" she burst out angrily. 

            The four of them and the rest of the pub fell into a deep silence.  They all stared and Angela for quite some time, until she finally realized what she had done.  She bit her lip and dared to look around the room.  "Heh … sorry 'bout that! You can all go back to eating … drinking … whatever you were doing!" she said embarrassedly, turning red by the second.

            She sat back down at the table and looked at the four of them, who were still staring at her.  "What do you mean," whispered Harry sharply, "we're all each other's blind dates? And how do you know about us having blind dates?"

            "That's what I think all of us would like to know," said Hermione matter of factly.

            "I was the one who sent you four the notes! Duh!" said Angela.

            "W-what? D-do you m-mean that no one really sent us those notes? No one really wanted to meet me on a blind d-date?" said Ron, his spirits falling.

            "Oh Ron, haven't you realized it by now?" said Angela almost sympathetically.

            "Realized what?"

            Angela stole a glance at Hermione.  After giving her a few meaningful looks, Hermione caught on.  "Angela! Don't you dare … how could you?"

            Angela ignored her and looked at Ginny.  "Have you caught on yet, Ginny?"

            Ginny had a confused look on her face.  It seemed like everything had happened all too fast.  "No … I … haven't …"

            "Do you remember that conversation we had about a month ago? Remember?" and then Angela did the fatal … wink.  She winked right at Ginny, trying to help her remember.

            Ginny turned from white as snow to red as fire.  "Angela! You didn't!"

            "She didn't what?!" asked Ron, growing impatient by the second.

            "Ron, do you like Hermione?" asked Angela rather suddenly.  At this, Hermione turned bright red.  "Angela …" she muttered under her breath.

            This was the answer Ron was expecting.  "W-what? What are you talking about?"

            "Do you or do you not like Hermione?" she repeated.

            Harry started laughing.  "Excuse me, Harry, but I wouldn't be talking.  It seems like you have been giving Ginny some hints … as far as I'm concerned?" said Angela coolly.

            This time Harry turned bright red.  "What are you talking about?"

            "Oh Ron! I just love your new silver fastenings on your robe! Wherever did you get it?" said Angela.

            Hermione looked up.  Silver fastenings? She looked over at Ron's robes.  She gasped.  Silver fastenings?!

            "And Harry! I just LOVE your green ones … they bring out your eyes sooo much," said Angela.

            Ginny gulped.  Satisfied, Angela walked away from the table, leaving the four of them completely embarrassed.  She returned to her first table where Seamus was sitting with a smug look on his face.

            "Didn't exactly turn out how you wanted it to turn out, did it now?" he asked, trying to stifle a laugh.

            "No, I guess not. I really should control my temper shouldn't I? But really … they are pretty slow not to catch on. I think they have by now. We'll just have to see what happens."

            Seamus laughed.  "You really are a go-getter, aren't you?"

            "What can I say? I got it from you didn't I? I mean, you went after me, after all," she said mockingly. 

A/N:  Hey everyone, well it's done.  Really! It is! Okay, maybe it's not … there is still the epilogue … that will show you how everything turned out, with Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Ginny. Enjoy! And thank you for reviewing.