A few days later, after the April Fools' pranks had calmed down and George had made sure he and Katie were still together, Angelina found herself drifting away from her friends, longing solitude where she had once longed a social life. She left the dorm before any of the others had woken up, headed to the library at lunch, and left the common room early each night. No one understood why such a talkative girl had suddenly become silent, not even Angelina herself. But the person who noticed it the most was Fred. He was afraid of the change in Angelina, he had no idea what had happened to her. No idea what ran through her mind. No idea what she did when she went off by herself. He was so worried about her that he decided to follow her when she excused herself from dinner early one night. Angelina tore down the long hallways until she got to the doors at the end of the Entrance Hall. Throwing open the doors, she ran willingly into the shadows of the night, finally stopping to sit on a stone bench surrounded by rose bushes. Hiding behind a statue of an Angel, Fred looked around, expecting to see some other guy come and join her, but she just sat there alone. The full moon cast a silvery light on her shining black hair as the wind picked it up and threw it gently across her face. She slowly reached up to brush it away. Fred didn't know what came over him, but before he could stop himself, he had left his hiding place and slid onto the bench next to her. She seemed so peaceful sitting there, he felt terrible for startling her.

"S-sorry," he stuttered, "I d-didn't m-mean to bother you." he quickly got up to leave.

"Wait! Don't go!" He turned, startled that she had called him back. "I-I like that you're here," she blushed. "I'm the one who should be sorry, I've kind of been out of it lately."

"It's ok, we're all like that sometimes."

"Yeah, I guess." The two sat in silence for awhile, both trying to sum up the courage to say what was on their minds.

"Angelina, there's something I need to-"

"Fred, I-" They blushed, both having spoken at the same time.

"You go ahead,"

"No, you." They blushed again, turning to face each other. Fred stared into her eyes as she stared into his. iI never noticed how blue his eyes are!/i She thought, just as he was silently admiring her soft brown ones. It was as though there had been an unspoken command. He tilted his head down as she tilted hers up, pressing their lips together in their first kiss.

As they pulled away, Fred whispered, "I like you, Angelina."

She smiled and replied, "I like you too."

"Will you.um.be my girlfriend?" He closed his eyes, bracing himself for the rejection he was sure was coming.

"I'd love too."

He looked at her in surprise, the broke into the smile that she loved. Angelina silently took his hand, and together they walked back up the castle.