Disclaimer: Yeah, nothing but Angela and the plot are mine. *pout* Oh well. I'll live.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Angela spent her weekend between getting beat at chess by Ron, studying with Hermione, and spending time with Harry. In the little time that they got alone they spent either making out or talking about ways to get Ron and Hermione together.
Angela had told Harry about overhearing his and Ron's conversation at the Burrow and also about what Hermione had told her. She had only told this last bit after making Harry promise to never tell anyone, which wasn't quite as easy a task as she thought it would be.
"What're you going to do if I tell someone" Harry asked, a devilish grin playing across his face.
Angela gave him the nastiest look she could conjure and said "I don't believe you want to know that Mr. Potter."
Harry gave a look of mock hurt. "It's Mr. Potter now? Just a few minutes ago it was Harry."
"Yes, well, that was before you made me mad. Now promise." Angela said, just a few inches from his face.
Harry grabbed her arms and for a second Angela thought he was going to kiss her. Instead, he kicked her feet out from under her. Angela fell but broke her fall by pulling him down with her. They wrestled for a few minutes, after which Harry had her pinned to the ground under him.
Harry got very close to her face again, again giving off the impression that he would kiss her. He smiled however and said "What was that you were going to do?"
Angela tried to look as innocent as she could before putting her hands on his hips and saying, "Oh, nothing. Just this. Rictusempra!"
Harry rolled off, laughing as if he were being tickled by a hundred hands. Angela lay there for a minute and watched him before he gasped out "I promise." She smiled and performed the counter curse.
Harry lay there panting for a minute before he said "That wasn't funny." He gave Angela a stern look, as if trying to tell her never to do it again.
Angela only shrugged and said, "It could have been worse."
They spent most of Sunday plotting ways to get Ron and Hermione to admit their feelings to each other, each plan sounding more ridiculous than the last. They were sitting on a couch in the common room when Hermione came in and gave Angela an envelope, then proceeding to sit down, looking very exhausted.
The note was from Dumbledore asking Angela to come to his office as soon as possible. Angela gave a worried look at Harry and turned to ask Hermione if she knew what it was about only to find Hermione and Ron staring at each other.
"They may just save us the trouble," Angela whispered in Harry's ear. She grabbed his arm and motioned for him to come with her. They walked to Dumbledore's office talking about how weird Ron and Hermione were.
"I'm sure that we weren't much better. I know I was always staring at you." Harry said, running an affectionate hand through her hair.
"Really?" Angela barely managed to squeak, looking up at him.
Harry laughed as he looked at her. "Yeah, really. I couldn't take my eyes off of you."
Angela felt really guilty for a moment. She wanted to tell him the truth but she didn't want to hurt him. She knew that she hadn't even really noticed anything but his good looks before the night her mother came to Hogwarts. Of course she had let her eyes linger for a few moments sometimes, but she never felt a pull towards him. Until that night. She was about to say something when they reached the gargoyle.
They spent five minutes standing in front of the Gargoyle arguing about whether or not Harry would go up.
"There's no point to it. Why should I go up?" He asked her.
"You think I'm going to leave you here alone in a deserted hallway? Yeah, no that's not going to happen."
"What, you think Voldemort's just going to crash through the wall and take me? Or kill me?"
"Precisely. Besides," she added, her voice lowering to almost a whisper, "I want you there if it's bad news." She looked up at Harry scared and she knew right then that he would go with her.
He put his arm around her and said, "Don't worry. I'll always be here for you," giving her a loving smile.
Angela returned his smile, though not quite as brightly. She was scared. Surely being called to the Headmaster's office like this couldn't be good. Of course, knowing Dumbledore (or Albus, as her mind insisted on calling him) he could just want to chat. "Of course, that's it, he just wants to talk." She thought to herself as she said the password.
She and Harry climbed onto the stairs, Harry wrapping his arms around Angela's waist. They shared a long kiss on the stairs and another when they reached the top before Angela knocked on the door. It opened on it's own and, giving Harry a final kiss, she stepped into the office.
Angela found herself slightly annoyed that Dumbledore wasn't there, but she decided to entertain herself by talking to Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes.
"Hey, Fawkes. How're ya doin, huh?" She smiled at the brilliantly colored bird who looked at her with very kind eyes. Angela reached her hand into the cage and the phoenix allowed her to stroke his head.
"I see you've made a new friend."
Angela jerked around at the sudden sound of a voice. She saw Dumbledore and sighed with relief, though her heart did not quickly return to it's original pace. She gave Dumbledore a weak smile.
"Yes, he's beautiful. What was it that you wished to speak to me about Alb- Professor Dumbledore?"
The headmaster chuckled at her slip. "I suppose you would want to call me Albus. It is, after all, what your parents called me."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean any disrespect, sir."
"Nonsense. I know you didn't and it's a perfectly understandable mistake, considering your situation. Congratulations on making Gryffindor, by the way."
Angela looked at him, confused. She knew that of all people he should have thought that she should be in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff.
"I know it's what you wanted." Dumbledore said, looking at some parchment on his desk. "That is not, however, why I called you here today. I wish to talk to you about your test scores."
Angela's mind began to race wildly. She had totally forgotten about her tests. "What if I did poorly? Will they kick me out? How bad did I do to have him call me here?"
Dumbledore again seemed to be able to read her mind, and gave a slight smile. "Don't worry, you did fine. In fact, you did better than any student we've ever had."
Angela didn't know what to say. She looked at Dumbledore, shocked. "Are you-are you sure?"
"Quite sure. You've earned 14 out of 15 possible O.W.L.s. The highest we've ever had anyone reach was 13 and that was by Voldemort himself and by your friend, Miss Granger. Twelves are also rare, but a fair number have gotten them. But never a fourteen."
Angela, while amazed that she had done so well, still couldn't stop a small part of her mind from berating herself for not getting fifteen. Angela smiled to herself. It seemed her perfectionism couldn't be driven out, even by magic. "So, what does that mean, Professor Dumbledore?"
"Well," he began, looking at her through his half-moon glasses, "It means that you are very talented. It also means that you are very intelligent. Of course, we already knew both of those things."
"Yes, sir." Angela responded by blushing. She'd never had someone compliment her like that. But still a part of her was nagging as to why she couldn't have gotten a 15. She did have two complete Hogwarts educations, plus much more knowledge, in her head. Before she could stop herself the question was past her lips. "Sir, why couldn't I get a fifteen?" She saw his surprised look. "I mean," she continued, "If I have two complete educations in my mind, plus some, why couldn't I get fifteen? I should have been able to do that, shouldn't I?"
"My dear child, it is near impossible to get a fifteen. I myself have never been able to get more than fourteen." Angela looked at him with surprise. "Yes, I take the tests regularly, just to make sure I'm not forgetting it all. I am getting on in years, you know." He chuckled.
Angela thought to herself that he had misunderstood her surprise. He had just said that she and he had the same amount of knowledge, based on test scores. She knew that he had much more experience, but she felt humbled to even have the same test scores as him. She gave him a small smile, still shocked somewhat that she had done so well.
Dumbledore seemed to have one last thing to ask her "Angela, this also shows that you are more than advanced enough for sixth year. You could skip a year and start as a seventh year tomorrow. Or, you could take the N.E.W.T.s now. I know that you would perform superbly on them if you took them now. However, you are more than welcome to remain where you are if you would like."
Angela thought about the proposition. She'd been in this predicament before, just a few years prior. She had been doing very well at school in sixth grade and she was offered a chance to skip a grade. She had taken it, of course, putting her closer to graduation and college. She would have been the only 16-year-old senior that year. She had regretted that decision since about a week after she made it. She had had to make new friends and had always been teased for hanging out with people younger than her. But it had also been good. She wouldn't be so far away from graduating. If she skipped a year now or just finished she could go back to America and finish high school. However, just thinking about leaving Hogwarts made her sad, as she knew that would mean leaving Harry and Ron and Hermione and everyone else, even if it meant that she would get to see Melissa and her family from America that much sooner.
"I think, sir, that I would rather just stay where I am. If that's alright with you. I mean, even if I graduate earlier we won't be any closer to defeating Voldemort, as Harry still would have to graduate. And, please correct me if I'm wrong, but he's not quite as far along as I am."
"Indeed he isn't. As you wish. You may go now." And with that Dumbledore dismissed her from his office.
Angela walked out of the office to see Harry with a concerned look on his face. He looked at her as if he expected her to start crying any moment. Instead, she gave him a huge grin.
"He just wanted to tell me my test scores. I had totally forgotten about them."
"Oh," said Harry, sounding a bit disappointed. "Well, what did you get?"
"Umm…well, I got fourteen O.W.Ls." She said this with trepidation as she had no idea how he would react.
Harry's face brightened at the news. "Fourteen! That's incredible. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone getting fourteen!"
"Well, that's because no one ever has." Angela said modestly. "Of course, it's not really me…it's my parents."
"But still, that's wonderful!" Harry grabbed her and pulled her close to him. He gave her a kiss that sent her head swimming. She felt herself trying to pull him closer as their tongues explored each others mouths. When they finally broke out of the kiss he leaned over and whispered, "Congratulations" in her ear. Angela suddenly found herself longing for summer again, when she and Harry were alone.
"Hermione's gonna kill me." Angela mumbled to Harry as they headed to the stairs.
Harry laughed and said, "I'm sure she won't kill you. Maim, maybe, but never kill."
"Oh, great. Maybe I should have left." At this Harry suddenly jerked, as if someone had put ice down his shirt.
"Left? What do you mean? You cant' leave… you have two more years to do."
"Well, not technically. Dumbledore told me that if I wanted I could skip a year or even take my N.E.W.T.s now…" Angela trailed off at the end, not wanting to admit that she had considered it in front of Harry.
She could sense Harry's eyes looking at her, boring through her, as if trying to read her very soul. "You didn't think about it, did you?" he asked, a sudden tenseness in his voice.
Angela couldn't look him in the eye. "Well, I…" she couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth, but she couldn't lie to him either. She had never been unable to lie to anyone in her entire life and it made her uncomfortable. She finally looked at him. He was looking at her hard with his bright green eyes.
"What does he think, he owns me?" Angela thought with a flash of anger. "What does it matter? I stayed, didn't I?" She heard herself say angrily.
"It matters to me. You thought about leaving didn't you?" She could hear the anger in her voice.
"Yes! Yes, I wanted to leave! Alright? Is that what you wanted to hear, God damn it! I wanted to go back to America and leave all this behind! I wanted to leave you behind!" She could see the hurt evident in his eyes before she even finished, but she didn't care. "It's none of your God damned business what I'm thinking. Fucking asshole," she said to Harry as she turned from him.
With that she walked away from Harry.