Thanks to everyone who reviewed, For those of you who were curious, I sincerely doubt that Angelina is sick. However, since I am posting as I am writing, and the stories tend to lead me, who knows? I don't think I'll make her sick. I'm sorry it seemed like that.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. I made the plot, so I guess its mine.
Pacing the corridor, Fred muttered, "Join the meeting of Dumbledore's army." He was trying to get into the room of Requirement, where Dumbledore's Army met. As he turned around, there was a door on his right. Glancing at Angelina, he grinned and pushed open the door. Slipping inside, he leaned against the wall and watched Harry.
"...remember, sharply down in front of you, and when you cast a spell or charm something, enunciate clearly and swiftly. Oh! Hey Fred, Angelina, I assume Hermione's with her dad, and that's why she's not here?" Fred nodded. "For those of you who don't know these two, Angelina was Quidditch captain two years ago, and Fred is one of the infamous Weasley twins who almost lived up to my father and Sirius Black," Harry said proudly.
Fred raised a brow. "Almost? Harry, I like to think we surpassed your father and Sirius Black." Fred laughed.
"HA. Well, anyways, Fred was also beater with his brother. A warning: Don't accept anything from Fred."
"But Harry! How am I going to test our new jokes besides on innocent first years?" Fred whined. He grinned. "Besides, I don't have anything with me. I'm sure I could send for some though. What are you doing with these youngsters?"
"Just having them practice drawing their wands. You never know if it'll save your life to be fast drawing your wand." Harry said. "Most of the older members are sitting out watching, or using it as more practice, not that any of them really need it, however, practice is always useful. Most of them have been involved in the fight against Voldemort." A unanimous shudder passed through the room at these words. Fred saw that his brother was among them. It amazed him that Ron still flinched at the name despite having been in many battles against him.
Despite acting as if it didn't matter, Fred had always worried about him. It was difficult to accept the fact that Ron was able to hold his own, simply because he was 'ickle Ronniekins' the little brother who had always followed him and George around amazed by their 'bravery' when really, given a chance, Ron was braver than the two twins together. It was an interesting position to be in, he admitted to himself, the younger brother the one who was always doing the brave stuff while he goofed off.
It made him both proud and jealous of Ron, not that he would ever know that, of course. Then again, he and George had three older brothers who were supposed to be looking out for the two of them. Two of them fulfilled their duty as best they could; however, they were usually busy with work and the order. Percy, however, was an ass, and it was impossible for Fred and George to have any respect for him, after not believing Harry when he had said Voldemort had returned. As the middle siblings, he supposed it was their job to be troublemakers, but they had been nothing BUT troublemakers. They hadn't provided a role model.
"Fred, Hello! Earth to Weasel 1! Anyone in there?" Angelina knocked on his forehead. Fred blinked and shook his head.
"What?" he asked, a bit snappish.
"You've been glassy-eyed for a few minutes. What's wrong?" Angelina asked.
"Nothing. Just thinking about my family. After what happened to Hermione's mother, it makes you think about your own." Fred said. Everyone nodded and murmured in agreement. "I believe more measures have been taken to ensure that Voldemort doesn't try the same thing with your family." He sincerely hoped, at least. Everyone looked a little relieved. It was amazing how much most of these students cared for their families. He understood, being in the same position as the rest of them.
Wandering over to the side of the room, he found a comfortable loveseat and settled in one corner of it. Angelina crossed the room and sat on the loveseat, beside him. Leaning into her, Fred sighed. He was exhausted, the last two days had been stressful, and as a result, he hadn't received much sleep the night before. He noted that Angelina wasn't complaining. Perhaps he would just sit there and doze for a while.
Harry glanced over. Interesting, he hadn't thought Fred and Angelina would be together, even after the dance in his fourth year. Perhaps they would be, especially after all that had happened. He shrugged and turned back to instructing the younger students.
"Hey, Fred, they're done! Come on, its almost curfew for them. We should be meeting Hermione and Mr. Granger. Remember? Down by the Great Hall." Angelina shook his shoulder.
"Ok, ok. I'm up. Let's go." Fred blinked blearily, sat up and yawned. Most of the students were heading for the door, grumbling about their homework load. "I should owl George, he'll need to know that we're here. I know he won't worry, but I need to tell him, I'll be here for a few days. Can you meet Hermione and Mr. Granger? I think I can borrow some parchment and a quill from Harry." Turning, he said "Oi! Harry, can you give me some parchment and lend me a pen?"
"Yeah, sure." He turned over the parchment. Fred quickly wrote: Am fine, let mum and dad know where I am, Be here for a few days, see you in a bit. –Fred.
Turning to Angelina, he said, "Thanks, I'll be back to the rooms in a bit, ok?"
"Yeah, sure. I'll see you in the morning, I'm ready to crash." Angelina waved her hand. Fred turned to the left and jogged towards the Owlry, the Room of Requirement really wasn't that far from it. Reaching the Owlry, he noticed the soft hooting of the owls that were roosting there. Suddenly a voice rang out. "Soo, Weasel 1 doesn't want his mummy to worry? Getting homesick Weasel?"
Fred spun around. "Malfoy. Go away so I don't have to see your ugly little face around me."
"Oooh. I'm scared. Why should I listen to you? You're not a prefect and you're not a slytherin. Oh. I almost forgot. You don't even go to this school anymore and you're a disgrace to purebloods everywhere. I mean, you brought that muggle here, didn't you?" Malfoy sneered. Fred's ears burned. He was sure they were bright red. However, he knew he couldn't lose his temper with Malfoy.
"Bye Malfoy." Fred said, coolly. Stiffly, he walked past Malfoy and descended the stairs. Inside his temper was seething. Muggles were just as good as wizards and witches. He didn't understand how they could be so blind. Then again, they were blind enough to follow the Dark Lord. He wished that instead of the portrait opening and shutting, he could just slam a door. He couldn't do the bedroom or bathroom doors, as that would disturb Mr. Granger and Angelina. He let out a huge breath through his teeth. That was all he could do to let out his frustration. Stepping lightly into the bathroom, he discovered that the water was running from the black marble shower in the corner. He figured he would be out of there soon enough, so he didn't bother calling out. Splashing water on his face, he reached for a toothbrush. Scrubbing his teeth, he studied his reflection in the mirror. His face was drawn close and he had circles under his eyes. He would have to do something about it. It was all on one night's sleep, or lack of it, too! As he was rinsing his toothbrush, the shower stopped. He should get out of the bathroom, and give whoever it was some privacy. He turned and was almost out the door when the glass door to the shower slid open with a quiet creak. "Fred! What the hell are you doing? Get out!" Angelina shrieked.
He spun around. Angelina stood there, white fluffy towel wrapped around her, leaving her shoulders and calves bare. Her hair was dripping wet, sleeked back, tiny rivulets of water running down her shoulders, which were gleaming, into the towel. His jaw dropped. Warmth curled in his belly, and spread. "Fine, fine. Sorry! I'm going. I didn't mean to stay and watch you get out of the shower. Just watch you in it!" he finished, leering at her. Angelina threw her bottle of shampoo at him. "Joking! Joking! Sorry!" With his hands covering his head, he bolted out of the door. He turned and entered the room he shared with Mr. Granger. He was there, stretched out on one of the four-poster beds, snoring lightly. Stripping down to his boxers, he rummaged in the small sack of clothes he had brought, for a t-shirt. He found one, and quickly drew it on, over his head. Jumping into the bed, he closed his eyes and almost immediately fell asleep.
Fred crept down the dark alleyway, next to the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. He had his wand out, slanted upwards in front of him, in prime fighting position, waiting, waiting for any type of movement. Suddenly, in the dim light left from the day, he caught movement to his right. He spun and crept towards it. He quickly performed a silencing spell. "silencio." He whispered. Hurrying forward, he found it was Angelina. Quickly, he undid the silencing charm and said "What are you doing here?"
"Thank god you're here! They were coming for me. I think they're still looking." She whispered. So that's what had drawn him out of his shop. He knew he had heard noises.
"Come on, we'll go back into my shop, and we can floo to mum and dad's. They're house is well protected." He motioned towards the front of the alley. Suddenly Angelina's eyes got big.
Crying "Stupefy!" and pointing her wand over his shoulder, she dragged Fred back to where she was, spinning him around so he too was facing the death eaters. She performed a multitude of spells, with Fred right along with her. However there were too many of them. Suddenly a 'Crucio' could be heard and Angelina was on the ground beside him, writhing, screaming in pain.
Fred sat straight up, breathing heavily. Suddenly, more aware of his surroundings, he realized that someone was screaming. It wasn't Mr. Granger, he looked like he was about to wake up, but he wasn't screaming. No, it had to be Angelina. Leaping out of bed, he tripped slightly over his own sheets and quilt. Grabbing his wand, he sprinted through the adjoining bathroom, to find Angelina tossing and turning, screaming, then moaning. Shifting, he put his wand in his left hand, crossed over to the bed. Sitting lightly on the edge, he leaned over and shook her shoulder. He noticed that tears had been streaking down her cheeks, leaving them damp and shiny. The skin around her eyes was puffy. "Come on, Angelina, wake up. It's a dream. Wake up." Slowly the twisting about stopped, and her moans ceased. "Angelina. Wake up." he whispered. Slowly, she rolled over, and her eyes fluttered open.
"Fred?" she whispered, the terror that had been exuded from her moments earlier, still there.
"Yeah, you were having a nightmare, Angelina. You were screaming. Guess it's why I dreamt of you being tortured," Fred said, pulling a grimace. "You want to talk about it?"
"Not yet, could you just hold me? I know its odd, but I need comfort now, and there's no Ben & Jerry's around. This is Hogwarts after all." Angelina said, cracking a small smile. Fred gave her an odd look. Ben & Jerry's? What was this? Some medication for muggles?
"What is Ben & Jerry's?" he asked.
"Oh! I keep forgetting. You don't do much in the muggle world, where I live, we have to spend time in the muggle world. It's this absolutely divine ice cream, made in Vermont, in the United States. Its like medication for the heart and soul. Thinking about their flavors just makes me salivate." She said.
"You should show me this place. I would like to try some." Fred said, while maneuvering so that she could lean back against him. "However, you should tell me about your nightmare, so you can sleep easily for the rest of the night. I will tell you mine first, if you like." Fred said.
"Ok." Angelina nodded.
"Well, I was right outside of my store, where you met me? And I heard a little noise coming from the alley next to it. Just enough, so I knew it wasn't a mouse. I felt drawn back there. You know, dark alley, danger, all that. I heard movement, and I sent a silencing charm there. I discovered it was you, and while we were talking, after having undone silencio, the death eaters appeared. We both fought for a while, but suddenly, you were hit with crucio, and I woke up, and heard you screaming and moaning." Fred said. He rubbed her shoulders. There was so much tension there.
"Well, mine was slightly different. I dreamt I was at the Granger's house when Mrs. Granger was being taken. I was fighting to keep her there, but I couldn't hold them, and I was tortured. You were there, but you were unconscious. In my dream, I was being tortured when you woke me up." She ended on a barely audible whisper. They sat there, silently, thoughtfully, each becoming sleepier. Fred barely realized that he was almost asleep, didn't register that he shouldn't be there. After a few moments, all that could be heard in the room was the creaking of the old wood settling in and the deep, slow breaths of those who are truly asleep.