Chapter 5:

Jenna and Cassie

Cassie and Jenna left the store and headed to a cafe for a bite to eat. Jenna couldn't wait for her date with George. She had liked him when she was at Hogwarts, but she was to young and to shy to go and talk to him. Finally she had the courage to talk to him and it had payed off. She couldn't help wondering why George never mentioned their walk together the other night, but thought he might have just had his mine on work and hopefully on her.

They found a nice table outside. It was a warm sunny day and the fresh air felt good. They both ordered salads, as they waited for the order they decided to talk about the twins.

"So, what do you think of them?" Jenna asked hoping Cassie was interested in Fred.

"They both seem really nice," Cassie said, wondering how she could tell Jenna what she knew, without giving away her secret. "Fred seems like a nice enough guy."

"If he is anything like George, I'm sure he is." Jenna said, as she took a sip of her ice-tea the waiter had just severed her. "so, what did you and Fred talk about?"

"Not much really. Just the ideal chit chat, but that was about all," Cassie said. She really wanted to tell Jenna about what she had seen when she read Fred's mind, but she had never told Jenna about her powers. She decided she needed to just keep talking about Fred and maybe, just maybe Jenna would want him as much as he wanted her. Granted, George really liked her too, but it was Fred that Jenna had gone on the walk with. Cassie thought that maybe the best thing to do was to go and find Fred and tell him what she knew or at least drag it out of him some way.

"Do you want to go on this date or not?" Jenna asked breaking into Cassie's thoughts.

"What, yes, of course I do. They both seem like really nice guys! That George is kind of crazy though don't you think? I mean out of the two of them Fred seems to be the more down to earth one. Don't you think so?" Cassie asked hoping that Jenna would get the hint.

"Yeah, I know, but he isn't always like that you know. I told you that night when we went for that walk together how he was. It was so different from the way he was in the store today," Jenna said still feeling that some thing was a little off with George today at the store. "When they were at Hogwarts, Fred was the really wild one and George was the more quiet one!"

"Well, I guess if you're happy then I am happy," Cassie said just as their salads showed up.

Cassie knew she had to do some thing before things got out of hand. She needed to talk to Fred, that was all there was to it, and to find out the reason Fred had been the one with Jenna the other night and yet, Jenna kept saying she had been with George. It was all really confusing. She had her suspicions though and with what little information she got when she had tried to read Fred's mind, she was pretty sure she knew what had happened.

As soon as the salads were gone Jenna asked "So, what do you want to do next?"

"I was thinking of calling it a day actually. I have some paper work that I need to get done for the hospital," Cassie said. She didn't like lying to her best friend, but if she was going to find anything out about this whole Fred thing she need to get away from Jenna.

"Well, okay then, if you're sure," Jenna said a little disappointed. She had thought that her and Cassie would be able to spend the whole day together. Jenna did understand that Cassie did have a lot of work to do at St.Mungo's Hospital. "Floo me later, so we can talk more about our upcoming date."

"Sure, I can do that, it might be kind of late though," Cassie said with this deep feeling of guilt bubbling up in her gut. She hated to lie, but she felt she didn't have any other choice. She just wanted to get away and fast.

"That's fine, you can floo me whenever, talk to you later then," Jenna said as she headed towards home. She decided to walk and think about her upcoming date. She was so excited. She had always wanted to get to know the Weasley twins. She had heard that they were so much fun. In her heart she kept hearing a voice telling her 'They maybe fun, but are they marriage material?' she didn't know the answer to that yet, but she wanted to find out. She thought, George seemed to act a little on the wild side still, but maybe she could tame him. Fred had seemed to have mellow out, if anything he had changed more into the way George used to be and George was more the way Fred used to be. She wondered if that was true with all twins. The thought passed as fast as it came. Her mind went back to the nice walk she had had with George. He had seemed so different then, so mature and attentive. She didn't realize she was home until she was standing right outside her door.

Cassie hurriedly went back to catch Fred before he left for the day. She had just gotten to the store as one of the Weasleys was about to lock the door. She was in luck, he hadn't left yet. She would have apperated, but she wanted time to think about what she was going to say to Fred. She wanted to be able to bring it up without revealing her secret, but she had yet to think of away to do that.

"Cassie, right?" asked George opening the door for her.

"Um, yes, and you would be...George?" Cassie was starting to regret ever coming to talk to Fred. She now wished she had just stayed with Jenna and finished their day together.

"Yeah, did you come to see Fred?" George asked with a big grin on his face.

Cassie knew what George was thinking, but he couldn't have been further from the truth. "Actually, yes please."

"Hey, Fred, their is someone here who would like to talk to you," George shouted towards the back room.

Fred came out to see who it was. He was shocked when he saw that it was Cassie. He hadn't thought he would see her again until Saturday, when he and George picked them up for their date. "Hi" Fred said with a note of hesitance in his voice.

"Hi, are you busy?" Cassie asked knowing that her presents was a shock to him, it was to her too. She still hadn't figured how she was going to do this.

"I was just about to head home. Is there something you need?" Fred asked still not sure what she was doing back here.

"I was wondering if we might take a walk and get to know each other better?" Cassie asked. She was about to say since Jenna and George have spent time together, but she thought better of that. She would have said it to hint to Fred that she knew, but with George standing right there, she knew she better not.

Fred looked over at George, who had a big grin on his face. He turned back towards Cassie and said "Sure, that would be a great idea."

"Where is Jenna?" Piped in George, who was a little upset that Jenna hadn't joined her friend.

"She had a headache and wanted to go home," Cassie lied. "When will you be ready to go?" she asked Fred. She really wanted to just get this over with.

"He can go now." George said, with a grin. He was upset that Jenna hadn't come with Cassie, but was relieved that now he didn't have to feel guilty about wanting to go out with Jenna. He hoped that Fred and Cassie would hit it off.

"Are you sure?" Fred asked. Still unsure if he really wanted to go out with Cassie. She had kind of freaked him earlier when she was in the shop with Jenna. There was just something about her.

"Positive, you two go out and have a good time," George said, thinking how far they both had come since starting the shop. Maybe they would both get married and start families of their own.

Fred went to the back room and grabbed his cloak. "Thanks," he whispered to George as he walked to the door and held it open for Cassie. They walked out of the shop. "Where would you like to go?"

"Anywhere its quiet. We need to talk and I don't want others to be able to over hear us." Cassie said, as she grabbed his arm leading him to the one spot that she knew was almost deserted.

"Hey, where are you taking me?" Fred asked, a little shocked by the aggressive behavior.

Cassie didn't answer, she just kept pulling him along. Fred looked around and knew where she was taking him. What he didn't know, was why she wanted to be alone with him, they hardly knew each other. He just let her tug him along, until they reached the alley way behind Flourish and Blotts. That was when he came to an abrupt halt. Cassie nearly fell to the ground. She hadn't expected him to stop like that, Fred had been just following along . After straighting back up from the near fall, she turned and looked at Fred , her hand still on his arm. "What are we stopping for? It's not much further," Cassie said, now a little irritated.

"I'm not going any further until you tell me what this is all about." Fred said with a hint of irritation mixed with laughter. He tried to hold in his anger along with his need to burst out laughing at the way she almost fell over. He also noticed how her eyes lit up when she was angry and the way her hair fell around her face. He hadn't really noticed how beautiful she really was until that moment. He all of a sudden didn't care where they went. He just wanted to be with her and get to know her better. Then just as quickly, the thoughts just disappeared and an image of Jenna came to his mind. She was just as beautiful as Cassie, but there was just a little some thing more to her. He tried to shake the images out of his head and back to the matters at hand.

"I will tell you in a minute. Just come over here," Cassie led Fred over to a place behind Flourish and Blotts where they had tables set up. " Please sit down and I will explain why I dragged you out here."

Fred wasn't so sure about this, but he pulled out a chair any way and sat down. "Alright, now will you tell me what this is all about. I don't think you dragged me out here just to get to know me better."

"You're right, I didn't," Cassie said with a smirk. She liked dragging this out for more that just the fact that she didn't know how she was going to tell him what she knew without giving away her secret. "I thought you might want to tell me about your feelings for Jenna."

Fred didn't know what to think. This was the last thing he thought they would talk about. He wondered why she dragged him out her just to talk about his feelings for Jenna and then it occurred to him, the staring, the strange look on her face when he caught her, it was all starting to add up now. His face slowly started to turn red. He couldn't believe he hadn't realized it sooner. She had read his mind back at the store. She knew about his feelings for Jenna. He hoped he was wrong and decided not to give anything away just yet. "I'm not sure I understand what you want to know. Jenna is interested in George, remember."

"It's just that, you seem more like the George that went on the moon lite stroll with Jenna, than the George at the store seems to be." She hoped he wouldn't figure it out. She hoped he would just think she was good at reading body language.

He knew for sure now that he was right, she could read minds. He still hoped he was wrong about it, but had the strange feeling he wasn't. "You know we are identical twins and that we are mirror images of each other, in more ways than just our looks."

He was going to make this hard for her. She was going to have to just tell him the truth, no matter how badly she didn't want to. She just didn't want to see anyone get hurt, especially her best friend. "I didn't want it to come to this," she started, but was interrupted before she could say anything more.

"You know the truth, don't you?" Fred asked. He decided just to get this over with. If she knew the truth she might as well just spit it out already instead of torturing him the way that she was.

"If you are talking about the fact that you impersonated your twin, then yes, I know." Cassie just spit it out. She didn't want to, but this way she didn't have to come straight out and expose her secret to him.

Fred's face started to match the color of his hair. He didn't know what to say. He had been busted and he didn't know what to do about it. He thought he better try and explain himself, but he wasn't sure how to go about doing that. " I don't know or care how you found out. Just promise not to tell anyone else about it, please. I have my ideas on how you found out, but I won't go into that."

Cassie was relieved that he didn't want to talk about how she knew. "What are you going to do? I mean they are going to figure it out some time, don't you think so?"

"I never meant for it to happen. I just wanted some time to myself and went for a walk and the next thing I knew I bumped into Jenna. I didn't mean to deceive her, its just.... I had never seen a woman so beautiful before," as soon as the words came out of his mouth he wished he could take them back. He hadn't meant to say all of that and to this compete stranger, who was just as beautiful. He started to feel his face turn red again. He had never been this embarrassed in all his life. He couldn't even remember ever being embarrassed before now.

"Well, now that you have done it, what are you going to do to fix it?" Cassie said with a hint of hurt in her voice. She didn't know why his words about Jenna had stung so badly, but they did. She knew Jenna was a beauty, but hearing it from Fred just made it hard for some reason that she couldn't explain if she had to.

"Well, now that you have done it, what are you going to do to fix it?" Cassie said with a hint of hurt in her voice. She didn't know why his words about Jenna had stung so badly, but they did. She knew Jenna was a beauty, but hearing it from Fred just made it hard for some reason that she couldn't explain if she had to.

"You might try telling everyone the truth," Cassie said with a hint of a smirk on her face. She was starting to enjoy the fact that he was so frazzled by this. "How does George feel about Jenna? Does he like her as much as you seem to?" she wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answers, but she had to ask.

"I couldn't tell him. He would hate me. I think he fancies her a lot, just like I do," again he felt as if he might have said to much. He looked into Cassie's eyes and saw something there that he wasn't sure what it was, but it looked a little like pain.

"Well, you can't keep sneaking around, can you? You need to fix this and fast. Don't you think they both will be more upset if you keep this up? I know I would be," she said as she looked into his eyes. His bright green eyes filled with vulnerability. He was so cute, that she actually started to feel a little sorry for him.

"You are right. I need to tell them. The problem is how? I can't just go up and say to George by the way I ran into Jenna the other night and she thought I was you and I didn't correct her. He would never understand." he said with the hint of dread and defeat in his voice.

"I suggest you do something about it and soon. You can't let this drag out. Don't you think it might get brought up on Saturday? Don't you think that Harry or Ginny might ask how we all meet? What are you going to do if Jenna brings up your walk together? Did you think about that," she was starting to get mad. It was becoming obvious to her that the reason he didn't want to clean this mess up was because he still wanted to have a chance with Jenna. then before she could stop and think about what she was about to say she said "I will be there with you if you want me to. I will help you out. That way if Jenna gets to upset or George does I will be there to protect you." She couldn't believe she had just made that offer. She didn't want to help him, did she?

Fred couldn't believe what he had just heard. The thought of her trying to hold back George, should he attack, made him smile. "You would do that for me? You don't even know me. I thought for sure you would think I was a big git for what I did."

Cassie still couldn't believe she had said that, but it was to late to take it back now. "Yeah, I will be there if that's what you want."

Fred heard the hint of hesitation in her voice, but he didn't care. He wanted her at his side when he confessed his deception. "I would really appreciate it if you would do that for me. When do you think we should do this?"

"Well, we are supposed to meet up before we go to Harry and Ginny's on Saturday, maybe you could tell them then."

" I don't know if that's such a good idea. I don't want to have to explain to my family why George isn't talking to me ever again."

"Well, I think you need to do it before then and that only leaves you with tomorrow and I have to work, so I won't be able to be there with you when you tell them."

Fred thought about what she had just said. He didn't want to have to face both Jenna and George by himself. "Well, I guess it's Saturday night then," he said with the hint of dread in his voice.

"Then Saturday it is." Cassie said relieved that this was over, but still hurt that both the twins were more interested in Jenna than her.

As they both got up from the table, Fred reached over and gave Cassie a sweet and gentle hug. Cassie didn't know what to think, so she hugged him back. She loved the way he smelled of aftershave and the feel of his arms on the small of her back was almost enough to make her melt, but then she remembered he wasn't in love with her, he was in loved with Jenna. She let her arms slide off him.

Fred didn't know what made him do that. He liked the way she felt in his arms and the way he could look her right in the eyes, those eyes, those beautiful eyes. He felt her arms slide off of him and he stepped back afraid he had upset her more than he already had. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's ok," Cassie said unsure of the look on his face. She wanted so badly to read his mind right then and there, but thought better of it. It had already gotten her information she wished she didn't know.

"Well then, are you going to apperate home or would you like me to walk you home?" Fred asked a little unsure of what to do now. He was felling very awkward.

Cassie couldn't believe he had just offered to walk her home. She was tempted to take him up on the offer, but there was some thing she needed to ask first. "What are you going to do if Jenna wants nothing to do with you?" Cassie didn't know what had come over her. She usually stayed out of other people personal business, but here she was neck deep in Fred Weasley's private matters.

"I don't deserve her. I should have been honest with her in the first place, if I had, I might not be in the mess I'm in now." He didn't want to think about it right now. He hoped it would all turn out ok in the end, but in the back of his mind he knew better. "So, would you like me to walk you home?"

"It's getting late. I think I will just apperate home. I look forward to seeing you on Saturday," Cassie said with a smile. She wanted him the courage he would need to confront his brother and Jenna.

"If you are sure you still want to do this," Fred said wanting to delay their separation.

"I want to be there for you. Don't worry it will all turn out in the end." Cassie said thinking that she hope the end included her together with Fred. She thought it was kind of romantic, the sneakiness of it all. The way that he would risk his brother's wrath just to be able to talk to her.

"Alright then, I will see you on Saturday." Fred didn't want to leave. He wanted to sit back down at the table with her and get to know her better. What was going on, one minute he couldn't stop thinking about Jenna and now he didn't want to leave Cassie. He was really confused and decided that maybe it was best just to go home and lay down. Ugh, then it hit him, George would more than likely be up waiting to drill him about his evening with Cassie. Fred all of a sudden had an urge that went all way down to the pit of his stomach, so he did the only thing he could do. He reached for Cassie and gave her the most gentle of kisses on her check right before apperating home.

Cassie stood there alone for a minute, trying to comprehend what had just happened. She decided that maybe there was still some hope for her to be with Fred.