Well, this was originally supposed ot be the final chapter, but as I write, the story just seems to make itself longer!

Thanks for all the reviews guys,I REALLY appreciate them. And Angelface04, the title is taken from the Evanescence song. This was originally a heartbeat away form being a songfic!

I'm much happier with this chapter than the last one. It's a little shorter, but came a lot more naturally. In fact, I didn't even get to the second half of it! So there's a bit more left in this story before it's over. Never fret! Anyhow, enjoy!

Angelina sat draped sideways across her favorite beaten old armchair in the common room, pouring over several pieces of parchment. Glancing up, she watched as Alicia penned an epic letter; no doubt its recipient would be George Weasley.

Since the twins' departure, her feelings for George had become more concrete, and she spent long hours composing letters in code to send to him without being confiscated by Umbridge. "At it again, Alicia? What could have possibly changed since the last time you wrote to him? Which, I remind you, was only two days ago."

"Yeah, well just because you won't talk to them doesn't mean I won't. Their shop's doing well, but they'll need to up their sales during the summer in order to begin turning a real profit. And Fred sends his-"

She was silenced by Angelina's glare. She still held her grudge against the Weasley, and had no desire to hear any messages sent on his behalf. She shuffled her papers noisily and felt her displeasure fade as she read and reread the letters.

The offers had finally come. The Arrows, Magpies, and Wanderers all extended invitations to her to try out for their respective teams, with Montrose even going so far as to immediately offer her a spot as reserve chaser.

Angelina's humility was pressed to its limits as she did all she could to keep from gloating to her friends…and others. She knew the other graduating quidditch players would kill to be in her position, especially the other captains: Roger and-. Her mood darkened.

When she thought of David now, it was only to dwell on her newfound contempt for him. She just couldn't forgive the part of him that she knew now was so absolutely untrustworthy…so evil? What a clichéd term. She rolled her eyes and folded her letters once more. "So, are you guys ready for N.E.W.T.s?"

Her question was greeted with several unenthusiastic mumbles. Lee even chucked a large stack of notes at her. "What do you think, Angie? Some of us still have to study…"

"Yeah, well if you didn't spend all your time chasing girls and just go to the library now and then…"

"Angelina Johnson!" Lee put his hand up to his chest, feigning outrage. "Jealous much? Some of us have better things to do than spend our days alone with stacks of moldy old books…training to become spinsters. No offense, Hermie!"

"None taken, Lee." Hermione hardly skipped a beat as she turned the page of her Ancient Runes text.

"At any rate," Lee continued more sincerely, "it's good to have you back. You were starting to go all 'lone-wolf' on us. Katie was really worried! She thought you'd never talk to us again. And it drove me into the arms of other women!"

Angelina threw the notes back at him as Katie commenced to beating him with a thick roll of parchment. It was nice to know her friends had been worried about her. And that even Fred still thought about her too sometimes. No! He left, never forget that. He could have stayed, but he didn't. He was just as much of a letdown as everyone else has been…

"Angie? What on earth are you mumbling about?"

She looked up, blushing furiously with embarrassment. "Nothing, Alicia. Just thinking out loud a little. Sorry."

"Yeah whatever, Spaz. I'm done with my letter. I think I'm going to bed. You and Katie should follow soon. We've got a game in the morning!"

"Yes, Mother."

Angelina and Katie put away their various papers and quills and followed Alicia up the stairs. With Slytherin's loss (even with Montague), Gryffindor had a legitimate shot at the Cup. But only if Ginny caught the snitch before Ron sunk the team too deep in the hole against Ravenclaw. Angelina fell slowly into quasi-anxious sleep.

If they could somehow pull the win, there would be a trophy to add to Gryffindor's award case, with her name next to "captain" on it. And she'd have done it even without Harry and the twins. They just would have to find a way to scrape by…

…

Raucous choruses of the new "Weasley is Our King!" echoed across the pitch as Madame Hooch handed Angelina the bright silver Quidditch Cup. She grabbed Ron, the hero of the game, and squeezed him in a bear hug as she handed the cup to him. It was his moment most of all. The Gryffindors swarmed the field and carried Ron away on their shoulders, singing all the way.

The rest of the team, though equally enthused, decided it best to shower before their triumphant return to the tower. Sloper, Kirke, Alicia, Katie, and Ginny headed back to the lockers while Angelina fell back a step and savored her final moments on the pitch. She wiped a silly little tear from the corner of her eye and reflected on all the memories of quidditch here, good and otherwise.

"Katie, you were absolutely brilliant out there!"

"Aw…Gin, you're making me blush. But honestly nothing tops your last-minute steal of the snitch. Astounding! And Ronnie! It's like your whole family was just born to play the game. Part of the Weasley blood I suppose…"

"What a fine compliment, if I do say so myself!"

Katie, Alicia and Ginny all jumped a mile high as a familiar voice called out from a dark corner. Out stepped none other than George Weasley himself, beaming proudly. Alicia squealed happily and threw her arms around his waist while Ginny punched him on the arm for scaring her so badly.

"What on earth are you doing here, George?" Katie laughed.

"You know full well I couldn't stay away while my team played for the cup! And I do hope my name is on there somewhere. I did almost single-handedly win us the game against Slytherin!"

The girls giggled and chatted with George for a while before excusing themselves for the showers. "Ladies, though my nose happens to agree with you one-hundred percent, I think it's best you hold off for just a bit. And here comes my reason."

His eyes focused over their heads as Angelina opened the outside door behind them. George pulled the girls around the corner with him, out of view. Holding a finger to his lips, he waited until the locker door shut behind Angelina before quietly locking it with his wand. "They're going to sort this out if it kills them. And it damn well might."

At the girls' confused faces, George only laughed and handed them each a set of Extendable Ears. "Trust me, you'll want to be hearing this."

Angelina tossed her broom and robe carelessly on the floor in front of her locker and began to pull the sweater over her head, wondering why the other girls hadn't decided to shower as planned. A small noise caused her to halt, her head half-stuck inside the turtleneck. "Please, no need to stop on my accord."

Angelina furiously pulled her top back on and found herself standing face-to-face with Fred Weasley. She stood wordlessly, mouth agape. "Really now, this is quite unlike you. Angelina Johnson without something to say?"

Her eyes narrowed. "If you hadn't noticed, I've had nothing to say to you since the moment you left."

"And here I was thinking your letters were getting confiscated by Filch…" he stepped closer to her, his arms out to hug her as though she wasn't ready to utterly destroy him on the spot. Which she was.

She raised an eyebrow before turning the leave the way she came in, only to find the door locked. From the outside. Which it never was. Unless someone had tampered with it. She shook her head knowingly before dropping to her knees and leaning towards the space between the door and floor. Inhaling deeply, she let out the contents of her lungs in a deafening shout. "GEORGE!"

Four separate voices swore loudly as they rubbed their ears and tried to sooth their throbbing eardrums. Angelina stood, smirking vindictively at Fred. "I don't know why they bother. We're done. Let me out now!"

Fred looked as though the wind had been knocked out of him, and a quartet of voices yelled "No!" from the other side of the door.

"Angel, why do you hate me so much…"

"Because you left me!"

Fred tried to disguise a hint of a smile at her hurt. She cared enough to miss him. "And why," he continued probingly, "was that even a problem?"

"Because I loved you."

He winced at the past tense. "I'm sorry my leaving hurt you, Angel. But I had to do what was best for me!"

"I know." Her voice turned cold. "And that's why it's time I do what's best for me. And you're not any part of that. I'm going to pass my N.E.W.T.s, Fred. And I'm going to graduate. I'll sign with the Montrose Magpies in June, and I'll play professional quidditch, just like I always told you I would. I'll have money, fame, and happiness, and I won't have you. And that's just fine with me."

She thought she heard a gasp, probably from Katie. Fred shook his head. "And who will be there to share it all with? Who will hold you at night? You're nothing without someone to love."

"Frankly, I don't have time for love!"

She turned back to her locker, but was spun back around by the arm. "Of course you do-"

"No," she blinked away stinging tears, "I don't."

Fred paused, alarmed and frightened by her sudden shift of emotion. She looked fragile and empty. He eyed her carefully, realizing this was the same fight they'd been having since she'd left the Hospital Wing with her hand in bandages. "Angelina, why do you cut yourself?"

"Who said anything about cutting?"

His hand traveled down the length of her arm to her wrist and the near-forgotten scar. "Why did you do this?"

"Because I was never given a choice."

Fred opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Angelina. "You say you love me. And you want to know me…know everything. Is that still true?"

He nodded, and Angelina took a deep breath. "Then you should know first off, that I am going to die. Soon. Because I'm faced with a choice that isn't a choice at all…"

Outside the door to the locker room, four paled faces ignored the pain in their knees and backs as the hunched over and listened to the secret of Angelina's tragedy. By the end, Alicia's face was buried in George's chest, Katie cried openly, and none of the Weasleys (Fred included), knew quite what to say.

"We could…we could find somewhere to hide you. Maybe at headquarters for the Order!"

"Fred, there's nowhere I can go that the Dark Lord cannot find me. Have you heard of the Adegi Herctum? It's a sort of forced inheritance."

Angelina pushed up the left sleeve of her sweater to reveal a faded bruise on her inner arm. "You still have that thing? It must have been like the mother-of-all bruises! It's been months since-"

"Longer than that. And it's not a bruise. Look." She tapped her wand against it, and the spot darkened and sharpened into an unmistakable version of the Dark Mark.

"When both parents have it, it automatically passes to the child. The Adegi Herctum is a side effect of the Protean Charm Voldemort used on his Death Eaters. Even though I never took the mark, he along with other Death Eaters still can sense where I am at all times. I never thought about it until Mont-…until someone told me he always seemed to know where I was. It all makes sense now."

"But what can I do, Angie? I'm stuck."

"And now you understand where I'm coming from. There isn't a thing I can do. I can't run, I can't fight, I just have to sit and wait for my time to run out!"

She pinched the bridge of her nose, her head beginning to ache dully. Fred took her softly into his arms and rested his chin on her head. "This is more than any person should ever have to deal with alone. I know I left you, and it's a mistake I can never forgive myself for. But we're going to get through this, okay? It's going to be okay…"

Angelina reached up and cradled his face with her hand, staring deeply into his soft green eyes. "No, Fred. It's not."

She pulled his face down to meet her lips in a desperate kiss. His lips moved from her mouth to her neck as she pulled at his robes and began to unbutton his shirt. On the other side of the door, the four tried to make sense of the odd sorts of rustling and movement inside.

When they heard a sudden undeniable zipping noise follow by a low groan, the two chasers and George immediately sat up and pulled the Extendable Ears off, laughing embarrassedly to themselves. George had to take Ginny's away, as she continued trying to listen in.

"Does this mean they've patched things up?"

"Dunno, Alicia. But it'll do for now." Fred shrugged and removed the locking charm before they all turned to leave and return back to the castle, burdened down with
everything they'd learned.