Disclaimer: I don't own Harry and I'm not making any money from this.

A/N: Hi everyone! I just have a little announcement. It won't apply to many of you but this story is currently being translated into German. The translation will be posted under this penname in the not too distant future. I'd like to thank Gina and Steffi for offering to undertake this huge project. You guys rock!

With that said, this chapter will concentrate solely on F/A and L/K. This chapter is also dedicated to a few special people: Gina, Steffi, Kathryn and Oreoline00…go and read her story!

Chapter 38

"Come and have a look at this!"

Alicia and Katie looked up from their History of Magic essays. A very agitated Angelina was tapping her foot and wringing her hands. More than a little curious, Alicia and Katie followed Angelina out of the library and through to the Entrance Hall.

"Where exactly are we going?" Katie finally asked.

"Outside. Come on!" she urged, grabbing the girls and pulling them towards the doors.

"What are we supposed to be looking at?" Alicia looked around the grounds but could not see anything that would warrant Angelina's urgency.

"Over to the left. NO! Don't look!" Angelina hissed.

"But you said-"

"Don't make it obvious!"

Alicia casually flicked her hair and took a look over her shoulder. Fred, George and Lee were talking to a pair of girls from Beauxbatons. The girls were giggling and making a good show of flirting. The boys did not seem to find this at all bad.

"They're trying to take our boys away!" Angelina said angrily. "We can't let them get away with it!"

"Our boys?" Katie questioned.

"Look at that brunette all over Lee!"

Katie glared at her friend. "Why should that make any difference to me? Lee can flirt with whomever he likes. Besides, Fred isn't your boyfriend, you don't have any special claim to him."

"He may not be my boyfriend, but that doesn't mean I have to let some foreign hussy snatch him out from under my nose."

"What exactly are you going to do?" Alicia asked anxiously.

Angelina grinned in a way that made Katie and Alicia gulp. "I'm just going to warn her off. That's all."

Alicia exchanged a dubious look with Katie. She looked back at the students just in time to see the twins and Lee walking away. She breathed a huge sigh of relief. "It looks like the boys have left. I guess there's no need to start trouble now," Alicia said hopefully.

Angelina raised her eyebrows in amusement. Before Alicia or Katie could say anything she had marched off in the direction of the Beauxbatons girls. The two of them hurried after their friend and tried to talk her out of it.

"What if they don't speak English?" Katie said desperately.

Angelina shrugged. "You can speak some French, can't you, Alicia?"

"Only the bits and pieces Jasmine bothered to teach me," she replied uneasily.

"What phrases can you say?"

"My name is Alicia and I live in England. I like your shoes."

"That all?"

Alicia sighed. "Where is the nearest lavatory? Also, please pass the butter."

"Pass the butter?" Katie repeated dubiously. "I doubt that's going to be much help."

"I only learnt a bit last year so I could talk to some of Jasmine's friends. I didn't know I'd have to use it to pick fights with people!"

Angelina remained unfazed. "Nevermind. I have a feeling I'll be able to get by with hand gestures."

The Beauxbatons students were watching the approaching Hogwarts students very curiously. They could obviously feel the hostility coming from Angelina because they folded their arms defensively and narrowed their eyes.

"Do you speak English?" Angelina demanded without preamble.

"Of course," the blonde girl said icily.

"Good. I want you to stay away from Fred Weasley."

"Who?"

"The guy you were talking to just then. The red head."

"There were two with red hair," the brunette pointed out tartly.

"He's the one with the letter F on his jumper," Angelina said.

Blondie smiled serenely. "Ah. He is very cute."

"He is also very mine."

"Uh-oh," Katie mumbled so only Alicia could hear.

"Well, now they know!" Alicia said with forced cheerfulness. "Let's get back inside so Katie and I can finish our essays for Binns."

The girls were not quite finished though. Blondie began to frown and said innocently, "He did not mention that he had a girlfriend. I wonder why?"

"Well, I'm not technically his girlfriend. Technically he's single, but-"

"Then you cannot tell him what to do," the brunette interrupted pertly.

Angelina scowled fiercely and the girls began to speak rapid French to each other. They giggled derisively and kept giving Angelina nasty little glances.

Angelina whispered, "Alicia, what are they saying?"

"I don't know. They're going too fast," she replied quietly. "Oh. Er…I think they just called you a potato."

"A potato? Are you sure?" Katie asked sceptically.

"No!" Alicia answered, quickly becoming flustered. "I told you, they're going too fast!"

Angelina squared her shoulders. "Listen, Fred is single but he isn't available. Do you understand?"

"Oh, we understand."

"Yes. You want him, but this Fred does not want you. We understand completely."

Angelina clenched her fists and Katie decided it was time to step in. "It's been fun talking to you but my friends and I have to get back inside. I hope you enjoy your stay at Hogwarts! Arrivederci!"

Alicia rolled her eyes as she seized one of Angelina's arms. "She meant au revoir."

"Au revoir!" Katie corrected cheerfully.

"I'm not finished!" Angelina protested as her friends pulled her away from the giggling French girls. "Stop that! I was only going to give them a piece of my mind!"

"I think it would be a good idea if you kept what's left of your mind. It might come in handy," Alicia said dryly.

Angelina's protests slowly began to die away as she was manhandled back to the library. The girls pushed her into a chair and sat down across the table from her. Katie and Alicia stared quite openly until Angelina demanded, "What the bloody hell are you looking at?"

"What's going on with you?" Alicia asked, continuing to stare curiously.

"Yeah, why so possessive all of a sudden?" Katie added.

"Don't be stupid! I'm not being possessive!"

"The lady doth protests too much, methinks."

Angelina and Katie just stared at Alicia and she muttered something about her father making her read Shakespeare. Katie shook her head and turned to Angelina. "Since when do you care who Fred talks to?"

Angelina dropped her gaze to the tabletop and mumbled something inaudible. Both Alicia and Katie leaned forward and told her to repeat herself. She sighed and said, "Yule Ball."

"What's that?" Katie asked, turning to Alicia for help. Alicia could only shrug in response.

"It's exactly what it sounds like," Angelina said. "The Yule Ball is a dance held at Christmas."

"A dance?" Alicia echoed. "But we've never had a dance at Hogwarts."

"The Yule Ball is traditionally held during the Triwizard Tournament. I came across it when I was reading up on the Tournament."

"Ok," Alicia said slowly. "So, you want to go to the Ball with Fred?"

Angelina hesitated. "Want isn't exactly the word I'd use…"

"Yearn?" Katie suggested. "Are you yearning to go with Fred?"

"Shut up."

"No. I think she's longing. Kat, doesn't Angelina look like she's longing to go with Fred?"

Angelina put her head in her hands as her supposed best friends giggled at her expense. She graciously gave them a moment to work out their amusement before she looked up again. Both of them were still stifling giggles. "If you must know, I feel no strong objection to going to the ball with Fred."

Alicia smiled gently. "We're your friends, Angie, you can tell us how you really feel."

Angelina surveyed both of them. Alicia's wide brown eyes were soft and encouraging. Katie's blue eyes were expectant but there was still a glint of mischief in their sapphire depths. Angelina sighed. The two of them would not leave her alone until she made some sort of admission so she might as well get it over with.

"All right, so I fancy Fred," Angelina said. "What's so wrong with that?"

"Oh, nothing's wrong with it," Alicia assured her quickly. "It's just…well, you two fight so much."

"And you enjoy provoking him into those fights," Katie added.

"That's all part of the game!" Angelina explained with an exasperation sigh.

"The game?"

Angelina nodded. "You two wouldn't understand because you've never had a real boyfriend."

Alicia opened her mouth then slowly closed it again. Katie raised her eyebrows at Angelina's comment. "If the so called game involves pretending to hate someone you fancy then I don't particularly want to play," she said airily.

"You already do it with Lee," Angelina said in an off-hand manner.

"I do not!" was Katie's automatic response.

Angelina did not believe this for a second. Leaving Katie to scowl, she turned to her other friend. "Alicia here has totally broken the rules of the game by actually being friends with the guy she fancies."

"I what?"

"Oh, don't pretend you don't know."

"I don't know!" Alicia insisted.

"Hey, does the game have a rule book?" Katie asked, looking a little frightened. "I think I'm going to need it."

xxxxx

Angelina made Alicia and Katie promise not to send everyone into a frenzy by mentioning the Yule Ball. Let them find out in their own time, Angelina had insisted. This, however, did not stop Alicia from panicking.

"I can't imagine who I'll go with. I can't even dance!" she exclaimed. "I think I'll have to go home for Christmas."

Angelina bit back a groan. Why did she have to admit her feelings for Fred but Alicia could keep her thing with George a secret? To avoid getting into a fight, Angelina turned to Katie who was calmly humming to herself and painting her toenails. She hadn't mentioned the Yule Ball at all.

"What about you, Katie?"

"Lee will ask me," she said with a careless shrug.

"What will your answer be?" Alicia asked curiously, forgetting her own misfortune for a moment.

Katie looked up from her toenails. She blushed slightly as she met her friend's gaze. "I'm not sure. What do you think I should say?"

Alicia and Angelina immediately joined Katie on her bed. "Do you really like Lee?" Angelina asked.

Katie hesitated and went back to her toenails. "What do you two think of him?"

"He's Lee," Alicia replied. She'd never really thought of him in any other way. Not much, at least.

"Angelina?"

"What I think really doesn't matter," Angelina said diplomatically.

Katie would not take no for an answer. "Please! I really don't know what I'm supposed to do! At least tell me if you think he's cute," she pleaded.

"That's not really going to help, Katie, you need-"

"Of course he's cute!" Alicia interrupted. "He only has to smile and every girl in the immediate area sighs."

"Leesh, you're not helping," Angelina hissed through her teeth. "Listen, you have to figure this out for yourself, Katie. Either you want to go with Lee or you don't. We can't tell you what to do."

"Not even a hint?"

"As crazy as she is," Alicia said, "I think Angelina is right. You should really do what you want, not what we want."

Katie narrowed her eyes. "You two are the most unhelpful best friends in the world. One of these days I'm just going to find some new best friends. Helpful best friends."

"We love you, too."

xxxxx

The girls were momentarily diverted from their Yule Ball preparations by the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. For the first time since the Goblet of Fire had announced the champions, Angelina was glad she hadn't been chosen.

"He's going to die," Katie mumbled over and over again as Harry faced the dragon.

Alicia was worse, she couldn't even watch. She had covered her face as soon as the task began. Lee kept up a running commentary in her ear and laughed as she flinched and squealed in fright. As soon as Harry was safely on the ground again she insisted she had believed in him completely

"I'm glad Cedric wasn't hurt," Angelina announced conversationally as the group headed down to see Charlie.

Fred pretended he hadn't heard her. He knew very well that she was trying to provoke and goad him into a fight. He refused to bite and Angelina gave up, looking a little annoyed at the lack of response. If she wanted maturity then she would get it.

As they approached, Charlie caught sight of them and his face lit up. He began to jog towards them and his arms opened to hug Fred and George. Or so they assumed. Alicia gasped as Charlie enveloped her in a huge hug. He lifted her off the ground and spun her around. Charlie then released her so quickly that she stumbled back into George.

"It's so great to see you!" Charlie said to her, completely ignoring the other five.

"Er, great to see you, too," Alicia returned, still trying to regain her balance and composure. She couldn't help but notice some nearby girls giving her dirty looks. She blushed and grabbed George's arm incase Charlie tried to hug her again.

He didn't try to hug her again. He did grin and kiss her on the cheek, however. "How's school going? I bet you're driving all the boys crazy. You have such pretty eyes. Got a boyfriend yet?"

Alicia turned to George for help. He was just staring at his brother suspiciously. He instinctively pulled Alicia closer to his side. She managed to stammer out a reply that made no real sense but Charlie just smiled and said, "That's great to hear!"

Fred tapped his brother on the shoulder to pull his attention away from Alicia. "Hi, I'm Fred, your brother. Remember me?"

Charlie hardly spared him a glance. "You're a little hard to forget, Fred. Anyway, I gotta get back to the dragons. Have fun for the rest of the year, Alicia."

"What about George and me?" Fred yelled after Charlie as he jogged away again. They all stared after him for a minute.

"So," Angelina said, "your brother drinks a lot of alcohol then?"

xxxxx

The diversion provided by the first task wore off quickly, especially when the Yule Ball was officially announced. They were in Charms and as Professor Flitwick explained the tradition of the dance all the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws began to talk over him.

Fred, who happened to be sitting next to Angelina, said, "A dance, huh?"

"It seems so," she replied neutrally. She continued to stare straight ahead, but could see him staring at her out of the corner of her eye.

"That explains the need for the dress robes."

"Yes."

"You'll go with Cedric, I suppose?" Fred asked.

"And you'll go with your little French strumpet?"

"I don't have a little French strumpet. But there is a girl I want to go with."

Angelina couldn't help but turn to him. She tried to keep her expression suitably bland. "Oh yeah. Is she pretty?"

"Positively gorgeous."

Angelina's eye twitched convulsively. "And she likes you back?"

"So it would appear."

"Then what's the problem? Why aren't you together already?" she asked tightly.

"Ah, she has a problem with letting people get close to her. Just when I think I'm in, she pushes me away again. It's terribly frustrated." Fred smiled as recognition hit her

Angelina turned away as soon as she realised he was talking about her. She sighed and said softly, "Well, maybe this girl has a reason for pushing you away. Maybe she can't help it. Maybe doesn't know she's doing it most of the time."

"That's a lot of maybes." Fred stood up as the rest of the class filed out of the room. "I guess I'll just have to find the reason she pushes me away and fix it. I'm not going to give up on her."

Fred left with everyone else but Angelina remained in her seat. "I'm sure she'll appreciate that," she said to herself.

Lee and Katie were doing no better. Three days after the Ball was announced, Lee found Katie alone in a corner of the common room. She was trying to finish some Potions homework and not having much luck with it.

"Hi, Katie. Have a nice day?"

"No. Snape's a sadist. What do you want, Lee?"

He only hesitated minimally. "Will you go to the Yule Ball with me? If you aren't already going with someone. I mean, if you've already said yes to another guy that's all right."

"No one else has asked me yet," Katie replied uneasily. She didn't say anything further though. She didn't know what to say.

"So…?" Lee prompted gently.

"I'm not sure."

Lee looked at her as if she'd spoken a foreign language. "What the bloody hell does that mean?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" he repeated slowly.

"I - I just can't come to a decision," Katie said awkwardly.

"Well, I'll take that as a no." Lee stood up and forced a smile. "See you around, Katie."

He walked away and Katie groaned, dropping her head into her hands. She forgot all about Snape's stupid homework as all of her worries clamoured for position in her mind. If she went with Lee would he officially be her boyfriend? Would that even be a bad thing?

Katie was sure Lee would just ask her again in a week or so. Hopefully by then she'd have an answer for him.

xxxxx

An answer did not come easily to Katie. Her prediction that Lee would ask her again did not appear to be accurate when over a week later he still hadn't even mentioned the Ball. In fact, he hardly spoke to her at all. She didn't think much of it at first. He was probably just a little embarrassed. As a result, it had almost been two weeks before she began to get really worried.

Angelina was having some problems of her own so Katie went to Alicia for advice. Alicia was distracted as well, but she did manage to eventually explain Lee's silence.

"I really think I would like to go with him. If only he'd ask again!" Katie said, desperation creeping into her voice.

Alicia looked up suddenly. "Hang on, are we talking about Lee?"

"YES! He still hasn't asked me to the Ball again!"

"Oh." Alicia nodded solemnly and grabbed Katie's hand. "I'm sorry, sweetie, I meant to tell you earlier. It turns out Lee is asking some other girl to the Ball."

Katie's jaw dropped. "You're kidding, right?"

"Unfortunately not," Alicia said apologetically. "He mentioned it to me yesterday."

"Who is she?" Katie demanded.

"Her name's Maria Costanza and she's a fifth year Hufflepuff. Lee told me that he was going to ask her today during their study session in the library."

"Today?"

"Yeah, right now in fact."

Katie had been agonising over Lee for weeks, months really, but at that moment she knew what she wanted. The very thought of Lee with another girl made her feel physically ill. She was going with Lee.

"Katie?" Alicia said tentatively. "You feeling all right? You look a little funny?"

Without answering, Katie turned and ran from the room. If she was lucky she might just make it to the library before Lee asked this other girl to the Ball. She didn't even want to consider what would happen if she was too late.

When Katie finally made it to the library, having trampled several first years along the way, she looked around at all the girls. She really had no idea who Maria Costanza was, so she just glared at all of the girls in case she was one of them.

Katie made her way towards the back of the library. She crossed her fingers then peered around a bookcase. Lee was sitting at a table…

By himself!

Katie sighed in relief. For a second she watched him flick through a large, dusty book. Truthfully, she'd been considering him as a potential boyfriend for months. Ironically, it had only taken a second for her to realise that he had to be hers and only hers.

She ran her fingers through her hair then stepped out from behind the bookcase. "Lee?"

He looked up in surprise. "Katie? What are you doing here?"

She looked over her shoulder to check that what's-her-face wasn't coming. "I want to talk to you about something."

Lee held his hands up defensively. "Whatever it is, I didn't do it." He paused. "Well, unless I did do it. In that case, I'm sorry and I'll never do it."

"It's nothing like that. I just thought I'd let you know that I made a mistake."

"Regarding what?"

"You. I made a mistake about you," Katie said. Lee gaped as she came towards him. She sat on the edge of the table right in front of him. "I want to go to the Yule Ball with you."

"Me?" He continued to stare up at her as she smiled back. "You said no last time I asked you!"

"I was confused then. I didn't know what I wanted, but now I do. I want you, Lee."

At this proclamation, Lee put a hand over his eyes. "Oh, Merlin. You have the worst timing. Katie, I just asked Maria Costanza to go to the Ball with me and she said yes."

Katie stammered and peered around. "But - it's…then where is she?"

"She went to go find a book. Maria has been helping me with Herbology for the past few weeks," Lee said, his hand still over his eyes.

Anger and jealousy twisted Katie's stomach into a knot. "I used to help you with Herbology!"

Lee looked up at her. "I know, but you always complained about it. I just got the feeling you didn't enjoy spending time with me."

"That's not true!"

"It's a bit late to tell me that now. Did you expect me to wait around for you forever?"

Katie blushed and hung her head. That was exactly what she had expected. Not only was it incredibly stupid of her it was also horribly selfish. Lee deserved a nice girl who would treat him properly, not screw with his emotions. Evidently, that person was not her.

"I guess I better go. Your girlfriend will be back any second and I wouldn't want her to jump to conclusions."

Lee opened his mouth to explain, but Katie had sprinted away before he could utter a syllable. She ran all the way back to Gryffindor Tower. When she got to her room she crawled into bed and ignored Alicia's questions.

Conscious of having to face Lee again, Katie feigned illness and hardly left her bed for three days.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I really can't estimate when the next chapter will be. I do know that Oliver will make an appearance and we'll find out how Alicia and George are reacting to the Yule Ball. Also, the lies begin to unravel next chapter…I'll leave you to ponder that.

I got so many reviews this time around that I'll only be able to reply to every second one. But I love you all!

Laverne de Montmorency- It was a pity she didn't remember. Then again, maybe it was better she didn't. I guess everyone will have a different opinion!

CasedVeela- Sure, I'll answer! At the beginning of the story the Super Six (as I like to call them) are around 11. In this chapter and the one before they're around 16. I could tell you exactly if you really want to know. I have their birthdays written down somewhere. Email me if you really want to know who is older.

Just Kidding Rowling- Thanks for the compliment! I don't want to distract you from your English work though. It always was my favourite subject!

Oliverwoodschic- Hehe. I think it's more likely that the drunken escapade will come back to haunt Alicia! Well, I believe she learnt her lesson. I really tried to get the chapter out as soon as possible.

Heck E. Nah- I've never really spent time with a drunk person (a surprise, considering some of my friends) so I wrote Drunk!Alicia mostly from my own warped imagination. I'm glad you found her funny! Plenty of F/A coming. I have a feeling you're going to like the Yule Ball chapter! ;)

GollumGal- Thanks! I'll keep writing if you keep reading!

Phoenixdreams- You read from start to finish? Wow! Your request for more Katie has been duly noted. I hope this chapter was a good start.

Stephanie- I'm so glad you think the characters are believable. That's what I strive for. I love your long reviews! I might get around to the Arty/Juliet story eventually. The story with Yoshifan is still being sorted out. We're planning to have a few chapters done before we post. I'll let you know when we're ready.

SaNgUiNe SiStaR- Thanks! Bloody brilliant is quite a compliment for me! I'm glad you like it so much. The ending for this story I have planned is hopefully going to be unexpected…huge cliffhanger coming!

Lunalovegood129- I'm actually glad I incited such a reaction. That's the whole point of writing. Anyway, the reality is that people lie all the time, even to their friends. As to whether Alicia deserves all of George's attention…I think that's debatable. Thanks for the review, it made me think!

GeorgeandAlicia 4eva- Thanks for the review! As for cheering up George…that won't be happening for quite a while.

Taps 1899- There is definitely more G/A and F/A coming up! Please don't kidnap George and brainwash him to hate Quidditch and become gay! It's bad enough that Robbie Williams is gay. I'm so disillusioned! Mm. Skittles would be nice.

Marblez- Thanks for the reviews - both of them! Please don't whack your head on the table anymore! I don't want you to have a headache because I'm a slow writer! I hope this chapter keeps you going for a while!

Joyful-Alicia- I love the fact that people in other countries read my stuff. Don't worry, your English grammar is a lot better than some people…namely me. Thanks again for doing the translation!

Picklesandcandy- Well, I certainly don't want your head to explode! 'Don't worry, just kiss.' Sounds like a good motto to live by. That or a bumper sticker. I'll be sure to pass it along to George and Alicia.

Zephyre- Hiya! My chapters do get longer and longer. Most of the time I can't feel my fingers so we're even. It is hard juggling everything but I get by. Right now I should be working on an essay. Thanks for the email about your update. I suck at remembering to read things. I'll check it out as soon as I can!

Empress of Dragons- Wow. Thanks a lot. At the moment there appears to be more pain than love! It will take a while for it to even out though.

Blandsaft- Thanks heaps for all the reviews! I really appreciated them. I agree with the poor George sentiment. I also think we need more guys like him around…particularly at my university.

Lucky last…

Ara- Another German reader! I guess you'll be interested in the translation. Don't worry, there's really no chance of me getting a big head with my mother around to tell me to clean my room and get off the computer!

Also thanks to those I missed: Ashlee, tedabug, Galaxie, NathanPostmark, Tessa1, Cream-cheese-girl, ScreamMyHeadOff, Kayla, Oreoline00, AncientFire, Imogenhm, LordAlienSnfuffelsLeabeau, Elfgurl, Egyptian Dragoness and Stephenie Wilcox.