Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Don't make money from it. Don't sue me.

A/N: Hello, lovely people! First of all…I hope you had a great Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/other religious or non-religious affiliated celebration. Phew. Being P.C. is difficult. Hey, I got 700 reviews! Hurrah! Super-big thanks to Hepsalarkalamia…or at least larka. Here, have a candy cane!

Righto. This chapter is all about F/A. Expect kissing and deep and meaningful conversations.

Chapter 42

"Ow! That's the eighth time!" Angelina said, hopping on one foot and scowling at her dance partner.

"I'm sorry. I'm a little nervous because they're still watching us."

"I told you to ignore them. I'm dancing with you because I want to."

"It's not a pity dance?" her partner asked tentatively.

"Of course it isn't, Neville."

The younger boy blushed and looked at his feet. Angelina looked over his shoulder and glared at the group of Slytherins who were watching her. Montague appeared to have taken over Flint's vacated spot as leader of the pack. He and Draco Malfoy were making loud jokes. Angelina knew very well what was going on. A week or so ago, Montague had asked her to the Ball and she had all but laughed in his face.

It was so humiliating that Angelina hadn't mentioned it to anyone. Especially not Fred. Anyway, now Montague was out for revenge. Far from scared, Angelina began to strike up a conversation with Neville.

"So, Neville, do you like Ginny, then?"

"Er, I don't know. She has a lot of brothers. A lot of big brothers," Neville answered shakily.

"Oh, don't worry about them," Angelina said dismissively. "Despite their tempers, those Weasley boys are all big softies."

Neville looked extremely doubtful and Angelina just smiled. Her smile disappeared when she saw that Montague was approaching them. She carefully tried to lead Neville away without alerting him to the situation. No such luck.

"I'm cutting in," Montague said roughly.

Neville squeaked in surprise and fear. Angelina just managed to step back and preserve her toes. "I don't think Neville wants to dance with you," she replied.

"You know that's not what I meant. Shove off, Longbottom. Let a real man step in."

Angelina laughed loudly and only stopped when Montague cleared his throat. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought I heard you say that you were a real man."

Montague folded his arms menacingly. "That is what I said. Give me a chance and I'll prove it to you."

Angelina stopped dancing with Neville and faced Montague. Neville tried to get away but Angelina grabbed hold of him and put her arm around his shoulders. "In my experience real men don't feel they need to prove their masculinity. Like my friend Neville here. Isn't that right, Nev?"

"Um…"

"Of course it is," Angelina answered for him. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to dancing with my manly partner."

In typical Slytherin form, Montague refused to back down. "As a matter of fact, Johnson, I do mind. I mind that you'd rather dance with Longbottom than me. I also mind that you picked that Weasel over me."

Unbeknownst to Angelina, Fred and Ginny had stopped dancing and were standing behind her listening. She put her hand on her hip and sighed. "I gave you a chance to get out, Montague. You really shouldn't have crossed the line by mentioning Fred. You can say what you want about me but leave him alone, all right?"

"I just hope you realise that I could buy you anything you wanted," Montague said as a last resort.

"You could buy me things? Honestly. It really doesn't matter how much money you have. Nor does it matter how much money Fred doesn't have. You see, Fred has it where it counts."

"But it's…you're making a mistake, Johnson," Montague said without much conviction. He had spotted Fred and decided he was fighting a losing battle. "When you come to your senses you know where to find me."

Angelina wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Yeah, don't hold your breath, Montague. I'm off to find my gorgeous date so don't come near me again."

Montague scowled then turned and stalked back to his group of cronies and Neville began to breathe again. Angelina shrugged it off and smiled at the younger boy. "Rather an unpleasant fellow, isn't he?"

"Yes," Neville squeaked.

"Well, the song's finally over. Let's go find our dates."

When Angelina turned around she walked right into Fred. She gasped and his arms encircled her in a familiar gesture. "I guess you found me."

Angelina stepped away, looking slightly embarrassed. "You know, most people consider eavesdropping to be rude."

Fred waved goodbye to his sister and Neville and grabbed Angelina's hand and took her towards an empty table. "It was really nice of you to dance with Neville," he said as he pulled out a chair for her. "And it was nice of you to say those things about me."

"You're surprised I'm capable of doing nice things?" Angelina asked as Fred took a seat beside her.

"Not at all. I know perfectly well what you're capable of. I don't think you even realise it most of the time, but I know what goes on inside your head. I know that you're frightened of what will happen if you let me get close to you. You think something bad will happen."

"It will happen. This isn't a fairytale, Fred. Bad things happen in real life. Bad things that you have no control over…"

Fred nodded in agreement and squeezed her hand. "When they happen we'll go through them together. That's how you get through bad times. By sticking together, not pushing people away."

Angelina stared at the tablecloth. Fred did know her a lot better than she originally thought he did. She looked back up to find him staring at her in a way that made her burn up. It had been exactly a year and a day since they broke up and they hadn't kissed all night.

Leaning forwards urgently, Angelina said, "Please, Fred, I need to kiss you before I spontaneously combust."

Fred grinned. "Well, we wouldn't want that to happen. Close your eyes and I'll kiss you."

Angelina closed her eyes obediently. Her lips began to tremble in anticipation. The anticipation grew. And grew some more. She was about to open her eyes when she felt him kiss her on the cheek. She waited for a second then her eyes flew open. "That's it? What do you call that?"

"That was a kiss, silly. Has it really been that long for you?"

"I want a proper kiss. Fred…"

He ignored her pleading look. "I love this song. Let's go and dance."

Angelina opened and closed her mouth, unable to come up with anything to say. Since when did Fred not want to kiss her? Wordlessly, she followed him back onto the dance floor. It was a slow song so Fred put his hands on Angelina's waist. She just stared at him.

"Something wrong, angel?"

"You're enjoying punishing me, aren't you?"

"Enjoying probably isn't the right word. I'm just getting a little revenge."

Angelina pouted and put her arms around his neck. "You're horrible."

"I'm horrible? You're the one who tortured me for a year. You were always right in front of me, but just out of reach. It damn near killed me."

"Poor Fred. Let me make it better?"

"That depends. Have you learnt your lesson?"

"Definitely," Angelina said.

Fred appeared to agree because he pulled Angelina to him. In response she tightened her grip around his neck and closed her eyes. They were inches from kissing when someone ran into Fred from behind. Fred's cheekbone collided with Angelina's mouth and she jumped back and swore.

Glaring at Fred, Angelina said, "Why did you do that? You could have just said you didn't want to kiss me?"

"I didn't do it! Someone ran into me!" Fred spun around just in time to see a smug looking Montague disappear into the crowd. "Right. That's it."

Angelina grabbed his arm quickly. "Leave it. It's not worth ruining our night."

After a moment of angry contemplation, Fred nodded and relaxed. "I'll get him back later. Are you all right?"

"You have a hard cheekbone," she replied, rubbing her mouth gently. "No permanent damage done, though. To be on the safe side I think we should go somewhere private."

"Private?" Fred echoed.

"Yeah. So we can talk and stuff?"

"And…stuff?"

"Yes! Are you losing your hearing? You must know somewhere we can go."

Fred bit his lip as he ran through every possible place. She probably wouldn't want to go to a dusty old classroom. Or a rose bush for that matter. What would she like?

Angelina watched him closely, tapping her foot impatiently. "Come on, Fred, you know this place back to front."

It finally hit him. He took her hand and began to lead her out of the Great Hall. "I know the perfect place."

Angelina followed along complacently for a moment. She trusted that Fred knew what he was doing. Her curiosity, however, got the better of her as Fred moved towards the castle doors. "We're going outside? It's winter!"

"Just trust me."

Hurrying down the stairs, the pair ran into Katie and Lee. The girls shared a quick look and knew that everything was going well for the other.

For Fred's benefit, Angelina asked, "Sorted it all out?"

"Everything's great," Lee answered with a trademark smile. "Where are you two off to?"

"Outside," was all that Fred would say.

"We're going back inside. See you later."

"See you!" Angelina managed to call as Fred dragged her down the steps.

"Was it just me or did Katie look like she stuck her head in a wind tunnel?" Fred asked.

Angelina giggled. "Leave the poor girl alone. Come on, tell me where we're going."

"We're going somewhere that no one has been a long time," he said mysteriously.

"Don't you dare take me to the Forbidden Forest," Angelina said, shivering as much from the idea as from the cold.

"We're not going into the Forest…although that is a splendid idea." Fred stopped suddenly and pointed across the dark, frosty grounds. "That's where we're going."

In the moonlight, Angelina could just make out the fluttering flags atop the Quidditch stadium. Fred has managed to choose the most appropriate spot in all of Hogwarts.

"Do you approve?" he asked, a little hopefully.

"It seems you aren't just a pretty face." She kissed his hand then looked out across the snow-covered grounds. "There's one slight problem. The pathway hasn't been cleared and there's no way I'm walking across the snow in these heels. I've grown quite used to have ten toes."

"Hmm. I hadn't thought of that." Fred looked contemplatively from Angelina's feet to the snow in front of them. "I guess I could transfigure your shoes into something a little more suitable. Mind you, I'm not terribly good at Transfiguration."

"I'm no good at it either. Besides, these shoes cost me a fortune. I don't want to ruin them."

Fred kicked at the ground with the toe of his worn shoe. "I guess it wasn't such a good idea after all. It doesn't matter. I don't mind if we give up and go back inside."

"I bloody mind. I don't particularly feel like sharing you with other people at the moment," Angelina said firmly. She then set about taking her shoes off.

Fred smiled triumphantly and took his wand from his pocket. Angelina handed her shoes to him and put her hands over her eyes apprehensively. She heard Fred say a vaguely familiar spell.

"Ok, you can look now."

Angelina lowered her hands. Fortunately, her strappy high heels had turned into chunky, sturdy looking snow boots. Unfortunately, the boots were the approximate colour of vomit.

Angelina took them from him and surveyed them from every angle. "Classy."

"I did warn you that I wasn't very good."

"I guess it doesn't matter what they look like as long as they get the job done," Angelina sighed. She pulled the boots on to find them a little big but surprisingly comfortable.

"Let's go. We need to be back before they close the doors at midnight."

Angelina checked her watch. Excellent. They had about three hours to spend alone. It didn't seem like much after a year apart, but it would have to do for now. She lifted the hem of her robes and began to run through the snow. Fred did the same and had to hurry to catch up with her.

The pair raced each other most of the way. Fred was narrowly in the lead when Angelina's shoes suddenly returned to their original state. Her feet suddenly submerged in snow, Angelina screamed and jumped onto Fred's back. He laughed and gave her a piggyback for the last hundred or so metres.

"My feet are freezing and now my shoes are wet!" Angelina complained as she slid off Fred's back. Her shoes made an unfortunate squelching sound and Fred laughed even louder. Angelina elbowed him. "It's not funny! I could get frostbite!"

Fred tried to contain his laughter as he tapped the gate lock with his wand and said last year's password. Thankfully, they hadn't got around to changing it yet and the gate swung open with a groan.

Angelina hurried over the threshold and took a deep, satisfied breath. "God, I've missed this place. Let's grab our training robes from the change room so we're warm while we sit up in the stands."

"I had something else in mind," Fred said huskily from behind her.

Angelina had an idea of what he had in mind. She smiled and turned around slowly. As soon as she did Fred grabbed her arms and pushed backwards until she was against the wall. He used his body to pin her to the wall as he put her arms around his neck. Angelina automatically laced her fingers through his hair and pulled him towards her eagerly.

After a year, their lips finally met in a passionate, but rather wet kiss. Despite its messy and chaotic nature, Angelina thought it was the most perfect kiss she'd ever had. If Fred had been capable of coherent thought, he would have reached the same conclusion.

As it was, Fred was preoccupied with giving Angelina a kiss that she would never forget. He was determined to show her that he was all she would ever need. He wanted her to know that she didn't have to look anywhere else.

Fred drew back and took a deep breath before burying his face in her neck. Angelina gave a contented sigh and wrapped her arms tightly around him. "You're so brilliant at that, Fred. You've kissed other girls since me, haven't you?"

"Once or twice."

"Who?"

"As if I'm going to tell you. You'll hex them."

"So? I don't like to share. Nor do you, I might add."

Fred stopped kissing her to look her in the eye. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about George."

Fred stepped back defensively, leaving Angelina feeling abandoned. "What about George?"

"Come on. You put on a smile and made jokes about it, but I could tell something was up. You don't want to share your brother with Alicia."

Fred stepped back even further. He got the edgy look in his eye that Angelina knew very well. "He's my twin brother. We don't have an ordinary sibling relationship, you know."

"Relax. I'm not attacking you. I just thought you might like to talk about it."

"No, I'm fine. Let's go and get our robes so we can go up into the stands."

Fred walked off towards the change rooms leaving Angelina to roll her eyes wearily. She followed him and waited outside the room for him. He finally emerged carrying four pairs of robes. Wordlessly, he handed two of them to her and walked off again.

"You can talk to me about it. I promise I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to," Angelina persisted.

Fred remained stoic as he led her to the Gryffindor stands. "There's really nothing to talk about."

"I think there's plenty to talk about."

"It's my problem and I'll deal with it myself," Fred said firmly. He stopped at a bench halfway up the stands and began to sweep the snow off it with his hand.

Angelina shrugged and pulled her Quidditch robes across her shoulders. "Fine. Be an idiot."

Fred scowled at her briefly before sitting down. She sat beside him and they silently stared down at the pitch. It looked really pretty covered in snow and bathed in moonlight. Angelina shivered and spread Katie's robe across her lap.

Angelina felt stupid just sitting there not touching Fred. She slid closer and grabbed his arm and draped it over shoulders. "I'm still cold. Hope you don't mind," she said.

"Of course I don't mind." He pulled her even closer and she put her head on his shoulder.

They lapsed into silence again. Sitting in silence wasn't entirely excruciating, but Angelina was dying to say something. She bit her tongue, however, because she knew Fred would eventually open up. So she waited rather impatiently.

Finally, Fred said, "Don't you find it odd?"

Angelina tried not to cheer out loud. "Find what odd?"

"This whole George and Alicia thing."

"What's odd about it?" Angelina asked calmly. If she made a big deal of it he would close up again.

"The timing is off. Don't you find it sudden?"

"Sudden? George has liked her years!"

"I know that," Fred replied irritably. "I'm talking about her. She was totally oblivious for years, now she's all over him? It just doesn't add up."

Angelina turned her head slightly and kissed his neck. "You're adorable when you get all protective and jealous."

Fred suddenly withdrew his arm and pulled away from Angelina. He folded his arms broodingly and stared out at the empty pitch. "I'm not trying to be adorable. I'm worried about my brother."

Angelina turned and straddled the bench so she could face him. "I'm sorry, Fred. I know you're genuinely worried. I promise I'll never say you're adorable again. Please keep talking."

"Don't feel like it anymore."

"Come on," she coaxed gently. "Please talk to me, Fred."

He ignored her and continued to stare into the distance. Angelina slid along the bench and leant forward to press her lips to his ear. She pulled away slowly and he made no visible reaction. Angelina tried again, but this time she made sure she pressed her body to his. Fred, having reached his limit, turned and caught her lips with his own.

Angelina moaned and kissed him back fervently, causing him to almost fall off the bench. He was the first to break away. "That's cheating," he said breathlessly.

She ran her thumb along his bottom lip and shrugged. "I have to use my feminine charms for something."

"Hussy."

"Thank you." Angelina ran her fingers through his hair, brushing it away from his face. "Start talking. I want to know why you're so worried about George."

"I'm three minutes older than him; it's my job to look out for him," he said with all seriousness.

Angelina smiled and barely managed to stop herself from telling Fred how cute he was being. "All right, but that still doesn't explain why you're so worried about him this time around."

Fred sighed and met Angelina's eyes. "I'm not sure if you've noticed, but we Weasleys have a habit of wearing our hearts on our sleeves. Charlie did it with Erica. Ron does it with Hermione and Ginny does it with Harry. I admit that I even did it with you. The problem is that George is the worst of us all. He's made himself vulnerable and set himself up for a huge fall. I wouldn't be surprised is he told Alicia he loved her tonight."

"You really think he'd go that far?"

"Absolutely. George will lay it all on the table and leave himself open for a rejection."

"But Alicia didn't reject him," Angelina pointed out.

"That's why I'm worried. She was going to the Yule Ball with a complete stranger before that fell apart. Why does she want George all of a sudden?"

"Because he's gorgeous?"

"Besides that."

"Look, it only took me a second to decide that I wanted you and not Cedric. Are you saying the decision was wrong because I made quickly?"

"No, you're different."

"It can only take a second to realise that you're meant to be with someone. You need to get over your issues with Alicia. She could become your sister-in-law one day."

Fred scowled. "I don't have issues with her. She has issues with me. I just don't want her to hurt him."

Angelina poked him in the ribs. "For Merlin's sake! What do you think she's gonna do to him? Seduce him, take his virginity, break his heart then move onto the next guy?"

Fred looked away and shuddered violently. "Don't even joke about stuff like that!"

Angelina grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her again. "Listen to me. Unless George becomes a monk and moves to Tibet, he's going to have girlfriends. He's also bound to get his heart broken at some point in his life. You can't predict it or stop it from happening. All you can do is help him cope.

She brushed his cheek with the back of her hand. "A very smart person once told me that you get through bad times by sticking together."

Fred gave her a tiny smile. "I hate it when my words come back to bite me in the arse."

"Do you feel better now?"

"Yes. I like talking to you like this. I missed it."

Angelina realised she liked it as well. It was nice to have a serious, adult conversation with someone who wasn't Alicia or Katie. "Let's make each other a promise right now. Let's promise that, no what happens between us, we'll always be there for each other."

"No matter what?"

"I'm not saying we'll break up again, but if something happens I still want us to be friends. If one of us gets into trouble I want us to be able to go to each other."

Fred hesitated. It seemed like an odd sort of promise to make. "It means a lot to you, doesn't it?"

Angelina nodded without quite knowing why it was so important to her. She just knew she didn't want to fight with Fred again. She put out her hand and waited anxiously.

"Whatever you want, angel," he said, shaking her hand gently. "I promise I'll always be here for you."

"Thank you," she whispered.

Fred watched her for a moment then got a very serious look in his eye. He turned to straddle the bench just as she was. He moved forward till their knees were touching and bent forward with his hands on the bench in between them. "I don't want to talk about George and Alicia anymore," he said softly.

Angelina smiled coyly and met him in the middle. "Well, what do you want to do?"

"I want to talk about you."

Needless to say, that wasn't what Angelina had in mind. She snapped back like a rubber band and began to look awkward. "Oh, you don't want to talk about me. Trust me, I'm not very interesting."

"I beg to differ. The very fact that you don't want to talk about yourself makes you incredibly interesting. You can start with your family. You hardly ever mention them."

"My family isn't like yours. It's exceptionally boring. Let's go back to the castle."

Fred reached across and put his hands firmly on her knees. "You're not going anywhere till you've talked to me. Sharing is caring, Angelina."

"It makes me uncomfortable."

"You think I was comfortable talking about George? You made me do it and I felt better afterwards. I'm just returning the favour."

Angelina glared at her smiling companion. "What do you want to know?"

"You can start with your parents. Why did they get divorced?"

"Because they hate each other. I thought that much would have been obvious."

"All right. How old were you when it happened?"

"I was seven."

"How did it make you feel?"

Angelina shook her head. "You're not my psychiatrist. Next question."

"Sorry. How old is your sister?"

"Kiana is twenty six. She was three years above Bill at school. When I told her I knew you she went on and on about how hot Bill was at school. She wouldn't shut up about it," Angelina said, rolling her eyes at the memory.

"Bill tends to have that effect on members of the opposite sex," Fred explained. "Does Kiana have a boyfriend?"

"As far as I know she still has an on and off thing with a guy named Michael. He's a nice enough. I don't even know how he puts up with my sister sometimes."

Fred crossed his legs on the bench and adjusted George's robe across his lap. He was glad that Angelina seemed to have loosened up a bit. "Does she still live with you and your mum?"

"Not anymore. She went to live with her best friend at the beginning of the year. They both work at The Unicorn's Garden, which is a posh restaurant in Liverpool."

"There. That wasn't so hard was it?"

Angelina twisted her hands in her lap and rocked gently from side to side. "I think there's something else I want to tell you. It's just…well, I haven't told anyone yet."

"What is it?" Fred demanded, suddenly worried that she had managed to get herself into serious trouble.

"It's my mother."

"Is she sick? What is it, Angelina?"

"My mother's…getting re-married."

Fred just stared at her. "That's it? I thought it was something really bad!"

"It is really bad! I don't want a step-father."

"It might be nice," Fred encouraged.

"He's a sixty year old Muggle with a lot of money and he has two grown up sons who live abroad. It definitely won't be nice."

"But your mother's happy," Fred said, trying desperately to find a bright side.

"She's happy because he's rich. I know she doesn't love him."

"You're being too cynical. When's the big day?"

Angelina looked up briefly. "Third of July. Mum said I could invite my friends, but I haven't mentioned it to the girls yet. I have a feeling they won't want to come."

"Sure they will. Girls love weddings."

"Stupid stereotype."

"Cheer up!" Fred urged with a grin. "You'll get to wear a pretty dress."

"That's not the way to cheer me up, Frederick. Besides, you haven't even heard the worst of it yet."

"What could possibly be worse than a wedding? It's positively horrible when two people express their undying love for each other."

Angelina's next bit of news was so bad that she didn't even crack a smile. "I'm going to have a half-brother or sister next year."

Fred couldn't hold back the involuntary look of revulsion. "Your mother's pregnant?"

"No. That would be the ultimate weird. My father's girlfriend in pregnant. He's fifty and she's thirty."

"Well, that's nice," Fred commented, forcing a smile. "I bet you're excited about it."

"You'd lose that bet because the whole idea freaks me out," Angelina said. "My dad is too old to be raising a child. Just as my mother's too old to be getting married again. They're both going through mid-life crises."

Fred nodded knowingly. "My dad had one of those. He decided to get a tattoo of a dragon on his back and went to a Muggle place in London to get it done. He passed out as soon as he saw the needle. Ended up buying himself a new pair of socks instead."

Despite her considerable worries, Angelina began to laugh. The idea of mild-mannered Mr Weasley getting a dragon tattoo on his back was too much. After a moment of laughter she sobered up again. "I wish you wouldn't make me laugh when I'm trying to be moody."

"Well, at least you know it isn't all that bad."

"I guess it isn't, but it hasn't renewed any of my faith in love. I still have trouble believing that true love really exists."

Fred frowned at her. "Come on, Angelina. Saying true love doesn't exist is like saying the moon doesn't exist. All you have to do is look up in the sky."

Angelina did look up. The moon slid behind some clouds, throwing the pair further into darkness. "I know it exists somewhere, I've just never really seen it. It's kind of like a…a platypus. True love is like a platypus."

"A what?" Fred asked, reaching over to press his hand to her forehead. "Are you sure your brain hasn't started to freeze?"

"Yes," she snapped, pushing his hand away. "A platypus is one of those strange animals from Australia. They can be seen in zoos, but they're hardly ever seen in the wild. That's what love is like for me."

"Love is like a platypus?" Fred repeated thoughtfully. "It doesn't quite have the sentiment of a Shakespeare sonnet."

Angelina had never done Muggle Studies and subsequently had no idea who Shakespeare was. She gave Fred a sharp glare. "Stop trying to confuse me. My point is that I've never seen real love between my parents. I can read about it in books and hear about it from other people but it's not the same. I need to see it first-hand."

Fred nodded as if he understood her logic, which he didn't. "Right. So if I told you I loved you right now you wouldn't believe me?"

"Is that what you're going to say to me?" Angelina asked, her heart beating double time.

"If I had been I certainly wouldn't do it now that you've compared love to a strange animal."

"You can say it anyway," Angelina insisted.

"No, I think the moment has been ruined," Fred replied dismissively. "I'll never be able to think of love in the same way. I'll have to become a jaded, chain-smoking bachelor and move to Paris. I'lleat excessive amounts of croissantsand curse women."

"Don't be ridiculous, Fred. Just say it!"

"I don't want to anymore. I'll probably never be able to say it."

"Fred!" she shrieked, lunging at him.

He laughed and fended her off easily. "For someone who doesn't believe in love you sure want to hear me say it to you."

"You're so infuriating! If you're going to say it just-"

Fred silenced her with a kiss. Angelina kissed him back and completely lost her train of thought. How could she possibly be annoyed with someone who kissed so well?

Fred drew back slightly and put his hand on her cheek. "Angelina, there's something I need to tell you."

"Yes," Angelina urged, barely able to keep calm. "Say it, Fred."

"Angelina…it's starting to snow."

Angelina deadpanned. "That's not funny."

"You gotta learn to take a joke, angel," he said, pulling her up from the bench.

"I really don't know why I put up with you sometimes."

"Allow me to refresh your memory."

Fred slid a hand around her waist and pulled her against him. She gasped at the contact and kissed him immediately. His hands lightly skimmed her body as he slid his tongue into her mouth slightly. As soon as she opened her mouth fully he pulled away.

Angelina clung to him and buried her face in his neck so he couldn't see how much he truly affected her. One kiss would turn her to putty in his hands. She hated the fact that he could do that to her.

Fred chose not to make a comment about the way she was trembling in his arms. "I think that's why you put up with me."

Angelina made an agreeing noise and hugged him tighter. He gently tried to pry her away but she was reluctant to let go. "We're getting snowed on," he reminded her.

She finally let go and checked her watch. "We have to be back in half an hour."

"Let's hope the snow doesn't get heavier. We should take the Quidditch robes back and leave straight away."

The couple descended the stands hand in hand. It was slow going because Angelina had to take particular care not to slip on the icy steps. At the bottom Fred swept the snow from her shoulders while she ruffled his hair to dislodge any unmelted snowflakes.

"It took me ten minutes to get my hair perfect and you've ruined it in a second," Fred commented.

"It looks better this way. Neat and tidy doesn't suit you."

Fred took her hand again and they began to walk towards the change rooms. "I completely agree. I only did it because I thought that's what you wanted."

"I thought I wanted you to change as well," Angelina admitted. "When I thought about it properly I realised it would be the exact opposite of what I wanted."

"I was ready to become more like Cedric for you."

"I know. It took me a while to realise that I wanted you as you were. If you became all mature and well-behaved you wouldn't be Fred Weasley anymore. I shouldn't have tried to change you."

Fred sighed in relief. "Thank Merlin. I didn't think I was going to pull off the well-behaved thing for very long."

Angelina smiled at him and pushed open the door to the change rooms. She looked around and wished that Quidditch were back already. She went to the Gryffindor locker and replaced her and Katie's training robes. They were slightly wet but had been made to dry quickly.

"Fred, why don't you tell George what you told me tonight?"

"Because he'll hit me if I say one word against Alicia."

"He wouldn't hit you."

Fred put back his and George's robes back and shut the locker door. "He'd do it. Don't you remember the time I hit him?"

"Yeah, you were pissed off at seeing me with Cedric. That was the day we got together."

"I punched George that day because I knew he was the one person in the world who wouldn't hit me back or hold a grudge."

Angelina had never thought of it that way. It made sense in a weird sort of way. "I still think you should talk to him."

Fred turned to her with a mischievous glint in his eye. "I've got a better idea. I think I'll talk to Alicia about this."

"No! Don't you dare bully her. She knows what she's doing and doesn't need you lecturing her."

"I'm only going to talk to her. We happen to have a mutual interest now. All I want to do is warn her," Fred said.

"You'll make her cry."

"Come on, she's one of my oldest friends. We'll just have a nice little chat."

"I don't want to find out that you've been hassling Alicia. You may be my boyfriend again but I'll still kick your arse."

"I'm glad to hear it," Fred replied, smiling affectionately at her. "Let's get back to the castle before they lock us out."

He put his arm around her waist and together they opened the doors of the change rooms. They were inundated with a flurry of snow. The vicious wind blew it straight into their faces.

"Close it!" Angelina shrieked, throwing her arm over her head.

Fred slammed the doors and leaned back against them. "Well. That's a new development."

"How did it get so bad so soon?"

"I don't know, but I don't think we're going anywhere for a while."

"But they're going to close the doors!" Angelina exclaimed. "I want to be in my nice warm bed!"

"We'll make do with what we have here. It'll be like a fun sleepover," Fred said cheerfully.

"A sleepover in a Quidditch change room with you? That's not really my idea of fun."

Angelina went to sat on the bench and put her head in her hands. Fred sat down and put his arm around her. "It'll be fine. I'll conjure us a bed."

"I'm not sharing a bed with you. Nor am I sleeping on anything that you conjure. It'll probably disappear in an hour."

Fred sighed and surveyed their surroundings. "We'll sleep on the floor then. I'll sleep in one corner and you can sleep in the other if you like."

"The floor is concrete," Angelina pointed out sullenly. "Alicia and Katie are going to be worried sick when I don't turn up."

Fred walked back over to the Gryffindor locker and pulled out all the robes. "Katie knows you're with me. Everything's all right. I'll put some robes down for you to sleep on."

"I'm tired and my feet are cold," she complained as she pulled off her shoes and undid her hair.

Fred also took all of the Slytherin robes out of the locker. He piled them on the floor in front of Angelina. "Lie on these. I figure they've gotta be good for something."

"You're lovely, Fred."

"I know, now do as you're told."

Angelina yawned and settled herself on the pile of green robes. Fred dropped the Gryffindor robes on her and she smiled up at him. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Are you comfortable?"

"Not particularly," she said. "It might be better if you joined me."

"Really?"

"As long as you promise to behave yourself."

Fred grinned and kicked off his shoes. "I'll be good."

Angelina slid over and let Fred lie beside her. He wriggled around until he was relatively comfortable. He was more than a little surprised when Angelina put her head on his chest and snuggled up to him.

"Why are we always the ones who get into stupid situations?" she asked sleepily.

"You referring to the time I made you to fall into the lake? Or maybe the time I got knocked out by that Mandrake's cry?"

"Yeah. Good times…"

"Are you falling asleep?" Fred asked her.

"Yep."

"Do you need me to say it?"

Angelina didn't need to ask what 'it' was. She moved her head slightly so she could look at him. "You don't have to say it because I already know. Do you want me to say it?"

"Knowing is enough for me as well."

Angelina yawned again. "Good. See you in the morning."

xxxxx

"I bet you a Sickle they're in there."

"I will not make a bet with you, George. Furthermore, Angelina has more sense than to spend the night in the Quidditch change room."

"I'm sure she does, but they probably didn't have a choice with the storm that hit last night."

Alicia used the old password to open the gate to the Quidditch stadium. George pushed it open and ushered her through. He had been staring at her ever since she turned up at his room and demanded that he help her find Angelina. Neither of them had mentioned the previous night's events.

"You're not wearing your bracelet," he noted quietly.

Alicia rubbed her wrist awkwardly and quickened her pace towards the change room. "Yeah, well, it's too expensive and I'm worried I might lose it. You can have it back if you like."

"For the last time, I said you could keep it. Consider it a token of friendship."

Alicia stopped abruptly just outside the change rooms doors. "When did it become a token of friendship? Could you have possibly changed your mind about me already?"

"No," George said quickly. "I thought you had."

"Did I say I had changed my mind about us?" Alicia asked, giving him a stern look.

"No, but you didn't kiss me this morning," he said, blushing and looking at the ground.

"Oh, does poor little Georgie want a kiss?" Alicia cooed.

"Not now that you've called me 'poor little Georgie'. You can bugger off, Spinnet."

Alicia giggled and pinched his cheek. "Listen, you have to let me get used to this whole thing. It'll take me a while to stop thinking about you as my best friend."

"Sounds like an excuse to me," George said.

"It's not," Alicia assured him.

She winked at him and quietly opened the change room doors. The two of them poked their heads inside cautiously. Alicia gasped at the sight of her best friend curled up in the arms of Fred Weasley.

George was less shocked at the spectacle. Instead, he laughed. "Man, I wish I had a camera!"

A/N: Couldn't resist peeking in on G/A at the end there. I hope you enjoyed seeing a new side of Fred and learning more about Angelina. Wasn't Fred extra cute in this chapter? His relationship with George is very important to the story. Sorry it took so long to get done. As a reviewer pointed out, that was the longest week ever! Guess what? I've already started the next chapter! I started it before I had even finished this one because I'm super excited about it. It's lunch with Oliver and his mystery female friend! Hurrah! It's gonna be a stupendous chapter. Expect it within a fortnight.