Old Faces, New Tricks

by Jagged Epiphany

COMPLETE! The epic fic starring Fred, George, Lee, Angelina, Alicia and Katie! As the story now draws to a close, the group is faced with one crisis after another. Who will pull through and who will fall apart?

49. The Departure

Disclaimer: Jo Rowling owns Harry et al. I am not Jo Rowling. Therefore, I do not own Harry. Simple, no?

A/N: Ok, I officially love you all. I really can't see myself topping the last chapter anytime soon. I've been planning that chapter (well, the G/A scene at least) pretty much since I made Old Faces a stand-alone fic. Don't worry though, the G/A narrative may have reached its climax, but there's still plenty to come. We need some sort of resolution for the other couples. After this chapter we'll be half way there. In my end author's note I'll tell you where to find the promised sequel info. Also, I launch Project Review.

This chapter is for my 900th reviewer, Zippy. Additional thanks to Pobbin.

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Chapter 48

Katie threw herself on the Honeydukes chocolate as Angelina approached the bed. "Bugger off, 'Lina, this chocolate is only for single girls."

"But Alicia isn't even eating hers."

"Don't want it."

"Eat the damn chocolate, Leesh," Katie ordered, waving a piece under her nose.

Alicia's stomach churned at the normally appetising smell. "Can't."

"Great, then I can have it," Angelina said, reaching for the chocolate.

Katie squealed and slapped her hand away. "No, you have a boyfriend to snog so you don't need chocolate."

"It'll go to waste if I don't eat it."

"I'll eat Alicia's as well."

"I think your arse might want you to stop with the chocolate."

"Are you saying I have a fat arse?" Katie demanded.

Angelina shrugged. "If the shoe fits…or doesn't fit in this case."

"So I have fat ankles as well, huh?"

When Angelina and Katie started giggling and throwing chocolate at each other, Alicia crept away and hid in the bathroom. She knew her friends were just trying to cheer her up, but she would rather be alone. She couldn't think clearly if people were asking her if she was all right every five minutes.

Alicia stared at herself in the mirror. She looked absolutely horrible. Her skin was a translucent white and her eyes were blood-shot from crying and lack of sleep. Alicia was such an emotional wreck that she couldn't eat much of anything and it was beginning to show.

It had been three days.

Seventy-two hours.

Four thousand three hundred and twenty minutes.

An infinite number of tears.

However you wanted to mark the time, it had been hellish for Alicia. Despite her heart-shattering break up with George, life around her had continued normally. There was still Quidditch, NEWTs and letters from the Prophet to deal with. Aside from that she still had to see George everyday, which was the worst part.

No. The worst part was that he didn't seem to care that she was wasting away to nothing. He saw that she didn't eat food at their meals yet he didn't say anything. Yesterday Fred had handed her a muffin after breakfast. Fred! Even her sworn enemy was trying to feed her. George hardly looked twice at her

Then again, Angelina and Katie were more than making up for it. Alicia hadn't told them the reason for the break up because she wanted to get this first tragedy out of the way. If she told the girls she was leaving now there'd be so many tears that Gryffindor Tower would flood. Even though they knew nothing about the circumstances of the break up they stuck by Alicia.

The day after the incident they hovered around her constantly, hugging her at random moments and saying "It's all right, love" every time her lower lip began to quiver. On the second day they got angry. This led to an unpleasant confrontation outside the Charms classroom, which involved everyone except Alicia.

It had started out as an opportunity for the girls to scold George, but soon deteriorated into a fiery exchange between Lee and Katie. Lee had been particularly edgy since getting a week's worth of detentions with Umbridge and Katie had deliberately provoked him by mentioning that Terry Boot had asked her to go to Hogsmeade with him on Valentine's Day.

The third day, today, had been all about cheering Alicia up. Katie decided to form a Single Gryffindor Chaser Club and declared herself President. She kindly delegated the Vice Presidency to Alicia after a unanimous vote. Their first meeting involved them eating chocolate, which Alicia couldn't even bring herself to do.

They were trying so hard to make her feel better.

There was a tap on the door. "Leesh? You all right?"

Alicia was crying too much to answer. She tried to dry her eyes quickly before Angelina entered but she was too slow. "It's just the-" Alicia began desperately.

"Katie! She's crying again! Code red!"

A second later Katie came sliding into the bathroom carrying tissues, chocolate and Alicia's old teddy bear. Alicia began to cry even more. She didn't know what she was going to do without them.

In the boys' room the mood was just as sombre. George was lying on his bed replaying his last moments with Alicia in his head for the hundredth time. He'd examined it from every angle, trying to justify his behaviour towards her before he walked out. There was no reason for him to have rejected her so harshly. It had been pure revenge on his part and he wasn't proud of it at all.

Lee was getting ready to go to his last detention with Umbridge, but he kept stalling. Finally, he left and the twins were alone. Fred was sitting on his bed watching his tormented brother toss and turn. As much as he hated seeing George like that, he didn't know what he should do. When George first told him about the break up Fred had been elated. This elation had lasted a total of ten minutes. It had only taken him that long to realise that this had been no ordinary break up. In fact, it hadn't been an ordinary relationship in the first place.

Fred noticed pretty quickly that the 'mutual split', as George referred to it, had done major damage to both his brother and Alicia. George wouldn't talk about it so Fred could only guess at what really occurred. He hoped passionately that he hadn't had anything to do with it. Could he possibly have sown the seeds of doubt in George's mind? He should have kept his feelings about Alicia to himself. Better yet, he could have tried harder to get along with her.

The whole thing was one big mess and no one knew how to fix it. Earlier that morning Angelina and Katie had pulled Fred and Lee down to the common room to have a conference about the problem. Nothing was proposed simply because no one really knew the circumstances. All they could gather was that it had been brutal for both Alicia and George. They couldn't even tell who had initiated it.

"Quit staring at me," George said, his back still to Fred.

"I'm not."

"I don't have to be looking at you to know what you're doing. You're staring at me so stop doing it."

"What happened between you and Alicia?" Fred asked, hoping that George would get so annoyed that he'd finally divulge something.

"Oh, on a first name basis with her now? Well, I suppose you don't have to be hostile now that you've got what you wanted."

"This isn't what I wanted!"

"Idiot," George barked. "What exactly did you think was going to happen when we broke up? Was I just supposed to shrug nonchalantly and move onto the next girl?"

"I didn't realise it was going to be so hard on you," Fred admitted penitently.

George rolled onto his back and folded his arms across his chest. "You would have realised it if you hadn't been so focussed on yourself. All you cared about was how my being with Alicia was going to affect you."

The truth in this comment stung Fred. "Look, I know I did the wrong thing and I'm sorry, but you can't push me away now. I'm just about all you've got."

George sat up suddenly and slid off his bed. "I don't need anyone. That includes you and Alicia."

"I'm only trying to help, you stubborn git," Fred said wearily.

"I don't need help," George said resolutely. Without another word he left the room, slamming the door for good measure.

Fred sighed. Their only hope now was that the application for the shop in Diagon Alley was approved soon. That, at least, would cheer George up.

That night no one got much sleep in either seventh year room. Lee was restlessly prowling around and being very mysterious about it. George had pulled his bed curtains shut and Fred tried to catch up on some homework. The girls couldn't sleep for a very different reason.

"Alicia! For the last time, make it shut up!"

"I'm trying to!"

"It's like sharing a room with a bear!" Katie cried.

Alicia pressed her hands over her noisy stomach. "I swear it'll stop in a minute."

"Go get something to eat from the kitchens. It's not that late."

"I'm not hungry," Alicia said defiantly. Her stomach gave a contradictory growl.

"It sounds like your stomach is about to eat your internal organs," Katie said.

"Go!" Angelina ordered, momentarily sticking her arm out from behind her bed curtains.

A shoe hit Alicia's bedpost and she decided she would go get something to eat just so the girls would stop badgering her. Not because she was starving, of course. "Fine, I'll be back in a few minutes."

Alicia climbed out of her nice warm bed, pulled her cloak on over her pyjamas and pinned on her prefect badge so she'd have a reason to be out of bed after curfew. Leaving her whiny friends to sleep, she slipped on her trainers and left the room. She found two fourth years snogging in the common room so she sent them to bed then ducked quietly out of the portrait hole.

Just as the Fat Lady's portrait swung shut, a seventh year boy came down the stairs. His bare feet padded softly against the floor as he made his way across the common room. He hesitated at the bottom of the girls' staircase. He didn't want to go up, but he had been left with little option otherwise. Resignedly, he started slowly up the stairs, skipping the sixth step that identified the student as male or female.

When he reached the seventh year girls' room he knocked briskly then crossed his arms so that his hands were tucked up into his warm armpits. There was no response except some swearing so he kicked the door firmly. This elicited an even angrier response from within.

"You get it!"

"You're closer!"

"Bugger off, whoever it is!"

Another kick to the door made someone shriek, "Go away!"

"As your Quidditch Captain I'm giving you a direct order: go and open the door, Bell!"

There was some indecipherable muttering and loud footsteps approached the door. It flew open, revealing a disgruntled Katie Bell in pink flannel pyjamas. She gaped unabashedly at the late-night visitor. "What do you want?"

"Who is it?" came Angelina's voice from the depths of the dark room.

"No one important," Katie sneered, trying to shut the door.

"Wait."

"Move your foot, Lee."

"It's Lee? Just tell him to go away," Angelina advised.

Katie pushed against the door. "You heard her."

"I'm here to see Alicia," Lee said, pushing back with his shoulder.

Katie abruptly stopped pushing; Lee unfortunately didn't stop so she went stumbling back, very nearly tripping over. When she first saw him the thought that he wanted her back had definitely crossed her mind, but then she really looked at him and saw that his face was twisted up in a scowl and his arms were folded defensively. He didn't have the air of someone who was apologetic or remorseful.

"What do you want with Alicia?" Angelina asked suspiciously, emerging from her bed.

"It's none of your business, just wake her up for me," Lee snapped, sounding very unlike himself.

"Can't resist now that she's single?" Katie asked nastily.

"Alicia?" he called into the room.

"She's not here," Angelina said, putting her arm protectively around Katie's waist. "Why are you looking for her?"

Lee glowered unpleasantly. "Because I want to shag her. I've been dying to get my hands on her ever since she broke up with George."

"Insensitive arse," Angelina hissed. Katie pushed away from her and ran to her bed. "Look what you've done now."

"She can go to Terry Boot for comfort. Where's Alicia?"

"She went down to the kitchens to get something to eat, so just go away."

Lee stepped back just as the door was slammed in his face. He hadn't really meant to upset Katie. Too many people were angry at each other these days. If they weren't careful, by the time their once-happy group was ready to graduate they'd end up being split into warring factions. Lee's fleeting sense of remorse was quickly replaced with pain. Grimacing, he made his way back downstairs.

In the empty common room he sat and stared at the hypnotic, crackling fire and waited for Alicia to return. He had no idea how his life had become so difficult so suddenly. One day he knew where his life was going then all of a sudden it was brutally torn away from him. It was too late to get it back now. He'd been left hanging in the breeze like a plastic bag caught in an updraft.

Ten minutes later, the portrait hole opened with a small creak. Lee leapt to his feet as Alicia entered, her arms full of junk food. She squeaked in surprise at his sudden appearance and she dropped her assortment of cupcakes and sweets. Lee mumbled apologetically and quickly knelt down to help her gather it all back up.

"What happened?" Alicia gasped, dropping her pumpkin pasties and grabbing his wrist. "Why are you bleeding Lee?"

Lee, having realised his mistake, stuck his injured hand back beneath his armpit. "You have to promise not to tell anyone."

Alicia groaned as her sympathy rapidly dissipated. "I should have known it had to be something like that. I'm not going to get sucked in this time. If you want to mess around with joke products then you have to learn to face the consequences. Good night."

"No!" Lee's eyes flashed in the flickering firelight. "I didn't even do anything! This isn't my fault!"

"Keep your damn voice down," Alicia said, regretting the words as soon as they had left her mouth. She was never abrupt with Lee. Her problems with George were affecting her friendships with other guys and that shouldn't have been happening at all. She took a deep calming breath. "Whose fault is it then?"

"You can't tell a soul."

"Why are you confiding in me? What about the twins or Katie?"

"You're the only one I can trust to keep it a secret."

Alicia was really beginning to get worried. "What have you done, Lee?"

"It wasn't my fault!" he repeated loudly.

Alicia had officially surpassed worried now. "All right, just relax. Come and sit on the sofa and tell me about it."

As they sat together in the eerie silence of the common room, Lee told Alicia all about his detentions with Umbridge. Alicia became so outraged that her entire body trembled. She couldn't think of adequate words to express how horrified she was so she sat in appalled silence. As soon as he finished the story, he unwrapped the bloodstained handkerchief from his hand and showed her the cut.

Alicia held his hand delicately in her own as she read the words I must not be insolent. "Oh Lee," she breathed.

"Well, isn't this cosy?" said a sharp voice from behind them.

Both recognised the voice immediately and turned to see Katie standing there on the verge of tears. "No!" Alicia shouted, jumping to her feet. Lee did the same, saying, "It's not that, Katie, I promise."

"Do whatever you like," Katie said, her voice tiny and vulnerable.

"I was only helping him with something," Alicia said desperately.

"I bet you were," added another voice. Alicia noticed that Angelina was standing in the darkness at the bottom of the girls' stairs. "How could you do this after we gave you so much support about George?"

Lee cradled his hand gently against his chest and advanced on Katie. "I didn't mean what I said before. I shouldn't have even said it in the first place."

"Well, you did say it," she said coldly, turning to leave.

"Look at his hand!" Alicia said suddenly. Secrecy be damned. Something had to be done to restore order.

"The hand you were just lovingly caressing?"

Alicia ignored Angelina and grabbed Lee's arm. "Just look at what she's done to him. Look at what that monster has done to Lee."

Katie's eyes barely flickered to his outstretched hand. "So what? Someone finally got their revenge. Give me her name and I'll go and congratulate her."

"Umbridge," Lee answered softly, withdrawing his hand.

Angelina was down the stairs in a second at the mention of her archenemy. "Umbridge? She did something to you?"

"Go into the light and see what she's been doing to him every night for the past week," Alicia said.

Neither Katie nor Lee made a voluntary move, so Angelina simply dragged them closer to the fire. The girls examined Umbridge's handiwork for themselves. Lee reluctantly related how the cuts had come about. Angelina got very angry very quickly and Katie was moved to tears.

"This has been going on for a week and you didn't tell anyone. Not even me. I hate that you couldn't tell me when someone was causing you pain," Katie said drearily.

Lee looked away from her awkwardly. "So much has been going on lately and I didn't want to burden anyone with my little problem."

"Little?" Angelina echoed incredulously. "That psycho has been torturing you! I'm going to wake Fred right now so we can sort this out."

"Don't do that," Lee said. "I didn't tell the twins precisely because I knew they'd do something that would get them in even more trouble and they're already on the edge as it is. Imagine what she could do to them."

"I'm still going up there," Angelina said defiantly. "They need to know what's going on."

"If Lee says don't, then don't," Katie said tersely, taking his uninjured hand in her own.

"The twins'll realise something's wrong anyway," Alicia said evenly, looking at the entwined hands of her friends. Neither seemed to notice they had done it. Alicia grabbed Angelina's forearm tightly. "We'll go upstairs and talk to them. They won't do anything stupid as long as we keep them calm."

"Can you bring back the vial of yellow liquid that's under my bed?" Lee asked. He pulled his hand away from Katie and went to sit on the sofa.

Alicia nodded and yanked Angelina away with her. They disappeared up the boys' stairs, whispering anxiously to each other. Katie wiped away the few tears that had fallen and joined Lee on the sofa. "Is the yellow liquid essence of Murtlap?"

"Yes."

"Good. That'll help a lot. Who told you to use it?"

"Just someone who noticed that my hand was bleeding yesterday," Lee answered, not wanting to point the finger at Harry. It hadn't been too difficult for him to work out that Harry must have suffered the same punishment during his detentions with Umbridge. Lee didn't want his problem becoming public knowledge so he doubted Harry did either.

"You should have come to me," Katie whispered, her voice barely audible over the crackling logs in the fire.

"You were preoccupied with other things like homework, Quidditch, Alicia…Terry Boot."

"As if I'd rather spend time with him than help you. He means nothing to me."

"And I do mean something to you?"

Katie put his injured hand on her leg and dabbed at it with his handkerchief. "I-in a way I think you mean too much to me. More than can possibly be healthy."

Lee winced both at the pain in his hand and his chest. "I was so close to running to you several times this week."

"Because you're the only who knows what I've been doing for the past year?"

"Yeah, I knew you'd be able to help me, I just didn't know if you would want to help me."

"I'd have to," Katie said. "It's part of the deal that we help anyone in need – even ex-boyfriends."

Lee looked down at the worn upholstery of the sofa. "So you'd help me only because you had to."

Katie was going to answer but she heard several sets of angry footsteps coming down the stairs. She might end up regretting it later, but she quickly decided to use actions rather than words. She seized Lee's face and kissed him fiercely. The kiss was too quick and Lee was too stunned to have time to respond. When Katie snapped back, she wiped her lips then continued to dab studiously at Lee's cut.

Still rather stunned, Lee licked his lips slowly. "Have you been eating chocolate, Katie?"

He never got his answer. "You idiot!" George said as soon as he reached the common room.

"You should have told us what was going on!" Fred added.

"Told you they'd be like this," Lee said smugly.

Fred smacked him lightly on the back of the head. "How could you keep something like this a secret from your best friends?"

Katie kicked Fred in the leg. "Don't hit him like that," she said sternly. "It's not Lee's fault that he has ignorant, egotistical prats for best friends. How could Lee not tell you? No, no, how could you not notice that something has been wrong with him for the past week?"

"You girls didn't notice either," George said defensively.

"We don't live in the same room as him," Alicia said, not even realising who she was addressing at first.

"I've been slightly preoccupied, as you very well know."

"So it's my fault you don't care about Lee? I'm the reason you didn't notice that your best mate was having a personal crisis?

"Frankly, yes."

No one said anything for a moment. This was the first time that George and Alicia had directly addressed each other since the break up. Their friends waited on tenterhooks to see just how volatile things would become. Alicia released the tension by turning away from George and going to sit beside Lee. "Does it hurt?" she asked plaintively.

"Quite a bit actually," Lee answered, biting his bottom lip and looking doleful.

Angelina knelt in front of him and patted him on the arm. "It'll heal and you'll be back to your normally chirpy self," she said bracingly.

For a while the girls cooed and fussed over Lee, who grimaced a lot and batted his long thick eyelashes to great effect. The twins let him have his moment in the spotlight and they whispered to each other and made signals that no one other than them would understand. Angelina was first to spot them at it whilst Alicia and Katie were helping Lee soak his hand in the essence of Murtlap.

"Oi, stop conspiring, you two."

Fred blinked innocently at his girlfriend. "Us? We'd never conspire, would we, George?"

"Never. It's offensive that you would suggest such a thing, Angelina."

She shook her head, thoroughly unconvinced. She was simply glad, however, that the twins appeared to be acting normal again. They'd been short with each other for the past day or so and it had worried everyone. If there was a silver lining to Lee's horrific encounter, it was that it brought everyone together.

Lee turned back to his prank-happy friends. "I don't want you guys to do anything that will get you into more trouble. It's over and there's nothing we can do about it so I think we should all forget this ever happened."

Fred put his hand on Lee's shoulder, gripping it tightly for a second. "Not a chance, mate. It's all for one and one for all around here."

George nodded and put his hand on Lee's other shoulder. "Banning us from Quidditch was a hit below the belt but messing with our best friend is a line Umbridge is going to wish she never crossed."

The six friends sat there for a moment. Katie and Alicia held Lee's hands, Angelina rested her chin on his knee and the twins grabbed his shoulders. All linked for that finite moment, they united for the one cause despite all their inner squabbles. Not one of them was thinking about their own problems, though they certainly had many. Everyone was thinking about bringing Umbridge down for what she had done to them.

The Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher had unknowingly incurred the considerable and combined wrath of the Gryffindor seventh years the day she sentenced Lee to a week of detentions with her.

xxxxx

Lee remained the centre of everyone's lives for a few more days. No one left him alone for very long and they all went out of their way to talk to him. Katie, however, went out of her way specifically to make sure she didn't end up alone with him. She was terribly embarrassed by the unwarranted kiss she had given him. Lee hadn't wanted the kiss and she was ashamed of throwing herself at him in such an undignified way. To make matters worse, Lee refused to forget about it.

"Why did you kiss me that night?"

"Kiss you?"

"Yes, you gave me a kiss the night you found out about my hand."

"No I didn't," Katie said, lengthening her stride to get away from Lee.

He stuck doggedly to her side. "Yes you did! You pressed your lips to mine! That's a kiss!"

"I don't remember putting my lips anywhere near you. Are you sure you didn't have a hallucination caused by your loss of blood?"

Lee stopped walking and Katie went on without him. Had he imagined it? Truthfully, he had been feeling a little dizzy that night. As Lee thought back he realised the dizziness had been caused by Katie's closeness, not his injury. He'd almost passed out when she kissed him without warning.

"There was a kiss!"

Alicia and Angelina exchanged weary looks as Lee ran off in pursuit of Katie. "Those two are utterly hopeless," Alicia commented.

"Almost as bad as you and George," Angelina agreed.

"Shut up. You know that George and I have completely different circumstances to Lee and Katie."

"No, I don't know that actually. I don't know the circumstances at all!" Angelina said, unable to keep the irritation out of her voice. She'd tried to be compassionate and understanding, but by this point she was desperate to know what had caused the break-up.

"I'm going to tell you and Katie everything eventually, ok? You'll know soon."

Angelina nodded reluctantly and the girls headed back to Gryffindor Tower to get some homework out of the way before Quidditch practice. In the middle of the corridor that led to the Fat Lady's portrait, the pair ran into the twins. They were acting more hyper than usual, which immediately put the girls on guard.

"What's going on?" Angelina asked.

"We got the shop in Diagon Alley!" Fred announced, brandishing a piece of crumpled parchment.

Angelina squealed and launched herself at him. They kissed passionately right there in the middle of the corridor, causing both Alicia and George to look at their feet. Angelina and Fred were wrapped around each other so tightly that it was hard to tell where one began and the other ended. Alicia's heart gave an envious jolt. She wished dearly to be able to share the moment properly with George.

"Congratulations," she said, looking up at him hesitantly.

"Thanks," he replied, studiously avoiding her gaze.

"I really am happy for you."

"I believe you."

"Then why won't you look at me?"

George finally met her eyes squarely and Alicia suddenly wished he hadn't. So much pain, regret and other unspoken emotions passed between them in that one moment. Alicia was first to look away shamefully. Even watching her best friend snog Fred was preferable to staring into George's beautiful melancholy eyes.

"I guess I'll have to come and visit the shop one day," Alicia said, watching a spider spin a web across the windowsill.

"Actually, I'd prefer it if you didn't visit me at all."

The only sound in the corridor was a disturbing slurping sound as Angelina and Fred parted. No one said anything. Blood pounded in Alicia's ears, making her feel woozy. "Yeah," she said shakily, "that was the deal, right? No contact whatsoever. Not a problem."

"You're an absolute idiot," Angelina sneered at George, who remained unapologetic.

"We'll, uh, see you some time later." Fred grabbed hold of his brother and pulled him away in case Angelina decided to take a swing.

Angelina glared after the red heads. "That was so rude. You should have slapped him – swore at the very least."

"He has a point," Alicia said softly.

"He's being ridiculous about it. As if you'll never see other again. It'll be impossible, especially since I'm going to…be, er…"

"Going to be what?"

Angelina took her friend by the elbow and steered her towards the Fat's Lady's portrait. "Let's go find Katie so we can have a nice chat."

Alicia had a feeling the chat wasn't going to turn out to be very nice. She was right. Well, it at least started out nice enough.

"I've been dying to tell you, but I had to wait till it was definite," Angelina began.

Alicia exchanged a curious look with Katie. They rarely saw Angelina so excited and fidgety. She paced around the room, tugging restlessly at her ponytail.

"So is it about Quidditch or Fred?" Katie asked, smiling knowingly.

Angelina bit her lip and gave a tiny giggle. "Am I that obvious now?"

"We just know you really well. So which is it?"

Angelina went and sat beside them, bouncing jovially on the bed. "It's about Fred and Quidditch. I've decided to spend a year with Fred before I play pro-Quidditch."

"No Quidditch?" Alicia asked dubiously. That was about as likely as Charlie giving up dragons or Snape giving up being nasty.

"Of course I'm not going to give it up totally, I'll find a local team to play for. I just want to concentrate on Fred for a while."

Katie let out an incredulous breath and shook her head. "Who'd have thought? You're actually picking a boy over Quidditch."

"You're picking Fred Weasley over Quidditch," Alicia said slowly, trying to get it clear in her own mind.

"Odd, isn't it?" Angelina said, grinning widely. "He was the bane of my life for so many years, now I can't live without him."

"It's wonderful!" Katie exclaimed, putting her arm around Angelina.

"Have you thought about it thoroughly?"

Angelina rolled her eyes wearily. "I knew you'd be like this, Alicia. I promise I know what I'm doing. I have to do this or risk losing Fred forever, it's that simple."

Alicia tried her hardest to smile and be happy for her friend. It wasn't coming easily. Her revelation had shocked Alicia to the core. Angelina, one of the most driven young women at Hogwarts, was going to put aside her dream to be with the person she loved. Alicia was going to leave the freaking country!

"You might think it's strange at the moment, but my decision is going to benefit you as well, Leesh."

"Huh?" Alicia shook herself out of her guilt-ridden stupor.

"I'm going to live with Fred and George in the flat above their shop. I couldn't mention it earlier because they definitely hadn't secured the premises." Angelina nudged Alicia playfully with her shoulder. "I almost let the cat out of the bag a while ago when I heard George say that he didn't want to see you after school. There's no way you're going to be able to avoid each other if I'm going to be living with the twins."

"Oh."

"You don't look very happy about any of this," Katie observed.

Alicia smiled through her threatening tears. "I am happy. I'm so overloaded with happiness that my body can no longer show it."

"All I ask is that you trust that I know what I'm doing," Angelina said, looking a little apprehensive.

"I do trust you," Alicia assured her quickly. "I know it's not a decision that you made lightly. Really, I'm rather proud of you for volunteering to live with the twins in such a confined space."

Angelina hugged both of her best friends tightly around the neck. "Just imagine how much fun we're going to have out there."

"It won't be all fun and games," Katie said, ducking away from Angelina and straightening her hair. "Some of us won't be working in joke shops, you know. Maybe some of us won't even be done with schooling."

"Going to the Auror Academy, Katiekins?" Alicia joked.

"No. St Mungo's Academy of Magical Medical Practice," Katie said seriously.

"Oh my God!"

"No way!"

"Since when?"

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Isn't that place hard to get into?"

"Aren't you sick of learning stuff yet?"

"One question at a time, ladies," Katie said calmly. "I haven't even been accepted into the Academy yet so let's not get ahead of ourselves."

A little dazed from being hit with two revelations in as many minutes, Alicia said, "But when did you decide this was what you wanted to do? I'm sure you've never mentioned it before."

"I first considered it when I had my careers advice session with McGonagall in fifth year but she told me my marks weren't good enough. Now she says they're considerably better and I have a chance of making it to the Academy. I only want to be a nurse, which requires a year of study."

"We could have helped you get better marks, Katie, you should have told us."

"Well, Lee knows about it, but only because I really needed to lift my Charms marks and…and he used to be my boyfriend and stuff."

"Wait, isn't the Academy in London?"

"Yeah, it's not far from the hospital. There are student residences that I can stay in to save me having to commute from Bristol everyday."

Angelina grabbed Katie's hands and pulled her to her feet. "We'll be in London together!"

They proceeded to do a little dance together around the room as Alicia watched silently. She wanted to dance and squeal inanely as well but now she could barely breath. Everyone was going to be in London. Well, except Lee. She didn't know what he planned to do after school but she couldn't imagine him going very far. So the group wouldn't be broken up too much, which was good to know.

"Night clubs," Angelina said wistfully as the pair skipped past Alicia's bed.

"Fancy restaurants," Katie sighed.

"Celebrities."

"Double Decker buses."

"Big Ben and Piccadilly Circus."

"The London Eye."

"The Thames…though it's a bit icky and dirty in parts."

"I don't want to go!" Alicia shrieked, collapsing into hysterical tears.

Her friends were by her side in a second. "You don't want to go to London? I thought you liked it there."

Alicia was too far gone to be able to reply coherently. She was busy imagining her friends having fun without her. She could just picture them riding the London Eye. Lee would get sick, of course. Fred and George would have a lot of fun teasing the Royal Guards in front of Buckingham Palace. As they were doing all of this Alicia would be God knows where doing God knows what.

"Are you worried about being in London with George?" Katie asked gently as she brushed Alicia's hair from her face.

"He doesn't own the place, anyway," Angelina said fiercely. "He has no right to dictate who can and can't visit Diagon Alley."

"He couldn't keep you out if you worked for the Prophet. Have you decided which newspaper you want to work for?"

"Kind of," Alicia answered hesitantly. She didn't want to ruin the happy mood with her news. Typically her friends wouldn't take the hint.

"What do you mean by kind of?"

"I mean I sort of already have a job waiting for me." Alicia took a deep breath, realising she was being unnecessarily obtuse. They'd just get angry if she kept being cryptic. "In fact, I do have a guaranteed job with the Daily Prophet already."

An ear-piercing squeal rang through Gryffindor Tower. Hermione heard it in her room as she was trying to study. It caused Dennis Creevey to drop the Potions vial he was carrying as he walked past the girls' staircase. Even Alicia had to cover her ears. Angelina and Katie literally jumped on her and the three girls landed in a heap on the bed.

"This is perfect!"

"London is going to belong to the Gyrffindor Chasers!"

"Er, not quite," Alicia said hesitantly, pushing Angelina off her.

"It's all right if you live with your parents for a while," Katie said, "because we'll still be able to have lunch together everyday. It'll be grand."

They tried to hug her again and Alicia began to get flustered. "You don't understand. There won't be any lunches. I'm the Junior International Quidditch Correspondent."

"Bloody hell!" Angelina shrieked.

Alicia nodded solemnly. "It's true."

"You'll get to go to World Cups then!"

Angelina clutched Alicia's arm in a death grip. "I'd give you my first born for World Cup final tickets."

"I think Fred might object to you giving away his children," Katie teased.

"Did I say that it was going to be Fred's child?"

"Got another boyfriend on the go?"

"No, only one boyfriend, which is still more than you've got, Bell."

"Shut up."

"I'm so nice that if I did have two boyfriends I'd give you the dud one."

Katie gasped in outrage and tried to hit Angelina. She just laughed and swatted back at her. Alicia could see that things were likely to escalate into a vicious pillow fight if they kept it up. She had to make them understand now. Swallowing her tears, she wriggled out from between them and stood up.

"You're not getting it at all!" she shouted over their giggles. They stopped trying to slap and pinch each other and looked up at her. "Correspondent doesn't mean that I just go overseas to cover World Cups. I'm a correspondent, as in I report only from overseas. As in I won't be living in the country. As in I'll only get to see you guys once or twice a year. As in no London lunches."

"Overseas?" Angelina echoed shakily.

Alicia nodded, glad to have finally got it off her chest. Angelina stared up at the ceiling and Katie bit her lip so hard that Alicia was afraid it would bleed. The atmosphere had changed so dramatically that no one knew what to do. Alicia sat down on the opposite bed calmly and waited for it to sink in.

"That's why you broke up with George," Katie realised.

"Yes."

"It must have broken his heart."

"It broke mine too," Alicia said rather defensively. "I happen to be in love with him as well. It wasn't something I wanted to do."

"I didn't mean it like that," Angelina said quickly.

"It must have been a horrible moment when you finally told him," Katie said, hinting that she wanted to hear the entire story.

After a little more prompting Alicia finally told her friends what exactly happened the moment she told George that she was going overseas. To spare herself some embarrassment she left out the part where he rejected her suggested parting gesture. She was going to take that secret to the grave. Still, by the end of it she was in tears again. Katie was crying as well and Angelina kept sniffing and blinking a lot.

"I don't know what I would have done if you two hadn't been around to pick me back up. I'm going to miss you guys so much…" Alicia trailed off as her tears choked her.

There was much eating of comfort food and wiping of eyes that day in the dorm room of the seventh year Gryffindor girls. When they weren't crying and eating they were making plans to meet up every year. The Christmas Eve pact was brought up again and Alicia mentioned that George had backed out of it. The unanimous response to this was 'he's a moron'.

"So we'll see each other on our birthdays, Easter, Christmas and New Year," Angelina said, ticking them off on her fingers.

Katie forced a smile. "That's not so bad."

"Are you certain we can't add Thanksgiving, Bastille Day and the Queen's birthday to the list?"

"Leesh, we aren't American, French or Muggles."

There was a united sigh from the girls. Briefly the mood lifted in the room as Alicia showed the girls her itinerary. There were rapturous exclamations when she explained that in the first six months alone she would be visiting Sydney, Paris, Barcelona, Florence, Tokyo, Vancouver and Berlin.

"I'm coming with you," Angelina said firmly. "I can hide in a bag or something. You aren't allowed to have adventures around the world without me."

"I can't believe you're leaving in a few months," Katie said blearily.

Alicia straightened up, feeling slightly better about leaving. "We'll just have to make the most of these last few months. We'll do everything at Hogwarts that we've ever wanted to do."

xxxxx

For the wider magical community, the eighteenth of April would forever be known as the day that Professor Dumbledore mysteriously disappeared from Hogwarts. For six close friends, however, the nineteenth of April would also be remembered as the day their group fell apart, never to be quite the same again. From their very first day at Hogwarts, Angelina, Alicia, Katie, Fred, George and Lee had been inextricably bonded. Over the years they'd survived break ups, crushes, tantrums, pranks, detentions and prefects. Even more so, they'd managed to stick together as the outside world loomed over them, baring its teeth.

The thirteen-year friendship of Alicia and George was in its death throes but that day it was finally put to rest in the course of one conversation. At the same time, Lee, the ever-willing sidekick, finally lost his cool with his best friends. Even Angelina and Fred, who had avoided a major fight for quite a while, faced their own crisis.

At the same moment, in three separate locations, one decision was causing everyone grief. In the early hours of the morning Fred and George had decided they were going to leave Hogwarts for good. They told Lee almost immediately and offered him a job at their shop when he graduated. Though they had been expecting him to feel a little slighted, telling Lee turned out to be the easy part. It was telling Angelina and Alicia that was going to be hard.

In the girls' room, George and Alicia were standing in opposite corners and avoiding each other's eyes. Alicia was first to break the silence. She couldn't keep the happiness out of her voice. "I just knew you couldn't bear to leave things so badly between us."

George didn't reply immediately. He paced the room a few times, his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his trousers. So, she was going to make it difficult. Two could play at that game. "As usual you're totally mis-reading the situation. I'm not here to apologise to you. Nor am I here to shag you, so don't get your hopes up."

Alicia's happy mood evaporated. It was very easy for her to dip into the reserves of anger she'd been storing since their break up. "Get over yourself. I wouldn't shag you if you paid me a million Galleons."

"Typical. You think you're worth a million Galleons."

Alicia shrugged the insult away. This sort of stuff was harmless. They knew how to deeply hurt each other, but banter like this barely left marks. "Why are you here then?"

"It's merely a curtesy call to let you know that Fred and I are planning to leave Hogwarts soon."

Alicia rolled her eyes and snorted quite rudely. "Yeah right."

"Doesn't matter if you believe me or not. We're really going to leave."

"And I'm going to ask Snape out on a date."

"Wow, you really must be desperate for that shag," George commented lightly. "I suppose he's just about the only male in the school who'd want to shag you."

That had almost been a direct hit. Alicia fired straight back, barely missing a beat. "So you're running away from school? You're passing up an education at the best magical school in the world so you can start a lousy joke shop, which I might add, has every likelihood of not succeeding at all. I hope you've been brushing up on your table waiting skills."

Bull's-eye. She'd sunk his battleship.

George gritted his teeth briefly then relaxed enough to say, "I don't need to take this from you."

"I'm not making you stay. Good-bye." Alicia turned away and looked out the window onto the peaceful grounds. When George next spoke he was right in her ear. She hadn't heard him approach.

"You've got no right to dismiss me like I'm some lowly peasant who's wandered into your palace. I deserve better than that." His voice was smooth and dark and silky.

Alicia could feel the heat radiating from his body. This sort of tension between them was completely new. There was a breathtaking element of rawness and danger to it. That was probably what made it so hot. Alicia turned her head so that her lips were near his as she softly said, "Get the hell out of my room."

George's mouth ghosted over hers. "You really want that shag now, don't you, little girl?"

"I'm not a little girl," she replied, fighting to keep the tremble out of her voice.

"You sure act like one sometimes."

"Excuse me? You plan to make joke products for a living and you're accusing me of being childish?"

His fingertips pressed lightly into the small of her back. "You manipulate, throw tantrums and lie to get your own way. That's the behaviour of an eight year old, not an eighteen year old."

"I don't do any of those things," Alicia said as she gently leant back into his touch.

"You lied to me not long ago to get me to promise not to throw myself into the fight against You-Know-Who. Now we both know that there was no chance of you fighting beside me or jumping in front of any curses."

She turned around and looked him square in the eye. "That wasn't a lie. I'll come straight back if things get bad. No one's likely to care much about Quidditch if this escalates."

"I've already told you that I don't want you to come back."

"What do you want from me then?" Alicia shouted, looking away angrily. "Are you disappointed that I haven't burst into tears because you're leaving school? I've cried in front of people too much these past few weeks. As soon as you leave my room I can assure you I'll collapse into tears. Happy?"

"I want you to admit that all of this is rubbish. The stuff about loving me and wanting to be beside me during the war with You-Know-Who was just a way for you to feel better about what you were doing. It makes you feel like you're suffering as well." George seized her chin and made her look him in the eye again. "I know for a fact that you can't feel worse about this separation than I do."

"You have no idea what I feel. I do love you!" Tears brimmed at Alicia's eyes and she furiously blinked them away. She was sick of crying!

George's face hardened further and he stepped away from her. "You think you love me. You've convinced yourself that you love me because it's the right thing to do. The kind of love you have for me is completely self-serving. You bring it up when it best suits you." Alicia flinched at this, but remained quiet because he clearly hadn't finished. He assumed a high falsetto and continued. "The poor, bedraggled Weasley boy loves me. I ought to love him back I suppose. It would be my good deed for the day and imagine how everyone would suddenly find me charitable!"

"You don't know what you're talking about," Alicia said, clenching her fists. His hits were below the belt now.

"No? Prove me wrong then. Show that you really love me and stay in the country."

"I can't do that and you know it."

"Exactly. You love me but you don't want to be with me. That's not love. That's you trying to make yourself feel better about breaking my heart. Everything is about you."

Alicia's blood boiled. "You stupid…God…such a – you're a hypocrite! That's what you are!"

George smirked in a pleased sort of way at the knowledge that he'd rattled her. "How so? My love for you is at least genuine and not some sad delusion."

All of a sudden Alicia found herself sinking into her well of anger. She'd only meant to dip into it, but she fell in as George's barbs became more acidic. Now that she was drowning in her quicksand-like anger, she was discovering long buried thoughts. They were unspoken truths that were too damaging to ever be brought up. Alicia and Lee knew both twins very well so they picked up on things other people didn't. At the same, they had an unspoken agreement that neither would mention these stark home truths.

Alicia knew exactly what she could say to George as a knock out blow. It would dismantle him, leave him broken and forever altered. The unspeakable words burnt at her throat.

"Well? Are you going to tell me why I'm a hypocrite?" George asked, the bravado in his voice showing that he already believed that he had won the fight. He was going to regret goading her into a response.

Alicia opened her mouth and the words just tumbled out. She felt like she was watching herself from afar and was unable to stop the proceedings. "You're a damn hypocrite because your love for me isn't as pure and righteous as you make it out to be. I've known about the darker sides of your love for a while, but I swept it to the back of my mind."

"The darker sides of my love?" George repeated dubiously. "This ought to be good. Go on."

"The truth is that you love me as a possession, not a companion. I'm not something that was passed down from one of your brothers and I'm not something you can share with Fred. I'm yours and only yours. That's why you love me."

"Totally stupid argument."

"It's a perfectly coherent argument, you just don't want to see it. How many things in this world do you actually have sole ownership of, George? You're made to share just about everything with at least one member of your family. I can't be passed around, can I? You cling to me as the one thing that you have control of."

George looked pretty calm but Alicia was beginning to see the subtle cracks in his exterior. For instance, his voice was a little higher when he said, "None of it is about control or having something that I don't have to share. You're making the huge assumption that I don't like sharing with my twin brother and that obviously means you don't understand the twin thing at all."

Alicia gave a wicked little smile. "I understand it better than you think. I've been around you boys long enough to notice a thing or two. I realised pretty early on who was the dominant twin. In fact, I may have even picked up on it the day I met you both. Fred's the one everyone remembers, isn't he? It's Fred and 'the other one'? I see it happen all the time. The best example of it is when people mix you up. What I couldn't help but notice was that most of the time you're mistaken for Fred. People hardly ever call him George. Why do you think that is?"

George shrugged uncomfortably and looked longingly at the door. "Because people are stupid?"

"No. People forget about you. You're the quieter one who isn't dating the prettiest girl in the year. Really, it's only natural that you would slip into the background."

"I don't care if Fred has the spotlight. I don't care about any of it!" George insisted, his voice cracking slightly.

"The twin thing is fascinating actually," Alicia said, hitting her stride and assuming a conversational tone. "I suspect a lot of people envy you for what you have with Fred. They have no idea how hard it is to maintain though. In order to keep the relationship functional there's so much that can't be acknowledged. The relationship you have with Fred is so delicate, tenuous and unique that it's quite beautiful. To keep it going you have to remain in Fred's shadow and not complain about it."

George stormed over to the door. "I'm leaving."

"So that's how it works? You can take shots at me and call me selfish, but you can't handle hearing the truth?"

George paused and turned back to her. He folded his arms and said, "Fine, finish me off then."

Alicia knew she shouldn't have done it. She should have let him walk out, but something had snapped inside of her. "My place in the whole thing is pretty straight forward. I validate you. Holding onto me makes you feel like you're worthwhile. When you parade me around as your girlfriend you step out of the shadow a bit, don't you? I'm no Angelina Johnson, but I'm better than nothing. The bottom line is that you used me to break away from Fred and now that I'm leaving you've been sucked back in again. That's what you're so angry and heartbroken about."

There wasn't anything George could say to that. It hit too close to home. He flashed her one more look of utter disappointment then left the room quietly. As the door closed, Alicia put her hands over her face. She'd really done it now. So much had been dredged up and so much damage caused that things seemed irreparable.

Their love for each other had twisted back on itself and become dark and deformed. They had no outlet for their feelings and having to hold it all inside had caused their love to ferment and turn bitter. Something that was supposed to be beautiful and pure had become so corrupted that it couldn't be called true love anymore.

Alicia threw herself on her bed. She wanted to laugh, cry, sleep and fly all at once.

George and Alicia's encounter hadn't gone to plan, but up in the boys' room things had been almost as bad. Fred wasn't quite sure how Angelina was going to react to the news. She'd been in such a good mood lately that he almost didn't want to tell her. He'd asked her to come up to his room under the premise that they would be discussing their future living arrangements.

Angelina came bouncing into the room. She'd been bouncing a lot lately. "I just sent the letter telling my mother that I'm going to be living with you. I can't wait to see what the reply is. I bet she tries to talk me out of it."

"Will you change your mind?" Fred asked, putting down the book he'd been flicking through before she came in.

"Never," she said firmly, sitting down on the bed beside him. "Will you change your mind about it?"

"Of course not."

"Then we're agreed." Angelina put her head on his shoulder and sighed contentedly. "It's going to be fun, isn't it? The fact that we're going to be living together almost makes up for Alicia's leaving."

Fred didn't want to talk about Alicia. Now that he knew the truth about the break up he was back to disliking her. She'd callously chosen her job over George, which meant it obviously wasn't a mutual decision. Fred's stomach twinged. Was he doing the same thing with Angelina? He'd just have to come out with it.

"You know, I think getting banned from Quidditch was a blessing in disguise," he offered casually.

Angelina snorted. "How the hell do you figure that?"

"Well, it's given George and I an opportunity to work on the joke shop. We can really get a head-start on it."

"I guess that's true."

"In fact, now that we can't play Quidditch there's no real reason for us to stay at school."

Angelina laughed and nudged him playfully. When he didn't add to the laughter she pulled away and stared at him. "Bloody hell, Fred, you're serious!"

"George and I have decided to leave school in a week or so."

"You can't leave! We're so close to NEWTs!"

"We don't need NEWTs and there's really nothing else keeping us here."

Angelina jumped to her feet in a sudden fury. "I knew something like this was going to happen! Things between us have been perfect lately and I should have known it was too good to be true because my life has never been easy. Everything I do ends up becoming a battle."

Fred reached a placating hand out towards her. "I think you're overreacting, angel. I'm not breaking up with you or anything like that."

"Can you not hear yourself speak? You just said there was nothing keeping you at school. Do you know how awful that makes me feel?"

Fred realised his mistake and jumped off the bed as she backed away from him. "I didn't mean it that way."

"You're leaving so obviously you did mean it. Fred, I thought you…"

"What?"

"I thought you loved me, dammit!"

"I do!" Fred tried to grab hold of her but she twisted away.

"Don't touch me. I don't even want to look at you right now," she said, stalking across the room.

"You're misinterpreting the whole thing. It's not that I want to leave you behind. It'll only be for a little while, angel."

"It may only be for a little while, but you're leaving me when I need you most! You know you're the only thing keeping me sane at the moment. My best friend has told me she's leaving the country, my Quidditch teams sucks and the NEWTs are coming up. I'd have lost it long ago if you weren't around."

Fred was quickly beginning to realise that he was in for an uphill battle. Angelina was reacting rather hysterically and he didn't quite know why. Sure, she'd relied on him a bit recently, but she'd always been fiercely independent. It was strange for her to suddenly insist that she couldn't live without him.

"Ok. Just relax a bit. It's not a break up and it's hardly a separation at all. I'll write to you everyday and I'll even come and visit on weekends," he said as he managed to corner her between George and Lee's beds.

"If you leave the relationship is over," Angelina snapped.

"All right, now you're just being plain ridiculous."

"No, I'm being rational for once. I'm forgetting about pro-Quidditch for a year so I can be around to help you out, but you can't forget about the shop for a few months to be with me when I need you most. How is that fair?"

Fred cringed. He sounded like an ungrateful prat. "I'm so sorry, 'Lina, I hadn't considered any of that."

She shrugged away as he tried to touch her again. "It's beginning to sound like you aren't taking this relationship seriously. I'm busy pouring myself into it and you're preparing to walk away from it."

"This is about commitment? I'm letting you come and live with me! What more do you want? An engagement ring?"

"I want you, not letters or visits or empty promises!"

Angelina looked close to tears as she tried to get past Fred. He grabbed hold of her and she immediately struggled to get away. He did the only thing he could think of to calm her down. He kissed her. She fought him for about three seconds before she kissed back frantically, digging her fingernails into his shoulders. Fred stumbled back and fell onto Lee's bed, pulling Angelina onto his lap.

They kissed a few moments more and with each moment Angelina became more aggressive. Soon she was scratching at his neck and biting his lips. He ended up pulling away before she could draw blood.

"This is mad," he said, restraining her slightly. "How did we switch from fighting to snogging wildly so easily? You think something's wrong with us?"

Angelina tried to pry his hands away from her arms. "Of course something's wrong with us. Something's wrong with you, something's wrong with me. That's why we're made for each other. I can't believe that you would want to ruin it."

"If you would just shut up and listen to me you'd know that I'm not ruining anything."

"Don't tell me to shut up. Why don't you shut up?" she said automatically.

Fred put his hand over her mouth. "I'm leaving school, but I'm not leaving you. We'll definitely come back for the Quidditch final and graduation. It won't be so bad."

"I feel abandoned. It feels like this whole time you've just been waiting for a better offer to come along."

"Not true," he said firmly.

Angelina bit her lip tentatively and Fred suspected that they were about to come to the real reason why her reaction had been so panicked. "There are other girls out there," she said faintly.

"So?"

"Girls who are prettier than me."

"That isn't even physically possible," he said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Thanks, but I wasn't fishing for a compliment that time. There are pretty girls out in the world that you're bound to come across and they're going to take notice of you. We both know you have a habit of attracting attention." She ran a hand appreciatively through his hair. "This alone catches the eye. When they get a look at the rest of you they won't be looking away anytime soon."

"Aw, you're making me blush."

"I'm being serious!"

"Look, I've coped with the stigma of my astonishingly good-looks for my entire life. I know how to handle myself."

"You're such an arse." Angelina tried to pinch him but he laughed and caught her hands. "I'm trying to have a serious conversation with you!"

"We've never had a serious conversation before so why start now?"

As Angelina struggled to release herself from his grip Fred managed to catch her lips with his own. As soon as she relaxed he let go of her hands and she put her arms around his neck. He leant back on his hands and she wrapped her legs around his waist. When Angelina's brain became functional again she wrenched her mouth away from his.

"That wasn't even remotely fair," she protested breathlessly.

"I know."

She kissed his neck distractedly. "What was I talking about?"

"Other girls."

"Right. I think I had a point to make about them, I just can't remember what it was."

Fred tilted his head back and sighed. "What a shame."

Angelina stopped kissing him abruptly. "I know what I was going to say now," she said triumphantly.

"I must be losing my touch."

"Either that or I'm building up an immunity." She climbed off him and sat beside him on the bed. "I was going to point out that at Hogwarts everyone knows you belong to me. Most girls are smart enough to not mess with me and I can keep an eye on you to make sure you don't go near the stupid ones. No one outside of school knows that you're mine."

"I could wear a shirt that says 'Property of Angelina Johnson'," Fred offered.

"That still wouldn't stop some girls."

"Don't you trust me enough to not encourage them?" he asked, his tone jovial. Angelina hesitated just long enough for Fred to realise the answer was no. It was like she had punched him in the stomach. "You don't trust me. Do you think I'm capable of cheating on you?"

Angelina shrugged a shoulder and examined her fingernails. "I realise that sometimes things just happen."

"So when I'm gone 'something' could 'just happen' between you and another guy at school?"

She shook her head adamantly. "There's no way I'd ever do that. I need you more than you need me."

Fred rubbed his hands over his face in frustration. "I don't know where any of this is coming from. You used to insist you didn't need anyone."

"Things change," she said tonelessly.

"Well, you used to trust me at one point. What happened to change your mind?"

"Nothing. I still trust you. It's other people I don't trust."

Fred didn't quite buy this. Something had changed – he didn't know how or why – but something was definitely different. He'd get to the bottom of it eventually but right now he just wanted Angelina to accept his decision to leave school. She didn't necessarily have to be happy about it; acceptance was enough.

"Are we all right?" he asked. "No more fighting?"

Angelina's brow wrinkled as she thought about it. When she looked up, Fred already knew what the answer was going to be. "I think I need a couple of days to think it over. It's a lot to throw at me, particularly considering that Alicia's leaving as well."

Fred kissed her forehead. "That's fine. I just want you to be really sure about it. I don't want you to agree to this just so you can use it against me later."

"As if I'd ever do such a thing," she said, managing a small smile.

At the same time that Fred and George broke the news to the girls, Lee came storming into the common room and threw a heavy textbook on the table in front of Katie.

"Do you mind? I'm trying to study," she said tersely.

"They can be such bastards sometimes," Lee said, pulling out the chair beside her.

Katie groaned and scribbled out a mistake she'd made. "Who are bastards?"

"You haven't heard, then. The idiots are leaving school in about a week."

Giving up, she put down her quill and rubbed at her eyes. "Look, if you want me to contribute to this conversation you're going to have to tell me who you're talking about."

"Obviously it's Fred and George. Only they'd be stupid enough to leave school so close to final exams."

Katie gasped. "You're kidding! That is a little silly of them. Well, at least it explains why George kicked me out of my room a minute ago. Angelina and Alicia are going to be furious with them."

"What about me?" Lee demanded.

"Huh?"

"What about me?" he repeated, getting louder and angrier. "I'm not in love with them so I can't be pissed off at them? I'm just expected to soldier on and not care that my best friends are leaving me behind by myself."

"You're hardly by yourself," Katie pointed out. She was completely surprised by Lee's anger. For as long as she'd known him he'd never had a bad word to say about the twins.

"You know what I mean, Kate. They're moving up in the world and leaving me behind to finish school like a loser. They didn't even ask me if I wanted to go with them."

Something in that comment made her breath hitch. "Would you have gone if they'd asked you?"

Lee shook his head. "I need my NEWTs."

"There you go then, they didn't ask you because they know you need your NEWTs for what you want to do after school."

"Impossible. They don't even know what I want to do when I get out of this place. They've never bothered to ask me."

The look on Lee's face almost broke Katie's heart. His best friends hadn't even taken enough time away from their own plans to ask him what he wanted to do after school. The twins were often off in their own world, but this was going too far. Katie put a comforting hand on Lee's arm. At first she hoped he didn't interpret it as a loving gesture, but she needn't have worried because he didn't even notice her hand.

"They even told me I could work in their shop when I graduated. It was like some grand gesture on their part. They think I'll stumble behind them through life and have no ambition or dreams of my own."

"They don't think that at all. You saw how upset they were when they found out what Umbridge did to you."

"Yeah, but that was only because they felt guilty for not noticing it earlier."

Katie almost threw her arms around him. She had to clasp her hands in her lap. "Fred and George get a little carried away sometimes but you're still their best friend."

Lee shrugged and ran his finger along a scratch on the tabletop. "Sometimes I don't think they need me at all. They've got each other and that's something I can't touch. To make matters worse I don't even have you anymore."

Katie gathered her parchment and quill together and stood up. "The world is full of people who love you, Lee. You just have to give them a chance to show it," she said, bending down to kiss the top of his dread locked head.

"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked, staring up at her quizzically and trying to catch hold of her arm.

She gave a smile that went straight to his heart and coyly said, "It means whatever you want it to mean."

Katie walked away and Lee let his forehead fall to the tabletop. "I don't even know what that means," he said helplessly.

Fred and George's departure wouldn't be so hard to take if he were still going out with Katie. The twins – in their own ignorant, clumsy way – had helped him get over the disappointment of losing Katie. Now he'd have no one. Truthfully, he simply hated being alone. Growing up as an only child with busy parents meant he'd spent most of his childhood with indifferent nannies. He hadn't even been around kids his own age enough to make any real friends. Turning eleven had completely changed his life.

At Hogwarts there was no shortage of people. Sure, they weren't all nice to him, but at least Lee wasn't on his own anymore. Over the past six or so years he'd got used to having at least one of the other five Gryffindors with him and as a result he wasn't looking forward to leaving school. Perhaps he had followed the twins around a little overzealously to begin with; he'd just been so desperate to make friends. He was still in the habit of thinking he had to impress people.

Katie was one of the few people who had noticed it. She tried to tell him that he didn't have to be entertaining and loud all the time. She had insisted he could get angry with people or just brood sometimes and everyone would still like him because he was undeniably likeable.

"Obviously not lovable though," he said to the tabletop.

Slowly Lee lifted his head and pulled the Charms textbook towards himself. He really should get some studying done. Alicia had started to nag him about it. He was quite accustomed to ignoring her so that was no problem. Unfortunately she had threatened to tell Hermione, which had the desired effect of making him work. He didn't think he could handle both bossy prefects at once.

A distraction from study presented itself in the form of Fred and George. They came down the separate staircases at exactly the same moment. They were always doing uncanny things like that. Lee pretended to be engrossed in his book as they approached.

"How's it going, mate?" Fred asked.

Lee looked up as they leant against the table in an unconsciously identical gesture. "Fine. How'd it go with the girls?"

"Disastrous," he answered.

"I don't even want to talk about it," George said.

"I don't know why but Angelina kinda lost it. She's been outrageously clingy lately."

Lee had to fight not to roll his eyes. As if Fred had anything to complain about. So what if Angelina Johnson wanted to spend more time with him? There definitely wasn't a shortage of other guys who would love to be in his position. Lee had lost his girlfriend and been given a permanent scar and he had hardly complained at all. Needless to say, he couldn't manage to muster much sympathy for either twin.

Fred thumped him on the shoulder. "At least you're happy for us."

"I'm just looking forward to having my own room," Lee said, flashing a practiced smile.

"It'll be all yours soon." Fred rubbed his hands together briskly. "Well, lots to do so we'll see you later."

George added, "Don't work too hard."

"I won't," Lee assured him.

The pair left and he sighed. They hadn't asked him to come along or even told what they were doing. He was starting to be cut out of the loop already and they hadn't even left yet. If he hadn't been so desperate for friends back in first year he might have realised that Fred and George would always be best friends to each other first and foremost.

Alicia came down the girls' staircase next. She spotted Lee and made her way over to him, looking dejected. The two exchanged knowing looks and she sat on the edge of the table beside him.

"How are you feeling?" she asked kindly.

"Great," he answered, hoping that he sounded cheerful. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Come on, Lee."

"I'm a little annoyed, but it's fine. How are you?"

"Horrible. I really let loose on George. I got so worked up that I started talking about him living in Fred's shadow."

Lee winced. He could appreciate how touchy that subject was. "What happened?"

"I managed to make things ten times worse than they were. I doubt we'll say more than a handful of words to each other for the rest of our lives."

"Do you realise how much he loves you? The way he talks about you to me – he worships you."

"Funny. You're the same way with Katie," Alicia said, changing the subject smoothly.

Lee perked up at this. "Has she been talking about me?"

"Of course, but I'm not going to say anything. You two have to work it out yourselves."

"But she still likes me right? She wouldn't have kissed me otherwise."

"Honey, sometimes a kiss is just a kiss," Alicia said gently. Lee's eyes dropped and she nudged him with her knee. "But sometimes a kiss can be…it can be everything. It can be a lifetime of feelings condensed into one moment. It can say more than words and it can be the purest form of expression."

"Which type of kiss was the one Katie gave me?"

"You have to work that out for yourself."

Lee sighed and looked away. Angelina had just reached the bottom of the boys' stairs. She looked shocked, bewildered and a little lost. Lee waved her over.

"She doesn't look like she took it very well," Alicia commented.

Angelina just managed to wander over without getting lost. She looked a little out of it, as if she was still trying to process the information she'd just been given. She was as close to tears as Lee had seen her since Cedric's death.

"He's leaving," she said listlessly.

"We know," Lee said.

"It'll be all right. It's not for long."

Angelina shook her head at Alicia. "It's a bad time for a separation of any length. I don't know if we can survive it."

"Of course you'll get through this. Everyone's going to be fine." Lee stood up and put his arm around Angelina. To his surprise she buried her face in his neck and threw her arms around him.

"Me, too," Alicia said, holding out her arms.

They welcomed her into the hug and the three people who were going to miss Fred and George the most stood in a tight, protective huddle.

xxxxx

It was decided that Fred and George would leave school on the twenty seventh of April. Intricate plans were put into place and kept secret. Some necessary details were let slip to Lee and the girls, but they kept their coup d'etat under tight wraps.

Alicia's prediction that she and George wouldn't speak more than a handful of words to each other proved to be true. Angelina, on the other hand, seemed to become more and more accepting of the departure. She was never going to like the idea, but at the same time she realised she had to spend as much time as possible with Fred. Lee was still feeling ignored by the twins and confused by Katie's behaviour.

The day before the planned departure was very interesting for more than one reason. It started out normally enough with Fred and George packing the little that they would be able to take with them. They were going to leave their bags on the edge of the forest and Lee had promised to send the rest of their stuff onto them. The trouble really started when Fred was counting their money.

"George, did you move some of the money?" Fred asked, peering into the hollow book in which they stashed the Triwizard winnings that had been given to them by Harry.

"Hmm?"

"There's like seventy Galleons missing. Where'd it go?"

George casually moved to the other side of the room to put some distance between himself and his brother. "I owed Bill and Charlie some money. It was nothing important."

"Nothing important costs seventy Galleons these days?" he asked dubiously.

"I know this was supposed to be the joke shop money, but I had borrowed some from Bill and Charlie back when I thought we were going to get our winnings from the Quidditch Cup."

Fred closed the book with a snap. "All right, what's going on?"

"Nothing."

"Stop saying that. I'd have noticed if you had bought something worth that much money. What did you really need it for?"

"Look, it was just something I had to get for someone else," George said, closing his trunk firmly to indicate that the conversation was over.

Fred accepted this explanation with an indolent shrug. He was calm on the outside, but his insides were burning up. He wasn't entirely stupid. It wasn't hard to work out that George must have spent the money on Her Royal Prefectness. There wasn't anyone else in the world he would spend so much on.

Fred waited for a few minutes then left the room, claiming that he was going to get something back from Angelina that she had borrowed. It was a lame excuse but George was preoccupied with trying to find his favourite scarf. Fred made his way downstairs then up to the girls' room. He entered without bothering to knock and found Alicia and Katie looking through an old photo album.

"Ever heard of knocking?" Alicia asked tartly.

"Ever heard of not using my brother?"

"What?"

"You heard me. I want it back."

"I've no idea what you're talking about," she said, handing the album to a bemused Katie and standing up.

Fred stepped towards her and tried to sound as intimidating as he could. "I know that George gave you something expensive. I want it back."

Alicia decided to play dumb. "I still don't know what you're on about."

"There's seventy Galleons missing from our joke shop money. George has admitted that he used it to buy you something. I want whatever it is back."

"Does George know you're here?" she asked.

"No." Fred took another step towards her and held out his hand. "Give it to me. That money was for the shop, not you."

"Fine. If you really want it you can have it. I'm glad to be rid of it," Alicia lied. She stuck her hand into her pocket and pulled out the gold bracelet. There was an audible gasp from Katie and a low groan from Fred. "There you have it."

She dropped the bracelet into the palm of his hand and he stared at it appraisingly. "Well, we can get some money back if we pawn it."

"Good luck," Alicia said tightly. Her stomach rebelled at the idea of her precious link to George being torn away from her. It rebelled even more at the idea of the bracelet sitting abandoned in a dusty pawnshop.

"Give it back to her," Katie said fiercely, jumping to her feet.

Fred ignored her and slipped the bracelet into his pocket. "Wonderful doing business with you."

"She deserves to have something to remember him by," Katie persisted.

"Leave it," Alicia said. "It doesn't matter. I was going to give the bracelet back soon, anyway, which is why it was in my pocket. I'd rather not have a reminder at all."

"Are you sure?" Katie asked, looking sceptical.

"She doesn't have a choice in the matter," Fred said as he headed for the door.

Katie swore at him as he closed the door. Feeling somewhat vindicated, Fred skipping down the stairs two at a time. He still had to work out the precise timing of the departure and the accompanying prank. If they mistimed it the whole thing could end disastrously. He also had to test the swamp out once more. If it didn't work he and George would end up looking like fools rather than revolutionaries. On top of that he had to talk to Lee about…

Someone yanked on the back of his shirt, breaking his train of thought. He turned to find a very agitated looking Angelina. Before he could say anything she grabbed his wrist tightly. "Thank God. I've been looking for you everywhere."

"What's wrong?" Fred asked, trying desperately to keep the irritation out of his voice.

"Come with me."

"Angel, I've got a lot to do."

"Don't you want your going away present?" She tugged him towards the portrait hole and he stumbled in surprise.

"A present? You didn't tell me you were giving me a present."

"I wanted it to be a secret. Walk faster."

They hurried along the corridor and turned right. "You really shouldn't have got me anything."

"Are you walking slow just to infuriate me?"

"This is how I always walk!" he said, disliking being led along like a child. "Where are we going anyway?"

"You'll find out in a minute," was the only answer he got.

"Look, I've got a lot of work to do, Angelina."

"Don't you think I've got a lot of study to do as well?"

"If we're both busy then why are we speed-walking through the castle like a pair of nutters?"

"You'd walk a lot faster if you kept your mouth shut, Frederick."

He sighed and decided it would be easier just to play along with her. Besides, he wasn't opposed to the idea of a present. As Angelina pulled him through another seventh floor corridor, he first began to suspect where they were going. His suspicions were confirmed when they stopped outside the Room of Requirement.

"My present's in there?" Fred asked as Angelina strode back and forth, a determined look on her face.

A door appeared out of nowhere. "Close your eyes," she ordered.

"Oh, do I have to?" he whined.

"Close them or I poke them out."

Fred closed his eyes. She took him by the shoulders and steered him into the room. She told him not to peek then left him standing there impatiently. There was a series of clicking sounds.

"Can I open them yet?"

"Wait."

"Now?"

"Wait!"

Fred folded his arms crossly. He was already tired of the game. No present could be worth this hassle.

"Ok, you can open your eyes."

Fred opened his eyes and was surprised to find himself in semi-darkness. As his eyes slowly adjusted, he was able to pick up the details of the room. Dozens of tea light candles were scattered across the floor and there was a large four-post bed against the far wall. Angelina sat at the end of the bed with her legs crossed primly.

"What do you think?" she asked softly.

"It's romantic, I guess."

"You guess?"

"It's just that now's not the best time for a romantic dinner; I've got too much on my mind. We'll have candlelit dinners every night after you leave school. Right now I have to get back to Gryffindor Tower."

"Oh Lord," Angelina said with a sigh.

"Are you going to come with me?" Fred asked. She repeated herself and gave an even bigger sigh. He shrugged and turned to the door, which happened to have five different locks on it. "Man, this place is locked down tighter than Azkaban. What's with the sudden paranoia?"

Angelina sighed yet again. "Ok, since I'm generous I'm going to give you thirty seconds."

"Thirty seconds for what?" Fred turned back to her, his face screwed up in alarm. "What am I supposed to do in thirty seconds?"

"Twenty five seconds."

He stared at her blankly, not knowing what was going on. He did manage to notice that she looked unnaturally beautiful sitting on that plush, comfortable bed in the low light. There wasn't any food that he could see, which meant she hadn't planned a romantic dinner. Who the hell ate dinner on a bed anyway? Beds were for sleeping and…

It all clicked into place. He almost fainted on the spot. It couldn't possibly be true!

Angelina answered his unspoken question almost immediately. "I'm your present, Fred."

"No, no," he said quickly. "Oh no, no, no."

"Yes," she said firmly.

"You've no idea what you're getting yourself into," he warned.

"I know precisely what I'm doing. This is what we have to do. Don't you want to?"

"That's not really the point. All you're doing is reacting to the fact that I'm leaving tomorrow. You'd just end up regretting it. We both know this isn't something you decide to do all of a sudden."

Angelina jumped up and strode towards him. "Stop patronising me. I'm not a child! This has been hovering just out of sight for a long while and I think now is the perfect time to address it."

"Not when emotions are running so rampant," Fred disagreed.

"This is all about emotion! It's our final act of unity. Don't you want to take that step with me?"

"Of course I do, I'd be insane not to. I just want you to be sure."

"I've never been so certain about anything in my life."

Fred pulled her against him suddenly and looked her in the eye. "Last chance."

"I'm not going to back out," Angelina said. The determination and fire in her eyes made his body tighten. She pursed her lips in challenge. "You were the one who said you had better things to do. Are you sure you don't want to go back to the Tower? I bet you've got an awful lot of work to do. I wouldn't want to keep you from-"

He silenced her with a kiss.

xxxxx

The group had History of Magic as their last lesson the next day. It was consequently the last class Fred and George would ever have at Hogwarts. Everyone was quietly reflective as they listened to Binns drone on about wizarding involvement in The Crusades. Lee was at the point of dozing off when Fred slipped into the empty seat beside him. As he was still annoyed with various people, Lee had sat alone in the row in front of the others.

"I gotta talk to you about something," Fred said out of the corner of his mouth.

"Can't it wait? I'm trying to listen to Binns."

"Really? All you've done is draw squiggles all over your parchment," he pointed out unhelpfully.

"Well, I'm trying to pay attention because some of us still have to prepare for NEWTs," Lee said rather bitterly. He probably wanted to talk about the joke shop or something otherwise related. Frankly, Lee was sick of hearing about something that he was being kept out of.

"What's your problem?"

"Nothing. What do you want?"

"It's about Angelina."

Lee dropped his quill and turned back to observe her briefly. She was preoccupied with painting Katie's fingernails. "What about her?" he asked.

"I need you to look after her."

"Me?"

Fred nodded. "Who else? You know her pretty well and you're the only guy I'd trust not to hit on her."

Lee didn't know what to say. He could appreciate that it was a huge thing for Fred to ask him to do this. "But since when does Angelina need looking after?"

"You know she's been acting odd lately. I need you to make sure she's all right. I mean really all right, not just pretending for bravado's sake. She'll act like she's fine, of course. I just need you to make sure she doesn't stumble. Keep her mind on Quidditch and if she panics remind her that school is almost over."

"Are you sure you want me to do this?"

"Absolutely. You're my best friend, right?"

Lee gave a huge grin. "Of course I am, mate. I'll definitely keep an eye on Angelina and be discreet so she doesn't find out we're fussing over her."

"I knew I could count on you," Fred said, hesitating visibly.

"Is there something else?"

"Perhaps you should keep an eye on Alicia as well. She might need a little support too."

"You worried about her?" Lee asked, fighting a smirk.

"Worried is a bit strong," he said, looking embarrassed.

"Don't worry, I'll look after all three of them." Lee gave a cheeky smile, feeling much more like himself. "I'll let them cry on my shoulder, I'll even sleep in their room and escort them to the showers after Quidditch practice…join them in the showers if they need me."

Fred rolled his eyes as he got up. "Yeah, yeah. Just enjoy it while it lasts."

Five minutes before class ended, Fred and George snuck out to set up their coup d'etat. As soon as Binns dismissed everyone, Lee assumed his new role as Chaser sitter and ushered the girls to Gregory the Smary's corridor. They met up with the twins in a small storage room again to say their final goodbyes.

Fred and Angelina were kissing on a nearby desk as the other four stood a respectable distance away. Alicia stared at her feet as George said goodbye to Katie.

"Make sure you study hard," he told her. "It'll be handy for Fred and I to know a nurse."

"I'll do my best. In return you two had better promise to keep out of trouble," Katie said, tears sliding down her cheeks.

She and George hugged then she turned into Lee's waiting arms. Alicia looked up quickly to find George gazing back at her.

"This is it then."

"Yep," Alicia agreed.

There was so much to say that neither could imagine where to begin. How do you sum up a thirteen-year friendship in a few words? The answer is that you don't. You let it die a peaceful and dignified death.

"I hope you enjoy your new job," George said.

"Thank you. I hope your shop is successful," Alicia said.

That was it. No declarations of love or last minute pleas. It was quick and painless.

"At least hug her," Lee said, interrupting the heavy silence.

Alicia was embarrassed to find that the other four had been watching them hawkishly, expecting the aforementioned declaration or plea. She was about to tell them to mind their own business when she was suddenly pulled into George's arms. The shock was apparent in her muttered expletive.

"It's just a hug," George said in her ear.

Alicia didn't dare answer for fear that he would release her before she was ready to be set free. It wasn't hard for her to feel at home in his arms again. She slumped against him, exhausted by everything that had happened in the past few months. She hadn't been able to let go of it all till that moment when she was safe in his arms. Her life felt like it was finally stabilising.

"I love you," she whispered so their nosy friends wouldn't overhear.

He didn't say it back, but then she hadn't expected him to anyway. He did whisper, "I left something for you on your bed. Read it after I've gone."

"All right."

They parted and George said goodbye to Angelina. Fred gave Alicia a surprisingly warm hug then did the same with Katie. The girls looked on with wet eyes as each of the twins gave Lee a manly, shoulder-thumping hug. In the midst of this, the castle was humming with the sound of hundreds of students making their way to dinner.

"We better get this thing started," George said. "You guys should head straight for the Entrance Hall and stay there. Make sure people see you so you can't be implicated in any of this by Umbridge."

"I'll make sure we attract attention," Lee assured the twins. "Come on, girls."

No one moved so Lee had to take Alicia and Angelina by the hands and pull them to the door. Last second goodbyes were yelled as he dragged them out into the flow of hungry, tired students. The four sombre Gryffindors followed the throng of students down to the marble staircase. When they reached the bottom of the steps Lee attracted quite a lot of attention by pinching Angelina on the backside. Many students and teachers witnessed the loud altercation that resulted, so the group had their alibi.

"I never thought I'd say this, but thanks for pinching my arse, Lee," Angelina said as they waited off to the side.

"Anytime, Angelina, anytime."

"How long do you think it will take?" Katie asked.

"We don't even know what they're doing up there," Alicia said, looking back up the staircase anxiously.

They waited with baited breath, four sets of eyes alert for the smallest sign of trouble. It took a while, but the first signs of a prank finally began to appear. Laughter and screaming could be heard in the distance and students began to enter the Hall covered in what looked like mud.

"Trust them to be as messy as possible," Angelina said affectionately.

The excitement in the student body grew and everyone began to loiter in the Entrance Hall to talk about what was going on upstairs. It was hard to work out precisely what had happened, but Fred and George were definitely identified as the perpetrators. When the two of them appeared at the top of the stairs they were met with uproarious applause and cheers. In typical Weasley twin style, they bowed to their audience and strutted down the stairs with an air of great achievement and importance.

"How did you do it?" several people shouted.

"Industry secret!" Fred supplied loudly.

"Can I have one?"

"For a price!" George answered.

Lee elbowed people aside so he and the girls could get to the front of the crowd that had gathered around the twins. Fred spotted them and winked, blowing Angelina a discreet little kiss as an afterthought. Everything seemed to be going quite well. That was until Umbridge appeared on the stairs and shot sparks from her wand.

"That's it! They're in for it now! Where are they?" she shrieked, her eyes bulging in their customary fashion.

The crowd parted as their excitement was replaced by apprehension. Fred and George stood alone in the middle of the Hall looking around innocently. An expectant hush fell and Angelina grabbed Lee's arm tightly.

"Perhaps we can assist you, Professor, who exactly are you looking for?" Fred asked.

"You two!"

"What can my brother and I help you with, Professor?" George asked politely.

"So!" Umbridge said, ignoring their feigned innocence. "So – you think it amusing to turn a school corridor into a swamp, do you?"

"A swamp!"

"Wow!"

"A swamp in the school!"

The murmurs swept through the awed crowd as Fred and George bantered fearlessly with Umbridge. Alicia shook her head, unable to resist a smile. They really did have brilliant minds. Unusual, but brilliant nonetheless. Lee was muttering to himself about how they must have managed to produce the swamp. Angelina was poking nearby students and proudly saying, "He's my boyfriend – the one on the left. Fred's my boyfriend."

"Accio Brooms!"

The seventh year Gryffindors held their breath at this. The entire plan hinged on the arrival of the brooms and they'd all been working together to help the twins preform the strongest Summoning Charm they could.

"Oh no," Angelina said, now gripping Lee's bicep so tightly that he winced.

"It worked!" Katie said jubilantly as two brooms came swooping into the Hall trailing metal chains and spikes.

"They're really leaving," Alicia said, realising that there was now no going back.

Lee put his arm around her. "They've certainly left their mark on the school. No one's going to forget Fred and George Weasley anytime soon."

Alicia nodded in agreement and wiped her eyes. She certainly wasn't going to forget them. As she watched them mount their brooms, many memories began to flit through her mind. There were memories of the many instances she had played hide and seek with them at the Burrow. In particular she recalled a time when they were six and she and George had accidentally locked themselves in a cupboard for an hour. She was a breathless, frightened little girl again as the eight-year-old twins taunted a bull in a paddock in Ottery St Catchpole.

Then there were the dares they constantly gave each other. Cut a lock of Charlie's hair as he slept, kiss Percy on the lips, set a Garden Gnome loose in the kitchen, eat a slug…it went on and on. These were the good, pure memories before Hogwarts. At school Alicia's mind could only seize on the negatives. The breakdown of her friendship with Fred, George walking in on her and Oliver, having to choose between them and being Head Girl…it all made her want to curl up and cry for hours.

"There they go," Angelina said thickly, her voice quivering.

Alicia watched Fred and George fly off into the sunset and a new set of images flashed through her mind. Sitting on a bench at platform nine and three quarters, identical red heads on either side of her. Crouched in an alcove with them, melted ice cream dripping down the front of her dress. Giggling and holding hands with one of the boys as they skipped through the crowd.

"What are you smiling at?" Katie asked, giving Alicia an odd look and linking arms with her.

She shrugged, still smiling. "Nothing. Everything."

"We better get out of here," Lee said. He had to pry a distressed Angelina from him before he could walk anywhere.

"I'm looking forward to dinner, I'm starving," Katie said with forced cheerfulness.

"I don't think I'll be able to eat anything," Angelina said.

"I think we've earned the right to eat ice cream for dinner," Lee said.

Alicia gently untangled herself from Katie. "You guys go ahead, I'm going back to the Tower."

Lee didn't like the idea of letting one of his Chaser flock wander. "No way. We stick together, Leesh."

"I'm fine, I just have to do something alone."

"I'll come with you then, you shouldn't really be by yourself."

"It's fine, Lee," Alicia said firmly.

He was going to insist on it when a small voice said, "Would you mind coming to dinner with me, Lee?"

These words sounded odd coming from Angelina's mouth. Katie asked her to repeat it just to make sure. Yep. Angelina Johnson had just asked Lee Jordan to go to dinner with her.

"Oh, you need Lee. That's so cute!"

Angelina tossed her braids over her shoulder. "I don't need him. He just happens to smell a bit like Fred." She lifted her chin and sauntered off to prove that she didn't need anyone.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Lee said. He raised his eyebrows speculatively at Katie. "You sounded surprised that anyone would want to spend time with me."

"Actually, I think it's sweet that you want to look after all of us." Katie kissed him quickly on the lips then skipped off after Angelina.

"You saw that!" Lee exclaimed, tugging at Alicia's arm. "That was a kiss!"

A smile threatened at the edges of her mouth. "Sorry, hon, I wasn't looking."

"Sod off then."

Alicia and Lee gave each other reassuring smiles then parted. Lee went after the girls and Alicia sprinted all the way back to Gryffindor Tower. The common room was deserted, but she barely noticed this as she rushed upstairs. A blood red envelope was lying on her pillow. The gold ink on the front spelt out her name in familiar handwriting. George had to have put it there during lunch.

A torrent of emotions surged through her as she sat down to read what he had to say. A disavowal of their relationship completely? A parting shot? A truce?

Alicia opened the envelope and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She unfolded it with shaking hands.

Alicia.

You were right about me. I think you know me better than I know myself sometimes. I thought I'd be able to leave things as they were but this morning I realised I couldn't. We've gone through too much to leave so many things unsaid.

There has been a lot that wasn't said. We dwelt on the bad aspects of our relationship to save ourselves a little pain. I don't know how you feel, but I can't let it go. You pointed out that my feelings for you are a little selfish. What you don't know is how unique they are.

I don't just love you because you're pretty. Other men will love you during your life for your looks. I love everything about you. I love your imperfections and quirks. God knows there are a lot of them. Anyone can love you because you're beautiful. I love you because you bite your lip when you're nervous. I love you because your hair goes frizzy when it rains. I love you because you're frightened of moths. I love you because you enjoy correcting people's grammar.

That's the important stuff, right? I don't know if this means anything to you. I had to say it anyway. Keep the letter forever, burn it, cry all over it. It doesn't matter what you do with it, just remember it. I'll never forget you. You've made my life heaven and hell all at once. You were my first love and first heartbreak all rolled into one.

I'll be around to see you get the Founder's Award at graduation.

George.

P.S. Look under your pillow.

Alicia dropped the letter and threw her pillow across the room. Her bracelet was stretched out on her bed. She dissolved into a fit of hysterical, irrational giggles. It made no sense for her to laugh. She ought to be crying or screaming. Laughing was the wrong thing to do when you had just lost the person you loved.

Alicia clasped the bracelet onto her wrist and fell back on her bed, laughing at nothing and everything all at once.

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A/N: Hmm. Alicia seems to be losing it a bit. That wasn't as good as the last chapter, but I wasn't expecting it to be anyway. Thanks for reading. Before I go I need to mention two things: the sequel and Project Review. This note is going to be loooong so stop reading now if you can't be bothered.

I'll deal with Project Review first. I'm officially launching a campaign to reach 1000 reviews by the time I post the last chapter. It would be wonderful if I could thank my 1000th reviewer in it. I know I'll reach a 1000 eventually, but I'd prefer it this way. Fifty chapters, 1000 reviews. Poignant, no? That means, as of October 1, I require 77 people to review this chapter. Notice I said people. I don't really want the same people leaving multiple anonymous reviews. As sweet as your intentions would be, it's not necessary. My hit counter thingy tells me that the last chapter was accessed almost 600 times. Even if I'm generous and I say that half of those hits actually counted as full read throughs it's more than enough to reach my target. I'm specifically talking to the people who have never reviewed or just haven't done it in a while. This is your chance to leave a significant review. Then you can go back to not leaving reviews for the sequel. I don't mind.

I'd also really love to hear from anyone who hasn't reviewed in ages but is still reading. I'm going to compile an honour list of reviewers for the next chapter and so far I've only got one person who has reviewed every chapter. The rest of the list is going to consist of reviewers who have left regular reviews for at least more than half of the story. If you haven't reviewed in a while and you're still hanging around then let me know and you could make the list too. So far I've only found a few people. Anyhow, that's an issue for the next chapter. For now, please leave a review. Long, short, positive, negative, rambling, articulate, random, detailed (love those!), pointless, nonsensical…whatever you feel like doing. I cherish every single review I receive. I know we can reach 1000. I have my pom-poms out and I'm limbering up to do some high-kicks. You can do it!

Now for the good part. SEQUEL STUFF! Hurrah! Originally I was going to include the info in this author's note. Then I realised I had over a page of sequel stuff and this note was already too bloody long. I then got the brilliant idea to post it at the Live Journal I just started. Also, the fanfiction admin people are apparently smacking the fingers of author's who directly address individual reviewers, but don't quote me on that, as it's never happened to me. I don't want to risk getting in trouble though. My LJ seems to be a good way for me to be able to answer questions people have. There have been quite a few asked recently that I haven't been able to answer. So, if you do have a question, ask me over at my LJ and I'll definitely answer you. My LJ is also under Jagged Epiphany and you can get to it easily from my profile page. So leave a review here then skip over to the LJ to read and leave a reply about the sequel.

I'm shutting up now, but first…

…The Countdown Reaches Its Explosive, Glittering, Spectacular Finale…

…There Is Only One Chapter Of 'Old Faces, New Tricks' Left…