A/N: angelface, did I say Hogsmeade was going to be in this chapter? I think I meant next chapter. :)
Updating a bit early, so Evilevergreen and the rest of my lovely readers wouldn't have to wait till next year.
Real Love
Chapter Nine: Karma
"'It's George. . .I don't think it's going to work,'" Alicia gave Katie a bewildered stare. "What does that mean?"
"It means that your ingenious plot-"
"Our ingenious plot, Katie," Alicia corrected swiftly as she pulled a thick book from the shelf, and flipped through it with dull interest. "Our plot. Because remember-you promised."
Katie sighed impatiently. "All right. Our ingenious plot. Our ingenious plot, the one that you swore was so unbreakable, is broken. Angelina and George aren't happy."
"Don't see why not," Alicia muttered, still preoccupied with the book. "I got Fred out of the picture for them."
"What?" Katie turned to Alicia, her blue eyes wide and accusing.
"Hey, did you know that the Cheering Charm could cause premature death for those with fatal heart injuries?" Alicia asked lightly, turned the book around to show Katie a picture of an old wizard collapsing to the ground, clutching his heart but wearing a bright smile on his face.
Katie narrowed her eyes. "You talked to Fred. What did you say to him?"
Alicia scoffed, closing the book. "Don't look so surprised, Katie dear. I had warned you, didn't I?" She shelved the book and started to walk down the aisle, away from Katie.
Katie rolled her eyes, following her friend. "Fine, yes. Okay. You warned me, but what did you say to him?"
Alicia stopped, sighed, and looked at Katie. "If you would have seen him talking to that girl, what would you have said?"
Katie had to think for a moment. Part of her wondered if this was a trick question Alicia had come up with to so she would side with her. But part of her knew it was much deeper than that. So she looked at the awaiting brunette who was suddenly so somber and inquiring, and she exhaled softly. Finally, she shrugged and said,
"I would have told him how much he was hurting Angelina, and how stupid he was being. And I guess," Katie paused, thoughtfully. "I guess I would have said if he didn't stop and talk to Angelina, then I would."
Alicia nodded. "Exactly. Why should Angelina become so dramatically bitter because of Fred?"
Katie looked at the other witch, a frown growing on her face. "Is this not about Angelina anymore?"
Alicia opened her mouth, then shook her head dismissively, turning to the shelf.
"Alicia?" Katie took a step towards her. "How come...you never talk about it?"
Alicia ignored her and pulled a book from the shelf with thick concentration. Looking through the space in which the book had been, she chuckled loftily. She turned back to Katie.
"Speaking of which..."
>>>
Angelina sat alone in the library, staring blankly at her Quidditch playbook. She had told Alicia and Katie that she was in there to plan their next Quidditch practice, but she had lied.
She was really in there to get away from them--Katie, Alicia, George...Fred--to be in a separate peace to think and feel clearly. But her emotions were still in total disarray, and she found herself completely vulnerable over the control of her thoughts. She needed to talk to Alicia and Katie, she wanted to be with George, and she desperately felt as if she had to forget about Fred. Unfortunately, she couldn't forget him, not the pain and the loneliness and the lies. She kept wondering about Analise, if he really did love her, and if he had ever kissed her... Her face cringed as a familiar stitch of pain pricked her heart. She was so tired of this.
She was tired of feeling anything for him, she was tired of him. She sighed as she flipped through the pages of her playbook. She didn't know why she was in here, why she was doing this--running from life, and planning Quidditch practices when she had filled up her entire book at the beginning of the year. Did it really matter that Fred still managed to rip her apart when she had chosen George? If she no longer loved him, then why did she care?
Because, she thought wanly, I thought he loved me.
Which brought her to wonder about George, and the way he had behaved the day before...when he said he loved her, then went completely mad when Fred came walking through the portrait hole. Did he really love her, was he acting? Or was he that afraid of Fred that he couldn't tell his brother how he really felt, that he was in love with her? She sighed again, considering the options. Confront Fred, hide from Fred, tell Fred and risk total chaos, or sneak around behind his back to avoid conflict. So maybe she could see where George was coming from; their relationship could seriously destroy Fred. But a big part of Angelina wanted him to be destroyed. She felt as if he had to bleed to come back down to Earth.
Angelina closed her playbook and stood up. This was pointless, and she was being stupid. She shouldn't shut Katie and Alicia out, just because she felt a little shaken up. And she shouldn't torment Fred, because he was the one who shook her up. But she and George need to talk. And that really scared her.
Biting her lip, she stuffed her book in her satchel, put the satchel on her shoulder, and turned around.
Oh god. . .
There was Fred.
>>>
He was an idiot, he knew that, but he was not heartless. He cared a great deal for Angelina, and he did want to be with her. He could imagine the pain seeing Analise must have afflicted upon her, and he was willing to accept that fact that Angelina may never want to see him again, plus the notion that he had entirely ruined Analise's spirit...He realized that he was a thoughtless git who deserved to be alone, but that was all right, because he was going to fix it. And Angelina.
Since she didn't have any intention talking to him again, he decided that he would talk to her. He would wait until she was without Katie and Alicia--especially Alicia--and he would confront her. He desperately hoped that she would listen to him.
It was a while before he got his chance. At dinner, he saw her stand up, say something to Alicia and Katie, and head out of the Hall. He followed. When he realized that she was heading toward the library, he hesitated, but decided that Angelina was far more important than his school reputation, and continued his pursuit. She didn't even know she was being tailed, which seemed strange to Fred because there was a time when she could sense if he was near or behind her, and all she had to do was turn around...But he shook that thought from his mind concentrating on what he was going to say to her, how he was going to say it. . .Blimey, he hoped she would listen to him.
In the library, he watched from behind a bookshelf, as Angelina sat down at a table and took out a familiar book. The Qudditch playbook. He smiled softly to himself. He could remember how excited and scared she had been when she told him that she was the new captain. How nervous she had been when she asked him to help her make plays. . .
He stared at her intently, noticing how sad and fragile she looked. He mentally cursed himself, feeling a merciless sting of guilt and frustration. He knew she was hurting because of him, and he wished that he wasn't so flawed. He heard her sigh and he looked down. Merlin, did he wish he wasn't so flawed.
Suddenly, he heard her close the playbook, and he looked up, scared. He didn't know what to say...but she was leaving. He may never get a chance like this again...
He decided to wing it.
Fred strode purposely from behind the bookcase, towards Angelina. Her head was bent as she put the book in her bag, so she didn't see him, which was fortunate for the both of them. Fred took a breath, and then another. He opened his mouth to speak, but only took another breath. He couldn't do this. He was scared. Was this how he started cheating on her? Because he was being a coward?
But then she turned around, and he wasn't ready. She turned around and the look on her face was terrifying. No, wait...she was just as scared as he was.
That made everything a whole lot easier.
Still, he didn't know what to say, and she was waiting. They shared seconds of tentative silence, before her expression changed from shock to annoyance, and his heart rate skyrocketed. She scowled at him and took a step to the side. She was going to walk away from him. He had to stop her, but. . .
"I love you," he blurted out.
She stopped, and looked at him, wide-eyed. He knew his face probably mirrored hers, but he didn't care. He had stopped her from walking away.
Angelina frowned, looking away from him. "You love me, you say." She shook her head. "But I'm not surprised." Their eyes locked. "Cheaters are liars as well."
Damn it.
She took another step to the side. "Angelina, wait! Stop." She looked at him, expectantly, a look of exasperation on her face. "I didn't mean that." She raised her eyebrows. "No, stop, I meant it, but I--" Damn, she was doing it again, making him so bloody flustered and tongue-tied. He hated that fact about her, that she had so much power over him. "Would you just listen to me, please?"
"What? So I can give you another chance to hurt me?" She inquired dispassionately. "No, Fred."
Fred stared at her helplessly, then held out his hands. "I want you to stop hurting, Angelina."
Again, she looked surprised, but she quickly hid it. "Then start by staying away from me. It's over. Remember?"
"Yeah," he muttered begrudgingly, "but I just--"
"Fred, I mean it," she cut him off firmly. "Go back to Anabelle, or whoever she is, and stop stalking me."
He felt slightly better. So she did know he had followed her. . .And then her words sunk in and he knew she wasn't going to listen to him. He began to talk fast.
"Look, I know what I did was thick, but I'm not that good when it comes to emotions and common sense and I'm bound to do dense impulses, but Analise wasn't for me, she wasn't as deep and insanely beautiful as you are, and I didn't love her, I can care less for her, and I think the reason that I cheated is that I knew, deep down, that you were too much for me, and too good. So forgive me, please? I'm really sorry." He said all this with one breath, and when he was done, he had to inhale several times before his wind was restored. He looked at Angelina hopefully, but she just stared back with a baffled expression on her face.
"What?" she asked, looking lost.
"Sweet Merlin," Fred slumped down a bit, running a hand through his hair. He gave up; there was no way he could do that again.
"Real mature, Fred," Angelina said dismissively, walking around him. "I really do think Anamarie is just right for you."
"Angelina." They turned around to look at each other. "Why won't you forgive me?" His voice was riddled with dejection.
"Because." She looked away, then back again. Her eyes were bright, and almost...sympathetic? "There's someone else."
Suddenly, Fred realized the whole concept of karma.
>>>
"Somebody else!" Fred exclaimed as he paced around the furniture of the common room. "And she dared to give me hell?"
"See, that's the deal with women," Lee said, looking up from his Herbology homework. "I mean, I love 'em and all, but man, do they think backwards. I used to date this one girl who--"
"All this time, somebody else," Fred murmured, flopping down on the couch beside Lee. "And I didn't even know!" He sat back in the couch, sinking lower in the cushion. "Holy hell..."
"You know who the guy is?" Lee asked insipidly.
Fred shook his head, without looking at him. "No. She wouldn't say."
"Well, I gotta guess," Lee declared earnestly.
"Who?"
"Elliot Quincy," Lee answered proudly.
"The kid in our Astronomy class?" Fred asked, sitting up. "The skinny one with the high voice?"
Lee nodded in affirmation. "It's always the quiet ones, right?"
"Yeah..." Fred replied, thoughtfully. "Angelina did say he had a nice singing voice once." He balled his fists, turning an angry red. "I'll kill him."
"You can't," George said, speaking up for the first time. He was sitting at a table that was near the couch Fred and Lee were situated in, counting money from all the joke shop good they had sold.
Fred looked over at his brother. "Elaborate," he said guardedly.
George met Fred's gaze and shrugged. "Quincy isn't with Angelina. He's with Marie Burgess."
Fred frowned, looking away. "Oh."
"That's right," Lee agreed, pensively. He caught Fred's reproving stare, and smiled apologetically. "Well, usually it's the quiet one, mate. Sorry."
"Whoever it is, I'll find him out soon," Fred announced softly.
George went back to counting money. He couldn't stand looking at the miserable state of his brother any longer. It was hard to even be in the same room with him, when George knew he was a part of the guilty party, making Fred a fool.
But then...it was a bit funny, the way things turned out. Now, Fred knew the hell he put Angelina through, he knew it wasn't easy being thrown aside and forgotten. Though George couldn't help but think that he, too, would soon come face to face with karma. He hadn't exactly been a good boy these past days.
"George," Fred's voice broke his train of thought. "If you even had shot of knowing who Angelina's been with, would you tell me?"
George looked up and met the exact same pair of eyes that he owned, and he nodded silently. "Yeah, Fred, I would."
But he shouldn't.
>>>
Alicia eyes were full of admiration as she and Katie walked out of the library. Angelina was about twenty steps ahead of them, with about eleven people between.
"This could still work," Alicia murmured in astonishment.
"You're mental," Katie stated. "Didn't Angelina say it couldn't?"
Alicia waved her off impatiently. "She's distraught; she doesn't know what she's talking about. And besides, didn't she also tell Fred that she loved someone else? Did she or did she not, Katie?"
Katie gave Alicia a sour look. "She did, but yesterday-"
"Ha," Alicia put a hand in Katie's face. "Doesn't matter. Seriously, Katie, we mustn't think in the past, now must we?" She looked at Katie, but the blonde said nothing. "Now, you know all those letters you painstakingly wrote for the Hogsmeade date, love?"
Katie nodded, apprehensively.
"Chuck 'em."
Katie frowned, remembering how many times Alicia had made her write something over, all the ink she had to wash off her hands, how much parchment she had wasted.
"Wonderful," she said unenthusiastically.
"They wouldn't have worked anyway, Kate. Trust me. But I have the most beautiful, believable letters composed in my mind already. They're simple, really."
"Yeah, just like messing with a group of people's emotions for your own enjoyment?"
Alicia smiled warmly at Katie. "Exactly."
A/N: Kinda long, right? Well, I was deeply motivated, and wanted to leave you all with something that'd take some time to read :) I won't be updating over the holidays, in fact, I'll be continuing my other fic after the break. But only because I have to make some changes in the first chapter that I'm too lethargic to make right now. I'm also too lethargic to type out the second chapter. Ha.
Happy Holidays!