A/N: Sorry for the delay/disappointment/discomfort :p

Real Love

Chapter Ten: Breaking Up, Breaking Down

-George-
Meet me at Hogsmeade tomorrow, at the Dragon's Back, one o'clock.

-Love, Angelina-

He had found the note in his robes when he took them off for bed. It must have been magicked stuck inside his robes, and she must have put them there.

Angelina.

How many nights had he laid in his bed, entertaining thoughts about her? How many more had he spent dreaming shamelessly about her? He felt too guilty to count them all. The number of days was vast. And the number of months went on forever.

A cringe of pain and frustration crossed his face as he lay in bed now, thinking of Angelina. He hated himself for loving her, and in introspect, hated himself even more because she loved him back.

He felt tainted, corrupted, wrong because loving Angelina was the same as lying to Fred. And lying to his Fred, his twin, was something incredibly hard to do.

He really, really wanted to come clean. To come straight out and tell Fred how he felt about Angelina, how she felt about him, how it felt when she had kissed him, and how that had felt so natural...

George closed his eyes tightly, trying to put out his undying want of her. It wasn't right, what he was feeling.

But as much as he so dearly desired to be rid of his self-afflicting accusations, he had yet to figure out how he was going to go about confessing his infidelity. Upon many occasions of impulse, he had felt like saying "Oi, Fred, I have uncontrollable lapses of passion for your girlfriend, and I sort of stole her from you while you were busy frolicking with another girl who was still pubescent!" But that would have been a bit rash and thick, severing all emotional ties from his brother immediately.

George sighed, opening his eyes. The way he saw it, he was damned anyway, so it didn't really matter. And if he ever did tell Fred about it all, he would have to had spoken to Angel first and told her...

He thought back on the note he had hidden beneath his pillow. Tomorrow, he thought, at Hogsmeade. We'll talk, and I'll tell her.

>>>

-Angelina, meet me at the Dragon's Back in Hogsmeade...

She felt so stupid. How could she have been so stupid?

Angelina buried her face deep into her pillow, her eyes closed, her heart beating too fast.

She hated this feeling, this bold, uncensored feeling of regret and realization, this feeling that was something other than love for him.

George.

Angelina rolled over on her back, her eyes opened and burning. She couldn't sleep, couldn't even close her eyes without picturing him with that look on his face, that...frown, that made her doubt, made her think it was all nothing. His words, his touch, his love. All of it was nothing.

But was he really that brutal? Would he do that to her? What Fred did?

Staring up into her canopy, she came to the conclusion that she didn't know. It was all a jumble of memories and emotions, this thing with George. This thing with George that was ripping her up in all senses of the word.

She lowered her restless eyes slowly, then quickly reached behind her to take the note from under her pillow.

Angelina, meet me at the Dragon's Back, in Hogsmeade, one o'clock. I'll be looking. -George.

Screwing her face up in an expression of distress, she crumpled the note merciless in her hand. How could she have been so foolish?

>>>

Hogsmeade, 12:50 pm.

Honeydukes was overly crowded that afternoon with immature, sugar-addicted underyears, fighting over Fizzing Whizbees and licorice wands, and nearly everything else the store. Katie and Alicia stood in the midst of all the chaos, clinging tightly to their stock of goods.

"Alicia!" Katie's soft voice was raised high above the chattering noise. "Let's go pay for all this now; I don't think I can take much more of this any longer."

"Katie, are you aware of the fact that you are an extremely dependant person?" Alicia yelled in return. But then she caught the other girl's unamused glare. "Oh all right. Merlin, we're leaving." She turned and pushed her way to the front, followed closely by a relieved-looking Katie.

When they had finished purchasing their goods, they left the slightly-to-warm shop and ventured out into the chilly March air. They stood outside of Honeydukes for a while, going through all the things that they had just brought. Suddenly, Katie looked over at Alicia.

"I suppose we're going to go to the Dragon's Back now to spy on Angelina and George," she stated solemnly.

"To see if all goes well," Alicia corrected, partly preoccupied with her brand new things.

"And what if it doesn't?" Katie wondered, still a bit serious. "What if everything burns and crashes, and everyone gets bloodied and mangled?"

"Katie," Alicia sang, scolding. She had put on a pair of glasses, where instead of lens, there were red and white swirls, whirling in circles. "Someone's gone a bit cuckoo." Then she laughed, taking off the hypnotic glasses. "Relax, my dear. Angie and Georgie'll talk and it all turn out just fine."

"So you say," Katie sighed wanly.

"So I say," Alicia confirmed breezily.

>>>

Hogsmeade, just outside the Dragon's Back, 12:50 pm.

Angelina stood outside of the Dragon's Back, staring at the rickety door before her with dispassion.

She didn't want to go in.

She knew she was being foolish and stubborn and just like a child, but she didn't care. She didn't want to go in. She didn't want to see him again. She wanted to run away.

She took a step back, and then another and another. Yes, she'd run way. It wasn't as if she'd miss anything by not going in. What did George have to say to her anyway? Nothing she didn't know.

He was going to hurt her. She could tell by the way he had looked, no frowned, at her the day she and Fred split up. He was going to bring her misery, and it'd all be over. Their mistaken little romance.

But it was all wrong, for him to do this. He was the one mended her heart, did it make sense for him to break it again?

She didn't know, how could she know?

Angelina took a final step backwards.

She wasn't going in.

>>>

Hogsmeade, the Dragon's Back, 12:50 pm.

He was going to break her heart today. He took a long drink from his bottle of butterbeer. Break her heart and his own...if he could help it.

All of him didn't want to do it, to make her hate him as she hated his brother. But it was inevitable. He felt as if he was going mad being between the two of them, trying to make Fred see, trying to make her happy. He had been the intruder in their dissipating relationship, and now he was paying for it, and she'd pay for it even more.

He was going to be heartless and cold. He wasn't going to love her. And when it was all over, she wouldn't love him either.

He took another swig from his bottle. All was fair in love and Quidditch. All was bloody fair.

The door opened suddenly, and there she was. Angelina. A mad but madly gorgeous Angelina. He tried to clear his mind of any needless emotions as he watched her come closer and closer to where he sat, but all he could do was feel his thunderous heartbeat exploding in his chest.

She sat down gently, never taking her eyes off him, her face set in no particular expression at all. This made him think that maybe she was going to be heartless too.

"I shouldn't be here," her voice was hard and soft and foreign to him. "But I wanted to know what you had to say."

He sat back in his chair, studying her, wondering how she knew, how she could have possibly guessed.

"Fine," he said apathetically. "I-"

She held up her hand first. "Wait. Waitress," she called, and a thin blonde came to their table. "I'd like a bottle of Firewhisky, please."

>>>

Hogsmeade, the Dragon's Back, 1:05 pm.

Alicia and Katie crept into the pub, taking a semi-boxed in booth near the front.

"Okay," Alicia said scanning the place. "Where are they?"

"There," Katie whispered. She was partly turned, staring over the seat with focused eyes. Alicia eagerly scooted over to her friend, turned full body in the seat, and looked.

"They don't look too happy, do they?" Katie commented shrewdly. "I wonder what he's saying to her."

Alicia narrowed her eyes, concentrating on George's lips. "I know what he's saying. Thank Merlin I can lip read."

>>>

"I talked to Fred yesterday. I told him there was someone else."

"He told me."

"How was he?"

I hate this. "Angelina?"

Breathe, Angelina, breathe. "Yes, George?"

You're beautiful, and I love you. "It's not fair."

Don't do this, don't do this. "George?"

I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry. "Yes, Angelina?"

Everything hurts. "I know."

Don't blame you if you never trust me again. "I can't do this anymore. I can't be in love you."

Then don't. "Why?"

I'm trying so hard to be heartless. "We're hurting Fred."

So? "He's hurting us."

No..."You don't understand."

It never made sense. "Enlighten me."

I'm trying. "We're wrong for all this, Angelina."

Bloody coward. "You're a coward, George."

You hate me. "He's my brother."

I hate you. "I hate you." Her voice was breaking. She took a drink from her bottle of Firewhiskey, then set it down wobbily. It toppled over and spilled freely across the table and onto the floor. "But I love you."

Everything hurts. "Goodbye, Angelina."

I hate you so much. "I love you, and I hate you, George."

I break your heart, you break mine. "Bye, Angelina."

She stood clumsily, staring down at him wretchedly, then in a single turn, she was gone away from him. He picked up the fallen Firewhiskey bottle, put it to his lips, and drunk whatever was left of it.

>>>

Alicia and Katie ducked as Angelina flew past them and out the door. A silent moment past before they turned their heads to look at each other.

"What the hell?" Alicia turned around in her seat, to look back at George. "He's just like Fred." She pulled out her wand from her coat pocket. "He is so about to be a toad."

Katie snapped her head around, her eyes wide. "Don't, Alicia!" She grabbed her friend's wand arm, and Alicia, caught unawares, sent violet sparks in the air. "Now's not the time for that. We have to go and comfort Angelina."

"But if I take care of George here, that'll be all the comfort she'll need," Alicia said, struggling against Katie.

"Fine." Katie released Alicia abruptly, then began to scoot out of the booth. "This is all your fault anyway, so you're right to fix it."

"My fault!" Alicia exclaimed indignantly, following Katie. "How is this my fault? Katie? Katie! Get back here and tell me how this is all my fault."

Katie climbed out of the booth, then turned around to look at the furious brunette. "Because this was your plan, you came up with it, and you made them come here, and consequently, part."

"Fine, I'll take that." Alicia crawled out of the booth, standing up to face Katie. "But who was the one that was all 'We can't do this, it's not fair?'"

Katie rolled her eyes. "George," she answered dully.

"Right," Alicia said briskly. "Now excuse while I go hex him, will you?" She turned around, colliding instantly into George. She backed away from her, blinking away stars.

"Alicia? Katie?" he looked from one to the other, looking dazed. And a bit embarrassed. "Did-did you two see--"

"Yeah," Katie said quickly, before Alicia could open her mouth. "And we were just leaving." She grabbed Alicia by the wrist, disappearing out the door.

>>>

The common room was empty when Angelina reached it, and for that, she was extremely grateful. Needing a place to regain and collect herself, she stumbled over to a couch, and flopped down.

It took a full moment to realize that someone was already sitting in her chosen spot.

She stood up quickly, but was instantly pulled back down, and encircled in an all too familiar grasp.

"Stop it, Fred."

But Fred only held on to her tighter. "He broke your heart," he said delicately.

Angelina gritted her teeth, trying to resist the feel of him after all this pain. "You do," she retorted thickly. "You break my heart."

Fred laughed quietly, pressed his forehead against the back of her shoulder blade. "We all break each other's heart, Angelina."

Angelina stiffened suddenly, her mind a thick, hazy form of confusion. And she realized George had been right when he'd said it wasn't fair.

A/N: Believe or not, I've had so much trouble with this one, and I've had it in mind ever since Ch. Six. -sigh- Oh well.

Big, big thanks to all my reviewers out there for doing what they do. You guys make me smile, make me happy, and consequently make me write :)