Sugarquill
January sixth;
Here's the thing about a school like Hogwarts: If you leave for even a day, things will still happen. Big things. Things that sometimes may affect you, however much you don't wish them to.
Case in point: Angelina Johnson and Andrew Rimmer. Or, Andelina.
Ugh, it's disgusting to write.
As always, I'll start from the beginning, shall I? Well, it was our day to go back to Hogwarts, but instead of Apparating with Ang, Lee, Leesh, and Trish (a tradition started last year once we all could), Mum insisted that we take the Knight Bus with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Tonks, and Lupin.
We headed up with Lupin — which was incredibly difficult given that the bus was moving like it was trying to dodge a massive amount of Bludgers — and Ginny, trying to grab a hold of a bedpost or something on the way. We've always wanted to ride the Knight Bus, but the only Weasley child so far who has is Bill. So all four of us were excited…
Well, if anyone ever asks us about it, George ate a Puking Pastille before he even got on.
Anyway, as soon as we reached Hogsmeade station we ran up to the school as fast as we could to see everyone — I wanted to know what Ang thought of my Christmas present to her as well.
Oh, speaking of which, I have to explain Christmas. Amazingly good haul this year. Gin got me and Fred a biography of the Zonko brothers, which included some of the basic ingredients and formulas for some of their items…but they all purposefully leave out one key ingredient, so George and I had some fun trying to guess what they were and experimenting. Ron gave me a HUGE box of Fizzing Whizbees, which I plan on using in Defense Against the Dark Arts (George got Acid Pops), and Bill (and Fleur, it said on the card) got me and Fred identical robes with Egyptian codes written all over them. He says if we ever figure out what they say we'll be able to find the Sphinx's nose.
Meanwhile, Charlie sent me and George a few harmless dragon parts, like dead spikes, eyelashes, and something we suspect is a small tin of saliva (we put that aside for a bit, though we're horribly tempted to start experimenting again). Lee gave us miniature models of Umbridge he's made out of MagiClay, which are highly entertaining. He's put some charm on them so they randomly say "There will be no need to talk." or "PUT THAT AWAY, WEASLEY!", and when they do, we squish them under large objects. Hours of fun.
Alicia sent George a heart-shaped box of chocolates, but the catch was that some of them bite at your fingers. (he was absolutely thrilled) We tried to get Ron to go through them all to distinguish them, but he knows better now than to accept food from us. Anyway, my gift from George's girlfriend was less risky; a box of Mini-booms. HA! Can't wait till the next D.A. meeting so I can show those to Zacharias Smith. We've been trying to hex him but it's not the same. Ah, yes, hexes; Trish sent me a book of them, nothing serious, all prank-type spells. George got one too.
And now last, but most definitely not least, Ang. Firstly, she sent me an ENORMOUS box of Chocolate Frogs. Then there was the gum. Not any ordinary gum, she said she had to go through loads of old Zonko's catalogues to get this stuff. Apparently it changes flavor according to one's mood. When I got mad at George for pretending to kiss the box of Frogs, the gum became a really sour lemon, and when Percy sent back his sweater, I tasted dirt, I'm sure of it. Also, there was a photo of James in a blonde wig and his order form.
All right, I know Angelina's gift isn't full of mysterious and fanciful implications, but it was nice, as always, and just like the rest of them.
Right, now my hand hurts. Hold on, let me get Towler to fix it…
Fixed. Where was I before the fantastic Christmas presents? Ah, yes. Ang.
Her letters of concern over the holidays might've perhaps…misled me. Well, all right, I won't lie, I was sufficiently happy with them, thinking that when I came back, I might be able to start doing something about my fancying Ang. Nothing drastic of course, taking it slow.
But that's not possible anymore, and I've put it far from my mind.
Because the first thing I saw when George and I reached our friends in the Great Hall? Ang. Kissing Andrew Rimmer.
Luckily I was allowed to look stung and shocked, because everyone else did. Except Trish, but she rarely shows those sorts of emotions in great quantities. Anyway, I was rooted to the spot, hardly believing what I was seeing. Actually, since it was so brief, I half-considered in the resulting awkward silence that it might not have happened.
"So…how was everyone's break?" I felt the last shred of hope that I'd imagined the last two minutes die inside me. Angelina's pathetic attempt at conversation proved it: She had just kissed Andrew Rimmer.
"Why don't we take this to the common room?" suggested Lee.
I followed, along with everyone else, numbly. Ang explained the situation to us, how Andrew had been her Secret Admirer (how bloody lame) and revealed himself the last day of term. By the end of this conversation, I was not hurt or confused as most normal people might've been.
I was mad.
I couldn't really tell Angelina I was angry, though, because how could I justify it? I mean, I can't really say "How dare you date some lame Ravenclaw when I've just realized I fancy you!" or the ever original "I hate you for being happy!". No, I plan on keeping up our friendship while carrying on my subtle revenge.
I think this needs to be noted, because anyone could just let that friendship die altogether. But Fred Weasley is no such friendship killer. I'm going to keep it up, because if I don't, it'll be dead as a door-nail. Though, I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. What a weird expression. Is doornail even hyphenated?
Focus, Fred.
In the awkward silence that followed Ang's explanation (the second such silence that night…argh), I made up my mind and stood up. Without a word to anyone, I stormed off toward the portrait hole, George and Lee following.
"Slow down, mate," gasped Lee as we reached the Room of Requirement. I didn't answer, just began walking back and forth thinking of what I needed: A place to talk to my friends in private.
"Fred…FRED! Stop walking, the door's here now."
George put a hand on my shoulder and ushered me through the door as if he thought I might walk into a wall without his help.
"So," he said.
"So," repeated Lee. "What now, mate?"
"What do you mean what now?" I asked defiantly. "She's the one who's gone and messed everything up! What'm I supposed to do? Give a toast at their wedding?"
"No, that would be me," said Lee.
"Look, Fred, it's not really her fault. I mean it's not as if you were hinting at anything or giving any sign you fancied her…and who's to say she would've returned them if you did?"
"Are supposed to be helping me?"
"Just listen. Ang hasn't done anything wrong. She was a girl without a boyfriend who found a boy that fancied her who she liked as well. So, she went out with him. What would you have done?"
"George…boys don't fancy me."
Lee snorted. "Yeah, George, besides, since when have you been so savvy about women?"
George turned beet red. "I'm not, it's just that Leesh and I've discussed this."
"WHAT!"
"No, no, no! Not you, I mean, we didn't name names. Just in general, she was talking about a friend of hers who had fancied a boy for a while but decided to give up and move on. I suspected it was Angelina, but that's not important. What's important is that whether or not it was, Ang has moved on. And you should too."
He and Lee raised their eyebrows as if asking me what this meant. I didn't really understand, what could I possibly…
"NO," I said disbelievingly.
"Yes," said Lee. "Come on, it won't be that bad or anything."
"And it's not as if it would make life worse for you…"
"Well, yeah, but…" I sputtered, looking from George to Lee, Lee to George, trying to figure out if they were serious.
"Fred," said George, folding his arms. "It's the only way."
I shook my head disbelievingly, then sighed. "All right," I said. "I guess it makes sense, actually. But what if she doesn't want to?"
"She will," said George. "She's spoken to Alicia. Asked about you."
I couldn't help but feel a bit taller after George said that, and I pushed open the door with a grin.
"Well," I said. "No time like the present. Where can she be though?"
We all looked at each other rather puzzled. "Isn't she in Charms Club?" Lee asked. "Yeah, yeah, she is! She said something about it to Flitwick one day, and I remember cause I laughed knowing she's not that bright in the class itself. Anyway, I heard they had a meeting on the last day of the hols. Granted it's madness, but check if you want."
"Can't hurt to try," I said. Knowing she'd asked about me made the whole thing seem much easier, and the confidence was making my height ridiculous. I said a quick bye to George and Lee, telling them I'd see them at dinner, and set off.
Turns out we were right; she is in Charms club, and they did have a meeting today. I stood next to the door as everyone else filed out; luckily, she was last.
"Oy, Stephanie," I said, waving my hand to get her attention. She quickly became almost as pink as the trainers she was wearing. Good lord, pink trainers, I'd never seen anything like that before…
"Oh, hullo Fred," she said with an expression that showed she was damn near letting out a giggle. I silently prayed that it would stay where I couldn't hear it.
"Diana, go on without me," she said to a friend with her. (I might've looked a little confused then; I hadn't even noticed the girl there) Diana grinned and nodded, then walked away. Left in an almost-empty corridor with me just made Stephanie's skin tone pass that of her trainers. I sort of stood there for about twenty seconds before I realized I was the one who had called her here and had to be speaking.
"Oh, um, right. Well, Stephanie…I was wondering if…would you like to be my girlfriend?"
She flushed even deeper. But I can't really say anything about that; at best that's the lightest any Weasley goes.
"Wow," she said, looking in the general direction of…the floor. But she was smiling, which I'd be a fool to not take for a good sign. "This is so sudden! Yes, of course, Fred, I would love to be your girlfriend. All right, well, I've got to go...freshen up, you know…I guess I'll see you at dinner then?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. See you, then."
"Bye." And she turned around and bustled up the stairs, turning back once to look at me in a kind of silent giggle. I grinned back, but this only made her giggle more.
Girls.
Authors' Note- Well, I think that's the weirdest chapter I've had to write yet. It was fun, though, because I was sitting here chortling the whole time. Whilst I was sitting impaitently waiting. I mean, school starts tomorrow and I need something to take it off my mind.
Now, what I want to know is…did anyone see this coming? Be honest now, I don't want any false claims.I kind of see it as something that would've been easy to predict, it is a romance story, but then again, if I hadn't been half those who had it planned for several months I probably wouldn't've had a clue.
CHALLENGE! Yesyesyesyesyeasssss, it is time. YEA! Those of you who've been with us since before the Great Deletion of this story, that sounds shockingly like when Angelina calledthe night it happened, The Night of the Unthinkable, scary,will recall our last challenge. It seems kind of recent to me still, but apparently it was Christmas! Winter holidays, I don't celebrate Christmas. Anyway, for those who don't know, and haven't bothered to pester someone to write a historical document about us. Tev and I wrote four bonus chapters last Christmas, from the views of Alicia,George, Lee, and Trish,and asked our reviewers to guess who wrote which! We did two each, mine was Trish and someone else, I actually don't remember. Sad. It was either Lee or George, I think it was George. The readers had to give us a description of a boy along with this, due to our character creation block, and if they'd guessed right, we'd use their boy in the story! We simply never said why. It was loads of fun, and thus Andrew Rimmer was born. Created, if he was born then be have grown at an alarmingly fast rate.
So, with that in mind, Tev and I came up with another little challenge recently. A rather brillant one, your all so lucky I read a lot. This one is similar, but of course, different in its own way. First thing to do; Tell us what book this line of Fred's came from:
"I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particulary dead about a door-nail."
Multiple choice! Proma's idea, not mine. Apparently it be to hard for you to find a random book with the phrase in it.
a) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
b) Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
c) A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Once you've got chosen one of those, you have a choice about your 'entry'. You can either
a) describe yourself and give/make up a name
b) make up a completely new character
Include all this in your review, and once again you shall see your prize in our story! Granted, only if you get it right. I picked the quote, so lets hope you know your literature.
Dark Hermit Kaelin- Yes, a blonde wig. You were my inspiration when I wrote that. I was going to base Anna on you, but then I was all, your too difficult to write into the story. Apparently, Arianna is based on the real one, she doesn't know though, but let it be said that only the name makes her the most like her real self; we all have several Ariannas in our lives, and frankly, they're lucky we don't really have wands. No dating boys every two weeks charms would be helpful.Yes, I wrote, no, your friend inspired, I wrote it,Silly Sue, and am still trying to get the real one to read this. Which I want him to do as well.
Nikki- Yes, Fred is jealous, but as you can see, he didn't really give that time to register before he went about his diabolical plans. I can't really add more to that statement.
The Mysterious M- See, Tev, I told you she didn't drug us. Liar. Well, maybe I didn't. Anyway, the word bravo does enough, as do your kind reviews, and if you keep using it we know we've done our job! See, its a good cue
Silver-pensieve- haha, yes, our cliffy. Tev's brilliant work. You can't say OUR, and then say Tev's, its completly contadicting. I take all credit. I only just realized how cool it is; how often do you see a cliffhanger in a romantic/comedyish story? I don't know, maybe we should take a poll.
Drake- Good lord, does it really say Red? I told you first chapter was bad. Hmm, just goes to show that we need to go back and check with the early chapters a bit. A bit, probably more then a bit. Anyway, thanks, and I'm glad you like Fred!
FuNnY cIdE- I normally despise math too…that's what's weird about this! I just don't have any friends in my art class, and I don't want to say anything about schedule changes that might change that in case I jinx it completely! Seeing as there are only 100 kids in my grade, and I'm 'friends' with about 15 of them, I am in classes with my friends. Ah, 'wicked'. I missed that word. Now I'm going to start using it like mad again; just wait. Fred's explained himself here, as you can see. Now I'll let Tev lecture you about the muskrat/possum issue: In fact, the truth is, I've given up hope for you ever realizing that you're roadkill is a lot less awesome then my muskrat. Because really, you can't face the truth.
Professor Amber- A new reviewer! Throws confettiWe're better than some real books? Tev, say something, I've got to wipe my eyes. That was a beautiful compliment,by unless you are refering to The Cost of Living by David Dorsey, or some law book, I can hardly beleive it.…Well here's twenty-one, hopefully it'll satisfy enough that you're glued to your monitor once again.Yes, and hopefully you are so glued you leave a long review.
Angelface04- Fred is thoroughly insulted that you skipped nineteen. I think its some sort of mental disorder when you think ictional characters are real Proma... I however, forgive, especially since it wasn't horribly interesting, really. I thought it was good. Ah, yes, that line was one of mine, that sounded sofunny, I can just imagine you saying it in a British Accent bragging to the commoners,because I really am in mourning for the later parts of my generation. Actually, not just the later parts. Fred went…here. Did you see that one coming? As for him talking to Ang,talking, more like award communication,you'll see some bits of it coming up, but only in the way that they're both politely not severing ties, because they are both phyco that way. As for an actually conversation…well, it'll be here eventually. Mwaha… As for the 'a' names, I was going for a theme. You know, like Lily and Petunia.
Taylor- Thanks, glad you like it! I'm glad you like it as well!