A/N - wanted to establish a strong friendship between Angela and Freddie here. For the future shenanigans that will happen.
Embarrassment was not a common emotion for Fred Weasley. After all, Weasley red was not his color. He was confident, cool, and collected allowing things to roll off of him without fail. Which is why he kept his cool despite his friends best attempts at trying to rile him up. Though keeping his cool did not mean his friends seized their teasing, rather they amped it up. Under the impression that at some point they would find a topic sensitive enough to have Fred blush Weasley red. They even had a years worth of butter beers and appetizers as reward for the person who was able to make Fred blush in embarrassment. A bet that had been going on for three years and a bet that Fred had little interest in seeing come to fruition.
So no embarrassment was not a common emotion for Fred Weasley. Or it wasn't, until Katie's birthday party the summer after his fifth year.
It wasn't a day that seemed incredibly abnormal to start. As the youngest in the core group Katie had missed the cut off date to be in the sixth year by twenty six hours. Which meant her parents always held her birthday party on the last Saturday before the Hogwarts express left the station. He and George barely manage to convince their mother to allow them to attend. Between her disgruntled attitude about their O.W.Ls and their lack of prefect badge as well as the attack at the cup she has been generally uncooperative. But Percy, of all people, assists them in their quest and she agrees.
So September 24th the twins took the floo to Harrisburg with presents in one hand brooms in the other, and a dastardly smirk on the face of George as his side plan started to take form.
Katie never held large parties. Mostly just the quidditch team, and Lee. But with Oliver away for training and Harry not in attendance it left just the twins friend group. Which meant any slight reservations George may have had about raking his brother against the coals and outing his ill timed crush were abandoned as soon as the group all made it down the path to the clearing behind Katie's house where they could fly.
"Freddie's got a crush!" George exclaimed as if the secret pushed its way out of his mouth and landed on the floor. Katie and Angela who were currently giggling about something in the last witch weekly, and Alisha and Lee who were both pretending the fact they kissed at the end of last year didn't make today awkward all stopped dead in their tracks.
"On?" Lee asks after a few moments.
"That's the best part, it's Granger." Geroge is fully cackling at this point and Fred is laughing to keep up the impression of similarity though he is questioning how high he could drop George from on the broom before he did real damage.
"We know." Anglea said after a few moments of silence and a few pointed looks at the other three. George brightened as Fred collapsed under the weight of his twin's next words.
"But he didn't." George says and Fred bumps his hip a bit too hard sending the younger twin trailing to the floor as his laughter hits harder. Katie and Alicia both are choking on their own laughter. Trying to keep it contained schooling their features to a look of interest after each silent snort.
Lee took George's lead and was doubled over in laughter as well. Angela is the only one who doesn't find Fred's predicament funny. In fact she looks at the other four with a turned up nose and then catches Fred's eye and inclines her head to a small path that will lead them to a much smaller clearing. He just nods, thankful for the out.
Angela lays a hand on Katie's arm to explain the small detour she intends to take and Katie nods, falling over in laughter once more. As Fred and Angela hit the path the laughter doubles and raises in pitch. No doubt a audio cue that Katie and Alicia have doubled over in laughter. Fred goes to turn but Anglea places a hand between his shoulder blades and presses to keep him walking forwards.
There was a small clearing at the end of the path, just a little patch of earth that the trees in the area had grown around. Angela sat down on one of the oversized roots and motioned for Fred to do the same.
"Gonna kill him." Fred grumbled as he took one bounding step foreward and launched the rock he had been kicking down the path into the nearest tree like a quaffle with a speed that would have most keepers ducking.
"No you won't." Angela said as she motioned to the bench with a smile. He turned on her with a glare. "It would take to long to break in a new business partner." Angela smiled. "Not to mention the cost for a new marketing campaign and the general lack of other candidates." Fred glared.
"I could do it." Fred says with a pout as he slumps down into a seat.
"Percy or Ron." Anglea asked deciding to humor the elder twin for a moment.
"Ginny."
"Somehow I doubt she would give up a quidditch career for you."
"I'm her favorite brother."
"As fun as this is, do you wanna talk?"
"Not particularly."
"They don't mean anything by it you know." The heavy breath Fred let out stood for an answer in the stead of him actually speaking. "George just wanted free butter beer." Angela mentioned which made Fred huff, "and the others are just surprised. I mean, Freddie, did you really not know."
Fred just stared at the ground. As if it had personally offended him.
"She is Ron's girl."
"I am going to let that comment slide on the basis of the head injury I am pretty sure that you sustained leading to this series of outrageous events." Fred snorts and looks up to capture Angela's eyes as she continues "because if you have yet to learn that girls aren't possessions then I am going to tell Katie and Angela we need to resort to more hands-on re-education. Which will include the use of many creative jinxes and hexes." The smile on Angela's face was sweet, but her tone was a reminder of his second year where Angela, Alicia, and Katie taught the boys that pranking them was more trouble than it was worth.
"How am I the last to know?" Fred finally asked.
"A combination of your general brand of idiocy as well as what I am pretty sure is a head injury. Did you see someone after the cup."
"There was no head injury."
"Are you sure, because this whole situation reeks of deja-vu." Anglea said before the two fell into a silent staring contest. Fred's eyes open and pleading while Angela's eyes are questioned.
"George and Lee were convinced you were crushing on her since the troll incident in third year. Keep saying you were near obsessive with checking her location every time she didn't show up where you expected her too. Alicia bought into it, saying it was like one of those moving picture things her mom likes. Katie and I were a bit more cautious. Then you nearly killed Malfoy fourth year over a slur."
"I wouldn't have…."
"Yeah, because we would have restrained you. But your face, the anger there. You had no intention of pulling any punches. Thankfully Hermione didn't either." Angela chuckles Fred shakes his head but a small smile graces his face.
"But none of that was, I just wanted to make sure she was safe and happy. She was Ron's friend."
"So was Harry."
"Harry can…"
"Hands-on re-education" Anglea says her voice low and dangerous, this time it's a threat. Fred tossed his hands in the air in surrender. "You can't honestly tell me you think that Hermione is less capable than the boy blunder and Ron."
"No,"
"But yet you never seem all that worried for them."
"I…."
"Care, nothing wrong about that. Now I think their fit should be about over. Let's see if we are able to get a game in." Angela said, patting his back and helping him stand.
