Double Date?:::
We were all gathered in the common room, waiting for McGonagall to come back and tell us whether they had caught Black or not. I had little hope, however. It'd already been hours. If they were going to catch him, they would have done it by now.
Fred and George were crowded around Ron, trying to get the full story from him. Occasionally my glance would meet Fred's and we would both avert our eyes swiftly. Great. All of the awkwardness of a one night stand, without the sex.
Ignoring all of the chaos around me, I'm currently trying to get back to sleep on the couch with my head resting on Alicia's shoulder.
"You okay, honey?" she asks, gently rubbing my back.
"Better than I was last night."
"Did you and Oliver have a fight?" she asks worriedly.
"Yeah. We kind of broke up."
"Oh. I'm so sorry," she says, hugging me tight. "But that doesn't mean it's the end. I broke up with Nick Brent last year and we—"
"Stayed broken up," I finish her sentence for her.
"Oh. Right. Well, me and Parker got back together."
"For two days!" I cry. "In second year. You broke up with him because he stole your quill in Transfiguration!"
"Okay, well that wasn't a good example either." She turns away and thinks for a moment. "Angelina and Lee! They went out last year."
"For like a week. And they're not together now anyway."
"No, but they will be soon. It's obvious," she says matter-of-factly. Well, if anyone would know, then it would definitely be Alicia.
"I was a bitch to Oliver last night," I finally admit and she continues trying to comfort me. It's the truth though. I may not be happy with him, but I'm not normally the type of person who blows up at people like that. Sure he deserved it, but that doesn't mean I should have just stormed out of there without finishing our argument. I still had steam left.
So, I spend all morning composing a note to Oliver, which I then stick on his broomstick. Lord knows that he'll find it there.
Wood,
I'm sorry about last night—I shouldn't have lost my temper like I did. I understand where you're coming from, and although there were better solutions to the problem, I respect your decision. I don't know where this puts us, but I still love you and as much as I hate to admit it, I'm willing to wait.
Katie Bell
I hate how I don't hate him.
McGonagall came back just as the sun was rising, only to inform us that Black had escaped once again. I'm sick of having to constantly worry about this. All day there was evidence of tighter security. Some sort of protective species of trolls have even been placed in front of Gryffindor Tower. Far from making me feel safe, however, they just scare the shit out of me. I guess breaking curfew now is out of the question.
As if the staff is trying to make us feel more comfortable, a Hogsmeade weekend was scheduled for Saturday. It's kind of ironic that Oliver and I break up right before we have a chance to actually go out. Just my luck. I swear, somewhere out there there must be someone watching my story on a big screen television and thinking, "Wow, I'm glad I'm not that girl!"
"So, are you going to go to Hogsmeade?" Alicia asks me cheerfully.
I just stare at her as if she's crazy. "Uh, no," I scoff.
"Oh come on, Katie. It'll be fun. It'll keep your mind off of a certain Quidditch captain." Need I inform her that that's nearly impossible because I've been trying to do it since my second year.
"Alicia, please just shut up."
"Fine!" she says harshly and stomps away. Great, now there's two people mad at me. Alicia and Oliver. Unless Fred's mad and then that's three. But I don't really think Fred's mad...right? No, he knows I was just drunk… I think.
I'd barely had a moment to myself, however, when Angelina comes rushing over with a big smile on her face.
"Katie, guess what?" she says, coming to a sudden halt in front of me.
"Hogsmeade this weekend?" I guess.
"Yes, but that's not all!"
"Okay well, what else?"
"Guess!"
"I don't want to guess!"
"Guess!" Oh my God! Is she mental? I'm so not in the mood for this right now.
"You have a date?" I guess—it's not an abnormal occurrence. She nods happily.
"Guess who with?"
"Can't you just tell me?" Please, dear God.
"No—guess!"
"Cormac McLaggen, Roger Davies…" I name off in a monotone. She shakes her head. "Do you want me to go through the entire male population of Hogwarts? It is a guy right?"
"Yes, it's a guy," she says, annoyed. "And he's in my year."
"Okay?"
"He's in our house," she prompts, really starting to get aggravated. I look up and notice just how truly happy she is.
"Oh my God!" I exclaim happily. "You're going with Lee. But I thought that he had a girlfriend. Fred and George said—"
"Yeah well, when have Fred and George ever been right? He was just having a lunch date with his cousin Stephanie. I can't believe that I believed those fucking bastards."
Alicia must be able to read minds…just this morning she said that they would get together soon. Weird…
"Wait!" I say, something clicking in my head. "Stephanie Jordan? Like the keeper for the Holyhead Harpies. That Stephanie Jordan? She's Lee's cousin?" Why do so many people have relatives that play for the harpies? And why in my deep despair am I still thinking about the Holyhead Harpies? I think I've been around Oliver too much.
"I know—isn't it awesome? But anyway, you have to come to Hogsmeade this weekend. Alicia's going to need someone to talk to." Not this again.
"I don't want to go," I groan.
"Come on, Katie. It'll be fun."
"Why do you even care if I go?" I ask, suspicious of her intentions.
"I just want you to enjoy yourself while you're still single." I'm going to kill Alicia for telling her that.
"Why did she tell you that?" I groan.
"Who?" Angelina asks warily. "I heard it from Dean Thomas."
"But how did he—"
"Katie, you should know by now that this school is just one big black hole of gossip. I'm sorry about your loss, but back to the original topic. Go to Hogsmeade, please!" And there's the puppy dog pout…
"Angelina," I warn, now fully aware that she's lying.
"Okay, okay. When I finally yanked up the courage to ask Lee out he said that he was planning on asking me, but there's a problem. His brothers wrote and said that their going to visit him in Hogsmeade, so we can't go unless I find them dates too."
"You're triple dating?" I ask dubiously.
"Well, it sounds like an orgy when you say it like that."
"His brothers are 17 and 19!" I exclaim. "I'm fifteen!"
"So! Oliver's seventeen. Please, Katie. I'll love you forever! It's not even a real date. Just keep them entertained—okay that sounded dirty, but please…" she whines. I roll my eyes.
"If Alicia says yes, then I'll do it." No chance in heaven will Alicia say yes.
OoO
"No way! No effing way!" Alicia says ten minutes later once we arrive on the Quidditch pitch. "He's nineteen!"
"But you're sixteen!" Angelina argues as I sit down next to Alicia with a smug smile on my face. "What if you took the seventeen-year-old?"
"No way!" I cry. "That leaves me with the nineteen-year-old. Four years older than me!"
"Oh come on, Katie. You know that's hot," Alicia jokes as Angelina groans in frustration at us not taking her seriously.
"Be serious!" Angelina yells, scaring some birds out of a nearby tree. "You know how important this is to me!"
"But I think George is finally going to ask me," Alicia whines. Angelina and I immediately stop and stare. Sure, we've known for ages that the two of them like each other, but she's never actually admitted it before. "It's not like it's a secret," she says.
"Fine. If George asks you, you're off the hook. But until then, will you please agree to go?" Angelina compromises.
"Fine. And he better be good-looking or I'm going to hex you into oblivion."
"Katie, you in?" Angelina asks cheerfully, ignoring Alicia's threat.
"Yeah," I groan.
"I'm going to go tell Lee," she squeals and runs off towards the castle.
"That bitch has lost her mind," Alicia mutters and I laugh.
"Hey, look—Fred and George," Alicia says pointing towards the twins who are, sure enough, heading our way.
"Hello, pretty ladies," George greets, collapsing onto the ground with his head in Alicia's lap.
"Get off of me, George," she whines, pushing him away but smiling the entire time. He gets out of her lap and she gives him a pleased smirk. He rolls his eyes and gently pushes her. She pushes him back. God, they are so perfect for each other.
"So, what are you two doing out here?" Fred asks, laughing at his brother.
"Just wondering if Lee's brothers are cute," I say and George stops harassing Alicia.
"Given up on Oliver?" Fred jokes.
"As if," Alicia says. "Angelina's going to Hogsmeade with Lee and we're taking his brothers."
"What?" the twins say together with totally different expressions on their faces.
"What what?" Alicia asks, confused.
"Angelina's going out with Lee?" Fred asks.
"You're going on a blind date?" George laughs and Alicia hits him again.
"Yes and yes," she says, punctuating each 'yes' with a hit to George's shoulder.
"That son of a bitch," Fred mutters and gets up, heading back towards the castle.
"What's up with him?" I ask George as he lays his head down in Alicia's lap.
"Well…" George says, pondering whether or not to tell us. And that's when it hit me. Angelina! That's who Fred likes!
"Oh my God!" I say and run after Fred's retreating form.
"Fred!" I yell, trying to stop him. He ignores me so I run faster. "Fred," I gasp, finally catching up to him.
"What, Katie?" he asks fiercely, turning around to face me. This is the first time in my life I've ever seen him mad. And I freeze. I just stand there staring at him with wide eyes because for a second I actually think that he's going to hit me.
"What is it, Katie?" he asks, calming himself just enough to speak to me civilly.
"Just don't do anything—anything you'll regret. Calm down, first," I manage to choke out. Fred rubs his temples hard.
"I know," he finally admits and runs off towards the lake instead. Hopefully he won't try to drown himself.
OoO
Fred almost made it through the week without doing anything stupid. I was actually quite proud of him. Almost.
Friday night as I was getting ready for bed, I heard him and Angelina going at it in the common room. He was letting out his anger on Angelina who had no idea what she'd done.
To the best of my knowledge, I'm able to assume that Lee knew Fred liked Angelina when he agreed to go with her. That must be against the Guy Rules or something. It's like Leanne going out with Oliver.
Right, I know why he's mad now. I open the door to my dorm in order to hear them better.
"Fred, why the hell are you yelling at me?" Angelina yells.
"Oh, like you don't already know!" She doesn't.
"I don't!"
"Well then why don't you ask Lee; I'm sure he'll tell you!"
"What the hell are you two talking about?" A new voice joins the mix. Lee. He must have been listening from the stairs too. Feeling just how angry Fred is, I rush down to calm him. I'm the only one who can do it besides George and I'm sure that he doesn't want any part in this right now. His best friend against his brother—poor boy.
"Just stay the fuck away from me!" Fred yells, just as I reach the common room. Before I can even say a word, he's out of the portrait hole.
Angelina, tears welling up in her eyes, rushes for the stairs. When she sees me, she puts on the fakest smile I've ever seen and says, "Don't be late for our date tomorrow!" I just nod and she bounds up the stairs. I hate Fred for ruining this for her.
My eyes and Lee's meet and at the same time, we both just shrug. There's nothing we can do. Fred obviously doesn't want to talk to Lee about it and I'm not about to be the one that tells Angelina that Fred likes her. She'd die of shock. I head back to my room and try to get some sleep.
OoO
I get up early the next morning. And I mean real early. Like before the sun's up early. Don't ask me why—I just couldn't sleep. I throw a glance in the mirror and decide that my hair's not worth messing with—this is actually one of my better hair days. I slip into a pair of jeans and a Holyhead Harpies T-shirt before heading down to the common room.
With four hours to spare. Fun.
And now I'm tired again—just my luck.
Thinking I'll just fall asleep on the couch or something, I continue my trek down to the comfy warmth of the common room. When I arrive, I am very surprised to find that I am not alone. Oliver is there, bent over his playbook.
I honestly don't know what got into me then—I guess it was just how tired I was—but for some strange reason I totally forgot that Oliver and I weren't still dating. To be honest, we're spending the same amount of time together—none. Even though it has only been a day.
So, during this lapse of judgment what do I do? I crawl up next to him, rest my head on his shoulder, and go to sleep.
OoO
I was awakened a few hours later by the whispers that fill the common room.
"Aw, they're so cute."
"But they broke up, didn't they?"
"Looks like they got back together."
I desperately want to open my eyes and tell them to shut the fuck up, but I can't. I'm too comfortable.
"Katie," I hear Angelina say gently. I open my eyes to see her squatting on the floor next to me, where I'm lying on the couch. "Wake up, honey," she says happily. I groan and then realize that there's an arm around my waist. Oliver.
"Damn!" I mutter, jumping up and waking Oliver with a start. He brushes his hair out of his eyes and looks around groggily. It'd be cute if it weren't so fucking embarrassing.
"Ready to go?" Angelina asks with a laugh, while fixing my hair with her hand.
"Yeah sure. Where's Alicia?" I ask, trying to wake my self up. Oliver gets up from the couch and heads for his dorm without a word.
"Well, it's actually a kind of funny story. Guess who asked her out last night?" The look on her face made the answer perfectly clear. I scream—no lie. Loud.
"George and Alicia—finally!"
"I know; isn't it wonderful?" Angelina laughs. "Anyway, Lee's brother, Luke, is dating a seventh Ravenclaw, so it all works out perfectly. He's going to spend the day with her."
"Okay, so that just leaves you, me, Lee, and…who?"
"Logan—the seventeen-year-old. He can't do magic or anything, but he's really hot; looks a lot like Lee. They're meeting us at the Three Broomsticks."
I quickly grab a jacket—one of the female persuasion this time—and Angelina practically drags me to Hogsmeade, talking about Lee the whole time.
"So this Logan guy knows that this is not a real date, right?" I ask, interrupting her rant about Lee's dragon tattoo. "Like he knows I have a boyfriend?"
"But you don't have a boyfriend." Thanks for pointing that out. I must have a mental disorder—why can't I remember that? It seems like the type of thing that a girl would remember.
"No; but I do have a boy—who is a friend—with the potential to become a boyfriend—again."
"Okay, don't hurt yourself. We're here." I roll my eyes as we enter the Three Broomsticks. Angelina promptly squeals and runs across the crowded pub. It takes a few seconds for my ears to stop ringing, but when they do I manage to locate where Angelina has run off to and walk over.
Angelina and Lee were sitting facing me—his arm draped around her shoulder—but all I could see of Logan was the back of his head. In contrast to Lee's dreads, his head was shaved. Bracing myself for whatever lies ahead, I arrive at the table.
"Hi," I greet awkwardly.
"Hi," they all say back. Unsure of what to do, I stay standing. They all just stare for a few seconds.
"You can sit down," Angelina says with a laugh.
"Right," I say, embarrassed, slowly sinking into the seat next to Logan. Before I was even all the way seated, Angelina and Lee were deep in conversation and it was obvious I was going to be left to entertain Logan on my own.
"You don't want to be here, do you?" he asks and I turn to look at him for the first time. Wow, he's cute. Angelina was right; he looks a lot like Lee. Calm your thoughts, Katie. Okay, speak:
"It's not that. It's just that I just broke up with my boyfriend and—actually, you're right. I really don't want to be here. No offense."
"Listen, don't worry. I have a girlfriend," he says calmly.
"Then what are we doing here?" I ask with a laugh, looking over at Angelina and Lee who are paying us no attention.
"I have no clue," he laughs. "I told Lee that I didn't have to go, but he insisted." Perhaps aroused by his name, Lee turns to the two of us.
"Stop complaining. You're leaving for your girlfriend's place in like two hours, right? Everyone wins."
"Yeah, whatever," Logan says with a grin.
"Okay, so me and Ange are out of here," Lee says, startling us both.
"Wait, what?" I ask.
"No offense, Katie. But I really want some alone time with Lee," Angelina says smiling brightly. Why does she have to make it so impossible to be mad at her? Payback time.
"Why don't you just skip the date and go shag? We all know you've done it before," I say truthfully. They got mega-drunk last year. Long story.
"Katie!" Angelina exclaims while Logan covers his head and says, "Too much information about my little brother."
"Why can't we ever have a meal without yelling?" Lee asks, more to himself than anyone else.
"We're leaving," Angelina says, giving me a death glare. "Buh-Bye."
"Bye, Ange," I say with a wave. She just rolls her eyes and leaves hand in hand with Lee.
"They're cute," I say, getting out of the booth and moving to the other side, so that I was across from Logan.
"He's in love with her," Logan says. "Or just really obsessed. Do you think they'll last?" I think for a second.
"It depends," I say finally.
"On what?"
"Him," I say, pointing at Fred who'd just walked in.
"Fred?" he asks surprised. "No way! What does he have to do with them?" Spotting us, Fred begins to walk over.
"Logan!" Fred greets with one of those weird handshake things that guys do. "Just saw Luke."
"So, you in love with Lee's girl?" Logan asks with a smirk. It's obvious that they are friends. Fred throws me a glare.
"Sorry," I mutter.
"Yeah, I am," Fred answers Logan. "Got a problem with that?"
"Absolutely not, mate. Just don't get me involved."
Fred laughs. "They've got some new products in at Zonko's. Unless you're taking this date thing seriously—want to go check them out?"
"Yeah, that'd be awesome," Logan says excitedly. "Well, unless…" he turns to me.
"Go. I need to get back to the castle anyway." Thank you, Fred. Seriously. Being alone with a guy I don't even know all day is a little too weird. Even for me.
"Well, it was nice to meet you," Logan says, standing.
"You too." And then they were gone.
"Boys," I mutter, to no one but myself.
OoO
Long chapter, I know. Hope you don't mind… Oh, let me know if you think I should change the rating. I've noticed that I cuss a lot in this story. To me, an M rating is a story with a lot of sex in it. This isn't that type of story. Well, not really. I don't mind changing the rating though if any of you think it should be changed. Just let me know.
Next time on Love and Quidditch
"Oliver?" I ask, trying to wake him back up. "Oliver!"
His eyes suddenly shoot open, scaring me. He frantically begins getting up to leave.
"Not so fast," I say, getting up also. "Why were you in my bed?"
Probably not what you're imagining but you'll just have to wait and see. Review, please.