A/N: Thank you for sticking with me on this! I would've posted this over the weekend, but I was considering rewriting/scrapping this scenario all together. Instead, I ended up lengthening it a bit. As always, reviews are lovely!
Disclaimer: I don't own HP.
SCENARIO 4: Send a Twin to Do One's Work
"Oi! Ange!" a voice called to her from across the pasture. She turned toward the advancing twin, standing up from her crouched position to dust grass off of her skirt.
"Bout time, Weasley. You should've been here five minutes ago."
"Sorry about that. Fred was determined to knock out some labeling projects and I couldn't get away."
Angelina stared at him for a brief second before recovering from her momentary confusion. "I see. Well, I guess it's better than what your brother does to me. Always ridiculously late, leaving me in the dark for hours on end."
"Oh, I'm sure he's not that bad. At least not when it comes to you," he replied.
"Me? I'm not sure what you mean by that."
He shook his head with a "Nevermind" and shoved his hands into his pockets. "He is one who likes to make an entrance," he admitted, changing topical gears.
"That's horribly true; the more elaborate, the better," she added. "So what's this about? Why the seclusion?"
"Well...I didn't want anyone to interrupt us and I wanted to find out something."
Her stance straightened up at his serious tone. "Go ahead?"
With a deep breath, he took a moment to distill the butterflies. "Would you go to the dance with my brother?"
She stared at him again. "Hypothetically? Or are you asking me out for him?"
"Um, moreso the latter."
Nervously, she pulled her hair over her shoulder. "Really? Why are you telling me this?"
"Because he's thinking about asking you but doesn't know whether he should or not."
"I'm confused. Remind me who we're talking about again?"
He looked at her, deadpanned. "Who do you think?"
"I'm not really sure at the moment, actually."
"We're talking about Fred, of course!"
"Of…course. Fred. And why wouldn't he? Or, wait, why would he?"
Now he was confused. "Why wouldn't or would he what?"
"Why wouldn't he know to ask me?" she tried to clarify. He began to answer, but she cut him off. "Or, I guess, why would he want to ask me?" He looked at her puzzled face with his own puzzlement. "I mean, why would he want to ask me in the first place? ...I don't think I'm making any sense, am I?" she finally admitted, flustered.
He ruffled his hair. "I think I follow you. Fred doesn't know if you've already got a date, or if you'd even want to go with him. So he chickened out and asked me to find out for him." He grinned. "You know how Fred hates to show how shy he can really get."
She hummed in agreement, crossing her arms. "Suppose so. Frustrating, though. He could just ask me himself. I don't bite."
He raised his eyebrow.
She matched his raised eyebrow with her own. "What?"
"Remember when that one Ravenclaw guy asked you out?"
"You mean the one who tried to ask me out by grabbing my arse and saying some horrid line at me?"
He restrained the laughter. "Yes. And do you remember what you did to him?"
"I punched him in the face."
"There now."
She stuck her finger out at him defensively. "I said I wouldn't bite; I never said anything about not punching. And he deserved it."
"Yes, yes he did," he said with a smile.
"Would you rather I'd have let him get away with it?"
"No, I wouldn't have. And I'm sure Fred wouldn't have let him get away with it, either."
"He didn't. He let loose some horrible spell moments after he found out. Made the bloke's hand grab at any female professor's arse within distance for an hour straight. McGonnagall was not pleased. The guy got slammed with multiple detentions for that." She laughed.
He laughed along with her. "So Ravenclaw guy learned his lesson."
"I'd only hope so. At least he hasn't tried that on me ever again." Her voice became more soft-spoken. "You know, Fred came to find me afterward, to check on my hand. Wanted to make sure I hadn't hurt my knuckles from the impact on that prat's face." Her fingers gently caressed the knuckles of her knuckle-punch hand.
His eyes watched her gesture for a minute before he cleared his throat, asking "So, d'you think you'll go with him? With Fred, I mean. To the ball."
"Perhaps. He'd have to ask me to find out, though."
"Right," he responded. "Because you know he'd love to go with you, even if he doesn't know how to just...well...say it."
"Yeah, he is bloody awful at that whole 'speak your mind' thing at times," she noted, her eyes reflecting more intention in her words.
He ruffled his hair again, frustrated by the silence that started to engulf them. She took the opportunity to breach the distance between them and put her hand on his arm.
"So, just ask me, Fred."
He blinked in surprise. "Sorry?"
She smiled sincerely. "I know you too well, Fred. I know it's you." He opened his mouth to speak but she raised her hand to cut him off. "The gig is up, Fred. Come clean with your hands up."
Rethinking his planned speech, he sighed and relaxed what had been a very tense posture. "Damnit, what gave it away?"
"The way you carry yourself. Plus the hair ruffle thing. You and George do it with opposite hands."
"Damn, you are observant. Or…you take to watching me a lot," Fred guessed, leaning closer to her face with a playful wink.
She blushed. "No comment."
He smiled. "So, Angie, will you go to the ball with me?"
"Well, you did just try to lie to my face. And anyone who pretends to be someone else, referring to himself in the third person, obviously has some marbles loose."
He opened his mouth to speak, but she shook her head. "You're a little crazy, but you're cute enough, so I guess I'll go with you anyway." She winked at him before walking away.
A little confused by what just happened, he chuckled and half-jogged to catch up with her. When he got to her side, he reached down to take her hand. Completely caught off guard, her eyes darted to their joined hands with only enough time to register his lips on her skin as he gave her knuckles several soft kisses. As brief as the kisses were, he didn't let go of her hand all the way back to the main grounds. Yeah, he was definitely Fred.
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