Again, I feel so bad for not updating in like what four freakin' months? -_- Seriously I have 'some' good excuses but also bad excuses so I'll make none and just say that I am updating now? And this chapter is longer than usual, I think, so maybe that's something? No, yes? :P I hope you like it cause it was being EXTREMELY difficult and wanting to make me not write it at all. So, yeah enjoy and all that! Oh and P.S. total coinkydink how it's arounds Valentine's Day when I update cause this chapter is Valentine-y!

~Fluffy

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CHAPTER 16-FUNNY VALENTINE

When Brooke woke up the following morning she knew it was because something had woke her up, not because she had been ready to get up. She blinked her eyes a few times and then realized she had woken up because she felt someone watching her. Turning to her left she saw Lee sitting in a chair next to her bed, he was reading a book but she saw him look up and notice that she was awake.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Lee said, closing his book and setting it on the nightstand. "This is quite the predicament you've put yourself in."

"No kidding," said Brooke, sitting up in her bed.

"Every girl pretty much despises you."

"Sounds about right."

"You'll be happy to know that me, Fred, and George, and all the male species that pretty much could care less about petty female issues, are on your side. All it took was for Fred and George to tell their side of the story for us to realize that they created this whole problem and put you in the middle. Of course trying to explain that to any girl is near impossible; we're going to keep trying anyway though."

"Thanks, Lee, that really means a lot."
"The twins really care about you, Brooke," Lee said, scooting closer to the bed. "You'll be happy to know that they have realized that fighting over you is rubbish, they've decided to

band together and try to win you over instead. No more fighting, no more jealousy, they know that the choice is yours and they're going to leave it to you."

"But I'd still be hurting the one I don't pick," said Brooke.

"They know that, which is why they aren't going to fight anymore, even though one of them won't have you he'll still have the other person that means the most to him in the world."

"Can things ever really be that easy?"

"If you want them to be."

"There's nothing I want more."

"Good, cause the twins have separate plans for you today."

"Why?"

"It's the 14th of February."

"And?" asked Brooke.

"Do you have any female genes? It's Valentine's Day!" Lee said, throwing his hands in the air.

"Wonderful."

"Might want to gussy up, I'll see you back at the common room."

Lee stood up, winked at Brooke, and then left and Brooke looked around, wondering if she could leave or if Madame Pomfrey would descend on her. She sat up and then stepped out of the bed; she walked all the way to the door and wasn't stopped. Brooke then continued on, making it back to the common room, it was already second hour and Brooke decided she might as well wait till her third class of the day started. She walked into her room and began to get ready, taking her time as she didn't need to rush. It wasn't right for her to feel excited about the prospect of Fred and George doing something special for her.

After all, hadn't she just decided she wasn't good enough for either of them? She kept contradicting herself and she hated feeling so helpless but it was the twins, she would have nothing without them. Even though she wanted nothing more in the world than to just walk away from this crazy mess she couldn't, she was the mess now. She finished getting dressed and looked over herself in the mirror making sure she looked nice. Then she grabbed her bag and headed out to her third hour class, which was Transfiguration. As soon as she got near the door students began pouring out of their classes heading to their next hour. Brooke slipped into Transfiguration not minding that she was early.

She slid into a desk and set her bag next to her, finding that she was smiling. Then suddenly someone was sitting next to her and she turned to see George, she didn't share Transfiguration with him so his appearance startled her.

"George," Brooke said, grinning stupidly.

"Did Lee talk to you?" asked George, he looked worried.

"Yes, this morning."

George seemed to relax and he smiled.

"After a very competitive game of rock, paper, scissors with Fred I won the right to woo you first," George said winking and Brooke chuckled but sighed and got serious, deciding to ask one last question of the resistance she felt.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked.

"Do what?"

"To fight for me, I'm not worth it."

"Do you really think that, Brooke?"

"How could I be worth your relationship with Fred? You are brothers and I'm just a girl."

You're much more than that," George said, reaching forward and taking Brooke's hand. "Brooke, you are perfectly imperfect, you do these little things that make me just want to stop and stare. The way you play with your hair in class when you're trying to think of an answer or tug at your ear when you tell a little white lie. You can be so completely oblivious and it's the cutest thing when it isn't frustrating. And you're funny and witty and can banter with the best of them and I consider me and Fred to be in that category. It's not even that you are beautiful because there's no doubt that you are. You put up with me, Brooke, you accept me and you encourage the craziness that is my dream, to have a joke shop. You've never tried to change me or talk me out of doing what I want most and I know that you never will because you are you."

Brooke felt her eyes tearing up; no one had ever said such nice things about her, she never realized that anyone had ever paid that much attention.
"How am I supposed to turn you down now?" Brooke said, only half joking.

"You can't," George replied, winking before standing up. "Meet me at the Fat Lady after your last class."

Brooke nodded and George squeezed her hand and then turned and left the room, leaving Brooke to think over all the nice things he had said. Would she ever be able to say the certain things about George that she liked in the same way he had about her? It was perfect, every single word, ever single emotion he displayed, George Weasley loved her. There was no other feeling she could deduce but love. She spent her remaining classes doodling on most of the worksheets she had been given and giving the teachers only half of her attention.

At least half of her attention was good enough as they didn't single her out for not fully listening. She was curious what George was planning to do for his chance at wooing her, as he had put it. The twins were surprisingly creative and she probably couldn't even imagine what they could do, as she often didn't when it came to their pranks. By the time her last class had ended she had packed up her things quickly and left before anyone else, eager to get to the Fat Lady. She tried to keep her pace slow as running would probably make her seem suspicious, especially if she ran into Filch. Instead she speed walked up to the portrait of the Fat Lady, trying not to look like she was antsy, even though she was.

When she walked up to the portrait she didn't see George but she had gone surprisingly quickly and he was probably still working his way up to the portrait. Brooke decided to run up to the girl's dormitory and drop off her bag, she took the stairs two at a time and slipped her bag onto her bed. When she turned around she saw Angelina standing behind her but lately she had been ignoring Brooke so Brooke tried to sidestep around her but she stopped her.

"I heard you were in the hospital wing," said Angelina.

"Yes, I was," Brooke replied, wondering where this was going.

"What happened?"

"I fell into the lake."

"That's not what Bailey says."

"Ugh, Bailey needs to keep her big mouth shut."

"Did someone push you?" Angelina asked, and she seemed genuinely concerned.

"I think so, I mean, I didn't actually see anyone," answered Brooke.

"I never wanted to have you physically hurt by this, Brooke; I just wanted you to feel the same emotional pain that I felt when I realized you had stolen Fred."

"I didn't steal anyone; obviously Fred had feelings for me before he asked you to the Yule Ball. If he hadn't acted on them before you started getting serious who knows what would have happened between you two. Would you really have wanted to fall in love with him if he still liked me? Would you really have wanted to be the girl he settled for?"

"It wouldn't have always been that way, once we started going out he would have realized that I was perfect for him."

"How do you know that?"

"How do you know that it wouldn't be?"

"Because my version has already begun."

"There was one guy in this whole school that I really liked, Brooke," said Angelina, crossing her arms. "And he likes you, how are we supposed to be friends after something like that?"

"I would happily accept you as a friend again, Ang, even after all of this," Brooke replied. "You have to decide whether you could still be friends with me."

"I don't have an answer."

"Let me know when you do."

Brooke then walked around Angelina and headed back downstairs and to the portrait hole, when she climbed out she saw George waiting for her and smiled. Even though she had just had a conversation with Angelina that possibly meant their friendship was unsalvageable it couldn't seem to damper her spirit. She had already been through enough with Angelina to let something else bug her on this day.

"There you are," said George. "I was starting to get a little worried."

"Sorry," said Brooke. "Got caught for a moment in the girl's dormitory."

"Any hair pulling?"

"No, nothing like that."

"Good, then follow me."

George held out his and Brooke stepped forward and slipped her hand into his and walked alongside him. They descended the stairs down towards the Great Hall but instead of going outside George led her to a staircase she had never been down before. They continued down a hallway and then stopped in front of a portrait of a bowl of fruit.

"Will we be admiring food instead of eating it?" asked Brooke, and George chuckled and leaned forward and tickled the pear in the bowl of fruit. After a moment the pear turned into a door knob that George turned and it opened up into a room. George went in first and then had Brooke follow him inside. It only took her a moment to realize that this was the Hogwarts kitchen; it looked similar to the Great Hall with four long tables and Brooke turned to George.

"It's better not to ask," said George, leading her over to a fireplace that had two high back chairs in front of it and one tall round table in between them. Brooke took a seat in one of the chairs and George took the one across from her.

"I was not expecting this; I thought maybe a picnic or just a walk around the grounds or something. This is definitely a surprise but not a bad surprise," said Brooke, clarifying she wasn't bothered by it. "I never really thought about the inner workings of the castle."

"Well for some reason me and Fred are alike and during our rock, paper, scissors we also added that whoever won got to take you here," said George, putting his hands together and pretending to crack them as he pushed his arms outwards.

"Your rock, paper, scissors skills are quite impressive. Then again, I would be more impressed if I didn't know that Fred always tends to pick rock first, which I'm sure you know."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

George smiled mischievously and Brooke laughed, she saw a house elf approach them and he talked with George for a moment and then left.

"That's Robble, he's a good friend of mine," said George. "Always has delicious treats for me when I come down here."

"So, I am to understand that in all our years of friendship, having obviously known about this place a while, this is the first time you decided to show it to me?" asked Brooke, teasing.

"I was always hoping to show it to you like this, on a date."

"How long have you been conceiving a date plan with me?"

"Since the beginning of this year, I never really thought about being in a relationship with you but then last year Fred told me that he liked you as more than a friend. It made me realize that I did too but Fred never told you how he felt and then he started flirting with Anglina so I thought he had lost interest. That's when I decided that I wanted to be with you, to be in a relationship with you. I had thought of so many ways to tell you but I wasn't sure my feelings would be returned and then you went to the Yule Ball with Lee. Seeing you with someone else, it made me realize how much I wanted to be with you. I shouldn't have kissed you like I did, I hadn't planned it but you looked so beautiful and I couldn't help it.

"I know me and Fred started all of this and neither of us have been considerate enough to ask you what you want. Do you even really want to be here? Do you really want to be in a relationship with either of us? Or are you just doing this for our sakes because I know you are selfless that way."

"If I was selfless I wouldn't have hurt Angelina and Katie by taking you away from them."

"You didn't take us away from anyone, Brooke," said George, taking her hand in his. "Even if you hadn't kissed me back that night I wouldn't have gone on another date with Katie. I would have kept trying to be with you, I don't know about Fred but I'm sure he feels the same. Stop blaming yourself for what we did."

"At first I wanted things to go back to the way they were," said Brooke, and George nodded solemnly. "Now I can't imagine things being like they were, I can't picture myself just being friends with you. Picturing my future with no Weasley twin at my side hurts, it's a future I don't want. If you boys are really willing to do as you say then I want a chance to decide who I really like."

George smiled so wide that Brooke thought his face was going to be permanently stuck that way and she couldn't help but smile too. He leaned forward and cupped her face, running his thumb across her cheek. Then Robble came back and George told him of what food items he would like and Brooke sighed contently, things were beginning to look up after all.