Fell In Love Without You

Chapter 6: Womanly Wiles

Classes dragged on as usual and September quickly changed into October. Meaning the topic of conversation shifted to the up-coming Halloween dance.

"I heard it's being held in the Forbidden Forrest" the fifth year air head, Lavender Brown gossiped somewhere down the table "but I can't seem to get a decent piece of evidence about it" I smirked and went back to buttering my toast.

Everyone's head turned in my and stared at me. "What?" I asked, glancing at their expectant faces.

"Well, is the dance in the forest or not?" Riley asked impatiently.

"How should I know?"

"Duh, you're head girl" Angelina rolled her eyes.

"Hermione's a prefect" I pointed out, trying to shift the attention off me. When put under pressure I wasn't good at keeping secrets... and this one was meant to be kept a complete secret until Saturday night because the dance was most definitely being held in the Forbidden Forest.

It had taken the whole month of September to convince McGonagall to allow it, but Hagrid assured us the small grotto that we'd found was on neutral territory and there was no chance a student would be eaten, taken or trampled by any inhabitants of the forbidden forest. She'd allowed it, but only if we capped the dance at 5th years and above.

"Ah but I'm not the prefect in charge of the dance committee" She pointed out with a smug smile. "Brocklehurst is"

"Well... I can't say anything" I waved my hand.

Roe snorted. "You're a terrible liar A.V"

I flipped her off.

"Good morning!" Annabelle's voice chimed next to me as the girl herself sat down. Roe threw her a disgusted look and turned to talk to Hermione. "Oh my gosh Avery! I just heard that theres going to be a Halloween dance!" Annabelle said to me and grabbed a piece of fruit.

"Yeah it's going to be good" I nodded nonchalantly.

"I know, I'm super excited... do we take dates or anything?" She asked me. I glanced at her.

"I suppose if you want to you can" I nodded.

"Does Fred usually go with anyone?" She asked another question. My food slid down to my stomach like lead. I didn't like where this was leading.

"Uh sometimes" I nodded slowly "But usually no, he likes to dance with everyone" I lied.

"Are you kidding A.V." Alicia laughed, overhearing our conversation. "Fred always has a date for these things"

"Yeah, he took me to the Yule Ball remember?" Angelina nodded.

"He took me to last years Halloween dance" Alicia agreed.

"Katie to the one before that" Angelina added. I listened to the two of them list of every possible dance date Fred had had and sighed.

"So... do you think he would consider going with me?" She turned back to me and grinned.

I stared at her. I don't know if she was ignoring my blatant lie to her face or whether she was just daft. I was hoping daft because I felt rotten otherwise.

"Uh sure I guess" I nodded. I saw her downcast expression and my conscience kicked me in the guts. "I could put in a good word for you if you'd like?" I smiled helpfully.

He face brightened dramatically. "Oh Avery that would be super awesome! You're such a nice friend" She threw her arms around me.

I laughed lightly but felt rotten inside. Annabelle was nice, despite being a tad over bearing at times, and I'd been nothing but horrible to her since day one. I vowed then and there to be nicer and more tolerant of Annabelle Valentine – even if it killed me!

After breakfast was done we all made our way to the first class of the day. I sat down in my usual spot beside Angelina. Annabelle sat next to me. I took a deep breath and remembered my tolerance vow.

"Wands away, books out" Umbridge chirped as she entered the classroom. I rolled my eyes. This was supposed to be a class teaching us how to defend ourselves and we were reading first year text books. It was the biggest joke ever. "Mr Weasley, put your wand away" Umbridge demanded from the front of the room.

"It's not mine professor" Fred said from behind me. I turned and saw he had one of his joke wands out on the desk. He was poking it with his quill. Umbridge marched down to him.

"Put away Mr Weasley" Umbridge said through gritted teeth.

"Fred just put it away" I hissed at him.

"I don't need your input Miss Vanderbilt, thankyou" She glared at me and I turned back to the front. "Mr Weasley put your wand away right now!"

Fred smirked. "That's what she said"

George snickered beside him. "That's not right mate, why would she want you to put it away?"

"Quiet Mr Weasley" Umbridge exclaimed. "Mr Weasley, give me that" She ripped the wand off Fred's desk. It squawked and burst into a rubber chicken. The class burst out laughing. "ENOUGH!" She screamed and looked at the rubbed chicken hanging limply in her hand. She threw it on the floor and it exploded in a puff of purple glitter. "Detention, afterschool tonight!" She pointed at Fred.

"Oh but professor we have training tonight and a huge game on – " Angelina complained.

"Detention to you too Miss Johnson" Umbridge was as purple as the hideous suit she was wearing. "Read chapters 5 through 7. Not ONE sound from anyone" She ordered us.

Annabelle and I exchanged a look before we put our heads down and got to work. Probably the best idea really.

"I can't believe I got a detention as well as Fred" Angelina wailed as we sat in charms. "Our first game is this Friday, what are we going to do? It's against Ravenclaw and they're actually really good this year!" She panicked. Roger actually got his act together... oh what am I going to do?"

"I don't know Ange... have practice morning and night for the rest of the week?" I suggested with a shrug. I didn't know much about Quidditch and I didn't see the big deal. It was just a game right?

"No... In case you haven't noticed, Friday in five days... FOUR not counting today!" She shrieked. Good thing this class was naturally noisy. "I've got it!" she exclaimed after a few minutes, making me jump. I glanced at her when she didn't say anything more and saw her grinning at me. More specifically she had turned herself around in her seat till she was facing me and staring at me. It was rather scary.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I raised an eyebrow and tried to shrink away from her.

"I need you to interrogate Roger Davies for information about what he's got his team doing on Friday" She was still grinning.

"Oh yeah, like he's going to give it to me" I rolled my eyes.

"You're head girl... you have your own common room with him... I'm sure you could work something out" She nudged me and winked. My face turned red.

"No way Ange... I'm not doing your dirty work... and I don't like Roger anymore" I sighed.

"Ew you used to?" Fred said from behind me, obviously listening to our conversation.

"Yeah... you knew that... you used pick on me about it all the time" I rolled my eyes.

"Oh yeah... I guess I just pushed it to the back of my mind because it was so disgusting" He shrugged. I raised an eyebrow and started to turn around. I found Ange still staring expectantly at me.

"Please Avery..." She begged.

I sighed. I couldn't say no could I?

"Oh alright, I'll go find Roge at lunch and ask him a few questions" I sighed, giving in to her puppy dog look.

"Don't be scared to use your womanly wiles on him if need be" She winked. I slapped her arm.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Fred stab the pillow he was supposed to be banishing violently. He was also scowling. Wonder what all that was about?

At lunch I asked around for Roger and was surprised to find he was actually in the Heads Common's anyway. If I didn't know any better I'd say Angelina knew he'd be there. I muttered the password to the portrait of the Lion and the Raven that was situated at the back of the Great Hall and went in.

I found Roger sitting on one of the couches, surrounded by bits of parchment that had complicated squiggles all over them. They looked like the same pieces of parchment that were often strewn around Angelina's room right before a game.

"Hey Roger" I smiled and took a seat on the couch next to him.

"Oh hey Avery, how are you?" He looked up and smiled at me. I smiled back, unable to think for a minute.

Roger Davies would have to be one of the best looking guys in all of Hogwarts. Tall, dark and handsome were three words often used to describe him. He had lovely tanned skin which made his jade green eyes stand out a mile. His teeth were white and straight and his smile seemed to show them all at once, which was a good thing because he was always smiling.

Best thing of all was he was also a nice guy. Which are so hard to find these days... It was just a bonus that he was also incredibly tall and incredibly built. The kind of built that makes girls bite their lips and think things that would make even a whore blush.

"I'm alright, thought I'd get some peace and quiet over lunch to do some homework but it looks like you beat me too it" I chuckled.

"Yeah, I needed to concentrate on this Quidditch stuff" He smiled, gesturing to the parchment around us. I picked up a piece with random squiggles on it.

"This looks so complicated!" I stared at the little squiggled moving around the page.

"Hey! No sabotage!" He laughed, pulling the paper from my fingers. He looked around for a place to put it, couldn't find anywhere so he sat on it.

"Oh don't worry, I have no idea how the game works" I laughed. "Your secret plays are completely safe with me"

I crossed my fingers behind my back.

"But your friends are pretty much the entire Gyrffindor team" He laughed. "How can you not know?"

"No one's ever bothered to teach me" I shrugged. That was a total lie. Fred tried to teach me every summer... it just never stuck. "Doesn't matter though. It looks so complicated"

"No it's really not!" He grinned, scooting down the couch and pulling the papers with him. He started to explain everything to me, from beater hits to chaser plays. Most of it went over my head, but as long as I remembered things like 'wonski feint' and 'Hawks Head formation' and Ange would be happy.

After he explained everything to me he smiled expectantly. "And that's the game"

"You realise half that stuff went in one ear and out the other right?"

He chuckled and stood up. "Maybe when you watch us play on Saturday you'll understand it better" He smiled.

"Only team I'll be watching is Gryffindor" I smirked good naturedly.

"Yeah yeah, lets go back to class before you start something you won't win... Like the game OH SNAP!" He ruffled my hair. I laughed and looked at my watch. It was indeed time to go back to class. Where has the time gone?

"Did you get it?" Angelina raced up to me outside of transfiguration.

I hushed her and handed her a piece of parchment. "This is all I remember him talking about ok?" I looked around, worried because Roger was also in this class. I didn't want him knowing I'd given his secrets to the opposition.

"Thanks so much A.V.!" Ange squealed. "Did you get to use your womanly wiles?" She winked, shaking her hips at the same time.

"Avery doesn't have womanly wiles" Fred said from behind me. He attacked my ribs and tickled me. I giggled uncontrollably. "She's too cute and innocent to have them" He winked at me

My face reddened and I rolled my eyes, stepping away from his hands. Annabelle sat next to me again.

"Are you still going to talk to Fred for me?" she said quietly. Obviously she'd seen our little display and taken it the wrong way.

"Of course" I smiled and nodded. Her face instantly brightened.

"Awesome. Thanks Avery, you're such a good friend" She gushed and pulled out her notes.

I sighed and glanced behind me. Fred was laughing at something George had said. His whole face was alive with energy.

Oh wow.

I sighed. I wanted to go to the dance with him. He turned and glanced at me, catching me staring. He winked and grinned at me. I blushed and turned back to the front.

So what my best friend looked totally hot now... he was still Fred Weasley right, my best friend. Nothing could happen... right?

Plea's Note:

Ok it is. Things are getting interesting now aren't they ;)

Thanks again to everyone who reviewed last time... especially flyingcrispi (number one reviewer 3). also i want to thank the anon reviewer called Christine. Thank you SO much for your kind words, they mean a lot to me seeing as how I was so nervous about posting this story. I lost alot of confidence in myself and my writing recently (hence why i have SO many stories just lying around) and I never thought I would get this one off the ground. I know what you mean about the stories that go nowhere... I'm aiming to keep this fresh and new (i mean obviously it may be hard since i'm also a teenage girl and c'mon, doesn't everyone like a little cliche now and then ;)

As always, the next one will be out soon.

xo
plea