The Elder Twin
I hadn't meant to forget Angie's birthday, I really didn't. But that morning when I woke up, it was to George's smelly foot in my face. The realization that he must have somehow shifted a hundred and eight degrees in his sleep did not come to me until I was fully awake, so at the moment I thought he was just being cheeky. Grabbing the foot, I threw it as hard as I could to the other side of the bed. The foot fell to the ground followed by the rest of my twin's body. I snickered as he hit the floor with a loud "Ow!"
This woke him up instantly and he immediately got out his wand and pointed it at me.
"Aguamenti!" he said with a gleam in his eye. I tried to get out of bed quick enough to dodge the jet of cold water that came from his wand, but my legs were tangled in my sheets and I got hit with the full blast.
George was laughing as he fled the room, still in his pajamas. Rolling my eyes, I got quickly changed before running after him. Tearing around the house shouting charms, jinxes, and spells at each other. Mum finally woke up and shouted at us, telling George to get dressed and then for both of us to play around outside.
Afraid of our mother's wrath, George did what she said meekly and I went to wait for him outside, twirling my wand with a load of self-confidence. When he returned a minute later, I did not wait for him to send a charm my way before I sent a jinx at him. He retaliated quickly, and I admired his skill not for the first time. We went at this for a while and apparently our shouts woke up Ginny for she joined us after a while, shifting sides so quickly we never knew which one she'd be on next.
After a couple hours of this we all grew hungry (a rigorous morning of casting spells and stuff as well as dodging them can do that to you), and so we trooped indoors. We were all laughing and breathless from our fun and so at first I did not notice Angie standing there looking rather peeved. George swallowed.
"Uh-oh," he said.
I tried to lighten the mood by pulling my face into a most ridiculous mournful look. "What'd we do now?" I asked miserably, hoping to create a smile.
I got none. Instead she just looked even more irritated. I thought I saw her lips twitch for a second, but that proved to be wishful thinking for her face grew stubbornly hard as it does when she's trying to make a point.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" she asked, sighing slightly as all she got were blank stares from us. I scrambled to think of what we had apparently forgotten. My brain was coming up with nothing. Ginny spoke up from behind us.
"Who forgot what?" she asked, speaking my mind. I glanced sidelong at George but he looked just as clueless as me. Angie looked incredulous (it made her look rather cute, actually). When she did not elaborate, I could almost hear Ginny's exasperated roll of eyes.
"What?" she asked impatiently.
Angie huffed in annoyance. "And you call yourselves my friends!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration. George blinked and glanced helplessly at me. I shrugged, not seeing what she was getting at but feeling rather annoyed by the fact that she was suggesting we weren't her friends for some reason.
"We are your friends, Angie," I said with a confused frown, trying hard to keep the irritation out of my voice. That she could even think that we weren't was ludicrous. She crossed her arms and scowled. I blinked. She still looked cute (she always did, it was rather unfair really), but now scarily so.
"Words!" she cried, and I was surprised by her vehement tone.
"What in the world are you talking about, Angela?" Ginny demanded. And I felt very akin to her at that moment. She had torn the words right out of my mouth.
"Yeah, what she said," I added, jerking my thumb over at my younger sister, who was resembling a rather red tomato at the moment. George nodded quickly, just as confused as the rest of us were. I continued to wrack my brain for the answer, feeling like Professor Umbridge had just given us a pop quiz.
"Humph," said Angie, turning and walking back to the stairs. I stared dumbfounded after her, wondering if she was going to torture us by never giving us the answer. But once she got at the foot of the stairs, she turned and glared at all of us, her normally sparkling light green eyes smoldering.
"Fine then," she said angrily and I could tell that she was trying to keep her temper. "Since you guys obviously have better things on your mind, I'll just go celebrate my birthday by myself."
My jaw dropped to the floor. George gave a strangled yelp, and Ginny's eyes blazed as she gave a loud "HA!" She glared furiously at us.
"What?" I yelped, still stunned that I had forgotten Angie's birthday.
"Unbelievable," she said, shaking her head in disgust.
"You forgot too!" George pointed out rather childishly. However I nodded in agreement. She was in no position to pass judgment on us.
"I have a good excuse!" said Ginny, her brown eyes flashing very much like Mum's. It was rather unsettling.
"Oh yeah?" I challenged. "And what is that exactly?" I crossed my arms and frowned down at her.
Her mouth opened and then closed again, her eyes blazing angrily. Turning suddenly, she flounced out of the room and up the stairs like the spoiled princess she was. I rolled her eyes. It was only after she left when panic set in. I turned to George.
"Bloody hell!" I cried, adopting Ron's favorite curse. "It's Angie's birthday! How could we have forgotten something like that? We're blithering idiots!"
"Hey! Speak for yourself," George said, frowning.
"You saying you remembered?"
There was silence. When no one spoke my brain started thinking of what I could give Angie for her birthday. Regular Wizard Wheezes seemed too cheap. No, I wanted to do something really special. She deserved it. Angie had been through a lot of stuff the past few years, and she needed so much more than that ferret Malfoy could give her. With an inward sigh I often hoped she would realize that soon.
I wondered vaguely if Ginny would know what I could get her. However I knew I would need to get up there before George did, otherwise he was sure to try to one up me. Suddenly I saw a light go off in George's head and I knew he was thinking the exact same thing. We exchanged a glance . . . and then we were running as fast as we could toward the stairs, pushing and shoving and knocking one another down.
I reached the door first and knocked quickly before George could. He scowled at me from his place on the floor where I had left him. I heard Angie's voice calling me inside and I opened the door, poking my head in slowly. As soon as I saw Angie I immediately felt sheepish. I saw Ginny and gestured to her rather frantically.
"Can I talk to you for a second?" I asked, glancing at Angie and then giving Ginny my best pleading look. Gin rolled her eyes and slid off her place on Angie's bed, coming outside into the hallway. I shut the door behind her and then unleashed my predicament on her.
"Please Ginny; I need to know what to get Angie for her birthday."
She raised an eyebrow. "You're the lover boy," she scoffed. "Figure it out yourself."
George snickered but I scowled, not appreciating her humor at this time of dire need. "Ginny, please help me!" I begged, getting down on my knees dramatically and grasping her hands. She snorted and pulled away.
"Your theatrics won't work on me, Fred," she told me. "I'm your sister, remember? I'm immune to your charm." She smirked.
I rolled my eyes yet stood, feeling rather defeated. She flounced back into the room and I was left with George. I stared at the door mournfully for a while before he cleared his throat. A light went off in my head and I turned on him, grabbing his shoulder.
"George, my old, wisest, and best friend," I began magnanimously. He blinked at me. "Surely you must know what I should get for Angie."
George looked at me incredulously for a moment, before sighing. "Well she's a Ravenclaw, so she likes books."
I considered this. "Right. So I should get her a book." I rubbed my chin thoughtfully.
"Her favorite is Pride and Prejudice," he offered after a moment with another almost silent sigh. I grinned and patted his shoulder encouragingly.
"You're on a good track here, Georgie. Keep going."
He frowned at his rather patronizing nickname but acquiesced without oral complaint.
"Her favorite part is where Mr. Darcy proposes to Lizzie and she's talking about why he likes her," my twin went on, a slight smile playing around his lips. Now I frowned . . . in confusion.
"Who?"
George gave me a look. I hastened to catch my slip-up.
"I mean, yeah. Darcy and Lizzie. Got it." I pursed my lips as I thought hard. This was all very good, but it needed something else. My stomach growled. Food! That was it! I would make her a picnic and then read to her. My eyes gleamed at the fabulous idea. Grabbing George's shoulder again I squeezed it lightly.
"An outdoor picnic, that's what I'll do. And I'll read to her out loud, so it'll be much more romantic. Help me get everything together," I told him. "Thanks little brother, this idea is fantastic!"
Punching his shoulder I took off down the stairs to ask Mum to make Angie some goodies. She seemed glad for something to do. Aunt Muriel complained about her rheumatism or something and went up to her room to pout at the lack of attention she was getting. I hovered over Mum's shoulder for a few minutes before she shooed me out of her kitchen with a loud racket. George looked amused.
"Now, about that book," I said, scratching my head as I thought. I gave a long-suffering sigh. "I suppose I'll have to go buy a copy." Wondering how I was going to get past the Protective Charm around the house, I did not notice George disappear before there was a loud crack and he was in front of me again, holding a book out to me.
I blinked in surprise and took the book. Turning it over revealed the title written in gold embossed letters on the cover: Pride and Prejudice. I gaped at it a moment before looking up at George.
"When did you get this?" I demanded, frowning skeptically.
He shrugged and avoided my gaze, which was not like George at all. I grew suspicious.
"George?" I asked, demanding an explanation.
"It's a good book," he said, shifting slightly on his feet.
"It's a girl book."
He shrugged again. Ashamed of my brother's reading habits, I gave him a despairing look and then made my escape out the back door where I set everything up for the picnic. Once everything was looking picture perfect and romantic, I ran upstairs and ran a comb through my hair, trying my best to look presentable. This was Angie after all. My heart gave an uncharacteristic flutter at the thought of spending a romantic afternoon with her outside. At least, I hoped it would be romantic.
I walked over to her room and knocked firmly. The door was opened shortly afterwards and I was greeted with a relieved Angie. She grinned slightly when she saw me and my confidence shot up ten decibels.
"Yes Fred? Did you want something?"
I glanced at Ginny and she gave me a look, gesturing for me to hurry up and say what I wanted to say. Angie glanced at her and she quickly placed her hands behind her back with an angelic look. I resisted the urge to snort a laugh at the ridiculous notion that Ginny could be in any way angelic. When Angie turned to me once more, I gave her a grandiloquent bow.
"With your permission," I began in as impressive a voice as I could muster. "I would like to escort the birthday girl to a marvelous picnic set up for a certain occasion outside." I held out my hand to her and tried to ignore Ginny's snicker. Yeah, angelic was not a word I would use to describe her.
Angie placed her hand in mine and I immediately felt a tingling sensation fly up my arm. "You have my permission, kind sir," she said, playing along. I grinned brightly and tucked her hand around my arm as I led her downstairs as though she was the Queen of England herself. George was standing near the door and for some reason he did not look very happy. I wondered if he was sore because I was not including him in on the picnic.
"What's wrong with George?" Angie asked curiously, and for some reason I felt somewhat annoyed that she seemed concerned for him when I was the one giving her a surprise.
"What? Oh he's just sore because I told him he couldn't join us," I said, giving her an impish grin so she would know not to worry. She raised her eyebrows and I knew another question was coming that I most likely would not want to answer.
"Why—"
I cut her off by stopping and placing my hand on her shoulder, pointing over it to the spot where I had set up the picnic. I could not see her face from where I stood, so I walked to her side and glanced over at her. I was pleased to see a smile spreading across her beautiful face. She caught sight of the book almost instantly as I led her too the blanket I had spread out and she snatched it up off the ground immediately.
"Pride and Prejudice?" she exclaimed. "This is one of my most favorite books!" She looked at me over the object and I could tell I was grinning obnoxiously wide for my face was starting to hurt. I reached over and took the book from her, flipping through the pages while I tried to find the part that George had talked about. When I noticed she had not started eating, I looked over at the food with a pointed look.
"Eat up," I told her. "And I will read aloud to you."
She raised an eyebrow skeptically even as she lowered herself down onto the blanket. "You reading Jane Austen? I thought you were a Gryffindor." She smirked and I gave her a playful glare.
"Stop ruining my attempt at a romantic birthday picnic," I scolded her, before realizing I had just given away the fact that I wanted to be romantic. It took all my will power not to blush. I hated blushing. It was so . . . unmanly.
"Romantic?" she asked incredulously and my heart sank just a tad at her tone. She was completely ruining the mood and I hastened to remedy it.
"Romantic," I repeated firmly, sitting down next to her and continuing to look through the book. Angie watched me warily as she ate one of the strawberry tarts. The smell made my stomach growl, but I concentrated on finding that elusive scene in the bloody book.
Finally I found the part George had told me about and I started reading. I don't think I got the attitude quite right because after a while she started laughing. I lowered the book slightly and frowned at her.
"I don't see what you're so hysterical about," I said with an indignant sniff. I could not help but laugh with her though, after a moment. Her laugh was contagious.
"Yeah, I didn't understand a word they were saying anyway," I said, shrugging and setting the book aside before spreading myself out next to the food and eating several tarts myself. She grinned slightly and I grinned back, my teeth stained red I was sure once I saw her smile widen. She reached for a small cake and ate it slowly. I watched her.
I had not noticed before, but when she tilted her head that way her neck looked very delicate and smooth. Argh, why did she have to be so bloody cute? She looked over at me and my hands started to get sweaty, although I had to resist a smile. She had some jam on her cheek.
"Thanks Fred," she said. "For all of this."
I smiled tenderly. "You're welcome, Angie." My guard had fallen and it must have shown for her gaze faltered and she looked away. I frowned slightly in disappointment but continued to watch her. The pulse on her neck was beating out and in a rather hard and fast manner, although her breathing remained the same. I wanted to lean forward and press my mouth to that pulsating spot, but I knew I couldn't. Not until she was ready. However I did lean forward in order to wipe off the jam with my finger. For some reason she blushed slightly and that surprised me. I wiped my finger off on the blanket.
"I would have kept it there for you to find later," I told her with a teasing grin. "But I doubted you would want to show up for your surprise party with jam on your face."
She started. "Surprise party?" she asked curiously. I grimaced. I wasn't supposed to say anything about that. Oh well.
"Oh, I guess it's not much of a surprise now, is it?" I said indifferently. She just looked at me. I shrugged. "When we're done out here, I'm supposed to take you inside where Mum and Dad and Ginny and them are waiting for us with a cake for you and some presents and stuff."
"So this was all just a distraction," she said flatly, gesturing to the picnic.
I frowned deeply. "No," I said firmly. "This was my birthday present to you. I wanted to give you something extra special." I grinned hesitantly.
Thankfully she smiled, easing my worry that she would be offended for some reason (girls got offended over the daftest things). "It is special," she said. "Thank you."
I grinned again and then went for the rest of the food. I knew Mum would scold me for ruining my appetite (and Angie's for that matter), but a picnic without food was pointless. Once we finished, I took out my wand and set things to cleaning themselves up, and handed the book to Angie. I took her hand and helped her up and walked her back toward the house, keeping a firm hold of her. Thankfully she did not pull away.
I was surprised to feel her slender hand give mine a light squeeze just before we entered the house. I grinned inwardly and tightened my grip. As soon as we entered the kitchen, we were showered with confetti and streamers as everyone shouted a hefty "Happy Birthday" to the birthday girl. I was not surprised in the least to see that Mum had gone all out with the birthday cake. It was her biggest one yet.
Thus followed the presents and Angie exclaimed delightedly over every one. (Even Dad's old Muggle clock that didn't even run. What's up with that Dad? Seriously. Sheesh.) Muriel gave her stockings (of course). George came forward after the old biddy and I wondered what he had thought up to give her during our absence. It turned out it was just some Wizard Wheezes, but he said they were specially made. Instantly began badgering him, asking him what he had made. He did not answer me. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I was not able to punctuate my interrogation with torture for Mum brought the cake out.
After cake (it was delicious of course) we all kinda went to do our own things. Angie went to read, and I dragged George upstairs to interrogate him further.
"Come on, you can tell your own twin," I said, resorting to begging at this point, since George's will was suddenly like a solid, red brick wall.
He pinched his lips in a straight line. "You had your 'special time' without me. Now I want to give her something special without you." He said.
"Awww, but that's not fair!" I said, frowning piteously in a look that George had never been able to resist before now. However he suddenly seemed to gain immunity against it and he remained tight-lipped (pun intended unsympathetically).
"Fine then," I said, scowling. "Keep your bloody secrets. You know you'll tell me eventually." I punched him irritably. It was hard to keep a secret from your twin for any long period of time. His lips twitched slightly and I knew he was breaking.
"Yes, George?" I grinned. "You wanted to tell me something?"
He frowned suddenly and sighed in exasperation. Giving me a solid punch in the shoulder, he walked out of the room. I rubbed the sore spot and wondered when George had gotten so touchy. Rolling my eyes, I drew out my wand and tapped it on my chin, contemplating new Wheezes and thinking that the day had gone very well.
Reviews give me the warm fuzzies. Next up, George's POV! :-D
