Chapter Eight

"Angelina, are you sure this necklace goes with my outfit?" Alicia asked Angelina holding the necklace up to her outfit and then to her neck.

Angelina let out an annoyed sigh. "Yes, for the third time, Alicia!" She lay sprawled across her bed reading a Quidditch Monthly magazine.

"I'm sorry, Angelina, just asking." Alicia said, although not saying the least bit concerned in anything but her necklace and her outfit.

The two were getting ready to go to Hogsmeade weekend with their group of friends although this time it was going to be a lot different. Alicia was going with her boyfriend since fourth year, George. Their friend Katie was going with Lee because as it turns out, when Lee found out about Fred and Angelina he decided to 'move on' with Katie. And now, Fred and Angelina were 'hanging out' but it wasn't a date. It was all so Fred could make it up to his best girl mate after ignoring her for another girl.

Although Angelina agreed to the outing, and was at first excited for it, she already knew what was going to happen: they would stay in Zonko's joke shop for three hours with George and Alicia; Fred would go on about how fit Patricia Stimpson was and jump on her if she even mentioned Oliver Wood at all. It wasn't going to be a great night.

Unlike Alicia and Katie, who was in the fourth year dormitory getting ready, she had on the clothes that she was wearing that day, and wasn't putting on any make up for the day, along with her hair in a messy bun.

"Why don't you change?" Alicia asked her putting on make-up, eyeing Angelina in the reflection of the mirror.

"What's the point?" Angelina asked. "It's Fred. Why would I try to impress Fred? He's almost my brother."

"Why not, you never know what could happen tonight!" Alicia chirped in a sing-song voice.

"Oh I know exactly what's going to happen. Why are you wearing a skirt?" Angelina observed Alicia's black miniskirt, and her stockings.

"Why not wear it?" Alicia turned around and asked her.

Angelina flipped over from her position on the bed and exhaled. "Because it's freezing outside! Why not wear a pair of jeans?"

"Why not wear some makeup?" Alicia asked, as she went back to applying her makeup. Angelina threw a pillow at her and at an "OUCH!" smiled and went back to reading her magazine.

Meanwhile Fred, George and Lee were all waiting downstairs for the girls, sitting on the couch in silence. Lee felt as if it was unusual, while Fred and George glanced at each other grinning. Fred then began to grimace and sniff though the air like a bloodhound.

"Georgie, do you smell something?" He asked his brother. George then sniffed the air and blew the air in front of him.

"As a matter of fact I do, Fred." He eyed Lee, who was looking at the two of them as if they'd gone mad.

"It smells like tar!" Fred shouted.

"Oh wait, I know what it is!" George shouted along with him.

"So do I!" Fred added.

"It's Lee's perfume!" The twins said in unison, punching Lee who was in the middle of them.

Lee rolled his eyes and broke the twins off of him, and straightened out his shirt. He sat there in silence.

"Oooh, somebody's tense." Said George, poking him.

"Is somebody nervous?" Fred asked.

"No! It's just that before I heard that Katie used to fancy that seventh year Chris. He's mature. So now I'm mature." Lee said, in what seemed like his best Percy impression. The twins laughed at him.

"If you weren't going to talk then I would've suggested maturity years ago!" George sarcastically remarked.

"Yeah, why didn't you do this with Angelina? She likes Wood and he's mature." Fred said.

"Well, that's not something that I should be worrying about anymore." Lee stared right at Fred for a few moments.

"And…what are you going on about?" Fred obviously knew what was coming, however he was trying to avoid it the best he could by playing the guessing game.

"Okay, pretend as if you didn't know what's going to happen tonight!" Lee told him.

This, Fred had no clue about. "What's going to happen tonight?"

"How long must it take for girls to get ready?" Lee asked George, ignoring Fred.

"A little too long don't you think?" said George, looking at his watch.

"Yeah, I wonder what they're doing up there." Fred looked up in wonder, thinking of Angelina.

"I'll bet you do, Fred." Lee grinned feverishly. Fred slapped him on the back of the head as he and Lee playfully fought until they heard a voice.

"Hello, boys" Katie came downstairs and smiled at them all, but when she laid eyes on Lee her smile had suddenly gotten wider, and her fingers had suddenly become caught in her hair. She went over to Lee and gave him a hug as Lee gave her a peck on the lips.

"Oooh." The twins said in unison looking on and laughing. Lee had never kissed a girl before and there he was trying to play it off as if he had.

"What's that smell?" Fred sniffed the air. It smelled like a baby with excessive powder on its bum.

Katie looked up at Fred in Lee's arms. "It's my perfume."

Fred teasingly coughed and hacked, walking away from Katie. He ran into his brother Ron and his friend Hermione who was holding a cat that ran away as soon as Fred bumped into them.

"See? I told you that cat is evil! I bet it's allergic to my brother." Ron shouted at her.

"He is NOT allergic to Crookshanks, are you Fred?" Hermione intensely stared at him while Ron did the same, both trying to get their points across.

"He's not answerin' I told you!" Ron shouted at her. The two walked away as they began to loudly argue in the common room. Fred cautiously tiptoed away from the scene. Lee, Katie and George began to laugh.

"Look what you did!" Katie laughed.

"I did not do that!" Fred pointed to the two.

"Ron and Granger have been fighting ever since they got here this year." George told her.

"We think they either spend time together because they're friends with Harry" Fred said.

"Or they secretly fancy each other." The twins said in unison.

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time a Weasley was chickening out on a date." Lee stared at Fred.

"I don't know what you're talking about…" He looked over at the fireplace and all of a sudden he smelt more baby powder fragrance. Fred turned around and it was Alicia and Angelina. When the two came down the stairs, luckily Angelina wasn't the one smelling in fragrance, it was Alicia who ran up to George and gave him a hug and kisses. Angelina looked at Fred and then walked down from the dormitory, sharing an awkward smile with the twin. Angelina's thoughts were racing inside of her head:

I can't believe I let Fred talk me into this…Ugh; I'd rather have gone with Oliver. Look at Weasley smirk as I walk down…although I do love his smirk, it's quite cute actually…But Oliver's is cuter!

Meanwhile, Fred's thoughts were running through his head as well:

Well, this should be some date. Wait a minute—it's not a date. It's a get together between a girl and guy mate? Oh who am I kidding? It's a date isn't it? Or is it not? I don't know. Well, at least Angelina didn't put on that horrid perfume. She doesn't need it, or any makeup….She's beautiful the way she is…

Thoughts were racing inside of the two's head, until they both found when they stopped thinking they were standing two feet away from each other. The two smiled at each other, nervously.

"Hi Fred" Angelina looked up and smiled at him. Fred remembered the days when she used to be taller than him. Now in their fifth year he beat her out by a few inches.

"Hi Angie" Fred looked at her. "You look…nice."

Angelina laughed. "Thank you, I know the messy bun works for me, doesn't it?" She pointed to her hair.

"That doesn't matter…you look nice." Fred smiled at her.

"Thanks Fred" Angelina smiled a bit taken aback by his sincere ness.

Crowds of Gryffindor students suddenly went out of the portrait to leave for Hogsmeade, and it was the group's symbol that it was time to go. The walk to Hogsmeade was somewhat long and boring. Nobody in the group had really talked, and it was more kissing then talking. So when the kissing and snuggling came up, Fred and Angelina just stood together awkwardly again and stared at each other with a smile.

This is so boring, why can't Angie and I leave these lovebirds and be alone? Fred thought.

"Angie, I'm bored." Fred hung his head on Angelina's holding his arms around her. It was always his small little way of flirting with Angelina.

"Then why don't you get a hobby." Angelina mocked him, moving away from his arms although she was content with the position. Now that Fred was actually taller than her, whenever he'd wrap his arms around her it would feel warm, and he'd always smell nice.

"Fred, I'm cold."

"Well then it sucks to be you don't it?" Fred laughed at her walking on with the rest of the group. Angelina stopped for a moment and then picked up some snow and cupped it in her hands. The next thing that anyone saw was it going straight for Fred Weasley's head.

Fred turned around holding the back of his head and the snow.

"That's the way you want to play, hm?" Fred said menacingly. "Well, then so be it Johnson."

From where he was Fred picked up a lump of snow, balled it up carefully and then threw it straight at Angelina's face.

"Oh!" Angelina shrieked. The two faced each other, with slit eyes and a sly smile as if they were in a wizarding duel. Angelina slowly bent down and picked up a snowball, and then got back up holding it. Fred did the same and waited for the words.

"Ready?" Angelina said. "One, two—"

She felt snow on her face and shrieked again.

"That's it Fred!" Angelina pegged a snowball at him. Suddenly the two were in a snowball fight, hiding, dodging, ducking and laughing at each other as they hid from one another. Angelina had thrown the most balls, however Fred had dodged the most.

They were suddenly behind a rock breathless and laughing.

"Well, I see our quidditch skills have taught us well." Angelina joked. Fred looked behind the rock to see if anyone was there and saw most of the Slytherins and Draco Malfoy's group walking to Hogsmeade.

"Shh, Angie watch this." Fred whispered to her. Fred quickly made a snowball and then threw it at Draco. Angelina couldn't stifle her laughter.

Draco looked around frantically.

"Who was that?!" Draco asked. He turned to his friends/bodyguards Crabbe and Goyle, they unknowingly shrugged.

Fred threw another at Draco, this time when he was walking away. He turned around to see who it was.

"Who are you?!" Draco asked the air. "I'll report you to Professor Snape!"

"No need to worry, Draco." Fred heard the potions professor and Slytherin teacher Snape say. It was awfully close sounding while Draco's angry voice was distant.

"Er—Fred…" Angelina quivered. She poked her red haired friend.

"No, Angie I want to hear what the old bat has to say." Fred laughed. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and it wasn't Angelina's.

"I've found them." Fred looked up and it was Professor Snape who had found them behind the rocks.

"Miss Johnson and Mister Weasley, I think you'll be a fine installment in detention." Snape sneered at them.

Fred and Angelina walked with Snape back to school grounds where he had sent them to Professor Binns's room to stay with all of the other kids.

"You two will stay in here until the other students get back. You have no right to ruin another child's time fifty points from Gryffindor, each!" Snape shut the door behind him.

Fred and Angelina had taken seats right next to each other at the very top of the classroom.

"I'm sorry, Angie." Fred said to Angelina. She looked at him.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because we were supposed to have fun today and I ruined it for you." Angelina looked at her friend and started laughing. Not a giggle, but the type of laugh where she threw her head back and started shrilly laughing. People around them started staring at them while Professor Binns kept snoring.

Angelina put her head back up and breathlessly said, "Bloody hell that was fun! The only fun we've had all day!"

Fred smiled at her. And he turned away and looked at the board for a moment.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked him.

Suddenly he recited his quote from four years ago, "A good friend helps you out of detention while a best friend is in detention with you laughing saying bloody hell that was fun!"

"Yeah, and?" Angelina asked.

"Angie, this is where we met!" Angelina's face was blank. "Don't you remember?"

It took Angelina a moment.

"Oh yes! We were both stuck in detention together because I fell asleep and you were passing notes! I hated you so much back then; I can't believe how things have really changed." Angelina smiled at him.

Fred felt warm inside looking into her eyes, knowing that things after that had changed. And that they were now best mates, and maybe something more.

"What do you say we get out of here, Angie?" Fred asked her.

"Where would we go?" Angelina asked in a whisper.

"I'll show you, let's just leave!" Fred told her, already moving down the stairs. Angelina followed confused to the door where Fred let her do the honors.

"Alohamora!" Angelina pointed her wand at the door, and the charm had suddenly unlocked it sending kids out of the door and Professor Binns suddenly waking up.

"Huh? What's going on? Is detention over?" Professor Binns asked the two.

They looked at each other, laughed and said "Yes" in unison, leaving.

"Now come on! I'm going to show you something wicked!" Fred took Angelina's hand as he guided her out of the castle.