Chapter 9: So Close

Angelina smiled and clapped as Fred kissed Katie. She wasn't mad at all. Alicia was right, as usual, she thought. Umbridge was screaming her head off at Fred and Katie, but they just ignored her. Angelina smiled and turned to Lee, George, and Alicia. "Come on," she said. "They aren't going to surface for a while."

George and Lee just laughed while Alicia rolled her eyes and followed Angelina out. "It took them long enough," Alicia mumbled.

Angelina rolled her eyes. "It's Katie. What did you expect?"

"Well, if you girls are down talking I'm going to borrow Alicia for a while," Lee said before grabbing Alicia's hand and pulling her down the hall. Alicia went red, but followed Lee anyway.

"She was mumbling Lee in her sleep wasn't she?" Angelina asked as they left.

George laughed. "How'd you guess?"

"Because I shared a dorm with her for almost seven years, I think I can tell when she likes someone," Angelina replied.

George smiled and slung his arm around her shoulders. "Should we wait for the lovebirds or go on?"

Just then there was a shout from behind them, "George! George!"

They both turned around and saw Fred running towards them. "George, you don't mind me going to Hogsmeade with Katie, right?" Fred asked.

"'Course not," George replied. "Go ahead."

"Thanks, mate!" Fred said before running back to Katie who was standing at the entrance of the Great Hall.

"Shall we?" he asked.

"Of course," she replied.

"Do you think Alicia and Lee will be in Hogsmeade?" George asked.

"Probably," Angelina said. "I'm not positive."

Suddenly George grabbed her arm and pulled her into the storeroom of Honeydukes. "This isn't exactly the most romantic place to kiss a girl, you know," Angelina said, looking around.

"What?" George asked. "No, I just saw Fred and Katie. I don't want them to think we're spying on them."

"Oh, right," Angelina mumbled, feeling embarrassed.

"Of course, I could kiss you if you wanted," George said.

"Oh, move over," Angelina said, rolling her eyes. She pushed past him and peeked out the door. She saw Fred and Katie paying for their things and walking out of the shop.

"Is it clear?" George asked.

"Yep," Angelina replied, slipping out of the storeroom. George followed her. "Remind me why we were hiding from them again?"

"Because, Angie dear, Fred would have thought that I was spying on him," George said.

"I would say that he should have a little more faith you, but that is something you would do." Angelina said. George gave her a cheeky grin.

"Angelina! There you are!" Alicia said, making her way over to them.

"I wonder where Lee is," George mumbled to her.

Angelina just nodded. "I didn't know if you would be here or not," Alicia said. "Hi, George."

"Alicia, it's good to see you, too," George said. "I'm doing fine, thanks for asking. How are you?"

"I saw you this morning, I don't think I need to ask how you're doing," Alicia replied.

"The gesture would have been nice," he said.

"Where's Lee?" Angelina asked.

"Oh, I thought I saw Fred and Katie in here, but it was just you two," Alicia told her. "Lee's at Zonko's."

"We taught him so well," George said, putting a hand to his heart and wiping away a fake tear.

"Not in my opinion," Alicia said. "If you would put half as much time into your studies as you do your pranking then you would have 'O' on all of your O.W.L.s."

"I've heard the speah," George said, rolling his eyes.

"So did anything happen?" Angelina asked, nudging Alicia's arm.

"No," Alicia said.

"Are you sure about that?" Angelina asked.

"Yes," Alicia huffed. "Anyways, I came to ask you guys if you wanted to come with us to Three Broomsticks?"

"Sure," Angelina answered. "If that's alright with you?"

"Fine by me," George said.

They walked outside and went over to Zonko's to find Lee. "There you are," they heard him say from behind them.

"I told you I went to get Angelina and George," Alicia said.

"I thought it was Fred and Katie?" Lee asked.

"I made a mistake," Alicia said, rolling her eyes.

"How do you mistake Katie for Angelina?!" Lee asked.

"Her eye sight is awful! I mean really how could you mistake me for Fred?" George said.

They all laughed before walking out of Zonko's and heading to the Three Broomsticks. When they arrived the place was packed. Looking around for an empty seat, Angelina spot on in the middle of the room. "Guys I see one!" she said, moving swiftly over to it.

The others followed her. After getting their drinks, Lee spoke, "So what brings you two out here? I thought you'd be back at the castle."

"How could I resist coming to Hogsmeade?" George asked.

"You can sneak into Hogsmeade whenever you feel like it," Angelina said.

"Yeah, but you don't get to walk through the gates and nearly freeze to death," he replied.

"It's not that cold," Alicia said.

"Yeah, it's like 60," Angelina said.

"That's cold," George said.

"No, it's not," both girls said at the same time.

"I asked why you came down here not about how cold it was," Lee said. "What about you, Ange?"

"I don't sneak out with the twins, so I had a good reason to come," she said.

"Right," Lee said.

"Well, I don't. . . .all the time," Angelina said. "Most of the time."

"We didn't you bring me with you?!" Alicia asked.

"No offense, but you kind of ruin the mood," Angelina said.

"We shouldn't be doing this," George mimicked.

"What if we get in trouble," Lee whined.

"I get it!" Alicia said. "Some of the stuff you do is really bad though."

"That's the point," Angelina said.

"Yeah, it wouldn't be fun if we weren't breaking the rules," George said.

"You can do fun stuff without breaking the rules," Alicia insisted.

"When you think of a reason let me know," George said.

George, Angelina, Alicia, and Lee walked out of the Three Broomsticks laughing. "Merlin, I need to get back to the castle," Alicia said. "I need to finish my Potions easy."

"I'll go with you," Lee piped up. "See ya, George, Ange."

"Are you ready for an adventure, Ange?" George asked.

"An adventure? Do I even want to know?" Angelina asked.

"Come on," George said, grabbing her hand. "It'll be fun."

George's hand was warm around Angelina's. It felt nice. A warm feeling settled in her stomach as she was pulled along. "George, the castle is the other way," Angelina said as they ran toward the other end of Hogsmeade.

"I haven't given away all my secrets, Ange," George said.

They ran up a hill and stopped at the top. George let go of her hand and it felt cold. Her stomach automatically lost that warm feeling. Angelina found her voice again. "Why are we at the Shrieking Shack? I'm not going in there."

"Don't worry, I'm right here," George said. He grabbed her hand again and started pulling her down to the shack. Angelina didn't protest and hid the smile that was threatening to spill over on her face. When they reached the entrance, George pushed the creaking door open and stepped inside. Angelina stepped inside. George let go of her hand and she looked around. There was a very disordered, dusty room. Paper was peeling off the walls; there were stains all over the floor; every piece of furniture was broken, as though somebody had smashed it. The windows were all boarded up making the whole place look darker than it really was.

There was a slamming sound behind her and Angelina jumped. She whirled around to see George closing the door. "Relax," he said. "It's not that scary."

"George, why did you shut the door?" Angelina asked. "I don't like it in here. It's supposed to be the most haunted building in Britain."

"I know," he said. "Trust me it's really cool."

"No, it's not," Angelina said. "Can we just leave?"

"Weren't you the one talking about having fun earlier?" George asked.

"I didn't mean in the Shrieking Shack!" Angelina yelled.

"Shh you might wake the ghosts," he teased.

"George, please, let's just go," she pleaded.

"Don't be s a spoil sport," he replied, walking past her. Angelina scampered after him. They went around the base of the stairs where he stopped. There was a loud thud. Angelina jumped and grabbed George's arm.

"George, let's get out of here," she said, looking up at him.

He smiled down at her and put his arm around her. "Relax, I promise nothing is going to hurt you."

Angelina sighed and relaxed. "Why did you bring me here again?"

"I wanted to show you this," George said. He moved away from her and revealed a secret passage. Angelina quickly moved into the passage; George followed behind her.

"Where does this come out at?" Angelina asked.

"You'll see," George said. The farther they got into the tunnel the more earthy it got. It looked like there were tree roots above them. They could see light pouring in from a hole up above. George stopped and Angelina walked right into him falling back onto the ground.

"You alright?" he asked, offering his hand.

"Yeah," Angelina said, taking his hand and pulling herself up. "Where are we?"

"You have to run out of here, alright?" George said. "As fast as you can."

"Why?" she asked.

"On the count of three," he said.

"George-"

"One."

"Why-"

"Two."

"Do we-"

"Three!"

George grabbed her hand and started running. If Angelina didn't have long legs, she wouldn't have been able to keep up with George's strides. He moved quickly and they were half way up to the castle before he stopped. Angelina looked back and saw the Womping Willow thrashing around for the person who dared come near it. She heard George laughing next to her. "You!" she seethed. "You could have killed me!" She started to whack him in the chest.

"The look on your face!" George said between laughs. He grabbed her wrists to prevent her from doing any real damage to him and pulled her close to him. At this point, Angelina was laughing too. When they stopped laughing, the mood became serious. Angelina realized how close they were and that George's hands had slipped down to her waist. She suddenly felt hot like she was on fire.

"We should get up to the castle," Angelina said.

"Yeah," George said, dropping his hands from her waist.

The walk back to the castle was silent, both being lost in their own thoughts. Angelina looked at his hand she wanted to reach out and grab it, but she didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable. Slowly she slipped her hand closer to his. Suddenly a voice called out, "George!" Angelina jerked her hand away.

They both turned around to see a sixth year Ravenclaw running toward them with her long brown hair whipping behind her. "It is George, right?" she asked when she reached them.

"Yep," George replied smiling. "What can I help you with?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date with me?" she asked.

"I'll leave you two alone," Angelina said, backing away.

George looked like he wanted to say something to her, but she just turned and walked away. Angelina made her way back to Gryffindor Tower thinking of ways to murder the pretty Ravenclaw. There was hanging her. Cutting her head off with a knife. She hand thought of fifteen different ways by the time she reached the Fat Lady. She mumbled the password and walked inside. Flopping down on the couch, she imagined what it would be like if she were the one asking George out and not that stupid Ravenclaw.

Just then the portrait hole burst open and George came in panting. Angelina looked up and raised her eyebrows. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"You. . . .ran away. . . .to fast," he panted.

"Shouldn't you be with what's her name?" Angelina asked.

"No. . . .I. . . .don't. . .like her," George said.

"She sure seemed to like you," Angelina said, turning to look at the fire.

George made his way over and sat down next to her. "Angelina. . . .I don't like her."

Angelina turned to look at George. She leaned in a bit and George came closer to her. Just as their lips were about to meet a voice said, "I don't mean to intrude, but you know you can take that to the dormitory."

Angelina jumped away from George and stood up. "Right. . . . .er. . .See you later, George," she quickly hurried up the staircase to her dorm.