CHAPTER 25: REALITY STINKS

Analese watched as Oliver's expression changed from shock to rage to disappointment. "Sorry to disappoint you, Oliver." she whispered, her emerald orbs stinging with tears.

She stood quickly, feeling dread fall on her like a heavy blanket. At full speed, Analese ran to her dorm and dropped her mentally exhausted body onto her bed. Tears like diamonds flowed down her flushed cheeks. The look in Oliver's eyes would haunt her for years to come.

Ella saw the tears streaking down her sister's face. She turned around and faced Fred.

"Go, she needs you." His face was coated with seriousness.

"Thanks, Fred." Ella gave him one more kiss before following her sister. She began to wonder what had gone wrong. "Pae, are you alright?" she slowly opened the door to find Analese curled up in a ball underneath the covers. Her face was buried in a tearstained pillow.

"Pae?" Ella grabbed a bar of chocolate and climbed under the covers next to her sister. "Want some chocolate?" The bar was waved under her nose before Ella pulled Analese in for a hug. "Want to tell me what happened?"

"I disappointed him." the older girl whispered, her voice thick with tears. "I was fooling myself, thinking any guy would ever like me."

"Don't say that!" Ella exclaimed. "If he doesn't realize how amazing you are," she broke off a piece of chocolate, "he must be blind, deaf, and stupid." She held the shaking girl as she devoured the bit of chocolate and reached out for more.

Not waiting for Ella to hand over more of her one non-living true love, Analese snatched the whole bar. Tearing off the wrapping, she shoved the entire thing into her mouth.

"How could he, or anyone else for that matter, think of me like that?" the redhead was doubtful, but a bit calmer. "I'm temperamental and a tomboy and I never know when to shut up."

"No, sweetie, you have spunk, and lots of it." Ella countered comfortingly. "You stand up for what you believe in, you're athletic and into sports. You're smart, strong, tough, clever, funny, nice, but not always." this comment made the redhead smile slightly. "You're respectful when it's deserved, you're brave, modest, loyal, caring, talented. And my favorite quality, Lese, you're unique, individualized, yourself." Ella could think of a lot more, but she getting side-tracked. "The list goes on and on. The point is that you, Analese Lilyanna Evans, have so many good qualities that one or two imperfections can't make a difference."

"Well, it does, for Oliver." the fifteen year old girl muttered.

"Will you listen to this, then?" Ella sighed.

"Alright, sis, I'm all ears." she gave a small watery smile.

"Just remember this: Upon the wings of our destiny fall the tears of our reality." the younger girl stated sincerely.

"Now, that is inspired, genuine, and original," Analese said as she sat up and grabbed another bar of chocolate.

"Thanks, I wrote it myself. Looks like the endorphins are kicking in." Ella half-smiled as a few small sniffles escaped from the fifth year, and she shoved the next Wonka Fudge-mellow Delight into her black hole for chocolate. "I guess it's kind of hard to cry and swallow a chocolate bar whole at the same time."

The third year felt a burning glare from the ball of fire next her. "Come on though, I really think that if Oliver is that stupid, you should just try to move on… or get revenge."

Analese didn't hear the last few words due to the fact that all that was left in her trunk were various chocolate wrappers.

"We're out of chocolate?!" the girls' exclamation was so loud, it was heard down in the common heard.

Down the stairs, a laugh escaped each at the worried Weasley twins. "Sounds like we have a job to do." they spoke in unison. And with those few words, the twins embarked on a journey to Honeyduke's, humming their own theme music as they traveled through the secret passage.

The slam of the Fat Lady portrait closing behind them pulled Oliver back from his thoughts. He realized that the girl was no longer on the comfortable couch any longer. He rose to his feet and searched the celebrating Gryffindor common room for the familiar flash of wavy auburn hair, nut she was no where in sight.

A deep frown found its way to his face. The second Gryffindor of that evening locked themselves in their dorms.

The sisters jumped at the sound of echoing thuds coming from the wall that separated the fifth year boys' from the fifth year girls' dorm room.

"Oh, sweet Milton Hershey!" Analese cried from floor between her and Katie's beds where she had landed with a small thump of her own.

"Oh, dear Willy Wonka!" Ella added from her spot on the stone ground between her sister's four poster and the open window.

"Maybe Sirius Black is trying to break in." the older girl joked.

"Please, don't let him kill me!" the thirteen year old's voice was dripping with sarcasm, as usual.

A unanimous glance of feigned fear was shared before both girls rolled on the floor laughing. It was a few minutes before either could calm their hysterics enough to speak.

"Maybe, the Musical Muses should make a reappearance." the redhead grinned, thinking of the reaction the performance had gotten at the Masquerade Ball.

"That's a brilliant beyond brilliant idea, Pae. Yeah, let's write some more songs." Ella had done a great thing: she had succeeded in getting her sister to focus on something other than… 'him'.

"We'll ask Dumbledore after breakfast tomorrow morning." the fifth year no longer had purely sadness in her emerald eyes.

"Sounds like we have some work to do." The younger sister smirked. "Thanks for helping me with guitar, by the way, Pae."

"That reminds me," Analese reached under her bed for something. "I've been working on these for a while, and I finally finished them." She pulled out a beautiful wooden bow, about the size of a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. It was painted a lovely forest green color, with a carved four leaf clover on the top, her initials centered in the engraving. It was very Irish, just like Analese.

She unclasped it and passed Ella a small velvet encasing. The raven-haired girl sent her sister a questioning look as she opened the case. She gasped at its contents. "They're beautiful, Pae. It must have taken a long time and a lot of patience to make them."

Inside the box had been two guitar picks, one for each girl. Ella's had been painted black and had 'Terpsichore' spelled out in curving silver letters. Analese's was black as well, but, 'Euterpe' was etched out in the same font, only in gold rather than silver. Right above the lettering was a small hole, a delicate silver chain running through it so that while not being used, each girl could wear it.

"You got us customized guitar picks?!" Ella breathed, her honey-brown eyes wide with admiration for the detailing.

"In a way." the older girl said in a low voice.

"Are you telling me that you made us two awesome guitar picks?!" Ella's exclamation resounded off the tower walls in the silence. When Analese merely nodded, Ella couldn't help but chuckle lightly. "Still modest, my sister, still modest when you have no need to be." she smiled.

Four school owls flew into the room, the package they were carrying just barely skimming Ella's head as they passed her. They dropped the humongous box before flying back out.

"Bloody Hell! Who would send owls at 1:30 in the morning?!" Ella cried out.

"It's probably a bomb, or Flint," Analese growled, "tonight's just been one crap-storm after another." she was having mood swings for some reason. Ella tacked it to the loss of chocolate and the wearing off of the endorphins.

Ella smiled as she rose to her feet. "I'm gonna open it, okay?" When the older girl nodded her consent, the standing girl picked up the note on top and read aloud. "Hope this is enough…"

The girls sent each other a look of confusion. Slowly open the box, Ella peered inside. She suddenly broke into another laughing fit and let the sides of the box drop. The package had been carrying twelve chocolate satin pies and piles of every chocolate available in the area.

The senders remained anonymous as Ella joined Analese on her bed, holding two of the pies. As both girls took their first bite, a fork had been conveniently included with each container, two visitors stumbled in through the window.

"What are you boys up to?" the sisters asked skeptically.

"Up to?" the twins echoed, putting on their innocent act. "Why does coming into the girls' dormitory, in the middle of the night imply that we are up to something?"

"Think about that last sentence, boys." Analese smirked, swallowing her fifth bite of the delicious treat.

"So, you're alright?" George inquired warily.

"Not entirely, but I will be." the older girl gave a small smile before slipping the loaded fork back into her mouth.

"Well, we hope this is enough." Fred grinned back.

"But knowing you two, it won't last for more than an hour." George added.

"Who said I was sharing with anyone?" Analese countered.

"Excuse me?" Ella looked to her sister pointedly.

"What, did you shrink?" the red-haired girl smirked, placing the just cleaned pie tin on top of her trunk. Seeing the look in her eyes, the older girl dashed from her bed toward the opposite wall. The third year was quick to follow.

After a few laps of the dorm, Fred was struck with an idea. "Hey, Lese, why are you running from her?" he prompted. "She's so short that you could jump right over her."

The dark-haired girl skidded to a stop before rounding on her heel and charging for the short-joke-cracking twin.

"Big mistake, my brother." George stated, amusement audible in his voice. "You better run."

Taking the advice, Fred spun on his own heels and shot towards the door. Forgetting the staircase, the foolish Weasley took the first step down and slid the rest of the way, actually, it was more of a fall. Ella, being right behind him the whole time, gracefully 'surfed' her way down. The chase commenced once again, with the newly formed couple darting in between furniture and celebrating Gryffindors all throughout the common room.

Ella, having run with her sister every morning, soon gained an advantage. For the second time since midnight struck and 1994 had begun, Fred was tackled to the ground.

"Alright, alright, I give, I give." the redheaded floor mat surrendered.

"Good, now for your punishment." Ella looked thoughtful for a moment as Fred stopped struggling beneath her.

He sat up and wrapped his arms around his new girlfriend. She continued to ignore him, pretending to be deep in thought. Fred pulled Ella closer to him and began to stand. He carried her to the unoccupied couch in front of the fire.

Still staring into space, Ella did her very best to disregard the calloused, Quidditch-damaged hand now stroking her hair. She lasted a full four minutes before she snapped and pressed her lips onto his.

Rather than a full out snog session, the two broke apart after a few moments. Ella began a conversation about his plans for the shop, curious as to how far along the notorious Weasleys were.

Analese had crept down the stairs to check on Fred and make sure her sister hadn't murdered him. When she caught sight of the pair, talking quietly near the fire, she smiled and headed back upstairs. "They're fine." she announced once back in her dorm. "A bit oblivious, but fine."

George was seated on Analese's bed, his expression unreadable.

"What about you, are you good?" she joined him, grabbing a bar of Honeyduke's Milk Chocolate Delights Supreme from the package.

"Sort of, I'm just worried about you." he responded sincerely.

"I told you, I'll be back to normal with a bit of time." she assured, breaking the bar in half and giving him the second piece.

"I just hate seeing you hurt." George went on. "You do so much for people and no one does anything for you. You deserve the very best and I know you don't believe that." she had opened her mouth to protest. "But it's true."

"George, I'm sorry, but I love you like a brother." Analese had sensed a huge rush of awkwardness filling the room at that moment.

Suddenly, George began laughing uncontrollably. "No worries, I'm taken, I'm seeing Katie." he explained through his laughs. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I could never think of you in that way. It would be like crushing on an older Ginny. You're my sister, Lese, you even look like a Weasley from a distance."

The uncomfortable knot in the pit of her stomach disappeared with a flood of relief. "Thank Milton Hershey!" Analese sighed. "That scared me."

"Glad that's been cleared up." George agreed, once again turning serious. "I never want to see you cry tears of anything but mirth or happiness, Lese. None of your friends do." he added. "We love you too much to not hate seeing you without the special sparkle in your eyes."

"George, I swear you must be bipolar." Analese grinned. "One second, you're pulling a prank, the next, you're sweeter than sugar." he looked a little put off, so she rephrased. "What I mean is that you are wonderfully well-rounded." she smiled. "And though I think of you as a brother, I must say, Katie Bell is one lucky girl."

George's expression brightened considerably. "You'll be okay, right, Lese?" he was still worried.

"I promise, just give me some time, George." Analese took the last bite of her half of the chocolate bar and chucked the wrapper in the rubbish bin.

Two strong arms suddenly enveloped her in a hug. The two redheads sat in that position for a little while, enjoying the friendly comfort. Analese lightly pecked his cheek as a gesture of her thanks and George understood her perfectly. The two pranksters pulled away from the embrace at the same moment.

"I have an idea, let's go make Fred's freckles disappear." Analese jumped from her spot on the bed.

"Massive embarrassment." George followed suit. "Sounds like my specialty."

The two fifth years headed for the door, oblivious to the chocolate brown eyes watching them.

"You go down first, and I'll follow." George suggested when they reached the staircase, which he was eyeing warily.

"And ruin my ride, I don't think so." Analese placed her right foot a couple stairs down, looking as if she were about to ride a Muggle skateboard. "Place your foot on the same stair and brace yourself for fun." she instructed.

George, although hesitant at first, followed her directions and stepped onto the stair. Together, the redheads 'surfed' down to the common room, laughing the whole way.

Ella and Fred were attached at the lip when the pair joined them. Apparently, the new arrivals had bad timing, as the couple was just pausing in their discussion about Muggles.

"Find yourself a hotel room, mate." George called in his brother's ear.

"Only if you pay for it." Ella retorted before giving Fred a final short peck on the lips. The non-redhead then twisted her body so that she could rest her head on his shoulder.

"Well, how about a game of 'Would You Rather'?" Analese suggested with a smirk.

"Awesome," the twins chorused.

"Fred, would you rather snog Flint or snog Snape?" his brother prompted.

"Well, um, Snape," Fred stated, "I can get him arrested for seducing a minor."

"Great plan, but still disgusting." Ella cringed at the mental image.

"Analese, would you rather be trapped in a broom closet with Crabbe or Goyle?" Fred asked.

"Goyle, less smelling of the two." the older girl answered quickly. "George, would you rather shoot your dog or spend three months in Muggle Prison?"

"Three months in prison, either way, I'd end up in a cage, so I might as well keep the mutt." he reasoned. "Ella, would you rather have Snape as a father or Snape as a husband?"

"Husband, depending on the religion, a tiny peck and I can divorce him forever, getting whatever money he got from this job before Fred got him fired." Ella shivered at the idea of touching or kissing Snape. "Pae, would you rather spend a week as Parkinson or Bulstrode?"

"Both, humiliate, traumatize, destroy, torture, ruin their meaningless, consumer-driven lives." she smirked. "Fred, would you rather lose your sense of humor or lose the brain that makes you, along with everyone else, smarter than Flint?"

"Well, let's see, be stupider than Flint, being able to laugh, despite the fact that I won't be able to understand anything funny," everyone chuckled, Fred's face completely stone serious. "Or, never laugh again and be able to understand every joke that is said-"

His final response was cut off by the fireplace turning emerald green. Professor Dumbledore's head appeared. "Sorry to bother you so late, but, Miss Sinesstra, you have a few visitors." the headmaster announced. "Please, come to my office straight away."

The flames returned to their natural hues as the wise professor's head vanished. As both girls stood up, the boys' expressions were filled with concern.

"Not to worry, I'm sure it's nothing." Ella reassured them with a gentle smile.

"Dumbledore's eyes showed nothing near grief," Analese had noticed, "only foreboding."

"We'll be back, boys." the sisters called in unison just as the portrait closed behind them.