Kare Kanojo no Jijo

Kanojo no Jijo: Her Situation

The Plan: Part 2

By KnightHunter

George was in a foul mood that morning. He had been forced to wake up earlier than usual because he had a predawn detention with Snape. The consolation of getting up early was that he got to wear Charlie's old robes, which were in considerably better shape than Bill's. It always seemed like Fred got the nicer hand-me-downs. "So what if he's two minutes older?" George muttered to himself as he emptied the robe's pockets.

"Well, well, what's this?" he wondered as he found two crumpled strips of parchment. As he read them he began to smile. He grabbed his things and rushed down to common room where Lee Jordan, who also had detention, was waiting impatiently for him.

"Look what I found," George said gleefully as he waved the parchment that he had found.

"Looks like tatty parchment," Lee answered as they walked towards Snape's class. George stopped and gave Lee a look that clearly said 'you're no fun.'

Lee sighed loudly and resignedly asked, "What have you got, then?"

"A love letter," George said with a laugh.

"To whom, from who?" Lee asked, peering over his friend’s shoulder to look.

"From Fred, to Angelina," George answered as he passed the remains of the letter to Lee.

"’I fell in love with you right at that moment. You have the warmest smile; a smile from you could make anything look brighter,’" he read aloud, sniggering.

"I didn't know you’d noticed," George said with a laugh, batting his eyelashes furiously.

"How'd you get your hands on it?" Lee asked as he handed the parchment back to George.

"Doesn't matter. What matters is what we do with it."

"Do with what?" Angelina enquired as she walked towards them.

"Nothing!" George said loudly as he shoved the letter back into his pocket. "What are you doing up so early?"

"Didn't look like nothing," Angelina stated as she leaned her broomstick against the wall. "I always get up this early. This is the best time to go flying."

"I'm sure," Lee commented sarcastically.

"Where's Fred?" Angelina asked. George and Lee looked at each other and burst out laughing. "What?"

"Nothing!" Lee choked, laughing even harder.

"Absolutely nothing!" George added, his face a furious red.

"What's so funny?" Angelina demanded, looking suspiciously at the two laughing boys.

"Weasley! Jordan!" Their laughter was cut short as Snape walked towards them. "I said to report to my classroom before dawn."

"I'm sorry Professor Snape, I didn't know they had detention. If I had known I wouldn't have kept them," Angelina apologised reaching, for her broom.

Snape glared at her for a second. "They knew where they needed to be." He turned to the boys. "Five points each from Gryffindor for your abysmal timekeeping." Snape whirled around and began to walk back to his classroom with steadily increasing speed.

The boys sighed and began to follow Snape down the hallway. George smiled as he reached into his pocket. "Oh, Angelina. I forgot to give you this." He quickly stuffed two crumpled strips of parchment into her hand. "Got to go!" he shouted as he sprinted down the hall to catch up with Snape and Lee.

Angelina sighed and placed the parchment in her robe pocket. It was still dark outside, yet the sky was showing traces of the approaching morning. The sky was clear and the stars and moon were still visible. She got onto her broom and began to fly east, towards the Quidditch field. The chilly air was moist and there was a light fog covering the ground. She shot upwards, high above the layer of fog and looked down. The entire Quidditch field looked like a lake filled with vapour. She made a few lazy laps around the field as she watched the sun break through the horizon before heading towards the school.

She landed in front of the entrance to the great hall. Breakfast was served quite early at Hogwarts, and she was sure that George and Lee's detention would be over. She suddenly remembered the parchment George had given her before sprinting away. She picked up one of the strips, unfolded it, and began reading as she entered the hall.

You are my best friend. Next to George anyway. I just can't stand hiding how I feel. I'm terrified that you'll read this and won't feel the same. I've never felt this way for anyone else, and I doubt I'll ever feel this way for anyone other than you. I'd rather die a thousand deaths than lose you. I love you.

Fred

She quickly opened the other half of the letter and read it. She realised that the half she had read first was actually the end of the letter.

"What are you reading?" Katie Bell asked, tapping Angelina on the shoulder and shaking her from her racing thoughts.

"N-nothing," she muttered, her voice shaking. This wasn't a joke, was it? It was definitely Fred's handwriting, but why would George give this to her? Was it true?

"You really need to cut out the early morning flying. You were just standing there looking like death warmed up."

"Oh, no, it’s just…" Angelina motioned to the crumpled parchment in her hand. "Just a bad joke George wrote."

Katie rolled her eyes. "You and those Weasleys. Especially Fred."

Angelina jumped. "What about me and Fred?"

"Nothing," Katie purred as she sat at the Gryffindor table. "Just that when you two are together there’s always some kind of trouble."

"That is true," Angelina admitted as she sat next to Katie.

"Morning, Katie, Angelina," Alicia Spinnet greeted them as she sat across from them.

"G'morning," Katie said, filling her plate.

"Morning."

"Well, if it isn't just the three most beautiful women in the world!" Oliver Wood exclaimed as he sat next to Alicia.

"Good morning, Oliver." All of them greeted him in unison, smiling.

"Aren't you all brilliant rays of light this morning?" Oliver continued with a smile.

Alicia rolled her eyes and elbowed Oliver sharply in the ribs. "Enough compliments."

"Ow." Oliver stared at her, rubbing his side.

"Eat your breakfast," Alicia commanded plainly.

"No fair. Why should the Quidditch captain get to keep all the pretty ones to himself?" Lee Jordan demanded as he sat next to Oliver.

"They're on my team," Oliver said.

"I belong to no man," Alicia stated, stabbing her fork into her sausage to emphasise her point.

"Me neither," Katie nodded in agreement.

"Neither do I," Angelina added automatically, considering it part of their morning ritual.

"You don't?" Lee asked, raising an eyebrow inquisitively. "What about Fred?"

Angelina just stared at him. "What about him?" she asked, trying to keep her voice level.

"I was asking you," Lee countered with a smile.

"Oh, come off it Lee," Katie groaned. "She doesn't have to say it. We all know."

"All know what?" Angelina asked.

"You're absolutely head over heels for Fred. Have been since last year," Katie replied, nonchalantly reaching for a second helping of eggs.

Angelina was rendered speechless. Was it that obvious?

She couldn't help but like Fred. After he had spent his entire first year at Hogwarts hell-bent on getting her attention, she couldn't help but think about him during the summer holidays. She had missed the annoying redhead more than she would have cared to admit. Even though she had been at home, surrounded by her friends and family, something had been missing.

On the train back to Hogwarts that second year she had been genuinely happy to see him. And she had smiled. That was all it had taken. Her smile had been like a defeated enemy waving the white flag of surrender. He had worn down her defences; got under her skin. That smile was all the encouragement he had needed. He had rushed over to her side and began to talk as if he had completely forgotten that she had desperately tried to ignore him for the entire previous year. He had kept smiling like the cat that got the canary, his own personal victory.

Fred had been her first friend at Hogwarts, and that year he had been her constant companion. She and the twins had got into so much trouble that first term. Somehow, she seemed to be cleared of all crimes committed, for Fred always took her share of the blame. They tried out for the Quidditch team purely on a whim. They’d spent the entire trial messing about. Much to their surprise, it was their fooling around that secured their place on the team.

"Johnson, what was that?" second year Katie Bell flew next to her, smiling brightly.

"What was what?" Angelina asked as she looked down at the captain who was busy taking notes.

"That reverse pass was brilliant. How'd you know I'd be there?" Katie asked as she waited for Wood to throw the Quaffle back into play.

"Just a hunch." Angelina said with a shrug. "What you did was pretty wicked."

Angelina had known that she would be there. Throughout most of the trial she noticed that whenever she had the Quaffle, the pale girl with the long brown hair always flew in the same spot behind her left shoulder, just in passing distance if Angelina chose to pass to her. During the last play two opposing Chasers were zeroed in on her and a third was headed straight on. The only thing Angelina could think of was to toss the Quaffle over her shoulder and hope that Katie was there, which fortunately she had been. Katie caught the Quaffle and shot upwards. Whilst the other chasers went after her, she dropped the Quaffle straight into Angelina's hands leaving Angelina completely unguarded and so able to pass the keeper and score.

"You can do better than that, Weasley!" Fred shouted as he backhanded the Bludger with his club, causing it to fly behind him - directly at the Chaser George was guarding.

"Hey, what're doing?" George blocked the Bludger and flew toward his twin. "Have you gone daft? We're on the same side!" With one hand he swung at his brother looking as if he was going to punch him.

Fred swung himself upside down on his broom. "Fancy that!" he shouted as he swung at a passing Bludger, causing it to hit a Chaser from the other team. As he righted himself he cried, "Thanks for the tip!"

"Bloody hell!" Wood shouted excitedly. He waved the players in, nearly bubbling over with excitement. "Johnson, Bell, Spinnet, Weasley, Weasley, Macmillian, meet me in locker room in five minutes to get your uniforms and gear. Everyone else can head back to the castle."

They all stared at the wild-eyed Quidditch captain, who was now pacing up and down. "A perfectly aimed Bludger Backbeat, Weasley," he enthused as he shook Fred's hand.

"Is that what I did?" Fred asked humbly. "I was just trying to get George."

"Nice Transylvanian Tackle," Oliver commented, now shaking George's hand. "Never seen a bloke pull it off. Most of the time the punch connects and the player gets a foul."

"I just missed that’s all," George said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I was sold on you two the moment um . . . you, uh, Fred, is it? You did that Sloth Grip Roll and used the Starfish and Stick to hit that Bludger. Using a Keeper move, that's genius! Damn brilliance, mad as hell, but brilliant!" Oliver exclaimed, pulling both boys into a hug. "Great play!"

"He's gone bonkers," Fred gasped.

Oliver let go of the pair and continued down the line. "Excellent reverse pass back there," he congratulated as he shook Angelina's hand.

"It was bloody excellent," Fred chimed in.

"Shut up, Fred," Angelina said smiling. Between her teeth she added, "Don't encourage him."

Oliver was too excited to notice the laughter that erupted from the twins as he reached for Angelina and gave her a tight hug. "That was a perfectly played Porskoff Ploy," Oliver added as he shook Katie's hand and released Angelina simultaneously.

"Seemed like a good idea," Katie shrugged, taking a hesitant step away as he tried to hug her as well. As he turned away from her, Katie pointed to the back of Oliver's head and mouthed to Angelina, “What's with him?”

"I see you remembered the Parkin's Pincher from last year," Oliver smiled at Alicia. "I knew you'd make a good starter this year."

"Oh stop, you're making me blush," Alicia said sarcastically as she swiped at him with her broom. "Hands off, Wood. I know you get all touchy-feely when you're happy, but honestly!"

"Eric, it's your last year. Best damn seeker in the whole school. Let's make this year a good one!" Oliver addressed the tall skinny boy with the blond hair, ignoring Alicia's last comment. They both gave each other high fives.

"With a team like this, we'll make it to the final," Eric announced confidently.

Eric was right. They made it to the Quidditch final. They were almost guaranteed to win. Slytherin didn't have a chance, or so they thought.

Her thoughts immediately changed focus to their first Quidditch final.

Gryffindor was up by fifty points, and Slytherin was playing nasty. One of the Slytherin beaters shot a bludger directly at Angelina, and while she dodged that, she didn't notice the other bludger barrelling towards her until it was too late. It slammed into her the arm with enough force to knock her off her broom. She was quite high up at the time and so hit the ground with some force. Even so, perhaps if she had landed differently she might not have been so badly hurt. The team gathered around her and Wood was frantically waving over the medics. She had felt her leg break as she had landed, but she hadn't realised how badly it was broken. She gathered all the strength she could manage, and snatched her broom out of Fred's hands with her uninjured left arm. She used the broom to support her as she stood and managed to mount it, her left leg dangling at an odd angle. The team protested, but she ignored them. Riding a broomstick with a broken leg was not an easy task, and in retrospect she would admit it had been a pretty idiotic thing to do. However, she did it, and still managed to score thirty points. But not alone.

Her balance was off. Her left leg was broken, and she could barely move her right arm. She was used to putting the Quaffle in her right hand, now she had to use her left. She reached for the Quaffle with her left arm, and pain shot up her leg. Somehow managed to get it. She shot forward, the pain she felt more than she thought she could bear. She circled the post and scored. Fairly easy, a little too easy.

"You've done enough." She could hear Fred's voice nearby. "You almost fell off your broom again."

"What?" She turned her head and realised that Fred was flying next to her, one arm was on her left shoulder. "Were you there the whole time?"

He swatted a bludger towards one of the Slytherin chasers. "Didn't notice me? I thought so. You're very fast."

She didn't answer. The game was still going on around them. Katie and Alicia were trying hard to play without her. "So that's your job. Keep me from playing?"

"Wood thought I'd be the only person you'd listen to. I tried to reason with him. You're too bloody stubborn." He flew in closer and looked at her; his eyes were filled with concern. "All right?"

She nodded and took a deep breath.

"Ready when you are," he said, looking at the field.

"Try and keep up," she said with a weak smile.

She flew into the midst of a Slytherin play, catching them all off guard, snatched the Quaffle right out of Flint's hand and shot for the goal. With Fred flying close by her nothing got anywhere near. Whenever she felt like she was losing her grip on her broom, he was there to hold her up.

After her third goal, Flint threw a fit and went to Hooch. He referred to Wood as a masochistic bastard for letting Angelina play after her fall and with her injuries. Madam Pomfrey, unsurprisingly, agreed. Madam Hooch had to threaten Gryffindor with a forfeit to get her to agree to come down. Angelina had learned later in the infirmary that Gryffindor had narrowly lost anyway, but she had been honoured as the MVP of the game.

Even though Madam Pomfrey fixed most of the damage to Angelina’s body with magic, her leg wasn't something that could be fixed overnight. She was put into a plaster cast and sent back to Gryffindor House in a wheelchair. Unlike the Muggle wheelchairs Angelina was familiar with, it was charmed so all she had to do to move was tell it where she wanted to go. A levitation spell ensured that the many stairs of Hogwarts posed no problems.

"Hello," a pale hand waved in front of her face, breaking her reverie. "Earth to Angelina."

Katie was staring at her with a smile on her face. "Breakfast's over, pet."

"I was daydreaming?" Angelina asked.

Katie nodded. "You looked so content in la-la land we all just left you alone."

"Oh God," Angelina groaned as she buried her head in the table. She had just spent all of breakfast daydreaming about Fred.

"Just staring up at the ceiling with this blissful smile on your face," Katie added with a smirk.

"Ok, ok. I get the point," Angelina mumbled into the table.

"Fred thought it was cute," Katie said knowingly.

Angelina's head shot up. "What?"

"He was staring at you all through breakfast. I swear, that boy worships you. Oh, by the way, George gave me this to give to you. See you in potions."

Angelina sighed. Another 'present' from George.

Angelina - Locker Room 4:00pm. Perfect. Just perfect. Her thoughts kept returning to the letter. Did Fred know she had it? What was George up to? Whatever it was, she didn't like it.

***************

"What's this about?" Angelina demanded as she stomped into the locker room.

"I found it this morning. Fred wrote it yesterday, I think. Looks like he chickened out of giving it to you, and was probably going to get rid of it."

"Then why did you give it to me?" she asked angrily.

"It was written for you. I wouldn't have given it to you if I didn't think you felt the same way," George replied knowingly.

"I- you think I'm in love with Fred."

"Or something close to it. It's pretty obvious to everyone else that there's something going on between you two. You’re both just too blind to notice," George stated as he sat on a bench.

"What do you want?" Angelina asked as she sat down next to him.

"Payback," George said with a bright smile.

"For what?"

"Must there always be a reason?" George answered with a shrug. "Look at it this way, if you help me out, I'll help you out."

"Help me with what?"

"Fred's a bit touchy when it comes to his feelings. If he knew that you have the letter and that you'd read it, he'd rather jump off of the Astronomy Tower than hear your reaction to it." Realising that Angelina wasn't buying that approach, he changed tactics. "So what do you plan to do about the letter?"

"Do about the letter?" she echoed. "I haven't thought much about it. I thought maybe I should just tell him, but I can't think of what to say. ‘Hey Fred, I found your confession of love for me. I love you too. Let's go to Quidditch practice.’" She sighed. "I didn't expect to find out like this."

"Aha, you were expecting to find out sooner or later. Deep down you knew. You two are both such simpering romantics. Got to be something big or it's not worth doing," George said, laughing. "If you two both wait for the other to confess you'll never get together. "

Angelina glowered at him. He was right. As he almost always was. George was the one who observed from the background and usually picked up on things. That's why he was always the mastermind. He knew everyone's strengths and weaknesses.

"So you think he's waiting around for me? To tell him how I feel?" she asked.

George nodded. "Believe it or not, but he's really shy."

Angelina laughed. "He followed me around for all of first year like a puppy dog."

"Ok, so he's not that shy. But he usually takes your lead on things."

"So what's your plan?"

*********************

"I can't believe he talked me into this," Angelina told herself as she stood in the supposedly empty corridor.

She watched as Fred walked past her. He hadn't even noticed her standing against the wall. He was probably wondering why she had been acting so strangely around him all week. She took a deep breath and turned to follow him down the hall. She looked to her left and saw George and Lee both giving her a thumbs up before ducking behind a couple of large stone columns.

She lunged forward and grabbed Fred by the shoulder. This was the tricky part. She had practised with George, trying to perfect a method of somehow slipping her note into his robe pocket without him noticing. It was the only way for this prank to work. As she turned him towards her with one hand the other reached for the pocket. She realised that he was too far from her for her to reach, so instead she slammed him into the wall.

"Where's Fred?" she asked as menacingly as she could without laughing right in his face. He looked so scared. His expression was confused for a moment due to the sudden act of violence being aimed at him and the anger in her voice. She continued pretending to believe that he was George. He was so bewildered that he didn't notice when she placed the note into his pocket. Then he began to smile a strange smile. Instead of continuing to protest his identity he began pretending to be George. It was time to get out before this got too weird. She had to do her part.

She spoke her rehearsed lines perfectly, keeping her back to him so that he couldn't see the huge smile that was on her face.

"Sorry about that. I was just so angry, and you were the first one I saw." Her voice was beginning to crack; she was going to start laughing at any second.

"What did he do? What happened?" Fred asked, sounding angry and worried at the same time.

"It's not his fault really, at least I don't think..." she said, trying to sound unsure of herself as she took out the first half of his letter and handed it to him. She didn't need it; she had read it so many times that she could recite it from memory.

Fred went very quiet for a moment as he realised what he had just been handed. To break the awkward silence Angelina concocted a story about a fictional Slytherin finding the letter and reading it in front of her whole Potions class. She found herself becoming away, and by the time she had finished Fred looked absolutely crushed. She winced internally and fought the impulse to give him a huge hug. What was done was done, and there was no point in trying to take it back. She noticed some movement out of the corner of her eye. A pale wrist was waving frantically from behind the column, while a considerably darker hand was pointing to a watch on the aforementioned wrist. She had to go. Hopefully George and Lee would keep to their part of the plan and sort everything out.

"That letter was personal; it shouldn't have been passed around like that. Make sure Fred gets it back," she said before she rushed down the corridor towards the Quidditch field.

She was late for Chaser practice and Oliver would probably keep her back to make up for being late. So much for getting a chance to speak with Fred alone tonight.

"I'll just make sure I talk to him first thing tomorrow," she told herself as she grabbed her broom and rushed to the field.

Some things are more easily said than done.

To Be Continued…