Kare Kanojo no Jijo

"Why are you chasing me?" Oliver screamed as he bolted frantically down the Charms corridor.

"Because you're running away!" Alicia shouted in reply, sprinting after him.

"Leave me alone!" Oliver yelled, knocking over a small statue in an attempt to slow her pursuit.

"Stop running!" Alicia shouted menacingly as she jumped over the statue and tackled Oliver to the ground.

"You're mental! Let go of me!" Oliver cried to no avail as she began to hit him repeatedly.

"Results of today's experiment?" George asked as he watched the confrontation.

"I'd say it was a success," Fred said as he tapped the stack of parchment in his hands with his quill.

"How many did she eat?" George enquired in a scientific manner as he watched Alicia twist Oliver's arm behind his back.

“About eight," Fred said as he looked over at the pair. "She's rather wound up."

" What about Oliver?" George asked with a laugh.

"Only one. Poor bloke. They really don't seem to do anything unless you eat at least five."

" And Katie?" George asked with a shudder.

"Fifteen," Fred answered, laughing loudly.

"I thought she was going to kill me!" George said dramatically as he shook his head from side to side.

"It was quite funny." Fred continued to laugh as he slapped George on the shoulder. "You scream like a girl!"

"You do too," George said with a pout.

"No, I don't. I have a slightly more masculine scream." Fred stated in a matter-of-fact manner.

"So, what do you think we should call them?" George asked, shaking a bag full of shiny red pill-shaped sweets.

"How about Violence Pills?" Fred suggested.

"No. Sounds too unappealing. How about Red Hot Incense Tablets?" George asked.

"Sound good," Fred agreed as he wrote the name down.

"Looks like it's starting to wear off," George noted, nodding in Alicia and Oliver's direction. Alicia was fretting over Oliver's injuries while Oliver was staring at her with a dazed expression on his face.

"Now all we have to test is the new stink gel formula, the bubble lotion, and the shock oil," Fred concluded as he looked at his list.

"Don't forget the Madness Mist," George reminded him.

"Oh yeah." Fred reached into his pocket and pulled out a small white smoke bomb. "Hopefully it’ll be more stable in this form."

"So far everything's been working; except for the melting potion."

"Don't remind me," Fred said, shaking his head.

"Hey, doesn't Slytherin have the Quidditch field booked right now?" George asked, a mischievous look on his face.

"I do believe so," Fred said with a sly smile.

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

"No."

"Yeah, and then Flint was convinced that he was being chased by a monster," Fred said gleefully. "He was flying around screaming and crying. Bletchley was convinced that the sand on the pitch was sugar."

"You're kidding," Angelina said, grinning happily.

"No, honestly. He just sat there, shovelling handful after handful into his mouth, grinning like an idiot," Fred told her as they entered the library. "You should have seen their faces after the mist wore off."

"You and your experiments. I'll never forget what you did to Violet," Angelina said as she set her books on a table by the window.

"Violet?" Fred sounded confused as he sat in the chair opposite to hers.

"She used to be Snowy, remember?" Angelina asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"I think the purple suits her," Fred said with a smile.

"Shut up, Fred," Angelina replied, returning the smile.

Fred reached in his pocket and pulled out a list. "So, I have to read these books for tomorrow’s homework?"

Angelina nodded. Every Tuesday afternoon they would meet in the library to study. Fred inevitably paid little attention in Potions classes: he infinitely preferred to spend the time devising cruel and unusual ways to torment Snape. Angelina would provide missed class notes and details of homework assignments in return for Fred’s occasional assistance with Alchemy, which she struggled with, and Divination, where Fred’s imaginative suggestions for one to be horribly maimed or killed were invaluable in obtaining good marks from Professor Trelawney. The current third year were remarkable in that theirs was the only year to date in which not one but two students had been informed of their impending deaths. However, the staff had reluctantly dismissed the prospect of the demise of the Weasley twins as wishful thinking on the Divination professor’s behalf rather than any sort of genuine prediction.

“I’m fairly sure you that know the first book on the list off by heart," Angelina informed him as she took the list from him. " I mean, you used all twenty-five potions in that book during your first year. Including one completely irreversible potion, might I add.”

Fred winced. “You’re going to hold that bloody cat over my head forever, aren't you?"

"Probably," Angelina said with a smile. She pulled out her Alchemy textbook, The Hermes Theory by Hermes Trismegistus, opened the book and laid it flat. Then she reached into her book bag and pulled out two tiny reddish-coloured stones. "I can manage to change the colour of them no problem, but I can't seem to get the formula right."

Despite being a good student in other areas, Angelina found Alchemy rather difficult and not particularly interesting. There had recently been debate over whether the subject was relevant or not in the modern wizarding world, with accompanying rumours that it might even be abolished as an O.W.L subject and only be taught to older students taking their N.E.W.Ts. The very idea was enough to make Angelina regret sincerely not being born a few years later in order to have avoided the subject altogether. However, Fred showed a surprising aptitude for the subject, and even seemed to enjoy it.

"Did you add chromium?" Fred asked as he picked up the redder one and flipped it over.

Angelina nodded as she watched him inspect the stone. After a moment, he placed it on the table in front of him.

"Watch," Fred told her, grabbing his wand. He tapped the stone three times, each time muttering the words "Dispellere solidus ". He spoke so softly that she could barely hear what he was saying.

Fred smiled and tossed the stone towards her. She caught it. Instead of a stone, she held a brilliant ruby in the shape of a teardrop. She examined it closely: when she held it up to the light, a sparkling star pattern could be seen at its centre. It was a true star ruby; a ruby infused with magic, not just a transfigured rock. "How?"

"You had all the right ingredients; they were just all packed too closely together. So I broke them up a bit and they did the rest on their own." He pushed the textbook out of the way, and slid the other stone in front of her. "You try."

"Dispellere solidus?" Angelina asked as she reached for her wand.

"Yeah, just don't say it with too much force. Overdo it and the stone will shatter," Fred warned.

She tapped the rock three times and repeated the incantation as softly as she could. She looked down and saw that she had turned her stone into a similar magical gem.

"Now let me show you how to turn a stone into a star ruby... without cheating," Fred said with a wink. "Let me see the formula you used."

She passed her notes over to him.

"Too much chromium. Just like I thought," Fred concluded as he reached for his quill and made the correction. "I'd add a bit more Mithril, just to add to the magical properties, but other than that your formula looks fine."

"Thanks Fred," Angelina said softly.

"It's no problem," Fred replied with a shrug. He reached for one of his quills and began to draw a smiley face on the cover of his Potions book.

Angelina sighed as she watched him sketch and doodle on the book cover, his face a picture of mock seriousness. ’Two weeks ago, I found out that he loved me,’ she thought to herself as she continued to watch him. ’But I haven't been able to tell him that I feel the same way about him, because he won't let me.’

"What?" Fred asked as he looked up.

"What?" Angelina repeated, rapidly shaking herself from her thoughts.

"You were staring at me," Fred said, pointing his quill at her.

"I was not," Angelina retorted defensively.

"My mistake," Fred said light-heartedly as he returned to defacing his book cover.

"Fred?" Angelina asked as she pulled the decorated book from his hands.

"Yes?" Fred asked smiling.

"I want to tell you something," she said as she looked down at the book in her hands.

"I want to ask you something first," Fred countered as he took the book back out of her hands and put it down on the table.

"What?" Angelina asked him anxiously.

He pulled out a small vial filled with a strange glowing liquid. He shook it slightly and it began to change colour.

"We made this stuff yesterday. Don't know what it does; can't really remember what we put in it, actually. I was thinking about calling it Risky Liquid. What do you think?" Fred enquired as he held the vial out towards her.

She stared at him a moment. "Risky Liquid?" she asked angrily.

"Yeah. I thought about adding it to the Wheezes order form just for a laugh. I mean, we made loads of this stuff. It would be a waste to throw it all out."

"I don't know why I try anymore," Angelina huffed as she began to gather her books.

"What did you want to tell me?" Fred asked as he put the vial back into his pocket.

She slammed her palms on the table and glared at him. "Never mind! You don't really care."

"I do. You know I do," Fred told her as she sighed angrily. “What was it you wanted to say? I won't change the subject this time, I promise." He grabbed her wrist as she tried to leave.

"I've been trying to tell you for two weeks, Fred," she said as she wrenched free of his grasp. “I suppose that since you always want to change the subject, come out with another one of your stupid jokes, or pull one of your idiotic pranks... maybe you've had a change of heart."

"Angelina," Fred said as he reached to take her hand.

"Don't!" Angelina shouted as she stepped away from him. "Just leave me alone,” she added as she rushed out of the library.

"I just don't understand women," Fred said gloomily as he sat down at the table and buried his head in his hands.

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

"Still avoiding him I see," Katie observed smugly as they walked down the chilly school corridor.

Angelina tightened her lips and frowned as she looked over her shoulder. Fred was standing at the end of the corridor, leaning against a stone column. He noticed her turning round and shyly waved in her direction.

’Why can't he take the hint and stop following me? It's just pathetic,’ she thought to herself angrily as she turned away, pretending not to notice.

"I think it's cute," Katie continued, nudging her friend. Angelina jumped. She hadn’t realised that she had spoken her thoughts out loud.

"You don't understand," Angelina sighed as they entered their History of Magic classroom.

"I never do. That doesn’t mean I can't stick my nose in and meddle," Katie replied as they took seats at the back of the class. "At least you could try to explain why you’re avoiding him."

"I can't stand him. He's loud, annoying, selfish, and inconsiderate. He plays around too much, and I'm sick of being involved in his childish pranks," Angelina listed quickly as she rummaged through her book bag.

"He is loud and annoying, but it's never bothered you before," Katie pointed out. "Anyway, that doesn’t seem like a good reason for you to avoid the poor boy for three weeks."

"I've tolerated him to a point, but I have to draw the line somewhere." Angelina sounded annoyed as she slammed her textbook the desk. "I'm just tired of being his friend."

Katie's eyebrow shot skyward as she looked at Angelina, a sly smirk on her face. "Oh really?" she asked as she leaned in closer. “I think you might be tired of being 'just friends' with him."

Angelina glared at her, but didn't reply.

"I've got your number now, Ms. Johnson," Katie whispered as Professor Binns began his class. "Since you haven’t tried to argue, I must be right."

"Shut it," Angelina hissed as she tried to step on Katie's foot.

"Fine. Okay, I won't talk about him anymore," Katie promised, moving her foot out of range. "But you know what’s happening next week."

"Don't remind me," Angelina said as she began to read her textbook.

"What would you like?" Katie asked, smiling.

"Peace and quiet," Angelina rejoined sarcastically.

"That's hard to get something at Hogwarts," Katie said, opening her notebook.

"Surprise me then," Angelina said as she continued to flick through her history textbook.

"I wonder what the Weasleys are going to pull for your birthday this year," Katie mused as Angelina glared at her.

"I said don't remind me." Angelina smirked in triumph as she successfully stepped on Katie's foot. Katie yelped and covered her mouth with her hands, her dark hazel eyes watering. Professor Binns continued to lecture, completely oblivious.

As they left the classroom, Katie noticed a familiar redhead staring at the classroom entrance from further along the corridor.

"Which one is that?" Katie asked as she pointed down the corridor. "Yours or mine?" Katie winced as Angelina jabbed her in the side with her elbow.

Angelina looked over where Katie had pointed. It was Fred. He was looking at them with a small wistful smile on his face. He didn't wave: he was pretending not to notice that she was looking back at him. She was sure he was Fred. She could tell just by the look in his eyes.

Even though Fred and George appeared to be identical down to their freckles, they had many differences: they smiled differently; George was slightly taller, and his hair was always a bit more unruly; Fred was a little bit skinnier than his brother, and he spoke more rapidly and more frequently. George had a habit of running his hand through his hair when he was deep in thought, which was often. If someone had asked her which twin could stay still the longest, she would have said Fred. George was constantly in motion. Either he was tapping his feet, fidgeting in his chair, pulling on the edges of his robes, or pulling on his ears. Compared to his brother, Fred was a study in stillness. He rarely fidgeted, except when he was nervous.

Angelina had noticed those differences in the first year she had known them. Most people didn't. Fred had told her that's how it was for identical twins. Even though the differences were there, most people didn’t try to find even the most obvious of them. It was just easier to claim ignorance and randomly guess.

Angelina and Katie watched as Lee and George appeared out of nowhere. The mischievous pair crept up behind Fred and viciously tackled him: slamming him into the ground as they laughed wildly. George pushed Fred’s head to the floor before looking up at the girls and waved happily.

"I'm guessing that the one who just got tackled was your stalker," Katie said with a laugh as she waved back.

Angelina sighed. "Of course."

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

It was Angelina's birthday, and Fred hadn't seen her all day. It seemed as if she was trying even harder to avoid him, and with good reason. Last year for her birthday, both Weasleys had presented her with gag presents filled with Dungbombs and sweet sour bitter cakes. They had spent the entire day pulling outrageous stunts and pranks. By the end of the day Angelina was tired, harassed, annoyed, stank (from the Dungbombs), and had a constant bitter sweet and sour taste in her mouth that lasted for several hours.

This year, George and Lee had planned to jinx her quills so that no matter what ink she used they would refuse to write. Unfortunately, hadn’t performed the spell properly and had spent the entire morning mute, much to the satisfaction of Professors Flitwick and McGonagall, whose classes had been rather more peaceful than usual.

Fred on the other hand, hadn’t even spoken to Angelina once that day. He had hoped that she would be talking to him by now. No chance. He had tried everything he could think of for the past few weeks, but she had continued to pretend not to see or hear him.

He kept trying. He was like a man obsessed: he had never lost a friend, and he wasn't going to lose her. During Quidditch practice, he was so desperate to attract her attention that he hurled Bludger after Bludger in her direction. He planted Dungbombs in her book bag, covered her hairbrush with shock gel, and threw assorted trick bombs into her cauldron in Potions, which only resulted in him incurring the wrath of Snape and earning several (early morning) detentions. He even went so far as to kidnap Violet. Angelina never gave him as much as a second look. She was too skilled as a flier to be bothered by the Bludgers. She knew the counter spells to every Weasley Wheeze made over the past two years from memory. And, much to Fred's dismay, she never made any attempt to get her cat back.

"Come on, Fred! Lighten up a bit, will you?" George said as he shook his brother by the shoulders. Fred had been sitting in the common room for an hour, blankly staring at the door.

"Staring at the entrance isn't going to make her suddenly appear," Lee told him as he sat on the couch next to Fred.

"Wishful thinking, that's all," Fred admitted sheepishly. He hadn't even realised that he had been looking at the door.

"Really?" Lee asked as he rolled his eyes.

"I glad he's finally gotten past the whole stalking phase," George said with a chuckle.

" Arithmancy should be over with by now," Fred muttered impatiently as his gaze drifted back to the doorway, causing both Lee and George to sigh loudly.

"Just give up, George. It's a lost cause. We've lost him," Lee said as he placed his hand on Fred's shoulder. "He's trapped by the wiles of a woman; there’s no helping him now."

"Poor bloke. He used to be such a great guy," George added solemnly as he put his hand on Fred's other shoulder. "So much fun to be around. Isn't that right, Fred?"

"Uh, hmm. Fun," Fred muttered in agreement as he continued to look longingly at the entrance to the common room.

"That's it," George said loudly. "On three?"

Lee nodded. "Two."

"One!" George shouted as they both shoved as hard as they could, sending Fred tumbling to the floor.

"I can't believe he actually had his guard down," George said laughing loudly.

"Around us of all people," Lee laughed in agreement.

Fred jumped to his feet and looked at his watch. "Maybe she's already in the Great Hall."

"This has to stop," Lee decided. "The boy has lost it."

Fred ignored his friends as he left the common room and walked quickly up the stairs leading to his dormitory. He was promptly greeted by a grating mewling sound.

"Aw. Did you miss me?" Fred asked the small cat that was impatiently pacing on his bed. As if in reply, the cat began to meow more loudly, her sky blue eyes fixed intently on him.

"Well, were did I put it?" Fred asked the cat as he searched through his desk. The dark purple feline leaped on to the desk and began to scatter anything that was light enough for her to move. She suddenly stopped and meowed at him.

Clutched between her paws was the item that Fred was looking for.

"Thanks, sweets. You're an angel," Fred said as he scratched her behind the ears. "I'll steal you some tuna from the kitchen, or something nice like that."

Violet seemed content with the small amount of attention and the promise of fine food. She settled contentedly on the top of the desk, lazily swatting at one of Fred's quills. Fred shoved a small hastily wrapped present into his robe pocket and rushed towards the Great Hall.

He tightly clutched the present that he had put so much thought into. "This is it," Fred thought to himself as he walked quickly towards the great hall. "I have to put things right. Today."

He was so busy thinking about what he was going to say to Angelina that he wasn’t paying attention to where he was walking. And so, he walked right into a professor, knocking the man over. He might have been able to apologise and continue walking, but the professor that he had collided with was Snape.

"Where are you going in such a hurry, Weasley?" Snape asked as he pulled himself up from the ground. He scowled angrily at Fred.

"I-"

"Five points from Gryffindor," Snape snapped, interrupting any answer Fred could have given him. "And for whatever mischief you were plotting when you barged into me, detention. Starting right now."

Fred gaped at him. "But I-" He sighed in defeat. "Can’t I go to dinner first?"

"You may get a plate from the kitchen after detention is finished," Snape said as he turned and continued to walk down the hallway.

Fred sighed. Desperate times called for desperate measures. He waited until Snape had turned a corner and fished his wand out from his robes. He pointed the wand over his head and intoned "Evanescere." He felt a strange sensation fill his body, along with a slight dizziness. He looked down at his hand, which, along with the wand that it held, was no longer visible. In fact, he was completely invisible. The vanishing spell was a powerful one, and the success rate was very low. What Fred hadn’t realised was that the spell not only made a person invisible, but also inaudible and intangible. He rushed down the corridor, his footsteps making no sound, not even disturbing the dust on the floor. He passed Snape, who was looking around furiously for him, reached the large door of the Great Hall, and pushed on it. It would not open. He shouted in frustration, but no sound could be heard. He tried to perform the counter spell to no effect: he had no voice with which to speak the incantation. It would have to be cast by someone else.

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

"So, what did you get Angelina for her birthday?" Fred heard Lee ask George as they approached him.

"Her cat." George nodded towards the large box he was carrying. "So what did you get her?"

"A new set of quills," Lee said with a smile.

George paused as he walked past Fred. He turned and looked directly at his twin. And smiled.

"Uh, George?" Lee asked as he looked around George. "Why are you smiling at that wall?"

"I just noticed something. I’ll tell you about it later," George replied as he motioned for them to go into the hall. After both himself and Lee had entered, he continued to hold the door open. "Coming in?" he said directly to Fred, who was absolutely furious.

Change me back! Fred shouted as he followed his friends into the hall, but to no avail. Somehow George knew that he was there, but simply chose not to do anything about it.

He watched George and Lee as they presented their gifts to Angelina. The cat inside the box made a big show after Angelina released her by flying in George’s direction and latching on to the front of his shirt, hissing angrily, and swatting at his face. It took Angelina several attempts to free him from the furious animal’s clutches. Everyone laughed as the cat hopped onto the table and pranced proudly in front of Angelina.

"I see Fred took good care of her," Angelina said with a laugh as she sat down and scratched her cat behind the ears. Violet settled happily into her owner’s lap.

Lee backed a good distance away from Angelina and her cat before tossing his gift towards her.

"I bet that it’s to replace those quills they ruined this morning," Katie predicted smugly.

"I’m quite sure that’s what they are," Angelina said as she put the box into her book bag. "I’ll open this one later, just in case," she added with a wink.

The dinner continued. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, except for Angelina: she kept looking anxiously at the doors to the Hall. Whenever someone would ask what she was looking for, she would smile nervously and avoid the question. Then it suddenly dawned on Fred: she was waiting for him.

"I wonder where Fred is," Katie mused as she started on her third helping of cake.

"Probably got in some sort of trouble," George said matter-of-factly.

"Sounds high likely," Oliver agreed.

"The boy hasn’t been in the right frame of mind lately," Lee added.

"The poor boy’s heartsick," Alicia said.

"Um hmm," Katie hummed in agreement.

"Well, that’s too bad for him," Angelina said. She sounded disappointed. Fred walked over and sat in the empty seat next to her.

Happy Birthday! he shouted as loudly as he could.

She couldn’t hear him. She didn’t even notice.

I’m sorry.

Angelina blinked and looked directly at him. "Did you hear anything?" she asked everyone at the table softly. Fred looked over at George, who was looking at Angelina strangely.

"Did you?" George asked her, a puzzled expression on his face.

"No." Angelina said with a sigh. "I must be imagining things. I‘ve had a long day." She rose from her seat and scooped up her cat.

"Heading off to bed?" Katie asked as she passed Angelina her book bag.

Angelina nodded. She looked once more in Fred’s direction, a sad expression on her face.

There was a chorus of Goodnights and Happy birthdays, and she was gone.

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

"What in the world did you get yourself into this time?" George asked as he walked out of the Great Hall.

I was getting away from Snape, Fred replied silently as they turned the corner.

"What are you talking about?" Lee asked, looking at George who appeared to be talking to himself.

"Let me guess: this has something to do with Snape," George continued as he headed towards the common room.

How did you know I was there? Fred asked.

"I don’t know where you are. But I can feel you lurking about. It’s weird," George said as he ran his hand through his hair.

"Who’s lurking about?" Lee demanded as they reached the Fat Lady.

George just smiled. "Periwinkle."

Hurry up and use the counter spell! Fred shouted as he followed them up the stairs to their dormitory.

"Stand between those bedposts. I’ll try the counter spell to the vanishing spell," George said as he reached for his wand.

Finally!

"A counter spell?" Lee asked as he sat down at his desk.

George pointed his wand at the bedposts and shouted: "Seon Herknen! Tangere!"

Fred felt the same strange sensation as he had before. He looked down at his hands; the spell had worked. He was so grateful to be back to normal that he only punched George once.

To Be Continued