Kare Kanojo no Jijo

Angelina looked out over the frost-covered Quidditch field. November mornings were extremely cold, but she still got up every morning to fly. She kicked off from the ground and shot forward, the cold air stinging her face as she flew higher.

"Oi! Angelina!" she heard Fred call out. She looked down and saw him standing in the middle of the Quidditch field, yawning and shivering.

Whatever Fred had done on her birthday, it had earned him morning detentions, evening detentions, detentions between classes, and even detentions during meals for the two weeks afterwards. The day before had been his last day of detentions. She hadn’t seen or spoken to Fred for such a long time and she missed him.

Instead of flying down to greet him she flew higher, out of earshot, before beginning to fly laps around the field. She glanced down only to see that Fred was no longer there. Suddenly, a gust of wind struck her as he flew past her. He circled back and then tackled her with enough force to throw her off of her broom.

"Hi there!" Fred shouted as he caught her in mid-air and pulled her onto his broom.

"I could have been killed!" Angelina exclaimed as she began to hit him.

"I got your attention, at least," Fred said with a smile. He handed her a small package. "It's for your birthday. A bit late though."

"You almost killed me just to give me a late birthday present?" Angelina asked as she slipped the present into her pocket.

"And to get your attention," Fred added. " Are you annoyed at me?"

"Of course," Angelina said as she smiled at him.

Fred lowered them to the ground. As Angelina got off his broom, he tossed her his scarf. "I'll get your broom," Fred told her as he took off in the direction the broom had headed in.

Angelina reached into her pocket and pulled out the present. It was small and was wrapped in an old piece of parchment. He had tied it together with what looked like an old piece of string.

"Wait!" Fred shouted as he flew towards her and jumped off his broom. "Don't open it yet!"

"Why not?" she asked as she turned it over in her hand. "It was for my birthday."

"I know," Fred said as he gasped for breath. "You have to read the card first."

She smiled at him as he rummaged through his pockets. He was concentrating so hard on emptying his pockets that he hadn’t noticed that the card had fallen out of his pocket onto the ground.

"Is that it?" Angelina asked as she picked it up.

Fred nodded.

She examined the envelope and then opened it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Love, Fred

"Aw. How sweet," Angelina said as she placed the card in her pocket.

"Now open the present," Fred said with a smile.

She untied the package. Inside was a pendant, made out of the two rubies they had made in the library months before. He had formed them into the shape of a small heart. Even though it was cold outside, the pendant was warm to the touch. She could feel the warmth even through her thick gloves.

"I know you're not into jewellery or anything, but star rubies make great good luck charms. And since we have that big match today and everything... I know you don't want me following you around... I’m sorry I've been stupid..." Fred said in a rush, blurting out everything he wanted to say. "I missed being around you... I'm an idiot... I love you... I chickened out."

"What did you just say?" Angelina said, interrupting him.

"I chickened out."

"No, before that," Angelina said with a smile as she shook her head.

"I'm an idiot?" Fred asked pathetically.

"I thought I heard you say 'I love you'," Angelina said.

"I love you, too," Fred replied, grinning.

"Hey! You tricked me into saying that," Angelina protested as she stamped her foot on the ground.

"Oh, you didn't mean it," Fred said pretending to sound disappointed.

"You are really something else," Angelina smiled as she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.

"Well, I don't know about you," Fred yawned as he took his scarf back from Angelina, "but I think it's time to go inside."

"Cold?" Angelina inquired as he began to wrap the scarf around his head.

"Freezing,” he confirmed as he took Angelina’s scarf from around her neck and wrapped it around his own.

"And they say chivalry is dead," Angelina quipped sarcastically as they turned towards the school.

"Chivalry is not dead. It can't be. Chivalry is a concept, not a living thing, so of course it's not dead. Unless there is actually someone named Chivalry, and that would just be sad."

"Fred."

"And on top of that it would be embarrassing," Fred mused aloud as he continued to walk next to her. "Who in their right mind would name a child Chivalry?"

"Fred."

“I suppose that it could be a name, I mean I once met a boy named Justice," Fred continued, pretending not to hear her. "His sister was named Liberty of all things. Oh! There were some kids who lived near us named America, Asia, India, and China. I heard their parents recently had a baby boy and they named him Egypt."

"Fred!" Angelina shouted as she grabbed him by the arm. "What are you rambling about?"

"Names that people just shouldn't name their children," Fred answered as his face broke into a wide smile.

"What does that have to do with what I was talking about?"

"Absolutely nothing," Fred admitted. "What's your middle name?"

"What does that have to do with what you are talking about?" Angelina laughed as they continued walking.

"I'm just curious," Fred answered with a shrug. "It must be an embarrassing name since you answered my question with a question."

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

"You are still after him, aren't you?" Katie accused Alicia as they sat side by side at the Gryffindor table.

"After whom?" Alicia asked innocently as she reached for an empty plate.

"Oliver," Katie teased as she pulled out a small photograph of Oliver from Alicia's bag and waved it in front of her friend’s face.

"Who should be teasing whom here? I'm not the one who's obsessed with a Weasley," Alicia pointed out as she snatched the photo from Katie's hand.

"I am not obsessed!" Katie hissed defensively as she felt her cheeks become warm with embarrassment. She opened her mouth as if to say something further, but instead she suddenly turned to her breakfast. She realised that no matter what she said, it would be no use: Alicia had the upper hand. Katie had a habit of saying whatever was on her mind, but somehow that morning she managed to silence herself before she said something Alicia could use against her later.

"Obsessed," Alicia lightly elbowed her friend as she nodded in George's direction.

Katie quickly looked up at the exact moment that George turned to look in their direction. Realising that he had their attention, he made a great show of stealing Lee’s bag, throwing a handful of stink pellets into it, and tightly closing the bag. After a moment he turned to Lee, and politely returned the bag to its owner.

"The smell is going through the bag!" Lee lamented loudly as he held the bag in front of him and rushed out into the corridor.

"I'm just interested." Katie added in between giggles. “There’s no law against it."

"Morning, Katie, Alicia," Angelina greeted them as she joined them at the table.

"G'morning," Katie said as she began to make a strange sandwich of toast containing sausages, jam, ketchup and cheese.

"Morning, ladies," Fred smiled as he removed the scarves from his head and sat down next to Angelina.

"Morning," George said as he walked to the table and sat down across from his brother.

"Well, if it isn't just the three most beautiful women in the world!" Oliver Wood exclaimed as he approached the table.

"Good morning, Oliver," Katie chorused with Alicia and Angelina as they greeted him in unison.

"Not fair," Lee complained as he approached the table. "Why is it that you three always greet Oliver like that, and not anyone else?"

"Because he's Oliver Wood," Katie answered as she smiled brightly and winked in George's direction.

George smiled at her as he reached for a slice of toast. Katie reached out, snatched the slice from his hand, and bit into it triumphantly.

"Strange girl, cute, but very strange," George pretended to whisper to himself as he shook his head smiling.

"George is a funny guy, not even the least bit attractive, but at least he's amusing." Katie smiled as she placed the bitten slice of toast on George’s plate.

“Hey!” Fred protested. “That’s my face you’re insulting.”

“She only says it because she loves him.” Alicia teased as Katie and George turned various shades of red.

As the laughter died down, Katie turned to Alicia. “Payback for touching your sacred photograph?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.” Alicia stated innocently.

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

"Okay, men," Oliver said as he addressed his team-mates.

"And women," Angelina corrected him as the other two chasers nodded in agreement.

"And women," Oliver agreed. "This is it."

"The big one," one of the Weasley twins stated knowingly.

"The one we've all been waiting for," the other twin continued, not missing a beat.

"We know Oliver's speech by heart," the twin sitting next to Harry explained, "we were on the team last year."

The best Seeker to ever play the game at Hogwarts just smiled meekly and nodded.

"Shut up, you two," Oliver glared at the twins before he continued. "This is the best team Gryffindor's had in years. We're going to win. I know it." As he spoke he felt the adrenaline rush into his system. They were going to win, Oliver was certain. He could feel it. Even if they only performed half as well as they did in practice, Slytherin did not stand a chance of beating them.

He quickly finished his speech as he heard Madam Hooch's loud whistle from the field. "Right. It's time. Good luck, all of you."

He strode onto the field, followed by the team. The bright sunlight tickled his skin and the wind felt cool as it blew past him. The sky was clear, the wind was light, and the temperature was cool. The weather was perfect, as perfect as it could be for Quidditch. The stands were full of spectators and the loud roar of the crowd brought a smile to his face. His face became flushed as the blood rushing through his system reached it, and the muscles under his right eye began to twitch, as always happened when he was overwhelmed with emotion.

"Mount your brooms, please," he heard Hooch announce; he quickly mounted his broom. He hovered over the ground and anxiously waited for her to blow her whistle.

"Finally," Oliver thought to himself as Hooch blew the whistle and he took to the air. He rushed towards his planned position in front of the Gryffindor scoring area. His back was completely turned away from the game, but he wasn't concerned. He already knew that Johnson had the Quaffle. For a Chaser she had extremely quick reflexes and she could handle the Quaffle unlike anyone in the school. In practices she was always the first with the Quaffle, and in the official games last year she had held the record for the most start of the game possessions.

He turned in time to see Johnson powerfully toss the Quaffle towards Spinnet. The Quaffle shot through the air from the force of the pass, but Alicia caught it with no trouble. To beat Slytherin, they had to play an aggressive game. Spinnet was a talented flier and was the team’s highest scorer. Oliver watched anxiously as she flew towards the Slytherin scoring area and was surprised when Flint took the Quaffle from her.

Flint shot towards him, set to score. He was going to try for the far right field hoop: he always did. It was a move Flint had perfected back in his third year. Fake throw to the left, circle the scoring area, and toss into the far right as he came from behind the scoring area. A less experienced Keeper would go after the fake to the left and then attempt to follow Flint around the scoring area, which would leave the hoops completely unguarded. Oliver, however, easily spotted the feint and hovered in front of the centre hoop waiting for Flint to come back around, and then shot towards the far right hoop just as Flint attempted to score. He blocked the shot with the back of his broom, just to show off a bit. ’It was almost too easy’ Wood thought to himself as he watched Bell scoop the Quaffle out of the air.

Bell played an aggressive, reckless, but almost always effective game. She loved to dive, loop, and corkscrew in the air. She soared through the air, followed by Flint, Johnson, and Pucey. Flint attempted to steal the Quaffle in the same manner he had earlier succeeded in getting the Quaffle from Alicia. Bell just dived under him, banked right, and continued towards the Slytherin posts. A Slytherin Beater shot a Bludger in her direction and hit her on the back of the head. Johnson was too concerned for her friend to attempt to steal the rebound, and so Pucey took the Quaffle.

One of the twins sent a Bludger speeding towards his brother, who sent the Bludger directly at Pucey; this was one of their favourite plays. The Bludger hit Pucey between the shoulder blades and he dropped the Quaffle, howling in pain. Johnson shot after the Quaffle, and rushed to score. She hurled down the field, flying past everything in her way. She dodged a Bludger like it was nothing and neared the Slytherin posts, not attempting to fly low. Bletchley flew higher to meet her, leaving the scoring area clear. She made a sharp dive and flew underneath him, tossing the Quaffle through the hoop.

Five minutes into the game and Gryffindor had finally scored. Oliver watched Harry do a few quick loop-the-loops, but was impressed at how quickly his attention turned back to the field.

Pucey had the Quaffle. After succeeding in hitting him with a Bludger once, both of the twins were gunning for him now. They both sent Bludgers in his direction and then they passed in front of him, one after the other, effectively making him change course. Bell attempted to steal the Quaffle from him, but he managed to dodge her. There was a murmur through the crowd as he dodged the Snitch as well.

Harry shot after it. Higgs, Slytherin's Seeker, also hurtled towards the Snitch. The two were neck and neck, but Oliver knew that Harry had Higgs outmatched. Sure enough, Harry began to pass Higgs. Everyone on the field remained motionless as they watched them race towards the rapidly moving Snitch. Out of the corner of his eye Wood saw Flint shoot towards Harry.’He's going to block my Seeker! Wood thought angrily just before he watched the two collide.

"That dirty, foul, cheating bastard!" he heard himself shout, his voice full of rage. "My Seeker! Trying to take out my Seeker, Flint? Fly over here! I'll take you out! You foul-mouthed, ugly, son of a troll! You didn't just get beaten with an ugly stick: you broke it! You filthy, rotten..." He cut his ranting short when Hooch gave him a threatening look.

Oliver was furious. He had never in all of his games against Slytherin seen such an obvious act of cheating. His body was shaking with fury and he could feel the muscle underneath his eye twitching furiously. He ground his teeth together as he tried to calm himself, then motioned for Spinnet to take the penalty. She scored with ease.

The game was continuing normally, with Flint unfortunately managing to get past Oliver to score once, when Oliver noticed that something was going on. He heard shouting from the stands, and when he looked over he could see the spectators pointing towards the sky. He scanned the field expecting to see the Snitch, but what he saw nearly made his heart stop. Harry's broom was out of control. Oliver watched in horror as the small boy nearly fell, but somehow managed to hang on to his broom. The Weasleys tried to pull Harry away from his broom, but someone, or something, prevented them from doing so. Eventually they just circled below Harry, prepared to catch him if he fell.

Suddenly, after the five longest minutes of Oliver's life, Harry got complete control over his broom again. Oliver didn't have time to sigh from relief before he watched Harry drop into a dive and speed towards the ground. Harry clapped his hands over his mouth and dropped to the ground on all fours. He coughed, stood up, and the game was over. Harry had caught the Snitch.

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

"All right, Katie?" George asked as the team headed towards the locker rooms.

Katie just smiled at him. There was something about the way that she looked at him that always caught him off guard.

"It's nothing," Katie giggled as she lightly pushed him. "And I'm fine, don't worry."

"Who said I was worried?" George asked defensively. He was actually very concerned, but he'd never admit it now that he had realised that she'd turned the situation into another one of her games. "It's just that, well, a Bludger to the head usually hurts."

"Of course it hurt, but as you can see, I'm okay," Katie explained as she lightly patted the back of her head to prove it. She winced as her hand actually touched the place where the Bludger had hit. "My scalp's a bit tender, but that would be expected."

"You really are hard-headed," George said with a smile. "Most people would have a concussion, or worse."

"You are worried," Katie smiled. "That's so sweet of you."

George just shook his head. The more he denied it, the more she would believe it was true.

"Admit it."

"Never," George turned his back to her and crossed his arms.

Katie just rolled her eyes. "I know how you think, George Weasley; you only deny it because I'm right."

"I only deny it because I know how you think."

"It's nice to know that you care," Katie said as she hugged him, resting her head against his back.

"I don't care at all," George protested, blushing slightly.

Katie let go of him and shook her head. "Silly boy."

When George turned around to look at her, she had already walked into the girl’s changing room. As George walked into the boy’s changing room he noticed that his twin was standing next to his locker with a large grin plastered on his face.

George sighed, looked Fred in the eyes, and then rolled his eyes to the left.

Fred looked to his right, nodded, and arched his eyebrows quizzically.

George just shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

"Seriously?" Fred asked laughing.

"At least you find it amusing," George sighed as he began to blush.

"What about Angelina?" George asked after a moment of silence.

"What about her?"

"I noticed that she's talking to you again," George stated as he hung his Quidditch robes neatly inside his locker.

Fred smiled as he tossed his own Quidditch robes carelessly into his locker.

"I wonder how long that's going to last..." George muttered to himself as he shook his head.

To Be Continued...