...I Suppose It's A Twin Thing

Angelina's Tale

"Oi! Angelina?"

"What?"

"Want to come to the ball with me?"

I paused, for a moment completely thrown. I looked at Fred Weasley appraisingly. He wasn't joking, for a change.

"All right, then," I said, and turned back to Alicia, who was telling me about George and her. It all had a pleasing symmetry to it.

We carried on chatting for a few minutes, before it hit me.

What the bloody hell just happened there?

I looked around, but Fred had gone off somewhere, and I was left completely awestruck by how well he'd managed to blindside me. Twice in twenty-four hours.

That's really not fair.

I suppose it's my own fault. A month or so ago, Fred and I had a stupid argument about me entering the Tri-Wizard tournament. It was all blown completely out of proportion by me over-reacting to what Fred wasn't saying. He was just being concerned, rather than condescending, and I realised that, eventually.

So why didn't I just forget the whole thing?

Well, for a start, there was the small matter of Fred being, well, pretty good looking this year.

I suppose he was last year. I didn't really notice. I was going out with Zacharias Smith from Hufflepuff, and between that and Sirius Black, the Dementors and the fuss over the Quidditch Cup, I didn't have much time to think about the Beaters on our house team as anything other than good friends. In the end, though, it was Fred and George who got Zacharias back for cheating on me in spectacular fashion.

And then, this year, Fred got on the train at Kings Cross and my stomach dropped. Katie and Alicia spent the next week teasing me about the expression on my face and, to be fair, they had a point. I've always been nearly as mad about Quidditch as Oliver has, and so I've never been bothered by his 'don't date in the team' rules.

And yes, I know the twins call it something different. They can be incredibly childish at times. Dipping your quill... Men.

Anyway, before I get too far off topic, back to Fred.

I think that my reasoning behind keeping that stupid fight going was that if we were arguing, I didn't have to try and work out what my feelings were for him. Because, suddenly, they were all over the place.

There were my feelings for my friend, the barking mad joker who makes every class a place where the wise among us tread carefully. Those who don't tread carefully become wise soon enough.

There were my feelings for my best friend, who was ready to break Zacharias' neck when it turned out he'd been seeing that Slytherin fifth year behind my back.

There were the feelings for the Beater, without whom the Gryffindor Quidditch team would be a weaker unit.

There were the feelings for the surprising, unpredictable side of Fred, who last Valentine's Day dressed up as the Easter Bunny - on a day when we had Potions, no less - to take my mind off Zacharias Smith. That side of him combines all the other parts into one, and this year I've been seeing a bit more of it than I had in previous years.

So there were a lot of feelings, and it was all very confusing. At first, I was sure I'd latched on to Fred as someone who was reliably unreliable. Any relationship that I had with him was going to be fun, short, and free of the false promises made to me by Zacharias.

So why didn't I go for it?

I mean, would Fred have turned me down?

There was a tiny part of me that said, yes, he would have done. And that thought worried me. I tried to be logical about it: Why would he want to risk ruining his friendship with me for a brief fling? He's always been the no-ties type...

There was a bigger part of me, and it was getting bigger each time I thought about it, that said a brief fling wasn't what I really wanted. And I hated that. How thoroughly and completely stupid of me to fall for my best friend, and to fall hard, at that.

So I did my best to ignore those feelings, and to ignore Fred as well. It shouldn't have been very hard. There was usually plenty of noise wherever Fred was, after all.

Imagine my disgust at showing up wherever he happened to be almost wherever I went. It took me nearly two weeks to realise that the others were steering us towards one another, and that they expected us just to make up, as we usually do in our group when two of us have a spat.

Of course, if it's Fred and George who have an argument, then that always degenerates into them testing their Wheezes on each other. Sometimes I think that it's just an excuse to makes lots of noise and mess...

Wait, what am I saying?

When Fred and George argue, they do it as a prelude to making lots of noise and mess. It's a warning, not an excuse. We're here, we're bickering, and this will be resolved loudly and stickily. Get clear now, while you have a chance to emerge unscathed. I suppose it's a twin thing, or more likely just a Fred and George thing.

But it just wasn't as easy as that for Fred and I. Not as I was doing everything in my power to stay mad at him. He would have to apologise, I decided and publicised. Only then could things go back to normal.

Yeah, me and my big mouth, right?

Still, for a while, I thought that I was safe. Despite knowing that all he had to do was apologise, Fred stayed out of my way. Now, I know he was just waiting for the right moment. Then, I was hoping that he'd just stay out of my way.

Fred may have worn a fluffy pink bunny suit into Potions last year, and earned himself about six months worth of detentions from Snape, but he wouldn't be stupid enough to make my cauldron explode.

No, only one person would be so totally idiotic to manage that. And you're looking at her.

In my defence, I was flustered and tired. And the Deadly Fatal Draught of Mortal Death is a tricky potion. And Katie was distracting me by telling us how Lee had asked her to the ball.

And Fred was right across the aisle from me!

So there were lots of reasons that I was distracted, and anyone could have done what I did and added half a bottle of shark's tears rather than two drops.

So I was rattled when I left Potions that day. I was upset, and annoyed, and flustered, and aghast at losing thirty points from Gryffindor's total.

And then Fred appeared, as if from nowhere, and cornered me.

I barely noticed. That's how distracted I was.

Now, if could have stayed that distracted, I would have been fine. Pathetically, I looked up and lost my train of thought as I looked into Fred's open and - for once - honest face.

"I just wanted to say that I was sorry," he said. "You're having a bad enough day as it is, so I thought that if I apologised then maybe it would cheer you up. So, I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" I echoed, a little stupidly.

His eyes locked onto mine, and he nodded slowly and clearly.

"That's right," he said, his voice unusually sombre. "I'm sorry for making it seem like I was putting down your abilities as a witch. I apologise for trying to make you doubt your decision to enter the Tri-wizard Tournament as well. You had every right to enter, more than George and I did, even."

My mind went back to that Saturday morning, visiting the twins in the hospital wing as their long beards moulted. I remembered plucking a number of the hairs from Fred's chin at a point when I was still genuinely furious with him. Lee had come up with the idea of trimming Fred and George's beards while they still had them, so that they could see what they looked like with different types of facial hair. George had ended up with a handlebar moustache that did nothing for him, but Fred...

I shivered at the memory.

Fred had ended up with a goatee that made him look at least five years older and much more handsome.

And now, with a serious look on his face that I couldn't remember ever seeing there before, he looked more handsome still.

"Um... Okay," I managed.

"Okay, you've forgiven me?" he asked, looking a lot more cheerful.

"Er, yes?" I said. What was I supposed to have been forgiving him for again?

"Angelina, I'm being serious here," he said, needlessly. I could tell that much.

"Look," he said, frowning slightly. "It's really important that you forgive me."

"Why?" I asked, a little fire igniting in my stomach. "Is this part of some big joke, Fred? If so, I'm not in the mood." I pushed past him, and stalked off down the corridor. "I'm having a horrible day, and-"

"Will you listen?" he said, striding quickly to catch up with me. "That's what I'm saying. I'm trying to brighten up your day a bit-"

"If the only reason you're apologising is to try and cheer me up," I glared at him, "then get out of my way, Fred Weasley. I don't need that kind of apology."

He looked at me in frustration, as though he were wondering whether hammering his apology home with a heavy rock would work better. Then he smiled. It wasn't a trademarked Weasley grin, or the smirk of a Weasley twin who's just thought of a way to liven up a dull moment.

This was the soft, winning smile of the man that I think Fred Weasley will one day come to be, and I knew then and there that I wanted to see a lot more of it.

"Angelina, you've been my best mate for years now. You're one of the most important people in the world to me, and when you're not a part of my life I always feel horrible. I treated you badly, and for that I'm genuinely sorry. I'd really, really like you to forgive me my stupidity so that we can go back to being as close as we were before I was an even bigger idiot than normal."

It was enough. More than enough. I accepted his apology, and the rest of the day was as fun as there had ever been with the six of us.

And then, tonight, he came out of nowhere and asked me to the ball. Shouted it across the common room, really.

I was eyed him up for a few seconds, trying to work out exactly what it was Fred Weasley was up to this time.

But there was nothing but open, honest enquiry in his face. No hint of guile, no subterfuge, no suggestion that this was all a line up for one great big joke (and after being his friend for so long, I think I'd know what it looked like if it was there).

There was just openness, a hint of bravado to show off to George, Harry and Ron and the faintest hint of anxiety, as though he were worried I might say no.

I said yes, of course, you already know that.

As Fred sat down, I caught a fleeting glimpse of his face. There was a broad grin plastered across it that makes me grin just thinking about it.

But it's the memory of the honest Fred that makes me smile the most. It's not a side of him that many people get to see, I imagine, and I like it.

I hope to see more of it. A lot more.

To be continued...