Beating 'Round the Bush

Beating 'Round the Bush

KA_BOOM!

'Ah! That's the third time in twenty minutes!' Angelina Johnson was fidgeting at her desk in potions class trying to look as if she was still listening to boring!Snape and his boring!ingredients to the Cornmofulius potion.

'I should have known something was up when Fred said he and George were staying back to help with the Quidditch equipment. Good thing Oliver was dragged from the pitch by Madame Hooch for class. I don't blame him for not trusting the twins though...We ALL know how mad he would be if he thought the pitch was in harm's way, he almost fell out of the stands when we told him what they were doing for the Tri-Wiz. Tourney last year.'

'BUT, then again I guess I shouldn't be surprised, the twins are ALWAYS up to something.' This time Angelina was generally concerned, these explosions were more than minor bombs.

'GRRR! Snape you twit. Why can't you just give up and let the students squirm to the windows for a lookie? Every OTHER professor has let their class out of session, but NO Snape must ruin our lives once again.'

Poor Neville, once again he had put in the wrong ingredients causing the potion to explode in his face. The consequences were quite humorous, and, had Angelina been in good spirits, she would have had to struggle from falling off her chair and hurting the poor guy's feelings. His face was now sprouting ears of corn from his nostrils and ears. Mix this vision with purple blotchy skin and you have created the Neville'sFashionFoesPotion of the week. Neville was a curious young soul, very shy. Yes, he was clumsy, but not a bad soul. Angelina had made attempts of conversation, but every time she would strike up small chat with him, he would blush furiously and make some lame excuse to run in the opposite direction. This puzzled Angelina, maybe even offended her a little, but she had shrugged it off and moved on.

BOOM!TWANG!BLUB!

Angelina was nearly jumping out of her seat to get a glimpse at the commotion. Finally, when class was dismissed, Angelina seemed to levitate through the crowds to the Quidditch pitch. Well of course she was good at slipping through people, she's a Chaser! That's mainly why Angelina and the twins had become friends, Quidditch and her stealth for keeping them from being expelled as long as possible. Angelina frowned at this reoccurring thought. 'They don't really care for ME, just my gosh dang stealth.' *Sigh* Angelina had been having these thoughts a lot, causing her to be quite depressed. 'This isn't acceptable; I can't be depressed! I am supposed to be the upbeat, perky, funny 7^th year Quidditch player, who is dependably single...ACK! Why can't I find a guy? Sure a few losers like me, I guess that counts for SOMETHING, but I just wish I could fall head-over-heels for one guy, you know, find that special someone that makes you shiver inside from pure delight. All the other girls seem to have so much fun talking about their crushes and how they plan to get their attention. I always feel so left out and alone. WHY?! I've tried to date the guys who are interested but of course that couldn't develop into anything, that would be to good for me! GRR! Maybe I wouldn't feel like such a third wheel all the time if I had a boyfriend. So much for that. *sigh*

Finally snapping back to reality, Angelina was met with a blur of gold, red, white, and gray blending in a huge mass of smoke and sparks over the Quidditch pitch. Thankfully, Angelina had a keener eye than all the goggling first years that had snuck their way into the front of the crowd and noticed an unhurried Madame Hooch walking straight towards the pitch!!! Thankfully, she was distracted by some indistinguishable trinket. Angelina sighed as she once again prepared to save the gits-that-are-her-friends' arses. Quickly summoning her CleanSweep7, Angelina sped up to meet the boys and tell them of the impeding danger.

Looking back at his handiwork, Fred hadn't seen Angelina coming and they had collided at full speed. Luckily for Angelina, Fred was quick enough to reach out and catch Angelina before she plummeted toward the doubtlessly hard ground.

For a couple of silent seconds they came face to face. A very CLOSE face to face I might add; they could feel each other breathing on their necks. Angelina felt quite shaken by this, and yet, quite thrilled at the sudden embrace. She had to fight the urge to gasp and snog him on the spot, something that quite surprised and somewhat scared Angelina. His arms were so strong and secure and warm around her, she felt like she could stay snuggled in those arms forever... Fred had changed so much from the tall, skinny, gangly, freckled, redhead little boy that had arrived at Hogwarts seven years ago. All those long practices of Quidditch had made him fill out and become quite muscular and buff. His face had squared-off revealing a quite handsome and adorable boy. Most of the girls who bumped into him during sixth year had declared their undying love for him within ten minutes of the occurrence, causing all the rest of the girls to gag over the profuse amounts of swooning taking place thereafter. Angelina had never paid much attention to his looks considering he was one of her best friends, other than the occasional pun about his red hair and/or freckles. Now that she looked into his laughing eyes, and he into hers, he was quite handsome...

'NO! Stop right there missy! This is FRED you are talking about, since when do you consider him an eligible member of the opposite sex?...That's right, YOU DON'T! You'll do well to remember that. But he's so cute! NO NO NO, NO! I knew you were lonely but this would only create more sorrow for you, can't you see this?'

As Angelina struggled with her inner conflict Fred snapped out of his daze and broke the silence. "So nice of you to DROP by, Angie!" Always the jokester...Now that Angelina had completely forgotten her mission, she stumbled around for the news she had meant to bring. Struggling to quickly compose herself, get back onto her broom, and actually SPEAK, Angelina kicked herself mentally for this lapse of intelligence. Finally! So that's how you make the sounds come out of that round thing...

"You two better hitale it outta here, Hooch is still furious about her hair, though I'd say it's an improvement..." (The twins had played an especially hilarious trick on Madame Hooch for her birthday, turning her hair into a purple ice cream-like swirl with green poke-dots.) At this comment Fred chuckled his deep laugh, making Angelina tingle inside, much to her dismay. He then signaled for George to ski-daddle. With on last flash of his winning smile, a "Thanks Angie, see ya later!", and one last lap around the pitch, he zoomed towards the castle and the Gryffindor common room.

How many times had she saved their behinds now? *sigh* Good times. Angelina was still pondering what had just happened, and feeling decidedly uneasy, when she realized Hooch and her colorful beehive were still strutting towards the pitch! Quickly landing and banishing her broom back to her dorm, Angelina prepared for major damage control...