A piece of parchment

Chapter 5

I walked to my room, still hearing distant sobs coming from the direction of Ginny's room. Harry's voice could be heard over her sobs, comforting her... taking care of her.

I felt pure jealousy in the pit of my stomach. I used to have Fred... we used to take care of eachother, look out for eachother. But he was gone. And I felt like I was slowly and painfully disappearing into thin air without him there with me.

I was a nobody.

I knew I shouldn't have felt jealous of my little sister and her love life, but my brain just kept reminding me that I had no one at all. No one.

Ginny had Harry, Ron had Hermione and Mum had Dad.

Who do I have? I thought. Absolutely no one. You have no one, George, and there's nothing you can do about it.

That house was surrounding me with happy people (well, obviously not happy at that particularly tough time, but you know what I mean) and I just wished that I had someone... someone like... Angelina.

Anyway, talking about Angelina...

I hastily rummaged through my battered chest of drawers to find some more tidier looking clothes; in the end I just picked out a cream shirt and jeans. Most of my clothes were incredibly creased but, of course, in the situation I was in at that moment I didn't really have ironing clothes on my mind.

But just as I looked at myself in the mirror, about to wash my face again, I could hear the front door downstairs open... I stopped dead in my tracks as Angelina's soft, friendly voice travelled up to my room.

"Good evening, Mrs Weasley! It was really nice of you to invite me here for dinner."

"No worries, dear." beamed Mum in a polite tone.

The next thing Angelina said took me by surprise.

"Do you know where George is? I- I just wanted to see if he's alright, I do feel sorry for him. Sometimes I just want to hug him and never let go, but I don't think he feels the same way about me."

Mum's voice interrupted my sudden exhilerating thoughts which were swirling around my head at such a fast pace that I felt rather dizzy.

"We'll soon see, dear. I think he likes you Angelina, and more than you think. But I would appreciate it if you didn't tell him I told you. It's just the way he's been acting when I mention your name..."

"Where is he now?" I heard Angelina say. I could have sworn I heard a little giggle in her voice.

"In his room. He hasn't had a very nice day. Maybe you could cheer him up..." said Mum.

And with that, Angelina's light footsteps became louder as she came towards my room.

What was I going to do?

Should I tell her how I feel? I thought. Should I avoid her? Once again, more thoughts swivelled around in my head.

The door handle turned, and there she was. Looking just as beautiful as always, she smiled at me, just like she usually did.

She obviously thinks that I don't know she might have feelings for me... she's just going to act normal... and I'm too much of a git to ask her how she feels.

"Hey Georgey." she giggled, strolling into my room with her brown eyes twinkling.

However, her giggling came to an abrupt stop when she examined my blotchy face. I smiled back at her, but my eyes were still watering.

"George? Oh, come here!" she said, running towards me and giving me a tight hug.

Instant butterflies swirled around in my stomach. My cheeks flushed a bright shade of crimson and out loud, I grinned to myself.

"What are you grinning at?" questioned Angelina, but laughing at the same time.

"Nothing..."

Will this be the time to ask her out? I feel rather confident this time.

"Angelina, I-I need to ask you something... Will you-" but then I stopped. Not so confident now, eh?

Feeling ashamed of being so stupid, I completely changed my original question.

"Will you... please not tell my Mum that I've been crying? It's just that she's constantly worrying about me."

"Of course." she said.

We just sat there for a moment or two, sitting on my rickety old bed, getting lost in each others eyes... Until we suddenly decided that we should go downstairs for dinner.

As we walked downstairs, we kept looking at each other and smiling. And I could have sworn our hands briefly touched for a second when we were at the bottom of the stairs. No, I'm probably wrong.

Her finger just coincidentally bumped into yours, George. Don't be pathetic.

Walking into the kitchen, Mum suddenly popped out of nowhere, making me jump.

"Oh, give me a heart attack, why don't you Mum?" I said, but I didn't actually sound miserable or angry. I sounded happy.

Mum laughed, and then exchanged a curious glance with Angelina. Angelina just looked down at her feet and shook her head.

I pretended I hadn't noticed mum's invisible question and asked her when dinner was done.

"It's almost ready now, George. I just need to dish all of the food up and then you can get eating!"

"Okay, Mum."

For some strange reason I looked
happy and slightly bouncy; a rush of confidence flowed through me.

Yes, this is definitely the time, I thought to myself.

I received my plate of roast dinner and gave Angelina an anxious look. She looked back at me, her face hopeful, as if she were waiting for something...

I couldn't do this to her. I couldn't make her wait for me to ask her out. She'd soon get bored of me...

Without thinking it through, I suddenly said: "Angelina, will you go-"

But my question ended there and then. All eyes were on me, everyone looking hopeful...as if egging me on to ask that one question...

I couldn't do it.

"Sorry. I mean- I mean will you pass me the gravy please?" I said.

My food was already drowned in gravy, but she passed me it all the same.

That one question... that one question could have made my life a lot happier. And I failed at asking it.

If Fred were here, he would have just blurted out: "Oh for God's sake! He wants to go out with you!"

I could just picture him, his soft laughter filling the room...

I wouldn't have been this mess if he was here.

Why can't my brother come back to me?