Alrighty, I won't make you wait to find out what happens... New post time!

And then there were two—Angelina and Emily.

Emily took another sip of her Butterbeer and glanced around, trying to not make eye contact with Angelina.

“You’re an idiot,” said Angelina. Emily was completely surprised. She looked across the table.

“Excuse me?” Emily gagged.

“You heard me. You’re so stupid for letting him go, though I’m not complaining.”

“Could have fooled me,” Emily said. She balled up her fists against her knees and glared back at Angelina. She was not about to listen to this prat tell her she was dumb.

“You can’t do anything right, can you? Even Cody had to get away from you,” Angelina sneered. Emily had a sudden urge to jump across the table and pulverize her. “I don’t even see what he saw in you. It’s not like you’re interesting in any way. Not to mention you’re a complete mess. Just look at what you’re wearing,” Angelina laughed at her. “And you can’t forget that wide range of emotions you have. Are you bipolar?” she asked Emily.

Emily’s palms started becoming sweaty from clenching them into balls so tightly. Her knuckles were turning white and her ears were flaring red. Angelina just kept laughing at her.

“Evidently George disagrees with you,” she said.

“Right, that’s why he’s with you and not me. Oh, but wait, he’s with me, not you. Huh. I guess he agrees with me more than you realized,” Angelina smiled.

“You—” Emily started.

“Hey, we’ve got the drinks. Where did everybody go?” Fred interrupted.

“Is...everything okay?” George asked apprehensively.

Angelina smiled and said, “Never better.” George and Fred turned to Emily.

With her cheeks still flushed and hands still balled up, Emily muttered something like, "Oh, yeah, just dandy.”

Cody came back from the bathroom a second later.

“Sorry, there was a line,” he apologized. Emily smiled slightly at him and then looked down. He noticed her expression and dropped his voice.

“You okay?” he asked. Emily just nodded.

“Can we go? It’s a bit stuffy in here,” she said. Angelina smiled at her and it took all her strength to not grab her wand and point it at Angelina’s throat.

“Er, sure. Yeah, we can, er, go,” said Cody. He abandoned his Butterbeer and started picking up the bags. Emily took one last sip of hers and grabbed the remainder of the bags.

Fred stood up and gave her a hug. “You sure you’re okay?” he whispered. She nodded against his shoulder. “Okay, though I still don’t believe you.”

“Tell Lee I said I’ll see him later,” Emily said, releasing Fred. He nodded. She waved at Fred and George.

“Goodbye, Georgie. Can’t wait to see you guys over the holidays,” she said with fake happiness. She smiled at Angelina. “Bye, Angie. See you later,” she said. Angelina kept a smile on her face but Emily could tell she wasn’t happy. Emily turned on her heel and headed for the door, Cody right behind her.

Emily didn’t tell Cody what Angelina had told her, but she did tell Ginny when she got back to her dormitory. Ginny was perched on her bed, waiting on her. After Emily told her everything Angelina had said, Ginny’s eyes were piercing with fury.

“Ugh! Let’s go hex her!” Ginny said loudly.

“Ginny, Gin, shh, quiet. No, you can’t tell anyone I told you this, okay? It’s going to be our little secret. You can’t tell your brother either, understand?” she told Ginny, grabbing her arm in the process.

“Are you mental? You’re just going to not tell George the truth? He needs to know what kind of person he’s with,” Ginny replied angrily.

“You can’t, Gin. He’s, you know, happy right now. I can’t take his happiness away just because his girlfriend insulted me,” Emily said, her eyes pleading.

“She’s not his girlfriend, you know?” Ginny said, becoming calmer.

“What do you mean?” Emily asked, confused.

“George told her he’s not ready for a relationship. She wasn’t too happy about that, but she’s accepted it. They’re in the ‘talking’ stage, whatever that means,” she said quietly. Emily just nodded.

“Do you promise you won’t say anything?” Emily asked. Ginny studied her for a moment longer and then sighed, giving in. She nodded.

“I won’t tell,” Ginny promised. Emily nodded and lay down on her bed, her feet dangling off the end. Ginny lay back down too, except she did it the opposite way so that hers and Emily’s heads were next to each other. They both stared up at the ceiling and the frame of the four-poster.

“Who invented drama?” Ginny asked.

“I don’t know, but they should be slapped,” replied Emily with a sigh.

Emily and Ginny didn’t speak for the remainder of the afternoon. They just sat on the bed wordlessly. Ginny’s thoughts turned to Harry while Emily’s turned to George and Cody. She worried of the day Cody would tell her to choose, because she knew he eventually would. When that day came, there is only one man she could ever really choose, one man she could never truly live without, whether he chose her back or not. She knew it wasn’t fair to Cody, to have feelings for George, but she was selfish. And the more she was with Cody, the less the ache in her heart. She wasn’t ready for the depression to come over her again, so she suppressed the inevitable.


*Tell me watchya think