Let It Go
By Evilevergreen

Summary: "Please," he prayed. "Give me the strength to let her go." It was a friendship they had pasted back together and a love he fought not to feel.

Chapter One: The Promise

I was coming out of the Great Hall with my brother Fred and his girlfriend Angelina, doing what we had always done, walk to our first classes of the day together. But as we were walking, something strange hit my ear, and I soon realized what it was, it was silence. Fred was standing on my right side while Angelina stood on my left.

Fred looked as though he was in deep thought and every few steps he would just look at me for a moment and then go back into them. Angelina, on the other hand, hugged one of her school books closely to herself as she stared down at the floor. "Bye, George," she said quietly before turning down the right corridor towards her first class.

"Angel," Fred called after her. "Do you want me to walk with you?" he asked longingly.

"No, I'll be okay today," she told him before continuing on her way.

"Okay," I drawled as I looked to my brother. "What was that about?"

Fred shook his head as he spoke, "Nothing, just an unfinished argument. " He than began walking faster, leaving me alone in a now crowded hallway.

I could tell by looking at Fred that there was more than 'Nothing' going on. Fred had been walking Angelina to her first class since the third day of our first year. She had dropped one her books and Fred bent down and picked it up for her. Angelina gave him one of her award winning smiles and Fred had been hooked on her ever since.

Fred and Angelina had arguments all the time, there was nothing strange about that, but Angelina not putting in her two cents in about it was. Most days -okay, who am I kidding- everyday around this time Angelina was yelling at Fred for something he did or didn't do. And Fred would simply smile and nod his head and wait for her to calm down, where he would then proceed to say something that would start her up again. I believe that Fred loved any and all of the attention that Angelina gave him, I guess it comes from being one of seven kids, so all the silence must have completely thrown him off.

OoOoO

It was later in the day and I was working in the library with Angelina. We had a report that was due the next morning. Angelina was almost done, while I on the other hand, had barely started. She seemed content scratching away on her parchment. "What?" she asked as I realized I had been staring.

"What's with you and my brother?" I asked, figuring I would take advantage of the time we had together.

"Nothing," she replied. She then put down her quill and reached for one of the books on the table and pretended to look something up.

"Angel, you've been acting strange all day," I began, but she just looked at me. "For example, today at lunch, people usually notice when you come in, no offence, but your a loud person. And today, you nearly gave me a heart attack when I realized you were standing behind me."

She chuckled at the thought. "Your face was priceless. But honestly, it's no big deal, I've just been tired lately," she explained, before looking around the table. "I'm missing a book." She got up and I watched her walk over to a row of books. The book she needed was about a foot over her head. As she reached for it, the sleeve of her robe drifted down her arm. My mouth fell open as I refused to believe what I was looking at.

When she turned around and saw my face she shook her robe sleeve down and walked back over to the table. "Quidditch bruises," she said simply, not looking at me. "Trying to replace half the team wasn't as easy I wanted it to be." It was logical, but nonetheless a lie, she was always a bad liar, the change in her voice always gave her away.

"Look at me, Angel." And she lifted her gaze to mine. "I've played the game as long as you have, you don't get bruises like that from Quidditch."

"Drop it, George. Let's just do our work." She picked up her quill. I reached out for her, to take her hand and ask what was going on, but as I did she jumped and her eyes grew wide. She was scared of something, which was surprising to me, because in all the time I have known Angelina, I have never seen her afraid. Why would she jump when I reached out for her, like she was afraid of me? No, more like someone who looked like me.

She then said quickly, "I know what you're thinking, let it go."

I didn't want to say it and I wasn't, but I had to know, "Did my brother do that to you? Did Fred hurt you like this?" I pushed back her sleeve and saw the marks around her arm. "Do they stop here?" I asked in a whisper.

For a moment, she just let my hand rest upon her arm. "I'm appalled at you, George," she said angerly as she pulled away. "You should know your brother better than that." She stood up and gathered her things. "I'm going back to the common room are you staying here?"

"Do they stop there?" I asked again, more firmly.

She didn't even look at me as she finally said, "No. Now are you coming?"

I was nowhere near done on my report, but I didn't care, I just didn't want to leave her side. "Yeah."

She sighed heavily right before we reached the common room door. "George?" I gave a grunt as a reply. "Let's not mention, what happened in the library, you understand?" She made it sound like a threat. . . now that's the Angelina Johnson I know. I gave a nod, but I guess she wasn't satisfied with that as she took my hand and gave it a squeeze. "I need you to promise," she sounded so small and looked so fragile as I realized she was holding her breath. "George?"

"I promise," I told her, not realizing that I was pulling her closer to me until I was wrapping my arms around her. I then heard her backpack fall to the floor as I felt her arms come around my back and her head sink into my chest. She sighed a breath of relief as I tired to push the thought, of how good her body felt pressed up against mine in such a intimate embrace.

"Thank you," she whispered as she slightly pulled away and looked up at me.

"You're welcome," I told her just as softly as I pulled her back to me, not wanting the moment to end.

I'm not sure how long we stood there, in each other's arms, but it wasn't near long enough as the common room door opened and Fred stepped out. Angelina pulled herself away from me quickly and I felt guilty for missing her warmth. "Hey, I've been looking for you, we need to talk," he directed towards Angelina.

"Not right now, Fred." She picked up her backpack and walked passed him to enter the common room. Fred then turned to me with an expression I couldn't read before we followed her in. Angelina went up to her room and Fred and I went up to ours.

Fred took off his robe and threw it onto his bed. "Ahhh!" he screamed. "Do you know she's barely spoken to me today?"

"Is it about what happened yesterday?" I sat down on his bed, trying to see how much he would tell me.

"You mean our argument?"

"You say argument, but was it more of a fight?"

He undid his tie. "Fight?"

I was getting impatience. "Come on, Fred," I said a little louder then I intended to. He looked at me like I was out of my mind. "You know exactly what's going on," if he was beating on Angelina, I wanted to hear it from him, "now talk to me."

He looked almost ashamed as he spoke, "So, she told you about yesterday?" He turned towards his closet and started to undo the buttons on his shirt. "So I'm guessing it's true?"

"What's true?" I asked him as I was bit lost.

"Don't George. I don't want to do this, if you won't admit what you've done."

"What I've done?" He couldn't possibly think I had hit Angelina, right?

He turned around with a confused look. "You have no idea what I'm talking about do you?"

"Apparently not," I said truthfully.

"Then never mind." He grabbed a towel. "I'll be in the shower." And as I watched him walk away from me, I couldn't help but think, what the hell are those two hiding?

To Be Continued. . .