Chapter 2

The three girls were in their dormitory, and an unnatural hush seemed to have permanently settled in the room. Angelina bent stiffly over her bed, casting a heating charm to keep her bed toasty warm throughout the chilly night. Alicia kept her eyes focused on the mirror in front of her and she coiled her hair into rollers for the night. Katie was changing into her polka dot pyjamas silently.

Even Ronald Weasley could've picked up on the tension in the room.

It had been a very long evening, seeing as they had had no one else to talk to but each other, and communication with one another was naturally off the agenda at this point. Even the boys hadn't bothered to use their 'wit' and 'charm' to thaw things out. They had retired to bed early, all three of them, although they all looked far too excitable to get some sleep. All day they had been keeping to themselves, heads bent as they conversed quietly about goodness knows what.

Not that the girls cared of course. It was well known that they only let the boys hang around with them out of exasperation and pity…or so they had hoped that was what everyone thought.

But lately, things certainly didn't look that way.

And sooner or later, the icy façade that was hanging in the air between the three girls, tense and cool, would have to crack.

"OOF!"

The clumsy Katie had been shuffling over to the sink when she had tripped on her too-long pyjama bottoms. Unlike a normal person, who would've probably just put out their other foot to stop their fall, Katie didn't have the reflexes to perform this simple technique, and simply fell forwards like a plank of wood to the floor with a smack and a wheeze of air that was thrust from her lungs.

This sudden commotion caused the other two to jump out of their stony stupors and stare at Katie with mild surprise.

And everything else happened quite quickly after that, really.

Angelina couldn't control it- she let out a rather unattractive snort through her nostrils.

Alicia glared over at Angelina.

Katie's face glowed a rather pleasant shade of Magenta.

"Don't laugh at her." Alicia snapped.

"Don't shout at her." Katie snapped.

"Don't stick up for me." Angelina snapped.

"Oh I won't BOTHER then!" Alicia shrieked, glad that the silence was broken. She was more than eager to use her vocals to their full potential once more.

"You're so over dramatic." Katie murmured quietly, but her eyes were full of malice and contempt.

"Oh, typical Katie." Angelina hissed angrily.

"Kiss my-" Katie began, reaching out to grab her wand off of her bedside table.

BANG!

Angelina's chaser reflexes were too quick for Katie's own sloth-like ones. Before she could even blink, she found herself stuck against the far wall with what seemed to be masses and masses of squishy pink bubblegum. She realized that she was unable to talk, as she had a large amount of it in her mouth. She blew a large bubble grumpily.

"Oh so now we're cursing?!" Alicia screeched, "Very mature, Ange!"

"Said she," Angelina scoffed, still holding out her wand defensively, "Whose such a spoilt brat she can't stand a little competition!"

"Don't make it out like I started this!" Alicia retorted, outraged, "You were the one who wanted him all to yourself, you selfish-"

"And you didn't?!" Angelina screamed, losing all of her calm composure, "I swear Alicia, you think that you own him just because your star signs match up-"

"Can I help that Aries is most compatible with a Sagittarian?!" She trilled smugly, folding her arms and giving her a very annoying look. Angelina rolled her eyes and gave up, knowing better than to get angry with Alicia. She knew who would come away without their fingers.

"Look." She said in a level voice, looking to both Alicia and the immobilized Katie, "I know we're all mad at each other. It's finally happened; we've fallen for the same guy."

The other two blushed and looked to their feet.

"And I know it's very hard to keep our hands, love tokens and horoscopes to ourselves," She continued sagely, "But our friendship is so much more important. Right?"

Silence.

"Oh come on." Angelina hissed, "Am I the only one here who won't give up her friends for some guy? Some…tasty…funny…charming…"

Katie and Alicia raised their eyebrows.
"Harder than it looks, isn't it?" Alicia muttered darkly. Angelina scowled. Katie popped another bubble sadly, still unable to chip in.

"But…if you think about it, it's pretty simple. He's only going to like one of us, isn't he?" Alicia mused. Angelina looked sceptical.

"Well he can be a bit of a berk sometimes." She said, no doubt having many irritating flash backs, "Who's to say he won't try and play us off against one another?"

They thought about this. In their own minds, each was pretty confident that they were the one who would win.

"ULTIMATELY, though," Alicia continued with determination, "He's going to have to choose one of us. The other girls in our year are either evil, snobs, or destined to be virgins forever."

That was certainly true. See if you can decide which groups belong to which house.

"And let's face it," She said, "We're all pretty, clever, good at Quidditch… what more could the idiot want?"

"A girl with some modesty?!" Angelina murmured, but Alicia was too busy musing to pay attention.

"So, if we want it to be fair," She said thoughtfully, "We're just going to let him choose. Without flirting, without hints and without love potion."

Although this seemed reasonable- and downright noble for someone like Alicia to relinquish her womanly manhunt tactics- Angelina and Katie didn't quite trust Alicia to follow this through. Nor did they trust themselves.

"So, we can't ask him out or anything?" Angelina said. Alicia shook her head.

"But when he asks m- one of us out, that's it. The game is up and I- the girl has won." She declared grandly, to a disgruntled audience of two.

"Seems fair." Angelina commented, and waved her wand in order to free Katie. She crashed to the floor.

"S'fair." She mumbled, in a daze, "So are we friends?"

"I guess." Alicia said, on her guard. She eyed the two of them suspiciously, "As long as we don't get caught up about him. The best looking girl wins, right?"

They glared at her.

"The best personality." She corrected herself. They nodded and turned to go to bed as Alicia whispered to herself, "And best hair…"

So it seemed that Fred and George didn't need to stick their freckled noses in after all. The girls- being an entirely different race all together when it came to maturity- had sorted themselves out.

In that case...what would happen now?

It's been a while since I've updated, but please tell me what ya think so far. :)