Angelina came into the kitchen, followed by Hermione, Ginny, Luna, and Fleur. (They’d had a Galentine’s day party late into last night and had all passed out around George and Angelina’s house.) They were in search of coffee before they all went back to their respective houses to celebrate Valentine’s day with their spouses. Angelina set the coffee on with a wave of her wand and sat down heavily at the kitchen table. Fleur, uncharacteristically, flopped into the chair across from her. They’d had a bit too much wine last night, but a lot of laughs.
Angelina noticed a pretty heart-shaped, lace-trimmed valentine card on the table in between the salt and pepper shakers. She assumed George had left it for her because all it said on the front was “My darling”.
Her face split into a wide grin and she looked around at all the other girls. “Look what I got.” She held it up for them to see.
“Awww. That’s so sweet.” Hermione cooed.
“Open it, I wanna know what the big sap wrote,” Ginny said, leaning in to look at the card over Angelina’s shoulder.
“Yes, tell us what ‘e wrote,” Fleur said with a smile, leaning across the table.
Angelina opened the card and held it away from Ginny so that she could read it privately first. What she read was.
“My dearest,
You are my one true love so on this day I wanted to tell you just how miraculous you are. I never tire of telling you how much I am in love with you. I regret that we can never be together, now that I am married to another woman, but I will carry you in my heart always.
So much love,
George.”
Angelina felt her world start to crumble as the smile fell off her face. Then she steeled herself and shot up out of her chair. She tossed it onto the table and the other girls read it and gasped. Shock crossed their faces before anger formed in all of their eyes, they didn’t need coffee anymore, they were wide awake.
Angelina shouted out. “GEORGE. GET IN HERE.”
George came running into the room, looking frantic. “What is it? What happened? Is everything alright?”
“Nothing is alright, you horrible, awful, no good, two-faced, son of a garden gnome,” Angelina screamed as the other girls gathered behind her.
George knew he was in for it. “What did I do? I don’t know what I did. Usually, when you all are mad at me I know what I did.”
Angelina stomped to the table, snatched up the valentine, and threw it at him. “Explain that.”
George immediately relaxed a little, he even started to laugh. “Oh, this is brilliant.”
The girls weren’t laughing. Angelina and Hermione were planning what curses they were going to hit him with, Luna was planning to get rid of the body by feeding it to the Thestrals, Fleur and Ginny were coming up with what excuses they could give Molly.
George straightened up, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to read that. It’s a joke card for someone else,” He laughed.
“WHO?” All five women chorused back, anger starting to ebb.
“You know how every valentine’s when we were in school there would be an overdramatic fight between me and Fred over our shared true love?” George asked, holding back a laugh.
Hermione sat down, giggling. Luna bent over the counter laughing. Fleur looked confused. Ginny braced herself on the back of Hermione’s chair wracked with laughter. Angelina put a hand over her face.
“I still send her an over-dramatic Valentine every year,” George finished explaining, taking his wife’s other hand. “It’s all just a joke. I wrote it last night, I was gonna send it off this morning so she gets it at breakfast.”
Hermione, Luna, and Ginny laughed harder.
“Who ees thees other women?” Fleur asked, still looking around them, confused.
Through her fits of laughter, Luna replied. “Professor McGonagall.”
The whole room fell into a new fit of laughter.
George shook his head to collect himself and took the card to the window where his owl, Octavius, sat waiting. “Octavius, I need to get this to Professor McGonagall, right away, and in front of as many people as possible.” The owl seemed to understand him, nodding his head as he took the card in his beak.
“What I want to know ees why you do thees? Will she not be embarrassed?” Fleur asked, having stopped laughing at the strange turn of events.
“Oh, I hope so.” George answered with a cheeky grin, “That’s why it’s funny.”