taking_tufts_of_hair
Taking Tufts of Hair
From Alicia Spinnet
By Cassie Pisone

Fred Weasley noticed long, brown, hairs scattered in the hallway on a crisp Friday evening. He dismissed it, thinking some girl cleaned their brush there. Walking along, he now noticed red spots on the floor. Filch needs to clean better, he thought. Red ink and hair all over the place. Now the red 'ink' spots were getting larger and more frequent. He walked a bit farther down the usually abandoned hall, and noticed a trail of red ink, now. Fred started following the trail until he ended up at a broom closet. Out of curiosity he opened it up, and he gasped. Stuffed into the closet was Alicia Spinnet, knocked out and heavily bleeding.

Oh, God, He thought. Please don't let her be dead. He reached down to her bloody neck and checked her pulse- faint but there. She was alive, still. That was good. He dropped his books that he was carrying and picked her up in his arms. Her hair was missing on one side of her head, and she was bleeding from her head, left arm, and chest. He walked quickly to the hospital wing, not wanting to run and injure her more. The halls were abandoned and there was no one he could ask for for help. He silently moved forward, only worrying that Alicia would die. Rushing, now, down the hall, he went up the stairs towards the Hospital Wing. That corridor was empty, too. The Hospital Wing door was opened, and Fred rushed in now, in a state of panic. Her pulse had went down while he was walking down to the Hospital Wing, he noticed.

"My Lord," Madam Pomfrey gasped. "What happened to her?" She motioned Fred to a bed and he gently laid Alicia down.

"I-I-I don't know," He replied. "I was walking down the west corridor and noticed tufts of hair on the floor, then blood. It led up to a broom closet and there Alicia was, knocked out. I thought it was red ink!"

"No worry upon your part," She answered. "Now, if you don't mind, I need to work on Miss Spinnet. You could be a big help by getting Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall up here. Thank you, Mr. Weasley."

Fred sulked out of the Hospital Wing. He wanted to stay with Alicia. Fred summoned Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall, then went out to the lake. He put his head in his hands, and began pulling his hair. Tears began running down his cheek. If Alicia died, it would be all his fault. This would have never happened if he hadn't made bad assumptions. Please God, don't let her die, he prayed. Alicia was his life. If Alicia died, it seemed to him he would have no reason for living.

Then, he had a new thought- Who the Hell could have done this? Fred got up in anger, and stormed back into the castle in a mad fit. He was going to kill the dirty bastard that did it to her, even if it was his own brother. First years got slammed down to the ground, second years ran away in fear of their own safety, third and fourth years swore at him. Fred was oblivious to all this, though. He was going to find who did this to Alicia, and they would be dead. Self defense, he would plead if anyone tried to start something afterwards. No one seriously injures Alicia Spinnet without getting it from him. He was storming up the stairs to the Gryffindor Common Room when Professor McGonagall came down the stairs.

"Mr. Weasley, just the man I needed to see," She grabbed his shoulder and led him back down the stairs. They headed down the corridor that would lead to the Hospital Wing. "Miss Spinnet requested to see you, sir. Not long now, mind you. She needs her rest. Madam Pomfrey can do wonders, she can." Her heavy British accent was weary.

Fred dashed into the Hospital Wing and ran over to Alicia's bed. Her eyes were bloodshot and she looked weary. He pulled the stool that was sitting in the corner near her bed. Then he leaned over and gave her a kiss on her forehead. Alicia looked up and smiled at him.

"How are you feeling, honey?" Fred asked.

"Horrid," She replied. "My head is killing me and so is my arm." Fred looked over at it and noticed it was in a cast. "It was so bad even Madam Pomfrey couldn't heal it up with magic. Now I have this bloody thing on for six weeks."

"What happened to you?" Fred coaxed.

"Don't you dare go killing anyone over me," Alicia answered. "Cho Chang and I had a little incident, all right? Nothing major."

"No it isn't 'all right', Alicia. You were nearly dead when I found you. Knocked out and and bleeding. Your hair all over the floor, for God's sake! It wasn't a 'little incident', and I demand to know what happened."

Alicia felt a pang of anger. Fred was being a control freak, and he knew it. She didn't have to tell him what happened. And she didn't want to remember. Her eyes grew heavy in sleepiness all of a sudden, and she closed them, hoping sleep would take away memories of what happened earlier...

"Spinnet!" Cho Chang's voice. "Tell your dad congratulations for putting my dad out of a job. Now we'll lose our house and be living on the streets."

Alicia turned around abruptly. Putting her dad out of a job? She wondered. "Huh?"

Cho jumped up and started pulling Alicia's long, brown hair out of her head. Then she took out a metal cylinder and beat Alicia over the head with it. Alicia stumbled and fell down. Cho grabbed her arm and took a knife out of her other pocket. She slid it down Alicia's left arm. Then she took it and slit Alicia's skin near her stomach. Alicia then passed out. Cho grabbed her legs and dragged her into a broom closet then shoved her in and shut the door. Hopefully she'll die, Cho thought bitterly. She picked up her weapons, threw them into a suit of armor near the closet. After looking around hoping she had no witnesses, Cho hopped back up the stairs, knowing that if she ever woke up Alicia's father would be sorry for firing her dad.

Alicia woke up in a cold sweat. Fred had nodded off. His head was up against the corner. She tried to lean over but her injuries prevented her from doing so. "Fred," She said in a raspy voice. "Fred, wake up, Fred! Fred..." She sobbed. Fred's eyes fluttered open and he turned to look at Alicia.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" He asked, concerned.

"I-I-I had a bad dream." She sobbed even harder, now. Fred moved the stool closer to her bed and took her hand.

"It'll be all right, Alicia, it really will. Cho will be expelled. Maybe even sent to Azkaban. You're parents are coming down tomorrow to see you and talk to Dumbledore-"

Alicia cut Fred off. "I don't know what Cho meant by 'Putting my dad out of a job'," She cried. Fred leaned over and hugged her. Alicia moved closer to him and put her head on his shoulder and cried, not caring who saw them.

"Poor baby," Fred cooned. "It's all right, it's all right..." He kissed the top of her head softly, not wanting to hurt her more.

Madam Pomfrey walked in. "Mr. Weasley, I think we had better let Miss Spinnet get her rest now. It's been four hours, and Professor McGonagall told you a bit. It's been more than that. You can come back up in the morning."

"I love you, honey. I'll see you as soon as I get up, okay?" Fred asked, trying to get up. Alicia moved her shoulder and laid back down, her eyes even redder from crying.

"Don't leave me!" She pleaded. "Please... stay here. Don't leave..."

"I have to go, Alicia. I wish I could stay too, okay? I'm sorry, but I must go," Fred replied.

"Don't leave me alone, please don't! Please! Madam Pomfrey, let him stay, please. I promise I'll go to sleep, I swear I will! Just let him stay... he could move a bed over beside me himself! Please, I don't want to be here all alone. Please..." Alicia begged. "Just let him stay, please. He doesn't have classes tomorrow. Please..."

"You'd have to take that up with Professor McGonagall, Miss Spinnet. I have my orders," Madam Pomfrey answered.

"Oh, do ask her then, will you?" Alicia asked, brightening up a bit. "Will you go get her, Fred? Will you?"

Fred nodded and walked out the door into the cold hall. He ran down the stairs to a hallway which would lead him to the Transfiguration classroom. He opened the door, knowing that Professor McGonagall would be in there.

"Mr. Weasley! What a pleasure to see you this evening. I hope you have better news for me then last time you summed me..." She trailed off.

"Uh- actually, Madam Pomfrey needed to see you. Alicia had a request," Fred replied.

Professor McGonagall sighed and went down the hallway and up the stairs to the Hospital Wing. Fred followed her.

"Professor," Madam Pomfrey began. "Our patient had a question for you, but she wants to me to ask it."

The Professor looked amused. "So, what is it?"

"She wants to know if Mr. Weasley could stay in here with her." Madam Pomfrey lowered her voice so neither Alicia or Fred could hear. "I believe she is afraid of being attacked again."

"If she must," The Professor sighed. Madam Pomfrey nodded to Fred. "I hope they both know that she must rest, not fool around."

"Oh, we know Professor," Fred said, pushing the bed next to Alicia's. She was fast asleep. Fred laid down in his bed and took Alicia's hand. "Goodnight. I love you," He whispered, then closed his eyes.



Cho Chang laid awake in bed. What if Alicia does die? That thought continuously ran through her head. She didn't mean to kill Alicia, just make her pay for her father's faults. She hadn't seen Alicia or her bubbling idiot excuse for a boyfriend, who just happened to be the crush of the school. Or after Harry Potter, anyway. Maybe she had died in the closet, someone found her dead, and only told Fred. But Angelina Johnson was her best friend. They would tell her, wouldn't they? Or maybe Fred was just sick. Yes, that was it, Fred was sick. She decided to go to the corridor where she had physically assaulted Alicia. She pulled on her bathrobe and silently went out of the bedroom.

The halls and corridors were empty at this time at night, so she was safe. She made her way silently back down the corridor that she had met up with Alicia, noticing the long, brown hair that belonged to Alicia. "Oh, shit," She whispered silently, picking it up. Tufts of long brown hair everywhere! Then she walked a bit farther and that's where the dried blood started showing up in big blotches. She followed the trail of the blood to the closet she had stowed Alicia in. Sitting by the door were a pile of books. She froze. The wind blew through an open window and Cho bent down and opened to front cover. Fred Weasley. "Oh, oh, oh. Man, I am screwed." She grabbed the doorknob and nearly pulled off the door. Empty. Cho ran her fingers through her hair. She made her decision and threw the books in the closet, ignored the hair and blood, and ran up the hall towards the Hospital Wing.

"Tum, de dum, de dum," A voice sung. Cho froze. Her hand searched behind her for a wall. She felt her hand touch something cold. A wall. She stood up against the wall, hoping that the voice would pass her. A gust of wind went by, and she figured it was the voice and moved on. She came to the Hospital Wing. The door was locked. She grabbed her wand out of her pocket.

"Alohomora," Cho whispered. With a click the door opened. Cho prowled along, grabbing each curtain and pulling it back. When she came to the last one, she nearly screamed. There, lying next to something was Fred Weasley. His chest was going up and down, so he was alive. She silently pulled back the blanket of the next bed. The person under the covers shivered, then it's eyes fluttered open. It moved her head and Cho's blood froze- It was Alicia.

"Fred! Fred!" Alicia cried. "Fred! Wake up now!" Alicia's body moved towards the wall, away from Cho.

"Why are you so afraid of me?" Cho asked. "I never did anything to you."

"Huh? Alicia, go back to sleep, dear," Fred said sleepily.

"Fred! Fred don't go to sleep! It's her!" Alicia shouted.

Fred propped himself up with his arm and turned his head around and saw a girl with black hair in a bathrobe standing. "Cho?"

"Hello Fred. I believe you need to tell your girlfriend that I'm no harm to the either of you-"

At that point Fred fully woke up. He jumped up, realizing who Cho was, and pinned her down on the bed. Cho started kicking madly at him. "Let me go you faggot!"

At this point Madam Pomfrey came in. "Mr. Weasley, Miss Spinnet, Miss Chang, I demand to know what is going on in here-"

"It's her! She's the one who tried to kill me, Madam!" Alicia yelled.

Madam Pomfrey motioned to Fred to let Cho go. "Is this true Miss Chang, because if it is you are liable to be expelled as well as quite possible sent to Azkaban for three years for physical assault and mind you, be tried as an adult?"

Cho looked glum and her head fell. "I didn't mean to hurt her that bad."

"Mr. Weasley, please go get Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick," Madam Pomfrey commanded.


>

Cho Chang sat in her cell. She had been convicted of trying to murder a member of the 'Imperial Family'. The Imperial Family was the name giving to the Minister of Magic's family. Cho rocked back and forth, heels in her hands. Why, oh why, did I attack her? She thought. The Dementors lived up to there name. There was barely a time in the day where she didn't feel terrified. She kept hearing her dead mother's voice, Alicia's screams, the time Cedric had died... Why did I ever take tufts of hair from Alicia Spinnet?



A/N: That was different. Very depressing, if I do say so myself. Romantic, also. Now everybody has to go cuddle up with their boy/girlfriend. Awww... as always, please review! Ya've made it this far, you can write either 'good' or 'bad' now.

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Nothing at all but my lovely little plot. Angry cat, angry cat, ph-ph angry cat! (Sorry... I have that stuck in my head since basically everyone in chorus can't sing nor pronounce words correctly so we had to go- Angry cat, angry cat, ph-ph angry cat!)