The American Sisters
During Harry's fifth year, something odd happened. Two American girls enrolled in Hogwarts. One, Tracy, was a new sixth year, and her sister, Courtney, was a fourth year. Both were Muggles, and both seemed terrified to be in a new place and a new country. Tracy was a semi-pretty girl, with dirty blonde hair and freckles, and big green eyes. It was obvious, however, that Tracy did not feel this way at all. Her sister looked considerably older than she, particularly owing to the fact that she was several inches taller did. Tracy was tiny, and Courtney was tall and glamorous. People often called Tracy cute, but they called Courtney beautiful.
Their personalities were also as different as could be. Tracy was always laughing, always joking around, but she was unconcerned with her appearance. She loved to play sports, and be in the middle of things. Courtney was very concerned with her appearance. She didn't really like to get dirty, and tried to avoid being seen without makeup at all costs. Despite their differences, they were both alike in the fact that they were genuinely good people, and each obviously cared for the other very much.
It was odd to see two older girls being sorted with all the others at that year's sorting ceremony and the entire school was curious about whom the two girls could be. Tracy, because she was older, was the first to be sorted. When the sorting hat announced that she would be in Gryffndor, the entire Gryffndor table cheered for her. Tracy looked over, as if she was surprised that they cared at all about her, and slowly made her way over to the table. She watched nervously as her sister, who was next in line, walked up to the stool and put on the sorting hat. A look of obvious relief came over her face when she heard that Courtney would be in Gryffndor also, she was quite clearly worried about making friends by herself.
That night, Fred and George Weasley stayed up in the Gryffndor commons room, elated at the gift they had been given by the new girls' presences. They were obvious targets for their tricks, especially the older girl since she was the same year as they were. They were sure she knew nothing about Ton Tongue Toffees or Canary Creams, and so she would be the perfect target for their jokes.
The next day, Tracy entered the commons room, where Fred was sitting by himself.
"Hello," she said nervously, "it's Fred, right?" She gave him a tentative smile, but even the half smile lit up her face and made her eyes seem even bigger, it was clear that her smile was one of her best features.
"No, it's George, but that's all right, we look a bit alike and it'll take you a while to tell us apart I predict." Fred smiled to himself. He and George had forgotten the fun they could have pretending to be each other.
"I suppose it will, I'm sorry. I guess you get tired of it happening all the time, huh?" She smiled again, and once again she seemed even prettier.
"Nah, we've gotten used to it." Fred said, casually reaching over to a candy box. "Say have you tried any English candy yet? Try this, it's delicious, and its cream filled!"
"Thanks!" She smiled again, thinking that perhaps making friends here wouldn't be so hard after all. She bit into the candy, and was about to tell Fred how delicious it was, but she hardly had time to open her mouth before she changed into a canary amidst a flurry of feathers. Fred burst into peals of laughter, the look of surprise on the girl's face before she had changed to a bird had been the funniest thing he had seen in a while. Now she was flying around the room frantically, it was obvious that she didn't really understand how to use her wings, and so she was bumping into windows and walls, every once in a while her altitude would begin to drop and she would have to swerve suddenly to avoid crashing to the floor. This was one of the most hilarious things Fred had ever seen, and after a while he became so exhausted from laughing that he was forced to sit down. After a couple of minutes, the canary managed to perch herself on a table, and about a minute after that the bird vanished and the girl reappeared, looking flushed and slightly flustered. She was out of breath, presumably from struggling to keep herself aloft as a bird.
Fred eyed her nervously. It was one thing to laugh at her while she was a canary, but now he wasn't sure that he wanted to face her when she was hurt and upset at being tricked.
"Look, uh, I'm sorry that I-" he was interrupted by the girl's throaty laugh. Soon she was laughing so hard that she too had to sit down on the big, comfy couch next to Fred.
"That's great! I didn't know they had candies like those!! Did you buy it at a joke shop?" Fred stared at her, too astonished to speak. She wasn't angry??
"Uh, um, no, I uh, I mean we, I mean my brother and I, we uh, we made them together." He forced the words out, still amazed that the girl's big green eyes weren't filling with tears.
"Well, I think they're ingenious. You and your brother should try selling those sometime." She reached into her pocket, pulled out a piece of gum, and popped it into her mouth. She smiled at him, now chewing on the gum as she spoke. "You're looking at me as if you think I'm crazy. Well I'm not, I just appreciate a good joke. Want a piece?" She held a piece of gum out towards him, as if to say no hard feelings. He nodded and took the piece, popping it into his mouth just as the girl had done. The girl grinned at him, as if the fact that he had taken the gum had made her the happiest person in the world. Fred was just noticing how pretty she was when she smiled when he looked down at his hands. His hands, his arms, his entire body had turned green. He looked up at the girl, and she grinned over her shoulder at him, mouthed, "Bye Fred", then turned and walked upstairs to her dormitory.
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"Can you believe it? She tricked me completely! No one's ever done that before! And she knew I wasn't you!" George shook his head in disbelief. Fred had just finished telling him the story of Tracy and her "Greening Gum", and they were both in awe. The fact that she had been so good natured about the whole thing, combined with the fact that she was able to beat Fred at his own game made astonished both of the twins. They had never been tricked before, much less by some innocent naive girl.
The year progressed on, and Tracy was named alternate seeker for the Gryffndor Quidditch team, in case Harry couldn't play. Tracy's small stature made her ideal for the position of seeker, she was fast, quick, brave, and in fact she was nearly as good as Harry. Tracy's skills became incredibly important however in December, when Harry fell off his broomstick in practice, the day before the match against the Slytherins. Angelina, the team captain who had replaced Oliver Wood, remained calm however.
"Tracy is a strong seeker, we all know that. We'll do fine without Harry." This was all Angelina said as a pep talk before the match, and this was all the Gryffndor team needed. They had beaten the Slytherins before, and as long as Fred and George did a good job of keeping the bludgers away from Tracy they would do fine. Over the course of the year Fred and Tracy had become particularly good friends. They would spend hours in the commons room with George, comparing tricks and jokes, sneaking out of Hogwarts to go to Zonko's Joke Shop in Hogsmeade, and just talking in between classes or before they went to bed. Best of all, Fred helped Tracy learn a bit about England which she might not have understood without his help.
"You nervous at all Trace?" Fred came up behind her, drawing in his breath as she twisted her head around to smile up at him. The more he had gotten to know her, the prettier she had seemed to become to him, and he grew short of breath every time she flashed her enthusiastic smile his way.
"What, with two big, strong guys like you and George guarding me? Actually, maybe I should be worried..." She laughed, her whole face lighting up, and craned her neck to look up at Fred. He had grown considerably during the past year, she barely reached the middle of his chest. "Don't worry about me Fred, I'll be fine, honest! I'm a big girl." He smiled wryly, looking down at her.
"Not very big, considering that you barely come up to your 14 year old sister's shoulders!" She laughed and punched him, then turned away to go over last minute plays with Angelina.
During the game, Fred tried to wipe his mind clean and concentrate only on the bludgers. It was hard to ignore the yell that rose from the stands however about twenty minutes into the game, and Fred began to look around to see what was causing the uproar. It was then that he noticed that Tracy was clutching onto her broom desperately and that she was about to slip off. He began to rush towards her, but as soon as he started towards her he watched in terror as she lost her grip and fell through the air, her small body crumpling as she hit the ground. Fred flew over to George, the entire Gryffndor team was looking at her with pale faces, while the entire Slytherin team was whooping and cheering.
"What happened George?" Fred inquired frantically. "I wasn't watching."
"Malfoy rammed her from the side on purpose. You better go down there. I dunno, she fell from a long way up Fred..." Fred lay flat against his broom and zoomed down towards where the teachers were gathering around Tracy. She had a bleeding gash on her head from where she had hit the ground, and her arm was twisted in a strange angle beneath her. She was clearly unconscious and wasn't responding to repeated shouts from Professor Dumbledore.
"Better get her to the hospital wing, quickly," Dumbledore announced, looking gravely up at the other teachers. "I won't need any help, I can manage her by myself I think."
"I'm coming too." Fred announced, not bothering to ask permission. "I'm going wherever she goes." Fred expected Dumbledore to object, but instead he took one look at Fred's face and said "All right, you may come along, if you promise not to interfere." Fred promised and gently picked up Tracy, cradling her small frame as if he were carrying a baby.
Fred stayed at her bedside all night, staring nervously at her for signs of awakening. Her freckles were standing out like dark blotches on her unnaturally pale face, her usually smiling mouth looked grim. After what seemed like hours, her eyelids fluttered open, and she looked bewilderedly around. Madame Pomfrey came rushing over excitedly, pushing Fred away. Fred stood a distance away, waiting nervously. He could hear Tracy answering Madame Pomfrey's questions in a soft voice, she sounded confused and a little bit scared. After a couple of questions, he heard her voice raise slightly.
"Where's Fred? Didn't he want to come with me? Why isn't he here?" She questioned Madame Pomfrey in an uncertain tone of voice, as if she feared that her answers might be disrespectful.
"Now why do you assume that Fred would be here dear?" asked Madame Pomfrey, feeling Tracy's forehead. "Perhaps you need a little more sleep." Fred stepped forward to Tracy's bed.
"I'm here Trace. I thought you said you could handle yourself huh?"
"It wasn't me it was Malfoy....I hope you guys did something bad to him." She grinned weakly at him. "I knew you were here. I knew you wouldn't leave me...." Madame Pomfrey gave an exaggerated sigh.
"Obviously you're not going to sleep, so I suppose you can stay a little longer." she said, nodding at Fred. "I'll give you two some privacy."
"Geez Trace, I was so worried about you." Fred reached down and brushed a piece of hair off her forehead gently. "When I thought about what I would do to myself if you got seriously hurt..."
"Shhh, I'm fine though, just a broken arm and a nasty bump on the head. Nothing to worry about." She reached up and placed her fingers on his lips, as if to quiet him. Fred's breathing grew shallow, and he looked down at the slender finger on his lips. Tracy, noticing this, blushed, and pulled her finger away quickly, but Fred caught it, looking down at her, with a mixture of seriousness and amusement in his eyes.
"You mean so much to me....." he whispered, leaning down closer to her. Tracy gasped, startled at suddenly finding his mouth so near her own. He leaned down a little farther and just brushed her lips, so lightly that she could hardly even feel it. Then, tentatively, he pressed his lips down a little harder on hers, kissing her so tenderly and gently that she could feel the kiss tingling all throughout her body. He pulled away and looked down at Tracy, nervous to see how she would respond. Still heavy-lidded from the effects of his first kiss, Tracy looked up at him, bewildered. Then, slowly, she lifted her hand up, and cupped it softly around the back of his neck, pulling him down for another kiss.