I sat quietly in the lunch hall, I knew that Eliza wouldn't even be up for another hour so I had come to breakfast by myself when my stomach had started sounding like a dying whale. It was 7 o-clock on a Friday so the hall was practically empty, leaving me to eat my lukewarm toast and jam alone at the Gryffindor table. Being alone had never been something I disliked, but I much preferred being around people; with no one to talk to I just sat and thought about how best to avoid homework I had yet to complete.
It was the last week before we all left for Christmas, which meant that there was going to be a party later on in the common room so lots of people were trying to stock up on the hours of sleep they would miss out on later. I was only planning on going because Eliza wanted me to, and I never found it easy to sleep in so I didn't bother trying. There were also no classes and the teachers expected us to get ready to leave for the train tomorrow, which left at 12, so it was had become a day for everyone to get themselves ready for the party.
Making my way back to the common room which glittered with reds and golds that hung from the tall ceiling, I saw Fred and George Weasley bickering secretively just outside the common room door. Since I was only friends with them through Angelina who had started dating one of them earlier this year, I decided that it would be better if I left them to themselves.
That plan however quickly flew out of the window when I fell up the top step, my ankle cracking as I fell.
"Ow, FUCK!"
At that they turned to look at me, both with looks of shock plastered to their faces.
"FUCK, FUCKING FUCKETY FUCK FUCK!"
That raised an eyebrow.
"Jess, are you okay over there?" said Fred, his eyebrow rising further.
I moved so that I was sat on the step and glared at my swelling ankle, "I think I broke my ankle." It came out sounding surprisingly neutral, like I hadn't just yelled fuck and its multiple variations rather colourfully. A deep sigh escaped my mouth, I knew that I should be in pain, a lot of pain for that matter, but I just felt numb, like I had been dropped in ice water. Give it a few minutes and I would feel it, I just had to make it to the hospital wing before had.
"Jess? Are you okay?" Fred's voice came again. I must have said my previous answer quieter than I had thought.
"Yes, the string of swears was just for the heck of it." That brought a smile to his lips. "I have to get to the hospital wing."
The two shared a devilish look before approaching, something in their eyes told me that I wouldn't like what was going to happen next. One on either side of me, they stooped down simultaneously and lifted me up. I wasn't exactly light, but between the two of them I appeared to weigh less than a feather, I must have looked quite the sight though. By the time we had gotten to the hospital wing, my ankle was throbbing painfully.
Though the twins had been making idle gossip with me for the first minute or so, they had stopped once they saw my face begin to twist as the numbness began to fade from my ankle. They set me down on one of the empty beds while Fred went to go get Madame Pomfrey.
"So George, how's life?"
He gave me an incredulous look as if to say "we talked yesterday", but decided that he would simply answer so as to avoid any awkward tension that there may be. "Good, me and Freddy managed to sneak in some firewiskey for the party, so that's gonna start some shit," he continued to tell me about what he had planned for tonight, then slowly transitioned into talking about Angelina (big surprise there), which is about the time Madame Pomfrey appeared with Fred.
"So you fell up the stairs then?" she asked, though it was clear she knew everything already, I nodded either way. "Let's have a look then shall we?" again, a statement. She umm-ed and ah-ed for a bit before tottering off to find something to fix my ankle, which was now about the size of a quaffle. Both of the twins gave me an uncertain look, as if they weren't sure what to do next.
"So, you coming to the party then?" Fred asked, he looked awkward and lost.
"Yeah, guess I wouldn't get much sleep either way so I might as well enjoy myself." A smirk tugged at the corners of my mouth.
"Guess that makes sense," he replied, his tone lace with something I didn't recognise in him.
"You two can go, just save some firewiskey for me." they both looked at each other, unsure of what to say. While George rose from the seat that he had taken, Fred seemed to hesitate longer.
"I'll stay, you might need some help getting back up the stairs, I mean, you couldn't even walk up them right before you screwed your ankle over," he jested, but there seemed to be something behind the words that I couldn't quite place.
"Okay, I have to meet Angelina for lunch, see you two later," he gave his brother a smile, before glancing at me and leaving the room.
"You really don't have to stay."
"It's okay, I'd rather not watch the lovebirds suck face while I'm eating anyway." He smirked at that, his eyes twinkled as I returned a smile.
"Yeah, they do know how to put you off don't they?" He let out a small chuckle, which seemed to travel in the air around us.
Madame Pomfrey came scuttling back to my bedside with a tray of potions in assorted scents and colours. "So you've only twisted it, but you might want to be careful next time." She handed me a white bubbling potion which smelled strongly of vanilla, which I swallowed quickly and put the glass back on the bedside table she had retrieved it from. "And I recommend taking it easy on that for the next few days." This time she handed me a potion which seemed to change colours in the light, and smelled like the inside of an old sock, I held my breath and tried to ignore the thick slimy texture as it crawled down my throat. "I'll be back in ten minutes to see if you are ready to go." Her nod was absolute as she said this.
"Really you don't have to stay, I'll be fine."
"For heaven's sake Jessica I'm staying and you are just going to have to deal with that." He looked concerned and irritated that I was so insistent that he left. "Every damsel needs a knight in shining armour."
I'm not sure why, but I started to laugh at how pouty he had sounded in that last sentence, like a young child who had been told that he couldn't have the last cookie. I looked at his face and how dumbfounded he was by my sudden spell of laughter, and it just made me laugh harder. A smile spread across his face, and soon he was laughing along with me.
After a good few minutes we slowly stopped laughing, but still both were smiling ear to ear, "You know Freddy, you are really sweet." I wasn't quite sure why I said it, of course it was true, but why did it come out of my mouth, seemingly he was just as surprised by my statement as I was. We sat, both quiet and wondering what to say next. "Guess I kinda made that a bit weird didn't I."
"Just didn't expect it," he muttered, barely audible but there all the same. "Anyway, what are you going to do over the Christmas break?" And just like that we fell back into comfortable conversation, nothing weird popped up at all.
As she had said she would, Madame Pomfey came and dismissed me after the time, at which point my ankle had shrunk considerably and didn't hurt when I moved it. Fred however was having none of it, and insisted he carry me, after a short discussion I stated that I would only accept if it was a piggy back ride, and he accepted because he didn't want me to hurt myself, again.
So up we went, he managed the entire climb up to the Gryffindor tower without even breaking a sweat, having missed lunch Fred took me up to his dorm room to eat away the last of his stash of sweets, healthy I know.
He dropped me down onto one of the beds and pulled a box out from under another one placing it next to me. A smirk played at the corners of his lips, he opened it to reveal that it was in fact full of a wide assortment to sweets, from fizzing wizzbees to sherbet lemons.
"That's a lot of sweets Fred." I said, I sounded impressed, I could hear it practically dripping off of my tounge. He only smiled, obviously pleased with himself.
We sat and talked, eating away at the stash of sweets that sat between us, laughing at stories of their pranks, discussing our futures, and just enjoying each other's company. At 4 o-clock I had to go back to the girls dorm to help Angelina get ready, she was struggling with her dress and was not happy, as evident by her screeches. I walked myself this time, because Fred knew that he couldn't get up to the girl's dorms, though I had seen Fred sneak up there enough times to know that they both knew how, they just didn't want to share. So I decided that I would get ready for the party while I was up there, and then Angelina and Eliza could help me, just four hours to get ready, they were ecstatic, I was their own personal doll.