Hello! This is my first fanfic (ever) so I'm kind of new to this. Please read and tell me what you think!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Wish I did, but I don't.
She wasn't exactly sure how it happened, but it was the middle of the summer before her fifth year, and she found herself leaning against the porcelain bowl in the middle of the bathroom of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, also known as the headquarters of an organization known as the Order of the Phoenix, trying to count to five before turning back to the toilet and retching, emptying her stomach of its contents.
Someone knocked on the door. "Kate? You okay in there?" She raised her head and glared at the piece of wood that separated her and the red-headed brother of two of her friends.
"I am going to murder you, Fred Weasley. Like 'Avada Kedavra' and 'six-feet under' murder."
"That would be a lot more threatening if you were actually of age and were allowed to do that. Now how long have you been in there?"
Kate growled under her breath, trying to keep the nausea down. They wanted to sell those things? For real money? She wouldn't buy one if humanity depended on it, she felt so sick. Supposedly, they were supposed to get you out of class, but they had to make sure it would work long enough for you to actually could get approval from the teacher before whatever charm or potion they had concocted would wear off. If it wore off, however, but that was what the other side of the Skiving Snackboxes were for.
Mental, she thought. I'm completely mental. Sure, the Weasley twins had offered to pay her gold to test products they hoped to sell in their joke shop once they left Hogwarts (where they got the gold, she didn't even wanna know) but she was seriously wondering why she had said yes in the first place. It certainly wouldn't earn her any points with Mrs. Weasley, who was already beginning to get suspicious, especially after Fred and George stumbled down the stairs of Grimmauld Place with seemingly incurable nosebleeds. So she had, in a sort, become the test guinea pig.
"I've been here for about five minutes, and it still hasn't stopped," She replied irritably, before bending over and vomiting again. Ugh, out of all of the Snackboxes the twins had made her try, the Puking Pastillles were absolutely the most vile.
"Let's see if we can stretch it to ten minutes this time, shall we?"
The only response was a groan, and Kate leaned her sweaty forehead against the cool porcelain. This was definitely not the way she had expected her summer to be, puking her guts out in a lavatory. She had expected that being in the same building as the headquarters of a rebellion organization would be exciting and adventurous, but it had mainly consisted of various people running in and out of the house at various times, day and night, and secret meetings that she, along with Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, would listen in to, but nothing was ever concise. Meanwhile, a dark wizard was out in the world gathering followers to lead the world into an age of darkness.
So Kate wasn't exactly thrilled about her present situation.
The door opened, but she didn't look up, instead staring down at the murky water and wincing – she probably looked awful, all sweaty and smelling of, well, vomit. But that didn't stop Fred Weasley from kneeling down next to her and offering her the purple end of the Puking Pastille.
Five minutes ago, that would have been blessed relief, but all Kate could do was shake her head as another wave of nausea crashed over her, and as she bent down again, she wondered if she had anything left to expel.
"It's not going to stop unless you swallow this, you know."
She raised her head to glare at him, but it was apparent how weak it was. "I know that, but I don't think I'd be able to keep it down, you stupid boggart-baiting tro-" This was cut off by another splash in the porcelain throne, and Fred grimaced.
"I can see that." He said, ignoring her insults, and when she raised her head again, he tucked her brown hair behind her ear, out of her face so it wouldn't get in the way. "George and I still need to work on that."
She slapped his hand away, still pissed off, and leaning back again, trying to count to five, a technique that still seemed to keep it down. "Speaking of which, where is George?"
"Mum got a little suspicious, so George went downstairs to head her off, so we'd really appreciate it if you downed the other half." Fred explained, holding out the purple end of the Snackbox again.
"Oh, is that it then?" Kate asked, annoyed. "Ignore the fact that I have nothing left to up heave, we have to stop this game because your mummy might catch you and put you in time-out."
"No reason to be so snippy," Fred raised both of his hands defensively. "You agreed to this, remember?"
"You're a low-life little dragon-du-" The rest of this insult was, once again, cut off, as Fred managed to stuff the purple part of the sweet into her mouth, and, with a little choke, she managed to swallow it painfully, albeit with a scandalized expression.
"There, now that wasn't so bad was it?" Fred remarked cheerfully, just as the door to the bathroom opened and Mrs. Weasley stepped in, followed by a hassled-looking George.
"Just what do you think you're doing in here, may I ask?" She inquired loudly, and Fred quickly stood up, blocking the woman's view of the toilet.
"Funny you should ask-"
"-see, Kate's come down with this really bad bug that's been going around-" George continued.
"-and we thought we should help her out-"
"-yes, she's terribly sick."
"Really?" Mrs. Weasley's suspicious expression immediately changed to one of concern, and wrinkled her nose as the stench reached her nose. Raising a hand to her face to hold her nose, she suddenly seemed to realize how insensitive that gesture would be, and instead turned into a funny sort of wave as she peered around Fred to look at Kate. "Are you alright, dear?"
Kate gave a weak smile. "Fine, Mrs. Weasley, just queasy." But the puking had stopped, so that meant Fred and George's antidote or whatever must have worked.
Mrs. Weasley cast a furtive glance at the twins, who both were standing against the wall innocently as if nothing had happened. "This doesn't have anything to do with your joke shop products and whatnot, does it?"
Both twins shook their heads in unison. Mrs. Weasley raised an eyebrow before turning around to walk down the hall. "I'll see if I can get you something for your stomach, Kate."
"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley."
George then promptly shut the door and leaned against it, shooting Kate a serious glance. "Well? Did it work?"
"Obviously, otherwise I would still be leaning over that!" Kate snapped back as she shakily stood up, pointing a finger towards the toilet as Fred pulled out his wand and muttered, "Evanesco." The remains of Kate's lunch promptly vanished, along with the smell, to everyone's relief.
"Well, looks like that was a success," George declared happily as Fred stowed his wand back into his pocket. His twin, however, wasn't as optimistic.
"I had to practically force her to swallow it, though," Fred added, and Kate sent a smoldering glare towards him. "I think it was a little too strong. We need the subject to be able to take it on their own."
"Oh for the love of Merlin…"
George considered this for a second, then nodded. "Oh, alright then. We should be able to come up with a new sample in a week."
"A week sounds about right. What do you think Kate?"
"I think you should find yourself a new bloody guinea pig, that's what I think," Kate huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Let me out of here, I need air."
Both of the twins moved to block the door, and Kate stomped her foot angrily, which only made them smirk.
"Look, George, I do believe the little Slytherin princess is throwing a temper tantrum."
"Oh, how cute."
"If you don't move out of my way in five seconds, I will hex both of you!" Kate threatened, pulling out her own wand and aiming it at Fred. "And don't call me a Slytherin princess! I'm not even in Slytherin, you…you…"
Apparently she had run out of insults.
Fred stared at the wand and frowned. "What, no 'blood-traitor'? You're losing your touch, Progers."
"Shuttup, Weasley."
George shook his head, and stepped in between his twin and Kate, probably to stop any duel from occurring. "Alright, we won't make you test the Puking Pastilles. In return, you don't tell mum about this, and agree to test the Fainting Fancies and Nosebleed Nougats."
Kate frowned, and, after a second of contemplation, lowered her wand. "Fine." She growled, and pushed past both of them to exit the bathroom and stalk towards the bedroom she was currently sharing with Ginny and Hermione. Fred and George stared after her.
"Well, that's just great, who're we going to get to test the Puking Pastille's now?"
"Don't worry, we can always pay some first-years once we get back to Hogwarts. I think that dose might have been too strong. She looked pretty miserable."
"Miserable?" Fred laughed. "That obviously didn't stop her from calling me a boggart-baiting troll."
"Who called you a boggart-baiting troll?" Someone interrupted. Fred and George turned from where they stood to face their sister Ginny, who stood in the doorway. "I'd like to give them a medal. And why does Kate look like she just spent the last hour throwing up?"
"To make it accurate, it was seven minutes," Fred replied. Ginny raised an eyebrow in a very good imitation of her mother, and he added, "Just a little test for Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. No need to worry."
"Hm." Ginny pushed a strand of her long red hair out of her eyes and crossed her arms, staring her brothers down. "Well, do you mind? Other people do need to use this room."
The twins quickly hurried out of the lavatory, Ginny shutting the door in their faces and proceeded down the hall.
"Cheeky little thing, isn't she?"
"Ginny or Kate?"
"Both, really."
"Well, Ginny's been like that ever since she started dating Michael Corner, that bloke from Ravenclaw."
"Slimy little git."
"Couldn't agree with you more. Our sister has rather bad taste in men, doesn't she?"
"Well, there was a time when she fancied Harry, he isn't bad."
"Rather him than Michael Corner."
"Agreed."
"Honestly, why did you agree to it?" Hermione said reproachingly as Kate entered the room they were sharing along with Ginny. "It really can't be healthy, and you never know what some people mgiht use those products for!"
"It's just a joke shop, Hermione," The other girl responded, digging through her trunk for some clean clothes. "It's all in good fun."
"Didn't sound like you were having fun when you were threatening to hex Fred," Hermione countered, putting down the book she was currently reading, An Anthology of Eighteenth Century Charms. "Besides, how do you know some poor girl with low self-esteem won't take one of those Puking Pastries or whatever and use it to make herself thinner? Bulimia's a serious issue!"
Kate winced. "You heard me threatening to hex them? Damn."
"Yes, I did hear it," Hermione continued to reproach. "If you're not careful, you're probably going to end up in a duel with them, and we all know you'd lose simply because they know more spells."
"Hermione, has anyone ever told you you think too much?" Kate pulled out a clean shirt and a pair of jeans - thankfully, with the help of Hermione and Ginny, she had mastered dressing like a Muggle. "I wouldn't really hex them, I was just angry about spending the past ten minutes in the loo for five galleons. By the way, didn't you already read that last year?"
"Skimmed it, but it seemed like an interesting read, but that's not the point!" Hermione nearly shouted, putting a hand on her hip. "The point is, you do have the choice to say no."
"Alright, I'll keep that in mind. May I change now, Professor?" Kate replied drily. Hermione huffed and grabbed her book, stalking out of the room before sending one last retort.
"I know you only do it because you fancy Fred."
Kate slammed the door, causing the portrait of Mrs. Black in the downstairs hall to start screaming.
"FILTHY MUDBLOODS, BLOOD TRAITORS, TAINTING THE HOUSE OF MY FATHER-"
"OI! SHUTTUP!"
Yep. Just another day in Grimmauld Place.
Ending was a fail. Thanks to waffles301, who helped edit this chapter for spelling mistakes and such (Sirius yelling at the end was her idea) Hope I kept the characters in character. Tell me what you think!
Honestly, why do I always imagine Hermione saying 'Honestly,' all the time?