So maybe one more adventure in Claire's first year, toward the end, and then it's off to the summer and the second year, where Harry Potter comes in! Woah!
It took Claire a week after her initial first meeting with the twins to talk to them again. It wasn't her that actually made contact, but George, or was it Fred. Either one, she was glad they did. She was just reviewing a letter from her father at breakfast, alone, eyes trained on words, when they arrived, sliding in next to her on both sides.
Claire jumped noticeably, not expecting anyone besides Nathan to bother her at breakfast, but he was doing his Charms homework that wasn't due until Tuesday, and Claire didn't feel like she needed to do it quite yet, deciding to think of her father.
The redheads laughed at her start, and she set the letter down, thinking of punching them in the arm because of scaring her.
"That was a nice idea, George."
"I couldn't agree more," George replied, leaning forward on the table to high five his brother.
An older redheaded boy appeared, face lined with freckles. He glanced at the two twins, as if knowing what they were going to do to the poor First Year, paused and stated, "Leave the First Year alone, you two."
"Ah boo, Percy!" the one on her right shouted, laughing at him. They made no plan to follow their brother's guidelines, and they were pretty sure Percy knew it too.
"Who's that?" Claire asked once he was gone, watching as he walked through the Great Hall and out.
"One of the lamest-"
"-most boring characters of all time-"
"-our brother, Percy." They talked in almost perfect sync, and Claire was in awe of this, but did her best to hide the emotion from her face. It had been a week since she last saw them, however she still remembered how they walked and acted as one unit, like a pair, together.
It wasn't until later on in her life when she would learn that she took that for granted, that she missed out on it when she needed it the most, but that part isn't upon her yet.
Right now it is the beginning of a wonderful friendship of happiness and jokes and secret tunnels and redheads and fun.
She couldn't wait.
And neither could the twins.
"What's that?" the one on her left asked, gesturing to the letter she had almost forgotten about. He grasped it, glancing over it briefly and then passing it to George. "Someone's writing a letter!"
"This isn't going to be like the feather again, is it?" she questioned, watching as the other took it and read through it swiftly.
"You mean this feather!" And she knew it was Fred because he took possession of her stolen feather. He got up, and George followed, the letter folded away in his pockets somewhere.
"Yes, that feather." Claire couldn't help the grin that spread across her face, couldn't help but stand too, breakfast unfinished, and followed the two as they began to make their way out of the room.
People watched the trio leave, but didn't ask questions.
They almost all knew about the twins and their mischief. Though the girl was new to them.
The twins took the stairs two at a time, racing up and up and up. Claire traced close behind, her legs short and only climbing one at a time but still able to keep up for a short while. "Come on guys!" she shouted, voice echoing.
The paintings chastised her, and probably Fred and George too, but she waved them off, continuing her chase. One of them laughed, amused by the feather chase that continued around the tower.
"You have to catch us first!" one yelled down. They were already a full flight above her, pausing for just a moment to wave the feather down like some kind of handkerchief. Grins were upon all their faces, fighting against the need for air in their lungs, but still present.
And then the staircase began to move. And the twins began to climb as she chased up, hoping to get to them before it left her stranded on a different path. But she failed, watching up in vain as the boys clung to the railing for support as they watched her twist around, looking for the staircase that linked with theirs but not finding it.
"Seriously guys!" she shouted at them, knuckles white against the railing.
Fred brandished the feather in the air like it was a sword, almighty and the cause of his winning, as if he just slain the great evil Voldermort himself. George smiled, the letter next to the feather now. Together, they looked like they could fall easily out of their hands, floating down and down into oblivion.
Claire feared that they would, that the letter from her father would be drifting in the corridors forever. But both items disappeared in pockets as Fred said, "We'll see you in the Common Room later!"
And they ran up the stairs, up up up and gone, until Claire stared at paintings that looked back at her, waiting for the staircase to return to its position.
It took five minutes or more, and the hall stayed abandoned. She knew class started soon, that she had double potions with Professor Snape and he would kill her if Claire missed the class again, but she ignored it and ran up the stairs toward the Gryffindor Common Room, hoping that they were both actually there and not playing with her.
Finally, out of breath and excited, Claire said the password, something along the lines of "dilligrout," and the Fat Lady swung open, revealing the hearth still warm, burning as long as someone was in the room.
Nathan was there, looking up at his friend and standing from the table he was sitting at. "How was breakfast?"
Breakfast? she thought. "It was good. You missed out on something though." Claire moved to sit next to the brunet, telling the morning's events to him.
"They stole something from you again?" Nathan asked, angered by the playful act Claire held.
"It was just a letter," Claire stated, defending the twins for some unknown reason.
"But it was yours."
"It's okay. I remember all that my dad said. It doesn't bother me."
"Just because it doesn't bother you doesn't mean it's right."
"I never said it was right, I was just saying it didn't bother me."
"And I'm just saying that those twins are nothing but trouble. They have that blasted map of theirs and are always planning some prank or another."
Claire still didn't know what that map was or why they had it, but it was nagging at her mind, way back there and now that he brought it up she wanted to know more.
She'd have to ask Fred or George when she saw them next, hopefully soon.
"What's so bad about a little prank?"
"Yeah, what's so bad about a little prank?" a voice said from behind them, which caused Claire to jump yet again, involuntarily grasping onto Nathan's left arm.
Fred and George stood behind them, cloaks on and ready for class.
"Jesus, when did you get there?" Nathan asked, not moving Claire's hand.
"A few moments ago," one of them answered.
"But you never answered our question." Claire assumed it was Fred, but it was a guess. He loomed closer to Nathan, glaring at him. "What's so bad about a little prank?"
"It escalates?" Nathan offered; for some reason he was scared, scared of these two.
"Exactly!"
"Though I wouldn't call that bad, would you Fred?"
"No-"
"-never."
"I'd call it great thinking. Because small things,-"
"-as we know,-"
"-escalate into great things!"
They both seemed excited about this realization, and Claire was too. But Nathan's reaction didn't follow that line. His was somewhere along the these-people-are-bordering-crazy or something like that.
He collected his things, placing them in his bag, and turned to Claire. "We have to go to Potions."
"And that must mean we have to go to Charms?" George pouted, though a smile was across his face.
Nathan grabbed Claire's hand, as she grinned at George. Her bag sat next to the desk, placed there before she went on her adventure at breakfast, and she grabbed it. "I'll see you two later, okay?"
The twins nodded, but Claire never saw it as the painting swung into place, cutting them off for another few days, waiting for the next meeting to arrive.
