Chapter 2: Well, Isn't This Just Great?
As Addy made her way toward the Owlery, she wondered how long it would take their owl, Gremlin-who just so happened to be the cutest Eurasian Pygmy she had ever laid eyes on-, to get from Hogwarts all the way home. Not long, she didn't doubt, but Sadie would worry no matter. Her poor sister was such a worrywart; it was just in her nature. Sadie was always afraid of being replaced by one of Addy's Hogwartian friends. As if someone could even take the place of her one and only twin sister.
Rounding the corner, deep in thought, Addy collided with a solid form. She literally bounced off the boy's chest, causing her to lose her balance and land hard on her bottom.
"Oi, watch it!" the boy shouted, and Addy looked up at him properly for the first time.
The boy's fiery red hair gave away his identity-actually, more like the family he belonged to. Red hair was practically a signature of the Weasleys. So that meant he had to be a Weasley. The question was: just which Weasley was he?
He looked too old to be Hugo, who Addy knew was a fourth year in her own house. And his hair was shades darker than that of Louis's strawberry blonde. So that only left Freddie-who was, in Addy's opinion, at least, the worst of the trio. Freddie, who was the trickster. Freddie, the joker. Freddie, the sixth year Gryffindor Quidditch team keeper-which roughly translated to biggest enemy. Freddie, as in James Potter's shadow. And, definitely, the LAST person in the entire castle-aside from James, the bully, himself-, she would have fancied meeting up in the Owlery. She cursed the fact that she was alone.
To say that she was worried was a bit of an understatement.
"Well?" Freddie questioned, his tone a tad on the sarcastic side-but Addy managed to catch a hint of underlying worry. "Aren't you going to get up?"
"I-um-" The words froze in her throat. Silently, she cursed her shyness.
"Here, let me help you," Freddie held out his hand.
Addy just stared at the curious Gryffindor before her. Why did it feel like the roles were reversed-like it should have been HER, the Hufflepuff, offering kindness toward him? And, just when did his eyes get so blue, so much like the ocean that she felt she was drowning?
"Please?" Freddie murmured. He held his hand closer to Addy, who was still frozen on the hard concrete. "What kind of a gentleman would I be if I let a pretty girl like you stay on the floor?"
'Pretty girl? Does Fred actually think me pretty?'
Addy took his outstretched hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet. The moment their skin made contact, electricity coursed through their bodies. She wondered if he felt it, too.
"There! Now, isn't that better than the floor?" Freddie smiled his best smile at her.
"Thank you," Addy said, at the same moment someone called, "Fred? You up there?"
Addy had her back to the newcomer but she had a feeling she knew who it was. Turning to see only confirmed her thoughts.
"There you are," James said to his cousin. His shaggy black hair shimmied as he walked toward the pair. "I've been looking for you EVERYWHERE!"
"I have been here," Freddie replied. "Where I SAID I'd be."
"You never-" James's remark caught when he noticed Addy. "What do YOU want, Puff?" His sneer made him look similar to Headmaster Severus Snape, whom Addy once saw a picture of.
"Nothing, from you," Addy spat. Her distaste for the Gryffindor prat-Addy was sure the sorting hat made a mistake when it didn't put him in Slytherin-was intense.
"Good. Run along, then. Don't you have try-outs to get to? I expect you'll be needing a new keeper, now that my cousin, Victiore, has graduated. You just might want to forfeit the game against Gryffindor. I highly doubt your new teammates will be ready by next weekend. That's IF you find any worth more than dragon dung!" James laughed, and punched Freddie's shoulder, causing him to join in.
As Addy stormed off, she chanced one last look back. Freddie smiled again at her, behind James's back.