CHAPTER 2

"She's beautiful, and therefore to be wooed; She is woman, and therefore to be won" -Shakespeare's Henry V

Dinner that evening was short for Edith. She took her seat at Slytherin table by some of the quidditch players. Adrian Pucey immediately scooted closer to her and began chatting, leaving his previous conversation with Bletchley and Montague. Two other girls were also giggling along with them. Edith didn't seem to pay much attention to what Adrian said, but nodded her head politely and smiled occasionally when he would pause. She had been paying particular attention to the Gryffindor table. Her eyes scanned the table up and down.

Lavender sat looking quite nervous as she ate next to a vivacious pack of Gryffindor girls, all laughing and gossiping dinner away. Edith watched her as she looked up and found George rounding on her. They exchanged words briefly and George left the Great Hall right afterwards. Edith made eye contact with Lavender. She widened her eyes and shrugged her shoulders at Edith. Lavender had been quite hesitant about tricking Fred knowing that, sooner or later, someone was going to find him and turn him in to the teachers where he would probably snitch on them.

Dinner ended and the students left for their dormitories. Everything seemed to be going without a hitch until a very serious looking professor McGonagall came trotting down the stairs with a very flustered redhead in tow.

"Excuse me! Ms. Ainsley!" she called firmly but sweetly.

Edith began walking to her, accepting her fate. "Yes professor?" she answered.

Professor McGonagall stopped before her and plopped Fred in front of her, holding him by the tip of his ear. "Care to explain to me why a first year found Mr. Weasley tied and bound to a second floor girls' toilet?" she asked, her eyebrows raised suspiciously and curiously.

Edith stood up straight and looked her dead in the eye, "I bound him to the toilet, professor."

"Might I ask why, dear?" McGonagall continued.

"Well, it's a rather long story, you see. The point is, I did it and that's what matters, correct?" Edith asked still keeping direct eye contact and being as respectful as possible.

"Right you are, dearie. Are you sure you wouldn't like to tell me what on earth provoked you to do this? Surely Mr. Weasley has made some grave error for you to do such a thing," she said, tugging Fred's ear enough to make him wince.

"No, professor. I would like to accept my punishment and be done with it, if that's all right." Professor McGonagall nodded her head and said, "Detention in the trophy room tonight with Mr. Filch will do, I think. You'll be joining her, Mr. Weasley. I don't know what you did, but I'm sure it merits punishment. A little team work will do you two good. I'll inform Mr. Filch." She let go of Fred's ear and began walking off. "I suggest you both go there straight away. Ten points each will be taken from your houses. Good night!" She trotted off and disappeared down a corridor.

Fred glared at Edith and began walking off to the trophy room without saying a word. Edith followed quietly behind him.

They entered the room and stood there silently waiting for Mr. Filch. It seemed like forever, but finally he walked into the room and handed both of them rags and some goop to polish the trophies. "You know the rules. No magic. Now get to rubbing!" he said as he sniggered at them and pulled up a chair to sit in.

They started at opposite ends of the room. They worked silently and quickly at first, but as the night wore on, they grew sleepy and sluggish. Mr. Filch was dozing in and out of sleep. He would jolt awake with a loud snort and zero in on them as to make sure they were doing what they were told. He'd then fall back asleep and snore loudly, filling the room with a guttural noise.

Closer and closer they inched toward each other until they were working side by side.

"Why didn't you snitch on me?" Fred asked incredulously. He had stopped polishing a rather large and clunky trophy to look at Edith.

"Why did you rat on me?" Edith asked pointedly. "You know you very well deserved what you got," she said as she continued to polish her medal as if the conversation were not all that important.

"And how exactly do you figure that?" Fred had a look of disgust on his face.

"I specifically asked you if that telescope was a prank, and still-," but Fred cut her off. "No, you made us promise it wouldn't shock you or leave ink on your eye. And it didn't, did it?" Edith rolled her eyes and ignored him.

"I should never have come to check on you! I don't know why I even cared," Fred whispered hotly.

"I seem to remember you taking advantage of my kindness as well, you bloody ginger." Edith dropped the medal in her lap and began imitating the boys, "Please, it's Fred's favorite thing in the world! Cross our hearts it won't humiliate you!" she said stupidly. "Ha!" she exclaimed, "What a load of rubbish!"

"If you would have just let me give you the stupid bruise removal paste before you ran off-," Fred started to defend but Edith cut in, "The damn paste wouldn't have made a difference! You humiliated me in front of the whole courtyard, you idiot!" The last words were louder than she had meant, and Filch snorted loudly as he jolted awake at the sudden noise. The both of them dropped their heads and pretended as if nothing happened. They wiped and wiped until Filch lulled back into a deep sleep.

They sat there permeating in the awkwardness of the situation and dwelled on their irritation. Each of them would cut their eyes in the other's direction with anger in their gaze, but also confusion as well. A questioning quirk in the corner of their eye could be seen as they secretly watched each other work.

Fred paused again and looked up at Edith who continued to polish a small bronze trophy. "You never told me why you didn't tell McGonagall what I did," he whispered.

Edith rubbed the trophy hard and continued to avoid eye contact with Fred. "I don't know. I suppose I felt I deserved punishment. What I did was cruel, but it was just as cruel what you did to me, you know?" Edith shrugged her shoulders and continued, "I only wanted to help you." Edith finally looked at him as she spoke, "I don't know why I played right into your trick. I always avoided you and your brother for just that reason. I knew you liked playing jokes on Slytherins, so I avoided you all these years." Fred watched her with a funny look on his face as he realized what she was saying. Edith spoke low and embarrassed, "I thought, maybe, since you never targeted me in particular before, you might really just want my help." She shook her head and laughed quietly, "I'm so foolish."

Edith looked over at Fred again. He sat very still and had a look of slight confusion on his face. "I thought you two had this sort of code of honor or something about snitching," Edith said almost questioningly.

Fred looked up at her and gaped, "Yeah, and I thought Slytherins would do anything to keep their house from losing points, but looks like we were both wrong, hm?" Fred sneered at her in defensiveness, losing what little pity he had for her moments before.

"So, you did it to keep your house from losing points?" Edith smiled at him.

Fred stopped sneering and looked disappointed in himself. "You know McGonagall. She threatened to take fifty points from her own house!" Fred shook his head, "Caught her on a bad night, I s'pose." He looked back up at Edith and smiled. "Looks like there's a bit of Slytherin in us all, much as I hate to say it."

Edith sighed loudly, "There you go again with the Slytherin insults!" Edith laughed slightly and a look of realization came over her. "Thanks for not ratting on Lavender. She was really scared she'd get her house in trouble. It was entirely my idea, after all," Edith frowned.

"Well, 'course I wasn't going to turn in someone from Gryffindor. The whole reason I snitched on you was to keep from losing more points, you numpty," he snorted happily as he laughed.

They worked with a renewed vigor after their unsaid truce. For a while they continued on quietly but happily until they ran out of trophies to polish. With their work done, Edith began to put away her final trophy and wake Mr. Filch.

"Hold on," Fred called from his spot on the floor. "Can I ask you something?" he asked with an amused curiosity playing on his face.

"Sure," Edith replied as she walked over to him. Fred stood up to look her in the face.

He narrowed his eyes at her as if paying close attention. "Lavender said something peculiar when she tried to convince me to come after you," he said with a quirk of his lips. Edith narrowed her eyes at him in turn and looked suspicious. "What might that be?" she asked quietly.

Fred continued to stare at her intently as he continued, "She said that the reason you were so upset was you fancy me."

Edith's mouth dropped open and she gaped at Fred despite her resolve to hold her poker-face. "Excuse me?" she said rather high pitched. She turned toward Mr. Filch, but he continued to snore contentedly in his chair. She turned back to Fred quickly and shot, "Is this some sort of joke? You think because you got me to laugh, I'm going to just let you make a fool of me all you like?" Edith huffed. "You've got another thing coming, Fred Weasley." Edith grew hotter and hotter in her robes and decided on having a long chat with Lavender about her luring tactics in the morning. "Let me tell you! No amount of your witty charm is going to woo me!" Edith began to stalk off toward Mr. Filch, but Fred grabbed hold of her arm and twisted her toward him. Her body flew to him and she started to yelp, but he placed a very warm hand over her mouth and bent over her. He looked down at her with shaded eyes beneath his coppery hair. Edith had never seen this side of him.

"Care to make a bet on it?" Fred asked, eyebrows raised smirking all the while.

Fred moved his hand from her mouth, and she gasped, "You're on." Something about Fred made Edith feel as if she was on fire. Her heart railed against her ribs. He stirred up a defiance in her that she never knew existed.

Fred laughed and said, "You sure? I never lose a bet, you know." The look on his face was full of confidence.

Edith stood on her own feet and dusted herself off. "I said, you're on."

Fred shrugged his shoulders and continued, "All right then. Ten sickles says you'll fall for my witty charm, let's say, before graduation."

Edith laughed, "Ten sickles? Is that all true love is worth to you?"

"Fine. One galleon. Deal?" Fred held his hand out.

Edith sighed, "Deal." She took his hand and squeezed it firmly as they shook on it.

"I'm sorry about tricking you. Really, I am," Fred said matter-of-factly as he released her hand. Edith stood stock-still as she examined him. His sincerity was apparent in the regretful look on his face.

"Don't worry about it. Just, don't ever do it again," she said firmly but kindly.

"Only if you promise to stop avoiding us," he said softly as he looked at Edith and fluttered his lovely shining eyes.

Edith shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Don't start giving me those big brown teary eyes of yours. It's going to take a lot more than that to sway this heart, Weasley," Edith said as she marched over to Mr. Filch.


A/N

I just wanted to thank those who reviewed, followed, and favorited Playing the Fool, so thanks a ton guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Also, a note on the usage of Fred's full name: I intend to use Fredrick Gideon Weasley as his full name. It was never confirmed, I believe, but for my purposes that's what it will be.

Thanks again! Happy reading,

A Lonely Silhouette