CHAPTER 2: Years Later
Fred walks with his brother from the dinning hall to the common rooms in Gryffindor Tower. As they walk through the portrait hole, he spots Rebekah at the couch in front of the fire.
"Oi! Rebekah!" he yells, and they both rush over to her, as she looks up from a letter that sits in her lap.
"Hey Fred, George!" she exclaims as she waves a short wave to the both of them, scooting into the middle of the couch. Her hair is shorter, but just as curly, and pulled back at the front with two hair clips. The twins position themselves on either side of her, George on the left with his arms over the back of the couch, and Fred on the right, one leg rests on the cushions on the armrest. "I was just reading a letter from Sabine. She was wondering if I would invite you two to Christmas. I don't suppose you want to go do you?"
"We'll ask our father, he'll probably want to experience a muggle Christmas," said Fred, who was picking dirt from under his fingernails.
"We were planning on buying you a present too," explained George.
"That's great! I've been working on your presents for months now. I had to brew a potion for about two months. My roommates are getting annoyed with it, I believe," and she giggled behind her hand. She scribbled a few lines on a sheet of paper and folded it, sticking it in a pocket of her knitted jumper. She gets a glance of her watch, which reads noon. She gasps.
"You guys should be down in the locker rooms! You'll be late for the Quidditch game! Angelina is going to kill you!" she exclaimed, pushing them from the couch, getting up herself.
"She'd kill you too," said George.
"Do you have school work to do, or are you going to come and watch us in the game?" asked Fred, sticking his hands into his pockets, standing next to his brother. She puts her hand into her own pocket, fingering the parchment she just inserted into it.
"Yeah, I'm coming down with Ron. He and Hermione got in yet another fight, and I think he was going to use me to make her jealous or something. I need to use his owl, so I figured it was a fair trade," she explained, as she walked a little ways with the twins towards the portrait hole.
"Ron's got rotten luck with girls. Heard him and Lavender broke up," stated George.
"Yeah, I heard that too. He's in a pretty bad mood. He wasn't allowed to play on the team today because McGonagall says he's still too ill from being poisoned," and she let out a short laugh.
"Be careful," started Fred.
"Ronnie'll probably try to kiss you," finished George. Rebekah's cheeks turned pink, and she digs the toe of her sneaker into the carpet.
"Yeah, don't worry about it. Boys and I don't really mix," she explained.
"What are George and I, a pair of ladies?" asked Fred, in mock shock. Rebekah rolled her eyes.
"Fine, what I mean to say is: other boys and I don't mix," and she rolls her eyes again, this time with a smile. "I'll you see down at the game," and she grabs the front of their jackets with each hand, pulling them down to her height. She plants a gentle kiss on each other cheeks.
"Good luck!" she waves as they walk away, just as Ron makes his way down from the dorms, wearing a knit hat and a plaid coat. "Do you mind if we stop by the owlery before the game?"
"I guess we could, if you don't mind missing the beginning of the game," he responded, shoving his fists into the pocket of his coat.
She links an arm around his, and leads him out of the common room. "Thanks Ron, you're real sweet."
"Sweet? Me? You're probably the only one who thinks that right now, or have you not noticed the amount of girls who have refused to talk to me?" he asks, amazed with himself.
She smiles. "Yes Ron, I have noticed. Luckily I don't care. Maybe you should you stop being sweet around me, who doesn't care, and start being nicer to Hermione and other girls. You're too sarcastic and cynical, and it's a big wall between you and people. Another wall you put up is making out with girls in front of everyone, and that wall is gross. No one wants to see that, especially Hermione, who you should start being nicer to…for everyone's sake," she lectures him as they walk down the snow dusted hill to the stone tower that is the owlery. They were silent for a while, as they both climbed the slippery steps of the tower, Ron following behind Rebekah. He cooed Pigwidgeon over to the both of them, and helped her tie the parchment to his leg, and she carried the owl over to the window and told him to carry the letter to Sabine in Beauxbaton, and fed him a small piece of treat before letting him fly off.
"Is that what you do?" asked Ron, on the way to the Quidditch pitch.
"Is what I do to do what?" she asked, getting herself confused as she spoke. Ron was also confused, but shook his head and explained further.
"Do you act sweet so Fred and George will like you?"
"I don't act sweet, I'm just treat people the way I want to be treated, and the way they deserve to be treated," she explained, wondering to herself why she was so nice to everyone. She realized that she does act rather nice to a bunch of people, and she smiles to herself.
"Oh," he said to himself as they climbed the stairs of the stands. "I thought they fancied you because you were sweet. I guess it's another reason." She looked up at him, grabbing the tail of his coat, stopping him.
"Did you just say that your brothers fancy me? Me?" she asked, pointing to herself, as if Ron might be confused as to who he was talking about. He blankly stared at her, as if she went mental, and shook his head slowly.
"Obviously," he started, noticing she looked doubtful, "I've never seen them act the way they do when they're around you. It's actually kind of disturbing. I guess I'm kind of glad they like you, you're kind of perfect for them. Hopefully you like them too." He continued up the stairs, Rebekah following behind him. They reach the top, and it's crowded.
"We're are we going to sit?" he asks her, raising his voice to be heard. She watched the players fly around, trying to spot a twin.
"Let's find Hermione," she suggests, and she takes his hand, pulling him over rows and groups of cheering fans, finally stopping when she spots Hermione sitting next to Hagrid with a pair of large binoculars. Ron sits next to Hermione, and Rebekah sits next to him, pulling her knitted jumper tightly around herself, the air being crisper and cooler up in the stands. She spots one of the twins and her insides get warmer. Lee Jordan commentates on the twin beating a bludger across the field and hits the Slytherin Chaser, Montauge, as he reached for a Quaffle, almost sending him falling from his broomstick.
"A wicked hit from either Fred or George. Close call for Montauge," Lee's voice boomed over the cheering Gryffindors, who were on their feet. The twin zoomed off and the Gryffindors sat back down. Rebekah could see Ron and Hermione holding hands from the corner of her eye. She hissed at him, and he turns and smiles at her, winking, when all of a sudden something on the field catches his attention. The stands are mixed with loud cheering and even louder booing. Rebekah follows Ron's glare at the field, and watches as both twins fall off their brooms and unconsciously fall the one remaining story to the field.
"Ron," she quickly turns her head to him, "what just happened?" Ron is too shocked to answer, still looking at his brothers on the field laying motionless.
"Well, the Slytherin Chaser, Montauge, he took Crabbe's bat and hit the bludger at Fred, who was flying close to George, or the other way around," answered Hermione, talking quite quickly, "The bludger hit the one, and that twin fell into the other." Ron and Rebekah gave each other look, and they both got up and pushed and shoved their way over the fans, making their way to the pitch. They reached it at the same time as McGonagall and Snape, along with some other teachers. Ron ran over to his brothers, joining his sister and Harry. Rebekah stood back, listening to the Slytherin players that landed. She saw Montauge make his way down, a triumphant look on his face.
"Good shot! Two Weasleys with one stone. Worthless players," said the Slytherin Keeper. Rebekah marched over to the group, pushing the Keeper to the ground, making her way to Montauge. She could see the twins being carried to the castle in the distance, as she pulled her arm back, punching Montauge in the face. He fell backwards onto the snow, holding his nose. Thick blood seeped through his fingers, and Snape grabbed Rebekah by the collar of her shirt, pulling her into the castle behind the twins with impressive speed. He takes her to McGonagall's office. McGonagall enters it shortly after, turning to face Rebekah, her lips pressed firmly together, her eyes open wide and angrily.
"Ms. Hammond! I would never have suspected such behavior from you!" she shouted, which was a new experience for Rebekah, who flinched as each sentence hit her.
"Not many people receive punches as brutal as that one, Minerva, I suspect a detention equally as brutal," suggested Snape. Rebekah never had a feeling of hate towards Snape in all her life, that was until that moment.
"I'm sorry Professor, for making our house look bad. Although I'm not sorry for decking that git. He shouldn't dish out what he can't receive," explained Rebekah, in a shaky voice. McGonagall persistently asked an angry Snape to leave the office before he could say a word, and when he did, Rebekah's detention was served. She was to report to that exact office everyday for the next week to receive manual labor for three hours straight. Rebekah left with her head down, and as soon as the door to the office was shut, Rebekah ran towards the hospital wing.
She rushes in the already open doors of the hospital to find Ron, Ginny, Harry, Hermione, Neville, Luna, Lee, Angelina, and Katie standing around two beds. In each bed was a red headed twin, who were just laying there, eyes closed, chests rising and falling rhythmically as they breathed. The Quidditch players, with the exception of Harry and Ginny, cheered when Rebekah came closer to the beds. She looked surprised, but tried to keep her eyes on the twins, for any sign of reconsciousness .
Behind the Gryffindor players were a group of Slytherins, who were gathered around Montauge's bed. Montauge had a white bandage over a bruised nose, with dried blood around his nostrils. The group of green approached the group of red, who stood their ground, blocking them from Rebekah, who was taking a cautious seat next to Fred's bed. Madame Pomfrey entered quickly, making the two teams leave. Rebekah watched them leave, getting mixed farewells of Good-Jobs, and You-Better-Watch-Your-Backs. She looked at Ron, who smiled thankfully at her. Hermione was also smiling, the same smile worn by Ginny and Harry.