The next day Betsy and Emma woke up on time, 30 minutes before breakfast. They took
quick showers and then got dressed.
"I don't care what Professor McGonagal says! I am not going to wear an ugly black
robe! For one thing, I hate the color black, and for another, those robes are so loose, they don't
flatter my figure!" Betsy exclaimed.
"Good points," Emma said, somewhat sarcastically. "The teachers won't think so
though."
"I don't care!" Betsy said. "What should I wear?"
"How bout a robe?" Emma said.
Betsy sighed. "All right."
Hermione came out of the shower into the new dorm she was sharing with Emma and
Betsy (the other three fifteen year olds were in another room, as Parvati and Lavender had made a
big deal about having to share the room with two more people).
"Hermione, do you always wear robes at Hogwarts?" Betsy asked.
Hermione looked half surprised, half puzzled at this. "Don't you at Catback?"
"We can wear whatever we want," Emma said.
"I don't even own a robe," Betsy said. "Wait a sec," she rooted through her trunk and
pulled out a pink terry bathrobe. "This is my robe."
"You can borrow my robes," Hermione offered, got two robes from her trunk, and handed
them to the girls.
"Thanks Hermie," Emma said. "Can I call you that?"
"Why not," Hermione said.
"Then I need a nickname for you too," said Betsy, and she thought for a second. "What
about Miney?"
"Sure," Hermione smiled. "We should go down to the Common Room and meet up with
Ron and Harry to go to breakfast now."
"Okay," Betsy said. "But Miney, um, you wear clothes under your robes, right?"
"Yes," Hermione said, a bit puzzled.
"Oh," Betsy said. "I wish I had known that last night when Professor McGonagal gave us
those robes." She put on jeans and a red tank top, and put the robe on over. "Let's go girls."
They walked down the staircase to the Common Room, where they met Ron and Harry.
"Girls," muttered Ron. "They take so long getting dressed."
When they got to the Great Hall, they sat down at the Gryffindor table, where food had
already appeared. Betsy served herself an egg, which was still as hot as it had just come off the
frying pan, of course, a blueberry muffin, bacon, and a glass of milk. As Betsy was chewing her
muffin, a red red-haired boy, maybe the red red-haired boy (she couldn't distinguish him from his
twin), who she had been stealing glances at all through breakfast, caught her eye. Betsy almost
choked on her muffin. She hated being caught by the guy she was checking out. The boy grinned.
Betsy's heart flip-flopped and she involuntarily smiled.
"Earth to Betsy," Emma waved her hand in front of Betsy's face. "I asked you a
question."
"Sorry," Betsy said. "Hermione, who's that guy, with the red hair, over there?"
"Well, he's either Fred or George," Hermione said. "They're Ron's brothers. I can't tell
them apart."
Betsy sighed. "Well one of them is absolutely gorgeous."
Emma snickered. "Betsy, they look exactly alike." Betsy stuck her tongue out at Emma.
Mail came, and thousands of owls flew in. "Wow…" Betsy said. At Catback, you had to
go to the Owlery to check if you had gotten mail. "Hey! I got mail!"
"So did I," Emma said.
"Me too," said Hermione, as they opened their letters. They were identical letters, which
instructed them to go to Professor Dumbledore's office right after breakfast. "I've never gotten a
letter like this before. I wonder what it's for."
"Dude, what did we do?" Emma asked. "I didn't think we'd get in trouble this soon."
The three girls proceeded to Professor Dumbledore's office. "Come in!" he said. "Sit
down and make yourselves comfortable." Betsy shot a glance at Emma. From her experience (and
she had had quite a bit), principals didn't act like this when you were in trouble.
"I wanted to ask Hermione if she'd be your guide around Hogwarts for the next few days."
"Of course," said Hermione.
"Brilliant," Professor Dumbledore said. "Well, you'd best be --"
"Professor Dumbledore," Betsy said.
"Yes?"
"Do we have to wear robes?"
"I'm afraid you do," Professor Dumbledore said. "However, you are only required to
wear them during classes; after classes are over for the day, you may wear whatever you choose
to."
"All-right," Betsy sighed.
"As your guide," Hermione said. "I must advise you that we should go now."
"See ya around!" Emma said, to Professor Dumbledore.
"Bye!" Betsy said.
"It's almost time our first class," Hermione said. "What is it? Transfiguration? Okay,
Professor McGonagal's classroom is just up this hallway."
Hermione, Betsy, and Emma walked into the classroom. Most of the other Gryffindor fifth
years were there already. They took seats near Ron and Harry.
Professor McGonagal came into the room. "Today we'll be changing spoons into hair
combs." The boys groaned. She handed out spoons to the class. Harry and Ron were partners,
Hermione and a boy named Neville were partners, and Betsy and were partners. "You will have
thirty minutes to practice, and then I will be going around to each group and evaluating your
work."
Betsy and Emma had done a similar exercise two years before at Catback. They both got
it with only a couple tries. Emma looked at the clock. There were twenty-three minutes until
Professor McGonagal would inspect their work. "That was really easy," she said to Betsy. "That
was only review, right?"
Betsy looked about the classroom. The other Gryffindors besides Hermione were still
plugging away at it. Hermione's partner Neville turned the spoon into a rabbit, which hopped off
the desk before Professor McGonagal could turn it back. Betsy gave Emma a doubtful look. "I
wish I could say yes, but I don't think it was."
"Chatting instead of working, girls?" Professor McGonagal asked, and then saw the
combs. "Oh, well done! Would you like to show me now, and get it over with?"
"Sure," Emma said. She turned the comb back into a spoon, and then from a spoon to a
comb again, this time a silver comb with 'Emma' written on it in gold.
"Ooooh, that one's pretty, Emma," Betsy said. She changed her comb to a spoon, then
back to a comb, a wooden one with flowers carved into it.
"I like yours better," Emma said. "Switch?"
"Only if you change it to say Betsy," Betsy said.
Emma did, and then looked up at Professor McGonagal, who had been quiet all this time.
"Well done, girls," she said again, and walked off, to change Neville's spoon, which was now a
rapidly growing sunflower, back into a spoon.
Emma and Betsy talked for the rest of class, and at the end, they watched as the students
got tested. Hermione turned hers into a silver comb, like Emma had, but without any decoration.
Two other Gryffindor girls, Parvati and Lavender, turned them into identical purple plastic combs,
and Neville turned his into a fork ("That's not too bad," Betsy said. "In 'The Little Mermaid",
Ariel combs her hair with a fork."). Harry, Ron, and the rest of the class managed to turn their
spoons into rough wooden combs.
"Potions," Hermione said, after class. "Follow me, it's down these stairs in the basement.
Professor Snape teaches Potions – basically, you can't get on his good side, so don't talk at all,
raise your hand much or bring any attention to yourselves. Good luck, you'll need it, I imagine!"
They went into the room and sat down. The class was made up of Gryffindors and another house,
Betsy recognized the boy with blond hair, and his two friends from the train.
Professor Snape entered, and the class immediately fell silent. "Another year," sighed
Professor Snape. "Today you will be making a swelling potion. You will find it on page 47 of the
potions book. Follow the directions...or else." Betsy and Emma were partners again, and their
potion came out right. They were on their most perfectly good behavior all of the class, and Snape
didn't pick on them.
As they walked out the door, Betsy commented, "That wasn't too bad!"
This surprised Hermione, but she said, "Lunch is next, you know where the Great Hall is."
"Oh good," Emma said. "I need a break!"
They sat down at the Gryffindor table and served themselves sandwiches.
Betsy looked up and down the table to see if the guy was there. He wasn't. "So Miney,
who do you like?" Betsy asked.
"Um, promise you won't tell anyone?" Hermione asked. Emma and Betsy nodded their
heads. "Ron," she whispered.
Emma and Betsy tried not to look shocked. "He's like your best friend!" Emma
exclaimed.
"Yeah…I would never tell him, I wouldn't want to ruin our friendship, but he's so cute,
and brave, and handsome!" Hermione stared dreamily off into space.
Betsy giggled. "I think it runs in his family."
"So does Ron have a girlfriend?" Emma asked.
"No," Hermione replied, and grinned.
"What about Harry?" Betsy asked.
"No," Hermione said. "But he has a crush on Cho Chang, a Ravenclaw 6th year."
"Oooooh! Older women!" Emma snickered.
"And Ginny Weasley, you know, Ron's younger sister, has a huge crush on Harry,"
Hermione added.
"Oh, that's so cute!" Betsy said. "What about Fred and George?"
"Single, but they're in their 7th year!" Hermione exclaimed.
"So? Betsy said. "It's only two --"
"Hey!" Ron said as he and Harry sat down at their table. "What are you guys talking
about?"
"Boys," Emma answered brazenly. Ron and Harry rolled their eyes.
"Who do your brothers like?" Betsy asked Ron.
"Fred used to like Katie Bell, and George used to like Alicia Spinnet, but they graduated
from Hogwarts last year, and Fred and George were never really serious about it or anything."
Betsy smiled.
"That reminds me, now that they're gone, and so is Oliver, there's three positions open on
the Quidditch team," Harry said.
"You have Quidditch here?" Emma asked.
"Of course!" Ron said.
"Thank goodness! I was kind of getting scared that this school was..." Emma stopped
when she saw the looks on Hermione, Ron, and Harry's faces. "Never mind."
"So we have a Keeper and two Chaser positions open," Harry said.
Emma looked thoughtful. "Do ya'll wanna practice together today?"
"Sure!" Ron said.
"Right then," Harry said. "After classes we'll meet in the Common Room."
Lunch was over then, and Hermione said, "You've got History of Magic next, all we do is
take notes. It's sooooo boring. The classroom's right there," and she pointed to it.
Betsy and Emma walked in. "You're a ghost!" Emma shouted to the Professor.
"Why yes, I am, thank you for noticing," he said. The rest of the class went as Hermione
said it would, with Betsy, Emma, Hermione, Ron, and Harry taking (and passing) notes.
"The next class is Herbology. It's outside in Greenhouse 1," Hermione said, and she led
them outside. The whole class was spent during a tour of the green house, which was pretty boring,
except when Emma got too close to a biting Humapwa tree and it almost got her!
"Our next class is Defense Against the Dark Arts. You wouldn't know this, but we get a
new teacher every year. I've heard that this year it's a bald guy named Dr. Evil."
Emma gave Betsy a strange look. She'd heard of Elvis impersonators, but Dr. Evil
impersonators? "Uh…Hermione, have you ever seen Austin Powers?"
"No," Hermione replied. "My parents won't let me see PG-13 movies."
"You're 15 years old!!!!!!" Betsy exclaimed. "Oh, don't worry, it's a pretty stupid
movie."
They reached the room and entered, to find a guy who looked exactly like Dr. Evil. "Shall
we begin class?" he asked. "My name is Dr. Evil, from a long line of Evils. Unfortunately, after
my 'laser'" he made air quotes. "Failed, I decided to retire from the Evil business. Any
questions?"
Emma put her hand up and Dr. Evil called on her. "Where's Mini-Me?" she asked.
"Mini" Dr. Evil said. "Scott k-k-k-k" he broke into tears. "Scott killed him!" by now he
was crying like a baby.
"Do you need a hug?" Betsy asked. Dr. Evil nodded and Betsy and Emma both hugged
him.
"So where's Scott?" Emma asked after she'd gotten him a tissue box.
"I-I-I pushed the button on his chair," Dr. Evil sobbed. "Now I have no children!"
"Poor guy," Betsy comforted him. By now she knew she and Emma would both get A's
this year. "Why don't you tell us your life story?"
"Well…all right," Dr. Evil agreed, and began the story. "I was born to a French prostitute
named Chloe who had webbed feet…"
The class really loved his story, it was hilarious, and at the end of class, Emma suggested,
"Why don't we make 'I HATE AUSTIN POWERS' posters tomorrow?" Dr. Evil thought this
was a great idea, and agreed.
"This guy is an absolute nut case!" Betsy said to Hermione and Emma. "He really thinks
he's Dr. Evil!"
"What class do we have next?" groaned Emma.
"School's over!" Hermione replied.
"SCORE!" Betsy and Emma shouted in unison.
They walked to the Gryffindor Common Room where they met Ron and Harry. "Hi guys!
Are we playing Quidditch now?" Emma asked.
"Definitely," Ron said. "My brothers are going to play with us too. Emma, Betsy, this is
Fred and George."
Betsy was positive that George was the one that had helped her with her trunk. He and
Fred looked the same, but there was something about him...maybe his eyes....
"You play?" Emma asked.
"Yeah," Fred said. "We're Beaters!"
Betsy risked a glance at George.
George noticed the girl looking at him through her heavy eyelashes.
Their eyes met, and neither George nor Betsy could look away.
"Well, we've gotta change and get our brooms and stuff, so let's meet down here in five
minutes," Emma said. Betsy tore her eyes away from George's. Everyone nodded and went their
separate ways.
"We've got to change into gym shorts, cuz we don't have Quidditch robes. And I wouldn't
wear them if I did have them," Emma said in the Common Room. "Is something wrong, Bets?
You're awfully quiet."
Betsy stopped trying to analyze what had just happened. "Everything is wonderful," she
said. "Can I borrow your spare broom again, Em?"
"Sure, but come on, I've got my shorts on."
"Okay, okay!" Betsy said. "I'll hurry up!" She put on navy blue Adidas shorts and a gray
sweatshirt that said Catback on it. They went down to the Common Room and found Ron, Harry,
Hermione, George, and Fred waiting for them.
* * *
"Emma, I'm not sure I really wanna fly today," Betsy said. "I'm afraid I'll fall off again."
"Betsy, you'll be fine," Emma said. "Just remember: NO FEAR! Now get on that broom
and say 'go'."
Betsy straddled the broom and yelled, "GO!" and the broom shot off like a bullet. She was
about 200 meters away when she looked back and yelled, "How do you stop?" George leapt onto
his broom and zoomed off after her. He caught up with Betsy in 30 seconds. Then, flying parallel
to her, he grabbed her broom by the handle and jumped on.
"Hold on," he said to Betsy, and urged the broom to go faster, turned it around, and flew
down to the group watching them. Betsy put her arms around George's waist, and they hopped off
as their feet touched ground. "Okay," George said. "That's how you stop. And you slow down
by jerking the handle up a bit."
Betsy looked up at George. "Thanks for saving my life, George," she said and smiled.
"That was kind of fun!"
"Betsy Bendroth! How can you say that!?!" Hermione scolded. "I was so scared!"
Betsy gave a sheepish grin. "I was too," she admitted. "That's definitely enough
Quidditch for me today!"
"You and Hermione can go in," Emma suggested, "And we'll stay out here and practice."
"Okay," Hermione and Betsy agreed, and left the Quidditch field.
* * *
Betsy was curled up in a red velvet armchair with gold trimming, very cozy in front of the
Common Room's fire, wearing her pajamas, a blue spaghetti strap with cows jumping over moons
and pink plaid flannel boxer pants, when everyone came in from the Quidditch field. She looked
up from her Back-To-School issue of Seventeen, and saw George, his green eyes glowing forest
green, push back his sweaty spikes of red hair from his forehead. She wasn't sitting properly in the
chair, her legs were hanging over one arm rest and her head was on the other, and she must have
leaned a bit too far back, because the next thing you know, the chair tipped, and she kind of did a
back somersault out of it. It was pretty clear she had it head over heels for George.
George looked at her in a heap on the floor and cracked up. He strolled over, and instead
of just putting out a hand and helping her up, he picked her up off the red and gold carpet, one arm
under her knees and one around her back and plopped her right back in the chair. Betsy cracked
up, looked deep into his green eyes that had changed color to aqua, and said, "Thanks George,
you'd make a great knight in shining armor. You're so kind to ladies!" George blushed. He was
obviously tickled pink.
quick showers and then got dressed.
"I don't care what Professor McGonagal says! I am not going to wear an ugly black
robe! For one thing, I hate the color black, and for another, those robes are so loose, they don't
flatter my figure!" Betsy exclaimed.
"Good points," Emma said, somewhat sarcastically. "The teachers won't think so
though."
"I don't care!" Betsy said. "What should I wear?"
"How bout a robe?" Emma said.
Betsy sighed. "All right."
Hermione came out of the shower into the new dorm she was sharing with Emma and
Betsy (the other three fifteen year olds were in another room, as Parvati and Lavender had made a
big deal about having to share the room with two more people).
"Hermione, do you always wear robes at Hogwarts?" Betsy asked.
Hermione looked half surprised, half puzzled at this. "Don't you at Catback?"
"We can wear whatever we want," Emma said.
"I don't even own a robe," Betsy said. "Wait a sec," she rooted through her trunk and
pulled out a pink terry bathrobe. "This is my robe."
"You can borrow my robes," Hermione offered, got two robes from her trunk, and handed
them to the girls.
"Thanks Hermie," Emma said. "Can I call you that?"
"Why not," Hermione said.
"Then I need a nickname for you too," said Betsy, and she thought for a second. "What
about Miney?"
"Sure," Hermione smiled. "We should go down to the Common Room and meet up with
Ron and Harry to go to breakfast now."
"Okay," Betsy said. "But Miney, um, you wear clothes under your robes, right?"
"Yes," Hermione said, a bit puzzled.
"Oh," Betsy said. "I wish I had known that last night when Professor McGonagal gave us
those robes." She put on jeans and a red tank top, and put the robe on over. "Let's go girls."
They walked down the staircase to the Common Room, where they met Ron and Harry.
"Girls," muttered Ron. "They take so long getting dressed."
When they got to the Great Hall, they sat down at the Gryffindor table, where food had
already appeared. Betsy served herself an egg, which was still as hot as it had just come off the
frying pan, of course, a blueberry muffin, bacon, and a glass of milk. As Betsy was chewing her
muffin, a red red-haired boy, maybe the red red-haired boy (she couldn't distinguish him from his
twin), who she had been stealing glances at all through breakfast, caught her eye. Betsy almost
choked on her muffin. She hated being caught by the guy she was checking out. The boy grinned.
Betsy's heart flip-flopped and she involuntarily smiled.
"Earth to Betsy," Emma waved her hand in front of Betsy's face. "I asked you a
question."
"Sorry," Betsy said. "Hermione, who's that guy, with the red hair, over there?"
"Well, he's either Fred or George," Hermione said. "They're Ron's brothers. I can't tell
them apart."
Betsy sighed. "Well one of them is absolutely gorgeous."
Emma snickered. "Betsy, they look exactly alike." Betsy stuck her tongue out at Emma.
Mail came, and thousands of owls flew in. "Wow…" Betsy said. At Catback, you had to
go to the Owlery to check if you had gotten mail. "Hey! I got mail!"
"So did I," Emma said.
"Me too," said Hermione, as they opened their letters. They were identical letters, which
instructed them to go to Professor Dumbledore's office right after breakfast. "I've never gotten a
letter like this before. I wonder what it's for."
"Dude, what did we do?" Emma asked. "I didn't think we'd get in trouble this soon."
The three girls proceeded to Professor Dumbledore's office. "Come in!" he said. "Sit
down and make yourselves comfortable." Betsy shot a glance at Emma. From her experience (and
she had had quite a bit), principals didn't act like this when you were in trouble.
"I wanted to ask Hermione if she'd be your guide around Hogwarts for the next few days."
"Of course," said Hermione.
"Brilliant," Professor Dumbledore said. "Well, you'd best be --"
"Professor Dumbledore," Betsy said.
"Yes?"
"Do we have to wear robes?"
"I'm afraid you do," Professor Dumbledore said. "However, you are only required to
wear them during classes; after classes are over for the day, you may wear whatever you choose
to."
"All-right," Betsy sighed.
"As your guide," Hermione said. "I must advise you that we should go now."
"See ya around!" Emma said, to Professor Dumbledore.
"Bye!" Betsy said.
"It's almost time our first class," Hermione said. "What is it? Transfiguration? Okay,
Professor McGonagal's classroom is just up this hallway."
Hermione, Betsy, and Emma walked into the classroom. Most of the other Gryffindor fifth
years were there already. They took seats near Ron and Harry.
Professor McGonagal came into the room. "Today we'll be changing spoons into hair
combs." The boys groaned. She handed out spoons to the class. Harry and Ron were partners,
Hermione and a boy named Neville were partners, and Betsy and were partners. "You will have
thirty minutes to practice, and then I will be going around to each group and evaluating your
work."
Betsy and Emma had done a similar exercise two years before at Catback. They both got
it with only a couple tries. Emma looked at the clock. There were twenty-three minutes until
Professor McGonagal would inspect their work. "That was really easy," she said to Betsy. "That
was only review, right?"
Betsy looked about the classroom. The other Gryffindors besides Hermione were still
plugging away at it. Hermione's partner Neville turned the spoon into a rabbit, which hopped off
the desk before Professor McGonagal could turn it back. Betsy gave Emma a doubtful look. "I
wish I could say yes, but I don't think it was."
"Chatting instead of working, girls?" Professor McGonagal asked, and then saw the
combs. "Oh, well done! Would you like to show me now, and get it over with?"
"Sure," Emma said. She turned the comb back into a spoon, and then from a spoon to a
comb again, this time a silver comb with 'Emma' written on it in gold.
"Ooooh, that one's pretty, Emma," Betsy said. She changed her comb to a spoon, then
back to a comb, a wooden one with flowers carved into it.
"I like yours better," Emma said. "Switch?"
"Only if you change it to say Betsy," Betsy said.
Emma did, and then looked up at Professor McGonagal, who had been quiet all this time.
"Well done, girls," she said again, and walked off, to change Neville's spoon, which was now a
rapidly growing sunflower, back into a spoon.
Emma and Betsy talked for the rest of class, and at the end, they watched as the students
got tested. Hermione turned hers into a silver comb, like Emma had, but without any decoration.
Two other Gryffindor girls, Parvati and Lavender, turned them into identical purple plastic combs,
and Neville turned his into a fork ("That's not too bad," Betsy said. "In 'The Little Mermaid",
Ariel combs her hair with a fork."). Harry, Ron, and the rest of the class managed to turn their
spoons into rough wooden combs.
"Potions," Hermione said, after class. "Follow me, it's down these stairs in the basement.
Professor Snape teaches Potions – basically, you can't get on his good side, so don't talk at all,
raise your hand much or bring any attention to yourselves. Good luck, you'll need it, I imagine!"
They went into the room and sat down. The class was made up of Gryffindors and another house,
Betsy recognized the boy with blond hair, and his two friends from the train.
Professor Snape entered, and the class immediately fell silent. "Another year," sighed
Professor Snape. "Today you will be making a swelling potion. You will find it on page 47 of the
potions book. Follow the directions...or else." Betsy and Emma were partners again, and their
potion came out right. They were on their most perfectly good behavior all of the class, and Snape
didn't pick on them.
As they walked out the door, Betsy commented, "That wasn't too bad!"
This surprised Hermione, but she said, "Lunch is next, you know where the Great Hall is."
"Oh good," Emma said. "I need a break!"
They sat down at the Gryffindor table and served themselves sandwiches.
Betsy looked up and down the table to see if the guy was there. He wasn't. "So Miney,
who do you like?" Betsy asked.
"Um, promise you won't tell anyone?" Hermione asked. Emma and Betsy nodded their
heads. "Ron," she whispered.
Emma and Betsy tried not to look shocked. "He's like your best friend!" Emma
exclaimed.
"Yeah…I would never tell him, I wouldn't want to ruin our friendship, but he's so cute,
and brave, and handsome!" Hermione stared dreamily off into space.
Betsy giggled. "I think it runs in his family."
"So does Ron have a girlfriend?" Emma asked.
"No," Hermione replied, and grinned.
"What about Harry?" Betsy asked.
"No," Hermione said. "But he has a crush on Cho Chang, a Ravenclaw 6th year."
"Oooooh! Older women!" Emma snickered.
"And Ginny Weasley, you know, Ron's younger sister, has a huge crush on Harry,"
Hermione added.
"Oh, that's so cute!" Betsy said. "What about Fred and George?"
"Single, but they're in their 7th year!" Hermione exclaimed.
"So? Betsy said. "It's only two --"
"Hey!" Ron said as he and Harry sat down at their table. "What are you guys talking
about?"
"Boys," Emma answered brazenly. Ron and Harry rolled their eyes.
"Who do your brothers like?" Betsy asked Ron.
"Fred used to like Katie Bell, and George used to like Alicia Spinnet, but they graduated
from Hogwarts last year, and Fred and George were never really serious about it or anything."
Betsy smiled.
"That reminds me, now that they're gone, and so is Oliver, there's three positions open on
the Quidditch team," Harry said.
"You have Quidditch here?" Emma asked.
"Of course!" Ron said.
"Thank goodness! I was kind of getting scared that this school was..." Emma stopped
when she saw the looks on Hermione, Ron, and Harry's faces. "Never mind."
"So we have a Keeper and two Chaser positions open," Harry said.
Emma looked thoughtful. "Do ya'll wanna practice together today?"
"Sure!" Ron said.
"Right then," Harry said. "After classes we'll meet in the Common Room."
Lunch was over then, and Hermione said, "You've got History of Magic next, all we do is
take notes. It's sooooo boring. The classroom's right there," and she pointed to it.
Betsy and Emma walked in. "You're a ghost!" Emma shouted to the Professor.
"Why yes, I am, thank you for noticing," he said. The rest of the class went as Hermione
said it would, with Betsy, Emma, Hermione, Ron, and Harry taking (and passing) notes.
"The next class is Herbology. It's outside in Greenhouse 1," Hermione said, and she led
them outside. The whole class was spent during a tour of the green house, which was pretty boring,
except when Emma got too close to a biting Humapwa tree and it almost got her!
"Our next class is Defense Against the Dark Arts. You wouldn't know this, but we get a
new teacher every year. I've heard that this year it's a bald guy named Dr. Evil."
Emma gave Betsy a strange look. She'd heard of Elvis impersonators, but Dr. Evil
impersonators? "Uh…Hermione, have you ever seen Austin Powers?"
"No," Hermione replied. "My parents won't let me see PG-13 movies."
"You're 15 years old!!!!!!" Betsy exclaimed. "Oh, don't worry, it's a pretty stupid
movie."
They reached the room and entered, to find a guy who looked exactly like Dr. Evil. "Shall
we begin class?" he asked. "My name is Dr. Evil, from a long line of Evils. Unfortunately, after
my 'laser'" he made air quotes. "Failed, I decided to retire from the Evil business. Any
questions?"
Emma put her hand up and Dr. Evil called on her. "Where's Mini-Me?" she asked.
"Mini" Dr. Evil said. "Scott k-k-k-k" he broke into tears. "Scott killed him!" by now he
was crying like a baby.
"Do you need a hug?" Betsy asked. Dr. Evil nodded and Betsy and Emma both hugged
him.
"So where's Scott?" Emma asked after she'd gotten him a tissue box.
"I-I-I pushed the button on his chair," Dr. Evil sobbed. "Now I have no children!"
"Poor guy," Betsy comforted him. By now she knew she and Emma would both get A's
this year. "Why don't you tell us your life story?"
"Well…all right," Dr. Evil agreed, and began the story. "I was born to a French prostitute
named Chloe who had webbed feet…"
The class really loved his story, it was hilarious, and at the end of class, Emma suggested,
"Why don't we make 'I HATE AUSTIN POWERS' posters tomorrow?" Dr. Evil thought this
was a great idea, and agreed.
"This guy is an absolute nut case!" Betsy said to Hermione and Emma. "He really thinks
he's Dr. Evil!"
"What class do we have next?" groaned Emma.
"School's over!" Hermione replied.
"SCORE!" Betsy and Emma shouted in unison.
They walked to the Gryffindor Common Room where they met Ron and Harry. "Hi guys!
Are we playing Quidditch now?" Emma asked.
"Definitely," Ron said. "My brothers are going to play with us too. Emma, Betsy, this is
Fred and George."
Betsy was positive that George was the one that had helped her with her trunk. He and
Fred looked the same, but there was something about him...maybe his eyes....
"You play?" Emma asked.
"Yeah," Fred said. "We're Beaters!"
Betsy risked a glance at George.
George noticed the girl looking at him through her heavy eyelashes.
Their eyes met, and neither George nor Betsy could look away.
"Well, we've gotta change and get our brooms and stuff, so let's meet down here in five
minutes," Emma said. Betsy tore her eyes away from George's. Everyone nodded and went their
separate ways.
"We've got to change into gym shorts, cuz we don't have Quidditch robes. And I wouldn't
wear them if I did have them," Emma said in the Common Room. "Is something wrong, Bets?
You're awfully quiet."
Betsy stopped trying to analyze what had just happened. "Everything is wonderful," she
said. "Can I borrow your spare broom again, Em?"
"Sure, but come on, I've got my shorts on."
"Okay, okay!" Betsy said. "I'll hurry up!" She put on navy blue Adidas shorts and a gray
sweatshirt that said Catback on it. They went down to the Common Room and found Ron, Harry,
Hermione, George, and Fred waiting for them.
* * *
"Emma, I'm not sure I really wanna fly today," Betsy said. "I'm afraid I'll fall off again."
"Betsy, you'll be fine," Emma said. "Just remember: NO FEAR! Now get on that broom
and say 'go'."
Betsy straddled the broom and yelled, "GO!" and the broom shot off like a bullet. She was
about 200 meters away when she looked back and yelled, "How do you stop?" George leapt onto
his broom and zoomed off after her. He caught up with Betsy in 30 seconds. Then, flying parallel
to her, he grabbed her broom by the handle and jumped on.
"Hold on," he said to Betsy, and urged the broom to go faster, turned it around, and flew
down to the group watching them. Betsy put her arms around George's waist, and they hopped off
as their feet touched ground. "Okay," George said. "That's how you stop. And you slow down
by jerking the handle up a bit."
Betsy looked up at George. "Thanks for saving my life, George," she said and smiled.
"That was kind of fun!"
"Betsy Bendroth! How can you say that!?!" Hermione scolded. "I was so scared!"
Betsy gave a sheepish grin. "I was too," she admitted. "That's definitely enough
Quidditch for me today!"
"You and Hermione can go in," Emma suggested, "And we'll stay out here and practice."
"Okay," Hermione and Betsy agreed, and left the Quidditch field.
* * *
Betsy was curled up in a red velvet armchair with gold trimming, very cozy in front of the
Common Room's fire, wearing her pajamas, a blue spaghetti strap with cows jumping over moons
and pink plaid flannel boxer pants, when everyone came in from the Quidditch field. She looked
up from her Back-To-School issue of Seventeen, and saw George, his green eyes glowing forest
green, push back his sweaty spikes of red hair from his forehead. She wasn't sitting properly in the
chair, her legs were hanging over one arm rest and her head was on the other, and she must have
leaned a bit too far back, because the next thing you know, the chair tipped, and she kind of did a
back somersault out of it. It was pretty clear she had it head over heels for George.
George looked at her in a heap on the floor and cracked up. He strolled over, and instead
of just putting out a hand and helping her up, he picked her up off the red and gold carpet, one arm
under her knees and one around her back and plopped her right back in the chair. Betsy cracked
up, looked deep into his green eyes that had changed color to aqua, and said, "Thanks George,
you'd make a great knight in shining armor. You're so kind to ladies!" George blushed. He was
obviously tickled pink.