Masquerade
Chapter 3
Right foot back, Left foot side, Close
"Dear Gin-Gin,
Our adorable little sister! How have you been? It seems like years since we last saw one another. Fred and I are doing quite well here at our shop, and we seem to be bringing in more customers every day. Were so glad to hear from you, and were very pleased that you were so concerned about our well being. We were sure that somewhere between the lines "Please help me out, I need a dress" and "You know you owe me one" there was a moment were you paused and thought, "I hope that they are doing all right." We would love to help you out, but it seems a certain dress that you would like is worth more then the ten days you helped us out. But Fred and I put our heads together and decided that there would be a way for you to make up the last bit. The first box is a few of our new items, nothing poisonous. We wouldn't want to kill our only sister, would we? Anyway, just test the few items and send us a letter back, and we will decide if we will send the dress or not.
Love always,
Gred and Forge
P. S. The second box is some our special paste if anything unsightly should occur. "
Ginny finished reading the letter aloud to her friends and crossed her arms in a huff staring down at the two boxes in front of her. The gang were all sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room looking over homework and what not, when Ginny had opened her letter.
"Ten days!" Ginny screeched as she threw the letter down. "I was there for three weeks helping the two stock shelves."
"Unsightly?" asked Colleen completely ignoring Gin's outburst. She gave a look of disgust as she thought of what they could mean.
"You can't expect them to just hand the dress over Gin. It's Fred and George for crying out loud!" Colin interjected as he put down his homework and looked over at her. He patted her shoulder in comfort and gave her a weak smile. There was a big banging noise outside the common room, but the four, having gone through Hogwarts with the Twin's always setting things off, ignored the ruckus.
"Yes, and they are my brothers! They should have some sympathy for me. The two had to go through Hogwarts with Bill and Charlie's hand-me downs just like I had Ron's!"
"It amazes me that you don't look ridiculous in his school robes." Colleen said while eyeing Ginny before going back to her History of Magic homework. Mallory glared at Colleen, who was clearly not helping.
"Don't worry, Gin. We'll use the stuff too. That way they can't complain that you didn't give a full report on...whatever is in the box." Mallory offered and Colleen jumped up from her chair.
"I most certainly will not!" Colleen had moved away from the box and stood behind her chair. "I need to finish this stupid essay on 'what lead to the formation of the International Confederation of Wizards' so I can go meet Shane. I don't need unsightly marks on my face before I do!"
"Who cares about the International Confederation of Wizards? " Said Colin giving her a confused look.
"Psh, for all you know that's going to be one of the questions on your OWL's and you're going to wish you knew!" Colleen said before grabbing her stuff and moving over to a desk in the corner.
"She is the weirdest person I have ever met," commented Mallory before looking back to Ginny. "Look, Gin. Let's get started on this, all right? The sooner the better." Before Ginny could stop her, Mallory open the box and was shocked to find 15 or so packets all tucked inside. They looked like they had come straight from one of stores' shelf's. They were all wrapped in green plastic paper and had Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes scrolled across them in purple ink. Mallory picked one up and read the label.
"Chocolate Frog Nightmares, a part of our Daydreamers collection. These dreams are purely for your enemy. A five minute dream instantly comes over any person to pop one of these flavorful treats into their mouths. An experience your enemy will never forget. Be warned. These treats may have the same effect of a Dementor."
"A Dementor? Are they crazy?" Ginny said glancing down and picking up one of the same packages. "Wait. There's a warning on the back. Side effects include vacant to terrified looks and may make your enemy hate you forever."
"Something like that would be horrible if you'd ever witnessed something gruesome."Colin said looking to Mallory before shifting through the box to look for something else.
Ginny's mind, however, was still on the Chocolate frog nightmare's, something like that in the hands of someone like...Harry.
-----
"Oi, Shane." Malfoy called out to the fellow Slytherin as he headed for Potion's class.
Shane turned around with a bit of a smile on his face to greet the 'dear' friend. "Yes, Draco?" Shane saw the look in Draco's eyes and quickly dropped the act. "What?' he added for a better effect.
"I hate to be the barer of bad news, friend, but it seems that Colleen has asked me to tell you something of dear importance." He paused and gave his nails a glance. "She said something about feeling it safer to say it threw another person, but she talks so much I blocked out a bit of it.
"It was just about the time that she flipped back her curly brown hair and sighed that she got my attention once again. She finished with something like ' please tell him nicely that I can't see him anymore.' Me, saying it to you straight, that was my idea."
Shane had dropped his books and stepped up to Draco with a menacing quickness.
"Don't fuck with me, Draco. Did she really say that?" Draco stepped back a little bit and smirked.
"On my word as a Slytherin. Her exact words." Draco said as he walked passed Shane's books and into the Potion's classroom.
----
Shane couldn't have been more stressed out as he waited for Snape to dismiss the class at the end of the day. It was mere minutes before class was over and even though Shane was suppose to be copying notes, his desk was clear, and his eyes remand on his watch. He was sure that he knew Colleen's schedule by heart now, and that she was in Transfiguration, which meant that she would go to the bathroom right after class and he could catch up with her there if he ran.
Shane felt like he was about to lose it when Snape stopped his lecture and called for everyone to go. In an instant Shane was out of his seat, bag in hand, and out the door before anyone else. A few seconds later he was up the Entrance hall steps and heading past the Transfiguration class door where he saw that no one was coming out of. Which meant that McGonagal had let the class out early and Colleen was probably leaving the bathroom as he stood there. He smacked his forehead and kept going up the steps like a mad man. He would do anything to catch Colleen now so he could talk to her. They were suppose to be meeting an hour before dinner, but if she was breaking up with him, she probably wouldn't show. He didn't think he could wait that long to speak with her anyway.
He stopped outside the third floor bathroom where she should have been, but met an empty hall. Just his luck, a first year girl came out of the bathroom.
"Hey, was there anyone else in that bathroom?" Shane asked the girl, but she shook her head.
"Just me," the girl squeaked out before scurrying off.
"Damn," Shane mumbled under his breath and continued up the steps thinking he could catch her before she returned to her common room.
He got to the door just as it closed and the Fat Lady gave his Slytherin robes a glare.
"You're not aloud in here!" she yelled before crossing her arms.
"But I need in!" Shane pleaded.
"To disturb the peace. I think not! Go away!" The Fat Lady yelled back. Shane banged his fists against the painting trying to knock on the wall behind it. "What are you doing?" The Fat Lady asked as she moved out of the way of his blows.
"Trying to get someone to come out so I can get in!" he said and kept banging.
"Uh! How rude!" The Fat Lady grimaced and left the picture frame to talk with her neighbor. Shane hit the wall one last time and waited, but no one came.
"Damn!" Shane yelled and headed back to the Slytherin common room.
-----
Colleen finished her essay as she ignored the banter of her friends behind her. She smiled as she re-read her work and then stuffed it into her bag. She heard her friends start giggling madly and turned to them.
"What has got you guys all in a fit?" she asked picking up on of the wrappers, and half glance at Mallory who was covering her mouth like it was suddenly blue. "What's wrong with your mouth?" Mallory pulled her hand back from her mouth and smiled a wide grin. One that didn't belong to her.
"There's these lips things." Ginny joked with laughter as she spoke. "One makes you kiss your true love and the other one makes your teeth enormous!" She pointed at Mallory to emphasizes what she meant.
Colin was on the floor rolling with laughter and couldn't seem to find the time to talk.
"Well, I hope you three have fun with those. I'm going to be upstairs getting ready to meet Shane." Colleen said and headed for the girls dormitory.
"But you have an hour!" Ginny yelled up the steps.
"Exactly!"
Colin sat up finally and grabbed a package out of the box. "Okay my turn." he said and put the wax lips to his own where they slowly formed perfectly. Colin smiled widely as he waited for his teeth to grow, but with no such luck.
"Uh, they don't work." Colin said before turning from Ginny to Mallory to see her teeth. Colin didn't exactly know what was happening next as he was forced violently forward and his lips connected to Mallory's.
Ginny sat back in shock as she looked between the two, who's lips seemed to be glued together. She looked away from them blushingly and grabbed the wrapper Colin had just tossed aside.
"Aww! Colin! These are the Lovely lips! The ones that make you kiss your true love, not the teeth growing ones!" She smiled at her two friends as there lips broke apart finally.
"What?" Mallory said as she wiped her mouth and removed the fake wax lips she was wearing. She grabbed the wrapper out Ginny's hand and glanced up at Colin. "Uh...but...does...What?" Her eyes were locked on Colin who was looking bashfully ashamed at the ground.
"I'm going to leave you two alone." Ginny said and got up to go to her dorm room.
Mallory nodded, but her eyes never left Colin. It wasn't until the common room was completely empty, including the few second years who were walking through, that she spoke up.
"You like me?"
