Yay, first official new Chapter. Hot off the press.
"Open your minds to the crystal ball in front of you."
Tick tock. Tick tock.
"Your mind isn't open enough, wider, wider!"
Tick tock. Tick tock.
Ring!
I quickly grabbed up my books and bolted out of my last class of the day, Divinations. I don't understand how some people can actually like that class. Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of being able to see the future and all, but the wacky teacher just takes all the fun out of learning about it. She's always talking constantly and always bumping into things and knocking stuff down. I'd consider it entertainment more than learning. Thankfully I didn't have to go through the torture alone. Alicia was in my Divinations class, and that brought us closer together. I wouldn't call us friends just yet, but we were definitely going down that road steadily.
It was Friday, I had lasted an entire week at this new school. I felt rather proud of myself as Alicia and I walked in step with each other. We were headed to the Great Hall for dinner. I was particularly famished tonight. I looked to my side and smiled at her.
"You know, if we don't get there soon you might have to carry me down these stairs. I'm so hungry!" I threw my hands up in a dramatic way.
She started laughing. "You better not collapse; I'm far too starved myself to be bothered with picking you up."
I scoffed and sent her a fabricated look of shock. "You would just leave me there? What if the creep Akosta came out of nowhere and tried to do something to me!"
She kept laughing and just shrugged. I elbowed her side and shook my head, smiling.
We entered the Great Hall with growling stomachs. My eyes immediately scanned the tables for people I knew. Fred and Angelina were having a heated conversation. Katie Bell was sitting on Fred's opposite side talking down the table with another girl that I didn't recognize. I never understood why she would always sit with us, but then pay us no attention at all. If she wanted to talk to someone over there, why not sit over there? I sighed and made a point to focus my gaze elsewhere. Gratefully, my eyes came in contact with George's bright brown ones and he patted the seat next to him with a smile playing on his lips. I couldn't help but be happy as I walked down the row between the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables. As I sat down, Angelina and Fred stopped midsentence to greet me and Alicia, and then resumed fighting. I laughed at them.
"What did Fred do that's making you so fumed Ang?" I asked as I spooned some macaroni noodles onto my plate.
"We're talking Quidditch." Angelina said in a stressed tone.
"She thinks she should wake up bright and early to practice when there isn't even Quidditch this year!" Fred exclaimed.
"Oh stop complaining." I took ate a forkful of noodles before continuing. "Let Ang work herself until she can't take it anymore, if that's what she really wants to do." I took another bite of my food. Fred didn't seem pleased that I was taking Angelina's side, but before he could argue anymore on the subject George spoke up. I did think he was being rather quiet.
"Hey, you know what I just realized mate?" He asked Fred, slinging his arm around my shoulders in the process. "Amanda here doesn't seem to have a problem telling us apart like most other people."
Fred's face seemed thoughtful, and then contorted into a sly smirk. "I think you have a point George. Hell, even Angelina sometimes gets it wrong." He playfully referred to her again, which only made her roll her eyes. Soon, Angelina started to calm down and paid more attention to the conversation forming.
"Why? Am I not supposed to be able to do that?" I asked curiously, picking at my noodles. I was still mildly aware of George's arm around me and I felt a tug in my stomach.
"Well, I suppose it is more convenient for us." George stated, looking down at his plate.
"Yeah, but now we can't switch places with each other to fool you." Fred had a glum look on his face as he went back to eating. I giggled at the thought of them actually attempting that, but I didn't put it past them one bit. Angelina leaned forward a tad to examine the twins. Fred looked a bit uncomfortable and gave George a wary look.
"I don't see how you do it..." Angelina exclaimed with a confused look. "They're exactly identical! Even they're freckles are in the same spot."
I rolled my eyes at how ridiculous her logic was. "Ang, you're only looking at they're faces." I stressed the last word purposefully. She looked at me like I had three heads and then started blushing profusely. The twins started laughing and George's arm felt a little tenser. I finally caught on.
"No, no! Not like that. God, get your heads out of the gutter for one second." I rolled my eyes at them. "You're missing the simple details. Like, um. Look-" I pointed a finger to the top of George's head. "George parts his hair closer to the right side while Fred parts his closer to the left. Um, Fred can talk on and on for ages about almost anything, but George actually needs an engaging topic. Um, they both right with the same hand, but the way they hold their quills are different. George can hold a grudge longer than Fred, which proves that they don't necessarily think alike." I let out a little chuckle. "And don't even get me started on their personality differences." I shook my head as I said the last sentence. I placed another bit of noodles in my mouth and looked up to the others. They were all staring at me with shocked eyes.
"What?" I asked simply.
George removed his arm from my shoulders to ruffle my hair up. "We just didn't realize how observant you are."
I gave him a sideways look and realized both twins had a pink sheen to their faces. "Well, I can't help it if everyone else only sees the similarities 'cause you two are twins."
I smiled at them and went back to eating, a little embarrassed that all eyes were still on me.
When McGonagall dismissed us from dinner, we took our sweet time getting back to the common room. Katie separated from us (like always), which left the five of us to shuffle our feet the whole way there. I walked in between the two ginger haired twins and playfully locked arms with them, humming a tune.
"I can't believe it's already Friday." Alicia said with a yawn to punctuate her sentence.
I looked around George at Alicia. "You're already tired? Come on, its Friday! You're supposed to stay up late and tell ghost stories or something."
"Ghost stories?" Fred inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, you know what I mean." I said, a little embarrassed, "Friday nights are supposed to be a night of fun, right?"
Once we were back in the common room, Angelina and Alicia went up to the girls' dorm. Fred claimed that Lee, one of the boys that the twins shared a room with, had requested to see him so he quickly went up to their dorm. I looked around the room and noticed that there were several kids at the tables in the back working on what appeared to be homework. I groaned loudly and placed a hand over my face in frustration.
"I totally forgot about my stupid homework." I threw myself on the common room couch, not caring that I wasn't leaving any room for anyone else to sit. My bag wasn't so nicely rested on the coffee table next to me. I sighed and all of a sudden I felt heaviness on my abdomen. I couldn't help but smile once I realize what, or who, it was.
"George get off! You're crushing me!" I yelled playfully.
He grinned down at me. "Not a chance, you're fine. Besides, it's not like you left enough room for me to sit anywhere else." He started taking his books out his bag.
"There's an arm chair over there and you can sit on the cushions on the floor. Besides, it's Friday. Don't you usually like waiting until last minute?"
He shook his head in a knowing manner, like he assumed I would say that. "I came to the conclusion that I could be doing something way better with my time on Sunday afternoon."
"Well, you can do your homework somewhere else. Get your bony arse off of me." I tried my best to push him off, but not being able to sit up didn't help much.
He raised his eyebrows at me. "Please, why would I do that when you are clearly enjoying it too much? It would be rude of me." He smiled flirtatiously down at me.
I narrowed my eyes at him, but couldn't stop my cheeks from turning pink.
"I rest my case." He said and winked at me.
I huffed and crossed my arms across my chest. "If you don't get up, then I can't help you with your Defense Against the Dark Arts homework that I know you desperately need help with." I stated. Truthfully, I didn't know if I could help him, even if it was one of the few classes that I chose to pay attention in. Moody, our new teacher in that subject, had made it painfully obvious that he didn't care how much he taught us on a subject, he would still assign the homework anyway.
George looked like he was thinking it over, and realized he was defeated. He got up a tiny bit for me to wiggle out from under him. I brought my legs to me, sitting criss cross with my back against the arm rest. I took out my book and put it in my lap, along with my new notebook for writing. I leaned my head against the back of the couch, pretending to read. I had my Defense Against the Dark Arts book open, and I was looking at the words, but none of it was sinking in. After reading the same sentence three times, I gave up and looked up at George. He was sitting with his book in his lap, bent over it, with his red hair falling in his face. I couldn't help but smile, he looked like he was really intently trying to understand the material. Finally, he must have felt my eyes on him, because he turned and met my gaze. I didn't look away, even though I could feel the color returning to my face. I reached forward and held his hand in mine.
"This is kind of nice." I said staring at his fingers.
"Yeah, being alone with me isn't all too bad is it?" I could hear the smile in his words.
I smiled too, "No, it's not." I looked up at him and our eyes locked. I felt my heart beat quicken and our hands become clammy. What was happening? My skin was crawling and my breathing became uneven. I looked away and let go of him. I wasn't ready for this.
"I, um, I'm kind of tired. This studying is getting nowhere." I closed my book and started to pack my things away in my bag, trying not to look at him. My cheeks were still getting ever increasingly redder. "I think I'm going to go to bed."
We both stood at the same time. He smiled at me, and I melted. I couldn't not smile back. He wrapped his arms around me, and I buried my head in his chest. This hug, it held meaning; I could hear it in his heart beat. I almost didn't want to let go, but I forced myself to. I smiled at him one last time, and forced myself up the stairs.
You're not ready for this Amanda, I scolded myself, What are you thinking?
Ooo, almost a cliffhanger? Tell me what you think! :]
