DISCLAIMER: I don't have any rights to the characters other than the ones that are quite obviously not canon.

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Chapter Seven: Pink Poltergeists

It was Friday, and although Potions was her first class, Verity thought it was the best Friday timetable she had ever seen. Snape was followed by McGonagall and then Flitwick, finally finishing the day with a double free period; bliss. It was also the day for all Gryffindors to try out for the position of Keeper on the Quidditch team, which was why she was sitting on the bleachers again along with the general population of the Gryffindor Tower after lessons had finished. The rain lashed down on them with relentless enthusiasm while the wind whistled through every hole in her winter coat, chilling her to the bone. She was sure her lips were starting to turn blue and wasn't even going to think about her hair. But if she felt bad then surely the team felt worse, true they wore the warm robes of the team colours but they were barely clinging onto the dripping brooms, occasionally a scream coming from one of the girls as a Bludger whooshed past them. Harry was nowhere to be seen, stuck in detention for the fourth day in a row with Umbridge, Verity shuddered at the prospect of what his hand now looked like.

Her vision promptly went black. Struggling with something that had fell on her head, obscuring her eyes, the girl heard laughing and yanked the material off her. Lee Jordan sat down beside her, swathed in a very cosy looking blue jumper with a large F on the chest which made her somewhat jealous until she realised the thing he had thrown at her was another jumper only this one had a G on it. Pulling her coat off, she quickly shrugged on the jumper, which was far too big, and threw her coat back on again before she got too wet. The warmth hit her almost immediately, the jumper stopping the wind from rushing through her thin school shirt beneath.

"You stole the twin's jumpers?" Her teeth chattered noisily as she scooted over to huddle under the transparent, domed umbrella that Lee held above him, not caring that it made them look like they were trapped in an upside-down fish bowl.

"Borrowed. Do it all the time, they don't mind as long as they get them back later. Their mum makes the whole family one every Christmas, she's wicked is Mrs Weasley." Lee grinned back, clutching the brolly handle tightly so it didn't blow away.

"Fair enough. Perfect timing by the way, I thought I was going to have to go to the Hospital Wing with hypothermia."

Lee laughed loudly and shook his head, sodden dreadlocks flying around him much like a dog. Verity spluttered as they hit her face and aimed a punch at his arm as she laughed too, having a much better time now that the school commentator was here to explain the try-outs to her. So far the participants had been rubbish according to Lee, no one worth their salt but it was going to be hard to replace Oliver Wood, she gathered he had been quite the player. Her companion gasped as the last group of five trooped on the pitch, his finger pointing out a gangly boy with a shock of wet red hair.

"Ron? Ron's trying out? Can he even play?" He burst out, and it seemed like a few others were thinking the same thing as the bleachers started humming with low mutters.

Poor Ron had turned bright red; though it was a vast improvement on the sickly green he had been before, Verity didn't think it was making him feel any better. Why was everyone being so negative? They should be sticking together as a House and cheering him on. Ducking out from under the umbrella, she stood up on the bleachers and yelled loudly so everyone nearby could hear.

"GO ON RON! YOU CAN DO IT!"

She wasn't sure why she wanted him to get the position but something in his defeated expression tugged at her heartstrings, always the sidekick and younger brother, the poor guy had never had anything to be truly proud of. Hermione quickly followed suit and began to yell at the top of her lungs, her books falling off the bench unseen. The transformation in the boy was amazing, suddenly he was looking far more confident and even had a swagger in his walk. The group trial went brilliantly after that, well, for Ron anyway, as the wind eased off for a few moments to let him see enough to save four of the five shots. No one else managed above three. The crowd went wild, the other team members landing to pick him up and fling the new Keeper on their shoulders; Ron beamed triumphantly.

The party was mental! Dr Filibuster's no-heat, wet-start fireworks were whizzing their way around the room, bursting into stars against the ceiling, and there were too many bottles of butterbeer to count. Verity collapsed on one of the sofas but was only able to rest for a moment before she felt a weight on either side of her, quickly followed by someone ruffling her hair.

"Very! How very, very good to see you!" Grinned George.

"So very good Very!" Chimed Fred.

Verity groaned and smacked each of them with the cushion in her hands, or rather she hit George. Fred had seen the blow coming and instead of taking it like a man he had made a beeline for her ribs, mercilessly tickling her into submission. Her screams went unheard as the music boomed over the room, but Angelina looked over and started to laugh at the situation.

"So Stone, is my jumper comfy?" George asked as his twin eventually let the gasping girl go.

"...Y-y-yes...Merlin I hate...you two...let me up..." She uttered between gulps of air, grabbing Fred's ear to drag herself up much to his dismay.

"Oye! Gerroff you imp!" But he soon shut up when she grinned and pressed her lips to his cheek to placate him. "That's more like it. Another for the lips Very."

"In your dreams Fred. I'm off to get another drink." She muttered while getting to her feet with some difficulty.

"You may have a problem there, we're out of butterbeer." Fred yawned, propping his legs up in the space she had just vacated.

With a sigh, she turned back around and placed a hand on her hip. But before she could say anything, George got up and wrapped an arm around her shoulders with a grin.

"We'll get some more from the kitchens, come on."

Verity stuck her tongue out at Fred as they went to the portrait hole, stepping out into the dark hallways of Hogwarts. It was only then that she realised that they weren't supposed to be out of the common room at this time of night, if they got caught then they would find themselves in detention quicker than they could say Quidditch. As if sensing her thought, George took his arm off her shoulder and snaked it around her waist, dragging her against his side. He then proceeded to lighten the mood by telling her all about his family, and what a big family they were! Six brothers and one sister, she was already feeling sorry for their mum and she didn't even know the woman. Bill and Charlie sounded pretty cool but she was not too fond of Percy, though by the sound of it neither was George. Of course, she already knew Ron and Ginny she had met a few times, a nice girl with plenty of backbone. It made her a little wistful.

"What about you then? You've mentioned your mum a couple of times but hardly mention your old man."

"Not much to say about him to be honest." She sighed, snuggling against him as they walked, the night air being colder than she had first assumed. "Mum always changed the subject when I brought him up, probably because she didn't want to be reminded it all."

"I'm sorry. They divorced?" His tone was sincere.

"Nah, they were never married. Met here at school and apparently it was a whirlwind romance, until He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named started crashing around that is." Verity looked straight ahead into the shadows. "My dad's in Azkaban...for murder..."

George's eyes snapped to her, wide with shock, he had not expected that. But the girl he had his arm around looked far from impressed with her situation, her face had fallen into a vision of helplessness. Stopping right in the middle of the corridor, where Filch or even Umbridge could find them, he dragged her against his chest in a bear hug. Verity stumbled with the quick action but gripped his jumper tightly until he let her go a moment later.

"Bad things happen to good people Very...you shouldn't beat yourself up about it."

"I know. I just can't help but think what it could have been like you know? It doesn't matter anyway, Mum moved us to France when I was two and that was it. Dad's family aren't exactly the nicest sort of Wizard, if you get what I mean." She spat the last bit out, remembering her Mother's descriptions of her Grandmother with bitter recollection.

They said no more until they reached a corridor lined with paintings of food, each one more sumptuous than the next...except for one. George paused beside the image of a fruit bowl and looked around to make sure no one else was watching before beckoning Verity closer. Raising his finger to the pear, he looked as though he was about to, dare she say, tickle the pear? But before his finger could touch the canvas there was the unmistakable sound of footsteps coming down the hall, and with nowhere to go they both knew they were done for.

"Fred Weasley! You shouldn't be out here, it's after lights out. I'm going to have dock points from you and your girlfriend." A rather pompous looking boy walked forward, his wand lighting up the corridor.

"I'm George, Ernie." He sighed as the Hufflepuff prefect came up to them.

"Well, George then. You know the rules. Ten points each from Gryffindor...you are Gryffindor aren't you?" Ernie narrowed his eyes at Verity, trying to place who she was.

"Yes. But are you seriously going to dock us points for something as trivial as this? It's not as though we were hurting anyone." She ventured, giving him a winning smile.

Ernie Macmillan huffed and crossed his arms in defiance of her statement, his demeanour clearly stating that he would not sway from his decision. As if it couldn't get any worse there was a sudden cackling noise and something white swooped in above them...Peeves. He was grinning wickedly as he pointed to George with a shaking finger.

"Ooh! You've angered the Puff Weasley!" He whooshed around their heads again, making them all duck as he began to sing in a loud voice. "Oh Weasley, you worm! You never will learn! But Peevesy knows better and now will go get her! Detention for you and your new girlfriend too!"

He turned in mid-air and began to fly off, bouncing off the walls as he kicked the suits of armour into a cacophony. Before he could turn the corner to disappear out of sight Verity grabbed her wand and delivered a swift swish in his direction.

"COLOVARIA ARROSA!" She yelled, Peeves immediately spinning around to see what was happening.

The poltergeist was hit in the face by the charm and fell backwards through the wall with a yelp. Ernie promptly turned purple in the face and brandished his finger at the girl, huffing so much that she wondered if he had practised by listening to the Hogwart's Express. George grabbed his finger and bent it backwards until he backed off, his eyes rather grim as he took Verity's hand in his free one.

"Don't you dare point your finger at-"

"Hem hem! What is going on here? Hmm?"

Verity's blood turned to ice as the three of them slowly spun to find Professor Umbridge standing behind them with her sickeningly sweet smile plastered on her face. Ernie puffed out his chest and barged past the two Gryffindors to stand before her with a superior look on his chubby face.

"I found them wandering after lights out Professor and have just docked them ten points each."

"Thank you, you may go back to your common room now." She smiled, waiting for the Hufflepuff to take the hint and leave, which he did after a moment. "But you two. Seventh Years should know better than this. And Miss Stone, I would have thought your last detention would serve as a warning but apparently you like to think you are above the rules. That just won't do."

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME! CHANGE ME BACK!" A voice roared above them.

Jumping at the sudden noise, they all looked up and gasped at the poltergeist fuming in the air. Umbridge's jaw dropped as she took in the sight of the now hot pink ghost, he matched her fluffy dressing gown perfectly. Verity started grinning despite herself and felt George squeeze her hand as he crowed with laughter.

"Go away you ghoul! Away now. Go haunt someone else. Shoo!" Umbridge waved her hands in an offhand fashion, receiving a middle finger for her efforts before Peeves disappeared off down the corridor again. "Where was I? Oh yes, detention."

"But Professor! We were just-" Verity was cut off again.

"Answering back is very rude Miss Stone, we need to work on your manners as well as deterring your criminal activities. Both yourself and Mr Weasley will present yourselves in my office tomorrow evening at six o'clock sharp. I will not tolerate such tardiness. Now, return to your common room this instant." She waved her wand at the students, an unseen force ripping them apart from one another. "And no holding hands, this is an academy of learning not canoodling."

George bit his tongue and swept the woman a stiff bow, waiting for Verity to start walking back to the tower. Only once they were completely out of sight and earshot did he take her hand again, muttering as he did so.

"What an evil troll! Fred's going to do his nut in, he wanted to be the first to land a detention."

"I think Harry beat him in that one, remember?" She sighed, not looking forward to another session of hand slicing.

"And you. Beaten by a girl...we're losing our touch." He grinned, shoving her gently.

"You're just not used to competition. Besides..." She pushed him back with a wicked smile. "I've only been here a week, imagine what I can do in a whole term."

"Not on your Nelly!" Cried George and bumped her into a suit of armour with his elbow.

"Ooft! George! You overgrown gnome- Hey! Come back here!" She laughed, running after the redhead who was sprinting toward the portrait hole at a surprising speed.

"Last one there is a Blast-Ended Skrewt!"

He ran through the entrance, being held open by Lee, and flattened his twin as he crashed head first into him. Verity appeared a moment later and pointed a finger at the bickering twosome in a dramatic fashion, Lee currently writhing with mirth on the ground behind her.

"I win!" She declared loudly and jumped on the sofa to stand tall with her nose in the air.

"What? I got back first!" George tackled her, the two of them falling backwards off the couch and onto the floor with a very heavy thud.

"You idiot! I won because I didn't knock Fred over." Her voice was muffled seeing as he was lying on top of her and her face was obscured by her long hair.

Fred, overhearing his name and wondering what on earth was going on, walked over and yanked his brother of Verity. She sat up with a dazed expression, shaking her curls out of her face and blinking up at the two of them.

"I obviously missed something."

"Why would you think that Fred?" Her head hurt now thanks to the unforgiving flagstones.

"Well, you don't have the butterbeer you went for and George looks like he's going to wet himself if he doesn't spit out whatever it is that happened."

George grinned and stood up straight, clearing his throat loudly. Verity just groaned and fell back onto the floor, her eyes closing while she waited for the stars in her vision to disappear.

"We have detention tomorrow." He proclaimed proudly, revelling in the look of horror that passed over his brother's face.

"What? How'd you get one without me?"

"Well, we were rumbled by that stuck up Puff prefect who was then sent on his way by Umbridge. That woman needs to remove her wand from her arse sometime soon."

Verity snorted in amusement, finally struggling to her feet and trying to shake her curls out of her face again with no difference. Fred looked over her in disbelief.

"You got a detention again? What did you do this time? Turn her cardi into green polka dots?"

"Close Fred." George wrapped an arm around his twin's shoulder. "She turned Peeves pink."

Lee stopped laughing, his eyes widening in complete shock, mirrored by Fred's own actions. The girl of the group merely shrugged and sat on the back of the couch, her feet dangling in mid-air.

"George...?"

"Yes Fred?"

"I think we're in trouble..."

"You have no idea mate...we're completely screwed."

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A/N: So! One of Verity's secrets is revealed! Poor thing. But she is definitely showing her true colours now...or rather Peeves's true colours XD Hope I didn't disappoint.

Coming up: Sirius makes an appearance in the fire, Verity comes over all faint and a pink Malfoy!

Keely Matthews: What are you like lol! Well only one chapter tonight so you won't get mixed up.

Angel2: hope you liked it!

Skipperdoodle: thank you so very much!