Hearing the younger Gryffindor students complain about their assignments and exams was going to give me an excruciating migraine. The only one that had reason to complain was Hermione since she had taken entirely too much on her schedule. We fifth years were studying for exams as well, but these exams were even more important for us to do well on. OWLs were a significant factor in our futures. High grades meant better job opportunities.
I was studying harder than I had with previous exams partially because of the impact that OWLs had on my future, but also so that I could help Remus. He would never ask for my help, but due to the idiotic laws, everyone looked at him as if he was some kind of monster. I wanted to be able to help Remus have the life that he truly deserved, one where he didn't have to worry about money or struggle for a job. I knew he wouldn't be too excited about my plan, but…what he didn't know at the moment wouldn't hurt him.
Along with the stress from exams was the crazy tension between Gryffindor and Slytherin. This upcoming match was the biggest match of the year, the one that decided who won the cup. Wood looked about like he had lost his mind. He followed each member of the Gryffindor team around, annoying them profusely with his strategies for the match, but none more so than poor Harry. Harry had to have had the patience of a saint to deal with his captain. If that wasn't bad enough, it seemed as if the entirety of the Slytherin house was after the boy-who-lived. They would try to trip him or hoped to catch him alone for more…violent means of getting him out of the match, thus he never went anywhere alone anymore, much to his annoyance.
After what seemed like ages, it was finally the night before the match. The twins had bugged us all with endless jokes that night in the common room, to the point that I gave up on trying to study since it was impossible to focus while laughing so hard. It was a good thing that they were so light hearted, since most every other member of the team was sitting around laughing their heads off along with me, not worrying themselves over the match tomorrow. Wood, on the other hand, was looking exhausted while he hunched over a miniature Quidditch field, muttering who knows what strategies.
Suddenly, I realized someone was missing in the fray of jokes and laughter. "Wait, where's Harper?" I asked after finally catching my breath.
Alicia sat up a bit from where she was seated in the floor, leaning against the bottom of the couch, and glanced around. "Didn't she say she was going to feed Ryker?"
"That was almost an hour ago, though, wasn't it?" I looked from Alicia up to the stairs leading to the dormitories. "I think I'll go check on her." Standing from the couch, I made my way up the stairs to the girls' rooms.
Once, I had opened the door and looked into the room, I instantly had my answer as to why Harper had gone 'missing'. I slowly crept over to the occupied bed then gently moved her legs all the way onto her mattress. Apparently, someone had been trying a bit harder with her studies as well. A small huff of a chuckle escaped me as I tossed the fluffy comforter over Harper's exhausted self.
The sound of the door opening suddenly made me jump, bringing my hand towards my wand just slightly.
"Sorry!" Angelina whispered. "Wood decided we had had too much fun."
Alicia entered the room behind the taller girl, rolling her eyes. "He kicked us out of the common room, saying we needed our rest." Her eyes landed on my sleeping friend, and her gaze softened. "I see you found Harper."
I nodded as I shuffled over to my bed, sleep sounded rather amazing right now. "He's not wrong, you know. You two do need your rest. We would hate to see you fall from your broom from exhaustion."
Angelina smiled at me. "True, well, goodnight then."
"And may we win tomorrow, if only to stop Wood's rambling and moodiness!" Alicia giggled as she lay down, pulling her blanket over herself as she did.
"Here, here!" Angelina and I chimed at the same time, to which we broke down into a quiet fit of giggles.
Things with these girls have greatly improved over the brief time I have been at Hogwarts. I was grateful for that. I may not spend time with the two girls often, but it is nice to occasionally have some friends of the feminine sort. Harper, though, was thankfully around the same level of tomboy as I am, more so of course, but I love how easy she is to get along with.
Glancing at her peaceful face, that suddenly pulled into a tiny content grin caused by whatever she was dreaming about, I decided I needed to call it a night as well.
I woke up earlier than normal the next morning, getting a quick shower before Alicia or Angelina got a chance to take nearly an hour doing the same. Shutting off the water, I made my way to the mirror and took in my absolute mess of chestnut brown hair reflecting back at me from the mirror. Dabbing the tiniest bit of someone's Sleekeazy's hair oil onto my hands, I worked the potion through my currently crazy waves. A quickly muttered spell had my hair brushed smooth, waving naturally but thankfully not at the Medusa level it had been.
Next, I looked to my red-ish brown eyes, deciding to just swipe some borrowed golden eyeshadow just under my eyes along my cheek bones, then added some red eyeshadow to my eyelids.
"Oi! Deliah, get out! I gotta get to the toilet." I burst out laughing and shook my head at my crazy friend. After Harper's outburst, I abandoned the bathroom quickly, the girl thanking me as she rushed past.
I decided I was too hungry and too energized to wait for her, so instead of waiting like I normally would have, I rushed through the common room and out of the portrait hole.
The energy flowing through the Great Hall was nearly palpable. The Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students were cheering for each member of our Quidditch team as they entered, George and Fred enjoyed the attention thoroughly as they bowed deeply before waving to their "adoring fans".
Oliver was looking absolutely panicked, managing to not eat a single thing even though he had harassed the others about making sure they ate. I laughed along with Ginny and Harper, after she joined us at the table, as the poor Quidditch team was hustled from the hall by their anxious captain. Shortly after, the Slytherin team slunk from their table and out the doors as well.
"Today, ought'a be interestin'." Harper commented as everyone walked down the lawn to the pitch.
I nodded enthusiastically, my hair bouncing along. "I'm really hoping that no one winds up heavily injured, though. With all the tension between the two houses this past week..." I let my words trail off, not even wanting to think of the possible injuries to my friends.
She laughed at my comment, "But that's the best part, Delly! Are you sure you're not a Hufflepuff in disguise?"
I batted away her prodding finger. "Very sure, though, the hat did try to put me there for a moment."
We slid into some seats near the middle of the pitch, I was adamant about being as close to the middle as possible every time we watched a match. That way I was able to see the entire match evenly, was my reasoning. Soon after everyone was seated, the team's marched forth from their locker rooms. Everyone roared in excitement. Lee Jordan, the delightful person he was, was not so subtly insulting the Slytherin team as they tromped down the field.
Another roar burst from the crowd as the two teams took to the air. I could hardly keep track of what was going on as they flew around the pitch because there was entirely too much going on. Slytherin was playing so dirty that it was only a matter of time before Gryffindor retaliated. Angelina scored, only to nearly be knocked off her broom by Marcus Flint, who was then pelted on the back of the head by Fred's club. Of course, that resulted in a penalty shot to each team which made Fred shout something at Madame Hooch who ignored it.
Alicia took the shot for us, scoring easily, while Wood blocked the still bleeding Flint's shot with nearly equal ease and a smirk.
"Oi! Wood, don't you get cocky on us now!" I shouted amongst the cheers from three-fourths of the school. Harper laughed at me, elbowing my side before saying I really was a Gryffindor at heart.
Breaking my gaze from George's back as he shot over to hit a bludger, I looked up to see poor Harry anxiously looking around for the tiny snitch. I briefly heard Harper yell "Not 'til we're fifty points over 'em, Harrykins!" followed by a loud laugh from Ginny. Another penalty shot was called, then scored by Katie Bell, which was followed by totally unbiased commentary from Lee.
"THIRTY-ZERO! TAKE THAT, YOU DIRTY, CHEATING— I'm just telling it how it is, Professor McGonagall!"
I gripped the hem of my shirt in my fists as nerves crept into my stomach from this mess of a game. Harry had bolted to the Slytherin end but had both Slytherin beaters aiming at him while Malfoy followed along near him, but far enough away that the beaters wouldn't accidentally hit him. Suddenly, Harry leaned his broom backward and flew straight up. His maneuver was a second too fast for the two beaters who collided with each other, bringing another roar from the crowd.
Nasty hit after nasty hit, the match played on. Slytherin scored, bringing a string of swears from Lee, and McGonagall trying to take the megaphone from him.
With each violent move against Gryffindor, our team responded equally, to the point that nearly every score was from a penalty shot. Malfoy was just about stuck to Harry like glue, trying to make our poor seeker find the snitch for him, I would wager. Next thing I knew, Wood was being pelted with the bludgers since Fred and George were trying to watch over Katie as she scored. Madame Hooch was livid as she shouted at the Slytherin beaters. Penalty call then a score, Fred knocked the quaffle from Warrington's hands, Alicia caught it and scored again. I was so sure I would be deaf from the cheers surrounding me. Next thing I knew, those cheers turned into shouts of rage.
"YOU CHEATING SCUM!" Lee's voice howled above the other noise.
"What happened?!" I shouted to Harper, not turning my eyes way from the players now.
"Malfoy was basically hitched to tha back'a Harry's gotdang broom!" Harper's southern drawl was thicker than I've ever heard, which must have meant that she was raging mad. Speaking of mad, I glanced over to the teacher's box to see McGonagall looking like she was joining the enraged shouts.
Alicia was too angry as she took her penalty shot and missed, then shortly after Slytherin scored, getting the score to seventy-twenty. At this point, I kept finding my gaze pulled back and forth between the match, and each of the twins.
"Merlin…please stay safe you two." I murmured, oblivious to the fact that Harper had heard me and was now grinning that stupid grin of hers.
"SHE SCORES! SHE SCORES!" Lee cheered after Angelina scored bringing it to eighty-twenty. "Wait…HE'S SEEN IT! MALFOY HAS SEEN THE SNITCH! POTTER IS IN PURSUIT!"
It seemed like everyone's heads whipped around to find the two blurs that were the seekers. "There!" Harper shouted, pointing to our left. Malfoy was in a straight dive, while Harry was angled from the middle of the pitch, but with his Firebolt, Harry was catching up quickly. Mere inches from the snitch, the two were knocking each other's arm away, until Harry had apparently had enough. He took both hands off his broom, then shot upwards, his hand held high in the air for all to see.
It was silent for only a heartbeat.
"GRYFFINDOR WINS!" Lee's voice triggered the rest of the students' deafening explosion of cheers.
Ginny lunged into my left side with a shout of joy, shoving me into Harper, who was jumping up and down screaming her lungs out while swearing at the Slytherin players as well, like they could hear her all the way up where we were, now heaped into a mass of people trying to rush onto the field. As soon as we were able to break free from the stands, I pulled the other two girls along with me to the center of the students.
"Delly, look!" Harper had pulled me backwards towards her so that I could see what she was pointing at. My gaze followed her outstretched arm only to see McGonagall, the strict, no nonsense Transfiguration professor, sobbing harder than Wood as they both held the Quidditch cup in the air with pride. (And maybe with death grips as well.)
Of course, in true Gryffindor fashion, there was a huge party held that night after the match. Nearly every Gryffindor was found in the common room, even the younger students that are normally shooed off were here. None of the older students found it in them to ruin their fun, at least for a little while. I happened to be a bit behind and was up in my dormitory because I was getting myself presentable (aka a pastel pink tank-top under a sky blue and light brown flannel shirt, and some jeans), I threw my hair into a quick ponytail before heading down to join in the fray.
Once I rounded the corner of the stairway and was able to see the mass of people in the common room, I heard my name shouted at me over all the noise. Searching for the source, I quickly spotted Harper waving me over to the couches by the fireplace. She always seems to be near the warmth of those couches when she's in the common room. I can't help but grin as I forced my way through the other people, some a good bit taller than me while others were a good bit shorter. I was very polite to the younger students as I moved by them, though, trying to show them that not all of the older students were intimidating.
When I finally reached the couches, I flopped down clumsily onto the one she was occupying. "What a day." I chuckled, still feeling the energy from watching the match.
Ginny, who was sitting on one of the armchairs beside the couch, shook her head at me. "Once I'm on the team, this will happen every year, I promise you that!"
"But it won't be as spectacular of a win as today, though." I retorted with a grin.
Harper nodded along, agreeing with me, like almost always. "Besides, we don't know who will be captain after Oliver has to leave."
"I'm thinking he's going to pick Angelina." Ginny said then she scooted closer to us, motioning for us to come closer as well. "Now, I didn't say anything, but I think Ange and Wood have a thing going. If not, they definitely will once they're both out of Hogwarts."
My eyes widened, "No! Ange and Oliver?!" I glanced over towards the other side of the common room where Angelina, Wood, Fred, George, Alicia, and Lee were gathered. They mostly looked to be laughing at something that was said, while Lee had his arm draped around Alicia's shoulder, who was shaking her head before taking Lee's arm off her. Looking back to Angelina, I did notice that she and Oliver would very subtly brush against each other. Honestly, in the crowded common room, people being in contact with each other wasn't such a crazy thing to see, but something about the way their fingers would just slightly reach for the other's only to graze their knuckles had me convinced Ginny was right.
As I went to turn back to my little group, I happened to glance over to Fred and George for a second only to see them both already looking my way. Once I had made eye contact with the two of them, which took like half a second, they grinned over at me mischievously. For some reason, I felt my cheeks heat up as a small smile crept its way onto my face before I quickly turned away. What I turned back to was an awkward situation. Harper had a brow raised quizzically and the biggest Cheshire grin, and Ginny had a look on her face like she just discovered something truly amazing.
"What?" I asked, feeling my cheeks heat up even more at being looked at like that.
Ginny was about to say something, but Harper held up her hand to silence the ginger. She still had that wide grin, though it had toned down a few degrees. "You, ma'am, cannot deny it now." Harper turned sideways to face me more, her left leg sliding onto the couch as she crossed her right over the ankle of it. Putting both hands onto my shoulders, she gave me that stupid knowing look again. "You fancy the twins, Delly."
"What?!" I gaped at her, stunned. "What are you talking about? So, I smiled at them, big deal."
Ginny couldn't keep her excitement to herself this time. "Deliah, you were almost as red as my hair when you turned back around!"
"I was just a little embarrassed that I…" My words died off at the end of my weak argument.
"That you were caught!" Ginny giggled. "Oh, Merlin, this is great!"
I fumbled for words as I kept looking between my two friends. "I…I don't though! I can't worry about boys. I have to keep my mind on my classwork and studying, so I can pass these stupid tests!"
Harper looked at me like I had grown another head. "Delly, ya know…" She paused to shake her head at me. "You know you're allowed to be a teen, right? I know that sounds kinda' dumb, but honestly, you're actin' like havin' a crush-"
"Or two." Ginny added so helpfully, to which Harper nodded.
"Or even two, is against the rules, or somethin'." This time, my best friend gave me a look of sympathy. "I know you're tryin' your damnedest to ace the OWLs to help Lupin, but he wouldn't want ya to forget to live a little, too."
My eyebrows drew together as I looked away from Harper, my gaze being drawn to the flames across from us. The more I truly thought about it, and with an open mind, the more I realized that these two might be right. I really don't know when it happened, but… "Bloody hell…"
Suddenly, a few of the prefects called out, telling the students fourteen and under that it was officially their curfew. Ginny groaned as she fell back into her seat. We all knew what that announcement meant: Firewhiskey was about to be put out with the drinks.
"I guess I'll see you two tomorrow." Ginny sighed as she stood up to head up to her dormitory with the others. "Don't go too crazy, alright?" She laughed, sending a wave over her shoulder as she left.
I smiled at her, before turning my attention back to the fire. Harper shifted in her place beside me, still sitting on her leg, then nudged my shoulder with hers. "Anythin' 'bout it you wanna add real fast," I looked over at her, and she motioned back to the larger group of our fellow older Gryffindors. "Before anyone makes their way over here, 'cause you know someone will."
She knew that it wasn't just the fact that I was worrying so much about my test scores affecting my job possibilities. She didn't know exactly what was bothering me, but Harper always had this weird way of knowing something was bothering me.
"It's just…" Glancing around, I cast a quick silencing spell over us. "I'm only going to tell you because I know you can be trusted, since you haven't said anything about Remus."
She drew an X over her heart then nodded her head. "Cross my heart, I won't say a word to anyone."
I chuckled at her antics. "You're strange. Anyway," Taking a deep breath, I braced myself to explain the quick version. "Well, you know that I'm adopted, of course, but Remus had found me when they, I guess Dumbledore and aurors and…well, anyone else that tags along with Dumbledore. They don't know who my actual parents are, or should I say… they don't know what my parents are."
Harper looked confused for a moment, then seemed to realize. "You're sayin'…" She paused to glance around then leaned closer to me. "You mean, you might have magical creature blood?"
I shook my head. "No, it's not that I might, I do have magical creature blood. I'm not exactly sure what, but all my senses are heightened to nearly extremes. I had to learn to control that before I could come to Hogwarts."
Again, she looked confusedly at me. "But what does that have to do with you liking someone, or two?" She added the last bit with a smirk.
"Oh, honestly," I rolled my eyes at her while I felt my cheeks heat up again. "I just don't think it's…well, I guess I don't think it's safe for me to want any kind of relationship past friendship with anyone. For all I know, I could have some sort of dormant blood from some horrible creature. Like… What if I have Succubus blood?"
She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I don't see how havin' Succubus blood could be bad for you. Think of the amount of se-"
"Harper!" I shoved at her and she fell sideways over onto the couch arm laughing. I cut off the silencing spell then helped her sit back upright. "It may not be that, but I just…I don't want to be thought of as a freak or something, or even risk their safety."
"It'll be fine, Delly," She smiled at me. "You just have to remember, the life you want for Remus is also the life he wants for you, heck, it's the life I want for ya!"
Hesitantly nodding, I just knew it was a matter of time before I found out what my inheritance actually is. Normally people will experience their changes on their sixteenth to eighteenth birthday. I had this feeling that I would find out on my seventeenth birthday, since I definitely hadn't come into my inheritance this year.
"Is this where you two have been hiding?" A sudden voice asked from my left which made me jump, whipping around to see Fred seating himself on the couch arm with a cup in each hand.
"Merlin's beard, don't do that!" I gasped trying to calm down my poor heart that nearly jumped out of my chest. "And why do you have two cups?"
"Oh," He held one out for me to take, which I looked between it and him suspiciously. "Really, Dels, you think I would do something to your drink?" I gave him a look, and heard Harper laugh from my other side. "Only a bit of firewhiskey, I swear."
"Wouldn't want you getting too much into your system," George announced as he leaned over the back of the couch between me and Fred. "You're the one who's to keep an eye on Harper here."
"Not my fault that the whiskey doesn't hit until it's too late!" Harper objected with a huff before crossing her arms across her chest.
I rolled my eyes at her child-like pout, then turned back to Fred. "Alright, I'll trust you at the moment, but only because we actually have a reason to celebrate. Congratulations on the win, by the way."
The twins' faces lit up as they grinned at me. "Why thank you!" They both chimed happily.
Suddenly, Lee joined the four of us, sitting in an armchair with his legs tossed over the arm. "Evening ladies." He tipped his cup towards us and grinned goofily. "Care if we join you?"
I laughed at him then looked to the twins. "And that is your best friend."
George smiled at me before looking over at his lounging friend and shaking his head as Fred cheered, "And bloody proud to have him as such!" raising his cup in the air.
"HERE, HERE!" Lee shouted making me cringe.
"How much firewhiskey has he had?" I mumbled.
George chuckled. "He's on his second drink, but he's a bloody light-weight drinker."
I shook my head then took a sip of my…well whatever Fred had mixed up for me. I was pleasantly surprised at the flavor. It was slightly fruity, so it was likely that the punch was the main amount of the drink, but the amount of firewhiskey was almost perfect. This time I took a bigger drink, enjoying the slight burn of the whiskey as it traveled down my throat.
"You didn't need to test it like that, Delly." Fred commented, sliding off the couch arm which caused me to be shoved over, and George to jump back from where he was leaning with an indignant complaint. I looked up to send George an apologetic look, only to see him glaring daggers at his twin. My brows furrowed in confusion for a moment, and he happened to notice. He sent me a small smile before moving over to shove Lee out of the arm chair (somehow he managed to not spill his drink) and took the poor guy's seat.
Fred, however, seemed oblivious to this, and kept talking to me about the drink. "Honestly, I can tell you're a woman who likes her drinks on the stronger side, but not half the cup as whiskey." He nodded his head in approval randomly before changing subject. "How'd you like the match? Enjoy watching your favorite beater?" He added with a grin.
From the corner of my eye I could see George glare at Fred again, and I couldn't help but sigh. "Well, I really enjoyed the match, it was extremely intense. I was worried about the whole team, especially with how ridiculous Slytherin was being. Those dirty fouls left and right!" I rolled my eyes as I thought back to the nasty match. "But yes, Fred, I did enjoy watching my favorite beaters." Adding a little extra emphasis on that last word, I swear I saw Fred's ego deflate the tiniest bit while a smug smirk slid its way onto the other ginger boy's face.
Right then, Angelina and Alicia joined us, making jokes at poor Lee's expense as he lay on the floor humming to himself. While the twins were distracted, I turned to Harper with an almost desperate look. She gave me a sympathetic smile but shrugged helplessly. How in Merlin's name was I to manage fancying twin brothers?
I seriously apologize for my lack of updates. This semester in college has me doing a LOT of reading, and I'm super stressed out. I will try my best to get the next update out quicker!
I also would like to apologize for any errors in this chapter. It's currently nearly 2 am, and I'm exhausted as I read over this to edit lol.
Much love!