The Old Routine…
"Oh, come on George. We're back at Hogwarts with the power of Seventh Years…but here you are, sleeping," Fred said as he shook his head, staring down at his brother.
"Trying to sleep, to be precise," George replied without opening his eyes. "What do you want? I'm tired," he muttered because he knew that Fred hadn't left the dormitory.
"It's time for us to put our Skiving Snackboxes to work, little brother," Fred responded, sitting down at the edge of George's bed. "We have many little first years to test them on. It's perfect. Now we don't have to test them on each other.'
"The Wet Blanket will try to put a stop to it," George pointed out. Fred knew that George was referring to Hermione, whom they dubbed the Wet Blanket. (Of course they would never refer to her as that to her face). She always found a way to ruin their fun. She reminded them of their mother so much, they tried to avoid her whenever possible, but that was hard when they longed to make fun of their little brother and she was always around him.
"Who cares about her? We have what we need with us. Just 'cause she's a Prefect you're scared of her?" Fred asked in amusement. George grunted his reply. "She's a girl, for Merlin's sake. We can take her."
"Have you seen her cast a spell?"
"Have you seen Ginny cast a spell? Ginny puts her to shame. I'm more afraid of her than I am of Hermione. Don't start wimping out on me, bro. I'm not going to do this alone, but I don't not want to do this either. Either you're with me or this joke shop dream goes down the tubes."
"Don't give me an ultimatum," George groaned.
"Think about it later. As for now, its dinner time and I'm starving." George didn't move. He didn't want to go to dinner. "Come on, Georgie." Fred grabbed his brother's arm and pulled him off of the bed. George rubbed his eyes and allowed Fred to pull him out of the dormitory and into the common room. They followed the large crowd of people into the Dining Hall where the volume of people talking got louder as more people came into the room.
Fred and George waited in annoyance for the First Year students to file in and get sorted into their houses. "See, look at all these little First Years. They're so scared, they'd be happy to work with Seventh Year students to try and fit in," Fred whispered to George.
"And they wouldn't say anything to Hermione, being a Prefect at all. Ron probably wouldn't say anything if he found out. I still can't believe he's a Prefect," George muttered as he shook his head.
"I can't believe how happy Mum is," Fred added. "I mean, it's like we weren't even born she was that happy. Whatever, I don't care that we're not Prefects. We aren't meant for that job anyway. We've caused too much trouble."
"Fun trouble…but trouble."
Just then food and drinks appeared on the table. Everyone else started reaching out for their food while the First Years sat in shock, like always. George's stomach growled but it pained him at the same time. He watched as everyone else reached for the food in front of them and started to eat as if they've never eaten before.
George glanced down at his stomach when it rumbled again. He held it as it cried out for food. 'If you eat now, you'll surely gain weight' he told himself as his eyes darted around at the delicious looking food. 'Eat now and work it off later when you're practicing Quidditch. That's all you have to do.'
"Good evening children," Dumbledore called over the noise of talking students. Everyone shushed each other and the Hall quickly fell silent. "Now we have two changes in staffing this year. We are pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who'll be taking Care of Magical Creatures while professor Hagrid is on temporary leave. We also wish to welcome our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Professor Dolores Umbridge. And I'm sure you'll all join me in wishing the professor good luck." Fred snorted, causing Dumbledore to pause slightly. "Now, as usual, our caretaker, Mr. Filch, has asked me to remind you–"
"Hem hem." Everyone's eyes shifted to Professor Umbridge as she lifted her pink bag onto the table, got up from her seat, and moved to the front of the Great Hall. "Thank, Headmaster, for those kind words of welcome," Professor Umbridge said as she walked to the front of the Great Hall, "and how lovely to see all your bright happy faces smiling up at me." George didn't have to look around to know that no one was smiling at her. The corner of his mouth twitched as he tried not to laugh. Fred lightly tapped his back. George turned to look at him to see that he felt the same way. "I'm sure we're all going to be very good friends."
"That's likely," they muttered in unison, accompanied with an eye roll as they turned back around to listen to what the toad-creature was saying.
"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be a vital importance," she continued, looking around the room as if trying to burn people's faces with her stare. "Although each Headmaster had brought something new to this historic school–" she paused to smile at Dumbledore, "–Progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged. Let us preserve what must to be preserved, perfect what can be perfected, and prune practices that out to be prohibited."
Fred flinched at her little giggle as she made her way back to her seat. Dumbledore went on with the rest of his announcements but no one was paying attention. They were wondering about Professor Umbridge and why Dumbledore would hire someone like her.
"I think she's going to be a piece of work," Lee commented as they lay spread around the Common Room. He, Katie, Alicia, Angelina, Fred, and George were sitting around the radio. A song by The Weird Sisters was playing but they weren't paying too much attention to it.
"She does seem a little…" Katie let her voice trail off as she thought of a word.
"Annoying?" Fred asked.
"No," Katie said as she shook her head.
"Bothersome?" George guessed.
"No."
"Irritating?" Fred asked, a grin forming on his face when he saw the frustrated look on Katie's.
"Aggravating?" George joined in on Fred's plan.
"Disturbing?"
"Troublesome?"
"Distressing?"
"Vexatious?"
"Perplexing?"
"I was going to say high strung," Katie interrupted them, glaring at them at the same time. "But all of those work too."
"You haven't given her chance. I bet she isn't like that at all," Alicia spoke up as she pulled at a loose thread on her robe.
"She made an awful first impression," Lee commented, swinging his leg through the air from the way he was sitting in the chair by the window. "Just watch, she going to be exactly how we think of her. Why would Dumbledore hire someone like her? She treats us like we're First Years."
"'I'm sure we're all going to be very good friends'" Angelina imitated in a high pitched voice. The boys howled with laughter. Katie laughed a little but Alicia was the one who stayed silent. "C'mon girl, you have to admit that they way she talks to us is pretty strange. We haven't been talked to like that for years."
"That was strange, I'll admit," Alicia agreed. "But I still think we should give her a chance."
"You're too nice, you know that?" George commented.
"My parents like that about me," she said with a shrug before standing and stretching. "I'll see you guys later."
"You're going to sleep all ready? The sun's barely set," Lee said as he looked into the distance from the castle window.
"I'm getting away from you guys for my own good. I'm afraid that ignorance is contagious," she commented before leaving the common room.
"Ha ha. You're very funny!" Fred called after her as he rolled his eyes. Alicia threw a smirk at him over her shoulder before turning the corner of the stairs and disappearing from sight. "Is she being serious?" He asked Angelina.
"When is she not serious?" She replied. "I kind of get where she's coming from, though. I say we try to be nice to her."
"Not you too!" Fred gasped.
"Fred, it's not going to be the end of the world to be nice to someone."
"I'm nice to people."
"Name one."
"Ginny."
"That's not in your family," Angelina said with a challenging look in her eye. George sighed, knowing that Fred would never back out of a challenge.
"Harry."
"He doesn't count either," she said with an eye roll.
"Why doesn't he count? He's not my family," Fred pointed out.
"He's Ron's best friend, he's practically your brother. He doesn't count."
"He should."
"He doesn't."
"Not again," Katie sighed. "Guys, we just got back. Please don't fight." She tried to stop Fred and Angelina but they were too far gone. "We've lost 'em boys," she told Lee and George. "No point in staying. They're going to be arguing all night."
"Good point. See you in the morning." Katie waved over her shoulder as Lee and George waved back.
"You coming?" Lee asked, motioning to the dormitories. George nodded and followed Lee up the stairs. Instead of going straight to their room he went into the bathroom. He made sure no one else was in there before rushing into a stall and closing the door.
He got onto his knees and held his head over the toilet. He shoved his fingers down his throat and quickly pulled them out of the way when he felt his throat muscles convulsing. The next thing he knew his dinner was floating in the toilet and he was spiting away the taste of stomach acid. He felt shaky and grabbed onto the toilet rim to steady himself before finally getting to his feet. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and flushed the toilet.
He left the stall, washed his hands, and returned to his room to find Fred sitting on his bed, visibly fuming. "Do I want to know?" George asked, sitting down on his own bed and looking over at his twin.
"A stupid argument, like usual," Lee responded.
"Angelina did mention something about Quidditch," Fred spoke up. George leaned forward as he waited for Fred to explain. With Oliver gone it was no surprise to them that Angelina had been named captain, but they knew that they needed a new Keeper for their team. "We're going to hold Keeper tryouts once practice starts. She said she's looking for someone who throws well, saves well, and gets along with everyone else. She doesn't want someone who would fight with the rest of us because she thinks it would bring our team down and mess up our chances of winning the cup."
"Who can try out? I've seen some of these people fly, they are rubbish," George said as he made a face.
"We'll get a good laugh out of it," Lee pointed out.
Fred chuckled a little before turning his gaze to George. "Where were you? You've been gone for about ten minutes."
"I was in the bathroom," George responded. Fred continued to stare at him as if waiting for him to explain further. "I felt sick."
"You've been feeling sick a lot the past couple of weeks," Fred said slowly as he studied George's face. George made sure to breathe steadily or else he would give away the fact that he was nervous under Fred's stare. "Are you sure you're not sick? Do we need to take you to the Hospital Wing?"
"I'm fine Fred," George replied. "I, uh, my stomach's been unsettled recently. I think it's something Mum made. I feel better now."
Fred cast him a suspicious look. "If you're sure."
