DISCLAIMER: I don't have any rights to the characters other than the ones that are quite obviously not canon.
Not only do I have the most wicked reviewers but they're also the sneakiest! Quit trying to jump ahead in the story, I'm not going to crack! XD Yes, I'm talking about you Skipperdoodle!
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Chapter 11: Flirting and Fighting
"Well..." Said Harry, slightly nervously as everyone took a seat on the cushions. "This is the place we've found for practice sessions, and you've, uh, obviously found it okay."
"It's fantastic." Said Cho, several other people in the strange room murmuring their agreement.
"It's bizarre..." Said Fred, frowning around at it. "We once hid from Filch in here, remember George? But it was just a broom cupboard then."
George nodded his agreement, looking around at the room with his own frown as they saw all manner of Dark Detectors and books. Sat between them on the floor was Verity, who was staring at a duelling dummy in the far corner of the room, she thought the masked figure looked far too like their enemies but said nothing.
"I think we ought to have a name. It would promote a feeling of team spirit and unity, don't you think?" Hermione said brightly, once everyone had arrived and sat down.
"Can we be the Anti-Umbridge League?" Angelina called, causing Verity to grin wickedly at her tall friend.
"Or, the Ministry of Magic are Morons Group?" Suggested Fred, from his seat next to the laughing Quidditch Captain.
"I was thinking more of a name that didn't tell everybody what we are up to. So we can refer to it safely outside of meetings." Hermione frowned at the Seventh Years, George rolling his eyes in retaliation.
Verity covered her grin with her hand, trying very hard not to laugh at Fred who was pretending to be Hermione and shaking his finger at his twin. He stopped once Angelina nudged him, but turned on her instead, whispering something inaudible in her ear that made her turn scarlet.
"What about the Defence Association?" Called a very pretty Ravenclaw girl, Cho Chang, Verity remembered, their Seeker on the Quidditch team. "We could call it the D.A."
"That sounds like a bunch of middle aged witches discussing anti-intruder jinxes over tea and crumpets." Laughed Verity, crossing her legs into a meditation position but fell over when George blew in her ear.
"Yeah, the D.A's good." Said Ginny. "Only, let's make it stand for Dumbledore's Army, because that's the Ministry's worst fear, isn't it?"
The room burst into agreeable murmurs and laughter at the youngest Weasley's suggestion, her older brothers all grinning at each other proudly. Hermione got to her feet and pinned the list with their names on it to the wall, taking a quill and writing at the top in big letters; Dumbledore's Army. It had begun. Harry told them all how to use the Disarming Charm and they all paired off to practice against each other, predictably the twins were together, leaving Angelina to grab Verity.
"You're with me, let's show those two who is the better pair." She muttered to the shorter girl who grinned in response and shot the boys a wicked smirk.
"I'm game. No holding back, we're in this to win." Verity took her place opposite her friend and held her wand in a defensive stance. "Expel-"
"Expelliarmus!" Yelled Angelina as soon as she saw the other girl's lips starting to move.
Verity's wand flew out of her hand to fly up to hit the ceiling in a shower of green sparks and then fall back on her head. She yelped and began to pat the sparks out, singe marks left on her grey skirt. Meanwhile, the twins were taking it in turns to make Zacharias Smith's wand fly across the room every time he tried to disarm Anthony Goldstein. Harry gave them a look and they stopped, looking rather mischievous.
"Sorry Harry…couldn't resist." George said sheepishly.
Angelina snickered and disarmed Fred while he wasn't watching, the wand flying to hit Verity again who fell down this time as it whacked the back of her head. The tall girl gasped, her hand over her mouth as the brunette got to her feet once more with an evil glint in her eye.
"Who's wand was that?"
"Fred's." Angelina told her before the boys could say anything.
Verity turned and tackled Fred, clinging to his back while she ruffled his hair. Angelina burst into laughter and held onto the nearby bookcase for support, the unfortunate boy grabbing his parasitic pal around the waist to dump her on the floor.
"Expelliarmus!" Cried George, Angelina's wand jerking out of her hand this time.
"Hey! What did I do?"
"Dumped my brother in it." He grinned.
Fred was in charge now, tickling Verity without mercy as she screamed silently, tears rolling down her cheeks. He wasn't letting her up and she was pinned to the floor, all those years of being a Beater had paid off in superb upper body strength. Angelina ran over and tried to pull him off, resulting in Fred falling backwards onto her with a loud 'Ooft!' She groaned, the wind knocked out of her. George was now crying with laughter, wiping his streaming eyes as he crouched beside Verity who was gasping for air on the floor.
"Learnt your lesson?" He asked, simply smiling at the glare she gave him.
"…Never…help me up…" She uttered, clutching the offered hand like a lifeline and stumbling into his grip, her knees shaking.
"Easy there, no need to throw yourself at me Very."
She walloped his right arm, and then shook her hand as a familiar pain shot up it. She really should learn not to hit things that were harder than her, be it a wall or a very tough seventeen year old boy. He grabbed both her hands to keep her from hitting him and leaned forward so their noses were nearly touching. Verity gulped when she saw the dangerous look in his eyes, but kept contact and stared back.
"You have really nice eyes, you know." He whispered, lifting his hand to trace her jaw softly with an index finger.
"...Umm...thanks..." She stammered, wondering why was her heart suddenly louder than before?
"But your hair is a mess." He quickly ran his fingers up through it, ruffling it into a riot of curls.
She immediately cursed and ran after him around the room, not keeping up with his long legs but taking short cuts under outstretched arms and the such like. It was Ron who stopped them, with a shaky Impediment Jinx that sent the two of them sprawling in heap on the floor. It was the end of the lesson. Angelina and Fred walked over, his arm around her waist and her face stained with a blush. Verity's gaze flicked between the two of them and then looked at George with a conspiratorial grin. He quickly wrapped an arm around Verity's waist with a dramatic flourish and yanked her to her feet.
"Well, me and my Lady are off to the common room for some hot beverages and elevenses. Will you and your fine woman be joining us?" He asked Fred in a sniffy tone which reminded Verity of his Percy impression.
"I believe we shall. I do so love these late night conversations of truly intellectual standing. Shall we Angelina?" Fred replying in a similar voice, the two girls trying their upmost to keep straight faces.
Angelina nodded, her mouth quivering as she tried not to laugh, and the two of them led the way back to the Tower. Of course, George and Verity mocked them every step of the way, the two pranksters whispering loudly only to whistle in unison whenever Fred or Angelina turned around. By the time they got back to the common room Fred had his wand out and another impromptu duelling session began much to Hermione's dismay who threw her hands in the air and cried:
"I give up!"
The morning of the Gryffindor and Slytherin match dawned crisp and cold, the surrounding mountains snow-capped. Verity yanked on layers of clothing, borrowing a woollen hat from Angelina and pulling on two pairs of gloves, one of which was fingerless. Her room mates had already gone down to breakfast, all three girls being on the team therefore needing to eat before heading to the stands for their customary pep talk. Unfortunately, it meant that she would be sitting by herself for the match, even Lee would be in the Staff box seeing as he did the commentating. With a sigh, she wrapped George's red and gold scarf around her neck three times and left the Tower. It would be Ron's first match and all of the house were having mixed feelings about his ability, his practices so far had been patchy at best. Something heavy barged into her and she hit the wall hard, biting her lip to keep from crying out, she could taste blood. Graham Montague leered at her, his massive hands slamming against the wall on either side of her head when he leaned forward.
"How about a kiss for luck, Stone?" He sneered, his team mates laughing behind him.
"I'd rather kiss a toilet. Bugger off." She hissed and ducked out from under his arms, starting to walk away.
"A toilet would be cleaner than that Blood Traitor you're going with. Weasley is going down today, I'll make sure his head is used as a Bludger."
Verity turned slowly, pulling her wand out from in amongst the many layers of clothing she wore in her house colours. Narrowing her eyes, she began to walk back to him, the other students backing away from her as they caught sight of the lethal look now crossing her face. Montague fumbled for his wand but froze when she placed hers against his chest, standing up on her tiptoes to try and match his height but still failing by about three inches.
"I don't know which Weasley you're trying to insult seeing as I'm not 'going' with any of them, but they are all better people than you will ever be. Come near me again and I'll curse off something rather important. Understand?" She whispered softly.
"Well, I understand Miss Stone." The sickeningly sweet voice piped up from behind her and she looked over to see Professor Umbridge standing there with her wand pointing at her back; Montague grinned and ran off after his team mates. "Now, put the wand away. You know the drill by now, my office tomorrow night at six o'clock, do not be late."
She had no choice but to lower her wand while Umbridge smiled and then followed the Slytherins. Her mood had been punctured in an excellent fashion, something made evident when she kicked a nearby suit of armour so hard that Filch's cat, Mrs Norris, streaked off yowling at the top of her lungs. How did that foul woman know how to make her day go from bad to worse? Muttering to herself, she walked off the Quidditch pitch alone, her hands shoved deep in her pockets.
The match had already started and all the good seats were taken, so she lounged against the stairway exit of the Gryffindor stand for the duration. The players were on good form, but the Slytherins were singing some stupid song about Ron. Her blood began to boil as she made out the words.
Weasley cannot save a thing,
He cannot block a single ring,
That's why Slytherins all sing:
Weasley is our King.
Weasley was born in a bin
He always lets the Quaffle in
That's why Slytherins all sing:
Weasley is our King.
Weasley is our King,
Weasley is our King,
Weasley will make sure we win
Weasley is our King.
No one could stop them, even though Lee was shouting as loud as he could into the megaphone to drown them out. Ron looked pale as he weaved around the rings he was meant to be Keeping, and from what she could tell, he wasn't doing that great either. She was relieved when Harry went into a sudden dive, streaking after a faint glimmer of gold...the Snitch. With an almighty roar, the Gryffindor's rose up out of their seats in a united cheer of victory, she was surprised to see Hermione jump up on her bench and scream with them. Shaking her head with a smile, she turned and ran down the stairs, wanting to meet her friends as they got off the pitch. When she got to the pitch-side team entrance, she stopped, the Slytherin Seeker, Malfoy was talking to the Gryffindors. Frowning, she strained to listen and heard the unmistakable tone of an insult, the blond boy hurling the abuse at Harry and the twins.
"We couldn't fit in useless loser either, for his Father, you know." He drawled.
She saw the twins stiffen halfway through shaking Harry's hand and knew that something was not right. Harry already looked as though he was going to curse Malfoy's face off and Angelina had grabbed Fred's arm, telling him not to listen to the younger boy.
"But you like the Weasley's, don't you Potter? Spend the holidays there and everything, don't you? Can't see how you stand the stink. But I suppose when you've been dragged up by Muggles, even the Weasley's hovel smells okay."
Harry grabbed a hold of George who snarled and tried to lunge for the boy, Fred already struggling under the combined efforts of Angelina, Katie and Alicia. Verity ran out and tackled Ron to the ground before he could fly at the Slytherin, both of them ending up in a muddy puddle on the floor.
"Or perhaps, you can remember what your Mother's house stank like Potter, and Weasley's pigsty reminds you of it." Malfoy laughed.
Verity watched in horror as Harry let go of George and the two of them ran at Malfoy who had turned pale. Harry sunk his fist into the boy's stomach, still holding the Snitch, and George was pounding his face like a Bludger. A whistle was blowing and the crowd was screaming. Ron struggled to get up and join in but Verity remained sat on him, forcing his face against the mud so he could not get into trouble too. She wasn't about to stop the other two, they were well within their rights as far as she was concerned.
"IMPEDIMENTA!" Yelled Madam Hooch.
The Quidditch Mistress and Referee ordered them off to the castle again, they would definitely get a week of detentions from McGonagall for this. Only once Malfoy was off the pitch did Verity let Ron up, holding out a hand to help him.
"Why did you stop me? I could have had the git!" He roared.
"And you would have gotten into trouble!" She sighed.
"Trouble? This coming from you who gets into trouble more often than Fred and George?"
"That's not the point Ron, you'll get it one day. You better get to the castle with Fred, I don't like the look of that." She nodded in the direction of a tweed cloaked, toad-faced woman who was half running back to the castle with a huge grin on her ugly face.
Fred turned to look at where she was indicating and swore, shaking Angelina off and sprinting towards the castle, Ron close behind. The girls walked over to Verity, muddy, damp and exhausted. Even Alicia seemed to be lacking the energy to be out rightly nasty at that moment.
"Think they'll all be shoved in detentions?" Angelina asked her in a quiet voice, handing her George's broom.
"No...if that woman has anything to do with it then it will be worse." She replied, taking the broom and gripping it tightly.
"What could be worse than detentions other than being expelled?" Katie gasped.
"I don't know." Verity held up her hand so they could see, the scar, 'I must obey', just visible in the light. "But it won't be good...at all."
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A/N: Dun dun DUUUUUN! Or not, you all know what Umbridge does but just pretend it's a cliff hanger XD Hope you liked it though.
Coming up! Banned from Quidditch for life! And an unusual replacement.
SunshineWitch91: Thank you very much. ^_^
Wetstar: Never mentioned if Sirius was her dad or that she hated him. You'll just have to see eh?
Samacajama: I'm trying to stay true to their excellent characters, thanks!
Keely Matthews: Indeed he is, as you'll discover soon enough.
Skipperdoodle: XD I'm saying nothing! You cannot make me talk! I love Lupin though, he's such a nice, if a little misunderstood, man.
Gaia v: You read it all in one go? Wow! Thank you!
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