"Tell me right now that I am not seeing you two wearing soaking wet clothes, on one of the coldest nights yet," Polly said, bumping into Fred and George in the hallway.

But that's exactly what she was seeing. The boys had just come back from Quidditch practice, and they were exhausted, and wet. "Both of you, up to take warn showers. And do not go to bed with wet hair. Take a shower, do your homework, then go to bed." Polly was very stern about this. She was just worried. Not only about their health but about their schooling also. She didn't want them falling behind like they have in years past.

"We will," George said, locking his pinky finger with hers. She nodded. Without explanation, she leaned up and placed a soft kiss on George's lips. Before Fred or George could get a word in, Polly was gone. She disappeared around a corner as if she'd never even been there.

"You saw that too, right? I'm not hallucinating?"

"You're good," Fred said. "You're not hallucinating."

The boys went up to their rooms, and did two very different things. Fred went to sleep, hair soaked with rain water still. And George did what Polly had told him to. He showered, did his homework, and then went to bed. Exhausted, but feeling good at the same time.

Polly, however, was still up in the Common Room, talking with Justin and Cedric. They were chatting casually about their home lives. Sharing funny stories and memories. Justin was in the middle of telling them about the time his uncle took him fishing, and they ended up tipping the boat. Polly and Cedric were laughing, imagining a younger, terrified Justin floating in the water.

The trio didn't go to bed until later, when Polly was having a hard time keeping her eyelids open. She was walking to her room when she crossed paths with Laura. They hadn't spoken in months, but their was also a lack of tension, which was good.

"Hey Polly," Laura said, grabbing Polly's attention before she could scoot into her room. Polly looked at Laura but said nothing. "I'm really sorry, for how I acted the last couple of years. It wasn't right. And I get that now. And I'm sorry. I'm working on it though, honest."

"I forgive you, seems like it was a lifetime ago. No hard feelings. Thanks for apologizing."

Laura nodded, and continued in the direction she was headed before. Polly was shocked. Laura hadn't seemed different at all this school year. But now Polly didn't know what to think. Tanya was still awake and reading one of Gilderoy Lockhart's books. Tanya fancied him. Beyond an okay amount. Borderline obsessed.

"The weirdest thing just happened," Polly said, eyebrows scrunched up. "Laura just apologized for everything."

"Huh," Tanya said. "You know, I had heard that Cedric rejected her hard. Maybe she realized that being a bully gets you nowhere."

"I hope so," Polly said. "Because I was pretty tired of it."

"Me too."

Tanya smiled, and returned to her book. Polly was still exhausted, so she got ready for bed, and went to sleep.

Halloween was always a fun holiday. It was still a few days away, but Polly was excited none-the-less. She had enchanted a couple of jack-o-lanterns to stay lit on her trunk. Tanya had giggled when she saw them, and asked Polly to teach her how to do it.

Polly missed going trick or treating. She used to always go with her dad. They would walk around for hours. Her dad's deal was that they could walk around as much as she wanted, so long as he got a cut of the snacks. It was her dad's favourite holiday. Her mother's was Easter. And Polly's, of course, was Christmas. The whole family had their own favourite, which they would plan and lead.

The weather outside was awful, just truly awful. The rain was like an army, waging war on the students. Whether the boys wanted Polly to meet them at the pitch, or her class took place outside, Polly ended up soaking wet. She didn't need to get sick again. The steam coming out of her ears left a ringing sound in her brain that lasted for days. It was the most irritating sound ever. But Polly never once complained about the rain. The noise of the rain drops hitting the winding was really soothing during her study sessions. It was peaceful.

George would occasionally join her after class, when he didn't have plans with Fred. For whatever reason, Fred was being distant and snippy towards Polly. She didn't understand it, and it was really getting to her. She didn't know what she did wrong, if she did anything wrong.

Polly sat beside George, working on her potions essay. George was working on his homework as well, but it seemed like he was only there to distract Polly from her own. He was constantly starting conversations, playing with her hair, or making jokes. He was a distracting. But she wouldn't change anything about him.

"Do you mind?" Polly joked, elbowing him as he fiddled with her hair. He dropped his hands to his lap, pouting.

"I'm bored," George said.

"Then play with your own hair, I'm trying to work."

"You love when I play with your hair. It soothes you." George started up again.

"Yeah, it's soothing. That's the problem, I'm gunna fall asleep right here." Polly smiled at George, leaning over to kiss his cheek. "Let me finish this and then we can go find Fred and do something fun."

George nodded. He would do anything for Polly. After another half an hour of work, Polly stayed true to her word. She packed up and promised to meet George out on the pitch after she dropped off her books.

The rain was annoying, and she really didn't want to go. But she promised. So she trudged across the school field and found George waiting for her on the ground, two broomsticks in hand. Fred zoomed by Polly, already up in the air. No one else was there.

"Coming?" George asked.

"I'm not flying, are you mad? I'll fall and break a limb or something."

"You're not going to break a limb," George said, teasing poor Polly. He handed her a broomstick. We'll go slow together."

"Why is she flying with us?" Fred asked, "You've been with her all morning, and you said we were gunna fly together."

"I meant all of us," George said, putting a hand on his hip.

"Yeah," Fred said, "Whatever."

"Polly, come fly when you're ready." George boosted himself into the air and shot off quickly. Polly turned to Fred.

She said, "What's the matter then?"

"You and George are always together. We're twins, not you."

"You know you're always invited with us," Polly said.

"That's not what George said," he said, looking down.

"Well it's what I said." Polly smiled. "No need to be jealous."

"I'm not jealous!" Polly lifted off the ground and began to fly away, laughing.

The boys were way better than Polly at flying. But she was okay with that, she never tried to match their speed or do fancy moves in the air. She afraid to fall, and shatter a bone. So she was content flying slowly around the ground of the pitch. Eventually she got a little tired of it and flew a little higher, and higher, and higher, until eventually she was high enough that the stands looked small. And she could see small specs moving around the grounds. They were students out and about.

Polly stayed still for a moment, taking in the scenery around her. The view was amazing. Stunning. She wondered how she could possibly have gone this long without flying this high.

The Whomping Willow was dancing in the rain, the small droplets irritating the large tree. The grounds were surprisingly busy for this rainy weather. Polly wondered what everyone else could possibly be doing out and about. Polly was high enough that the rain was seemingly hitting her seconds after it came out of the cloud, but she knew this probably wasn't true.

George flew up in front of her, a worried look painted across his features. This made Polly a little concerned as well. "You're not used to being this high, Polly. You alright?"

"Just wanted to take a look is all," she said, letting go of her broom. She pushed her wet hair out of her face with both hands, leaving it a matted mess.

"Hold on tight!" George said. His loud tone startled Polly, making her a little wobbly. She grabbed on quickly.

"Don't freak me out like that," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Let's go down, I don't want to see you get hurt." George began to fly, and Polly followed his lead. Maybe he was right, maybe she would only get hurt if she flew this high again. But the scenery was so amazing that perhaps the risk was worth it.

The ride down was less exciting. All it seemed to be was Polly wishing she could go even higher, and try to touch clouds. Surely it was possible. The trio went back inside the castle only to go their seperate ways to dry off and get warm again.

Fred and George said goodbye to Polly, who quickly dashed off to her own common room. George talked about Polly the whole way back to the Gryffindor Tower. A few days ago this would have annoyed Fred, but he was coming to terms with the fact that Polly had a special place in George's haert, and in that place there was no room for Fred. And that was okay.

"Did her lips look a little blue? They seemed a little blue, I hope she doesn't get sick because of us," George said. Fred said the password to the Fat Lady.

"Spent a bit of time looking at her lips, then?" Fred asked, laughing as George stumbled over some silly excuse as to why he was staring at her lips.

Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger were all in the common room. Chatting closely about something or other by the fireplace. Neville Longbottom and Dean Thomas were playing Exploding Snaps by the window. And a few other students sat alone reading or doing homework. It was a boring night in the tower. Rainy days had a sloth-like atmosphere about them. The two Weasley brothers went straight to their own rooms after a small hello to their younger brother. Their sister had been there, scribbling in a notebook. She had left the common room before they had a chance to talk to her. It hadn't bothered them.

Meanwhile, Polly was dried up and heading to the library to find Tanya. She wanted to talk about the view she'd just witnessed, but she was unsuccessful. Tanya was nowhere to be found. Polly was about to leave when Ginny Weasley came rushing into the room. Since starting at school Polly hadn't had much chance to talk to Ginny. The younger girl and Polly didn't really have any intersecting interest or classes. The age difference made the friendship a little difficult.

Polly accidentally bumped into Ginny, knocking a few books out of her hands. "So sorry!" Polly said, bending down to help pick her books up. Ginny went absolutely pale when Polly picked up a black leather bound book. Polly noticed it right away. "This looks antique or something," she said, handing the books over to Ginny. "Where did you get that?"

The question made Ginny go wide eyed. "Ah, it's private," Polly said. "Say no more." Polly winked at Ginny. The youngest Weasley just nodded. "I'll see you later, haven't seen Tanya by any chance, have you?" Ginny shook her head. "Alright, well. Come find me if you ever need someone to talk to. I know writing helps but sometimes it helps to have someone actually answer back." Ginny went pale again. Polly hadn't meant to embarrass her.

"Bye," Ginny said, carrying on walking to the back of the library. The interaction seemed a little odd to Polly, but then again Ginny herself was a little odd. So Polly didn't want to make a big deal of it.

The next few days were some of the most boring. Oliver Wood held the boys captive at practice for hours every night, so when they were finally free to spend time with her, they were exhausted.

Polly needed to find some new hobbies, because hanging out alone and hoping that the boys were in good enough spirits to hang out for a little while. She'd been spending her time with Justin, playing chess and typically losing against him. She'd also been reading a lot of detailed books about some magical creatures. But she was growing stir crazy. Life had just been a little, boring lately.

But it was Halloween, and she was excited for tonight. It was going to be a fun night. The feast was a few hours away, so Polly and Justin were working away now, so they didn't have to worry about it later.

Eventually, Fred and George barged into the library and joined the pair. All work halted right then. Polly was laughing and talking with George while Fred and Justin played hangman.

"So, why are you here anyway? I figured that you and Fred would be busy causing mayhem around like last year," Polly said, grinning.

"We're playing the long game this year, all of the traps are perfectly set for later, but, we're letting all our close friends squirm as they wait for our stunts." George smiled as Polly shook her head. "Especially Ron."

"Why him?"

"Easy target," George said, winking.

"What's the plan?"

"Well, we're not going to do anything today," George explained. "And then tomorrow, when's he super relieved that we gave him a break, we pounce."

Polly laughed. "And if he asks about it?"

"We say that it's no longer fun to prank him, because he's always expecting it. Younger students, more targets." George laughed.

"Brilliant," Polly said, smiling.

"I thought so, Fred and I thought of it last night. Stroke of genius."