So I've completely finished this story now (although this isn't the last chapter, there's more to come!) so updates are going to be regular! Thank you to everyone who's read this far and will hopefully read the next five chapters to come!
The day that Clementine found Rosalie entwined with George was the day she knew it had to all end. She was supposed to be meeting him over lunch so they could 'talk' but the situation seemed beyond talking now. When she found them, they weren't kissing, but they were far too close – and George was allowing it.
"Excuse me? What the FUCK do you think you're doing?" Clementine snapped at her. She said it loudly enough to gain the attention of the entire Courtyard. For a while, Clementine, Rosalie and George had been the centre of the gossip that spread around Hogwarts – now the students wanted to see what the outcome was going to be.
"I must say, your girlfriend is rather foul mouthed," Rosalie said with a little laugh.
"Do you think this is funny, or a joke or something?" Clementine asked, her voice shaking. She saw Fred getting up in the distance, but thought nothing of it as she was so angry. "Do you think this is the right way to behave?"
"Is what the right way to behave?" Rosalie purred.
"George, can't you see what's going on here?" Clementine pleaded with him, close to tears. He gazed down at her, his expression unreadable. "For God's sake, she's an eighth Veela. That's all you see in her, you've been weak-"
"See George?" Rosalie interrupted loudly. "Listen to the way she talks to you! You poor thing." She snuggled up close to him, and looked at Clementine, a soft smirk playing about her pink mouth.
This was it – the moment that everyone had been waiting for. The question hovered unasked in the air around the students. Would Clementine break up with George or not?
Clementine couldn't do it anymore. She was tired of Rosalie taunting her, having George wrapped round her little finger and thinking she cared.
"You know what Rosalie," Clementine began, raising her voice so everyone could hear. She couldn't care less that everyone was listening in carefully; she only had eyes for the slutty blonde with her cold blue eyes, her pink pout and her clinginess to who she thought were her boyfriend.
"If you're able to catch my boyfriend's attention-"
"Which I have," Rosalie interrupted with a smirk and a soft laugh.
"Then you can have him."
There were gasps all around; it had attracted a crowd. George looked emotionless and Rosalie's mouth had dropped open slightly, her fun ruined at last.
"When I began dating George, I thought he would be mature enough to realise that although I'm not perfect, he knew who he was with and that other girls shouldn't be a problem. Yeah, there are loads of really stunning girls here," many of the witches watching smiled, "but if he truly cared, he'd admire from a distance and take it no further. But I don't want a guy that can be taken from me easily, like him. Congratulations, you won his attention. Sooner or later, he'll be after another stupid slut like you."
An uncomfortable silence filled the courtyard. Rosalie looked like she wanted to murder Clementine, and many of the crowd were nodding in agreement at what she'd just said. Rosalie was not a popular student, it seemed.
Clementine turned away in triumph, not noticing the angry witch draw out her wand.
"Watch out!" Angelina shrieked. Clementine turned around and saw the wand pointed at her chest. Before she could act, or pull her own wand out, she heard a familiar voice shout, "Expelliarmus!"
Rosalie's elegant wand was flung high into the air, into the hands of Harry, who had just arrived with Ron and Hermione. He looked confused, and looked around for an explanation.
"Give me my wand back!" Rosalie demanded, storming over and holding her perfectly manicured hand out.
"Hang on, hang on, what's happening here?" Harry asked, with a firm grip on her wand.
"You missed out on a lot mate," Fred said happily behind Clementine. She turned to look at him and realised that due to his stance and the fact that his wand was out that he must have disarmed Rosalie. "Let's go to the Common Room and we'll explain everything. But first, I think you should give that bitch her wand back."
Rosalie looked furious. She snatched her wand from Harry and flounced off. Everyone stared, then George awkwardly followed her, probably back to her Common Room.
Clementine grinned at Fred; he was such a good friend.
"Clem, your hairs gone red!" someone shouted.
She blushed as she realised that in her anger, her hair must have changed colour to the emotion she had been feeling most strongly. As she was calming down, she felt the red fading slowly into a pastel blue.
"She's so lucky being a Metamorphmagus, I've always wanted to be one," she heard a girl sigh behind her. As the crowd began to disperse, she felt more able to talk to Fred privately.
"Thanks so much, that tart probably would have cursed me," Clementine said.
"That's what friends are for," Fred beamed. "I must say, that hair colour is very interesting." He tugged on a strand, and Clementine leaned her head into his shoulder, now fully accepting the loss of her boyfriend, who happened to be identical to her best friend. He wound his arms around her gently and patted her back.
"Found a new guy already, freak?" Cheyenne called over. "Does it not count if it's the twin brother of your ex?"
There was a small scuffle as Fred had to hold onto her to prevent Clementine from bashing her head in.
"Fuck you!" Clementine yelled at her, and Fred smirked.
"I think now- ," he carefully let her go, "-we should go back to the common room. Come on." He took her hand and led her away. He kept looking back at her like he expected her to cry or something, but she felt too numb to.
The Common Room was near empty. Harry, Ron and Hermione were sat around a small table, Hermione appeared to be lecturing the two on their Potions homework.
"I don't know why the bloody hell caterpillars are needed in a Shrinking Solution!" she heard Ron said indignantly. Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed, until she saw Clementine, then she smiled kindly.
"Are you alright? That's a pretty hair colour by the way." Hermione added, gesturing to her for sit down next to her. She sat down with a weak smile and Fred pulled his chair close to hers.
"That Slytherin Rosalie has it in for Clemmy," Fred said in a low voice. "She can't resist making snide comments every time she sees her, and today, she just pushed her too far. Clementine ended it with George."
"Oh no, Clem, I'm so sorry! I never liked her anyway, she seemed far too pleased with herself," Hermione said. Ron looked mortified.
"So my brothers going out with some slut-"
"Ron!" Hermione gave him a quelling look.
"-Sorry, some girl that clearly hates his best friend? Bloody hell. He's clearly more stupid than I thought."
"What can I say, obviously I'm the smarter twin," Fred said humorously. When Clementine barely acknowledged it, let alone crack a smile, he sighed.
"It's time to go to lessons now, lunch is nearly over," Harry said, looking at his watch. He got up. "It's Care Of Magical Creatures now, we should start walking."
"Clem," Hermione said carefully, "are you coming with us?"
She shook her head, not even wanting to go and see Hagrid - she was feeling that bad.
"We'll tell him that you aren't feeling your best, he'll understand," Ron said.
"Thanks," Clementine murmured, staring into the fireplace. When Fred spoke, she looked up to see they were the only two in the room.
"It's unlike you to miss a lesson," Fred commented.
"I don't feel like going," Clementine muttered moodily.
"I always enjoy an excuse not to go to History of Magic, so I'll stay and keep you company," Fred said lightly. Clementine knew that even if he had Potions with Snape, who disliked the twins and loved getting them into trouble, he would have stayed. He'd always been a good friend.
An obnoxious giggle echoed around the common room suddenly.
"That bitch can eat her heart out-"
As soon as Rosalie set her mean little eyes on Clementine, she stopped, then smiled in a very self-satisfied way. George was there too, and he ignored both his twin and his ex-girlfriend as he walked up to the dormitories, Rosalie just behind him.
"I so should have jinxed her earlier," Fred said quietly, and Clementine finally cracked a smile. In the silent room, they could hear the conversation upstairs; Rosalie was gushing about her hair, again.
"Wouldn't it look so cute with pink highlights through it? And maybe slightly wavier, what do you think?"
Clementine stifled a giggle; George hated that kind of talk. Fred smiled at her, then stared at her in surprise. George and Rosalie walked back down the stairs, George carrying a few books. Rosalie made a point of smirking, but stopped when she saw Clementine's hair; blonde with pastel pink highlights and a cute wave in it. In an instant, it was back to the blue that she liked so much.
"What the…" Rosalie spluttered. Beside her, George glared at Clementine, and Fred for good measure, before they both walked out swiftly, hand in hand now.
"I love being a Metamorphmagus," Clementine smiled, significantly cheered up for a split second. Then her face fell again. Her boyfriend (no, ex- boyfriend now) was holding hands with another girl. It was hard to deal with.
Fred studied her face carefully. "Do you want to talk about anything, Clemmy?"
"No," Clementine said, reaching for her bag. "In fact, I might go to Care of Magical Creatures after all. It'll help take my mind off things. See you later, Fred."
"Clem, wait-"
She walked out before he could stop her, so quickly that by the time she got outside, she had a pain in her chest and was taking deep, wheezing breaths. Tears began rolling down her cheeks as Clementine looked out at the place where they'd once had a picnic, taken long walks, sat and talked about nothing for hours...