Disclaimer: I own nothing except my own characters.
Note: Again, things are getting good. The birthday party isn't exactly going the way the twin's planned but what did they really expect?
29: Too Much Cake
I should've figured being late wasn't going to count in my favor. "Please tell me you didn't plan on this…" I hissed to Draco but it was already too late for him to respond because the twins were walking over to us.
"Tammie, you're late" Fred said, not even trying to acknowledge Draco.
"Yeah, I was—"
"She was waiting for me" Draco piped up. All three of us turned to look at him. "We were hoping to get here first, and I'd just be off to the side, leave my present on the table, maybe have a short conversation or I'd just, carry on" Draco explained. I continued staring at him. That sounded like a logical explanation but I didn't know what he was even bothering explaining it to the twins; they wouldn't believe him nor would they care. "Sorry" he mumbled out.
"Yeah, and if I believed your reason I'd accept you're apology, but I doubt I'd even do that" George replied. I took the second to look around him; Melinda was sitting on the table, a few girls talking to her but her attention seemed to be shifted to our little corner, though I doubted she could see either me or Draco since the twins were blocking her most direct visual line.
"Why would I lie?" Draco asked, his voice a little colder, something I was more used to. "Whatever, you don't want to believe me, that's fine but that's what happened. I didn't mean to get Tammie in trouble, and I don't mean to cause any problems" he said handing me over the nicely wrapped present. "Thanks, see you later, make sure she gets that and tell her I said happy birthday" he said before walking off, stuffing his hands back in his pocket as he passed, just glancing over at Melinda who seemed to be completely focused on his whole movement, as if waiting or hoping for him to go over and say hello.
"What the hell was that?" George asked when he was sure Draco was gone and the doors were closed.
"Nothing, he's telling the truth, we planned to come early—"
"Then why were you late?" he asked with a little edge to his voice.
"You didn't say he couldn't come" I said trying not to raise my voice.
"Do you think I want him here?" he snapped back but I just gave him a look.
"It's her birthday George, she should be allowed to have whoever she wanted, you know it's not gonna hurt anything, he barely knows how to talk to her" I reminded him but he seemed to look madder. "She's dating you; obviously she doesn't really like Draco, at least not enough to stop him from leaving or coming over here. She's not gonna pin for someone who's not even trying" I said, but George didn't seem to be listened.
"The point is, I didn't want him here, or Andrew" he said with a short glance around with his arms crossed, but didn't seem to see Cedric asking Melinda to dance. I started to point it out to him but Fred merely shook his head as he made a reach for my hand.
"But, wait, I thought you said you asked Andrew?" I said, just remembering he had indeed told me he personally asked Andrew, but Andrew said no.
"I did, I just added if he did come I'd stick my club in his ear or someplace more irritating" George explained with a little grin.
"That's kinda harsh," I replied but he just shrugged.
"That's life, mess with someone else's girl and you get stuck with things up in uncomfortable places" he said with another shrug and then glanced over at the now empty desk. "Oh bloody hell, where did she go?" he asked before walking off. I smiled a bit as he looked around, saw her dancing with Cedric before sighing, rolling his eyes and then walking over to where the drinks were along with Harry, Ron and Hermione who were still looking back at me and Fred.
"So are you gonna tell me what that was about?" he asked after watching his brother for a few more seconds.
"It's exactly what I said, he wanted to come early so we could avoid this part" I said waving my arms around. "It's not a big deal Fred, he didn't even go over and say hi" I said but Fred didn't look convinced. "What's wrong?" I asked when he merely seemed to grit his teeth.
"I just want to make sure you're being careful, it's Draco, he's not as nice as you may think he is" Fred explained, his voice a little low as he leaned closer.
"He's not playing me, he's my cousin and family is really important to him. Besides, what would he have to gain if he pretends to like Melinda, he gave her a real present" I said nodding down at my box.
"Speaking of…" Fred said as he grabbed it, me cursing him a bit not realizing he was going to do so as soon as I reminded him.
"You have to give it to her" I told him but he raised an eyebrow.
"No I don't" he replied just as George came back over.
"C'mon" he said, whispering to his brother as the two of them went off toward the side and for a moment out of sight behind a stack of chairs.
"What are they doing?" Melinda asked as I gave up waiting for Fred and headed over to where Melinda was sitting, another song slowly coming through the speakers as Cedric came over.
"Tammie, would you like a dance?" he asked with a little bow.
"No thank you Cedric, but, er, thanks" I said with a sincere smile as he flashed one back before stepping aside to another student.
"So, was that Draco Malfoy I saw?" Melinda asked when she managed to pull her eyes away from the area the twins were hidden away.
"Who?" I asked as Harry came over with two cups of pumpkin juice.
"Did you come in with Draco Malfoy?" Harry asked as Ron and Hermione joined us, Ron looking more upset than the twins.
"Does it really matter?" I asked waving a hand trying not to sound anxious.
"Well actually—" Melinda started but was interrupted by the twins who had started singing happy birthday as they carried in a cake covered in blue and purple frosting, the rest of us quickly joining in as I backed away from Melinda and the others and moved more toward the twins.
"Thank you guys" Melinda said cheerfully as George gave her a peck on the cheek before placing the cake on the table so she could blow the candles out.
"Anytime Liny" George said with a wink. After we sliced the cake, making sure Melinda got the first and biggest piece and handing a slice to everyone and then helping ourselves we gathered some desks around so we could see Melinda open presents. I was grateful a lot of people had bought gifts in groups; Fred even nudged me when we saw Harry, Ron and Hermione had done the same.
"Here you go Melinda, this is from us" Fred said nudging me as he pushed the present on her lap from where he sat in the chair.
"So from you?" she said glancing at Fred as I tried not to smile.
"Eh, I'll make up for it come Christmas" I explained as she ripped the paper.
"Oh! It's purple!" she said noticing the whole set was purple, the entire contents of the broom cleaning supplies and it even came with little decorations she could add the broom—which were purple. "How did you know?" she asked with a little smile as she ran her hand over one of the glittery purple stars.
"Just a hunch I guess" Fred replied glancing over at his brother who still remained sitting on the table with Melinda as he handed over his own gift.
"I hope you like it, I just go the Jasmine and Lavender ones" he explained as Melinda tore off the last piece of wrapping paper to reveal what looked like normal hairbrushes, though the bristles looked a little funny, some were wide and spaced apart evenly, others looked like they stuck on there at the last minute and didn't follow any sort of pattern and still others looked like they had been forced on, they were clumped together. I started to ask what it was, but the small gasp from my left—from Lavender—must have meant it was something good. "They're, er, combined brushes, you just use a little bit of this potion and it takes care of shampooing, conditioning and styling your hair, but each one is only good for four uses" George explained, his cheeks a little pink. "Thought you might think it would be useful or something" he mumbled as Melinda beamed up at him.
"It's fantastic, I love it" she said putting the brushes down so she could give George a proper hug and kiss. Almost as soon as they pulled apart the doors opened. For some reason I expected Draco to walk in again, even start complaining but when Madame Burnner walked in I couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. Fred must have noticed because he tightened his grip on my hand.
"Birthday or victory?" Burnner asked as she looked around at the group. "Ah, Hennings, is today your birthday?" she asked, her eyes quickly doing another count of the group as she made her way forward.
"Yes" Melinda said simply as she cleared her throat.
"We have permission to be in here" George told her as he stood up, but Burnner only gave him a sweet smile, as if to say she didn't care.
"I know darlings but I have a meeting in here, so, it would be great if you lot could just get your things together and head back to your common rooms, I'm sure there's plenty of homework you could be doing or something" she said turning to look at us, but seemed to smile even more sinister as she caught my eye. "Allen, I know you could be working on the redoing that paper I gave you. I'm sure Professor Barrass won't mind collecting it tomorrow" she said then looked around the group as they gathered things together, not even realizing Burnner was actually purposely breaking up the party. At least Hermione, Harry and Ron were moving at a much slower pace.
"Yeah, I'll get right on that" I grumbled as I got up, Fred helping Melinda gathering the presents and rest of the cake.
"Oh, another present" Burnner said excitedly pointing to the present Fred had been hiding on the desk. I gave Burnner a good glare, she had to know it was from Draco, or at least someone we didn't want Melinda taking it from.
"Right, thanks" Melinda said quickly, snatching up the present before the rest of us could make a grab for it.
"May I?" Burnner asked reaching past Melinda for one of the few slices of cake the twins hadn't put away. "Have a lovely evening you four" she said before turning and walking out of the room, loudly clearing her throat at Harry, Ron and Hermione who were hanging by the door.
"What a toad" I hissed as the doors remained opened.
"You're telling me" George replied as he put the last slice of cake back into what was left of the entire cake before Fred pointed his wand at it, mumbled something and the cake molded itself back together. "Got everything" George asked in the same half-annoyed voice as Melinda nodded.
"She even made Hermione and them go away" I said as we stepped out into the hallway and looked around, no one in sight. "It's not even that late" I said looking down at my watch. Nine; technically we still had a good hour until we were all supposed to be in our proper houses.
"C'mon" Melinda said nudging me a little as I focused as her and the twins started back toward the Ravenclaw Tower. "I did really appreciate all this" Melinda said as we neared the Great Hall. George nodded, but didn't say anything, I wondered if he was still thinking about the fact that Melinda still had Draco's present.
"Hey, we're gonna go get this wrapped proper" George said as the twins stopped. "I'll meet you at the usual time and place" he said giving her a peck on the forehead before starting off. "Glad you enjoyed the little party, I know it wasn't much, but it was something" he said with a shrug and a smile.
"It was wonderful, thank you" she replied with a little blush.
"See you back in the common room" Fred mumbled with a quick kiss before hurrying after his brother.
"It's not weird, right?" I asked Melinda as we stared after the twins.
"Not as long as we can tell them apart" she replied as she started toward the opposite hallway. "Now, what did Burnner mean, redoing what homework?" I shrugged; I had almost forgot I got a lower than sixty percent on one of the homework assignments Burnner had given us. It didn't help that I didn't actually remember doing the assignment in the first place, but that could have contributed to the fact that I did poorly on it.
"Nothing, don't worry about it; so, um, what are you gonna do with Draco's present. I see you didn't put in the bag with the other presents" I commented giving her a small smile as her eyes got wide. "Oh c'mon, you know I'm more observant than you give me credit for" I reminded her but she only raised an eyebrow.
"No you're not, you just have this knack for tuning into people better" she said as I shrugged. "But, I don't know. I want to open it, obviously, but I don't want to upset George. "Are you gonna tell me what happened with you, Draco and the twins?" she asked after a few seconds of silence.
"He heard about the party—I don't know how—but he heard about it and then he pulled me aside and asked why he didn't hear it from me, said he wanted to go, I said he wasn't invited, he basically reminded me it was an open invitation, I decided it was fine. He said he'd come early so he could say hi and give you his present and then he'd just hide in the back—"
"Because that's not creepy—"
"And then if you felt like it you could talk to him but if not he wouldn't bother you. He didn't want to cause any trouble" I explained.
"And you believed that?" she asked giving me a look.
"Yes, actually I did, because—" I paused, just remembering I couldn't tell her why I agreed, what Draco's face showed that made me want to agree. "Listen, if I didn't believe it was for a good believable reason I wouldn't have let him; I mean, I did get trouble after all, by both boys" I told her.
"I'm sure they felt justified" Melinda said as we got closer to her Tower but were stopped by Cedric once we reached the last staircase. "I'm sorry, I keep popping up, I just thought I would give you this away from the others" he said opening up a small box to reveal a charm bracelet. "The little ball is a golden snitch, and then, obviously two brooms and two different sets of robes, see, this one is darker" he said showing us the less shiny slivery robe. "And then the scroll here, it says 'may the best Seeker win'" he said his smile even bigger as he pointed at the little charm. I smiled too, Cedric certainly was a kind guy, and I wasn't going to complain about his looks. "I use to wear it as a good luck charm for my games, but, I think it's better to share the luck" he told her as he offered to fasten the bracelet on. "Oh, Tammie, I'm sorry, I hope you don't feel offended, I didn't think—"
"It's okay, I'm a Chaser and I got my two beaters, I don't need luck just friends" I said with a grin as he grinned back.
"Nice motto" he commented with a little laugh. "You definitely don't strike me as a Malfoy" he said, frowning a bit.
"That's because I didn't grow up with them, I knew nothing about them" I told him as he continued to look at me in confusion. "It's a long story" I finally said giving him a little wave as he nodded and then looked back over at Melinda.
"I should get going though, I just didn't want everyone making a big deal about the bracelet and don't worry, I'll tell George" Cedric said before walking off.
"That's cute" I said giving her a wider grin as she blushed again.
"Yes it is" she replied looking down at the charm. "I'm sure George will think it's harmless; you know what's weird though, Andrew wanted to have a little party too, he should've just came to this one" she said.
"Yeah, I heard…he didn't want to" I replied trying not to look too guilty. Thankfully though Melinda was still looking at her charm and by time she did look at me we had reached the Ravenclaw common room. "That's your door?" I asked wrinkling my nose as we walked closer.
"Yep" she said as the eagle shaped doorknocker sprang to life making me jump back a little in surprise.
"Does the dragon blow flames because he's fearful of the man or because he knows the man is fearful of him" the raven asked. I raised my eyebrow at Melinda; that was a question?
"Oh I see" I said as I rocked back on my feet.
"Obviously some people wouldn't be able to get in here" she replied with a smile as she glanced at me.
"Hey, I take that personally" I exclaimed.
"I was talking about Draco" she quickly said.
"Oh" I said, and then paused. "I still take it personally…" I added with a little smile, though I doubted Draco would be able to get it.
"The dragon's flames are simply a sign of warning, whether for fear or fight is up to the dragon and man" Melinda said as the eagle tilted, as if thinking over her response, then finally opened.
"Good response" he said quietly before returning to his statue like stance.
"I coulda got that one" I told her.
"I'm sure you would've" she said before nodding and heading inside. "Night and thanks, again" she added with a half turn.
"Anytime, sleep well" I said waving before heading back down the stairs.
