~ February 14, 1991 ~
Garnet sat next to George and across from Fred at breakfast that morning.
The Great Hall had pink banners and vases of flowers all over the place. The ceiling was enchanted to look as though little cherubs were flying around.
Couples were walking around holding hands and giggling.
"Ugh," Garnet groaned as she reached for another chocolate chip muffin.
"What's up?" George asked, brow raised.
Garnet pointed up at the ceiling. "I hate this holiday." and took a bite of her food.
"Awe, no Valentine Prince?" Fred asked, his eyes flickered to his brother and back quickly.
Garnet swallowed, "If you truly love someone, you should tell them everyday. You don't have to wait for one special day to let them know how you feel."
"Mmhm," George looked at his plate and ate his food, nodding his agreement.
Fred tried to suppress a smirk, but nodded as well.
The post began flying in. An owl Garnet had never seen before landed in front of her, a pink scroll attached to it's leg.
"Oh please," Garnet muttered. Everyone was looking at her. She quickly grabbed the scroll from the owls leg, stuffed it inside her robe, and sent the bird on it's way.
She continued eating like nothing happened.
"Well now come on," Fred laughed, "We want to see who it's from!"
George was watching her, dying to see who it was from.
Garnet sighed and pulled the scroll back out. She untied the white string around it and unrolled it.
"I've known you for 2 years now,
and have watched you from afar.
If you want to know who I am,
come and meet me under the stars.
In the Courtyard I'll be waiting,
please try not to be too late.
I need to share my feelings,
being together must be fate.
~ Your Secret Admirer"
"Did you two send this?" Garnet tossed the scroll at Fred. George curiously looked at it from across the table.
"Oh my... that's...wow. Being together must be fate?" Fred grimaced.
"Trying a bit too hard, aren't they?" George huffed and sat back down to finish eating.
"You didn't send it?" Garnet's eyes widened. Then she looked around the Great Hall. "Who on earth could have sent it?!" she whispered.
"I don't recognize this handwriting." Fred looked over it again. "Suppose you'll need to meet him at the end of the day to find out who."
"We can ask around if you'd like?" George offered, getting a surprised look from his brother.
Garnet smiled at George, "You would? That would be great, thank you." she touched his arm.
"No problem," blush crept up George's neck.
"I'm going to get going, I need to get to Charms and ask Professor Flitwick a question about the Forgetfulness charm he taught us last week." Garnet stood up, "I'll see you two at lunch, yeah?"
"See you later," the Twins said in unison.
Once Garnet was out of the Great Hall, Fred reached over and swat George on the head, "We'll ask around for her?!" Fred shook his head.
George let out an exasperated breath. "I want to know who sent it to her, aren't you curious?!"
"Obviously not as much as you do!" Fred laughed at his brother.
George frowned at him, "Shove off." he muttered.
Lunch time rolled around, and George and Fred had still not found out who sent the note to Garnet.
She sat between them, her knee anxiously bouncing under the table.
"Who could it be?" she kept looking around the room.
Fred chuckled, "You're going to make yourself insane trying to figure it out."
Garnet set her head down on the table and groaned. "This is ridiculous."
"Oh quit your bellyaching, here have a... heart shaped sandwich...?" George offered her a tray full of turkey and ham sandwiches cut in the shape hearts. "Wow, somebody really went overboard on the Valentine's theme food, didn't they?"
The three of them laughed.
Still grinning, Garnet looked up and made eye contact with Adrian Pucey. He smiled at her, then turned back to the other Slytherin.
Garnet blushed.
"You alright there?" George nudged her with his elbow.
She cleared her throat, "I...may have an inkling who my secret admirer is..." she whispered, "maybe."
"Oh yeah?" Fred grinned, "Who is on your suspect list?"
"Pucey," she said.
Both boys turned to look at Adrian.
"Don't look at him!" she hissed. "Geez!" Garnet hit both boys on the shoulder.
"Why do you think it's him?" George asked.
"I just caught him staring at me." Garnet said, then thought to herself for a moment, then smiled. "I guess that wouldn't be so bad." she shrugged, more to herself than anyone else.
Fred looked at George, whose face fell a bit.
"There's no one else that has shown you any interest at all?" Fred sighed.
Garnet looked at him, brows furrowed, thinking about what he asked. "No, not really." she admitted.
George looked down at his plate, a frown evident on his face.
"Mmm," Garnet swallowed the last bite of her pudding, "We've got Potions to get to, come on guys!" she stood up and pulled her bag up over her head.
"Well be right behind you." Fred laughed, "Go on."
Garnet nodded and headed off to class.
Fred stared at his brother.
"What?" George said defensively.
Fred shook his head, "You know what."
"No," George stated.
"Why?" Fred raised a brow.
George looked down at his plate, "She seems so excited over meeting this mystery guy."
"So what?!" Fred huffed.
George stood and grabbed his bag. "Come on, Potions class awaits." and he dropped the subject. Fred knew not to bring it up again...yet.
Fourth period Transfiguration class had just come to an end.
Garnet looked around and saw Adrian Pucey staring at her again. She smiled.
"Who you staring at, Prince?" Cedric elbowed her.
She quickly turned back to pack her bag. "Nobody." she blushed.
"Uh-huh." he laughed. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure." Garnet looked at him.
"Why don't you sit at the Slytherin table during meals?" he asked.
Garnet took a breath in and let it out slowly. "Last year Flint made it impossible for me to feel comfortable sitting with them. As it is I still have to sleep in the Slytherin dormitory, but the girls aren't as bad as the guys. I just haven't found anyone I would really consider friends, ya know? Nobody really seems as friendly as..."
"As the twins, right?" Cedric smiled and nodded. "I get it."
"And who says I can't have friends in other houses? We're friends, right?" she said to him.
"Of course," he grinned.
"Miss Prince, may I have a word with you," Professor McGonagall called out.
Garnet felt like a deer in headlights. "Of course, Professor," she waved at Cedric and walked to the front of the room.
Professor McGonagall smiled at Garnet, "Miss Prince, I wanted to commend you on your exemplary work in Transfiguration Class this year."
"Oh, thank you Professor," Garnet smiled.
"Would you allow me to place your name on a list to call on if another student needs a tutor?" McGonagall asked. "It would be during your free periods, of course, but it wouldn't necessarily be a Slytherin, is that problem?"
Garnet grinned, "I'd love to help others." she said, "And no, that would not be a problem for me."
Professor nodded approvingly, "Very good, thank you. You are excused."
Garnet left for her free period with a spring in her step. She was excited to be recognized for her hard work.
The Twins had dropped their bags and school robes off in their dormitory before heading downstairs. During Thursday free period they usually met up with Garnet and went exploring. They still had lots of hidden hallways and passages to find on the map.
Garnet had left her bag and robes in her dormitory as well and was jogging up to them, out of breath.
"Sorry guys, McGonagall held me up." she straightened. "Where we heading today?"
"Not sure yet. We're tracking Filch at the moment." George grinned.
Garnet nodded.
Fred led them down a corridor and stopped at a statue of a weird old wizard.
"There's supposedly a hidden passage behind this guy right here." Fred pointed at the statue.
Garnet stepped closer to the statue and glanced behind him. Nothing. So she touched the wall and her hand went through it.
"Wow!" she stepped completely through the wall.
The twins grinned at each other and followed her.
Garnet pulled out her wand "Lumos!" she called and the tip of her wand lit up.
"Now, if we head down this passageway, it leads off into the... Potions classroom, and then further down the Slytherin Common Room." Fred said.
"Oh! How interesting." Garnet nodded.
They explored for a while, until it was time for Dinner.
As they walked into the Great Hall, Garnet looked around, getting more and more nervous about meeting her secret admirer this evening.
Angelina waved at the trio as they walked in. "Garnet! This was sitting here for you when I came in." she handed her a heart shaped box of chocolates.
"Oh good lord..." Garnet took the box, "Thank you Angelina." she tried to smile without being embarrassed.
"Secret admirer strikes again?" Fred said.
Garnet opened the note attached to the box.
"Just something sweet for a sweet girl. ~ Your Secret Admirer"
"Who's it from?!" Fred and George looked over her shoulder.
"Hmm...no poem. And the handwriting is different than the note this morning." Garnet said, "Could it be another Secret Admirer?" she looked perplexed. "How is that even possible."
Fred looked at the note. He recognized the handwriting, but didn't say anything.
"Something sweet for a sweet girl? That's it?" he looked at his brother.
George shrugged. "Maybe he's not ready to reveal himself."
Garnet sighed and sat down. "I don't know if I can go this evening."
"What? Why?" Fred asked, sitting across from her.
"Because, what if it's someone I don't really care for? How would I let them know I'm not interested nicely?" she explained.
"Just make something up, like "I'm happy to be your friend, but I'm interested in someone else." George suggested. "Or something like that."
"Or even, "I'm focusing on my school work right now, but I'd be glad to hang out sometime." Fred shrugged.
Garnet nodded. "I guess that would be okay."
A silence settled over them, but George couldn't help but keep peeking up at Garnet.
Fred rolled his eyes, and asked the question his brother wouldn't. "Is there anyone in particular that could show up that you'd be okay with?" Fred asked.
Garnet froze, fork almost to her mouth, eyes widened. She set her fork down and cleared her throat. "Um...there's maybe one or two, perhaps..." she said, the blush creeping clear up to her ears.
Fred looked at George and gave a small smile.
The longer she sat there, the more nervous Garnet got, the more anxious the guys got for her.
At last, Dinner was over, and Garnet waiting until almost everyone was out of the Great Hall.
"You want us to wait around for you?" Fred offered, sensing his brother's unease.
Garnet shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "Nah, I can handle meeting my secret admirer myself. But thank you." She bid her friends good night and walked out of the Great Hall and made her way to the Courtyard.
She peeked outside and didn't see anyone yet. Garnet slowly made her way to stand by the fountain. She paced back and forth a little bit, looking at the red candy box in her hands.
"Maybe he's not coming." she murmured to herself. "Maybe he's changed his mind." Garnet looked up to the sky.
Then she heard footsteps. Garnet froze. She closed her eyes tightly, took a deep breath and turned around.
When she opened her eyes, she saw Marcus Flint standing there.
"Flint?" Garnet said, confused. "W-what are you doing here?"
Marcus gave an evil grin, "I invited you."
"You're my secret admirer?" Garnet started to get a horrible feeling in her stomach.
"Oh bloody hell," Flint laughed, "You really think someone would send you a real Valentine?"
"Then why did you tell me to come here?" Garnet frowned.
Marcus, still grinning evilly, looked up.
Garnet looked up just as a floating bucket tipped over and something nasty poured all over her head. She screamed.
Flint, and three other Slytherin boys that were hiding, were now standing there laughing at Garnet as she tried to wipe the gross, sticky slime from her eyes.
Garnet's chest tightened, she was embarrassed beyond words. Still holding the red heart box, she turned from the boys and ran into the school, barely able to see between the slime and the tears forming in her eyes. The echos of the boys laughing at her followed her.
She ran down the corridor, and collided with something, making her bounce off and fall on the floor.
"Oi, Garnet, watch where you're," Fred started, but George cut him off.
"...wait, what's wrong?" George was down by her side. Fred and he looked at her, and noticed she was covered in nasty stuff.
"I don't know why I even thought..." she sobbed, "I mean look at me, why would anybody..." she was crying so hard by this point, she could barely catch her breath, "I hate this holiday!" Garnet scrambled to her feet, shoved the box of candy at Fred, and ran away from the twins.
Flint and his friends were laughing as they came down the corridor. Anger flashed in George's eyes. He looked as though he were about to go after them, but Fred stopped him.
"We'll get them, don't worry. One way or another. They won't get away with it." Fred said to George, calming him down a bit.
George took a deep breath and nodded.
