The rest of the week passed without any more incidents and Jayla found herself buried in homework once again. She felt so relieved when Professor Flitwick announced the end of charms class. The only instance she had seen the two boys was when they gave her a quick wave upon entering the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, which was the only subject they had had together since their lunch break. Jayla had been surprised they even acknowledged her as she had thought the boys had only talked to her because they felt pity for her, though in the back of her mind there had always been the faint hope that this wasn't the only reason…

The sun was gleaming through the windows as the girl made her way down to the Entrance Hall. Her potions essay was waiting for her, but the nice weather was too inviting to not try and write it outside instead of the dark corridors of the library, where she had spent every other break this week.

Jayla had almost made it outside when two figures suddenly flanked her and linked their arms with hers on either side. The boys were so tall they almost lifted the with off her feet.

"Now, what are we up to today?" they asked, oblivious to Jayla's confusion.

Jayla tried to shake her arms out of their grips with no success, so she just stopped abruptly, hoping this would threw the guys off. And it did.

"I am not up to anything today as I have a potions essay to write, thanks to you two!" She tried to sound serious, but that was always hard in the presence of the twins.

"Let me guess, you've been able to wiggle your way out of any trouble as always?" Jayla asked, arching an eyebrow.

"You just have to learn how to use your charms like us," Fred joked.

"Sure, next time I'll just play my charm on Snape and I'm sure he'll let me off the hook."

At the thought of that, all three burst into laughter.

"No, but seriously," George said, out of breath. "Just join us at the lake and I promise we won't even disturb your essay writing too much."

"We even nicked some food from the kitchen!" Fred chipped in, triumphantly.

Jayla just rolled her eyes and sighed deeply.

"Alright," she resigned. "But if I don't get my essay done, I'll have you two write it!"

They chose the same tree next to the lake they had sat under a few days ago. Writing her essay on the "most potent herbs in Britain" went surprisingly well. She just had to suffer the occasional interruptions when Fred and George wanted her opinion on some of her newest plans. There was just something about the two boys that gave Jayla comfort. She hardly even recognized the Slytherin girls walking by, shouting their usual insults at her, though she had to stop Fred and George from jinxing them.

"I've learned to ignore them," Jayla explained.

Both of them looked at her unconvinced. Jayla closed her book and took a deep breath.

"Okay, maybe it has always bothered me. But somehow knowing I have fr … that I'm not sitting here alone makes it easier." The girl looked down on her notes, embarrassed she had almost called them her friends, when they probably just sat here with her because they still felt sorry for her. There wasn't anything Jayla hated more than being pitied, but somehow she also couldn't bring herself to just stand up and walk away from the boys.

As always, Fred was quick to change the subject to lighten the mood once he realized Jayla got uncomfortable. A character trait Jayla was more than grateful for.

"So… what are your plans for the Hogsmeade trip weekend?" George asked randomly.

"Hmm?" Jayla was so lost in her thoughts that it took her a bit to process the question. "I wasn't planning on going as I don't really need anything from the shops."

The boys looked at her with their mouths open. "But it's Hogsmeade!" they exclaimed. "You don't just go there to buy school supplies. It's supposed to be a fun trip AWAY from school to just have fun with your friends."

Both stopped talking at the same time, probably realising that this was exactly the reason Jayla wasn't going.

"Okay, that's settled," Fred said immediately, "you're going with us."

"Do I even get a say in that?" Jayla asked though she already knew the answer.

"Nope!" Both exclaimed at the same time.

Jayla just smiled and shook her head.

Jayla had been able to push the thought of the boys just doing all that out of pity aside for the rest of the free period they had spent sitting in the soft grass, but as they walked back to the castle, it returned, constantly nagging in the back of her mind.

"You know, you don't have to do that," she randomly burst out, which was met with a look of utter confusion on Fred and George's part.

"Do what?!" They both asked.

"Hang out with me because you feel sorry for me," Jayla explained. "I've said it before. I'm not a damsel in distress. I don't need to be saved or anyone's pity."

Jayla had expected them to either be relieved they could just dump her or offended – in the unlikely case she actually was wrong, which she still didn't dare to hope – but she had definitely not seen their reaction coming. She almost jumped as first George and then Fred put an arm around their shoulder on each side of her and just started laughing.

"Trust us, we may be nice, but we're not THAT nice that we'd offer our precious time to save a Slytherin princess," Fred said while shaking his head, still laughing.

"We like hanging out with you," he added , "you're fun to be around and I would definitely miss your sarcasm."

"And your elbow in my ribs," Fred quickly added, which almost earned him another elbow nudge from Jayla, hadn't he anticipated that already and jumped aside just in time.