"What did she do to you?!" Hermione demanded, the second she laid eyes on Fred. He'd never seen her quite so furious before. He knew she was talking about the detentions he'd served with Umbridge. He made a half hearted attempt to feign innocence, which was more reflex than anything at this stage. "Show me your hand. Now."
Fred showed her it, and she turned it over in her hands. He glanced over his shoulder. They were in the hall outside her Runes class, but he had a free period. People streamed by, walking too quickly to pay them much mind. His hand wasn't scarred, not yet at least. There were faint lines of scabs over his hand though, the way that thin scratches healed. He looked like Crookshanks had gone to uni and then attacked him.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Hermione asked.
"I figured it'd be easier for you to pretend not to hate-"
"Please, I gave that up three days ago," Hermione snorted. "I must not break rules. That's more accurate than Harry's at least..."
"She does seem genuinely disturbed," Fred grinned. "I decided to prolong my whole 'being a good student' thing because she had to move my detention back for Harry's. How is he?"
"He's got I must not tell lies which isn't much of a meaningful reminder for him," Hermione said with a snarl. "I'm tempted to tell Sirius or Lupin, I'd like to see her have a conversation with a half-breed that ended with her being thoroughly cowed."
"And Sirius would put her in St. Mungo's without a glance back," Fred grinned.
"So how do you like being a good student?" Hermione asked.
"Umbridge is going mad. She doesn't think I'm up to anything, she looked a bit as if she wanted to cut my detentions short because I'm such a rule abiding student," Fred's grin only widened. "I'm preparing her a box of sweets."
"Are you?" Hermione asked. "How kind of you."
The warning bell rang. "Go to class and I'll tell you how it goes."
It went perfectly. After Fred's luxurious free period, spent testing Fever Fudge in his dormitory, he made his way down to the toad's class. He carried an assorted box, complete with the full collection of Fever Fudge (for which they had not included a cure), Fainting Fancies (for which they had not included the antidote), Nosebleed Nougats (for which they had not included a remedy), and Puking Pastilles (for which they had not included any solution). George carried a similar box, for he too had been put in detention the first day of class after whispering two words, three without contractions, to Fred, and had since been a model student. Lee was giggling before they stepped into the classroom. He'd scraped 5 O.W.L.s, including a not so impressive Muggle Studies one, and so had a Muggle head lamp and hard hat on over his dreads.
"Nicked it from Burbage's collection," he said proudly. "Construct people wear these when they make those really tall buildings like they have in London."
"Does the light work?" George asked, tapping it twice. Lee clicked it on, blinding him. "Merlin, that's bright!"
"Now or never," Fred said, nudging George with his elbow. They dropped their bags in their seats, delivered the candies to Umbridge's desk, George only slightly bruising his hip on a desk, and scampered back to their seats once they'd gotten a girlish giggle and too high pitched thank you. The twins smiled and made their way back to their seats. The class, which was half Ravenclaw, took a collective breath and leaned forward.
"Good afternoon."
"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge."
"Wands away, and turn your books..."
Silence. Occasional shuffling. The crinkling of paper. Fred sent George a giddy look. Silence.
"Oh, my," Umbridge said. Fred crossed his fingers for a nosebleed. Umbridge fell sideways out of her chair. A low chuckle came from Lee. Fred stood up.
"Come on, we can convince her she really is nuts."
He and Fred grabbed their candies to applause. Fred Vanished the wrapper from the Fainting Fancy and scurried back to his seat alongside George.
"All this and more, for 2 galleons a box!" George and Fred said together.
"Is she dead?"
"Of course not!" Angelina snapped, watching the room carefully. "George, how long until she wakes up?"
"I was out... 4 hours without the other half?" Fred asked, glancing at George for confirmation. He nodded. Though that was two months and 12 tweaks to the recipe ago. Fred grinned, "Class is dismissed!"
"Not so fast," a Ravenclaw said. "We need a story, and a good one at that. We should at least take her to the hospital wing."
"But she looks so peaceful," sniggered Lee. One fat hand clung to her desk, the other was pinned beneath her. She looked ugly as ever, with the addition of being misshapen and deformed.
"She's right," George muttered.
"Or we could trash the place and say she had a fit so we had no choice but to Stun her," Fred suggested.
"No, let's duel," said a Ravenclaw boy. "It may be our only chance all year."
"Alright, you're on," said Fred, standing with a large grin.
"Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw?" A lanky Ravenclaw with dark hair asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "That's not so hard at all, brain always defeats brawn."
"Alright then, Williams, you're first!" Angelina said.
"Please, he's a twig," Fred chuckled, throwing his robe to the ground behind him. He loosened his tie and rolled up his sleeves. He gripped his wand and threw a chair out of his way. He stared down Williams between two rows of desk. "And I'll snap you in half like one."
"By all means, ladies first," Williams grinned back.
"Hear that George, he thinks he's funny!" Fred turned his head the slightest bit, but it wasn't an ignorant move. He saw Williams flick his wand and ducked under the jet of blue light, sending a near white one back at him.
"A tickling spell, is that all you've got?" Williams called. Fred's next one caught him in the arm, and his sleeve was blasted off, leaving his skin blackened. The Gryffindors erupted into cheers, but Williams wasn't done yet. "Obscuro!"
Fred's vision went dark. He took a deep breath and ducked under several spells. There was a collective gasp from those watching. He put up a Shield Charm, wondering whether or not a Patronus could absorb spells. Then he wondered if he could even manage a Patronus. His vision cleared and he grinned.
"Avifors," Fred muttered, and several abandoned quills became bright red cardinals. They brought several sighs from the girls. "Opugno!"
The birds lined up like bomber planes, disappearing into bright red quills as they hit Williams' Shield Charm one by one. Fred ducked around a spell and set three more after him. His heart wasn't in it, so with a quick Summoning Charm, he brought three chairs flying into Williams, who ducked.
"Expelliarmus!" Fred took the opportunity of the distraction, catching Williams' wand out of the air gracefully. "How's that for brawn?"
"You didn't even get a Defence O.W.L. How did you do that?" Williams demanded.
"I've got Prewett blood in me," Fred said, tossing the wand back to him. Williams caught it awkwardly. He wondered who exactly was advertising which O.W.L.s he did and did not get, then remembered what he'd said the first day of class, which was very grumbly, about not taking N.E.W.T. classes when you hadn't even gotten the O.W.L. in it.
"Took 5 Death Eaters to kill our Uncles," George said.
"It'll take more than that to get us," they said together.
"So you believe Potter then?"
"I don't mean to embarrass him, but the bloke still has nightmares about," said Fred. No one seemed to notice that their Professor had started to stir. Fred began to relay some of what Hermione had mentioned. "He's got red eyes, with slits like a snake, he's paler than you-" here he pointed to a girl who looked like she'd never even heard of the sun, "-with no nose- he killed Diggory without a second thought, and he's going to-"
"That is all lies!"
The pale Ravenclaw girl sneezed, her wand pointed discreetly at Umbridge. She was hit by a jet of red light and passed out for the second time.
"Nice one Kara," another girl giggled.
"Hey, Johnson," Roger Davies, the pompous prick who captained the Ravenclaws' Quidditch team, called. "You and me."
"Let's do it," Angelina grinned.
"Never say that again," George coughed.
"Lee, make sure she doesn't wake up again," Angelina said, confidently stepping out of the crowd of Gryffindors. "You know, you must really like having your ass handed to you, Davies."
"I could say the same thing," Davies grinned.
Angelina snapped, "You forget who's got the best Seeker in the country!"
"When he's not passing out half way through the game," Davies snickered. Angelina sent a slew of hexes after him and Fred scrambled out of the way. Williams dived over a desk a second before it shattered.
"Chang is airhead and a half!"
"Potter can't fly straight to save his mother's life!"
Davies nearly went through the walls Angelina's curse hit him so hard. He connected with it with a sickening snap, then crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Angelina didn't look apologetic in the slightest; her, George, and Fred's faces had twisted into pure rage for a moment.
"Is he dead?"
"Erin, shut up!"
Fred made his way over to Davies quickly. He was groaning and muttering in his sleep, but his head was bleeding slightly. Only a little bit.
"Shit, you killed him," Fred said loudly. There was a collective gasp.
"Fred, shut up and fix him."
Fred laughed and muttered a few spells, closing his wounds and cleaning the blood off the floor.
"He probably won't remember anything, you'll be fine," Fred called.
"Well, it looks like brawn is trouncing brains," Lee called, filled with glee. He sent a Stunner at Umbridge without looking at her. "We really should do this more often."
"A weekly tear up the-"
The door opened, and all were horrified to see Professor McGonagall standing there. Fred took Davies' pulse, trying to control his own. Shit. They were in a heaping pile of steaming shit.
"What is going on?!"
"Professor Umbridge, she's had some kind of episode," Kara said quickly.
"She nearly killed Davies, he won't fly for a week," Williams added.
"We had to stun her before she completely destroyed her classroom," Erin squeaked.
"Mr. Weasley?"
"Yes," the twins said together. Fred stood from where he'd knelt at Davies' side, noticing with a slight frown that he had blood on his fingers.
"That one," McGonagall lifted a shaking finger to point at Fred. "Is he-?"
"He'll be alright," Fred said with a nod.
"D-Did she say anything?"
"Er- she went on a tirade about how she hates children," George said quickly.
"I don't doubt that at all," Williams muttered darkly.
"Are you okay, Mr. Williams, you seem to have lost a sleeve."
"Huh? Oh, I guess she must've hit me with something," Williams grimaced.
"Stand clear," McGonagall ordered, and the class scrambled to the walls. With a sweeping motion, she fixed every broken or misplaced object in the room.
"You're a wonder, Professor," George grinned.
"Ennerverate," Lee said forcefully. Umbridge's bow was very eskew, half off her head, when she clawed her way upright.
"The children, they're dangerous! They're trying to kill us all!" She howled. Fred stifled a laugh.
"Come now, Delores," McGonagall flicked her wand and disarmed the woman. "Time to get a calming draught from Poppy."
"Give them all detention, they've been- they've been rioting! I don't need a calming draught, I need justice!"
"You've had a break down, Delores," McGonagall snapped, "Come along."
Umbridge trailed behind her like a scolded dog. As soon as the door shut, there were cheers.
"You've gotten her sacked!" Williams whooped.
The door opened suddenly, "Mr. Weasley, take Mr. Davies down to the hospital wing in a few moments, after Professor Umbridge has calmed down a little bit."
And then she truly was gone.
"You've gotten the toad sacked!" Williams repeated. Several more people took up the cheer. Fred clenched his fist and read it.
"I must not break rules, my ass!" He shouted, then sent a weak hovering charm Davies' way. He was raised roughly two inches off the ground.
"This is a beautiful moment of teenage rebellion, and what not, but it won't take the adults that long to figure it out," George muttered to Fred, "What should we write on his face?"
"Nothing, he's a victim, remember?" Fred hissed. "I reckon it'd take Dumbledore to sort all this out. We should probably keep this quiet unless we want a bunch of third years to go for a repeat and end up in Azkaban for assaulting a teacher."
"Hey!" George yelled, drawing the excitement back in the room back to him. Fred picked up Davies arm and heaved him upward, draping it along his shoulder.
"Not a word of this leaves the room," the twins said together.
"We aren't all mental like you two," Williams scoffed, and he came over and took Davies other arm.
"Hold the fort," Fred ordered. George saluted and returned to Angelina's side. There was a bit of grumbling amongst the Ravenclaw's about how quickly she'd dispatched Davies. At least Fred had had the decency to toy with his opponent for a little while first.
"You're smarter than anyone gives you credit for," Williams grunted, shaking some dark hair out of his eyes. Fred kicked the classroom door shut behind him and cursed. "What?"
"We've got a double; in a minute and a half they'll be midgets swarming the halls," Fred hissed. It was awkward, carrying Davies between them. Williams had a few inches even on Ron, and several on both Davies and Fred. Davies was slanting dangerously, his feet dragging along the ground with a faint but satisfying scraping sound.
"It is the clever man who plays the fool," Williams muttered. "I'm Jacob Williams, by the way."
"Fred Weasley."
"Do you always duel complete strangers?" Williams asked. They slowed to carefully drag Davies down a staircase. Of course, with their luck, it started moving halfway down it.
"Exclusively," Fred muttered, thinking of Death Eaters. Some of which were his distant relations. He shuddered.
"He really is back, isn't he?" Williams sighed. "At first I didn't believe but now..."
"You just don't want to," Fred nodded.
"You have a rude, awful habit of finishing other people's sentences," Williams scowled, looking around. "How're we supposed to get to the hospital wing from here?!"
Then the midgets came from everywhere as the bell rung. Fred gestured hurried to a obscured passageway and they shuffled through it quickly.
"Why'd you offer to help if you're just going to whine?" Fred asked, and they came out the other end of the passageway into the tide of midgets. Some of which were the same height as Fred. He ignored these midgets in particular. "To the left; there should be a staircase."
"You think I'm going to let a Gryffindor Quidditch player alone with our Captain? You are mental."
"Angelina's already hurt him enough for one day, besides, you trusted me to heal him."
"Right, well, you had to," Fred lifted an eyebrow. "Peer pressure."
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Fred panted, navigating the spiral staircase warily.
"Dunno, apparently Muggles think it's a thing," Williams shrugged, Davies arm fell loose, and then Davies was yanked by gravity out of Fred's grasp. He fell down 4 steps and slumped against the ground with his ass in the air.
"That one is on you," Fred muttered.
.o0O0o.
Williams is an OC, btw, so don't go looking for him. Also, the twist I mentioned in my last AN, definitely not going to be a thing. I'm really,really sorry, because more than half the reviews were, essentially, oh dear God please don't. It was all a diversion, from what you'll have to decide for yourselves...
cochran4444: You are welcome! More smiles to come.
Guest: Thank you for reviewing, but I wish you had a real account so I knew for sure who exactly it is I'm addressing.
BCgurlie: I can't wait either, I'm considering skipping 6th year entirely (except leave in some explanation for the whole Lavender situation)
Electrocorrosive: Ron's kind of *cough* EXTREMELY *cough* unobservant, but even he can catch on. That conversation would've ended, "And I know she's your best friend but she's bloody hotter than hell." I thought up that Percy bit on the fly :D
marvin1984: Would you rather it be Ron or Percy?
Fandomqueen104: Angelina is one of my favorites, because all Harry knows about her is she's determined at Quidditch, which makes her, to me, one bomb ass witch in all aspects of life. I love that twist! ;)
swishyla: The AN just creates dramatic tension. It wasn't real, I promise.
animelover5107: I'm considering putting Angelina as an Auror for a little bit after the 7th book, but I'm not sure yet. Yet another person trying to kill Ron! I honestly don't have that big of a problem with him, I just cannot stand Romione.
ThatOneGirlNoOneNotices: Twist two; not the same wall. Wah-wah.
