Wow, guys, I'm really sorry, I haven't updated in ages. But I'll explain later. Hope you enjoy:)
"Lumos," Xinia mutters, the end of her wand acquiring a glow.
The room lights up, and all four of us gasp.
Chapter 2
We look around in shock. Anica and Ciena are speechless, and I can tell they're wondering why their parents didn't tell them about this.
"What is this?" Xinia asks.
The usual joke I would say about her not knowing what something is falls short on my lips due to my astonishment.
"This is a potions lab," Ciena announces, looking at the rows upon rows of potion stores.
"Yeah, I got that, but...why?" she glares at Ciena.
Ciena gives her an incredulous look.
"How should I know? Up until ten minutes ago, I didn't know it existed."
I ignore them as I study the room.
A bookshelf lined the far wall, and I could see that it contained many potions books with instructions and recipes. The side walls were lined with shelves upon shelves of different potions, all with small labels that I couldn't make out from here. Along the back wall was a bench with several cauldrons and scales and all sorts of equipment for making potions.
From the looks of it, a potion had been made not too long ago. I wander over to inspect the light blue liquid. It is in a small beaker with blue smoke coming off it.
"What's this one?" I ask, turning to Ciena and Xinia.
"Hey, why didn't you ask me?" Anica complains, noticing that I wasn't directing the question to her.
I roll my eyes.
"I'm so sorry. What is this one Anica?"
"Why the hell would I know?"
"It's Wolfsbane," Xinia says, coming up beside me, ignoring our antics.
"Huh," I say, putting the potion back down.
We continue looking around for a while until Ciena calls out to us.
"This one is Amortentia, a love potion," she says.
"And this is Felix Felicis," Xinia exclaims. "Oh, look! Veritaserum...Draught of Living Death...Forgetfulness Potion...Wow! Polyjuice Potion!"
She lists a bunch of other potions; ageing, death, healing, invisibility, until I decide to interrupt.
"Why do your parents need all of this?" I ask, glancing at the twins. "I mean, I get having one or two potions on hand, but this...this is insane! And why do they have things like death potions? What could they need it for?"
They can only give me shrugs. Ciena is about to reply before Xinia suddenly gasps loudly. I glance over at her and frown. The shelf she was standing in front of was stacked entirely with only one potion.
"Is that all Wolfsbane?" I ask.
"Do you guys know a werewolf? Cause I can't think of any other reason as to why so much is needed," Xinia answers.
The twins glance at each other before shaking their heads. We walk over and examine the shelves before I start to wander. The next shelf over is full of labelled healing potions; Blood-replenishing potions, Murtlap Essence, Wound-Cleaning potions and more. At first, I don't think anything of it, but then I notice there are almost as many healing potions as Wolfsbane.
"Guys? Please tell me it's just a coincidence that there are thousands of healing potions next to the Wolfsbane."
The others look at me in confusion before noticing the shelves. Ciena's eyebrows shoot up into her hair as she realises how much there is. Meanwhile, Xinia starts picking bottles up and inspecting them before putting them back down again. I watch her for a moment before asking what she's doing.
"I'm looking at them," she answers. "Huh. Most of these have been made pretty recently. Compared to all of the others at least. These can't be more than a month old," she points at the ones nearest her. "Although these," she points a little higher up. "Are older."
"Interesting," I sarcastically say.
"So what's this love potion do?" Anica asks, completely ignoring what we're doing.
"Amortentia is the most powerful love potion in existence. It causes a powerful infatuation or obsession from the drinker. It has a distinctive mother-of-pearl sheen, and steam rises from it in characteristic spirals," Ciena recites.
"So it makes someone obsessed with someone else if they drink it?" Anica asks.
"That's not - sure," Ciena sighs.
"Amortentia smells different to each person, according to what attracts them," Xinia adds. "Here," she grabs a bottle and uncorks it, holding it out to Anica.
Anica sniffs it, and her eyebrows raise.
"What do you smell?" I ask her.
"Vanilla, one of those muggle pyjama shops and this Christmas candle we had a few years ago," she answers.
"Nice. Let me smell," I say.
Xinia holds it out to me, and I bring it to my nose. When I take a sniff, I gag a little, gaining confused looks from the girls.
"Underestimated my sense of smell," I explain before bringing it back to me, slightly further away this time.
When it fills my nose, I grin a little. There's the unmistakable smell of rain, something that reminded me of Hogwarts, and…
"Wait, what is that?" I frown, sniffing the bottle again.
I separate the other two smells from the unknown one, and my eyes flutter close as a memory hits me.
Suddenly, I'm in a different room and looking up at the ceiling, pressed up against something warm. I hear a small cry and am startled to realise that it came from me.
"Sh, sh, little one, it's okay," I hear a woman coo.
The woman starts to hum something under her breath and something tugs at the back of my mind, almost as if I recognise it. That's when I realise that the smell is all around me. It's some sort of perfume, I realise, because I can smell it from the woman.
"Gena?" I hear distantly.
I jolt out of the memory and frown at the bottle in my hand.
"What's wrong?" Xinia asks.
"Nothing," I shake my head. "Just one of the smells is something I don't recognise, but it's familiar. If that makes sense?"
"Complete sense," Xinia mocks. "What did you smell?"
"Rain, Hogwarts and that strange smell, like a ladies perfume or something."
She gives a slightly concerned grin before taking the bottle and walking over to Ciena. Ciena lifts the bottle to her nose, and her eyes seem to light up.
"Mm freshly cooked biscuits and cake, new books and," she smiles, taking another sniff. "The Hogwarts library."
Anica rolls her eyes before gesturing to Xinia. She brings the bottle up to her nose and inhales the scent.
"Ooh, campfire, roses and gum leaves," she smiles.
She takes one more sniff before putting the bottle back on the shelf. Never one to be distracted, Xinia returns to the Wolfsbane and healing potions.
"Why would your parents have so much of this?"
"Forget that, why do they have this room in general? I've never seen them need...Draught of Living Death," Ciena squints at the label on the nearest bottle. "Why would they have twenty on hand?"
Before anyone can answer, I faintly hear a door opening downstairs, and incoherent chatter reaches my ears.
"Guys! I think your parents are back. We need to get out of here!"
Their eyes widen as they race for the trapdoor. Xinia takes a last look around the room before following. I'm the last through, and I pull the door shut just as Warren calls out.
"We're home!"
"Quick!" I push them out the door and into the hall.
We rush down the stairs and to our little camping room and pretend to be completely relaxed. Almost instantly, Ruth walks through the door.
"Hello, girls. You all okay?"
"Perfect."
"Fine!"
"I'm a little hungry actually, what's for dessert again?" Anica asks.
"Marshmallows! How many times do I have to tell you?" Xinia exclaims.
I roll my eyes. We decide to get the fire going, and soon enough we're relaxing in the camp chairs, roasting marshmallows over the fire. Warren and Ruth disappear before long, and the four of us settle into laughter and conversation. A couple of minutes later, just as I'm about to bring up the potions lab, I hear Ruth call me into the house. I sigh a bit before standing up and join her with a questioning look. She beckons me into the kitchen, where I see Warren with three cakes.
"We're having an early birthday celebration for the girls," Ruth explains.
I raise my eyebrows slightly.
"That's a lot of cake for six, maybe seven people," I point out.
"Well, that's where you come in. Can you be on door and apparation point duty?" Warren asks.
I look at him in confusion.
"What?"
Warren and Ruth grin.
"We've got visitors arriving in two minutes," Ruth says, checking her watch.
"Visitors? Who's coming?"
"Anna, Gary and Xander, of course," Warren says. "And Nick, Dylan, George and Kimmy. Their parents will collect them tomorrow, Xinia's family will leave sometime tonight. Although we can offer for them to stay?" he glances at Ruth.
She nods.
I grin before walking to the entry hallway just as a small knock sounds. I quickly open the door to see the Ren's. I gesture for them to be quiet and wave them into the kitchen. Dylan appears next with his Dad in the apparation point. I greet James before he disappears and then give Dylan strict instructions to be quiet and head to the kitchen. Kimmy and George arrive next, and I head in with Nick once he arrives.
"Mum, Dad, what's taking Gena so long?" I hear Anica asking from the next room.
"I'll be out in a minute, settle down," I call out.
"Gena, you better go. We'll be out in a minute with the cakes. Don't give anything away," Ruth says.
I nod and head out, pulling on a blank expression.
"What did Mum want?" Anica asks.
"They wanted to know what I was getting you guys for your birthday, so they didn't get the same thing," I lie.
They nod like it's an acceptable answer and I fight off a grin. We talk aimlessly for a few more minutes before I hear whispers coming from behind the door.
"3, 2, 1," I hear Warren countdown.
The door bursts open and everyone comes inside; Ruth, Warren and Gary in the lead with the cakes.
"Happy Birthday to you," they chorus.
"Happy Birthday to you," I join in with a grin at the astounded look on all three of their faces. "Happy Birthday to Anica, Ciena and Xinia," everyone says the names in a different order, causing us to laugh. "Happy Birthday to you!" we finish clumsily.
"Hip Hip!" I shout.
"Hooray!" everyone replies.
"Hip Hip!"
"Hooray!"
"HIP HIP!"
"HOORAY!"
Everyone cheers and claps and I grin at the girls.
"Thank you!" they beam, walking over to hug their parents.
"How the hell did you organise this all?" Anica cries, looking over at the boys and Kimmy.
Ruth shrugs with a grin.
"That's for me to know and you to not."
"That's not how it goes," Ciena rolls her eyes.
"It's also very dramatic," Anica agrees.
I laugh, shaking my head at their antics.
"Come on, cake time!" Gary suddenly calls out.
Everyone rushes over and crowds around the three cakes. He hands the girls a knife each and I subtly inch away from them as they cut the cakes.
"Relax, we're not going to kill you or anything," Anica notices.
"Speak for yourself," Xinia grins, waving the knife slightly at me.
"Remember, if you cut the bottom you have to kiss the nearest boy," Gary announces with a smile.
Almost immediately Finn, George, Nick, Dylan and Xander scuttle away over next to me, far away from the girls.
"Trust me, none of us wants to kiss you," Xinia laughs.
I snort, sharing a grin with Anica and Ciena while glancing at George and they don't bother containing their laughter. Xinia glares at them before digging the knife into her cake. She ends up touching the bottom, and Gary leans over expectantly. She laughs and pecks his cheek while Anica and Ciena reluctantly do the same to Warren. Then they cut the cake up and distribute it to everyone. We end up in a big circle around the campfire, adults on one half and the rest of us on the other. I end up with Xinia on one side and George on the other.
Not even bothering to be subtle, I offer Xinia my seat, laughing the whole time. She just glares at me until I sit back down again. We easily fall into conversation, the eight of us catching up with everything that's happened over the holidays.
Before long everyone has finished their dessert and the Ren's stand up to leave.
"Oh, Anna, Gary, do you want to stay here for the night?" Ruth asks, standing up as well. "I know you live a long way out. It's no trouble."
Anna glances at Gary who shrugs.
"That would be great, thanks, Ruth. Unfortunately, we don't have such effective ways of travelling," Anna smiles slightly.
Next to me, Xinia's smile falls a little.
"If you guys are staying, you're staying up the opposite end of the house," she announces. "This is our birthday celebration, and we're going to want to have fun without you guys stopping us."
Anna gives her a slightly disapproving look, but Gary just smiles.
"Of course. Just don't stay up too late, okay?"
"Gary!" Anna reprimands.
"Thanks, Dad," Xinia grins at the same time.
Eventually, Anna gives in with a small shake of the head while the rest of us laugh at their squabble.
We decide to clear up afterwards, and all the adults plus Finn move out of the camping room, leaving the eight of us plus Xander under the transparent roof.
"Please don't tell me I have to put up with you twelvies all night," he groans, albeit with a grin.
"No," Anica says. "You can stay upstairs if you want."
"Cool," Xander says. "Although I might stay down here a little longer for entertainment."
The nine of us settle down into various camping chairs and sleeping bags, which I realised Ruth had bought extras of for the others. We talk about our holidays and Hogwarts and other meaningless things before I suddenly get an idea.
Unfortunately, I can't discuss it with the girls around. I zone out as I try to think of ways to distract them. I could ask them to get something, but that wouldn't give us much time. Maybe I could get them to fight? That would distract them enough. But again, probably not for long enough.
Then I remember the Muffliato charm and realise I can use it to my advantage. I just need to make sure the girls don't try to listen in.
Getting up, I walk over to the boys and Kimmy and join in their conversation. The girls don't seem to mind, barely having looked up when I walked away, so I subtly cast the charm. Xander spots me and furrows his eyebrows.
I clear my throat, getting everyone's attention.
"Okay, so as you all know, the triplets birthday is in three days, the second day back at Hogwarts."
"Yes, Gena, that's why we're all here," George rolls his eyes.
I glare at him but continue.
"Obviously, you guys managed to plan something elaborate for my birthday, so I plan to pay them back. Gena style."
"Gena style?" Nick snorts.
I ignore him.
"Okay, here's what I'm thinking…" I launch into an explanation.
About ten minutes later, everything is finalised, and all of us are grinning.
"If any of you give this away I will personally make your life a living hell," I warn, taking down the Muffliato charm.
I then join the girls again, and Kimmy tags along.
"What are we talking about?" I ask.
"Quidditch. Ciena agreed to pull a temporary truce," Xinia says.
"What about it?" Kimmy asks.
"We're hoping Nick and Dylan can get on the team this year," Anica says. "Now that Julia and Elijah have graduated, Priya will need a new Beater and Chaser."
"Reckon Owen will get the Chaser spot?" I ask.
They shrug.
"Maybe. We're more worried about one of the boys getting Beater but not the other," Anica says. "They always do everything together."
"Well part of being a Beater is being able to work with your partner," I say. "Something tells me Henry and one of the boys wouldn't work that well. I think if either of them got in, they'd both get in. They work best together."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Anica nods.
We're silent for a minute before I speak up.
"What about Fred?" I ask Xinia and Kimmy. "Do you reckon he'll get in this time?"
"I hope so," Kimmy says. "When we played at Christmas he easily beat Bailey. We could really benefit from having him on the team."
"He easily beat Bailey because Anica and I helped him," I correct her. "But yes, he's good."
"Well, he's allowed his own broom this year so he'll be able to show off his full ability," Xinia says. "Remember tryouts? He would've beaten Tyrene if he had a faster broom. I think there's no doubt he'll get in."
"Finally, some proper competition," I grin at Anica.
"Please," Xinia scoffs. "You guys lost the game against us."
"Only because my arm was broken," I say. "In that second game, we demolished you guys."
"You did not!" Kimmy protests.
"Yeah, Gena, we didn't demolish them," Anica laughs. "We wiped the ground with them. The points were 300-90."
"We remember just fine what the points were, thank you very much," Xinia mutters, huffing and crossing her arms over her chest.
Anica and I collapse in laughter while the other two sulk. Ciena just rolls her eyes before moving the conversation on.
Eventually, Xander bids goodnight and leaves, and the eight of us decide to play a game of Truth or Dare with a bit of a twist - we choose for someone else. Our options are a little limited with it being night time and in a house rather than a castle, but we make do.
"George, I dare you to swap clothes with Nick for as long as I want," I say when it's my turn, grinning at the two boys.
They roll their eyes but quickly swap. They walk away into a darker part of the room where we won't see them and emerge a couple of minutes later. Everyone bursts into laughter upon seeing them.
Nick, being much shorter than George, was practically drowning in George's clothes while his barely covered any of George.
"Yeah, yeah," George grumbles. "You're gonna pay, Gena. Anica, you have to swap clothes with her."
We scoff.
"Unlike you two, we're practically the same size," Anica laughs. "Hers will be a bit tight on me but nothing like you."
"Idiot," I roll my eyes.
We walk over to the same dark corner, quickly swapping our clothes. Hers are a little loose on me and mine stick to her in some spots, but it's not all bad. Except for the fact we have completely different tastes in even casual clothes.
"You look ridiculous!" Xinia laughs when she sees us.
"I'm surprised she can take her eyes off of George," Anica mutters to me.
I choke on my own suppressed laughter while the others just stare in confusion at us.
"Anica, you go," Ciena says.
"Okay, Dylan…"
The game continues with more and more amusing dares and revealing truths. We play until our eyelids are drooping and we can barely stay awake. Then reluctantly, we head to sleep.
I quickly learn that everyone in the boys Gryffindor dorm should be pitied. George and Nick snored like freight trains, and Dylan wasn't much better. After tossing and turning for ten minutes, I let out a frustrated groan.
"Xinia, please tell me you can do something about them?" I whisper.
"How do you think I deal with Ciena?" she answers just as quietly.
"Hey!"
A moment later, the snores stop. I let out a sigh of relief before turning over onto my back. As everyone slowly drifts off, I stare up at the stars visible through the roof. As I watch them shine and twinkle, I find myself appreciating Xinia's choice to go 'camping.' Staring up at the night sky was pretty relaxing and beautiful. Before long, I drift off as well.
August 31st, 2031
"Shut up!" Anica yells.
I slowly open my eyes to find Xinia standing in the middle of the room, trying to wake everyone up.
"Xinia, it's five-thirty in the morning! Go back to bed!" Dylan complains.
"No, get the hell up! I'm hungry and bored, and I can't get back to sleep!"
I turn back over, trying to ignore her, but as soon as I do so, Xinia walks over to me, trying to shake me awake. I push her away, but this time, she jumps onto me.
"What the hell?!" I growl, shoving her off me and glaring at her. "Piss off Xinia," I shove her off again as she keeps trying to climb on me.
"Fine, grumpy pants," she snarks.
I punch her none too lightly to show my annoyance before she gets off me. I roll over to try and get comfortable again. Unfortunately, today doesn't seem to be one of my good days as I catch a glance at my wrist. It was practically glowing, which I knew would mean it would be hard to block her out as she kept trying to get everyone else up and awake.
Eventually, I give up and just lay there to try and prolong my getting up. Unfortunately, I can only last so long while the others are walking around and chatting. With a groan, I pull myself up and grumpily start getting ready for the day.
The others are still in their clothes from last night with messy hair and sleepy eyes, but I have the handy ability to morph, so I do just that. Anica and I had been allowed to swap our clothes back last night, so I don't have to worry about returning them. Instead, I morph into a light sweater and jeans with my blue hair up in a messy bun.
"I don't like you having blue hair," Xinia turns to me. "Make it red!"
I just glare at her, still annoyed because she woke me up.
"I'll make it whatever colour I want, thanks," I reply smoothly.
"Lighten up will you?" Anica says. "No fighting."
"Well if someone hadn't decided to wake me up at five-thirty in the bloody morning maybe I'd be a little happier," I snap.
"Come on, let's just get breakfast," Ciena says over a reply from Xinia.
We all agree before following her out into the kitchen.
"What do you guys want?" Ciena asks.
Everyone shouts a different response, and her face turns blank.
"I'll admit I didn't think that through," she mutters. "Uh, how about we wait for Mum and Dad to get up?"
I roll my eyes before walking past her to look in the cupboards and muggle fridge.
"We got waffles, pancakes, bacon, bread and eggs. Choose something out of that," I announce, pulling out some bacon and bread.
"Are you offering to cook?" Xinia asks, looking dumbfounded.
I scoff.
"No. But everything is self-explanatory. I'm sure between the seven of you, you can manage it."
"Uh, yeah, you haven't seen George cook," Kimmy says.
I manage to restrain from glaring at her, still in a crappy mood.
"George wants bacon and eggs. I'm cooking bacon and Nick also wants eggs, and I know he's an acceptable cooker and can make them for him. I'll also cook bacon for Dylan and Xinia."
Sensing my bad mood, no one says anything. I huff as I start putting the bread in the toaster and open the bacon. I don't know where my mood had come from, but I knew I should pull back a little. I offered Xinia a small smile to show I wasn't really mad at her. I also refrained from slamming things. I thought I did pretty well at containing my gloominess.
After about ten minutes, everyone had something to eat, so we sat down at the kitchen table. Kimmy was left flipping pancakes and watching the waffles. I had cooked more bacon for myself than everyone else, so I happily crunched down on it while taking bites out of my buttered toast. Admittedly, after having some food, I was in a much better mood.
Not long later, the adults start to rise and filter into the kitchen. We move into the lounge room to give them space. We talk until everyone is finally ready for the day.
"So, back to Hogwarts tomorrow, huh?" Ruth says, coming into the room. "Are you guys excited?"
"To finally not have to share a house with this thing? Absolutely!" Anica responds, pointing at Ciena.
Ruth fixes her with a stern look to which Anica immediately mumbles a quiet apology.
"Are the two of you ready for your detentions with Professor Malfoy?" Ruth asks, looking between Anica and me.
At that, everyone looks at us in confusion while we wince.
"Uh, yeah, we haven't actually told them about that…" I point out unnecessarily.
"What are you in detention for?" Xinia asks as I notice Ruth slip out of the room.
"Wait, detentions, as in plural?" Kimmy asks at the same time.
I nod, choosing to answer Kimmy.
"3 weeks if I remember correctly," I say glancing at Anica who nods with a small grin.
"And 30 points each once there's enough to be taken," she finishes.
"Again, what for?" Xinia demands.
I fight back a grin, having long forgotten the fear of getting in trouble.
"Remember that ridiculous prank that was pulled on Ravenclaw Tower at the end of the year?" I start.
It's remarkable how quickly her face can match her hair colour when she's mad.
"THAT WAS YOU?!" she yells.
I bite my lip to stop a smile. Unfortunately, she notices.
"You think this is funny? You two could have killed hundreds of students! You could have been expelled! You're such idiots! What the hell were you thinking?"
I zone out, becoming uninterested in her rant. My gaze slides over Anica, and I grin at her.
Told you she'd overreact, I mouth.
She just grins and shakes her head. Xinia suddenly marches over to me, having noticed I wasn't listening.
"You are ridiculous! I can't believe you! Imagine if that had exploded inside our dorm! You would have killed me!"
"In all fairness, I doubt you would have woken up. It would've been a painless death," I reply.
"In all fairness? I WOULD LIKE TO FINISH SCHOOL BEFORE I DIE!"
By this point, everyone had moved to the other corner of the room, just leaving Xinia standing over me.
"Xin, we're sorry. We weren't planning on using the explosives," Anica tries to defend us.
I see a smile creep across Xinia's face, so I exhale.
"Anica, do you think I'm STUPID!? Of course, you were going to use them! Why else would you have been holding them?"
I'll admit, I'm kind of hurt by her lack of faith in us, although I can understand where she was coming from.
"Okay, so maybe we were planning on using them!" I admit. "So what? It was -"
"SO WHAT?" Xinia interrupts me.
"It was supposed to be a harmless prank," I carry on, ignoring her outburst. "No one was going to be hurt."
"BLOWING ME UP WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A HARMLESS PRANK?! Wow, you're hilarious!"
"You know, I'm starting to wish we had blown you up," I joke dryly.
Xinia's face suddenly drops. If she wasn't serious before, she was now.
"How am I even friends with someone who would joke about blowing me up?! WHEN THAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED!"
Any other day I probably would have dropped it and apologised, even if it wasn't in full sincerity. But today I had woken up in a bad mood because of Xinia, and even though it had briefly disappeared, it suddenly came back full force.
"It was a joke, Xinia! Calm the hell down. Do you think I haven't had enough of this already? First Anica herself before the prank was even carried out, then Lupin, McGonagall, Malfoy, Mum, Dad and Bailey! Hell, even Ruth and Warren had a go at me! I'm so sick of this! It was supposed to be HARMLESS!" I shout.
"Oh, so I can't have a say?! I'm sorry I woke you up from your PRECIOUS BEAUTY SLEEP! AT LEAST I DIDN'T TRY TO BLOODY KILL YOU! I DON'T CARE WHO GAVE YOU A HARD TIME! THEY WEREN'T ALMOST KILLED!"
"WE DIDN'T TRY TO KILL YOU!" I shout, knowing full well my hair had turned fiery red and I wouldn't be surprised if my eyes were a stormy grey. "Do you honestly think we're that bad friends? Why the bloody hell would we try to kill you?"
"I don't know, but you joke about it all the goddamn time!"
"Yes. Joke. As in, never seriously!"
"You seem pretty serious! Maybe you should sort out your act!"
"MAYBE YOU SHOULD GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR BOOKS AND LEARN TO TAKE A JOKE!"
"OH! MAYBE YOU SHOULD READ SOME! LEARN ABOUT HOW THESE WEASLEY JOKES WORK!"
"Don't lecture me about how Weasley jokes work! I know damn well how they work! IT WAS A FREAKING ACCIDENT. I dropped them in the goddamn sky, AND THEY BLEW UP!"
"WELL, THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN HOW DANGEROUS IT WOULD'V BEEN TO PUT IN MY DORM!"
"IT WAS NEVER GOING TO BE IN YOUR DORM YOU IDIOT! It was going to be in the Common Room where absolutely NO ONE was. WHERE NO ONE WOULD HAVE BEEN HURT!"
"YOU'RE CALLING ME AN IDIOT?! Did you see how much of McGonagall's office was blown up?! MY DORM IS RIGHT ABOVE THE COMMON ROOM! It would have destroyed the Common Room and taken Ciena, Kimmy and myself down into it!"
Her words stun me for a moment before I fire back.
"Well, how the hell am I supposed to know that? The one time I tried to follow you in there you shut the door in my face!"
"And look how far you've come! Oh wait, you haven't. We're arguing about the exact same thing right now! YOU BEING A TERRIBLE FRIEND!"
I try not to show it, but her words hit home. I send her a murderous glare before gathering myself up.
"I'm sorry for trashing your tower Ciena and Kimmy. Sorry for ruining your birthday celebration as well you two," I glance at the twins. "I think I'm going to get Ruth to contact Mum. I'll see you tomorrow."
With that, I storm out of the room, ignoring Xinia's gaze burning into the back of my head.
"Fine, run away from all your problems," I hear her comment through the closed door. "Just like you always do."
I stop dead in my tracks, then whip around and storm back into the room. Everyone gasps when they see me, but I pay them no mind. I walk right up to Xinia, and without thinking, slap her as hard as I can over her cheek.
She stumbles back in pain, clutching her bright red skin as I leave the silent room. Having let my anger out on her, I no longer storm about the house. I gather my things from Anica's room. When I step out to close the door, I hear a gasp just before I run into Ruth.
"Sorry," I mutter.
"Gena? What's wrong?"
I scoff, raising my head to look at her. I frown when her face pales. She opens Anica's door and pushes me inside to look in the mirror. My protests are cut short when I spot my reflection.
My hair was black, and my eyes were red. My eyes were narrowed in anger, and I could see a dark glint in them. My whole body was tense, and I was panting slightly.
I looked like a freaking psychopath murderer.
I immediately changed my hair and eyes back to my usual look and saw my reflection slump slightly as everything untensed. Just then it clicked why everyone had gasped when I walked back into the room when I…
"Oh god," I whisper.
I don't know what had come over me. One minute I was ready to kill Xinia, and now I was horrified at my actions. Still mad as hell, yeah, but horrified.
Ruth gives me a pitiful look before I race back downstairs and into the room. When I fling the door open everyone jumps before subtly moving in front of a crying Xinia. My heart tugs painfully as I note their body language. They were trying to protect Xinia from me.
"Back for more, are you?" Kimmy snarls.
I send her a scathing look before coming closer.
"Xinia -" my voice breaks slightly.
"Save it, Gena. Just leave," comes her reply.
I notice Anica standing slightly apart from the group, but still defensively. I slump over.
"Can everyone please just leave us alone?" I ask quietly.
"And leave you to kill Xinia? No way!" Kimmy cries.
"Piss of Kimmy," I growl. "Everyone get out, please," I let my hair flicker black for a moment before reigning my anger back in.
I meet their glares with a level look before resting on Anica. I soften my expression slightly and plead silently with her. She sighs quietly before relenting.
"We're staying right outside the door. If anyone starts yelling we're coming straight back in," she warns.
I nod my understanding as they file out. Kimmy sends me one last scathing look before closing the door.
I turn back to Xinia and see her wiping her cheeks. I tentatively take a step forward, and then another until I stand in front of her. I let my mask fall to show her all my real emotions.
"Xinia, I'm sorry for slapping you," I apologise earnestly. "I don't - I mean - I -," I sigh. "Something came over me. I'm sorry. Truly."
I hate letting all my emotions show so prominently, but I know it's the only way to show her how I feel.
Finally, she gives a tiny nod in acknowledgement, and I close my eyes briefly in relief.
"You still haven't apologised for almost killing me," she reminds me.
"I didn't -" I cut off at her look. "Fine. I'm sorry. But this goes two ways. You need to understand it was never our intention to hurt anyone. It was supposed to be a harmless prank."
Xinia stays quiet for a moment before relaxing a little more.
"Yeah."
I sigh, cursing both of our stubbornness.
"Look. Do you honestly think we would try to hurt people?" I look her straight in the eye.
"I mean Anica wouldn't mind killing Ciena," Xinia smiles.
I chuckle a little.
"True. But I'm serious. Do you?"
"Dead Sirius?"
I let out a choked laugh/cry.
"That was uncalled for. But...sure."
"I know, I just need a minute."
"Okay. Take as much time as you want. Except, actually, please don't. I kinda don't want to go back to Hogwarts without my best friend being my best friend," I attempt a joke.
She gives me a small smile, and I take that as my dismissal. I slip out of the room only to be faced with six angry faces. Well, five and a half. I sigh, glancing at Anica before looking over all of them.
"Look, not that it's any of your business, except maybe Anica's, but we've sorted things out. Mostly. Stop being all defensive and angry. Please," I scowl at the word.
"Next thing, we walk in and Xinia's dead," Kimmy mutters.
I narrow my eyes as Ciena hits her and gives her a disapproving look before the two of them push past me. Before they open the door, however, I call out to Kimmy. I clench my jaw to control my anger.
"Look. Honestly, I couldn't care less what you think about me. But time and time again, you've doubted our friendship, and I've had enough. I agreed to call a truce with you last year, but only if you kept up your side of it. You're pushing my limits."
"Watch your step Dinnick. Blow up at me, and none of them will trust you again," she smirks.
I smirk back.
"Don't give me a reason to."
"Don't worry about her," Anica cuts in walking over to me, and Ciena and Kimmy slip inside the room.
"You're not too mad, are you?" I ask.
"Nah, Xin kinda deserved it," she laughs. "Plus she held it together for a moment after you left. She'll be fine."
I smile, knowing that Anica is at least partially on my side. With any normal friendship, this is where'd you hug, but us not being very touchy-feely people, we stand there kind of awkwardly.
"Plus, I reckon she's loving all the attention she's getting from George," Anica grins.
I snort.
"Seriously, though," Anica says. "Are you guys alright?"
I sigh.
"Yeah, I think so. I told her it really was meant to be a harmless prank. We didn't yell, that's a good thing, right?"
Anica laughs while nodding.
"She just...I don't know. She's stubborn. I'm stubborn. We'll be okay, though, I think. I got her to laugh. She didn't fight me when I said she was my best friend. She joked and laughed. She just wants a little time."
"You're rambling," Anica points out.
"I know," I sigh, hanging my head in my hands. "She just has the ability to make me mad for no reason at all. And normally it's okay because our fights don't mean anything. But this is only like the second time we've really fought and I just…"
"You don't want to lose her friendship?" Anica answers. "It's fine; I get it. And trust me, you won't. You guys will fix it with no problems. Believe me."
"I hope so," I sigh. "I just don't know what came over me. I was mad as hell, for almost no reason. Like, yeah, I was mad she was calling us, well, me, an idiot and yelling at me for the prank and everything, but I was so much madder than I should have been."
Anica nods, looking a little hesitant.
"I've never seen you like that before. I mean, with, black hair and red eyes…"
"I didn't even realise. Until I ran into Ruth, and she forced me to look at myself in the mirror. When I saw my reflection, it was like the...spell, or something broke. I was horrified at myself for slapping her and getting mad like that."
"That reminds me. Did you apologise for slapping her?"
"Of course. That's the first thing I did."
"Good."
I grin, relieved that she's not dwelling on the weird mad thing. Only then do I remember the boys are still in the room, obviously trying not to listen in but being unable to help it. I sigh.
"Sorry about that guys," I apologise.
They just grin.
"Just remind me never to wake you up before seven o'clock," Nick laughs.
I laugh softly, "Yeah."
"On the bright side, now we have a tale to tell about the black-haired, red-eyed angry girl," George points out.
I groan, squeezing my eyes shut.
"Don't you dare. Everyone's going to think I'm some sort of psychopath."
"On the contrary, everyone will think you're a bad ass," Dylan says. "As long as we don't mention the whole sappy apology afterwards."
"Yeah, and the whole realisation of madness descending upon you," George joins in. "It kinda ruins the mood when you realise you're insane."
I punch him gently, although I'm glad they're okay with me. Trust the boys not to need a whole emotional story to forgive me.
Suddenly, I hear raised voices from the room the girls are in. Nobody seems to notice, though. I zone out as I listen in.
"Kimmy, I've had enough of this!" I identify the voice as Xinia's. "Every time there's problems between the eight of us, it's because of you!"
"That is not true!" Kimmy screeches.
The other four seem to catch on that something's wrong.
"Should we intervene?" George asks worriedly. "Kimmy could be starting another argument."
"Just wait and see if they actually start yelling," I answer.
"You're on thin ice Kimmy!" This time it's Ciena. "I don't want you creating any more problems with us. If you do, you're out of the group!"
"As if you'd be able to make that call! Everything has to be run by precious Gena. Besides, George would never let you. If I leave, so does he!"
"So not true," George mutters.
"So not true," I hear Xinia reply, and I fight back a roll of my eyes. "In case you haven't noticed, even George is starting to get sick of the way you're acting."
"He is not!"
"He is!" Both girls cry. "Just because he's your twin brother doesn't mean he'll defend you if you do something wrong. Believe me. It doesn't work that way," Ciena says.
"Thanks, sis," Anica mutters.
"My relationship with George is nothing like you and Anica. Unlike you two, we actually like each other!" Kimmy says.
"How dare you!" Anica suddenly cries, pushing the door open. "I might not get along with Ciena at the best of times, but that doesn't mean you can insult us like that."
"And I'm so sick of you constantly talking bad about Anica behind her back!" Ciena continues. "I'm allowed to say things like that because she's my sister. It goes without saying siblings are allowed to talk crap about each other. But that doesn't give you a right to say those things about her! She's supposed to be your friend. And even if that's a stretch, talking bad about someone when they're not around is just downright rude."
I can see a retort on the tip of her tongue but George cuts in.
"Kimmy, they're right. I'm not with you on this. You constantly cause fights between the four closest people I know, all of whom are my friends. If you continue, not even I'm going to tolerate you anymore. You've had more than enough warnings."
"You stupid, arrogant Gryffindor! Always having to stand up for your pride and honour!" Kimmy mocks him.
Everyone seems to turn from angry to furious at this one line. We, excluding Xinia and Ciena, had become fed up with Kimmy months ago, and this was the final straw.
"You git!" Nick shouts.
"Go ahead and annoy your brother, see how I care. But never! Ever insult GRYFFINDOR!" Dylan defends his house.
"Oh, stay out of this," she snaps. "You don't even have the brain capacity to hold a proper argument."
"You are such a huge bitch!" Xinia bursts out.
I'm a little shocked. I've heard Xinia swear a bit, but this was new.
"I'm sick of you judging all of us! You're even judging me for taking some time to hang with friends instead of studying! You're pissing me off now!" Xinia continues her rant.
If Xinia had Metamorphmagus powers, she'd probably look like I did a few minutes ago. I mean she probably always would. The thought makes me laugh a little, and everyone's eyes turn to me. Unphased, I quickly think of something.
"Congratulations," I drawl. "You've officially managed to piss every one of us off. You know, that takes effort. Really. Congratulations."
"And to think I thought you were a nice friend a week ago! YOU ARE DESPICABLE! D-E-S-P-I-C-A-B-L-E!" Xinia continues her rant to herself while walking away.
"Oh, amazing, she can spell!" Kimmy mutters more to herself than anyone else.
"Oh my God! SHUT UP!" Xinia yells, coming back to reality.
Before anyone can say anything else, Ruth suddenly appears in the room, along with everyone else in the house. Anna and Gary give Xinia a half-scolding look which the redhead ignores.
"I think it's time we all leave," Ruth suggests. "Your parents will arrive in a few minutes. I suggest you pack your things and get ready to go."
Her words are calm enough, but her face betrays her emotions. I can tell she just wants Kimmy to leave. All of us do, really. Beneath that, she also looked tired and stressed, but I didn't focus on it.
"I'm sorry Ruth, we shouldn't have acted like that," I apologise.
She nods and gives me a small smile just as I hear someone apparate in. A moment later we're joined by Kimmy and George's mum, who looks less than happy. Presumably, Ruth had mentioned something to her. Without a word, the twins immediately start packing their things up, neither speaking to the other. Once they've got everything, George turns to Ruth and Warren, who are standing towards the back.
"I'm very sorry about this Mr and Mrs Wore."
Kimmy stubbornly doesn't say anything, causing everyone's mood to plummet once again. Ms Jones beckons for her kids to follow her and they do, George bidding us goodbye. A few seconds later I hear a crack and then they're gone. Almost immediately, everyone breathes a sigh of relief. I feel bad for George, but I know there's nothing I can do.
After that, we pack everything up in silence, and James appears not long after to apparate his son and Nick out of the house. Once again, it's just the four of us.
"Well, that plan didn't go as well as I'd hoped," Ruth comments lightly as we start packing away the camping chairs and sleeping bags.
The four of us share a guilty look.
"We're really sorry, Mum," Ciena takes the lead. "It was a good plan, and we do appreciate it. None of us knew what was going to happen."
"Yes, it did go rather well last night," Anna comments from one of the camping beds. "I think everyone enjoyed themselves."
"I certainly did," Gary grunts as a chair almost falls on him. "Any time there's a cake, I can enjoy myself immensely."
"You're missing the point, Dad," Xander rolls his eyes with a brief smirk at Xinia.
"Yeah, the whole friends arguing and friendships ruined thing, that probably went right over his head," Xinia jokes.
"Nothing goes over my head! I'm too tall!"
"Dad, you're 5 foot 6," Xinia says.
"What's your point?"
"The average height of a male in England is 5 foot 9," she recites. "You're below average height."
"That is irrelevant. The point is, nothing goes over my head!"
I shake my head at his statement, remembering a time when he didn't even realise when Xinia first added some highlights to her red hair.
We quickly finish packing our things before Mum and Dad show up, not looking too happy. We leave almost straight away, which is a bit unusual, but I understand why. Once we get home, my parents turn, and I prepare for a long lecture.
So I've been getting bad Kimmy vibes and quite frustrated lately so this chapter felt really good to write:) Anyway, the reason I haven't updated in forever is because my computer went crappy so I had to get a new one but in the process I lost all my files so I had to look for them for a few days and then yeah more excuses. I'm so sorry. But I hope you enjoyed this chapter.