The Amazing Thing About: Friendship. Chapter nine.

With the second week of classes starting Eliza was getting into the swing of things. On Monday she made it to every class on time including transfiguration. She made sure to plan out her entire day's schedule to make sure of it. She still had to dodge other students on her way and run but it wasn't nearly as confusing as the first week. By the next week she would have memorized her way to her classes and not rely on her map as much. Of course that didn't stop Fred, George, and Lee from poking fun at her when she arrived to some of their classes red in the face and breathing heavy.

By Thursday they'd checked on the empty classroom throughout the days to make sure it would work for what they needed and showed her the way after dinner. It looked like a storage room and everything was covered in dust. It really did look abandoned. The twins even had a cauldron and supplies set up for her already. They figured it could work for dual purposes for her practicing her spells which was a clever idea. It might have been old and dusty but it would work.

In classes they shared she rotated sitting with the twins and her housemates. It was usually charms that she chose to stay close to Hannah and Kelly so as not to prompt another lecture from Flitwick. However, that didn't stop the twins and Lee from messing with her. Once or twice Hannah would turn and shoot a ball of parchment at them joining in on the fun. While some of their fellow Ravenclaws looked on with disapproval Hannah and Kelly didn't seem to mind one bit. Kelly even said over dinner one night, quite loudly, that some of their housemates should 'lighten up and have their wands removed from their butts.'

She liked to spend some of her meal times at the Gryffindor table and she'd become better acquainted with Harry, Hermione, and Ron. She even met the youngest of the Weasley family, Ginny, who was very friendly and told her funny stories about the twins at home. It was really challenging not to bring up the fact that she'd been kidnapped the year before but she doubted the girl would want to relive something like that. Instead, she just tried to look at her as the twin's younger sister. Eliza was given a ton of insight on the brothers as Ginny talked. Some of the things she said the twins did to Ron made her crack up and others she wondered how they weren't considered criminals.

Her mood was light that week surrounded by new friends and she was starting to see that things weren't as hopeless as she'd once thought they were. Lee even talked her into standing watch for him and the twins while they sold things to underclassmen. When she gave a false alarm causing the guys to start shooing the students away while shoving things in their pockets she'd got a kick out of that. Of course they'd gotten her back by kicking the back of her chair at odd intervals. One of them kicked so hard during transfiguration that she accidentally transformed one of her classmate's textbooks into a pigeon. At least it wasn't burnt when she brought it back with a hurried apology.

Eliza helped Tasha, Cass, and Thomas with their homework on weekends in the afternoon and hung out with Hannah and Kelly in the common room until dinner. Afterward, she would sneak away to the empty classroom where she would experiment with her theories. Sometimes she'd be joined by one or both of the twins or Lee. Usually, they occupied themselves with something but on occasion would help out by handing her ingredients or keeping Rikki entertained while she worked.

When Quidditch trials came around the twins were occupied and she didn't see them as much that week but they still managed to distract her. Like on the following Monday when she was racing through the halls en route to Ancient Runes. She was passing the courtyard when she heard "Run Izzy!" and "You're gonna be late!" Being yelled. She turned her head for a split second and she slammed into Victor at full speed sending them both sprawling onto the floor. Rikki made a fuss doing a war dance after he was knocked from her bag and rolled across the floor.

Victor was on his feet before she was and knelt down to help gather her things as she tried to calm Rikki down. He sneezed at her and jumped out of her hands when she picked him up. He dove for her bag for cover. Victor gave him time to get in before handing it over to her. "Are you okay?" He asked with an amused expression as if he didn't know whether to laugh or not. Eliza brushed herself off and took the bag from him. "Yeah. Sorry. I wasn't paying attention." She said stepping around him.

"That's okay." He caught her by the elbow as she turned away to head to class. "You can make it up to me by sitting with me at dinner."

Eliza backed away as he released her and nearly stumbled. "Yeah. Sure. Dinner." She agreed without thinking. His smile was disarmingly cheery and she tried not to think about what that could imply as she bolted away. When she got to class she realized what she'd agreed to and wanted to strangle Fred and George. She tried to duck out of the arrangement by sitting between Hannah and another girl. Unfortunately, when Victor asked Hannah if she would let him squeeze in she said yes. Eliza offered him a polite smile as he took the seat next to her.

"If I didn't know better I'd say you were avoiding me." Victor smirked. Eliza shook her head. "No. Sorry, I forgot." She lied. He didn't appear bothered by it and started asking her about her day. She answered as vaguely as possible. He wasn't put off by it though and he launched into a mostly one-sided conversation about exams and what he wanted to do with his life after school. Eliza looked over at the Gryffindor table to see the twins watching and laughing. When she was done eating she quickly excused herself and made a beeline for the two who were heading for the exit. "That was all your fault." She hissed grabbing one of them by their robe and jerking him backward. He laughed and put an arm over her shoulders. "You should watch where you're going. You basically threw yourself at him." He grinned and she scowled.

It was like a domino effect and for the next week she dodged Victor as much as she could. It wasn't as if he was an unlikeable person but she couldn't stand the way her friends hounded her about the fact she'd caught his eye. She was friendly when she didn't have a choice like when he'd offer to walk her to class or join her in the common room. He even insisted on showing her around the castle which ended with him asking her if she was seeing anyone casually. She'd said no and faked a yawn saying she was exhausted. He'd been a gentleman and they'd returned to Ravenclaw tower but when he'd said goodnight she was already halfway up the stairs to her dorm.

"How's loverboy?" Fred asked during their first session of actually helping her instead of making her look like a fool. They were practicing the leg locking curse and she was testing out the movements and giving herself a mental pep talk. "Not funny." She replied as George snorted a laugh while he played with Rikki. "Funny thing about humor is when it's at someone else's expense it's the most fun." Fred grinned as he showed her the movements again.

"You're right." Eliza smirked and turned aiming her wand at him "Locomotor Mortis!"

Fred's legs snapped together and he toppled over causing George to crack up. Eliza turned to the cauldron she'd been waiting on to simmer and smiled to herself. "Shoot. I need more horned slugs." She sighed as she stirred the concoction. George leaned over her shoulder cringing at the smell. "I'll get it." He said and Eliza hopped up to sit on the desk as he left. It was satisfying watching Fred who was glaring up at her from the floor. For the first fifteen minutes she pretended to ignore him as he struggled. It was invigorating to turn the tables on him.

"Alright, I'll stop talking about Victor." Fred sighed and she got off the table to crouch next to him. "You promise?" She stuck out a pinky and he nodded before hooking his own around hers. She waved her wand and he shook his legs out before getting to his feet. "That was terrific." He smiled brightly.

"You gave me an easy target."

Fred chuckled. "So I just have to bring up Victor and you can focus? Sounds like someone has a crush."

Eliza pointed her wand at him again and he grabbed her wrist. "Woah. Easy!" He exclaimed and plucked her wand out of her hand. "That's dangerous." He held her wand out of her reach as she lunged for it. "You said you wouldn't bring him up again." She said to which he shrugged. "Must have slipped my mind."

She jumped for her wand again and he jabbed her in the ribs making her back up. "Oh?" He smirked and dropped her wand into his pocket as he reached for her. "No! No!" Eliza backed up further but he was quick and when he leaped towards her she turned to run. "No!" She exclaimed as he dug his fingers into her ribs causing her to hunch over wheezing with laughter. "Stop it!" She said between breaths and pulled at his hands.

"What's the matter? Are you ticklish? I'm sorry I can't hear you!" Fred locked an arm around her waist as she fought against him, continuing the onslaught with his free hand. "You're going to have to speak up." He said while she gasped for air. "I swear I will throw up!" She threatened but he didn't stop. "So throw up." He laughed.

The door opened and George crossed his arms over his chest watching as his brother tormented her. "Help me!" She gasped between laughs but he shook his head. "Why would I do that?" He smirked. Eliza tried to drop her weight to get out of Fred's grip but he just laughed and tickled her harder. She could barely breathe from the onslaught. "Stop!" She begged but he wasn't listening.

Eliza grabbed at his hand but he easily dodged her attempts until tears were streaming down her face and her stomach hurt. "I said stop!" She felt something tingle in her chest. It began to spread and grow stronger and she closed her eyes against the uncomfortable sensation. In the next second, Fred's arm dropped from around her "Huh?" He gave a surprised grunt just before he was sent skidding across the floor on his back.

"What?" George sounded confused as she caught her breath and her knees hit the floor. He was rushing towards his brother and Eliza looked over her shoulder just as Fred sat up. He was staring at her, eyebrows raised and mouth open. "How did you do that?" He asked. Eliza took a deep breath and wrapped her arms around her sore sides. She stood slowly, her legs feeling somewhat shaky. "What do you mean?" She asked. She didn't think she'd done anything. There were just those strange feelings but they were gone now.

George helped Fred to his feet. "You knocked him across the room!" He exclaimed as Fred withdrew her wand from his pocket and stared at it with a frown. "I did?" She asked in disbelief. Fred nodded and held the wand out for her. She shuffled forward and took it from him, eyes downcast. "I've never done that before." She said trying to piece together what had happened.

"Are you okay?" Eliza asked and Fred nodded. "Yeah. Just surprised me." He offered a half-smile. "Me too." She swallowed, mouth feeling suddenly very dry. George moved to the table and set the ingredients he'd brought on the table. "Do you think you could do it again?" He asked. Fred shot him a look. "Not on me!"

"I don't know." She slipped her wand into her pocket and checked over the cauldron. Never before had she been able to do magic without her wand. It wasn't uncommon for witches and wizards to do it but she hadn't thought she could nor had she ever tried. It had to be a fluke right? Her heart fluttered in her chest as anxiety flooded her. "Can you try again?" George asked again. She shook her head. "I don't want to." It could be dangerous. She was already iffy with her wand as it was. "I don't want to hurt anyone on accident."

Fred took a seat on the table and watched as she added some of the horned slugs to the potion and stirred it slowly. "Did I hurt you?" He asked. Eliza gaped at him. "No! You were just messing around." She didn't want him to think it was his fault. "It was an accident." Her mind was reeling with questions. How had she done that? Why now? Would it happen again?

The potion looked about ready and she bottled some of it and stashed it under one of the floorboards with some of the others she'd made. "You know we're going to need to test these right?" She desperately wanted to take the attention off of herself. "You can leave that to us." George looked a little too excited to use the concoction on someone and she raised an eyebrow at him but he mimed zipping his lips, locking them, and tossing a key over his shoulder. It might be preferable if she didn't know.

Eliza was relieved that the incident didn't come up again as they left the room. The twins talked in excited hushed tones as they walked the halls talking about all the opportunities they couldn't wait to use the potion for. They also talked about how much they should sell it for once it was perfected. "You better give me a cut of the profits." She said as they debated on how big of a 'deal' they should give anyone who bought larger amounts. She wasn't much for haggling though so when they offered her five percent of each sale she agreed. "That was easy." Fred scoffed and George snickered. "Should have said two percent."

Eliza couldn't fall asleep that night. While Rikki slept on the pillow next to her head her mind kept replaying the incident with Fred over and over. She determined it had happened due to her being overwhelmed but it didn't make any sense as to why it had happened so suddenly. Even when suffering at Connor's hands nothing like that had ever happened. Wouldn't it make sense for that to be the time it occurred? Not when having some harmless fun? She changed positions trying to get comfortable but nothing worked.

One question plagued her the most. 'What now?'