Chapter Three: Hexes, Quidditch, and Girls! Oh my!
While the thought of having Angelina on the same team was appealing, it gave Fred his share of doubts. He had no idea how she would affect his playing. He didn't pay it much mind though, as she and her friends let out another burst of giggles and screams as they found their name on the team roster Wood had posted in the common room.
The new Chasers were, in fact, Angelina, Alicia, and Katie. The Beaters were, of course, George and himself. The Keeper remained Oliver Wood, and the Seeker was a 7th year named Jonathan Guilde.
Underneath the team roster, was the date of their first Quidditch match. It wasn't til the 15th of October that they were to play against Ravenclaw, but Wood added a little footnote saying that they were to begin practices almost immediately.
"Great," George said from behind Fred, who continued to stare at the roster. "You'd think he was a bit paranoid, eh?"
"I gather he's just itching to get on with a real game," Lee added as he placed an elbow on Fred's shoulder.
"Can't blame him," Fred told them as he stared longingly at the scheduled date.
.·.:.·.
The weather had taken an ugly turn as the cold rain kept pouring down over the Hogwarts castle. Even Fred and George were getting discouraged by it, as they were too busy trying to keep warm to pull any of their usual pranks.
"Blimey," muttered George as he stared out of one of the common room's windows. He furiously tried to rub the fog blanketing over it with his mitten-covered hand. "I'm 'bout to die of boredom!"
Fred was lazily staring up at the common room's ceiling. He sighed. What a terrible way to spend a Saturday morning, he thought to himself as George let out another sneeze. He glanced around the room; students much like him and George were lazily slumped around the room, all seeming bored out of their minds. He caught a glimpse of Angelina talking to Katie in front of a fire. She caught Fred's stare and gave him a litttle wave. He waved back, yawning a bit. She smiled and nodded, telling him that she, too, was bored.
Fred looked back a George, who seemed a bit irritated by the fog that kept covering his view of the school grounds. Fred thought a bit, then looked at his wand. A sly smile was forming as he got up and stood in front of George, with his hand - wand in it - outstretched as if to duel.
George, shivering underneath the pile of blankets, looked at his twin uncertainly. "Have you gone off your rocker?" George asked him, his teeth chattering a bit. "It's too cold to do anything!"
"Like I give a damn," Fred told him, still in a dueling pose. "It's far too quiet in here and I'm about to lose my mind!" With that a streak of purple light emitted from his wand, and landed on one of George's blankets, setting it on fire.
George, jumping out of the blanket (thought the fire was quickly disappearing), took out his own wand and let out a stream of green sparkles, which Fred quickly dodged. The chair that the sparkles had landed on immediately turned a pale shade of green.
"Take that!" Fred said, making George's ears turned pink with purple polka-dots.
"Oh yeah?" George said, retaliating by making Fred's hair turn blue.
The mini-duel had gotten the whole common room's attention now, and laughter could be heard all around as Fred and George continued to make the other look as ridiculous as possible.
At around noon, the duel had died down with George looking like a colorful bat and Fred baring an uncanny resemblance to Dumbledore. Fred was rather pleased with himself as he paraded his long white beard while walking down with George (still having his polka-dotted ears) to the Grand Hall for lunch.
The look on Percy's shocked and disapproving face was reward enough, but even Professor Dumbledore, himself, commented on Fred's lush beard. "Fine job you've done with it," he said, his hand going over his own beard.
His beard, much to Fred's relief as it kept dipping into his tomato soup, had worn off eventually, and he was able to fully enjoy his meal again.
It was at that time, that Wood popped up from behind them, administering a slap on the back to both of them, causing Fred to spit out the last remnants of his soup.
"Great day, isn't it?" he asked them, glancing up at the enchanted ceiling. Grey clouds swirled around the blackened sky as the clear sound of thunder roared throughout the Hall.
George and Fred glanced at each other, each turned a cocked brow to Wood, who didn't seem to notice. "I'll be seeing you two on the field around 3:00, right?" He paused, apparently not seeing the exasperated looks on the twins' faces. "Great!" he said, slapping them on the backs again. "Be sure to tell the whole lot, will ya?" he told them as he left the Hall.
Fred and George just looked at each other in bewilderment as yet another unmistakable thunder roared.
.·.:.·.
"Is he crazy?!" Katie Bell shouted under the hood of her cloak as she and the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team huddled together in the pouring rain, waiting for their team captain.
"Apparently!" Fred yelled back, though they were only two people away from each other. The howling wind and booming thunder were so loud, they could only speak to each other by yelling at the top of their lungs.
"Where is he anyway?!" Angelina asked, the rain splattering against her robes. "This whole meeting was his crazy idea!!!"
Suddenly a blurry outline of a tall figure was advancing towards them, causing them to fall silent. The figure was a tall and skinny boy. His sandy blonde hair and deep blue eyes didn't seem to be affected at all by the muddy rain. He stood before them, clutching a Nova Two Twenty in his hand.
"Hello Jonathan," Alicia greeted kindly. The boy, their Seeker, smiled at her but said nothing.
Fred felt a pang of guilt. He and George were supposed to tell everyone on the team about their meeting, but apparently had forgotten to tell the 7th year. He shot a side-long look at George, who gave him the same guilty look.
Jonathan was standing a good few feet away from their huddle. Fred could hear Katie saying something to Angelina and Alicia, glancing every now and then at Jonathan, and the three erupted in giggles yet again.
Fred felt a rush of jealousy as the three giggled again, each taking a peak at Jonathan, who in turn didn't seem to notice. Fred could feel his face heating up in anger as Wood finally made his appearance.
"Ahh, good!" he said, taking a look at everyone. "You're all here!" He nodded in approval as each of them cast him a cold, dark look. "Shall we start then?" he asked them as he whipped out a board he was holding and began to draw up some plays - which was difficult, as the rain kept washing his drawings away. It was only til Jonathan cast a water-repelling spell on the board that Wood could really get down to it.
.·.:.·.
"Well that was lovely," Fred muttered as the lot of them wandered back to the common room - Wood choosing to stay behind and survey the field. He tilted his head to the side, and began to hit the other side, hoping to get the water out of his ears. The whole team was soaked and splattered with mud.
"I could do with a good swig of butterbeer," George muttered to Fred, wiping some of the mud off his face.
"And Wood could do with a Dungbomb or two," Fred replied, wiping off the mud George had splattered on his face.
They all settled back into the common room, all except Jonathan who immediately went straight to bed.
"Poor bloke," George said pityingly, "must be tired already."
"It's only 10:30," Fred said casually, flinging his dirty self unto an armchair, which was magically repelling all the mud.
"You guys aren't going up to bed yet?" Katie asked. The three girls were halfway up the girls' staircase.
"No way," George told them, lying down on a couch beside the fire.
"It's only 10:30," Fred repeated, shaking the water off his hair.
The three girls all glanced at each other, then, shrugging, joined the twins by the fire.
"What? Willing to risk missing your beauty sleep?" George asked them all as they each took up an armchair. Each of them shot him a contemptuous glare.
"I've worked up too much energy from practice to fall asleep anytime soon," Angelina said simply, gazing into the fire.
Fred, noticing that a silence was threatening to come upon them, cleared his throat and stretched.
"So," he said, turning to George, "truth or dare?" He knew it was a bit childish but he hated the silence more than anything.
George looked at him, raising a brow. "Isn't that a bit too Ginny?" Ginny was their 9 year old younger sister.
Fred shrugged. "Have you got any better ideas?"
George thought for a moment, then, shrugging, said, "Truth."
"Who's handsomer?" he said jokingly. They were constantly being told how they were identical to the last freckle.
"What kind of question is that?" Katie said, moving her chair closer to them. "Make him say something really deep and revealing."
The other two had inched their chairs over towards them as well. Fred grinned. He had an extreme gut feeling that the game was just about to get even better.
While the thought of having Angelina on the same team was appealing, it gave Fred his share of doubts. He had no idea how she would affect his playing. He didn't pay it much mind though, as she and her friends let out another burst of giggles and screams as they found their name on the team roster Wood had posted in the common room.
The new Chasers were, in fact, Angelina, Alicia, and Katie. The Beaters were, of course, George and himself. The Keeper remained Oliver Wood, and the Seeker was a 7th year named Jonathan Guilde.
Underneath the team roster, was the date of their first Quidditch match. It wasn't til the 15th of October that they were to play against Ravenclaw, but Wood added a little footnote saying that they were to begin practices almost immediately.
"Great," George said from behind Fred, who continued to stare at the roster. "You'd think he was a bit paranoid, eh?"
"I gather he's just itching to get on with a real game," Lee added as he placed an elbow on Fred's shoulder.
"Can't blame him," Fred told them as he stared longingly at the scheduled date.
.·.:.·.
The weather had taken an ugly turn as the cold rain kept pouring down over the Hogwarts castle. Even Fred and George were getting discouraged by it, as they were too busy trying to keep warm to pull any of their usual pranks.
"Blimey," muttered George as he stared out of one of the common room's windows. He furiously tried to rub the fog blanketing over it with his mitten-covered hand. "I'm 'bout to die of boredom!"
Fred was lazily staring up at the common room's ceiling. He sighed. What a terrible way to spend a Saturday morning, he thought to himself as George let out another sneeze. He glanced around the room; students much like him and George were lazily slumped around the room, all seeming bored out of their minds. He caught a glimpse of Angelina talking to Katie in front of a fire. She caught Fred's stare and gave him a litttle wave. He waved back, yawning a bit. She smiled and nodded, telling him that she, too, was bored.
Fred looked back a George, who seemed a bit irritated by the fog that kept covering his view of the school grounds. Fred thought a bit, then looked at his wand. A sly smile was forming as he got up and stood in front of George, with his hand - wand in it - outstretched as if to duel.
George, shivering underneath the pile of blankets, looked at his twin uncertainly. "Have you gone off your rocker?" George asked him, his teeth chattering a bit. "It's too cold to do anything!"
"Like I give a damn," Fred told him, still in a dueling pose. "It's far too quiet in here and I'm about to lose my mind!" With that a streak of purple light emitted from his wand, and landed on one of George's blankets, setting it on fire.
George, jumping out of the blanket (thought the fire was quickly disappearing), took out his own wand and let out a stream of green sparkles, which Fred quickly dodged. The chair that the sparkles had landed on immediately turned a pale shade of green.
"Take that!" Fred said, making George's ears turned pink with purple polka-dots.
"Oh yeah?" George said, retaliating by making Fred's hair turn blue.
The mini-duel had gotten the whole common room's attention now, and laughter could be heard all around as Fred and George continued to make the other look as ridiculous as possible.
At around noon, the duel had died down with George looking like a colorful bat and Fred baring an uncanny resemblance to Dumbledore. Fred was rather pleased with himself as he paraded his long white beard while walking down with George (still having his polka-dotted ears) to the Grand Hall for lunch.
The look on Percy's shocked and disapproving face was reward enough, but even Professor Dumbledore, himself, commented on Fred's lush beard. "Fine job you've done with it," he said, his hand going over his own beard.
His beard, much to Fred's relief as it kept dipping into his tomato soup, had worn off eventually, and he was able to fully enjoy his meal again.
It was at that time, that Wood popped up from behind them, administering a slap on the back to both of them, causing Fred to spit out the last remnants of his soup.
"Great day, isn't it?" he asked them, glancing up at the enchanted ceiling. Grey clouds swirled around the blackened sky as the clear sound of thunder roared throughout the Hall.
George and Fred glanced at each other, each turned a cocked brow to Wood, who didn't seem to notice. "I'll be seeing you two on the field around 3:00, right?" He paused, apparently not seeing the exasperated looks on the twins' faces. "Great!" he said, slapping them on the backs again. "Be sure to tell the whole lot, will ya?" he told them as he left the Hall.
Fred and George just looked at each other in bewilderment as yet another unmistakable thunder roared.
.·.:.·.
"Is he crazy?!" Katie Bell shouted under the hood of her cloak as she and the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team huddled together in the pouring rain, waiting for their team captain.
"Apparently!" Fred yelled back, though they were only two people away from each other. The howling wind and booming thunder were so loud, they could only speak to each other by yelling at the top of their lungs.
"Where is he anyway?!" Angelina asked, the rain splattering against her robes. "This whole meeting was his crazy idea!!!"
Suddenly a blurry outline of a tall figure was advancing towards them, causing them to fall silent. The figure was a tall and skinny boy. His sandy blonde hair and deep blue eyes didn't seem to be affected at all by the muddy rain. He stood before them, clutching a Nova Two Twenty in his hand.
"Hello Jonathan," Alicia greeted kindly. The boy, their Seeker, smiled at her but said nothing.
Fred felt a pang of guilt. He and George were supposed to tell everyone on the team about their meeting, but apparently had forgotten to tell the 7th year. He shot a side-long look at George, who gave him the same guilty look.
Jonathan was standing a good few feet away from their huddle. Fred could hear Katie saying something to Angelina and Alicia, glancing every now and then at Jonathan, and the three erupted in giggles yet again.
Fred felt a rush of jealousy as the three giggled again, each taking a peak at Jonathan, who in turn didn't seem to notice. Fred could feel his face heating up in anger as Wood finally made his appearance.
"Ahh, good!" he said, taking a look at everyone. "You're all here!" He nodded in approval as each of them cast him a cold, dark look. "Shall we start then?" he asked them as he whipped out a board he was holding and began to draw up some plays - which was difficult, as the rain kept washing his drawings away. It was only til Jonathan cast a water-repelling spell on the board that Wood could really get down to it.
.·.:.·.
"Well that was lovely," Fred muttered as the lot of them wandered back to the common room - Wood choosing to stay behind and survey the field. He tilted his head to the side, and began to hit the other side, hoping to get the water out of his ears. The whole team was soaked and splattered with mud.
"I could do with a good swig of butterbeer," George muttered to Fred, wiping some of the mud off his face.
"And Wood could do with a Dungbomb or two," Fred replied, wiping off the mud George had splattered on his face.
They all settled back into the common room, all except Jonathan who immediately went straight to bed.
"Poor bloke," George said pityingly, "must be tired already."
"It's only 10:30," Fred said casually, flinging his dirty self unto an armchair, which was magically repelling all the mud.
"You guys aren't going up to bed yet?" Katie asked. The three girls were halfway up the girls' staircase.
"No way," George told them, lying down on a couch beside the fire.
"It's only 10:30," Fred repeated, shaking the water off his hair.
The three girls all glanced at each other, then, shrugging, joined the twins by the fire.
"What? Willing to risk missing your beauty sleep?" George asked them all as they each took up an armchair. Each of them shot him a contemptuous glare.
"I've worked up too much energy from practice to fall asleep anytime soon," Angelina said simply, gazing into the fire.
Fred, noticing that a silence was threatening to come upon them, cleared his throat and stretched.
"So," he said, turning to George, "truth or dare?" He knew it was a bit childish but he hated the silence more than anything.
George looked at him, raising a brow. "Isn't that a bit too Ginny?" Ginny was their 9 year old younger sister.
Fred shrugged. "Have you got any better ideas?"
George thought for a moment, then, shrugging, said, "Truth."
"Who's handsomer?" he said jokingly. They were constantly being told how they were identical to the last freckle.
"What kind of question is that?" Katie said, moving her chair closer to them. "Make him say something really deep and revealing."
The other two had inched their chairs over towards them as well. Fred grinned. He had an extreme gut feeling that the game was just about to get even better.