A/N: Once again I am using dialogue from OotP, which belongs (as does the
whole of the Harry Potter universe) to J.K. Rowling, etc. etc.
Chapter Seventeen: The Escape
"Fred, we HAVE to get out of bed," said Angelina, as Fred pulled her into his arms.
It was getting well into breakfast time by now, but they'd just made love and Fred was in no mood to get out of bed yet. Or ever. Waking up next to Angelina had been almost as fantastic as making love with her. He had never had the opportunity to wake up next to a girl in the past, and he quite loved it. He'd never had sex in the morning, either, and he decided it was quite the most perfect way to start off the day.
"Just a few more minutes," said Fred. "I thought girls liked to cuddle afterwards."
"I do like to cuddle," said Angelina.
"Me, too," said Fred, hugging her close to him. "This is nice. Let's just stay in bed all day, yeah?"
"Fred," said Angelina, sitting up. The sheet slipped off her and Fred was given a very delicious view of her.
"Now THAT is a lovely sight," said Fred, grinning.
Just then there were loud bangs on the door to the dorm room.
"Shit," said Angelina, yanking the covers over her. "Fred, hand me my pajamas!"
"Let us in, you randy bastards!" shouted Lee.
"Lee, you prat, use your wand," said George.
"Fuck," Fred muttered, and he tossed the white pajama top and bottoms to Angelina, who quickly pulled them on. She had begun to giggle.
"Alohomora!" said Lee, and the door clicked open; Fred managed to get his boxers up just in time.
George and Lee walked in, hands over their eyes.
"Don't mind us," said Lee, walking slowly over to what he thought was his bed. Instead he was headed straight for the window next to Fred's bed. He had his other hand out in front of him. "We're just coming in to grab our school things."
Fred rolled his eyes and pulled on a pair of jeans.
"Don't worry if you're naked," said George. "We can't see anything."
"George, you dirty great sod," said Fred, rolling his eyes. "We're decent."
"Is Angelina naked?" said Lee hopefully.
"Fully clothed," said Angelina, as she tied the belt of her robe.
"Damn," George and Lee muttered together, and they lowered their hands and opened their eyes.
"George, you dirty great sod," said Fred.
"Well, good morning, Twin," said George, grinning. "Angelina. You two look completely shagged out. Don't you think so, Lee?"
"Definitely shagged out," Lee agreed.
"Shut up," said Angelina, rolling her eyes. "Fred, I'll see you at breakfast."
She gave him a quick peck on the cheek, then kissed him full on the lips. Fred kissed her back. Then she straightened up very tall, squared her shoulders, lifted her chin, and walked with supreme grace and dignity from the room.
Fred, George and Lee all watched her go.
"Damn," said Lee. "Fred, you lucky bastard."
"I know," said Fred, grinning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Breakfast was very rushed; Fred and Angelina only had about ten minutes to wolf down their meal before reporting to their first lesson, Potions. They had both agreed--despite Angelina's suggestion in the midst of their shagging--that skiving off lessons on this particular day wasn't such a good idea. Best to go about the day as if it were just any other normal day.
Normally Fred hated starting out his day with Potions, but the high he was feeling from having made love with Angelina throughout most of the night and the anticipation of what he and George were going to do at five o'clock that evening overrode everything else in Fred's mind. Snape was his usual horrible self and he took ten points each from Fred and George when their Wolfsbane Draught turned a gloppy, sickly puce color (it was supposed to be green). Fred couldn't help chuckling over this and Snape, who noticed, awarded Fred with a detention.
"To be served this evening, Weasley," Snape hissed. "I'm sure you'll enjoy cataloguing my stocks of herbs and roots. Six o'clock sharp."
"I'm looking forward to it," said Fred, winking at George.
The rest of the day passed without incident; for once Fred and George stayed out of trouble in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Umbridge was being particularly superior this afternoon; she spent the first fifteen minutes of class yammering about how "things are going to change at this school" and how the Ministry had given her "full and completely authority" to run the school "in a manner that she saw fit," and that "ANY instances of rule- breaking on her watch would be severely punished." Then she ordered the students to turn to page 342 of their Defensive Magical Theory books and said sweetly, "There will be no need to talk."
As the day went on, the glow Fred had felt from his night with Angelina faded and was replaced by the ache of knowing he was leaving school.
It's only a few months, he told himself.
A few months where I can't even write to her, he thought, and tell her what's going on, find out how she's doing, tell her that I'm mad about her and I think about here bloody minute of the day. He began to regret using up the entire supply of Weasley's Wildfire Whiz-bangs before having the chance to set one off that spelled "I love you Angie" in the air.
At twenty-five minutes to five, Angelina came into his room. They held each other silently for several minutes. She didn't cry. He didn't cry, but he felt like it.
"I love you," she whispered at last, when she pulled out of his embrace.
"I love you, too," he said, and he kissed her fiercely, and she gave over to it, and they kissed frantically for a few long minutes before Fred broke the kiss, knowing that if he let it go on any longer he'd scuttle his plan altogether and yank of Angelina's clothes and make love to her right then and there. But he couldn't. This was about more than him. He was, after all, supposed to be helping Harry sneak into Umbridge's office.
Angelina left his room after kissing him on the forehead, and he was alone for a minute or two, fighting back the lump in his throat.
At quarter to five he met George in the common room.
"Ready, Twin?" said George.
Fred checked his pocket for his wand--it was the only thing he really needed, anyway, at this point--and said, "Ready."
"Off we go," said George, clutching the small box that contained the Portable Swamp inside.
They had chosen Gregory the Smarmy's corridor; students avoided it when they could, because the huge painting of Gregory the Smarmy was given to making exceptionally lewd comments to anyone who passed by, male or female. Unfortunately one had to pass through the corridor in order to go to the Great Hall and to the entrance, unless he or she felt like tramping out of doors, past the greenhouses, and back inside. The corridor was empty now but in a short time would be filled with students on their way to dinner. Or so they thought.
When Fred and George entered, Gregory, who was sitting lazily in a garden chaise, leapt up and gave a long, low whistle.
"Good evening, boys," he said, in a voice dripping with lust. "Twins! Red- haired twins, how delicious."
"Wouldn't you like to know, Gregory," said George, rolling his eyes.
"Mmm, such LOVELY tight little bums," said Gregory, his eyes raking over Fred and George's backsides. "How I'd just LOVE to spank those cute little cheeks. Would you like that, nancy boys? Come on over here and bend over and show me--"
"Bloody hell," said Fred, and he pulled out his wand and aimed it at Gregory's portrait. "Silencio!" he said, and Gregory went silent.
"He's still looking at us," said George. "Dirty git." Indeed, Gregory was leering at both of them.
"Yeah, well, let him look," said Fred. "As long as he doesn't speak."
George removed the Portable Swamp from the box and set it down gently on the floor.
"How big do we want this thing?" said George, studying it carefully.
"Fill up the whole corridor," said Fred. "Make it impossible to get past, I think."
"Fair enough," said George. "A nice high slime quotient, yeah?"
"Naturally," said Fred. "And let's make it deep enough so that people have to swim across."
"Ooh, good one," said George, grinning.
"Ready?" said Fred, aiming his wand at the swamp. George pulled his wand from his robes and aimed it at the swamp as well.
"Let's do it," said George. Together they shouted "Engorgio!"
They stepped back as the swamp grew, then hit it with several more Engorgement Charms. The swamp oozed and the floor sank and became a thick, muddy little stream. They hit it with a few more Engorgement Charms, backing away all the while as vegetation began to slink up the walls and twirl over the balustrade; thick weeds and ferns soon covered much of Gregory the Smarmy's portrait.
"One more, I think," said Fred, and he shouted "Engorgio!"
Just as the charm struck home, several Hufflepuffs and a few Slytherins rounded the corner, only to be hit with mud, stinksap and other varieties of slime. A Slytherin boy shrieked as he fell right into the slimy pool. His Slytherin mate reached for him and pulled him out of the swamp; the boy came up with a loud, sucking noise.
Fred and George laughed uproariously.
"That ought to do Harry for at least a little bit," said George. "Hope he's checking his watch."
"Let's hang out a bit and wait, yeah?" said Fred.
They did. More students came round the corner and gave yells and angry shouts as they collided with the swamp, which was oozing and bubbling and throwing out the occasional splatters of mud.
"Well, well, two Weasels for the price of one," said a drawling, lazy voice. Fred and George turned to see Draco Malfoy and his cronies Crabbe and Goyle rounding the opposite corner toward them.
"Malfoy," said George bracingly. "Nice to see you, too."
"You're in it now, Weasleys," said Draco, smiling smugly. "When Umbridge sees this you're out of here. Won't be as satisfying to have you two kicked out as it would your stupid brother, but I'm not going to be too fussy."
"Well, we're REALLY scared," said Fred. "Aren't we George?"
"I'm wetting myself, Fred," said George. "These three. So SCARY."
"Crabbe, Goyle," said Malfoy. "Get them."
Fred and George rolled their eyes and raised their wands and at the same time, in a very lazy voice, said "Impedimenta!" Crabbe and Goyle both shot backwards off their feet and collided with Malfoy, and they all collapsed in a heap.
"Pathetic," said George.
But in that instant a spell came bursting toward them from their left and narrowly missed them.
"Dammit!" said a female voice. Fred and George looked up to see a livid Pansy Parkinson hurrying toward them, followed by an equally put out Blaise Zabini.
"I think that's our cue," said George.
"Let's give them a bit of a chase, shall we?" said Fred. "Make them think they're accomplishing something?"
"Right," said George, and he fired a Stunning Spell in the general direction of Blaise and Pansy before he and Fred turned and dashed out of the corridor in the direction of the Great Hall.
"Where to?" said George.
"Front entrance," yelled Fred. "We'll give everyone a nice show there."
They dashed down a flight of steps and rounded another corner and nearly collided with a slew of students who had shown up to see what the commotion was all about. The crush of students pushed Fred and George backwards. They looked at one another and shrugged, and let themselves be pushed back before separating themselves from the crowd.
In the next instant more Slytherins--all of them members of Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad--came down the flight of stairs, followed by several other students who'd clearly been victims of the Portable Swamp. Fred and George looked up to see Draco Malfoy and his band of prats smiling smugly down at them. Fred gave them a cheeky grin and shrugged.
Then came the teachers, some ghosts, and even Peeves, who was giggling maniacally (he must have seen the Portable Swamp, Fred mused).
The people round them were arranged in a kind of ring. Fred and George were trapped. For the moment.
He looked round the crowd and found her. Angelina pushed her way to the front of the crowd and started toward him, but Fred looked at her intently and shook his head.
Don't, he thought. Don't you get into it, too. This is for George and me.
She bit her lip and nodded, but already her eyes filled with tears.
Fred looked away; that awful clenching was in his chest again. His eyes moved round the crowd again and he saw Ron, whose blue eyes were as wide as saucers, and Hermione, who was clinging to Ron's arm so tightly her knuckles were white. Then he saw Harry, a few feet away, whose face was flushed as if he'd been running.
And finally...
"So!" came the triumphant voice of Professor Umbridge. "So...you think it amusing to turn a school corridor into a swamp, do you?"
Fred glared up at her, and felt absolutely no fear. He glanced at George, then back up at Umbridge.
"Pretty amusing, yeah," he said, tilting his head and daring her to make a move. She didn't, but her triumphant gaze faltered for a moment, just slightly. She obviously hadn't expected open defiance. Fred grinned darkly at her.
There was the sound of shoving and Filch suddenly burst through the crowd to stand next to Umbridge. He was panting heavily and he had an old piece of parchment in his hand.
"I've got the form, Headmistress," he said, his voice wheezing. "I've got the form and I've got the whips waiting...oh, let me do it now..."
Fred and George rolled their eyes. Poor Filch. He'd been dying to beat the snot out of the both of them since the day they'd crossed paths, and now, just when Filch was legally allowed to perform one of the "old punishments," Fred and George were denying him the opportunity. Fred almost felt sorry for the old goat.
"Very good, Argus," Umbridge was saying, her eyes glittering as she glared at Fred and George. "You two are about to learn what happens to wrongdoers in my school."
In HER school? Fred thought furiously. This is OUR school, you shriveled up bint, Hogwarts belongs to the students and the teachers and to Dumbledore. The fearlessness Fred felt surged through his veins, and he smiled coolly at Umbridge.
"You know what?" he said. "I don't think we are. George, I think we've...outgrown full-time education."
George smiled lazily at Umbridge and then looked at Fred. "Yeah, I've been feeling that way myself."
"Time to test our talents in the real world, d'you reckon?" said Fred, gazing at Umbridge. He was delighted to see her triumphant face screw up into a mask of indignation.
"Definitely," said George. He and Fred exchanged glances, nodded, and raised their wands.
"Accio Brooms!"
Fred wasn't sure just how or why they'd managed it. Perhaps it was the combined force of two Summoning Charms at once, or perhaps it was the adrenaline, the sheer force of will behind them, but the loud crash from somewhere in the distance told Fred that the magic had worked, had broken through the massive lock Umbridge had put on their brooms to keep them secured to her desk in her office. The students and teachers were all looking round in confusion when suddenly two brooms--one of them trailing a heavy chain and iron peg--came hurtling into the entrance hall.
Several students squeaked and ducked out of the way as the peg swung dangerously before the brooms descended in flight and zoomed toward Fred and George; the peg and chain hit the floor and clattered loudly as it was dragged across the stone floor.
Fred grabbed his broom and swung a leg over it, not bothering to remove the chain and peg.
"We won't be seeing you," he said smugly to Umbridge.
"Yeah, don't bother to keep in touch," said George, as he, too, mounted his own broom.
Fred glanced round at the crowd; to almost all of them had eyes as wide as saucers and stood silent. All but Angelina's. Hers were sad and teary and her cheeks were wet. Fred clutched his broomhandle tightly to keep from launching himself at her and smothering her face with kisses. He cleared his throat and spoke very loudly.
"If anyone fancies buying a Portable Swamp, as demonstrated upstairs, come to number ninety-three, Diagon Alley, Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Our new premises!"
George grinned wickedly. "Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they're going to use our products to get rid of this old bat," he added, pointing at Umbridge, whose face went white with fury.
"STOP THEM!" she shrieked, her façade of control crumbling. Her band of Slytherins started toward the twins, but Fred simply scoffed as he and George kicked off from the ground and rose several feet into the air, out of reach. The chain and peg dangling off Fred's broom swung dangerously, and several students stepped out of the way.
He looked one last time at Angelina, who was now smiling through her tears.
"I love you," he whispered, and he saw her say the words to him. His heart felt like it was going to explode.
He turned to Peeves, who was bobbing nearby.
"Give her hell from us, Peeves," he said. Peeves gave a cry of delight and swept his bowler hat off his head in salute, and Fred and George turned on their brooms. With one last wave to Angelina, Fred sped after George and the two of them soared through the open front doors and out into the approaching dusk.
________________________________________________________________________
A/N: Still not over.
Also, I borrowed the George/Lee bit from Shezzly, who had a similar little plot device with the twins in the final chapter of her excellent Harry/Ginny story "Aftermath." I do hope she doesn't mind! :-)
Chapter Seventeen: The Escape
"Fred, we HAVE to get out of bed," said Angelina, as Fred pulled her into his arms.
It was getting well into breakfast time by now, but they'd just made love and Fred was in no mood to get out of bed yet. Or ever. Waking up next to Angelina had been almost as fantastic as making love with her. He had never had the opportunity to wake up next to a girl in the past, and he quite loved it. He'd never had sex in the morning, either, and he decided it was quite the most perfect way to start off the day.
"Just a few more minutes," said Fred. "I thought girls liked to cuddle afterwards."
"I do like to cuddle," said Angelina.
"Me, too," said Fred, hugging her close to him. "This is nice. Let's just stay in bed all day, yeah?"
"Fred," said Angelina, sitting up. The sheet slipped off her and Fred was given a very delicious view of her.
"Now THAT is a lovely sight," said Fred, grinning.
Just then there were loud bangs on the door to the dorm room.
"Shit," said Angelina, yanking the covers over her. "Fred, hand me my pajamas!"
"Let us in, you randy bastards!" shouted Lee.
"Lee, you prat, use your wand," said George.
"Fuck," Fred muttered, and he tossed the white pajama top and bottoms to Angelina, who quickly pulled them on. She had begun to giggle.
"Alohomora!" said Lee, and the door clicked open; Fred managed to get his boxers up just in time.
George and Lee walked in, hands over their eyes.
"Don't mind us," said Lee, walking slowly over to what he thought was his bed. Instead he was headed straight for the window next to Fred's bed. He had his other hand out in front of him. "We're just coming in to grab our school things."
Fred rolled his eyes and pulled on a pair of jeans.
"Don't worry if you're naked," said George. "We can't see anything."
"George, you dirty great sod," said Fred, rolling his eyes. "We're decent."
"Is Angelina naked?" said Lee hopefully.
"Fully clothed," said Angelina, as she tied the belt of her robe.
"Damn," George and Lee muttered together, and they lowered their hands and opened their eyes.
"George, you dirty great sod," said Fred.
"Well, good morning, Twin," said George, grinning. "Angelina. You two look completely shagged out. Don't you think so, Lee?"
"Definitely shagged out," Lee agreed.
"Shut up," said Angelina, rolling her eyes. "Fred, I'll see you at breakfast."
She gave him a quick peck on the cheek, then kissed him full on the lips. Fred kissed her back. Then she straightened up very tall, squared her shoulders, lifted her chin, and walked with supreme grace and dignity from the room.
Fred, George and Lee all watched her go.
"Damn," said Lee. "Fred, you lucky bastard."
"I know," said Fred, grinning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Breakfast was very rushed; Fred and Angelina only had about ten minutes to wolf down their meal before reporting to their first lesson, Potions. They had both agreed--despite Angelina's suggestion in the midst of their shagging--that skiving off lessons on this particular day wasn't such a good idea. Best to go about the day as if it were just any other normal day.
Normally Fred hated starting out his day with Potions, but the high he was feeling from having made love with Angelina throughout most of the night and the anticipation of what he and George were going to do at five o'clock that evening overrode everything else in Fred's mind. Snape was his usual horrible self and he took ten points each from Fred and George when their Wolfsbane Draught turned a gloppy, sickly puce color (it was supposed to be green). Fred couldn't help chuckling over this and Snape, who noticed, awarded Fred with a detention.
"To be served this evening, Weasley," Snape hissed. "I'm sure you'll enjoy cataloguing my stocks of herbs and roots. Six o'clock sharp."
"I'm looking forward to it," said Fred, winking at George.
The rest of the day passed without incident; for once Fred and George stayed out of trouble in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Umbridge was being particularly superior this afternoon; she spent the first fifteen minutes of class yammering about how "things are going to change at this school" and how the Ministry had given her "full and completely authority" to run the school "in a manner that she saw fit," and that "ANY instances of rule- breaking on her watch would be severely punished." Then she ordered the students to turn to page 342 of their Defensive Magical Theory books and said sweetly, "There will be no need to talk."
As the day went on, the glow Fred had felt from his night with Angelina faded and was replaced by the ache of knowing he was leaving school.
It's only a few months, he told himself.
A few months where I can't even write to her, he thought, and tell her what's going on, find out how she's doing, tell her that I'm mad about her and I think about here bloody minute of the day. He began to regret using up the entire supply of Weasley's Wildfire Whiz-bangs before having the chance to set one off that spelled "I love you Angie" in the air.
At twenty-five minutes to five, Angelina came into his room. They held each other silently for several minutes. She didn't cry. He didn't cry, but he felt like it.
"I love you," she whispered at last, when she pulled out of his embrace.
"I love you, too," he said, and he kissed her fiercely, and she gave over to it, and they kissed frantically for a few long minutes before Fred broke the kiss, knowing that if he let it go on any longer he'd scuttle his plan altogether and yank of Angelina's clothes and make love to her right then and there. But he couldn't. This was about more than him. He was, after all, supposed to be helping Harry sneak into Umbridge's office.
Angelina left his room after kissing him on the forehead, and he was alone for a minute or two, fighting back the lump in his throat.
At quarter to five he met George in the common room.
"Ready, Twin?" said George.
Fred checked his pocket for his wand--it was the only thing he really needed, anyway, at this point--and said, "Ready."
"Off we go," said George, clutching the small box that contained the Portable Swamp inside.
They had chosen Gregory the Smarmy's corridor; students avoided it when they could, because the huge painting of Gregory the Smarmy was given to making exceptionally lewd comments to anyone who passed by, male or female. Unfortunately one had to pass through the corridor in order to go to the Great Hall and to the entrance, unless he or she felt like tramping out of doors, past the greenhouses, and back inside. The corridor was empty now but in a short time would be filled with students on their way to dinner. Or so they thought.
When Fred and George entered, Gregory, who was sitting lazily in a garden chaise, leapt up and gave a long, low whistle.
"Good evening, boys," he said, in a voice dripping with lust. "Twins! Red- haired twins, how delicious."
"Wouldn't you like to know, Gregory," said George, rolling his eyes.
"Mmm, such LOVELY tight little bums," said Gregory, his eyes raking over Fred and George's backsides. "How I'd just LOVE to spank those cute little cheeks. Would you like that, nancy boys? Come on over here and bend over and show me--"
"Bloody hell," said Fred, and he pulled out his wand and aimed it at Gregory's portrait. "Silencio!" he said, and Gregory went silent.
"He's still looking at us," said George. "Dirty git." Indeed, Gregory was leering at both of them.
"Yeah, well, let him look," said Fred. "As long as he doesn't speak."
George removed the Portable Swamp from the box and set it down gently on the floor.
"How big do we want this thing?" said George, studying it carefully.
"Fill up the whole corridor," said Fred. "Make it impossible to get past, I think."
"Fair enough," said George. "A nice high slime quotient, yeah?"
"Naturally," said Fred. "And let's make it deep enough so that people have to swim across."
"Ooh, good one," said George, grinning.
"Ready?" said Fred, aiming his wand at the swamp. George pulled his wand from his robes and aimed it at the swamp as well.
"Let's do it," said George. Together they shouted "Engorgio!"
They stepped back as the swamp grew, then hit it with several more Engorgement Charms. The swamp oozed and the floor sank and became a thick, muddy little stream. They hit it with a few more Engorgement Charms, backing away all the while as vegetation began to slink up the walls and twirl over the balustrade; thick weeds and ferns soon covered much of Gregory the Smarmy's portrait.
"One more, I think," said Fred, and he shouted "Engorgio!"
Just as the charm struck home, several Hufflepuffs and a few Slytherins rounded the corner, only to be hit with mud, stinksap and other varieties of slime. A Slytherin boy shrieked as he fell right into the slimy pool. His Slytherin mate reached for him and pulled him out of the swamp; the boy came up with a loud, sucking noise.
Fred and George laughed uproariously.
"That ought to do Harry for at least a little bit," said George. "Hope he's checking his watch."
"Let's hang out a bit and wait, yeah?" said Fred.
They did. More students came round the corner and gave yells and angry shouts as they collided with the swamp, which was oozing and bubbling and throwing out the occasional splatters of mud.
"Well, well, two Weasels for the price of one," said a drawling, lazy voice. Fred and George turned to see Draco Malfoy and his cronies Crabbe and Goyle rounding the opposite corner toward them.
"Malfoy," said George bracingly. "Nice to see you, too."
"You're in it now, Weasleys," said Draco, smiling smugly. "When Umbridge sees this you're out of here. Won't be as satisfying to have you two kicked out as it would your stupid brother, but I'm not going to be too fussy."
"Well, we're REALLY scared," said Fred. "Aren't we George?"
"I'm wetting myself, Fred," said George. "These three. So SCARY."
"Crabbe, Goyle," said Malfoy. "Get them."
Fred and George rolled their eyes and raised their wands and at the same time, in a very lazy voice, said "Impedimenta!" Crabbe and Goyle both shot backwards off their feet and collided with Malfoy, and they all collapsed in a heap.
"Pathetic," said George.
But in that instant a spell came bursting toward them from their left and narrowly missed them.
"Dammit!" said a female voice. Fred and George looked up to see a livid Pansy Parkinson hurrying toward them, followed by an equally put out Blaise Zabini.
"I think that's our cue," said George.
"Let's give them a bit of a chase, shall we?" said Fred. "Make them think they're accomplishing something?"
"Right," said George, and he fired a Stunning Spell in the general direction of Blaise and Pansy before he and Fred turned and dashed out of the corridor in the direction of the Great Hall.
"Where to?" said George.
"Front entrance," yelled Fred. "We'll give everyone a nice show there."
They dashed down a flight of steps and rounded another corner and nearly collided with a slew of students who had shown up to see what the commotion was all about. The crush of students pushed Fred and George backwards. They looked at one another and shrugged, and let themselves be pushed back before separating themselves from the crowd.
In the next instant more Slytherins--all of them members of Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad--came down the flight of stairs, followed by several other students who'd clearly been victims of the Portable Swamp. Fred and George looked up to see Draco Malfoy and his band of prats smiling smugly down at them. Fred gave them a cheeky grin and shrugged.
Then came the teachers, some ghosts, and even Peeves, who was giggling maniacally (he must have seen the Portable Swamp, Fred mused).
The people round them were arranged in a kind of ring. Fred and George were trapped. For the moment.
He looked round the crowd and found her. Angelina pushed her way to the front of the crowd and started toward him, but Fred looked at her intently and shook his head.
Don't, he thought. Don't you get into it, too. This is for George and me.
She bit her lip and nodded, but already her eyes filled with tears.
Fred looked away; that awful clenching was in his chest again. His eyes moved round the crowd again and he saw Ron, whose blue eyes were as wide as saucers, and Hermione, who was clinging to Ron's arm so tightly her knuckles were white. Then he saw Harry, a few feet away, whose face was flushed as if he'd been running.
And finally...
"So!" came the triumphant voice of Professor Umbridge. "So...you think it amusing to turn a school corridor into a swamp, do you?"
Fred glared up at her, and felt absolutely no fear. He glanced at George, then back up at Umbridge.
"Pretty amusing, yeah," he said, tilting his head and daring her to make a move. She didn't, but her triumphant gaze faltered for a moment, just slightly. She obviously hadn't expected open defiance. Fred grinned darkly at her.
There was the sound of shoving and Filch suddenly burst through the crowd to stand next to Umbridge. He was panting heavily and he had an old piece of parchment in his hand.
"I've got the form, Headmistress," he said, his voice wheezing. "I've got the form and I've got the whips waiting...oh, let me do it now..."
Fred and George rolled their eyes. Poor Filch. He'd been dying to beat the snot out of the both of them since the day they'd crossed paths, and now, just when Filch was legally allowed to perform one of the "old punishments," Fred and George were denying him the opportunity. Fred almost felt sorry for the old goat.
"Very good, Argus," Umbridge was saying, her eyes glittering as she glared at Fred and George. "You two are about to learn what happens to wrongdoers in my school."
In HER school? Fred thought furiously. This is OUR school, you shriveled up bint, Hogwarts belongs to the students and the teachers and to Dumbledore. The fearlessness Fred felt surged through his veins, and he smiled coolly at Umbridge.
"You know what?" he said. "I don't think we are. George, I think we've...outgrown full-time education."
George smiled lazily at Umbridge and then looked at Fred. "Yeah, I've been feeling that way myself."
"Time to test our talents in the real world, d'you reckon?" said Fred, gazing at Umbridge. He was delighted to see her triumphant face screw up into a mask of indignation.
"Definitely," said George. He and Fred exchanged glances, nodded, and raised their wands.
"Accio Brooms!"
Fred wasn't sure just how or why they'd managed it. Perhaps it was the combined force of two Summoning Charms at once, or perhaps it was the adrenaline, the sheer force of will behind them, but the loud crash from somewhere in the distance told Fred that the magic had worked, had broken through the massive lock Umbridge had put on their brooms to keep them secured to her desk in her office. The students and teachers were all looking round in confusion when suddenly two brooms--one of them trailing a heavy chain and iron peg--came hurtling into the entrance hall.
Several students squeaked and ducked out of the way as the peg swung dangerously before the brooms descended in flight and zoomed toward Fred and George; the peg and chain hit the floor and clattered loudly as it was dragged across the stone floor.
Fred grabbed his broom and swung a leg over it, not bothering to remove the chain and peg.
"We won't be seeing you," he said smugly to Umbridge.
"Yeah, don't bother to keep in touch," said George, as he, too, mounted his own broom.
Fred glanced round at the crowd; to almost all of them had eyes as wide as saucers and stood silent. All but Angelina's. Hers were sad and teary and her cheeks were wet. Fred clutched his broomhandle tightly to keep from launching himself at her and smothering her face with kisses. He cleared his throat and spoke very loudly.
"If anyone fancies buying a Portable Swamp, as demonstrated upstairs, come to number ninety-three, Diagon Alley, Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Our new premises!"
George grinned wickedly. "Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they're going to use our products to get rid of this old bat," he added, pointing at Umbridge, whose face went white with fury.
"STOP THEM!" she shrieked, her façade of control crumbling. Her band of Slytherins started toward the twins, but Fred simply scoffed as he and George kicked off from the ground and rose several feet into the air, out of reach. The chain and peg dangling off Fred's broom swung dangerously, and several students stepped out of the way.
He looked one last time at Angelina, who was now smiling through her tears.
"I love you," he whispered, and he saw her say the words to him. His heart felt like it was going to explode.
He turned to Peeves, who was bobbing nearby.
"Give her hell from us, Peeves," he said. Peeves gave a cry of delight and swept his bowler hat off his head in salute, and Fred and George turned on their brooms. With one last wave to Angelina, Fred sped after George and the two of them soared through the open front doors and out into the approaching dusk.
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A/N: Still not over.
Also, I borrowed the George/Lee bit from Shezzly, who had a similar little plot device with the twins in the final chapter of her excellent Harry/Ginny story "Aftermath." I do hope she doesn't mind! :-)