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And so it was that both of the Bloom sisters were sitting in their common rooms, solemnly waiting for anything good to happen. They had both realized something that left them devastated-they had each lost someone that they needed. Of course, the worst thing about it was that, had they known what precious gems they'd possessed, they would have been so much more careful with them. Perhaps it was a series of events caused by the ones they lost that led up to the sisters' forced decisions, but they nevertheless felt that a portion of it was their fault.
Allyson and Tania both needed consolation, and who better to discuss their problems with than each other?
Tania rose from her chair and turned to go in pursuit of the only people who could help her see her sister-Fred and George Weasley.
As she passed the next chair, she looked down to see Oliver staring sullenly into the fire with no expression on his face except for the lingering sensation of utmost misery in his deep, brown eyes.
Tania wondered what was wrong, but had not the nerve to ask. Instead, she made her way over to Harry and Ron, who were currently engrossed in a game of wizard chess.
"Check." Harry grinned triumphantly, convinced he had won, as he looked on at Ron's freckled face, which merely smirked in return.
"Harry, you moron..." Ron chuckled as his pawn moved forth. "Check mate." He raised his eyebrows at Harry as the white king on the opposite side of him threw his crown to the harmless black pawn.
Harry gaped at the chessboard momentarily. "But it's only a pawn!"
Ron smiled. "I know... Pretty depressing, isn't it?"
Harry slouched in his seat. "If only you knew... Hey, Tania..."
Ron wheeled around to see Tania standing behind him. He smiled. "Oh, hello, Tania."
She forced a smile. "Hey, Ron. Do you know where your brothers are?"
He slouched down to Harry's level. "Which ones? The clowns or the politician?"
Tania giggled. "The clowns."
"Well, George is moping in a corner at the moment... Don't know where Fred is."
Tania eyed him curiously. "Moping? George doesn't seem like one to mope. Why is he moping?"
Ron waved his hand in open dismissal. "Fred's gone off somewhere without him." Tania opened her mouth to question him yet again, but he interrupted her. "Don't ask me where, I'm not my brother's keeper." He paused. "No pun intended, by the way."
Tania smiled. "A lot of help you've been."
"Well, don't thank me or anything!" He laughed.
"Don't worry, I wasn't exactly planning on it." She walked off to look for George.
Ron wasn't joking when he'd said that George was moping in a corner, because it was quite literally a corner that he was moping in. He was sitting at a table, slouching and looking miserable.
"Hey, George." She sat down across the table from him. "Any idea of where Fred might be?"
He lifted his eyes from the floor to meet her gaze. "Yeah. Why do you care?"
She shrugged as she leaned back into her chair. "No reason. Just wondering..." She looked at him for a moment. "Any idea of how I could see Allyson?"
He continued to stare at her, his expression not faltering once. "Yeah." He paused. "Why do you care?"
Tania smiled a little in return. "Why do you think?"
He smiled and sat up straight in his chair, leaning across the table. "I'm thinking it's because you want to talk to her."
"Very good, George, I'm proud of you! You're starting to learn about that thing we normal people like to call common sense!" She laughed a little.
He leaned back into his chair and smirked again. "Well, if you don't want me to help you..."
"I have a feeling I could find Fred and pry some information out of him whether you decide to help me or not."
George shook his head. "Nah. You couldn't find Fred any easier than you could find Allyson. But the truth is I'm going to help you anyway."
"Why?"
"Because I believe we can help each other." He grinned and leaned on the table again.
A smile crept across Tania's lips and she followed suit in leaning on the table before her. "I need details. I want to know how I'm helping you before I commit to anything."
He shook his head. "No, see, I can't tell you that-I've made a promise and, though I may be a sneaky, immature prankster, I never break my promises. All I can tell you is that, in this situation, there's a good chance your profit may be greater than mine." He looked down at her hands for a moment, then once again he looked back into her eyes, smirking a little.
Tania could tell he wasn't lying.
"Do we have a deal, then?" asked George, holding out his hand.
She smiled. "I would be stupid not to take this offer." She shook his hand.
Almost immediately, he leapt up from the table and yelled across the room, "Oi! Ron!"
Ron's head snapped to face George while Harry meekly attempted to urge one of his knights to make an illegal move to put Ron's king in check. "What do you want?"
"Is Jack in the dormitory now?"
Ron thought for a moment. "Yeah, he should be, he doesn't usually go over to Sally's unless she needs him for something important."
"Thanks, mate."
Ron grinned back at him and nodded. "Sure thing." He turned back to the game, just as his bishop was being forced to attack the rebel knight in order to protect its king. "Harry, you git!"
Tania snickered a little as she followed George up a staircase. Before entering the door at the top, however, she stopped. "George, I can't go in here, this is the boys' dormitory."
George gaped at her. "So you're willing to cheat your way into the Ravenclaw common room, but you won't go into the boys' dormitory?"
Tania shrugged. "I guess it's not that so much. I feel at home in the Ravenclaw common room, but the boys' dormitory...?" She grimaced a little.
George looked at her for a second and shook his head as he rolled his eyes. Without warning, he then grabbed her around the waist and hoisted her over his shoulder. "You goody-goodies. Honestly!" He mumbled, genuinely irritated. "Can't stand to take any risks."
Tania was kicking and screaming as he walked into the dormitory, swinging the door shut behind him and locking it. He put her down hastily on the ground.
She just stood there, gaping at him. He merely grinned in response as he walked over to the other side of the room towards a poster of the Chudley Cannons. Tania followed him angrily and walked in front of him.
She decided to take advantage of the time when he was carefully studying the poster. With lightning speed, she pulled her hand back and aimed for his face.
Without even looking at her, he held his hand up and blocked her swipe. "Now where could he be?" He mumbled, completely indifferent to what had just happened. He let her hand go as she marveled at him.
"How did you do that?" she asked. "I barely had time to think about it myself."
He looked at her and smiled. "Practice. After getting slapped a few times, it sort of sharpens your reflexes. Just ask Fred if you don't believe me. He's practically got a sixth sense about it from being slapped and punched so much." He continued to look at the people flying around on the poster.
Tania scanned the room nervously. "George, please hurry up... I don't think I'm supposed to be up here."
"Of course you're not, stupid. This is the boys' dormitory."
Suddenly, a young man on a broomstick flew into view on the poster. "Sorry, Fred, what did you want?"
George winced when the man mistook him for his twin. "George... My name is George, Jack! Honestly, Fred and I are not the same people, you know..." He looked at the man.
"Right... George... I must remember that." Jack smiled at Tania. "And who is this?"
"This is Tania, Allyson's sister. Now, is Sally over in the dormitory currently?"
"Not now." said Jack sadly. "I'm afraid she's in the hospital wing, sick with pneumonia. There's been a bad round of it over in Ravenclaw."
"Ah... Shame about that... You wouldn't have happened across the password, I wonder?"
"Well, last time I checked, it was hippogriff talons, but it may have changed since then. Would you have me go see if anyone else is in the dormitory?"
"No, we'll work with the hippogriff thing. Thanks, Jack."
"No problem. Nice meeting you, Tania." With that, he flew off to continue playing the endless game of quidditch.
"Well, then?" Asked Tania. "Should we try it?"
"Yeah, I suppose." Replied George uncertainly. "We can only hope it works."
They made their way over to the Ravenclaw portrait hole where there hung a prestigious-looking philosopher.
"Password?" he asked, looking at them through his monocle.
George cleared his throat nervously. "Er, yes... Hippogriff talons!"
The philosopher merely sat, unmoved. "I'm sorry, that was last week's password."
"Well..." George grinned convincingly. "Out of the kindness of your heart, sir... Will you let us in? We've forgotten the password, you see, and-"
"You cannot enter without a password!" said the man sternly.
George sighed. "Any ideas, Tania?" He whispered to her.
She shrugged. "We could try another password..."
"Like what?"
"Uh..." she thought. "Mandrake leaves!"
"I'm sorry, you're not even close." The philosopher chuckled.
"Mandrake leaves?" George asked her.
She glared at him. "Let's see you do better."
"All right, then." He cleared his throat. "Dungbombs!"
The philosopher began to laugh.
"Oh, that was good..." Tania said sarcastically as she laughed with the old man.
"Give me a few more tries, all right?" He looked back up at the stern man. "Butterbeer!" The philosopher sat, rolling his eyes.
"Sugar quills!" offered Tania. Still, the portrait didn't budge.
George tried again. "Phoenix tears!"
"Unicorn blood!"
"Spider legs!"
"Pumpkin juice!"
"Dragon scales!"
"Snitch feathers!"
"MOOOOOOOVE!!!" Screamed George, throwing his fists wildly at the painting. He backed up, pulling at his hair, still yelling angrily. He stood there for a moment, staring up at the painting, breathing heavily, his face almost as red as his hair, which was horribly messy. "Why won't you move?" He screamed at the philosopher.
The man merely looked down at him. "I can't do anything about the rules of this school, or about the fact that you've forgotten the password. And yelling certainly isn't going to get you in here."
"Why can't you just move!"
"Because it's against the rules and standards of this school to let you in without a password."
George gaped up at him, then slid down against the wall next to the portrait.
Tania kicked at the ground angrily as she muttered, "Bloody hell..."
With that, the portrait swung to the side and revealed the opening to the Ravenclaw common room.
George stood up and stared at the portrait hole. "That's the password?"
Tania shrugged and clambered into the portrait hole, followed closely by George.
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
And so it was that both of the Bloom sisters were sitting in their common rooms, solemnly waiting for anything good to happen. They had both realized something that left them devastated-they had each lost someone that they needed. Of course, the worst thing about it was that, had they known what precious gems they'd possessed, they would have been so much more careful with them. Perhaps it was a series of events caused by the ones they lost that led up to the sisters' forced decisions, but they nevertheless felt that a portion of it was their fault.
Allyson and Tania both needed consolation, and who better to discuss their problems with than each other?
Tania rose from her chair and turned to go in pursuit of the only people who could help her see her sister-Fred and George Weasley.
As she passed the next chair, she looked down to see Oliver staring sullenly into the fire with no expression on his face except for the lingering sensation of utmost misery in his deep, brown eyes.
Tania wondered what was wrong, but had not the nerve to ask. Instead, she made her way over to Harry and Ron, who were currently engrossed in a game of wizard chess.
"Check." Harry grinned triumphantly, convinced he had won, as he looked on at Ron's freckled face, which merely smirked in return.
"Harry, you moron..." Ron chuckled as his pawn moved forth. "Check mate." He raised his eyebrows at Harry as the white king on the opposite side of him threw his crown to the harmless black pawn.
Harry gaped at the chessboard momentarily. "But it's only a pawn!"
Ron smiled. "I know... Pretty depressing, isn't it?"
Harry slouched in his seat. "If only you knew... Hey, Tania..."
Ron wheeled around to see Tania standing behind him. He smiled. "Oh, hello, Tania."
She forced a smile. "Hey, Ron. Do you know where your brothers are?"
He slouched down to Harry's level. "Which ones? The clowns or the politician?"
Tania giggled. "The clowns."
"Well, George is moping in a corner at the moment... Don't know where Fred is."
Tania eyed him curiously. "Moping? George doesn't seem like one to mope. Why is he moping?"
Ron waved his hand in open dismissal. "Fred's gone off somewhere without him." Tania opened her mouth to question him yet again, but he interrupted her. "Don't ask me where, I'm not my brother's keeper." He paused. "No pun intended, by the way."
Tania smiled. "A lot of help you've been."
"Well, don't thank me or anything!" He laughed.
"Don't worry, I wasn't exactly planning on it." She walked off to look for George.
Ron wasn't joking when he'd said that George was moping in a corner, because it was quite literally a corner that he was moping in. He was sitting at a table, slouching and looking miserable.
"Hey, George." She sat down across the table from him. "Any idea of where Fred might be?"
He lifted his eyes from the floor to meet her gaze. "Yeah. Why do you care?"
She shrugged as she leaned back into her chair. "No reason. Just wondering..." She looked at him for a moment. "Any idea of how I could see Allyson?"
He continued to stare at her, his expression not faltering once. "Yeah." He paused. "Why do you care?"
Tania smiled a little in return. "Why do you think?"
He smiled and sat up straight in his chair, leaning across the table. "I'm thinking it's because you want to talk to her."
"Very good, George, I'm proud of you! You're starting to learn about that thing we normal people like to call common sense!" She laughed a little.
He leaned back into his chair and smirked again. "Well, if you don't want me to help you..."
"I have a feeling I could find Fred and pry some information out of him whether you decide to help me or not."
George shook his head. "Nah. You couldn't find Fred any easier than you could find Allyson. But the truth is I'm going to help you anyway."
"Why?"
"Because I believe we can help each other." He grinned and leaned on the table again.
A smile crept across Tania's lips and she followed suit in leaning on the table before her. "I need details. I want to know how I'm helping you before I commit to anything."
He shook his head. "No, see, I can't tell you that-I've made a promise and, though I may be a sneaky, immature prankster, I never break my promises. All I can tell you is that, in this situation, there's a good chance your profit may be greater than mine." He looked down at her hands for a moment, then once again he looked back into her eyes, smirking a little.
Tania could tell he wasn't lying.
"Do we have a deal, then?" asked George, holding out his hand.
She smiled. "I would be stupid not to take this offer." She shook his hand.
Almost immediately, he leapt up from the table and yelled across the room, "Oi! Ron!"
Ron's head snapped to face George while Harry meekly attempted to urge one of his knights to make an illegal move to put Ron's king in check. "What do you want?"
"Is Jack in the dormitory now?"
Ron thought for a moment. "Yeah, he should be, he doesn't usually go over to Sally's unless she needs him for something important."
"Thanks, mate."
Ron grinned back at him and nodded. "Sure thing." He turned back to the game, just as his bishop was being forced to attack the rebel knight in order to protect its king. "Harry, you git!"
Tania snickered a little as she followed George up a staircase. Before entering the door at the top, however, she stopped. "George, I can't go in here, this is the boys' dormitory."
George gaped at her. "So you're willing to cheat your way into the Ravenclaw common room, but you won't go into the boys' dormitory?"
Tania shrugged. "I guess it's not that so much. I feel at home in the Ravenclaw common room, but the boys' dormitory...?" She grimaced a little.
George looked at her for a second and shook his head as he rolled his eyes. Without warning, he then grabbed her around the waist and hoisted her over his shoulder. "You goody-goodies. Honestly!" He mumbled, genuinely irritated. "Can't stand to take any risks."
Tania was kicking and screaming as he walked into the dormitory, swinging the door shut behind him and locking it. He put her down hastily on the ground.
She just stood there, gaping at him. He merely grinned in response as he walked over to the other side of the room towards a poster of the Chudley Cannons. Tania followed him angrily and walked in front of him.
She decided to take advantage of the time when he was carefully studying the poster. With lightning speed, she pulled her hand back and aimed for his face.
Without even looking at her, he held his hand up and blocked her swipe. "Now where could he be?" He mumbled, completely indifferent to what had just happened. He let her hand go as she marveled at him.
"How did you do that?" she asked. "I barely had time to think about it myself."
He looked at her and smiled. "Practice. After getting slapped a few times, it sort of sharpens your reflexes. Just ask Fred if you don't believe me. He's practically got a sixth sense about it from being slapped and punched so much." He continued to look at the people flying around on the poster.
Tania scanned the room nervously. "George, please hurry up... I don't think I'm supposed to be up here."
"Of course you're not, stupid. This is the boys' dormitory."
Suddenly, a young man on a broomstick flew into view on the poster. "Sorry, Fred, what did you want?"
George winced when the man mistook him for his twin. "George... My name is George, Jack! Honestly, Fred and I are not the same people, you know..." He looked at the man.
"Right... George... I must remember that." Jack smiled at Tania. "And who is this?"
"This is Tania, Allyson's sister. Now, is Sally over in the dormitory currently?"
"Not now." said Jack sadly. "I'm afraid she's in the hospital wing, sick with pneumonia. There's been a bad round of it over in Ravenclaw."
"Ah... Shame about that... You wouldn't have happened across the password, I wonder?"
"Well, last time I checked, it was hippogriff talons, but it may have changed since then. Would you have me go see if anyone else is in the dormitory?"
"No, we'll work with the hippogriff thing. Thanks, Jack."
"No problem. Nice meeting you, Tania." With that, he flew off to continue playing the endless game of quidditch.
"Well, then?" Asked Tania. "Should we try it?"
"Yeah, I suppose." Replied George uncertainly. "We can only hope it works."
They made their way over to the Ravenclaw portrait hole where there hung a prestigious-looking philosopher.
"Password?" he asked, looking at them through his monocle.
George cleared his throat nervously. "Er, yes... Hippogriff talons!"
The philosopher merely sat, unmoved. "I'm sorry, that was last week's password."
"Well..." George grinned convincingly. "Out of the kindness of your heart, sir... Will you let us in? We've forgotten the password, you see, and-"
"You cannot enter without a password!" said the man sternly.
George sighed. "Any ideas, Tania?" He whispered to her.
She shrugged. "We could try another password..."
"Like what?"
"Uh..." she thought. "Mandrake leaves!"
"I'm sorry, you're not even close." The philosopher chuckled.
"Mandrake leaves?" George asked her.
She glared at him. "Let's see you do better."
"All right, then." He cleared his throat. "Dungbombs!"
The philosopher began to laugh.
"Oh, that was good..." Tania said sarcastically as she laughed with the old man.
"Give me a few more tries, all right?" He looked back up at the stern man. "Butterbeer!" The philosopher sat, rolling his eyes.
"Sugar quills!" offered Tania. Still, the portrait didn't budge.
George tried again. "Phoenix tears!"
"Unicorn blood!"
"Spider legs!"
"Pumpkin juice!"
"Dragon scales!"
"Snitch feathers!"
"MOOOOOOOVE!!!" Screamed George, throwing his fists wildly at the painting. He backed up, pulling at his hair, still yelling angrily. He stood there for a moment, staring up at the painting, breathing heavily, his face almost as red as his hair, which was horribly messy. "Why won't you move?" He screamed at the philosopher.
The man merely looked down at him. "I can't do anything about the rules of this school, or about the fact that you've forgotten the password. And yelling certainly isn't going to get you in here."
"Why can't you just move!"
"Because it's against the rules and standards of this school to let you in without a password."
George gaped up at him, then slid down against the wall next to the portrait.
Tania kicked at the ground angrily as she muttered, "Bloody hell..."
With that, the portrait swung to the side and revealed the opening to the Ravenclaw common room.
George stood up and stared at the portrait hole. "That's the password?"
Tania shrugged and clambered into the portrait hole, followed closely by George.
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