Chapter 6: Things Progress

*****

Time passed quickly over the next couple of weeks.  Quidditch tryouts had been held the second week of classes.  Following in the Weasley family tradition Ron had been elected the new team Keeper while Ginny had surprised all by showing up to try out as a reserve Chaser- easily making the team.

Her brothers had been quite proud and she'd finally had to threaten both Fred and George with some unspecified bodily harm to get them to stop their celebratory pranks.

The talent show announcement, while not met with quite as much excitement, had been gathering quite a following too.  Though no one was quite sure what to expect, due to Flitwick's silencing charm on all participants, most agreed that it was bound to be interesting and at least something entirely new to all.

Alinora had convinced the Ladies to participate- they had been quite excited about her idea actually and couldn't wait to see the response it got.  She had also been busy talking to others about their ideas, as well as working with those already signed up for the show and helping them perfect their routines.

Due to all the practicing going on, most of the professors had agreed to allow students into their classrooms when they were not being used.  This added additional problems since it was necessary to track which rooms were being used at any given time and by whom, as well as making sure no one could spy on what was going on in them so the masquerade wouldn't be spoiled.

One of the rules of the contest was that no magic could be used on the audience to influence their opinion of the performance, though most would use magic if only to provide the background music for whatever was going on.  Because of this, Professors McGonagall and Flitwick and Alinora were kept busy keeping up with what would be needed and how it could be provided.

*****

A month had now passed and it was the evening before the first Quidditch match of the year.  The common room in Gryffindor tower was strangely quiet, but, as it was the dinner hour, that was to be expected.

Alinora sat at a table near the fireplace, piles of books and parchment surrounding her as she worked on her latest Potions assignment.  The remains of her dinner lay near by.  She was so deeply involved in her work that she didn't hear the portrait door open.

"You know, you're beginning to take after Hermione with all this skipping meals and staying up late to do homework.  You really need to relax a little!"

Holding up a hand to stop the flow of words, Alinora wrote one last line to finish her paper then laid her quill down with a sigh of relief.  She looked up and smiled tiredly at the familiar red head standing in front of her.

"I hardly think I've resorted to the lengths she goes to for good grades, but I will admit that I sometimes wonder if I've taken on too much."  She grinned up at George and slowly stretched her arms up and tried to release the tight muscles in her back from the knot they'd settled into.

"You need a break.  Some completely mindless fun to take your mind off things for a while.  And I know just the people who can help you…"

"Why do you think I've been missing dinner for the past couple days to get caught up?" she broke in with a smile, "I fully intend to spend most of the weekend relaxing.  Is there anything fun planned for tonight or will you all be going to bed early to be well rested for the match with Ravenclaw tomorrow?"

He paused before answering, wondering why the mischievous smile she was giving him was making his stomach do flip flops.  Or could that be all the treacle tart Fred had dared him to eat at dinner?  Bringing his thoughts back to the present with considerable effort, he remembered her question.  "Probably nothing too exciting- Exploding Snap maybe.  We do have to get a little sleep before the game or Angelina will kill us."  His look of mock terror at what the Quidditch captain would do to them evoked a tired laugh from Alinora.

"Well, since dinner is almost over I guess I should see about getting this all cleared away."  Alinora got up and began gathering up her books and other school supplies.  George grabbed her bag and helped her get everything stowed away.

"Thanks George.  I appreciate the help.  I'm so tired from all the talent show stuff, and all the class work on top of it, that my coordination is a bit shot."  She picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder, pulling her long braid out from under it and across her shoulder.  She placed a hand on George's arm as she passed him on her way to the stairs up to the girl's dorm, "I guess I'll see you guys a little later on then, okay?"

George felt his ears redden a bit at the touch and hoped that she wouldn't notice.  "Sure- looking forward to it.  You know… Fred and I have been working on some new stuff that we'd like to check out tonight…"

She'd reached the landing but turned back to laugh.  "Feel free to keep trying, but you should know by now that it's not going to work.  I admire your determination though."  She resumed her journey to her room, smiling a little while recalling those red tinged ears- maybe she was finally getting through to him…

*****

Later that evening Alinora had to admit that she was feeling much improved by having some time off from her studies.  And while she was really enjoying her work on the talent show, all the magic she was constantly doing was taking its toll on her.  This weekend would help a lot with renewing her reserves.

The twins had been in rare form that night- and George had said that nothing too exciting would be happening?!?  While the evening had begun with the promised game of Exploding Snap it had quickly progressed to the twins trying out many of their new jokes and tricks.

Due to this there were a great deal of laughing Gryffindors in the common room with oddly colored skin, hair and clothing.  Results were supposedly guaranteed to be gone by the morning…

Alinora and the twins were among the rare few in the room left unmarked by the color battle that had quickly broken out.  Colin Creevy had contented himself with taking pictures of the whole thing after getting caught by an explosion of reds and oranges lobed by Ginny.  It had originally been aimed at Fred, but he'd deflected it with a swing from a pillow off the couch.  It is hard to catch a beater off his guard.

Alinora and Katie had been laughing so hard their jaws ached.  They'd also decided it was about time to call it quits for the night.

Blocking a purple spray from Lee and sticking her tongue out at him as she went, Alinora made her way over to where Colin was sitting.  He and a few other fourth years had barricaded themselves into a corner and were happily heckling the various participants.

She leaned over and spoke a few words into his ear, nodding toward the fireplace where the battle raged.  She smiled at his grin as he nodded in agreement to her whispered request.  She gave him a quick hug then turned to make her way back to Katie and the two headed up the stairs towards their room.

As they reached the balcony overlooking the common room Alinora stopped.  She turned to look below, whispered a phrase and flicked her fingers twice- once at each of the twins.

Fred and George hadn't noticed that they'd left since they'd been busy beating off an attack by Ron and Harry and were laughing at the results of their defense.  Therefore, the sparkling shower of color that fell on them from above caught them completely unaware.  They looked at each other in shock then turned at the sound of feminine laughter.

As they turned, they were blinded by the flash of Colin's camera, that he'd been warned to have ready, and heard the sound of Alinora's voice floating down to them.  "Sweet dreams boys.  I do hope you're more up to the Quidditch challenge tomorrow…"

With that she and Katie ran up to their room giggling.

The common room erupted into laughter with the twins joining in.

"I do believe…" started George.

"… that we've been had." finished Fred.  "When will we learn??"

"Good question- do try to figure it out soon."  Angelina said dryly, though everyone could tell she was trying hard not to laugh at her boyfriend and his brother.  "I think it's time for the team to be heading to bed."  She paused to consider them, "And I'll be sure to ask Alinora if this can be expected to wear off before the game." she said, finally giving in to her giggles, looking at the confetti of color that now covered the twins from head to toe.

Shaking her head and laughing, she and Alicia went up to join the others and congratulate Alinora on her latest conquest of the twins.

*****

George woke up the next morning to find that he was still rather more colorful than normal and a familiar looking note on the pillow beside his head…

Good luck today.  I'll be cheering for you.

He smiled at the familiar feeling of the hug that accompanied the letter and lay there smiling until Fred came to wake him up for breakfast.