A/N: Hope everything is going well for all of you out there in reader land. Haha. Yes, I'm an avid Georgia Nicholson reader, though lately I've been a bit behind with keeping up with the series. Here's the next installment and I hope you like it.
September 2
Care of Magical Creatures
So, Hagrid still hasn't come back and we have Professor Grubby-Plank for Care Of Magical Creatures. For our DADA teacher, we have Professor Umbridge. It's a shame that Professor Lupin didn't come back. He was rather cute. The six of us were sizing up Umbridge at dinner. Fred says that he already knows she'll be a bit of a nuisance. She kind of reminds me of a toad that was just run over. Her face is all squished up and she's very short. Katie instantly critiqued her on her choice of apparel.
"Honestly, who wears a hideous cardigan like that, to match the bow in their hair?" she whispered with horror.
Alicia and I had to agree with her. Umbridge looked like a reject for the part of one of Cinderella's ugly stepsisters. She interrupted Dumbledore and made some rather long and boring speech. No one was listening. After the feast, everyone languidly headed up to his or her common rooms.
I was walking with Fred. Our fingers were only a few centimeters away. I really wanted to hold his hand but I would feel embarrassed, snatching for it in front of everyone. I made an attempt but quickly pulled back. Luckily, he didn't even notice. I mean, if Fred wanted to hold my hand that badly, he would have reached for it himself, right?
Right.
Well, as the facts go, he never did.
"So what do you think of this Umbridge woman?" I asked, first confirming that she wasn't anywhere in earshot.
Fred frowned.
"She looks like a toad to me."
I laughed because the description really was accurate.
"A toad in a pink cardigan," I added.
He threw me a half-smile.
At midnight, due to tradition, the six of us slowly trickled down to the common room. As usual, no one was around. Katie was the last one to arrive, leaving a trail of Burberry perfume behind her. Alicia and I looked at each other, then rolled our eyes. The twins led the way and pretty soon, we had safely and successfully slunk onto the Quidditch pitch.
As we all settled onto the firm ground, I instantly realized that this would be the last time we'd ever do this. For years, I had been used to running around with the five of them and tonight was the first step to the future ahead. Next year, who knows where we'd all be? I looked at Katie and Lee, who were joking around about something.
Next year, would they still be together? My gaze wandered to George and Alicia. They appeared to be having a serious discussion about something, because George was frowning. I studied my friends and got a rush of sentimental remorse. I have no idea why I suddenly felt so melancholy at that moment, but it just hit me like a ton of bricks. And then I thought about Fred and myself. Would this even last the entire school year? Could a player change his ways?
It was so frustrating and odd to think about Fred in a boyfriend way. For years, I had known him as my best friend. And now I had to analyze him through the lens of a relationship. The only reason why I was so consumed with worry was because of my past experience with him.
If I dissected the situation through the old way, through the view of a friend, my only rational answer was that Fred would eventually break things off with me. He'd done it to every other girl so why should I be any different?
I guess I was rather quiet, because Fred had to give my shoulder a little shove to get my attention.
"Angie?" he questioned, peering at me with curiosity.
He was holding two Butter Beers in his hand. His right hand was jutted toward me, offering me a bottle.
"Yes?" I faintly asked, reaching for the bottle.
His free hand flopped to his side as I accepted the beverage, his face creased in confusion.
"Something wrong?"
I threw him a reassuring smile and shrugged. I was being silly that's all. Why was I throwing myself into predictions that had no real proof of taking place? I didn't really need to tell him about my woes for the future. Besides, it was just the beginning of the school year. I didn't have to think about graduation just yet. That was a long way away. It was time to think about the here and now.
"No, I was just thinking about a few things," I vaguely informed.
I could tell that he knew there was a lot more on my mind than I'd revealed but he didn't pressure me to say anything more.
"All right."
Was he hurt that I didn't want to share with him? But I just couldn't. I couldn't let him know that I doubted parts of our relationship this early.
"You think I'll get Quidditch captain?"
He gave me a genuine smile and wrapped his arm around my waist.
"There's no competition."
I smiled, pleased at his answer and pleased at the thought of becoming captain. I scooted closer to him and rested my head on his shoulder. We stayed like that for the rest of our time out there; lost in our thoughts though aware and relishing in each other's company.
An hour later, we all headed inside. Fred gave me a peck on the cheek before heading up to the boy's dorms. Alicia and Katie wiggled their eyebrows at each other and started nudging one another in the ribs. I rolled my eyes at them and followed them upstairs. The next morning (today), I was the first one to awake in our room. It was about six-thirty and classes started at eight thirty sharp.
Breakfast lasted from seven to about eight-twenty. That left us ten minutes to get to do whatever last minute thing we needed to do and then get to class. But I knew in order to have time to get ready, I needed to be up early. Three girls to one bathroom really isn't a laughing matter.
Besides, if I let Alicia use the shower before me, there would be no hot water left. Our other roommate, Christina Dean, was always the last one to wake up. When I passed by her bed, she was snoring so loudly, I had to plug my ears for a moment. After I had taken a refreshing shower and changed my clothes, Alicia finally had stumbled out of bed.
"What time is it?" she grumbled, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
I was in the middle of drying my hair, which really is a pain in the neck. Over the summer, my Mum had convinced me to get braids, because she thought I looked like that muggle singer, Alicia Keys and because of this, I would look just as good with a head full of braids, as she does.
They had really hurt my head when I'd gotten them done, because the stylist was pulling so aggressively to make the braids as tight as possible. When she had finished, I was surprised to see that they reached just past the middle of my back. I noticed that the night before, Fred didn't comment at all on this new hairstyle but I really didn't care. Boys never are too attentive to things like that.
Anyway, I wasn't quite sure I liked the hairstyle but once Alicia and Katie saw me, they absolutely adored it. I knew they weren't lying and it therefore boosted my confidence. I knew Katie wasn't lying, because being such the fashion fanatic, she would never let either of us walk out of the common room wearing something hideous. I also could trust Alicia's opinion, because she was known for her point-blank, no bull shit manner. In third year, some second year bloke came up to her in the library and asked her out.
Her response was, "Come back to me when you take a bath and maybe I'll reconsider." It sounds quite harsh, but the bloke really did have a putrid odor about him. He was also quite annoying, because he had asked out Katie and me in the same day.
"It's about seven thirty. You'd better hurry up before Christina wakes up. She takes just as long as you do. You wouldn't want to be late," I strongly advised.
Alicia nodded, squinting and grumbling to herself. She picked up her clothes from the floor, and then shuffled into the shower. While Alicia was in the shower, I finished drying my hair and then put on a touch of makeup. I'm not too crazy about applying a lot of makeup and because I was a bit tired, I didn't feel like going all out. So I only put on some eyeliner, eye shadow, lip-gloss and foundation.
Alicia emerged from the bathroom, freshly showered and changed at around seven-fifty. I sat at the foot of my bed, waiting for her.
"C'mon, let's go!"
Alicia, who was still half-asleep, mumbled some incoherent response. She picked up her wand from her nightstand and pointed it at her soaking wet hair and muttered a spell. Her hair instantly was dry and lay as straight as an ironing board. Thankfully, Alicia didn't spend too much time on her makeup. We grabbed our books and I grabbed my wand, then headed downstairs. As we sped out the door, Christina rolled over too much, fell on the floor and instantly woke up.
Alicia and I arrived in the Great Hall at about eight. Lee, George and Katie were there before us. Fred was missing. I suspected he had overslept, as usual. Like I've said, he's not much of a morning person. Alicia took a seat next to George and I took the empty space next to Katie. Lee was sitting across from her. This left an empty space next to me, on my right side.
Alicia and I started filling up our plates, while the rest of our friends finished off their breakfast.
"Where's Fred?" I wondered, though already knowing the answer.
Lee chuckled and broke away from his conversation with Katie.
"He was in the shower when George and I left. It took us twenty minutes to wake him up."
I smirked. I had been right. I took a muffin and a few bagels, just in case Fred missed breakfast.
"Did you guys see our bulletin on the notice board?" George curiously wondered, after wolfing down a waffle the size of his head.
Alicia shook her head, sipping her glass of apple juice.
"No, what'd it say?"
"Oh, nothing really. It was just a small notice for anyone wanting to try out our joke products."
I laughed.
"Who would be crazy enough to be one of your guinea pigs?"
George grinned.
"I never said we mentioned anything about that on the notice, did I? We just wrote if anyone was looking for a paying, painless job, then they should contact us."
I shook my head, laughing a little bit. Just then, Fred sauntered in, his robes a bit crooked. His hair was still a bit damp and thick pieces were straggling in front of his eyes. He winked at me and I grinned. But then I noticed all the OTHER girls following his path with their eyes and I immediately felt sick. I locked eyes with one of the admirers, who was a sixth year and sitting at the Hufflepuff table. She instantly turned away, frantically chattering to her friends.
He swiftly snagged the vacant seat to me and started heaping his plate with food. I tossed him the bagel and muffin I had placed on my plate for him.
"I thought you were going to miss breakfast, so I grabbed you something," I explained.
He smiled at me.
"Thanks. I kind of overslept," he replied, not all embarrassed at the fact.
I laughed and rolled my eyes.
"I think saying you overslept is an understatement."
He chuckled and planted a big kiss on my cheek. I squirmed and let out a squeal, due to the fact his lips were sticky from the pancake drenched in syrup he'd just consumed.
"Ew, Fred! Now my cheek is all sticky!" I shrilly exclaimed.
He laughed even harder and tried to aim for my lips, but I grabbed a piece of bacon from a nearby serving plate and chucked it at him.
"Hey, hey! I was gonna eat that!" George proclaimed.
Alicia laughed at George, along with Lee. Katie was observing someone at the staff table, with worry.
Fred was about to heave a blueberry muffin at me, but Katie quickly interrupted us.
"Guys, that Umbridge lady is giving you the evil-eye. You'd better cut the food fight short."
Fred slowly put the muffin down and we both turned to look at the new DADA teacher. True to Katie's words, Umbridge was smugly sitting at the staff table, hands folded together, her fluffy cardigan still concealing her short, pudgy arms. Her eyes were focused intently on Fred and myself, a small grin on her face, as though she knew something we didn't.
Creepy.
"You're right," I agreed.
We went back to eating our food and comparing schedules, until Fred spoke up again.
"Hey Angel, did you cut your hair?"
The girls and I started laughing at that one.
Boys. What would they do without us?
So, classes weren't any different than last year. Professor Snape still has yet to discover the wonders of shampoo and Professor McG doesn't seem to want to lighten up anytime soon. N.E.W.T.'s are this year and though I'm not worrying about it now, I know I'll be a stress case when they actually start to approach.
But you'll never guess what happened after Transfiguration!
Mcgonagall asked me to stay after class for a moment and I thought I was going to get scolded about the food fight earlier that morning. But instead, she pleasantly informed me that I'm now QUIDDITCH CAPTAIN!
I'm so excited. I nearly hugged her but fortunately contained my exuberant joy to a little squeal of surprise. Keeper tryouts are Friday and I'm a little nervous. Whoever we get will really have to prove to me that they're suitable for the team. The team is counting on me. Everything is riding on my shoulders. Gah. Maybe it won't be as rewarding as I thought it would be….