Monday 6th September 1993
"I would like everyone to please take a seat next to someone in a different house than your own. These will be your seats for the term."
Liv looked at her best friend Holly, whose bum was hovering above the seat next to her, about to land. Rolling her eyes, she pushed herself back up to a standing position while the rest of the class muttered grumbles and complaints. With a cool glance around the room of reluctantly shuffling fourth years, Liv saw Holly's eyes lock onto a pretty, tall Gryffindor girl sitting alone, and proceeded to half-jog towards her, elbowing a broad chested ginger boy out of the way in the process.
Liv couldn't help but smirk at her friend, who began a flirty introduction to her new classmate, when the broad ginger boy Holly had elbowed came crashing down into the now empty seat next to her. In fact, Liv realised as she blinked, there were two of them, and they were scuffling for the chair.
After the brief tousle, one of the twins finally outmanoeuvred the other and planted himself firmly at Liv's desk. Much like Liv and Holly had just done, the twins communicated with looks rather than words, and after a moment of exchanged expressions (the one seated looking smug and triumphant, the one left standing exasperated and annoyed) the standing twin wandered away gloomily to sit next to the only other free seat left – next to a rather sweaty looking Ravenclaw boy who was known for his unfortunate body odour.
"Take your seats – quickly now – we'll be starting in a moment..." Professor McGonagall distractedly spoke to the class over the low noise as she tried to get the box of nervous owls she had with her at the front to cooperate.
Turning his whole body towards Liv, the ginger boy, still with an expression of exaggerated smugness, said, "Miss Jones, isn't it? One of the Ravenclaw chasers?"
Liv was taken aback by his forwardness in tone and body language – but then, she remembered, she was dealing with a Gryffindor.
"So it is, Mr. Weasley," she replied, trying to match his mock exaggerated tone. Liv knew the Weasley twins by sight, partly from Quidditch and partly from their notoriety for trouble, though she had never spoken to them and wasn't sure which one she was dealing with. Weasley seemed to guess this immediately.
"Ah!" he exclaimed, wagging his finger at her playfully, "Do you care to wager a bet as to which Weasley I am? I'll give you a clue – I'm not Ginny."
Presumably, Ginny was the name of his younger sister who had started Hogwarts the year previous. She had seen a small, nervous-looking girl bearing resemblance to the twins in the corridors between lessons. Though due to the events of last year, Liv, like the other Hogwarts students, primarily knew her as the Chamber of Secrets Girl.
"Hmm..." Liv began, holding back a grin. The Gryffindor boy seemed to have an infectious, chaotic energy about him that Liv couldn't resist. Though stoic normally, Liv loved a battle of the wits, which is what this banter was beginning to feel like. "I did consider it... but then I figured however I guessed you would probably trick me anyway."
The twin feigned shock. "A Ravenclaw turning down a puzzle! A riddle, even! They ought to strip you of your-"
Just then they were interrupted by the boy's twin brother who, having had marched grumpily across the classroom, said "What's this about stripping?" He held his hand out palm up in front of his brother's nose. "Fred, gimmie that fancy quill Percy gave us – seeing as you got to sit next to the pretty girl, and I'm stuck over there with Reek. Here, you can have this one." He placed a quill on the desk in front of Fred that looked like it had seen better days.
Liv suddenly found her nailbeds extremely fascinating. Truthfully, she knew she was blushing slightly at the "pretty girl" comment and felt a little awkward from the exchange. Liv had an inkling this was George's intention, though, as the circumstance was not how George was trying to make it seem – the twins had arrived late, and their fight over the seat next to her was due to the only other one available being next to the unfortunately but aptly nicknamed Reek. However, she was also glad she now knew it was Fred she was sitting next to. However, she did consider that perhaps this was part of a larger rouse, to purposefully call one another the wrong name in front of others to confuse them. As she was pondering all of this while pretending to inspect her nails, the twins had a back and forth about who deserved the better quill more, resulting in another minor scuffle, this time with George emerging victorious.
"Have fun," George said cheerily to Liv, "because he's about to spend the next 50 minutes trying to convince you he's both clever and charming."
Once George had left, Liv, feeling rather awkward, began rummaging in her bag muttering, "I think I have a spare quill you can borrow Fre-", she paused a beat, "Fred," she finished. Her hesitation had come from her previous thought of her potentially being further tricked (and her Ravenclaw desire to never be wrong or outwitted). Fred, once again, did a good job at guessing this.
"Oh, come off it," he said casually, taking the spare quill Liv was offering him. "Look, no offence, but I don't really care that much about you to suddenly learn telepathy and tell my brother to come over here and call me the wrong name."
Liv smiled, the awkwardness she had been feeling melting away. "Well, George was right..." she said in a condescending tone. "Now you've completely convinced me of your charm, how are you going to convince me you're clever too?"
Fred's eyes flashed with mischief, and after a pause, quickly wrote in large wobbly letters on the parchment in front of him "NAME: PHREDGE". Then, with dramatic flair, he stood up, waved the parchment in front of him, and said in a loud voice, "As you can see, Professor, I've already completed this week's work-"
"Mr Weasley," said McGonagall sternly, "we haven't even begun the class yet."
"Ah-ha!" exclaimed Fred in his Shakespearean-drama voice, "my genius knows no bounds! Already ahead of the esteemed Profess-"
"Mr Weasley return to your seat."
Fred conceded and sat down again grinning as McGonagall hushed the giggles that had started to ripple through the class and began the lesson.
Professor McGonagall led the class in some heavy spell theory for the first part of their lesson, the majority of the class – even Fred – furiously taking down notes as she lectured and demonstrated. They were faced with the challenge of turning owls into opera glasses, and after a while the students had the chance to practice in their pairs.
"So, clever clogs," Liv began as Fred began trying to transfigure the owl hooting haughtily in front of them, "have you managed to figure out my name yet?"
Fred stopped suddenly and looked up at Liv, meeting her eye with a serious, concerned expression. "Wait - it's not Number Six? Full name, Number Six Ravenclaw Chaser Jones?"
Live smirked, but met his gaze back with equal feigned sincerity. "Actually, yeah it is," she nodded solemnly, "me mam had great foresight and a wicked sense of humour."
Fred gave a snort of laughter and continued with his work. Liv watched his face a moment longer, feeling a little proud she'd said something he found funny.
They took it in turns practicing before McGonagall asked for their attentions back to continue with more theory and demonstration. However, by this point in the lesson, Fred had clearly gotten bored and restless. Leaning towards Liv, he drew on her parchment four lines intersecting each other – a noughts and crosses board – and placed an X in the middle square. Liv glanced down at the drawing, then back up at him, her face puzzled. The redheaded boy was sat uncomfortably upright in his chair, hands clasped together on the table infront of him in mock piety, his gaze focused ahead on Professor McGonagall.
Liv looked back down at the game he had drawn, hesitated for a moment, then looked back at McGonagall and continued taking notes. Unlike Gwen, her free spirited, wild-at-heart, hippie mother, Liv was terrified of authority. She began to feel her stomach do a little somersault at just the thought of being told off in front of the whole class for doodling or passing notes. Especially with Fred Weasley's reputation for trouble, she didn't want to risk getting involved in his mischief, even in this small way.
Just as Liv began taking notes again, something struck her foot - so suddenly that it made her startle in her seat, causing the legs of the chair she was sitting in to scrape noisily across the floor. This in turn caused the class to flinch and exclaim "urgh!" at the harsh scraping noise, like nails on a chalkboard. Liv felt her face become hot – she knew she was blushing horrifically.
"Everything alright, Miss Jones?" McGonagall asked sharply.
"Sorry, yes, professor - sorry, I'm just - yes, sorry, I'm fine," Liv blundered, while she quietly readjusted her chair. McGonagall continued the lesson, her brow slightly more furrowed now, and Liv looked to her right to find Fred still in his poised position but stifling back laughter.
Once the end of lesson bell rang, both Liv and Fred turned to each other at the same time.
"Blimey - I thought only gingers could go that red!" Fred said laughing.
"Why did you kick me?! It made me jump!" Liv retorted, most certainly not laughing.
Fred shrugged as he packed up his things, taking the quill Liv had lent him with him. "Wanted you to take your turn," he said, nodding to the noughts and crosses he drew. George approached, shoving him jokingly, and without another word to Liv, they left together, laughing and joking as they went about who knows what.
After the Weasley twins had left, Liv was still in the classroom, leaning against her desk, waiting for her friend Holly to finish flirting with the Gryffindor girl she had been sitting next to. Liv's brow was furrowed – she could feel it but couldn't seem to unfurrow it. Her thoughts were on the previous hour she had just experienced. Truthfully, she enjoyed finally meeting Fred Weasley, after only ever seeing him as a blur on the Quidditch pitch. She had enjoyed his company – for the most part. But she couldn't help but think that his kicking her, wanting her to play a game during class, and then leaving without even saying goodbye – or even finding out her name for that matter – was incredibly rude. But, she supposed, they had a whole term to go over that.
"I'm sorry," Holly finally approached with a sigh. "I'm done now. Let's go."
Liv and Holly had become friends in first year. After both being sorted into Ravenclaw they sat next to one another in the Great Hall and fell into a natural dynamic straight away. Holly was a strong, leader type; Liv always said she would make a great barrister. She was blunt, to the point; quizzical, logical, questioning, as many Ravenclaws are. She was also fierce: a fierce friend, with high standards of loyalty, and a fierce academic competitor. Liv, by contrast, was more the quiet type; she could certainly hold her own but preferred to be the solicitor in the back of the courtroom furiously taking notes, to keep with the analogy.
Over the years, they had been each other's guide in numerous ways. Liv, being Muggle born, was new to the wizarding world – she had so many questions, and Holly was more than happy to provide the answers, enjoying the art of explaining. Similarly, Holly was from a wizarding family, and it was Liv's greatest pleasure to introduce Holly to the wonders of Muggle pop music. Liv was grateful that her trusty cassette player and tapes worked within the boundaries of Hogwarts, and many an evening was spent between them listening to George Michael, Sinead O'Connor, and Madonna. The latter was a personal favourite of Holly's, whereas Liv was obsessed with George Michael.
"How was your lesson next to tweedle-dee?" Holly asked casually as they walked to the library for their free period.
"Oh, don't be mean," Liv said disapprovingly. "The Weasley twins aren't dumb – how else do you imagine they get away with doing everything they do? I peeked at the notes he was taking, he's actually rather clever."
"Oh, is he now?" Holly smirked at Liv, who rolled her eyes in response.
Holly, despite her hard exterior, was a hopeless romantic who loved love. She loved to flirt, go on dates, chat people up – and she especially loved to try and set Liv up with anyone and everyone, despite Liv, in her five years of knowing Holly and attending the school, never really being interested in that sort of thing.
"What was all that at the end? I saw you go the colour of a tomato," Holly said deadpan.
"Thanks," Liv returned, monotone. "He kicked me under the table because I wouldn't play noughts and crosses with him."
"Oh, yeah, sounds like a genius..."
"Anyway, I'm sure you have more to tell me about your lesson than I you."
Liv was right. Holly's eyes lit up as she began to recall the interactions she had had with her new friend. Her name was Laurie Martin, she was half-blood, she liked Herbology best, she had one younger brother who so far hadn't showed any signs of magic but they were still holding out...
"So..." Liv cautioned after Holly had gushed. They were now entering the library and so reduced their voices to a low whisper. "Does she... like girls?"
"Oh, fucking hell, Liv! Why do you always have to ask that? Can't it be enough that I found a cute girl to sit next to for the whole term?"
They reached a table and sat down opposite one another. "Hols, you know why I'm asking. I just don't want a repeat-"
"Oh, and you think I do?" Holly replied sharply.
Liv knew then to stay quiet. Bickers and falling outs weren't uncommon for them. Afterall, they were fifteen years old, best friends, practically lived together, and both stubborn and righteous. They would study in silence for the next hour or so, then when it was time to leave, all would be well between them. They both knew this.
But Liv still couldn't help but worry, silently. Holly's romantic streak was something Liv – though not a romantic herself – loved about her best friend, but being a gay kid in a small boarding school hadn't proved well for her yet. Holly had a habit of meeting a girl, liking her, falling for her, devoting all her time and attention to her, interpreting the affections of teenage girl friendships as romantic rather than platonic – only to realise that her romantic feelings were not reciprocated, ties would be cut, and tears would be shed. It was heartbreaking for Liv to witness, and she desperately would like to protect it from happening to Holly again if she could.
After a while of silent studying, Holly looked up suddenly.
"When's your first Quidditch training?"
"Er - I dunno yet. Might be this weekend." Liv replied nonchalantly, not bothering to look up.
"Oh, for fucks sake!" Holly exclaimed suddenly, louder than the librarian-approved whisper they had come to adopt.
Liv looked in panic around her for listening ears. "Shhhh!" she urged, returning to a whisper. "What's the big deal?"
"What the hell am I supposed to do on the first Saturday of the term if you're off flying broomsticks?" Holly replied, still angry but at least dropped to a whisper now.
"Well - I don't know! It might not be – flipping hell Hols it's the first day back. Ask that Laurie girl to hang out," Liv shrugged. "Look, it's not my fault – we've got a new seeker this year and we need to train together."
"Whatever," Holly muttered. Liv couldn't help but hold back a smile, though. She loved Holly, truly, and Holly loved her. It was quite nice to have a friend annoyed at you for not being able to hang out.
"I'll be going for my early morning run, though, on Saturday, if you wanted to come-"
"Do I fuck," Holly grumbled, before Liv could finish her sentence. Liv sniggered.
