Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter ever.
Author's Note:
Low-key might have led you guys on with the promise of this chapter last Sunday. *Laughs sheepishly* Yeah, I didn't mean that at all. I totally meant today. I don't know what was running through my mind when I put that in the A/N last chapter.
Anyway.
ONWARDS!
No Promises.
Chapter T.E.N.
_"Learning"_
"When a man learns to love, he must bear the risk of hatred." -Uchiha Obito
There was a soft meow that only barely reached my ears, but it was silenced by an equally soft command. The quiet tapping of scruffy shoes was loud compared to my nearly silent footsteps and the pattering of rain against the windows. Even the Twins were being quiet for some odd reason.
I leaned closer to the closest Twin, who just so happened to be Fred. "Has anyone else noticed that Filch has been following us since the second D.A. meeting last week?"
His head turned just the slightest and blue eyes peered over my shoulder before he turned forward. A smirk was playing on his lips. "We've noticed," He assured, nodding towards George, who, as usual, was on my opposite side. "We could hear him wheezing from the sixth floor. He's not exactly being discreet."
"He suspects us," George whispered, discreetly glancing back as well.
"Obviously," Fred sassed, rolling his eyes playfully. George reached over my head and swatted his brother's shoulder.
"Do you think Umbridge is putting him up to it?" I whispered curiously as we cut a corner sharply, disappearing from the older man's sight for a few seconds. I could feel his eyes on my back when he finally rounded the corner.
George snorted. "I know Umbridge is putting him up to it. She has him wrapped around her pudgy little fingers."
"How do you know?"
We were nearing the Room of Requirement for our third meeting a little bit early, but none of us minded. We knew there would be others already there, eager to learn something from Harry, who was slowly getting more and more comfortable with his role as our teacher. He was a natural when it came to teaching us. We couldn't have picked a better teacher even if we'd tried.
Our only problem was ditching Filch right now.
George pulled an ear from his pocket and I nearly blanched at how life-like it looked. I knew without a doubt that this was their so-called Extendable Ears product. "We've got these babies riddled all over her office," He said proudly, waving the ear in my face. I slapped his hand away and glared.
"When did you even have the time to do that?" I asked.
"A little help from Lee while we distracted her in class one day," George snickered proudly.
"We've even managed to charm them to not have to have the string that used to connect them together," Fred bragged, looking very pleased with himself. "She hasn't noticed a single one so far."
"For a Ministry official, she's not very sharp," I deadpanned, still glaring at George and his offending ear, relieved when he slipped it back into his pocket. His eyes cut to me and he directed a boyish grin at me. For some reason, I felt like the freckles across his nose seemed more pronounced and his face seemed to radiate the sun. I blushed and averted my eyes, grumbling under my breath. Fred laughed out loud at my expense and I dug my elbow into his side vindictively, turning my nose up as he wheezed slightly.
It was strange how easily the three of us had slipped back into our roles as practically best friends. That seemed so weird to say. Best friends. But there really was no other word to describe Fred and George and our relationship. They were my best friends and I felt like that sentiment was slowly being reciprocated from both boys. I knew Lee would always hold a special place with the Twins and I would never dare get between that friendship, but it made my whole body warm knowing that I could confidently call Fred and George something more than acquaintances. And that I could rely on them if I needed something.
But really, you just want them to be more than just your best friends.
My mind was rebelling against me, I swear.
"Filch won't be able to get in right?" I asked as the Room of Requirement's door appeared before us. Fred pushed the door open for me.
"According to Neville, no," He reassured as I passed him and the door closed behind George with a resounding echo.
I arched an eyebrow curiously. "Neville?"
George grinned proudly, pointing out said boy, who was in a corner by himself practicing a flicking motion with his wand. It looked like he was trying to get the hang of the Disarming Spell Harry had taught us two weeks ago. "Neville's great," He said. "It's only been a few weeks, but Neville really gets this room."
"He did some investigating and he's positive that so long as someone is in the room already, no one else can get in if they don't know exactly what they're looking for," Fred explained. "The door won't open. He's still trying to sort through the loopholes, but he's still got it down pretty solidly."
I looked at Neville with slightly new eyes. I never would've expected that from him as he never really stood out amongst all of the students unless it's in Herbology, where he was pretty much Professor Sprout's star student.
Though if he keeps flicking his wand so needlessly like that, he's going to take someone's eye out.
"Line up, you guys," Harry called. I fell into place beside George and Zacharias, ignoring the boy when he scowled and inched away from me as Harry divided the line up and sent the others to stand across from us. Terra was directly across from me and waved lazily when we made eye contact. He paced up and down the middle, fingering his wand as he did so. "Stunning is one of the most useful spells in your arsenal. It's sort of a wizard's bread and butter, really."
Some of the girls giggled at that, Cho obviously being one of them. Harry's face flushed and he cleared his throat awkwardly. He came to a stop at the opposite end and turned on his heels, gesturing forward a Gryffindor second year named Nigel, who did so hesitantly. Harry held his arms out invitingly, wand held loosely in his hand. "Come on then, Nigel," He said. "Give it your best shot."
Nigel was stiff for a few seconds before, seemingly bracing himself going by the expression on his face, thrusting his wand out like he was about to throw a baseball. "Stupefy!"
There was the sound of something invisible whooshing through the air and the next thing I knew, Harry let out a surprised grunt as he was sent flying back and Nigel stumbled backwards, falling to the ground as Harry's back connected with the grates behind him. I winced along with the others. Nigel's Stunner wasn't strong, much less cast correctly, but that impact had to have hurt.
"Not bad," Harry grumbled as he pushed himself up into a shaky sitting position. "Not bad at all, Nigel. Well done." Despite Nigel's sprawled form, his smile was as bright as the sun at Harry's praise. Finally back on his feet, Harry brushed himself off and took a deep breath. "We're gonna make a game out of this," He began, a smile tugging at his lips when many of us perked up. "Not only are we going to be perfecting this spell, but we're going to test how fast you can cast a spell. This is a good practice for your reaction times and it'll give you the chance to hear plenty of feedback from everyone in the room. Partner up and I'm gonna call a pair up and have them square off."
Not wanting to choose one of the Twins and risk another guilty conscious, I sped across the floor and latched onto Terra, who merely grunted and accepted my clinginess with all the grace she could. I gave Fred and George a sheepish smile, though they didn't seem all too surprised. George actually laughed at me while Fred shook his head exasperatedly.
Ron and Hermione were up first as everyone got situated back in their spots with their chosen partners close by. I claimed my original spot by George with Terra separating Zacharias and I this time around as Ron whispered something to Hermione, whose eyes sparkled with barely suppressed mirth.
"Thanks, Ronald," She said somewhat sarcastically, her voice carrying as Ron got into position across the room.
"Come on, Ron!" Some boys cheered, clapping animatedly.
"He's gonna go flying," Terra said softly, smirking. I giggled into my hand, knowing she was right. Hermione definitely had this one in the bag. Not taking his eyes off his brother, I watched Fred lean closer to George.
"One sickle," He betted quietly.
George smirked. "You're on."
"You're supposed to be with your brother, not against him," I chastised George in a mock stern voice. Both just gave me identical smirks and didn't say anything.
Ron looked very confident standing there, wand raised and a small smirk on his face. Hermione, on the other hand, gave none of her thoughts away, her face carefully blanked and wand steadily pointing at Ron. His mouth opened, but Hermione was already casting a spell before he could get a syllable out.
"Stupefy!"
Ron flew off the ground with a completely unmanly squeak, landing with a hard thump a few feet away from his original spot. Terra's muffled snort of laughter was barely heard over the noises of sympathy from some of the other guys and the enthusiastic claps from the girls, who wasted no time in converging on a smiling Hermione.
Fred grudgingly thrust a sickle into George's waiting hand. "Thank you," George said lowly, smiling.
"Shut up." I giggled into my hand at Fred's disgruntled look.
Ron stiffly made his way closer to his brothers, face the tiniest bit red and looking embarrassed. "I let her do that," He said uncomfortably, obviously attempting to regain some of his lost pride. Terra snorted again, shoulders shaking with silent laughter. She couldn't seem to look at Ron with a straight face as Fred crossed his arms and gave his brother a disbelieving arched brow.
"If you say so, Ron," I teased, catching Hermione's eye and giving her a grin and thumb's up. Her smile widened before her attention was recaptured by one of the Patil twins. She was practically glowing.
Harry separated all of us after a minute of letting Hermione bask in her achievement, giving us instructions to practice the spell on each other, but obviously holding back so we didn't seriously injure one another. Terra dragged me to a corner of the room that she had claimed as ours with the Twins not too far away facing off against each other. After the incident with Zacharias during the first meeting, Harry had moved the haughty Hufflepuff to the farthest corner of the room that he could, along with many other students in his path to prevent any more wandering spells from the Twins.
"He just takes the fun out of things," Fred had grumbled to me after the second meeting in which Harry had scolded him for aiming an Impediment Jinx at Zacharias numerous times throughout the lesson.
"Not that I don't think he doesn't deserve it because he is kind of a prat, but you were being a bit disruptive, Fred," I had said as gently as I could to the proud redhead. George's laughter and Fred's indignant excuses had followed me all the way to the Common Room that particular night.
"Try to hold back, Terra," I said tauntingly.
Her sneer would've made even Professor Snape proud and given Malfoy a run for his money. "Not in my nature," She returned coolly. Her wand flicked up and mine immediately followed. "Stupefy!"
I ducked under the red light, surprised at how fast the spell had travelled the short distance between us. "Stupefy!" I couldn't hear the spell Terra said, but the red beam aimed at her suddenly ricocheted off course, hitting one of the Sneakoscopes and soundly breaking it. "What spell was that?" I asked, astounded. I had never seen a spell be redirected like that before, not even in Charms when Flitwick had to prevent off course spells from hitting him.
Terra smirked. "Land a hit on me and I'll tell you," She bribed, still crouched and ready. I narrowed my eyes at her and gave my wand a flourish, crying, "Impedimenta!" as a turquoise light racing towards her. Not expecting anything other than the Stunning Spell, Terra fumbled out of the way and dodged the spell sloppily.
She glared at me.
I smiled.
"What happened to practicing the Stunning Spell?" She asked sarcastically.
I shrugged. "It's not a hard spell. I've had that spell mastered since last year." Hearing from Parvati about Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts lessons kind of made me wary of wandering the school grounds with little to no knowledge of offensive spells with dangerous creatures so close by, but a trip to the Library for a book on offensive spells remedied that quite easily.
Terra took quick advantage of my unconsciously-lowered guard, already shouting the spell before I could react. "Stupefy!" The spell connected with my stomach, throwing me off balance and sending me skidding across the floor. I grunted when my back connected with the wall, groaning at the pain that flared up from my spine.
Something in my lower back popped and immediate relief filled my body.
"Hayden!" Terra's face was suddenly right in front of mine, hands awkwardly hovering over me and looking unsure of what to do. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry, I didn't think I'd hit you that hard," She exclaimed, brown eyes wide and worried. "Is anything hurt? Broken? Please tell me I didn't hurt your spine. I thought I heard something crack!"
"Probably because you did," I grunted, pulling myself up. Terra's hands carefully grasped my biceps and helped me into a sitting position. She looked like she was two seconds away from flipping her shit on me. "It's all good," I reassured her, smiling widely. Her lips pulled into a frown and I knew she didn't appreciate my attempt to brush it off. "Trust me. My entire body is like a Rice Krispies treat. Everything just crackles and pops at the littlest movement."
She was trying to fight it, but the beginnings of a smile were starting to form.
"This is the best I've felt in days," I said, stretching. Proving my point some more, audible cracks raced down my spine all the way down to my hips, which I purposefully twisted my body to create more popping noises that had Terra wincing. She inched away from me.
"There's something wrong with you," She grumbled, rubbing her face as she stood up. I grabbed her offered hand and was a bit surprised at how easily she pulled me up. Terra wasn't short, but she sure was skinny and didn't look like she had a lot of muscle on her.
"Hardly."
"You alright, Hayden?" Harry asked, hurrying over with Fred and George right behind him.
I beamed at him. "I'm good!" I chirped. "Terra just caught me by surprise." I rubbed my stomach through my shirt, grimacing. "Though I feel like I just got punched in the gut by a kangaroo."
"I didn't even put that much force behind it," Terra protested.
"It certainly doesn't feel like it," I shot back sarcastically.
"What's a kangaroo?" George whispered to Fred, who shrugged helplessly. Harry's lips pursed with held back laughter, but he kept it in spectacularly.
"But you are alright?" He pressed. I gave him and the Twins two lazy thumbs up. Both redheads breathed a sigh of relief before casting strange looks at each other. I tilted my head, unable to decipher what exactly the look was before giving up and looking at Terra. "So about that spell?" I wheedled.
A blond brow raised. "You never hit me," She reminded.
"Your point?"
"The deal was to hit me and then I'd tell you," She reiterated. My lips pulled down into a pout and I gave her the best puppy eyes I could. It worked often on Mom and sometimes Hailey, but I hoped it would affect Terra somehow. She shifted under my pleading look and snarled under her breath before caving. "It was a Shield Charm," She said shortly, no doubt irritated with herself.
I felt immensely proud for making the stiff Ravenclaw cave under pressure.
"That's a pretty advanced spell," I praised. Terra's cheeks reddened.
"Potter could do the spell when he was fourteen," She downplayed, inclining her head at Harry. "It's not that hard of a spell if you have the conviction for it."
I liked the suddenly contemplative look on Harry's look and I knew that he was probably already planning a new lesson on Shield Charms in the near future, but I was far too impatient to wait for that day to come. "Teach me?" I asked.
"I'll think about it."
"I think you've just lost points with her, Hayden," Fred and George stage-whispered to me. Terra's answering smirk confirmed their remark. I whacked both of their shoulders and turned my nose up at them.
"Shut up."
Lately whenever the weekend came around, nobody saw hide nor tail of me. They would hound me the second I came back to the Common Room late at night, all curious as to where it was that I always disappeared to. It was easy to indulge at first, but after a week, it started to get irritating. Not even my glare of death deterred the more curious ones. I was about to start threatening bodily harm soon if it didn't stop.
Fred and George didn't even know where I went, but they asked once and only once before I shot down that question faster than they could comprehend I had said no to them. They had blinked in surprise before shrugging and moving on to a different topic. It was a welcome change compared to all the other nosy idiots that couldn't take a hint.
Truthfully, I had my reasons for not being seen all day.
"A Bezoar is...a goat stomach, right?"
"Close. It's a stone taken from a goat's stomach."
"Darn..."
"You were half-right. Don't get too depressed on it."
Especially since Snape wouldn't have docked you a full point for that answer since you're one of his.
One reason was that I would never get time alone if I stayed in Gryffindor Tower all day. Someone wanted something from me every hour of the day—though it was mainly the Twins who constantly wanted my attention—and frankly, I could only take so much socializing.
Another reason was that despite my company, I took the time to do all of my essays and readings in peace with nothing but my thoughts and his questions to distract me.
Though the main reason I disappeared off everyone's radar was that I couldn't be seen in public with him and he seemed to understand, though not as in depth as I would've liked him to. The cynical part of me desperately wanted to crush that naivety of his and open his eyes to what was really happening, but I could never do that to anyone. Not even Malfoy if the prat was ever innocent to begin with.
All of Gryffindor would never see me the same again and I hated how I was so concerned about what my own House thought of me. I never cared before, but I knew why I started now.
I couldn't bare the thought of Fred and George looking at me like I had betrayed them again.
"Asphodel and Wormwood are part of the Draught of Living Death, right?"
I nodded my head, pleased that he was slowly starting to catch on.
"I think I'm finally starting to get it," Elliot stated, blue eyes sparkling like diamonds. They were the purest eyes I had ever seen.
The shit I would get for willingly tutoring a Slytherin would be unimaginable, especially if news got out that I had been meeting up with him for almost a month. Despite how young and obviously innocent he was, Elliot was still a Slytherin and me, as a Gryffindor, helping him was the biggest betrayal my House could ever see.
House rivalries are so damn stupid anymore.
Ever since Elliot's run-in with McLaggen, whom had been suspiciously absent lately, I had only ever seen the short, blond-haired boy briefly in the hallways and at the Slytherin table during meals. He was almost always followed by a girl close to his height with brown hair and a resting bitch face that could almost put my sister to shame, though the smile she reserved for him and only him was sweet and rather adorable in my eyes. I figured that's all that I would ever see of the kid, which was fine and dandy, but something in me worried for the weaker boy who had tugged at my heart that day with McLaggen.
I was no closer to understanding that sensation than what I was feeling for the Twins.
So imagine my surprise when out of the blue, the weekend after the first D.A. meeting, Elliot had approached me—thankfully on one of the rare occasions I was alone—and tentatively asked me for help on his Potions homework. He had squirmed under my scrutinizing stare for a full minute before I'd asked, "Why me and not one of your own?"
He'd shuffled in place, muttering, "Professor Snape was the one who had recommended you and I thought it would be a good idea since you helped me."
My body had warmed at the boy's sincere response, but more than that, I couldn't grasp my mind around the fact that Snape had pointed Elliot in my direction when I knew for a fact Malfoy was a far better brewer than I was or that there had to be plenty of other Slytherins who excelled in Snape's class. Then again, the arrogant blond and the other bumbling idiots probably would've turned Elliot down before he could even speak.
I thought Snape was acting a bit out of character, but I kept that to myself and agreed to tutor Elliot, who had smiled thankfully and proceeded to ask days and times that would work for me since he had more free time than I did.
"You are," I agreed, watching how he carefully wrote his answers down in his large, but very neat, handwriting. He wasn't the fastest learner, but he was picking it up at a steady pace that didn't make me want to pull all of my hair out. "It's just little things that you need to fix. After that, you'll be golden for your final."
Elliot looked up at me. "You think so?" He asked.
I rolled my eyes. "If Ronald Weasley can scrape an Acceptable in Potions like he has been despite never studying, you can at least earn an Exceeds Expectations from the effort you're showing."
"You don't think so highly of him, do you?" Elliot laughed.
"I don't think highly of many people, but he's definitely lacking in the Common Sense Department."
"That sounds a lot like some of the first years in my House," He admitted, closing his ink bottle and cleaning the tip of his quill with his sleeve. "Some of them aren't the brightest."
I figured that was Elliot's way of saying that he thought they were all incredibly stupid or something. I chuckled and leaned my cheek on my palm, lazily glancing around the empty library. It was starting to get late, which means that we both would have to leave before Madam Pince could kick us out.
"Your Head of House must be disappointed," I said.
Elliot shook his head. "More irritated, I guess. He got mad at one of the boys the other day because he really screwed up a Forgetfulness Potion and he accidentally dumped the whole cauldron on his partner, who was pretty out of it for a couple days. Professor Snape wasn't very happy."
"I can imagine," I replied drily, imagining the scowl on the black-haired professor's face. He really was a sour man.
"How have your classes been?" Elliot asked conversationally, turning in his seat to look at me after putting away all of his things in his bag.
I shrugged. It was sort of comfortable to talk to the younger boy despite his House and he made for a great listener. Against my will, I couldn't help but label him as a sweetheart. He was just too kind to be a Slytherin and that definitely threw the stereotypes I always heard for a loop. "Busy," I said loftily. "Every Professor is determined to drown us in assignments before Christmas and it's a challenge to keep up with it, but I've managed."
"That's good," Elliot said, looking relieved. I wondered why he was so concerned, but threw the thought aside after realizing it was just how he was. I had a good grasp of his personality after these past two weeks and it was a relief that he had no ulterior motive behind these studying sessions. "I've heard from some of the Slytherin fifth years that it's a struggle to keep up."
"Oh, it is," I admitted and smirked when Elliot sputtered at me, "but it's only a challenge to force myself to sit down and retain all of the knowledge my Professors want me to remember. If they're procrastinating, I can understand why it's a struggle."
Elliot hummed. "I bet that's why it's hard for them. I've never seen them doing homework in the Common Room or here in the Library."
"Probably," I agreed. I leaned closer to him and he blinked at my quieter tone. "How's your shoulder doing, by the way? Was Snape able to heal it without sending you to Madam Pomfrey?"
Elliot cringed and rolled said shoulder. His hand came up almost unconsciously and rubbed it. "It's been alright," He said, looking uncomfortable. "It hurts when I rotate or lift my arm a certain way, but I've never dislocated my arm before, so I figured that it was normal."
"It'll ease up after a time," I assured him. "McLaggen hasn't been bothering you, has he?" If he was, that would explain why I haven't been seeing him and I wouldn't hesitate to go back to Professor Snape to let him know Elliot was still being harassed. Kid didn't deserve the likes of McLaggen constantly hounding his ass for no reason other than what House he was in.
He immediately shook his head. "No, he hasn't." I arched an eyebrow. "Really he hasn't. I haven't seen him since that day in the hallway."
I liked to tie Elliot in with Hailey. She was my sister and I'd do anything for her. Elliot wasn't blood, but the sweet boy was growing on me and I would hate to see him hurt. That was like seeing Hailey being bullied and that was just something I would never tolerate.
Huh. A Slytherin being considered family was a weird thought.
I wonder if Harry will make an exception...
It hadn't escaped my notice how the D.A. had no Slytherins involved, which I could understand why, but after meeting Elliot, I had to wonder if Harry was actually looking at the Slytherins and not letting the stereotypes that had been fed to us dictate what he saw. There was no defending the older Slytherins, but a lot of the younger years were just as kind as Elliot was, though they hid it behind a mask they had more than likely learned from their parents. It was easy to look past the fake arrogance and general dickishness now.
Elliot was young and he wouldn't be able to learn a lot of what we were learning since his magic was still so new and weak, but if he started learning now...
He'd be stronger. He'd be able to protect himself. He'd be just like us, a student who was here to learn magic and graduate.
Practice for next week was cancelled since the Gryffindor and Slytherin match was next weekend and Angelina was forcing daily practices on the team, but maybe I could steal Harry after a practice one day next week and talk to him and hoped to Merlin he'd see reason. I wanted this to happen, but convincing Harry was going to be a challenge that I was not looking forward to.
"Elliot." His blue eyes latched onto me and held my gaze as I stared at him seriously. "How do you feel about private magic lessons?"
But if Harry wouldn't do it, then I'd certainly will, whether I'd be doing it alone or not.
"What's the verdict this time?"
"Umbridge is still rising the ranks. She's been watching my House more closely lately. I think she's on to us."
"You need to take her attention off of you."
A twitch. "She's not focused on me."
"You said she's been watching your House?"
"Exactly. My House. I didn't say me specifically."
A hand waved. "She might as well be watching you directly. Cause a scene and pin the blame on your rival House or something." It was an order, but one that was easily going to be disobeyed.
"It's not that easy."
Pitch black eyes narrowed disdainfully. "Figure something out then. The Dark Lord grows impatient with the constant failures from his subordinates and the Prophecy not already in his hands."
"I am not his subordinate and the Prophecy means nothing to me."
"You may as well be, you insolent fool."
"You two are filthy."
"Thanks for pointing out the obvious," Fred's garbled voice came out from beneath the tissue he was holding to his nose. Blood was soaking through the white tissue at an alarming rate. It'd been a solid fifteen minutes and it wasn't slowing down a bit.
Angelina was merciless in practices, though she was also very unobservant at times, I noticed. According to George, it had taken her a solid five minutes of him frantically trying to get her attention before she finally realized something was wrong and that, oh shit, Fred's nose was broken and he was bleeding all down the front of his uniform.
I had a hard time deciding if George was being honest or over-exaggerating a bit.
Madam Pomfrey was beside herself when I had walked into the Hospital Wing after hearing from Katie that Fred had accidentally gotten nailed in the face by a surprisingly quick bludger. "Now, really!" She'd exclaimed, scowling impressively. "You are the third Quidditch player in the past two days who has come to me with a similar injury! What are you doing, whacking yourselves in the faces with your bats?!"
Her wand movements were a bit sharper than normal, resetting Fred's broken nose and handing him a box of tissues to try and slow down the bleeding. There was no point using a Scouring Charm if more blood was just going to replace what had just been cleaned up. She'd marched back to her office with the promise of being back and to tell me to make sure they didn't do anything threatening to her Hospital Wing.
Her office door slammed shut and the resounding bang echoed in the Wing.
She was definitely in a mood today.
"Why are you so filthy?" My nose wrinkled at the amount of mud that was on both of their uniforms and was now ruining the pristine white bed sheets. "Did you decide to roll around in a puddle for the hell of it before you came up here?"
"Nothing of the sort," George denied idly. He even had streaks of mud smeared across his face. How in God's good green Earth did he manage that unless someone threw a pile of it at him?
"It's raining outside, Hayden," Fred explained, pointing to the window nearby. Rainwater pelted against the glass violently, thunder booming outside and shaking the castle with its force. Angelina's determination to practice was scary if she was going to risk this weather. "There's gonna be mud on the Quidditch pitch and we're gonna land in it if we want to change."
"You two look like you were pushed into the mud," I bluntly reiterated.
George winced and looked away from his brother's suddenly piercing stare. "Georgie here isn't the most coordinated in the rain apparently," Fred growled, glaring daggers at his Twin.
"I said I was sorry!"
I could already imagine the day Filch would be having when he saw the Great Hall Entrance. He'd throw the biggest fit ever known. Not even Umbridge would be able to appease him.
I shook my head exasperatedly. "You two are ridiculous." I sat down beside Fred, wary of the mud stains and asked, "How does your nose feel?"
"Like I just got punched in the face," Was his sarcastic retort. I whacked him across the head and he hissed when the motion jostled the hand holding the tissue to his nose.
"I could've told you that," I snapped, glaring at him. "No, but seriously. How does it feel? Any better?" Fred sniffed and tentatively pulled away the bloody tissue from his face. His mouth and chin was a bloody mess, though a lot of it was dried and just needed to be wiped off. Madam Pomfrey had done a good job fixing his nose as it wasn't crooked at all. The steady stream from earlier seemed to have finally ebbed off.
"Feels better now than it did when I first got hit," Fred grumbled, frowning when I stopped him from touching his face.
"Don't touch your face with your bloody hand," I said, slightly disgusted.
I wasn't a Germaphobe by any means of the word, but something about his bloody hand going near his face made me want to scrub his hand raw so that I knew for myself that it would be clean.
"Give me your hand," I instructed, pulling my wand out. He did so without much hesitation. I pressed the tip of my wand to one of the clean areas on his hand. "Scourgify." Turning his hand over and inspecting the other side, I was pleased to see that not a trace of blood was left. I could actually see the slight tan of his skin instead of the red blood.
"You're strange, Hayden," Fred chuckled, watching me check his hand. I snorted, absently tapping my finger against the back of his palm. It was a rhythm I'd heard before, but could never place the name of. Something from my childhood that resonated with me.
"I'm not strange," I retorted. "I just don't know how you were prepared to touch your face with your dirty hand." Fred shrugged, unable to give me an answer.
"You are strange," George agreed, laughing with his brother. Blue eyes looked at me almost fondly and the feeling that he was actually looking at me made me want to blush bright red. I'd never had someone actually look at me the way George was. It was...different. "But it's not a bad strange. Just strange."
I averted my eyes, letting go of Fred's hand and rolled my neck, grimacing at the crack that sounded. "It better not be a bad strange," I muttered childishly. "There's more than enough people here who are a bad strange."
"You got that right," They chorused, nodding.
Madam Pomfrey didn't make another appearance for at least another ten minutes, weathered eyes looking just a bit more tired than normal. She looked like she hadn't been sleeping well, which I thought was strange for the school nurse, who always made it obvious that she took good care of herself. Her hand flitted over Fred's still face before giving a satisfactory nod. "You're good to go, Mr. Weasley," She said briskly. "Take better care of yourself, you understand?"
"Yes, ma'am," Fred assured politely, getting up off the bed. I glared at the gigantic mud stain he left on the once white sheets. Change the brown to red and it'd look like the scene of a crime. I was half tempted to clean the mess up for her and unconsciously started to say the Charm necessary.
"I will take care of that, Ms. Walters," Madam Pomfrey said sharply, noticing me looking at the sheets. I jumped and turned my head to look at her. "There is no need to waste energy doing something that is in my job description." I gave her a sheepish smile.
"Sorry, ma'am," I apologized, putting my wand away. She waved my apology off and shooed the three of us from the Wing, shutting the door behind us as we headed back to the Common Room so the Twins could get out of their dirty uniforms. I silently vowed to call Letty later and ask her to specifically tend to those clothes.
"Do not touch me with your dirty freaking hands, Fred Weasley," I growled, jumping up two steps to stay out of his range. He seemed to find it amusing that I was avoiding his reaching arms if the grin on his face said anything. "I will make you suffer if you get mud on my clean uniform."
"Careful, you're starting to sound like Ginny and Hermione," George teased. He made no move to help me and I promised myself that I would make him pay, too, if Fred got ahold of me.
"There's nothing wrong with wanting to be clean," I said shortly, glaring at the mischievous Twins.
"You won't make an exception for us?" Fred asked, eyes wide with mock surprise. Before I could get an answer out, George suddenly lunged for me from his position a few steps down. My eyes widened and I yelped when his arms wound around my shoulders and waist, crushing me to his chest and lifting me off the ground. The tips of my shoes didn't even touch the ground at this point.
My uniform is going to be so GROSS!
"Gotcha," George announced, grinning down at me. My whole face and neck heated up with a vibrant blush, scowling up at his laughing blue eyes. I was silently amazed he could even hold my weight up so easily like he was, but being Beaters had to have given them considerable arm strength if they'd really been playing for six years.
I pettily kicked at his shins, scowling harder when he didn't even flinch. My foot started to throb, though. It felt like I had just kicked a stone or something.
"Okay, congratulations, you caught me. Now can you let me go?" I wiggled in his hold for emphasis, but he only tightened his arms around me and further restricted my movement. My heart stuttered to a halt when lips pressed against my forehead above my brow, smoothening the wrinkles that were. His lips were warm and my skin seared at the light tough. I felt so unbelievably hot and I absently worried that I would pass out at this rate.
My heartbeat picked up, beating against my chest like a drum. I wondered if George could feel it.
Suddenly his face was right there and I almost did pass out from how close he was. His breath fanned over my face, fingers clutching my form to his tightly as blue eyes sparkled at me. "Do I get a prize?" He asked lowly, smiling slowly.
A prize...a prize...a prize...
I had to have died somehow. There was no way this was happening right now. George was way too close, invading my personal space and making me feel strange feelings and out of the corner of my eye, I numbly realized that Fred didn't even seem to mind how close his brother was to me. In fact, Fred was smiling at us with the most gentle and loving expression I'd ever seen on him.
It made my heart pick up its furious pace.
My brain couldn't seem to function, my mouth opening and closing as choking noises escaped my throat. Blood roared in my ears, drowning out all other noise as George waited patiently, eyes never leaving my face. I didn't know what to say. What could I say to George after that? I had no idea. I was at a complete and utter loss.
This was way out of my area of expertise.
Another hand pressed itself against my red cheek and I looked up at Fred with wide, wide eyes. That expression was still there, warming my whole body with the feeling of my soul being bared to him. Those blue eyes never looked away from me, not even when he leaned closer and pressed his own lips to the spot George had.
No way...
Author's Note:
CLIFFHANGERRRRR.
I have no shame, I swear. Maybe it's because Christmas is tomorrow that I'm leaving you all hanging like this. xD LITERALLY HAYDEN AND THE TWINS ARE KILLING ME WITH THEIR CONSTANT SKIRTING OF FEELINGS. AND I'M THE AUTHOR FOR GOD'S SAKES.
I just want them to be together already and it's only been ten chapters.
A huge thank you to those who reviewed, alerted, and favorited last chapter. I'm a bit rushed right now since I work in literally 40 minutes, so I'm terribly sorry I can't respond to you amazing reviewers.
You guys make writing this an honor.*Hearts*
PLEASE READ AND REIVEW. YOU GUYS MAKE EACH CHAPTER MORE AND MORE FUN WITH YOUR IDEAS. THANK YOU FOR READING! *More Hearts*
~OQ