DISCLAIMER: ALL BELONGS TO JK ROWLING, FOUNDER OF HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY!
Stephanie woke up the next morning, tired after chatting for a good part of the night, and dreaming odd things, she headed towards the training room, to start the day with a little exercise. As she left her room, she softly prodded Laura so she would wake up, but Laura looked so angelic sleeping so peacefully, Stephanie decided she would wake Laura once her training was over. The floorboards creaked beneath her bare feet, and she had to keep a weary eye and ear in case someone was to awake. Finally on the top of the landing she headed towards the door Lupin told her about.
" What are you doing?" asked an eerie voice.
Stephanie gasped then saw it was none other than Kreacher the house- elf.
" None of your business. Good morning."
The elf continued watching her as she continued towards the door.
"…moonlight…"
Laura had told her of the wonders of their training room, but this was the first time Stephanie was setting foot in it. She gazed around in wonder and amazement, and in the corner saw Lupin and Sirius doing push-ups.
" Good morning. I did not mean to disturb you."
" Oh no such thing. Just keeping in shape." Said Lupin getting up, a bit pink in the face. His muscles were well defined through his white shirt, and Stephanie couldn't help stare at him for a moment.
" Are you here for training? A bit early isn't it?" asked Sirius also straightening himself to a standing position. Sirius had a black shirt on, and this morning, with the bed hair and 'I don't care' outfit on, he was simply sexy.
" Yeah, been having weird dreams, so I couldn't sleep," Sirius and Lupin eyed each other in concern, " so I thought I would get a head start on my training, and wake Laura once you and Snape were ready for us. "
" Well, why not start with you rite now? Ok, so I will show you the routine I would like you to do everyday about 5 times, then your exercises for your senses. At the end of every week, I will evaluate you to see how you are improving."
Stephanie nodded and Lupin started to show her the strenuous routine that would leave her panting and every muscle aching. After Lupin showed her everything, she did it once, and felt like she was going to drop dead of fatigue.
" Wait breathe I am supposed to breathe do this 5 times a day?"
" Yes."
" Ay! There is no way Laura is going to do this, let me tell you that now." Chuckled Stephanie.
" Well, we better see. Could you go wake her, and then you may go to the kitchen, Snape will be there waiting for you."
" Sure thing Lupin." Stephanie waved to Sirius as she stepped out of the room, her forehead glistening after the exercise. She went to fetch Laura who was in no mind to get up, much less work out, but after a lot of pushing, prodding, and perhaps a cup of ice water she was ready to go.
As Laura walked in the room, all geared up in shorts and t-shirt she greeted each of the older men with a 'good morning,' and a certain mind relish when it came to Sirius. The older black haired man looked at her with a crooked smile and asked, " sleep well?"
Laura who couldn't stop staring at the outline of is muscular chest had to close her eyes for a moment to check if she was still dreaming and then said, " uhh.. yeah." Sirius's smile grew wider because he knew she was checking him out, so he just stretched his arms up and to the side, knowing that Laura was nervously nibbling her lip.
Stop looking….ok, need to look away…Ooh my gosh, is that what his hair is going to look like in the morning after we…STOP! Too soon, no more dirty thoughts….ok well mabe one more…I would starve myself for a week to just let my hands roam all over his god-like body and 'Oh la la' sexy hair…and then…
"Laura are you ready?" asked Lupin, as he started to explain to her what she would need to do, and as she put her hair up, and curved her body slightly backwards doing so, Sirius felt a slight twinge in his stomach, and now it was his turn to fantasize…
In the meantime, Snape was being particularly vicious to Stephanie, making her work extra hard. The truth behind the matter is, that he was furious at the fact that she had mastered the art of mind control in just one day when it had taken him slightly 8 years. He became more and more aggressive in his thoughts, and Stephanie could feel his anger in the room.
" Let's try again, and I want you to push me completely out, and if you are able, turn the tables around one me." Sneered Snape.
Stephanie found it best to not answer him, but just nod.
He set his eyes straight through her head, and she into his. He tried to penetrate her thoughts, but she had put such a strong barrier, it took his entire mind not to shake or show weakness as he continuously tried again and again. Then he took hold of her arms, and pressed his forehead against hers, but she did not move she just continued to peer through him with a determined will. They were both perspiring out of their efforts to keep the other one out. All of a sudden, their bodies started to float 10 inches of the ground, and getting a bit higher, as Stephanie took her hands and touched his temple. All of his childhood came rushing through her. The pain he endured, the cruelty and embarrassment. He looked scared and wrathful. He let go of her forearms leaving dark bruises because he had been holding on so tight, and she let go of his temple. They both fell to the ground panting, and she gave him a stern look.
" Next time, do not misjudge me simply because I am younger." Said Stephanie who got up and shot him a look as though he was beneath her. She left him panting on his knees and went to get Laura.
She too was breathing heavily and wasn't paying attention to the silence as she made her way upstairs, when all of a sudden a familiar pair of arms encircled her and pinned her against the wall.
" What are you doing so early? I must still be dreaming, let's see, if this is a dream then I can do whatever I want…" said Fred as he started to kiss her neck.
She tried to make him stop, definitely not in the mood, but he stopped all by himself when he saw the deep welts on her arms.
" What is that?" he asked worried, extending her arms so he could take a good look at them.
" Oh that. Fell out of bed this morning." She replied. She hated lying to him, but she could not reveal her secret, not yet.
" Oh come on! There is no way you could have hurt yourself this badly." He retorted.
" Oh I don't know! They just ended up like that; maybe there was a book or something. I don't know I was sleeping." She said trying to look anywhere but at him, and trying to hide her arms, but he just held on tight.
Fred did not say anything; he just gave her a saddened look, then leaned in very slowly, and gave her a kiss like she had never received from him before. It was filled with sadness and emotion, as if he was going to hold on to her with that one kiss. It started out softly and he dominated her lips with every ounce of passion he could. Like the twinge and comfort of falling tears, his kiss made Stephanie want to weep. Not only was she lying to him, but he had refrained from asking too many questions, instead he laid his trust in her with that one kiss.
Stephanie wrapped her arms around his neck and ran them through his hair, as his hand rested in the small of her back, pulling her closer to him. Tenderly he let go of her mouth, his eyes still closed breathing deeply.
" I better go take a shower."
"…ok."
She watched him turn to the bathroom, and she slid down the wall, cradling her knees, she just cried.
After a few minutes she picked herself back up, and dried her tears remembering Laura.
" Ok Laura, just one more push up, then try and hoist yourself onto the rope," encouraged Lupin.
" No…no more…" Laura had done the routine twice, which at first surprised Lupin, but just made Sirius grin, and starting the third time around, she was exhausted.
" Ok, how about we wrap it up, for your first time, I am impressed. I think Snape is downstairs."
"Yeah. But you might want to bring Sirius and Lupin." Said Stephanie as she stepped in the room.
" Hey Stephanie. Wait, why?" Laura could sense something was not right with Stephanie and she eyed her with uneasiness.
" The bugger got a big head and I put him in his place."
" What do you mean?" asked Laura tentatively, as Lupin and Sirius grinned wider.
" He couldn't take the fact that he could not control my thoughts, so I turned it around on him, and then I don't really know what happened, but I saw his entire childhood, then we fell to the floor panting, and that's where he was when I left him."
" I have to see that." Sirius ran out of the room to see Snape kneeling on the ground, but Laura knew there was something much deeper that had happened to Stephanie, so she just raised her eyebrows.
" Well, better go downstairs." Said Lupin.
" Fred is awake." Stated Stephanie.
" O damn. I guess that will be all for today then. Laura you go first with Snape tomorrow."
" Ok. Thanks for everything Remus."
" Sure thing"
He left the room seeing that the two girls had matters to discuss.
Stephanie went to go sit by the window, watching a man across the street in his bathrobe picking up his newspaper in his driveway.
" Must be pretty cool to wake up without a worry…" she said slowly.
" Stephanie, what happened?" asked Laura sitting on the windowsill in front of Stephanie.
"Laura, I can't lie to Frederick anymore."
" You mean the pranks? Well those are nothing; it's all in good fun. HA HA yesterday was priceless too, did you see their nose hair!" Laura started laughing, but stopped seeing that Stephanie wasn't laughing.
" No not that, that was pretty funny," she said smiling, " I mean about us. He saw me this morning and saw these bruises," she extended her arms to show Laura who gasped and wanted to know what happened.
" It was Snape, we got carried away. We were both concentrating so hard, I don't remember him grabbing my arms, but I know that we weren't touching the ground anymore. It was like we evoked a magic that came from within and it lifted us off the ground due to our his irritation at my composure. But anyways, Fred, he seemed so…and then he just went to take a shower…I bet he went to drown himself…"
" Oh Stephanie, I am sure things will be fine. You and Fred were made for each other, like one of those romance books where you know the heroine should be with the guy. You and Fred, you two have always been meant for each other. I couldn't see you with any one else as well as I see you with Fred. "
Stephanie smiled and said, " Well is it settled then? We'll talk to Dumbeldore just to make sure if we can tell him, but I got the feeling he wouldn't mind."
Laura hugged Stephanie and said, " No problem."
Apparently, Snape had left and Sirius and Lupin had no idea what happened to him, but they did not really care to tell the truth. Today the gang was going to tackle the other bedrooms, and knowing how entertaining it had been the first time, Sirius told Lupin he should stay, because it was like old times.
Fred had told George of his concerns, but George had just told him that Stephanie would just tell him when she was ready, and they continued with their day. The Boys v. Girls war was fully on, after some decisive comments made by Laura commenting Ron's appearance of the night before.
" So tell me, how come your nose hair was curly and the twins wasn't? Is your hair curly everywhere?"
Hermione sputtered in her hot chocolate burning her tongue, as Ron's face turned dazzlingly cherry.
" Tell me Laura, are you ready to pay for your little prank?" chimed in George with a naughty little grin.
" Why, what are you planning to do to us?" she asked cockily.
Frederick eyed George, who eyed Sirius, who eyed Lupin who just shrugged. Then George nodded towards Ron, and all the boys started to stare at Laura.
"What? Stop. What? Ha ha very funny…"
They continued to stare at her, occasionally smiling a bit bigger, or fighting back a snort.
" Ok Hi! My name is Laura!…not helping…umm…WHAT!" she finally cried out exasperated and very much uncomfortable.
"He he he"
Stephanie just looked from the boys to Laura, afraid at what prank was going to unravel itself.
" Ready to tackle a bit more cleaning?" chimed in Mrs. Weasley not paying attention to the little scene before her.
" Absolutely." Said the boys at once.
" Stephanie, what is plan B? We need one now! Oh no this is it! I am going to die!"
" Will you relax Laura. Yesterday was priceless, you really think the boys would not have a retaliation." Whispered back Stephanie.
" What! You never told me they would want…revenge…all your fault! First you make me pick dare, now this. That's it, no more Boom Boom for you!" Said Laura as Stephanie shook her head loving how comical Laura was being.
" Hey mum, how about we do Stephanie and Laura's room today?" inquired George innocently.
" Good idea—"
" NO!" yelled Laura, running up the stairs and blocking the door with her body, knowing the twins were up to something.
" What she means is that, uhh well we have some feminine…stuff, lying around." Said Stephanie, not wanting the twins to have full access to their room in their destructive mood.
" Oh well, in that case—"
" Well that's what we are here for, to clean up. So we will just help you out." Said Fred eyeing Laura with a certain air of mischief. With that as a distraction, Ron slid his hand beneath Laura's arm to open the door, as she fell backwards on the floor.
" Ron! Apologize at once." Disciplined Mrs. Weasley.
"…sorry…" mumbled Ron.
" Way to take one for the team! We might just let people know you are related to us." Said George in a congratulating voice as he entered the room freely.
In the back of the group, Sirius and Lupin just observed the friends and their shenanigans, as Sirius said, " Told you it would be eventful."
" Ha! Yeah you did. So what do we call this, Boys v. Girls?" asked Lupin.
" Something like that." Replied Sirius intently staring at Laura. He couldn't help it, every time he was around her his eyes naturally fell on her, and he couldn't draw his gaze away.
Mrs. Weasley left them to the cleaning after she got the hint that they would rather be by themselves among friends, and anyhow she had many things to clean and what not in the kitchen and to go check up on the Burrow.
" Ok. Now that mum left it's war. Are you ready to get taken down by the all mighty: SUPER WEASLEYS AND COMPANY!" Roared George getting more and more dramatic with each syllable. Hermione looked scared, as Stephanie and Laura put on defiant faces regardless of what fear they had too. Ginny just peered curiously, knowing that as their sister she would not be harmed…or at least not too badly.
" So you think you're big tough men?" asked Stephanie cockily, " Let's see you do this." All of a sudden , she tapped Laura on the shoulder and both of them grabbed a bottle of hairspray and started hair spraying them like mad, getting them out of the room before they would do their little joke. Little did they know that Lupin and Sirius were now part of the evil force. With a swish of his wand, Lupin evaporated the hairspray, as the girls looked at him aghast, and Fred brought something from behind his back.
" NOW MY LADIES, IT IS TIME TO PAY! REMEMBER THIS, NEVER MESS WITH MANHOOD!" he and George hollered, as all the boys grabbed muggle water balloons from the bucket Fred had brought in.
" AAH!"
" STOP"
Laura'S POV:
Oh no! I am going to get soaked. Stephanie is going to pay for this. Sirius looks so pleasant when he is having fun. It's like all of a sudden he is a little boy again…but I must say I do like the manly part of him. I wonder…no don't picture anything…can't help it…that man just has such a fine body…
" NO MORE"
"MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Sirius's POV:
Ha ha, the good old times. There goes Stephanie trying to get at Fred. Oops, just hit Ginny in the face with a balloon! Hey George is aiming for Laura …so is Lupin. Wait, was she wearing that earlier? Damnation! A white t-shirt in a middle of a water balloon massacre…not that I am complaining…oh damn, I can already see her skin through the shirt…stop looking man!…so tempting…ok need to stop staring…Sirius, you have seen ladies before, this is nothing new…not that it isn't nice, Actually it's quite exhilarating, the subtlety of what can be seen through her wet T-shirt is adding to her mystery.
NORMAL:
" AHH! RON I AM GOING TO MAKE YOU PAY YOU—YOU—" Hermione lunged herself at his neck, making them roll onto the floor as everyone stopped in mid-action watching Hermione pummel Ron.
" Go Hermione!" Ginny cried before Lupin threw a water balloon at her face.
Nobody noticed that Stephanie and Fred were gone from the room, having taken their water fight out into the hallway, all the way into another bedroom.
" Frederick, you bastard!" Said Stephanie trying to get at the water balloon in his hand, which he was aiming at her chest to soak her T- shirt.
" All I am doing is a little pay back, you should have known when you decided to prank us." He said definitely enjoying this.
" Hey, you walked in on ME in the shower!"
" That was an accident! Not that I am complaining…actually…"
" O you are so infuriating!" She made a mad dive for his hand as he was starting to fantasize, which resulted in the water balloon splattering open between her stomach and Fred's as she lay on top of him, having pinned him down in her vain efforts.
" Cold, cold, cold!" said Stephanie as the water seeped through her shirt and Fred's.
" You really can't keep your hands off me, can you?" Asked Fred with a twinkle in his eyes.
" Wanna bet?"
" Don't need to, I know I am overwhelmingly sizzlingly attractive. It's completely normal for you to want me. Can't fight nature." He smirked. Stephanie scowled and tried to get up, but he held her hips in place, enjoying watching her squirm.
Their little mishap that had happened earlier was not forgotten, but they acted as if it never happened. In fact, Stephanie was planning on telling him everything that weekend after she had a quick word with Dumbeldore.
" Ok Stephanie, you are really going to have to stop moving like that."
" Why…Oh! Are you—I mean…Did I make you—Oh God!" she was so self-conscious in this position that she did not know what to do. Finally she got up, after he let go of her, and eyed him with a small smile playing at the corners of her lips.
" So, about that bet, the first one to kiss the other loses." Her eyes shone with curiosity at the outcome of this little match, and he just had a smug look on his face and said, " You're on."
Stephanie eyed him suspiciously and added, " For now I call the Girls vs. Boys on brake until further notification."
" Deal."
They shook hands, but as they did so, Fred lingered his hand on hers, running it up her arm and caressing her jawbone and cheek. All the while he gazed at her, waiting for her reaction.
Control yourself Stephanie! Can't kiss him…must fight off urge to make sweet love to him…argh!
He smiled a little crooked smile, and after Stephanie swallowed uneasily, she took a step back and said, " Nice try, " he grinned, " For a beginner."