Thanks to everyone for reading my story so far, I hope you're enjoying it! There was a bit more Fred in the last chapter which hopefully was to your liking.
Reminder: I unfortunately don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters (except Esmerelda), but if I did, I would quit my job and be able to buy myself a massive house – even bigger than Malfoy Manor.
Chapter 4: Is Weasley Our King?
Dear Esmerelda,
I hope that your first few weeks at school have gone well. How are your lessons so far? I know that you've got your OWLS this year but try not to wear yourself out.
I read in the Daily Prophet about how the Ministry has appointed one of their own as a teacher at Hogwarts. Dolores Umbridge? How has she been? It sounds to me as though the Ministry are trying their best to infiltrate Hogwarts. Seems as though they want one of their own on the inside to keep an eye on Dumbledore.
As you can imagine, I'm dying of boredom here. I've tried offering my services to Dumbledore for the Order, but he's not having any of it. I know that he is trying to keep me safe, but I think I may go insane if I have to stay inside this blasted house any longer. Kreacher isn't helping either, moping around the house calling me all sorts and praising my mother. I have to say, I've been very close to kicking him up the backside (Don't tell Hermione).
How's Harry been? He's not yet responded to my letter. Is he still having those dreams? I worry about him, as I know that you do too.
Take care of yourself,
Your dear uncle,
Padfoot
Esmerelda read and reread Sirius' letter over breakfast. Harry sat down next to her and helped himself to some pastries and a cup of tea.
"Why haven't you responded to Padfoot's last letter?" she asked him. Harry looked sheepish. He shrugged.
"The dreams, they're getting worse, aren't they?"
He didn't need to answer. She could see from the way that Harry was reacting to her question, and the fact that he looked as though he hadn't had any proper sleep in days, that this was in fact the case.
"Same one again?" Esmerelda enquired.
Harry nodded. "They just feel so real, you know." He looked deeply concerned and thoroughly exhausted.
"I know, Harry. And I can't even imagine how horrible it must be to have to relive that dream over and over again. You need to remember, though, that no matter how horrible it seems, it isn't real."
Harry turned to look at her, a concerned look on his face. "You see, I'm not so sure about that anymore."
…..
Later that afternoon, the Gryffindor quidditch team were reluctantly preparing for a team practice that Angelina had told them was necessary before their game against Slytherin. The problem was, the weather seemed to be against them. Vast sheets of rain smashed against the castle walls as the team made their way out, heads bowed against the wind.
Fred and George had been seriously debating whether to use one of their Skiving Snackboxes to get out of flying. After an hour, during which it was raining so hard that they could barely see their own hands in front of their faces, Angelina admitted defeat. They squelched back to the changing rooms, looking thoroughly annoyed, and thoroughly drenched.
Esmerelda had been watching reluctantly from the stands, wanting to show her support for her friends, but now deeply regretting her decision as the wind bitterly slashed against her uncovered face and gnawed at her hands.
She caught up with Harry as the team emerged from the changing rooms minutes later, shivering, and exhausted.
"Ready for tonight?" she enquired. Tonight was to be the first meeting of the DA, and Harry had spent the previous evening running through his plans with them. Esmerelda knew he was feeling apprehensive.
Harry shrugged. "I guess so," he replied. "I just don't know what everyone will be expecting. I'm hardly a teacher, am I?"
"No, you're not," Esmerelda replied honestly. "But I think that's probably exactly why we need you, Harry," she added after Harry had sent an offended look her way.
Harry smiled. "Let's head back to the common room and warm up before dinner," he suggested. "We can play a game of Exploding Snap before dinner."
"Sounds great!" she answered. "As long as we don't let Ginny play."
Harry grimaced in agreement. "Deal."
…...
Room of Requirement, 8:30pm.
"Right, shall we get practising then?" Harry asked the group once everyone had arrived. "I was thinking, the first thing we should do is Expelliarmus, you know, the Disarming Charm. I know it's pretty basic but I've found it really useful."
To Harry's surprise, all 28 of the students that had attended last week's meeting had actually shown up for the first DA meeting that evening. He had been nervous to begin with, but once he had got into the swing of it, the rest came naturally.
"Oh, please," said Zacharius Smith, rolling his eyes and folding his arms, "I don't think Expelliarmus is exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who, do you?"
"I've used it against him," Harry said quietly. "It saved my life in June."
Esmerelda could see Ron to her left smirking at the look on Smith's face. George too, was looking at him with a hint of smugness on Harry's behalf.
"But if you think it's beneath you, you can leave," Harry said. However, Smith did not move.
"So now that we've concluded that, I reckon we should divide into pairs and practice."
Esmerelda moved over towards Ginny, wanting to be paired up with the younger Weasley.
"Okay," Ginny said, "do you want to have a go first?"
"Yep alright, let's see…Expelliarmus!" Esmerelda shouted, and Ginny's wand flew out of her hands and clattered on the stone floor behind.
"Nice one!" Ginny shouted, offering her hand for a high five. Esmerelda did so, and then prepared for Ginny's spell. Even though she knew that Expelliarmus was not a spell that affected the witch or wizard directly, it still felt unpleasant having someone point their wand at you.
"Expelliarmus!" Esmerelda's wand whizzed through the air and landed over by the bookshelf.
"Well done, Ginny," Harry said, as he walked past. "Okay, brilliant work everyone, keep practising."
A few minutes later, Neville could be heard disarming Harry for the first time. "I DID IT!" said Neville gleefully. "I've never done it before - I DID IT!"
"Woo, well done Neville," George cheered.
"Excellent work Neville," Harry agreed, although Esmerelda could see that Harry had not been even remotely prepared for Neville's spell and that in a real battle that would most likely never be the case. Even so, Neville had done a brilliant job.
Twenty minutes later, Harry shouted, "Okay, stop!"
"Excellent work everyone, but there's definite room for improvement. Let's keep going for a bit longer." Harry continued to rotate around the room, analysing their spell work and correcting any mistakes.
Esmerelda could see him hovering over by Cho and her friend. He looked to be enjoying his chat with her very much. From the giggles she could hear emanating from that corner of the room, Cho seemed to be enjoying their conversation just as much.
"Hey, Harry," Hermione called from the other end of the room, "have you checked the time?"
Harry looked at the clock and realised they had already been practising for well over an hour. It was now getting late, and they all needed to get back to their common rooms before Filch began patrolling the corridors.
A small group at a time, they snuck out of the Room of Requirement and back to their dormitories, thanking Harry as they left. Finally, there were only the four of them left.
"Well, I think that went pretty well," Harry said. They had started walking back to the Gryffindor Common Room.
"Harry, you did brilliantly," Ron reassured him.
"You were a great teacher Harry, and people were listening to you." Esmerelda linked her arm onto his.
"You really were excellent Harry," Hermione said.
"It's all thanks to you, Hermione. It was your idea!"
When they got back to the common room a few minutes later, they found Ginny and George in the middle of a very intense game of Exploding Snap. They joined them by the fire, watching the game intently. Everyone knew by now that if there was even a hint of Ginny losing, they would need to vacate the area abruptly. Ginny, albeit a very nice girl, was immensely competitive and definitely had her mother's temper. At this point, however, the game seemed to be going in her favour, so they all felt safe to remain where they were for now.
"Cold?" Esmerelda heard someone ask, jolting her from her daydream.
"Sorry?"
"I said, are you cold?" Fred laughed. He motioned to the sofa next to him, offering to share the blanket. "Away in your own little world, were you?"
"Yeah sorry," she replied. She stood up from the floor where she had been sitting and joined Fred on the sofa. She shuffled closer to him in order to get under the blanket he was currently wrapped in. She could feel his body heat as she moved closer on the sofa, and took the corner of the blanket to cover her legs. His arm moved to rest on top of the cushion behind her. Although she wasn't touching him at all, she felt a comfortable familiarity as she sat next to him, curled up, as if he was embracing her. She shook all thoughts of that out of her head and tried to focus on the game of Exploding Snap that was occurring just feet away. She could see that in the time she and Fred had been talking, the game had changed, and Ginny's fortunes were turning.
"Right, I think I might head up now actually," she said hastily, assessing Ginny's current state. She knew this wasn't going to end well.
"Yep, me too," Fred added. They were closely followed by Hermione, Harry, and Ron who all made their excuses and quickly headed up to bed.
As they were all walking up the spiral staircase, a loud clattering came from downstairs.
"FOR FUCKS SAKE!" Ginny's voice echoed up their stairs.
"Yep, sounds about right," Fred stated as they all hurried to their dormitories.
…
The next day proved that the weather had no intention of improving. Most of the Gryffindors had chosen to remain in the common room that evening, preferring the warmth of the small room to the iciness of the castle and grounds.
"Budge up will you, my feet are cold." Esmerelda wiggled herself in between Harry and Fred on the sofa in front of the fireplace. Once settled, she stretched her legs out in front of her to warm them near the fire. As she did so, she tried to ignore the tingling feeling she had felt as she accidentally brushed her leg against Fred's. She was also trying to ignore how this seemed to be becoming a regular occurrence. "What are we talking about then?" she asked the boys.
"Well we were talking about our upcoming Quidditch match before we were so rudely interrupted." Fred replied jokingly.
"Sorry, but my feet were freezing which obviously takes top priority. Do you feel confident for your next match? It's against Slytherin isn't it?"
"Yeah," Harry replied. "The team's shaping up well." Fred nodded in agreement.
"And…" Esmerelda quickly glanced around to make sure he hadn't returned. "How's Ron coming along as Keeper?"
Fred and Harry looked at each other. "Umm, my brother isn't the most naturally skilled Weasley of course, but he's not doing too badly so far."
Fred's cheeky grin made Esmerelda giggle.
"Yeah, he's improving with every practice," Harry added. "Confidence is his main issue. I am a bit worried about how he'll cope in the match against Slytherin. They're no doubt bound to try and wind him up and I'm afraid Ron may lose faith in himself. I think we may need a bit of good luck."
"So the fate of the Gryffindor team lies in the hands of Ronald Bilius Weasley." Fred said exasperatedly.
"Merlin help us."
….
A week later
"What has Luna got on her head?" George asked, as Luna began heading for the Gryffindor table. As she approached, Esmerelda could see that she was wearing a large, presumably homemade, lion on her head, which even seemed to roar at random intervals. It was admittedly very impressive.
"Hello, Luna," Fred started, "supporting the Slytherin team today are we?"
Luna seemed confused, but Fred's joke seemed to have cheered Ron up. Up until that point, Ron had been sitting in silence, pushing some fried eggs and bacon around his plate looking as though he was heading for the firing squad.
"I think you look brilliant Luna," Ginny beamed. Will you sit with us at the match today?"
But Luna was interrupted when the sound of singing could be heard emanating from the Slytherin table.
"Weasley can not save a thing.
He cannot block a single ring.
That's why Slytherins all sing,
Weasley is our King."
A second verse had begun across the room, but Hermione turned to face Ron.
"Just ignore them. They're just trying to get inside your head. Don't let them."
Ron had started to turn an even paler shade of green. Esmerelda looked over to the Slytherin table and spotted Malfoy looking back at her. They locked eyes for a moment, and Esmerelda glared menacingly at him before turning to focus her attention on Ron.
Esmerelda spoke. "You can do this, Ron. You're on the team for a reason. The rest of the team have faith in you, and so do we. You just need to believe in yourself." Ron nodded, but Esmerelda wasn't sure he'd really been listening or taking in what they were saying.
"Alright, it's time for us to head to the changing rooms," Harry stated. "We'll see you after, and hopefully we'll be celebrating tonight."
"We've already got the butterbeer in," George said.
"Just what I like to hear," Esmerelda replied. "Good luck you lot!"
Hermione, Ginny, and Luna wished them luck, and the girls all headed for the stands.
…
"And they're off! Johnson's got possession of the Quaffle, and is running it down the pitch. She passes to Alicia Spinnet, who fumbles and...no she's caught it, she's caught it. But, the Slytherin chasers aren't far behind. Spinnet passes to Bell, but oh Nott's intercepted it and Slytherin take possession of the Quaffle. Nott passes to Duncan who attempts at a goal, and HE SCORES!"
Thunderous applause emanated from the Slytherin stand, and another round of Weasley is Our King began. From their spot in the Gryffindor stands, Esmerelda and Hermione could see Ron losing his nerve and Fred and George getting visibly agitated.
"C'mon Ron," Hermione whispered, willing him on. It was not looking good for the Gryffindor team so far. Slytherin had managed to get a few past Ron already, and although the Gryffindor chasers were playing well, they hadn't managed to keep up with Slytherin.
The rest of the match slowly unravelled to the point where Esmerelda had resorted to covering her eyes with her hands and was now relying on listening to Lee Jordan for running commentary. Luckily, before the Gryffindor team fully disintegrated, Harry had managed to catch the Snitch, putting an end to the match. As they made their way down from the stands, they could hear raised voices coming from the pitch.
From what Esmerelda could see, Harry and George were lunging at Malfoy and some of the other Slytherin players. No doubt Slytherin had said something inflammatory again, setting the two Gryffindors off.
However, more worryingly, Esmerelda could see - although she didn't think the players had spotted her yet - Umbridge walking towards them.
"Potter, Weasley," Umbridge pointed to George, "come with me."
Somehow, Esmerelda thought, this wasn't going to end well.
…..
"Banned," said Angelina in a hollow voice, later that evening in the common room. "Banned. No Seeker and no Beaters...what on earth are we going to do?"
There wasn't much any of them could say to reassure her. A moment later, Ron came bursting through the portrait and into the common room.
"Where have you been?" Hermione asked anxiously.
"Out walking," Ron replied. He walked over to the fire to warm himself and sat down in one of the armchairs. "I'm sorry," he mumbled.
"What for?" said Harry.
"For thinking I can play Quidditch," said Ron. "I'm going to quit first thing tomorrow."
"If you resign," Harry replied, "there'll only be three players left on the team. Umbridge has banned me from Quidditch for life. And Fred and George too."
"WHAT?!" Ron retorted. Hermione explained the full story as the rest sat there in front of the fire, letting the day's events sink in. By the time Hermione had finished her recounting of the story, everyone was looking thoroughly morose.
"Does anyone fancy a Butterbeer?" Esmerelda asked. They all looked at her confused. "I'm sure Fred and George bought them in the hopes of a big celebration, but I suppose they work just as well for drowning our sorrows." Hermione looked at her with pursed lips, but even she didn't have the heart to lecture any of them about improper behaviours tonight.
"Eh, pass us one then," George replied. "I could certainly do with drowning my sorrows."
Fred leant over and grabbed himself one too. "I'll tell you what Harry," he started, "I'm even more keen to do these Defense lessons of yours now. I can't wait to see the old bat's face when we all ace our practicals in the exams doing the spells she refuses to teach us." Harry smiled and nodded in agreement as he motioned for Esmerelda to pass him a butterbeer.
…
Well, there we are my lovelies – Chapter 4 is complete. Are we liking the relationship between Fred and Esmerelda so far? I want it to be quite a playful one.
I'd appreciate any feedback or comments you have about the story so far, or things you'd like to see in future chapters. See you next week for Chapter 5!