Thank you to everyone who is reading the story so far! We've passed 1000 readers which is amazing so thank you all! A renewed reminder that I do not own the Harry Potter universe or anything in it…except for Esmerelda (she's all mine!) Okay, Chapter 10, here we go.

…

10: Never Accept a Biscuit from the Weasley Twins

"Made a decision about what you're doing for Christmas yet, Esmerelda?" Harry asked from across the table.

"Oh yeah, sorry I forgot to tell you. I had a letter from my parents yesterday. I'll spend a week with them including Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, and then I can head to Grimmauld Place in the afternoon and stay until we come back to Hogwarts."

"Great! We'll be together for Christmas then," Harry replied happily.

"Hermione, are you still planning to come for New Years'?" Ron asked, knowing that she'd been planning the details with her parents too.

"Well I've managed to persuade them to let me come for New Years' and stay until we come back to Hogwarts. I'll be with them for Christmas though," she replied.

"Brilliant, so we'll all be together for New Years' Eve! All of the Order are coming over right?" Esmerelda asked.

"That's the plan," Harry said.

They finished off their breakfasts as they discussed their plans for the Christmas holidays and the final DA meeting of the term, which was that evening. Harry was briefing them all on his plan for the lesson and what he was hoping to cover after Christmas. Esmerelda found her mind wandering and remembered her task for the day.

"I'm so looking forward to tonight's meeting, Harry, it's going to be brilliant. I've got to head off now though. I've just remembered I leant one of my Potions books to the second year I'm tutoring, and I need to retrieve it before I can begin my homework. I'll see you all later?"

"Yeah, alright. See you in the common room at 11?" Hermione asked. "Are we still okay to work on our essays together?"

"Absolutely. See you then." Esmerelda left the others at the table and exited the Great Hall, turning left as she did so. She walked through the castle doors and headed out to the grounds towards the Quidditch pitch. She could feel the icy December breeze rushing through her. She hadn't anticipated being outside today and currently only had a jumper for warmth. Luckily it was a Mrs Weasley special, so was thicker and cosier than most jumpers, but even so, it wasn't quite enough.

As she approached the Quidditch pitch, she could see, even from a distance, two red-haired figures whizzing about on broomsticks. As she got closer, she could tell without doubt that the two figures were Fred and George. They hadn't noticed her, so she took a seat in the stands below and watched them for a while. They looked so free and happy when flying. The Quidditch ban had hit all three of them pretty hard, but Esmerelda hadn't realised until this moment that as it was also the twins' last year at Hogwarts, this would have been their last chance to play with their team, and maybe even win for Gryffindor. It must be devastating for them, she thought.

It was a shame that they had no plans to pursue Quidditch after Hogwarts. Although Esmerelda knew, as did everyone else, that their joke shop business was really where their passions lied. And now that they had their funding, thanks to Harry's recent Triwizard Tournament win, they were finally in a position to do something about it. Esmerelda wondered if the twins were aware that she knew about their secret funding from Harry. When Harry had told her, he had mentioned that it was a secret, even from the rest of the Weasleys and Hermione. However, he hadn't mentioned if the twins knew that he was telling her their secret. She thought that they probably didn't know. Well, that was alright. They had nothing to worry about. She could keep a secret.

Esmerelda sat in the stands for almost an hour, half watching, half lost in her own thoughts. It was now, however, getting to the point where she could no longer feel her face, and her hands had thoroughly seized up and would be no use to her until they were properly defrosted in front of a warm fire. She stood up to leave and realised that the boys had finished flying overhead and were walking away from the pitch, brooms in hand.

"Hey," she called out towards them, "nice flying!"

They stopped and waited for her to catch up before continuing back towards the castle.

"Thank you," George said. "It feels good just to be able to be up there again. I didn't realise how much I'd missed it. Not just the game, but even just being on the broom up in the air."

"Must be really hard, not being able to be there with everyone else on match days," Esmerelda said. George nodded.

"It'll be even harder if they lose," Fred added, more upbeat than his brother.

"I'll certainly be keeping my fingers crossed throughout the entire match," Esmerelda said. "Who have they got to replace you two? I know Ginny's going on as Seeker, which is brilliant."

"Andrew Kirke and Jack Sloper. Third years, I think. They're alright," Fred shrugged.

"But they're not you two," Esmerelda finished, shooting a smile at them.

"Well, no, no one could possibly replace us," George said grinning.

As they approached the castle, Esmerelda realised she needed to think of a way to get Fred alone, without George becoming in any way suspicious.

"Fred, if you have a bit of time, I was wondering if you could cast an eye over my Potions essay I've been working on?" she asked. "The one you helped suggest books for in the library last week." She was hoping Fred would catch onto her attempt to get him alone. "Since you wrote yours on something similar in fifth year, it would be great to get your opinion. You know what I'm like with essays," she laughed.

"You must be really desperate if you're asking Fred for help with an essay," George joked. "Alright, see you in a bit then." He wandered off into the castle and up towards the common room.

"I don't really need your help with an essay," she admitted with a smile.

"Yeah, believe it or not, I had figured that one out," Fred joked back. "Should we go for a walk around the castle?"

They headed up the stairs to the castle and continued higher, dodging trick steps and being careful of the moving staircases as they went. Once they had reached the seventh floor, they decided to wander around. All the time, they had been in silence, neither of them wanting to be the first to initiate conversation.

Esmerelda realised she should probably say something before they ended up walking all the way back to the common room. She motioned towards the window ledge, and they sat down.

"So…" Esmerelda started, trailing off.

"So…" Fred added, in a teasing manner. His hand rubbed the back of his neck anxiously. "I was wondering if…"

"Hey Fred, I've been looking for you."

Esmerelda turned and saw the glamourous figure of Angelia Johnson striding towards them. She approached them, shooting a warm smile at Esmerelda before turning to talk to Fred, hand resting on his upper arm.

"You left this in my dormitory last night babes," Angelina said, slinging Fred's bookbag onto his shoulder. "You need to take better care of your schoolwork, Mr. Weasley."

"Oh, thank you Angelina," Fred said warmly. "But you know I won't," he teased.

Angelina rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Hey Esmerelda," she said with a smile at the younger girl. "We're still on for tonight's meeting, right?" she asked, lowering her voice to a whisper.

Esmerelda nodded. The last DA meeting was to be held that evening.

"Great," Angelina responded. She turned to leave. "See you two later," she said, with a backwards wave.

Esmerelda stared at the wall next to Fred's head, processing what she had just seen and heard. Fred was in Angelina's room last night. Esmerelda's mind raced as she went through what she knew. They went to the Yule Ball together. They're on the Quidditch team together – or were before Umbridge happened. Fred had been upset about a girl the first time that they had properly talked. Could it have been Angelina? And did that mean that they were now back together? How had she not realised any of this before. Fuck.

"Esmerelda?" Fred's gentle voice permeated her inner debate. "You were saying something?" He looked at her curiously.

Esmerelda felt her heart sink. Fred was a flirty person. He was like this with all girls. She'd seen him. She'd noticed how girls blushed when Fred was around, throwing them compliments and bantering with them. He was just doing the same with her because they were friends. She mentally berated herself for somehow letting herself believe that she would be any different.

Fred was still staring at her.

She quickly plastered a smile on her face. She could be Fred's friend, if that's what it took to still have him in her life. She felt as though her stomach had plummeted out of her body but was determined that Fred not find out how disappointed she was feeling. "I was just wondering if you could show me where the secret entrance to the kitchens is later," she lied.

She thought she saw Fred's smile falter for a second, but it quickly returned. "Well yes of course I can, you've come to the right bloke." He paused for a moment, biting his lip. "Was that all you wanted to talk to me about? Only I thought that maybe you were asking me something else."

Esmerelda flushed slightly before composing herself. "I've forgotten," she replied with a shrug.

"You really are very scatter-brained, Miss Evans. How you'll pass your OWLS is a mystery to me."

"At least I don't leave my school bag lying around all over the place," she retorted. It stung thinking about Fred in Angelina's room, and what they may have been up to.

Fred grinned. "Okay, you ready to head back to the common room?" Fred stated.

"Yeah. I promised Hermione we'd work on our essays together," Esmerelda said glumly.

Fred slid down from the windowsill and offered a hand to her as she shuffled to the edge.

"Oh how very gentlemanly," Esmerelda said, taking the hand offered and pushing herself off the windowsill. They began walking back to the common room, side by side.

"How are your Skiving Snackboxes coming along?" she asked. "Still having to test them on yourselves?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Unless you're offering?" Fred jested. "They're coming along really well though. We've got loads of different ones now in the range, and we're still testing a few more. If you see any Custard Creams lying about any time soon, I'd steer clear."

Esmerelda pulled a face. "Good to know, thanks." Note to self: never accept a biscuit from the Weasley twins.

They'd reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. Fred turned to face her, moving as if to speak, and then stopped. He uttered the password to the Fat Lady and the portrait swung open. Before Esmerelda had moved to step through the portrait, he leant over and wrapped her in a hug. As he did so, her body betrayed her again, and she felt as though an electric shock had passed through her.

"Good luck with your potions essay," he said before heading into the common room, leaving Esmerelda standing there, contemplating what it all meant.

…

That evening. Room of Requirement.

"What the actual…." Harry's voice echoed throughout the cavernous room.

They'd arrived early for the DA meeting to set up and discuss how the session was going to go before the rest of the students arrived. As they'd entered, they noticed a most festive display of decorations, all bearing Harry's face. A banner reading 'Have a very Harry Christmas' was hanging jauntily from the ceiling. Esmerelda glanced over to Harry, barely containing her glee at the state of the room. Harry, however, did not seem to share her amusement.

"This is quite possibly the most amazing thing I've ever seen," she exclaimed as she took in the room and all the decorations.

"I bet this was Dobby's doing," Ron said, also with a hint of glee in his voice.

"It's sweet, really," Hermione added. "He admires you, Harry."

Harry nodded but looked mortified. "Can you help me get these down before the others get here?"

They got to work removing all of Dobby's Christmas decorations. Before vanishing the rest, Esmerelda slipped one of the Harry baubles into her pocket. That'll come in useful.

They finished just in time, and as Harry hid the last remnants of the decorations, Luna arrived. Ginny and Neville weren't far behind. The others arrived in dribs and drabs over the next few minutes. Once everyone was there, Harry began.

"Welcome everyone," Harry's voice boomed across the room. "We should all be really proud of everything we have accomplished this term. You've all done amazingly well, and we've learnt a lot. Today, we're just going to review everything we've been doing over the past few months. So, if you'll partner up, we'll start with an Impediment Jinx and then practice some stunning spells." Everyone murmured agreement and set off practising in their pairs.

The meeting went successfully, with everyone showing a marked improvement, not least Neville, who could now perform a number of spells that he had previously struggled with. It also became apparent that Ginny was particularly talented at the Bat Bogey Hex and that no one in their right mind would want to get on the wrong side of her.

Before long, Harry was calling them all together to praise their work during the term and letting them know of his hopes and plans for after the Christmas break. As everyone filtered out, having first exchanged well wishes for the holidays, Esmerelda glanced over to where Harry was standing. She could see that he was, rather awkwardly, trying to make his way over to Cho, who appeared to be looking at some photographs on the other side of the room. Harry's attempts were however currently being thwarted by Fred and George, who were apparently trying to engage Harry in conversation about something to do with Puking Pastilles and Umbridge's tea. Why are boys so clueless?

"Okay, you two," she started as she approached the group, "let's leave Harry to gather his things." She stood in between them and flung an arm around each twin's shoulders which was a real feat as they were at least half a foot taller than she was. They looked at her curiously and she jerked her eyes dramatically, over to where Cho was standing alone, and they suddenly understood her meaning.

"Oh, sorry mate," George said.

"We'll leave you to it," Fred added, smirking.

Esmerelda steered them out of the room. Once outside, she heard a snort of laughter from George.

"Well, I'm glad he's finally decided to grow some balls and go for it," George said, seemingly impressed. Esmerelda glared back.

"I think he was trying to be sensitive. After all, her last boyfriend did die not that long ago," she retorted. "Cho's been really emotional this year."

"She deserves to be happy though, and so does Harry. I'm glad he's going for it. Let's just hope it works out okay," George added.

"You never know with Harry," Esmerelda said. "He's really awkward around girls he likes."

"You don't say," Fred said sarcastically. George snorted again and Esmerelda grinned.

"Let's go back to the common room. I don't fancy Harry finding us lurking out here when he and Cho are finished in there," Esmerelda stated. The other two nodded.

…

"So how was it?" Ron asked. They were all back in the common room. Hermione, Ron, and Esmerelda were all squished onto one of the sofas, and Harry had taken a seat opposite them.

Harry thought about it for a minute. "Wet," he said truthfully.

Esmerelda cringed. Ron made a noise suggesting that he was thinking much the same.

"Because she was crying," Harry added, clarifying.

"Oh, are you really that bad at kissing?" Ron asked.

"Oh god, maybe I am. I hadn't even thought about that." Harry put his head in his hands.

"Of course you're not Harry," Hermione stated. "Cho's been crying a lot recently. She's going through a tough time, what with Cedric dying last year, and all the emotions that brings with it. And then, kissing you must be really confusing for her. You were a part of the Triwizard Tournament. You were with Cedric when he was…when he died. And she likes you Harry, but she probably feels a little bit guilty about that because maybe she's not supposed to like anyone yet."

"There's no way anyone could feel all of that, not even a girl," Ron stated. Hermione glared at him.

"Just because you've got the emotional range of a teaspoon, Ronald, does not mean that the rest of us have."

Esmerelda had to try very hard to restrain herself from laughing and chose to busy herself picking at a feather that was making its way out of the pillow she was leaning against.

"Are you going to see her again, do you think?" Esmerelda asked, when she had composed herself a bit.

Harry contemplated. "I'm not sure."

Hermione looked at him. "But you've liked her for ages, haven't you? I think after what's just happened, she'll probably be expecting you to ask her out at some point."

Harry gulped.

Hermione was probably right, Esmerelda thought, but didn't want to add to Harry's worries just now, so chose not to say anything more on the subject.

…..

The gang are coming to the end of their first term as fifth-years at Hogwarts. The romantic tension is ramping up and we'll soon see that the Christmas holidays will be very eventful for Esmerelda.