Chapter Two.
Author Note: I only own Juliana and Garnet. But we knew that. Duh.
…but thought the better of it, and closed her mouth. She took a couple halting steps towards Fred, and he walked forward to meet her.
"Come with me," He said, offering his hand. Garnet simply looked at him and he lowered his hand, but led her out of the Entrance Hall and into the early October sunshine. They sat side-by-side on the grand, sweeping steps before the great doors to Hogwarts. They were quiet for a few moments, and Garnet pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her head on them. She could feel Fred's eyes on her, so she turned her head towards him and looked right back.
"What's wrong?" He asked, and Garnet just shook her head.
"I hardly sleep…I'm just tired," She replied, and turned away again, closing her eyes and letting the October sunshine warm her dark hair.
"Is there any reason you don't sleep?" Fred inquired. Garnet shook her head. She was so tired, she just wanted to lean against something and fall asleep in this comfortable sunshine.
"I wish there was a reason, so I could fix it," Garnet said after a few moments. She heard Fred make a noise of agreement, and silence fell between them once again. They sat there for a while, and unbeknownst to Garnet, Fred had come closer to her. Instinctively, she leaned onto him and kept her eyes closed, hating herself for letting him in even that far. But at the same time, she couldn't help but be thankful that he was there to lean on.
The bell signaling the end of the period after lunch clanged alarmingly loud overhead and Garnet woke with a start, and Fred smiled at her.
"Time for class," He said, and got up. He helped Garnet to her feet and handing her the pack she carried her books in. She forced a smile at him and walked into the Entrance Hall, wanting to get away from him. Luckily, Juliana was headed towards Potions, as Garnet was, and she grabbed her arm.
"What happened?" Juliana asked, as they walked quickly towards the dungeons. Garnet looked behind her to make sure Fred was nowhere around, and groaned.
"I fell asleep on him!" She hissed, and Juliana drew back with a gasp.
"You like him!" She said, with a hand over her mouth. They sat down at their table in the dim, cool dungeon and Garnet slammed her bag down on the table.
"I do not!" She said, pulling out her Potions book and sitting with her arms crossed. Juliana was about to reply but was cutoff by Professor Snape entering the room. He swept to the front of the class and flicked his wand at the board.
"Due at the end of class," He said carelessly. Garnet pulled her cauldron towards her and began taking the necessary ingredients and equipment out of her bag. She lit a fire underneath her cauldron with such force it rose up on the sides of the cauldron, and was immediately seen by Snape, who glided over.
"Miss Cromwell, kindly read me the first line of the instructions on the board," He said softly. Garnet, with great effort, did not roll her eyes and squinted through the steam that was rising from the cauldrons in the room.
"Light a small fire underneath the cauldron," She read dully, and Snape nodded.
"Now explain to me why you have created a bonfire underneath your cauldron," He said, staring down his hooked nose at her. Out of pure annoyance, Garnet flicked her wand at her cauldron and the fire went down to the appropriate size.
"Five points from Ravenclaw," He said loudly, and the three Slytherins in the class laughed. Garnet rolled her eyes and watched him stalk away.
"I hate him," She said to Juliana, and the other girl nodded.
"Today has just been terrible. And, I still have so much homework to do," Garnet said as she added herbs to the boiling potion in her cauldron. Snape swept by her again, and she longed to take the heavy cauldron and throw it at him, knocking out his knees and watching him fall to Earth like the great, stupid bat he was.
"Did Fred say anything of interest to you?" Juliana asked. Garnet just shook her head.
"He just asked why I hadn't been sleeping," She replied, measuring out a small amount of crushed spider legs and adding them to her potion. "What is this potion even called?" Juliana shrugged.
"I can't see the title from here," She said. Garnet sat back and let her potion simmer, and let her mind wander back to the time she had spent with Fred on the steps. She didn't like him, she knew that. IT freaked her out that she had fallen asleep on him. Even more so that he hadn't moved for however long she had slept. She wondered if he would try to get her alone again, or if he would ignore her. Part of her, the larger part, hoped that he would ignore her so she wouldn't have to explain why she had just walked away from him. The other part hoped he would try to get her alone again, so maybe she could have the feeling of that comfort back. She figured that she would find out at dinner, which would be occurring in half an hour. She checked her potion and realized it was done. She took a small amount and put it in a vial to bring to Snape for grading. She labeled it with her name and put it with the rest of the vials on the desk. She quickly scribbled down the homework assignment, then began to clean up.
As she washed her hands in the ice cold water that ran in the sink, she began to get nervous about dinner. She knew she was stupid for even thinking about it, but she couldn't help but wonder. She walked back over to the table and packed up her things, waiting for Juliana. When she was finally ready to go, Garnet followed her out of the dungeon, among the last to leave. They walked slowly in the usual near-traffic jam of students, trying to guess what was for dinner by the smell. Garnet accompanied Juliana to their table and looked across to the Gryffindor table. To her great surprise, she didn't see Fred, nor George. Slightly disappointed, Garnet looked down at her plate, unaware that a certain redhead was creeping up behind her.