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.:Chapter 14:.
Fred and I both acted like nothing happened while George was gone. There was no point making him mad. Though, neither boy knew that I had over heard what they had said.
"I can't wait for school to start," I said, breaking the awkward silence that filled the room. Fred and George looked at me like I was crazy.
"Why?" They sounded appalled. I laughed.
"I was just thinking of the fun we get to have. We can do magic without getting expelled. All the fun stuff we can't do here," I said, grinning. The look of relief that passes over there faces was priceless. "I, for one, think we should start practicing our pranks now. I do seem to be a bit rusty."
"Cheers!" George said, jumping up. "I'll find where everyone is. We need to know where potential targets are." He ran out of the door. Fred stayed sitting.
"What's wrong?" I asked. This is so unlike Fred. He shrugged instead of answering. Another thing that was unlike Fred. "Don't worry, mate, this prank should show George how serious I am about staying. You won't need to worry about finding me." I winked and followed George out of the room. Oh my gosh! What just came over me? I thought. I had no idea where in the world that came from. I walked as calmly as I could. I couldn't show weakness, not around the twins.
George was walking in the door when I reached the bottom of the stairs. "Everyone is outside. We can set something up in here. Hopefully they stay out there," George grinned, "Hey, where's Fred?"
I flinched. Bad idea. "He's still in the room," I recovered. George nodded, walking up the steps. I knew they would be up there for a while, so I decided to get a snack. Mrs. Weasley had left the pantry door open. The cupboard was completely filled, and then some. Magic had to be holding everything in. Though, nothing really appealed to me.
Since everyone was still out side, I went to see what they were up to. Ginny was standing next to a basket of cloths that should have fallen over, but magic was, again, holding it up. Mrs. Weasley was waving her wand, so the cloths were handing themselves. I smiled. I could really get used to this. Ginny waved, and ran toward me.
"Where are Fred and George?" She asked, getting in step with me.
"I kinda told Fred that I over heard something he said to George about me. I ran out of their room as fast as I could. George is up there now," I whispered. I couldn't let Mrs. Weasley over hear. Ginny grinned, the evil glint, the same one the twins have, appeared in her eyes. "What ever it is your planning, stop it now," I all but shouted. I reached for arm so she wouldn't run away, but she was too quick. Stumbling, I chased after her. She ran to her room, slamming the door behind her. I tried to open it, but she locked it.
"Ginny, what are you doing? Fred was talking about playing a prank on me," I lied through the door, "It's going to be worse now that I know, that's what I'm upset about."
"We both know that's not what Fred was talking about," Ginny said. I could hear something being dragged across the floor. She was barricading me out of the room.
"Damn," I swore, breathing hard. They only option I had, was to wait it out.
"Does everyone have all of their things packed for school?" Mrs. Weasley shouted from the kitchen. I didn't, so I made my way to the twins room, devising a plan on how to stop Ginny. When I reached the door I could hear them talking from out in the hallway, but I couldn't figure out what they were saying. "Can I come in?" I asked, knocking.
"Yeah," George grumbled.
"I need to pack. Hope that's alright?" I added, hearing Georges annoyance. Hopefully once he figures out that I'm not leaving, he'll warm up to me. I silently started to gather my clothing, folding everything neatly. Fred and George continued to talk.
"How are we supposed to demand our money nicely?" Fred asked George, grabbing the quill out of his brothers hand.
"Like this," George said, taking the quill back. They bickered for a long time.
"Are we doing this prank or not?" I asked, remembering why George left Fred and I alone in the first place.
"Probably not. We just found that all the winnings Bagman gave us was Leprechaun gold," George muttered.
"Wake up! We need to get moving!" Mrs. Weasley shouted in our bedroom. I was sleeping in Fred's bed again, while he slept on my cot. She must have heard something that signaled we were moving, because she moved to the next room. I sat up, stretching. Today was the first day of school. Smiling, I pounced on Fred and George, one at a time.
"Come on!" I shouted, pulling Fred by his arm. He fell out of the cot, yelling back. "If you don't get up now, you can carry your trunk, and mine." That got him up. Mrs. Weasley called a few Muggle taxies to take us to King Cross Station. All of the Ministry cars were in use, and the Ford Angelia was still in the Forbidden Forest. Fred and George put my trunk in the same car as their trunk. The three of us sat in the back seat, with Mrs. Weasley in the front with the driver.. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny in another.
Fred's 'No heat' fireworks exploded when the rain hit the trunk. The twins and I tried not to laugh as the taxi driver dived out of the way. Fred, acting as though nothing was wrong, opened the door to let me in, but Mrs. Weasley pulled me aside.
"I'm sorry, dear. We didn't really have a chance to really start your lessons. Dumbledore is going to work with you while your at school. All of your professors were told that you will need extra help, so don't worry. The work we started was at the O.W.L. Level, so I don't think you'll really need help," she said, smiling. I returned it. I thought we were working on first year stuff.
We both got into the taxi. Fred pushed me over his lap so I would be in the middle. It made me blush a little, so I angled my head a little so no on would see me. Other than that, the ride to King's Cross was completely uneventful. When we got to the station, we went through the wall to Platform 9 ¾. It was complete chaos. Fred and George pulled me away to find Lee.
"Wait, I want to say good bye first," I said, trying to pull in the other direction. But Fred pulled me back.
"We'll see them later. Lets find Lee," George said, grabbing my other hand. I shook Georges had away so I could push my cart. We weaved out way through the crowd. Faces swam past me. I recognized a few. Draco Malfoy, Neville Longbottom, Collin Creevy, Luna Lovegood, and a few others. I didn't say a word as I followed the twins to where a dark skinned boy was standing with his parents. He was maybe a head shorter than the twins and had dark dreadlocks. He ran towards us, grinning. "Hey, Lee!" George said, giving his friend a one arm hug. Lee turned to give Fred a hug, and saw that we were still holding hand. I quickly dropped it, blushing.
"I see you've been busy thing summer, mate," Lee said, then he introduced himself. I shook his hand, introducing myself as well. "Where did you find this one at? I've never seen her at school before," Lee said just loud enough for Fred to hear, or so he thought.
"I'm from Gwynn School of Witchcraft in America. I moved back home with my family. They wanted me to finish school at Hogwarts," I answered. Lee's cheeks turned slightly lighter.
"If your from America, why don't you sound American?"
"I said 'I moved back home with my family,' I've lived in London until I was eleven. My mom wanted me to live with my Aunt while they traveled so I wouldn't be left alone during holidays," I answered, making up the rest of the story that Dumbledore had left out.
"Are we ready to find a compartment?" Lee asked, pushing his cart away from his family, and toward the train. He said his good-byes, and we set off. Lee chose a compartment in the middle of the train. Mrs. Weasley and the others were walking towards us. Bill and Charlie were with them. They must have Apparated to the station. They started to talk vaguely about the Triwizard tournament. Fred, George, and the others started to get angry. I just sat at the window seat, waiting for Fred and George to come on the train. Lee sat across from me. He asked me how I knew Fred and George, I said that my parents had asked the Weasleys if I could stay for the summer while they were at work.
"Sounds kind of mental if you ask me," Lee said, startling me, "They want you to come home, but you don't really stay at home."
"I don't mind. I had a good summer," I answered, thinking of Fred. Lee didn't talk again until Fred and George came into the compartment.
"Lee, Angelina is looking for you," Fred said, "She went towards the front of the train." Lee grinned, rushing into the hall. "Now," Fred frowned, "What's going on at Hogwarts?" Angelina didn't really want to see Lee. The twins couldn't talk to me while he was there.
"You'll see," I frowned as well.
"Marie, please," Fred pleaded, grabbing my hands and pulling them to his chest. Blushing, I pulled my hands back into my lap.
"No, Fred," I whispered. George started to beg me as well. I let them babble about the reason why I should tell them. When I finally had enough, I stood up. "I'm going to find Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They won't bagger me about this," I all but shouted.
"No, stay. We'll stop," George said, looking to his twin. I sat back down, sitting with my back to the wall, and my legs on the seat. The conversation soon turned to Ludo Bagman. I just listened for a while, waiting for them to stop. When they didn't I stood up again. "Where are you going, love?" George asked, putting his food on the seat across from him to block the door.
"There is only so much Ludo Bagman I can deal with," I said, trying to leap over his leg. I felt arms around my waist, pulling me back. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Fred's face.
"Stay. We'll stop," he said softly in my ear. I grinned.
"Good. This is my first trip to Hogwarts, and I want to enjoy it," I said, taking my seat back. Fred was still standing, he reached above us to his trunk. Pulling out a bag of Exploding Snaps. He took his seat next to George again. As we were playing, Lee returned.
"Angelina was not looking for me, git," he said, hitting Fred in the back of the head. Fred and George looked up at Lee, looking as innocent as possible. Lee gave them a rude hand gesture and tried to sit next to me.
Fred jumped up and said, "Here, I'll sit with Marie. This way it's not awkward." George grinned at Lee, patting the seat next to him. I heard Lee mutter something about making people feel awkward was a specialty of Fred's. Lee joined in our game. I won, which was really surprising because this was the first time I played the game. Once we finished, no one just wanted to sit and talk, so we decided to find the first years. Most were toward the front of the train. We found a compartment filled with six first years. The twins walked in first.
"Hi, guys," George smiled, "How are all of you feeling?" None of them said a word, a few shook their heads.
"No need to fret-" Fred started.
"The troll you fight isn't that big." Fred finished. Lee and I had to leave the compartment because we were laughing so hard.
"A tr- troll?" One little girl asked.
"Yeah. Last year they switched it up a bit," Fred said, the girls face started to turn green,
"They brought a dragon for the first years to fight," George added. The rest of the group turned the same shade of green as the first girl.
"Well, I'll leave you to practice. Good luck." Fred and George said together. They left the compartment, grinning. The six first years ran passed me to find the others and warn them. Fred and George walked in front of Lee and I and they were describing the first years faces. And for good measure, George tossed a dungbomb behind him. We started walking a bit faster, not enough to show we did it, but enough to be completely clear of the smell. The first years weren't so lucky. Their coughs could be heard from our compartment.
A/N: Please review!