George Weasley let out a contented yawn and gently patted his pleasantly full stomach as he stood with Fred, Izzy, and Shawn, waiting for the entrance to clear of the mass of students heading off to their respective common rooms. Izzy was bouncing impatiently on the balls of her feet, dying to finally get a good look at the inside of Hogwarts Castle, the school she had dreamed of for so many years.
Shawn's hand shot out and settled itself on her forearm, surprising Izzy into stillness.
"Calm down Izabelle." she said with an indulgent smile. "Hogwarts Castle has stood here for over a thousand years- it won't be any different in 15 minutes than it is now, so just wait. Unless of course you want to try and push through that crowd."
George snorted when Izzy gave her a little growl.
"You know I don't wanna have anything to do with that… that throng of people!" she snapped with an offended huff, but she did not recommence her bouncing all the same. She looked sideways at Shawn.
"How is it that you can always tell me to do something and I just do it? Never before in my life have I ever followed orders." she said with her nose scrunching into an irritated wrinkle.
Shawn winked at her, her face the picture of satisfaction, her deep hazel eyes glinting with mischief.
"Because you love me. And no one else will put up with you." she said matter-of-factly.
"Why, you-" Izzy cut off her retort to poke Shawn sharply in the side. "Keep that up and I won't love you for much longer." she said, but there was no real threat in her voice and a rueful smile was on her full lips. She threw her arm around Shawn's shoulders again, and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
Snickers of laughter brought her eyes up and around to the tall flame-haired twins standing just behind them.
"And what, exactly, is so amusing?" she asked, her eyes narrowed.
"Nothing" chorused the twins with expressions of innocence, but it was ruined by the bright, knowing grins on their faces.
"It's just…listening to you two is like listening to a female, American version of us." said Fred.
George nodded, but he couldn't help the tiny voice at the back of his head that noted sometimes they acted less like him and Fred and more like Angelina and Katie when they finally took their relationship out of the closet. He hadn't seen any snogging yet though, so for now he ignored it with a shrug, determined to keep a close eye out for any undue signs of affection, and turned his attention back to the huge wooden doors. Which turned out to be excellent timing as he watched the last student exit the hall, a tiny first year who was running full out in his attempt to not get left behind. He heard Fred chuckle.
"Well come on girls, the crowds have gone, our stomachs are full, and there's a nice warm fire and cushy sofas waiting for us in the common room." he said with longing in his voice.
Izzy gave a delighted squeal at finally being allowed to view at least a part of the castle without the jostle of hundreds of students squishing her. Shawn shook her head in fond exasperation and gave her a little shove, dislodging the arm around her shoulders.
"Well go on already" she said, a twinkle in her eye at her friend's excitement.
Izzy flashed her a wide grin and then strode in long steps through the double doors, barely waiting for them to join her, her neck already twisting every which way.
She stopped when she got to the foot of the stairs and turned back, looking up at the twins with an embarrassed half smile.
"This way?" she questioned, motioning up the stairs.
"There you go getting all ahead of yourself again" said George, his head shaking mockingly.
"Do all Yanks have a tendancy to set off places without knowing where they're going, or is it just you?" asked Fred. At his side Shawn let out a bark of laughter.
"Trust me, it's her" she said. "If I had a nickel for every time I had to sit through the 'we're not lost, we're just having an extra adventure, I'll find out where we are in a moment' speech I could buy Hogwarts myself."
She giggled at her own joke but stopped when she realized that no one else was joining in; Izzy because she was busy glaring at her for what she obviously considered a small betrayal, and Fred and George because they were looking at her in complete confusion.
"What the bloody hell's a nickel?" they asked.
She sniggered at them a little from behind her hand. "It's American currency, kind of like your knuts I would guess. In America we don't have a different currency than Muggles, makes things too complicated." she explained.
They did not ask how she knew what a knut was- they figured that after spending a year fighting and living in England, it was obvious that they would've had to learn their magical currency by now.
"If you're quite finished explaining American economics, can we get on with the tour?" Izabelle abruptly interrupted, looking decidedly annoyed. "I've only been waiting to see this castle for about 10 years!"
Shawn's head gave a small shake. "Oh Belle, will you ever learn to control that temper?"
"No I will not!" exclaimed Izzy and petulantly stomped her foot. The other three could not contain their laughter at the sight of her crossed arms and pouting face. She looked thunderous for a moment then George noticed the corners of her lips begin to twitch and suddenly she was laughing just as hard as they were.
"Ok, ok, I give" she said, her laughter subsiding. Her blue eyes with those long black lashes went wide and pleading as she looked up at George. "Will you pretty pretty please with sugar and cherries and icing on top, show me the way to the common room now?"
And she just looked so adorable- he couldn't remember ever thinking the word adorable so many times in one day before- that George didn't even make fun of her. He smiled a genuine, happy smile at her and nodded.
"Up we go then" he said cheerfully, grabbing her hand as he swept passed her and started up the stairs. Little tingles began to make their way up his arm and when he looked down at Izzy climbing next to him, he was pleased to note that she was blushing again, the color standing out on her pale skin. She did not release his hand.
The walk to the Gryffindor common room was full of excited, non-stop chatter as the girls ooed and ahhed over the moving portraits, the enchanted suits of armor, the gliding ghosts. Every other second one of their hands was shooting out to point at this or that, their eyes enthusiastically round. They were utterly fascinated by the moving staircases, although Izzy gave a moan of frustration when she realized how difficult it was going to be to learn her way around the school with them constantly changing up on her, and they all laughed uproariously when they saw Peeves getting chased away by the Bloody Baron for throwing pieces of chalk at some Hufflepuffs.
Shawn and Izzy were particularly tickled, as apparently such things as poltergeists would never have been allowed to roam free at the American Academy of Magic. The twins exchanged a look that clearly displayed exactly what they thought of places that weren't allowed fun-loving and tricksy poltergeists. Peeves was practically a friend, he had helped them wreak havoc and avoid capture so many times- and the way he'd lived up to Fred's order to give Umbridge hell still almost brought a tear to his eye.
In seemingly no time at all they had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. Shawn looked up at Fred in confusion, her head tilting back rather far in order to stare at his face.
"This is the entrance to the Gryffindor common room?" she asked, feeling the solid stone wall next to the portrait's frame.
"Well of course it is" snapped the Fat Lady, annoyed at having been forced to open over and over for the last half hour as the students poured in. She'd thought she'd seen the last of them 10 minutes ago and was in a hurry to celebrate the new school year with her friend Violet and that group of wine-making monks on the fourth floor."Now do you know the password or not?"
"Phoenix" said the twins confidently, and the portrait swung open, grumbling, to admit them.
"Welcome to Gryffindor Tower" they said, and bent in identical bows, flourishing their hands as they gestured for the girls to climb in behind them.
"Is the password always the same?" asked Shawn curiously after she and Izzy had climbed through the hole and the portrait swung shut behind them with finality.
"Nah" said Fred
"What's the point of a password if it's the same every year? Everyone would know it." added George.
"Hermione told us the new one before the Sorting." explained Fred. "She got to make it up you know, as Head Girl and all that, could hardly restrain herself from telling everyone." He gave Shawn a pleased grin when she laughed.
George looked over the round room, noticing that the Golden Quartet was no where in sight, and gave a sigh of contentment. Surprisingly, he was no longer at all angry about having to come back to school; he found the sight of the crimson and gold furnishings, the groups of students happily talking, playing games, and yes-he noticed some WWW products being passed around as well- warmly familiar, almost better than it had to return to the Burrow and he let a sigh of his contentment pass his lips.
Izzy quirked an eyebrow at him. "Feels good to be back huh? Almost like coming home, I'd imagine."
George was a little startled that she seemed to effortlessly know what was running through his mind. He knew he wasn't always the deepest of thinkers- though decidedly deeper than he knew most people gave him credit for- but was he really that easy to read?
The idea did not settle well in his stomach- he didn't like to wear his heart on his sleeve and often didn't show his full depth. Sometimes it was a lot better when people underestimated you.
Izabelle shook her head at him a little and answered the question he hadn't asked. "Your face is really quite difficult to read compared to a lot of others, but I've spent an inordinate amount of my life studying people. I may have to work harder to read you, but it's not impossible, and the challenge just makes it more fun." She smiled brightly, but it faded when she caught his still disconcerted expression. "I could stop, if it'll make you feel better?" she offered apologetically.
For some reason this put him at ease and he realized he really didn't mind if maybe she saw something more in him than anyone else did, besides Fred anyway. Especially if she was going to do it by staring at him.
He gave her a sudden, wicked grin. "Nah, you go right ahead. It's impossible to not stare at something this good-looking anyhow, you'll only strain yourself." he said, puffing out his chest. Izzy rolled her eyes at him and gave him a small shove.
"You just keep right on believing that" she said with a patronizing pat to his arm. But her hand lingered a second too long on his thick forearms and she said it with a smirk that belied her statement. George's stomach did the weird flippy thing again. He was really going to have to do something about that, though what exactly he had no clue. Besides keeping a good distance from Izzy at least, but the idea held no appeal whatsoever. Guess he was just gonna have to live with it then.
A few minutes later they were all curled up by the fire, Fred and George having stared intimidatingly enough at the group of 3rd years sitting there that they'd scurried to a distant corner of the common room. The twins had smirked at each other- there were advantages to being the oldest students in the house.
"Are you really alright with Gryffindor?" Izzy was asking Shawn, pulling her fingers through her dreadlocks one by one as Shawn sat at her feet. Shawn was practically purring at her ministrations.
"Course I am!" she exclaimed. "Ravenclaw had some appeal, but you're right about war changing people. I think Gryffindor's the perfect choice." And to prove her point she whipped out her wands and pointed it first at herself, then at Izzy, changing their ties to Gryffindor red and gold from the standard Hogwarts black. Izzy laughed at her wide smile.
"Right you are. Guess I should get into the spirit of things too, huh?" Izzy asked mysteriously.
Shawn nodded her head vigorously and with that Izzy closed her eyes and for all the world seemed to fall asleep.
Fred and George looked at Shawn, their mouths opening to ask what the bloody hell was going on when a glitter of light caught their eyes and they turned their attention to Izzy.
As they watched the hot pink streaks in her hair deepened, until they became as crimson as the tapestries lining the walls. All over her head the blonde strands of hair were becoming more and more golden. When she finally opened her eyes and shook her hair around, the firelight danced along the strands, making it look almost as though her hair was part of the fire. She wrapped a bit of it around her finger and pulled it in front of her eyes for examination.
"What d'you think?" she asked. "Did I get the colors right?"
Shawn clapped her hands delightedly and nodded. "Perfect!" she assented.
"You're a Metamorphagus!" exclaimed George, his deep aqua eyes wide in astonishment. Metamorphaguses were extremely rare and the only other one he'd ever met was Tonks.
Izzy giggled in an almost wistful way. "Not really" she said, letting go of her hair and shaking it back into place once more. "I can't change my face or anything, just my hair color. Taught myself when I was about 10, before I even really knew I was witch. I guess it just stuck." She shrugged nonchalantly, as though everyone could do it, but George could see a glint of smugness in her face.
"Just stuck?" asked Shawn, her voice high with disbelief. "It's not like you ever gave yourself long enough to forget how to do it. You haven't been able to keep your hair the same color for more than 3 months since you turned 10! For 2 years I thought it was some weird sort of compulsion. Now I know that you just get bored far too easily."
"Oi!" said Izzy, giving Shawn's head a light smack. "You keep making fun of me like that and I won't play with your hair for at least three months."
Shawn's eyes widened and she gave a little squeak, reaching up to place Izzy's fingers back onto her head. "What I meant to say was that you're such a brilliant witch it's no surprise at all that you can wandlessly transfigure your hair!" And she shot Izzy a pleading smile as they all gave a good chuckle. Izzy's fingers began their trek along another rope of hair.
They talked for awhile about lots of little unimportant things- favorite colors, favorite bands and some of the weirder differences between the USA and the UK, and before he knew it George was trying to unsuccessfully repress a huge yawn. Fred did the same, slumping a little into his armchair. The girls had gone quiet and were gazing drowsily into the shrinking fire.
He looked around and noticed they were the only ones left in the common room. He stood up and stretched, his back popping a little from sitting for so long.
"I'm off to bed" he announced to no one in particular.
Murmers of assent and agreement came from the others and they all stood up. Fred came to stand next to him and they looked down at their new mates.
"See you at breakfast" they chorused sleepily and when the girls nodded, giving them sleepy smiles of their own, they all made their way up to their respective dormitories.
Climbing into his big four poster bed with red velvet curtains, and settling himself under the sheets (giving his pillow a few firm jabs) George felt an unexpected wave of excitement at the thought of tomorrow. Classes would be starting, yeah, but he had a feeling they were gonna be a lot more fun with Izzy and Shawn around.
His thoughts were becoming slower, foggier; he barely heard Fred collapsing onto his own bed. His eyelids fluttered slowly shut, his long red lashes almost resting on his cheeks. A pair of blue-gray eyes sparkling in amusement rose behind his eyelids. Then he knew no more as he slipped gently into sleep, a small smile still adorning his face.