Okay, I would like to start by saying that I am REALLY sorry for the wait. I had this chapter writting, but when it saved, all the punctuation got messed up... I think I fixed it all, though... Anyhow, I'll save the rest of my speech for after the chapter.
Two Weeks Later:
You know that whole scene with George two weeks ago on the first night at Hogwarts? Nothing has changed. The next morning, all was back to normal. No intense stares, no dozen of roses at the foot of my bed... I returned to the best friend role, nothing more, and I just kept on living. I think deep down I knew it was my imagination. Since then, I have kind of retreated to my studies to occupy my time. It's been easy, too, because my dear George has been slinking away with Fred nearly every night, anyhow. I would have thought he was ignoring me, but it was both twins and nobody in our group was able to see them much (aside from Lee, of course), so I knew he wasn't doing it on purpose. I think I'm thankful for the lack of him, really... I can't deal with matters of the heart right now. It's a big year for grades, so I figure I should just focus on that for a while... At least until my wandering eyes fix on him again, which I can't imagine being much longer.
I sat on the ground with Angelina and Katie, working on the latest two-foot report. This time it was transfiguration work, a pleasant break from the usual potions, but all the same no fun.
I looked up from my half-done report. The sun's rays were shining brightly, the reflection of it glistening in the lake. The temperature was absolutely perfect, complimented by a light breeze. Carefree first and second years bounded around the grounds, no care in the world... No tests, no two-foot papers to write... That would be great at the moment. But alas. Im an old and decrepit sixth-year attempting to quit being a hermit and see some sunlight!
Sometimes I just really hate professors. Their cruelty is unparalleled.
"Hey, guys... Do you remember what this rune means?" Katie handed us a piece of paper, covered in the ancient writings. She had actually gotten quite far in the translation. I was very impressed!
"This one?" Angelina asked. Katie gave a quick nod and Angelina smiled, "That one is the verb 'paint.' I remember it because if you cover up this part," she placed her thumb on the corner of the rune, "It looks like one of those muggle paintbrushes."
Katie gave a frown. "Well, that makes no sense! I hate translating poems from runes... I'm usually good at them, but these darn poems with their crazy wording and such... It's ridiculous!"
"What do you mean?" I grabbed the paper from Angelina and began to read the poem. "It looks fine to me."
"Oh really? Read that last line there, Alicia." the girl was clearly frustrated. I skipped to the last bit.
...Stars fading as I gazing into nothingness, Another lover to paint.
"Oh. Erm... I see." I quickly gave it back to Katie. "Well, work on something else and come back to it later..." Oh, please let that satisfy her. I really don't want to have to look over the entire thing to find whatever rune messed her up in the first place... After all, the title didn't indicate any sort of love story... From her translation, the title was Summer Plums. Then again, maybe plums are romantic?
She huffed as she shoved the paper into the book. I went back to my essay. I still needed another eight inches or so. Not fun at all, I tell you.
I slowly added to my essay, occasionally looking up and witnessing my fellow prisoners to homework staring into the forbidden lands of fun and enjoyment. I felt their pain.
I managed to get another four inches done when Angelina finally snapped.
"That's it. We're quitting." she said, slamming shut her Arithmancy book.
"I second that!" Katie threw all of her work into her bag, her bubbly personality revived.
"Oh, but guys, I only have a couple more inches..." I whined. I didn't really want to do this work, but I had already started. It seemed pointless to stop when I was so close.
Katie gave me a pout and Angelina gave me one of her typical looks. Resistance was futile. They would nag until I caved. I decided it would be best to cut down the amount of time we would have wasted and sighed as I shut my book. Katie and Angelina exchanged high-fives. Curse them for knowing how to work me!
"Actually, we may as well run this stuff up to our dormitory before we start having fun. I don't want to be weighed down by homework any more than I have to be." Angelina stood looking down at her bulging bag. We all nodded in agreement and headed to the castle.
We made our way up the stairs and soon found ourselves entering the Gryffindor common room.
We started towards our dormitory.
"What are you three lovely ladies doing?" Our feet had nearly graced the first step, but stopped short as we turned around. Lee was laying on the couch, though the only visible part of him was his smiling face peaking over the back of it. He wiggled his eyebrows at us.
"We were just about to drop our books off so we could head outside... Wanna come?" Katie asked.
"Oh that sounds—"
"Oi! Lee! We're about to test it again..." the twins noisily hurried down from their dormitory and stood at the last step, waiting expectantly. My mind may have pointed out how delicious George was looking... But I'm not confirming anything. After all, I am focusing on my studies! True schoolgirls like me have no time for George Weasleys.
Lee kind of squirmed a bit, his inner struggle etched across his face. "Erm... Actually, guys, I think I'm gonna head outside. I've been cooped up in this castle all day you know..." his voice trailed off.
The twins studied his face, and then looked in our direction.
"Ah... We get it mate. Go on, we'll tell you how it went later..." George said with a broad smile.
"...And I'm sure you'll tell us, as well." Fred said with a wink.
They turned to head back upstairs, but not before exchanging knowing smirks. Oh, how I hate those! They always mean that, once more, I am oblivious to something. At any rate, they bounded back up to their dorms, and we did the same.
We all threw our belongings (literally) in the direction of our four-poster, our bags hitting the floor with a loud thud. It felt good to inflict pain upon the books which ate a part of my soul each time they were opened. Payback's a bitch, isn't it, Transfiguration!?
Katie led the way downstairs followed by Angelina and then me. Lee was already waiting expectantly near the doorway. He opened the door for all three of us, which was quite unexpected. Lee being a gentlemen? I mean, he's not extremely rude or anything, he was definitely the most polite boy of our three friends, but that was just really shocking for me.
"Lee, how sweet! You held the door for us." Angelina teased him. She stretched her hand out, trying to pinch his cheek, but he evaded this attack.
"Yes, Lee, you are quite the good little lad." I joined, sending him a wink. Katie just stood and laughed innocently.
"Oh, shut up, you two..." he looked away in a slightly sheepish manner. Quite curious... I stared at him, as if he would rip off a mask revealing Cedric Diggory or something. It just didn't seem like Lee. Being a gentleman, being embarrassed... What is going on!?
"Umm... Guys?" Katie waved her hands in front of Angelina and I cautiously. "Aren't we going to go outside?"
"Oh, yeah, right... Let's go." I said, feeling extremely stupid for spacing out like that. Judging by the look on Angelina's face, she felt the same.
We led the way downstairs, speed walking out of sheer embarrassment. Lee and Katie were practically running just to keep up!
Angelina heaved open the main doors, and the warm sunlight washed over us. Ah, Freedom!
We all breathed in the fresh air as if we hadn't ever done it before, or shall I say, as if we hadn't been outside within the last five minutes...
"Shall we?" I asked, trying to sound as proper as I could while offering my hand to Katie.
"We shall." Replied Katie, taking my hand, albeit incredibly over-dramatically.
We then proceeded to run towards the lake at full speed, laughing like... Idiots. I'll own up to it, we looked completely ridiculous, but who cares!? I'm taking my break from homework, and damn it, I'm going to enjoy this!
Katie and I sat down at the shore of the lake. Before Lee and Angelina caught up to us, I took the time to notice the younger students staring at us with questioning looks. Oh, I love it, I really do. Sometimes you just have to let off some steam, and if it means looking completely moronic, so be it! It's worth it! One day they'll understand.
"What is wrong with you two!?" Angelina trudged to where we were situated and sat down, a bit annoyed with our random outburst. She was followed by Lee.
"If freedom is wrong, I don't want to be right!" Katie touched the back of her wrist to her forehead as dramatically as possible to get the desired affect.
Lee chuckled. "Ah, Merlin..."
Angelina just rolled her eyes at the gesture. She lazily got out her wand and began skipping stones through levitation. Yeah, pretty lazy, I say.
"So how about Mad-Eye! Isn't he awesome?" Lee, starting a conversation about teachers when we were taking a break from being a student. Go figure. No, only kidding... There's really nothing else to talk about anyways, considering we would never discuss our lovelife with Lee, or any of the boys...
"Yeah, he's pretty cool. I wasn't expecting him to demonstrate the Unforgivable Curses, though..." Angelina said, taking a break from skipping stones to fully engage in the conversation.
"Me neither. It just really freaks me out, you know?" I said. As always, I had blurted out a thing I hadn't meant to say. I hate admitting things like that. It's just not my thing. I felt idiotic.
The others kind of looked at me, and there was an uncomfortable silence in the air. That is, until Katie spoke.
"Me too, Alicia." She looked downward at the stony shore of the lake, her hands finding a nearby plant to tug on distractedly.
We lapsed once more into silence. You know, this is really getting to me. It seems like I always blurt things out that turn into awkward moments that you never bring up again.You know? I hate screwing things up. I decided to stray from the topic, no matter how feeble an attempt it would turn out to be. I pondered my next move.
I could start talking about something meaningless like the weather or what was for dinner... But that wouldn't be much better than the silence.
My eyes turned to Lee as I continued to think. The wind was blowing a few of his dreadlocks into his face as his eyes scanned the lake. I figured he was thinking about the previous conversation, but there was a trace of a smile. Lee has been acting so strangely lately. I will have to ask Fred or George about it... They might have some insight.
Oh, right... End the silence... Come on, Alicia! You can do this!
"So... Um... What time is it?" Smooth. Oh, Alicia, that one was so deep. I mentally slapped myself.
Lee brought up his left arm and shifted the sleeve of his robe to see his watch. "About dinnertime... Roughly. We still have some time to kill, though."
Angelina sighed, beginning to skip stones again using her wand.
Lee raised an eye, scrutinizing her. "Are you really that bored, Angelina?"
She continued flinging the rocks without so much as a glance. "Pretty much, yeah."
"Is it even that fun?" Katie brought out her wand and began to levitate a small stone nearby, preparing to follow Angelina's lead.
Lee's mouth was gaping as she started to join in. "Are you kidding me!? You are with the Lee Jordan, and you're bored!?" he took time to stare at each of us individually. "Don't you ladies realize that with Lee Jordan, it's always a party?"
Angelina cocked an eyebrow at him. Katie looked doubtful yet amused.
"Here, watch this." he quickly glanced to a group of younger students approaching from the other side of the lake. He hopped to his feet and walked towards them, his hands fishing through his pockets for something.
The group and Lee drew closer and closer, until finally they met. To our surprise, Lee didn't do anything immediately. He stopped when they had passed him, and then turned around, stalking them. None of them noticed the sixth year which towered behind them.
When he was directly in front of us, he quickly removed something from his robes and placed it into one of their bags. He then hurried over to us, though tried to look casual as he did so.
The innocent victim got in about four more steps before whatever Lee had done took effect.
The entire group stopped dead in their tracks. We couldn't hear much of their conversation, only a couple of particularly loud phrases including "Ew!" and "Gross!" They began to sniff the air.
"Oh, Lee, you didn't!" Katie gave Lee a startled look.
"Why, Ms. Katherine! Whatever do you mean?" Lee faked his innocence.
"You put dungbombs in there!?" Her face contorted once more looking even deeper in disbelief as she pointed to the bookbag. Angelina and I tried to stifle our laughter, but we didn't do a very good job. We ended up sounding like we had rare breathing disorders.
The group of kids were now trying to locate the source of the offending stench.
"Well, guys, I really don't want to be around here when they find it... Shall we head to dinner?" I asked.
"Sounds good to me." Answered Lee.
We all got up and began to walk to the Hogwarts entrance.
"Oh, and that was quite the 'party', Lee. However did you get such skills?" I joked.
"It's a gift." He shrugged, smiling.
"In other words, he's an idiot." Angelina smiled broadly, pleased with her own remarks.
In no time we were entering the Great Hall for dinner. We rushed over to our usual area and sat down as the food appeared.
We all dug in.
About ten minutes later, Fred and George swaggered into the hall, confident smiles plastered on their faces. Their amazing faces. Damn that George for looking even more irresistible than usual.
"And where have you two been?" Angelina inquired when they were standing in the seats across from us.
They took their time sitting down, those damn smiles still in full flight.
"Oh, you know. A little of this, a little of that." Fred said as he piled food onto his plate. "Oh, but don't worry, Angel. I will always come back for you." He gave her a dreamy smile and batted his lashes a bit, only to laugh a half-second later.
She rolled her eyes. "How comforting."
"Seriously, though, what have you two been up to? I've barely seen you guys since school started." I grabbed my glass of pumpkin juice and drank as I waited for a reply.
"Alicia, it's only been two weeks. I know how utterly meaningless and painful life is without us in the picture, but don't worry. You will be seeing more of us soon enough. We just have a bit more to do..." George still had that stupid smile on his face. How annoying.
"...Exactly three more days of it, actually. So fear not, birds! Our flawless faces and amazingly hot bodies will be back in your life soon enough." Fred added. George gave a pleased nod. Idiots. Even if how Fred described them was true, they were still idiots.
Angelina and I glanced at each other. Asking anything more regarding their whereabouts would get us nowhere, so we just dropped it and poked at our food some more.
Katie started asking the three boys about the rune from her homework. Naturally, they had no idea what she was talking about. I give her credit, though, she had gone so far as to draw it on her napkin. I guess desperate times call for desperate measures.
As she talked on and on about what the rune "sort of" resembled, I glanced up and met George's eyes. He gave me a sly wink.
I really hate that he knows exactly what to do to make me enthralled with him, you know? I have two entire weeks of George-free time, devote my life to schoolwork, and them WHAM! A single wink sends the books flying into the fireplace.
Yes, I know that it was one of those, she-doesn't-know-we're-only-pretending-to-listen kinds of winks, but still. It gives me butterflies, as well as other random insect species. Somebody call the exterminator...
There you have it! Once more, I'm really really really sorry for the horrendously long wait. I will try to never do that again... I know how much it sucks when fanfic authors don't update soon enough (though I'm more impatient then most...) so yeah... Sorry x293!
I tried really hard to do more character development in this one, so I hope you liked it.
R&R, my faithful readers! Thanks to all who reviewed in the past!