Chapter Six
Percy remained furious about the incident at Diagon Alley and refused to acknowledge the twins' attempts to have him provide input on how he would like to see the Slytherins be paid back, leaving the twins to come up with something themselves. Not that they minded. Percy never came up with good ideas anyway, and Lee Jordan was sending nearly an owl a day with some particularly interesting possibilities. Not that I minded the twins' attempt to get their own back on the Slytherins, but it was slowly annoying me. Fred and I hardly got to spend any time together during the last few weeks of the Summer Holiday. Mrs Weasley was constantly asking for help, and Fred was busy with George creating new pranks. It felt like we were growing apart.
Before we knew it, September first had arrived and the Burrow became an absolute madhouse in the rush to get everyone out the door and into the car. By the time Percy, Fred and George burst through the barrier onto Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, the twins were in such a hurry to find Lee and get a seat on the train that they did not even notice that had I come through the barrier with Phoebe.
I left Phoebe with Hermione and Ginny Weasely, the twins' younger sister, and went in search to find Ange, Alicia and Katie. I soon found them in a compartment near the front of the train; I dropped my things off with Katie and went in search to find the twins with Ang and Alicia.
Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
"What are you three doing?" Ange demanded of Fred, George and Lee, all of whom had their ears pressed against the wall of their car.
"Shh!" George waved his hand at her. "Slytherin Quidditch team next door. Might give away some of their secrets."
Ange turned to look at me and Alicia and we all rolled our eyes as we took a seat in the car.
"George, listen, even if Marcus Flint was thick enough to prattle on about their secret plays out in public – which he is not – we do not need to hear them to be able to beat Slytherin. Oliver's got a new game plan he has worked on all summer, and I believe we are better than them."
"Beside, all you will pick up from Slytherin is new ways to cheat," I added.
"How true," George agreed as both he and Lee sat up straight. Fred stubbornly refused to stop listening. "Hey, Fred, Leave it mate," George said.
"Oh Fred, come off it, will you?" Ange laughed. "You can eavesdrop on Abby Lestrange later."
"You what?" Fred wrinkled his nose in disgust as he sat up.
"Oh please," Ange continued. "Everyone knows you've got a bit of a crush on her."
Fred's eyes nearly popped out of his head and the three boys began to howl with laughter. This caused me to tense up, not that the rest of the compartment noticed. "Bloody hell, Angelina! Somebody's been feeding you a ruddy great pack of lies!"
"Oh, so you don't fancy her then?" Alicia smirked.
"No chance! I've got a girlfriend if you had not noticed."
"Yeah I know that. So why did you cast that spell on her then?"
All laughter stopped. "I-"
"Because you like her."
"Because I hate her, more like."
"Come on, Fred! It's been two years and you've never given a reason for doing it! Not even to Professor McGonagall," Ange argued.
It was like I was invisible as they continued the conversation. Not one of them noticed how uncomfortable I was; hearing them talk about the boy who was supposed to be going out with me having a crush on someone else, from Slytherin nonetheless.
"I had a reason," Fed shrugged.
"And that was?" Alice prompted.
"Never mind."
The girls huffed angrily. "George, do you know why he did it?" Ange turned to the other twin.
"Leave me out of this," George grinned, but soon dropped it as he noticed I was sitting there; but instead of saying anything he went back to listening at the wall.
"Thanks for the help," Fred muttered to his twin.
"It's no big deal, Fred," Alicia said.
"You lot are making it a big deal," he retorted.
"You can fancy who you like, I just –"
"I DO NOT FANCY HER!"
"Err, Fred/Lie?"
"Yeah" I said, while Fred snapped "WHAT?"
"Harry did come with us to the station this morning, didn't he?"
"He did. He was supposed to come through the barrier after Phoebe and me" I answered. As I answered George, I noticed there was tension in the air. Obviously they must of just realised I was sitting there and heard everything they had just said. Fred did not even look at me, but kept his attention on the seat.
"Only Malfoy's just said Harry's not on the train."
"WHAT?" we all shrieked in unison and soon six ears were pressed against the car wall. Not a word was spoken, yet the tension was still there, as we strained to hear what the Slytherins were saying.
George left and popped his head out of the compartment and was waving at someone in the corridor to come over. We soon found out as Ollie and Kate entered the car.
"I don't suppose any of you know what Flint-"
"Harry's missed the train," the twins said together.
Ollie's reaction was not unlike setting off a barrel of Filibusters Fabulous Wet-Start-No-Heat Fireworks all at once.