This was supposed to come earlier….I am extremely sorry for that. My net connection…. (Sigh)
"So."
"So….."
It was a sunny Sunday morning at Hogwarts. The twins had just finished breakfast and even though George had tried to go outside into the grounds with the others; Fred, being his ever-knowing brother had grabbed him before he could escape and dragged him all the way to their seventh-year dorms which were currently empty except the two of them.
The purpose of this peculiar kidnap was of course, quite imminent to George. He had been trying to avoid the time he would have to explain, but (sigh) it was one of the curses of having a twin brother that they can read your every movement even before you make it.
He looked up from his perch on his four-poster bed at the impatient form of his brother pacing the entire length of the dorm.
"So it seems that you've made a new friend." Fred declared out loud without stopping his march.
"Um…yeah. Something like that." George replied. Fred edgy tone warned him that it would be better if he did not speak much, at least for a little while.
There were rare occasions like these that Fred, being the older brother (only five minutes really); became the perfect replica of their dear mother. In such cases, as George knew extremely well, neither Mrs. Weasley nor Fred remained in the realm of reason.
"Exactly why did you do that?"
"I need a reason to make friends?"
Fred turned to glare at him in a pure Mrs. Weasley like fashion and even though it deterred George for a moment, he calmed himself quickly. No matter how scary he may seem, he wasn't mum and George knew that he could explain himself to his twin more easily than anyone else.
I hope.
"Look, I'm just- curious alright?" he said as Fred opened his mouth once again. His twin turned to face him, expectant.
Fred raised an eyebrow, so George continued.
"It's just an impulse, but I mean didn't you hear what she said that night? Don't you find her a bit different? I just want to know a bit more…"
Fred's responding sigh reassured George; he knew he had made a valid point.
He walked closer to George and sprawled down onto the adjacent bed, face towards the roof away from George.
"Maybe I do feel the same, but I am not stalking her all over the place; am I?" he said.
George sought to reply but was interrupted.
"-nor am I risking detention and a bloody hand for her."
"Neither would I have forgiven her so easily for lacking her wits-"
"-Hey!"
Fred studied George from the corner of his eye and it widened by a fraction. His twin seldom lashed out at him like that. So what he was thinking was right after all…
Fred felt the corners of his mouth twitch.
George was taken aback when the formerly serious Fred suddenly started chuckling. His anger turned into confusion and he stared open-mouthed as Fred got of the four-poster bed and with hands inside his pockets made his way towards the dormitory door.
Before exiting he turned back and smirked at him.
"Well, do what you want, I get it. Let's go outside anyway, the others are waiting; but you know-" his tone turned slightly grim, "I can't believe I'm saying this; but whatever you do; think a little about the consequences first, mate."
He left. And George was left to ponder on those mysterious words before he picked himself up and followed him.
I don't understand. I'm not going to do anything.
He ignored the subtle spark of doubt in those words.
"What a guy that Harry Potter, right?" Lee Jordan said as he and the twins walked through the snow-ridden streets of Hogsmeade. They had just returned from the meeting in Hogshead where Harry had proposed to build a secret organization with him teaching them some authentic Defense Against The Dark Arts. Quite a bunch of students had agreed, but George had reservations about one of the attending Hufflepuffs'; Zacharias Smith.
On the other hand he was really excited; there might be a silver lining in this dark year, after all.
"Yeah. And we get to learn some real stuff from him. Great isn't it?" He heard Fred add enthusiastically.
"Awesome." George agreed.
"And all under Miss High Inquisitor's nose….." Lee sang and the three of them chortled. This was probably the best part, to defy the all-controlling Umbridge in any minute way; was extremely satisfying.
Now they were headed towards Zonko's Joke Shop to get some ingredients for their new joke products, which they were still developing despite being detracted and discouraged strongly by many fronts.
The three trudged through the snow making small idle talk and watching the surrounding people wrapped in thick fur coats, walking around in cheerful groups and shy couples holding hands; most of them making their way towards a small, cozy cottage-like shop belonging to some Madam Pudiffoot. The three cringed a little as they passed by, to be put bluntly; the shop was painted in nothing but shades of pink and red, giving a totally cheesy and mushy aura to it.
In other words, 'it was utterly revolting'
"Oh!" George gasped, triggering inquiring glances from the other two.
"The order we had for ten Skiving Snackboxes. I think I forgot the letter back at Hogshead." He answered while he frantically checked his pockets, suddenly remembering.
"Be right back." He told his bemused companions as he turned and jogged back down to the shaggy old pub through the clusters of persons who were visiting Hogsmeade Village.
He knew he had put it in his robe pocket with his money, but as he recalled; it was likely they had fallen out when he had taken out Galleons to pay for his Butterbeer. He must not have noticed it then, in the cluster of a dozen or so people there. He prayed that it was still there; because that letter had the address of an extremely important client who always paid them handsomely.
What was his name again?
Sohma…Sohma Shigure. Yes that was it.
He and Fred had at first been absolutely taken aback at the idea of a grown up wizard ever being interested in joke products. Adults usually shunned these sorts of things. But this client was the most interested, even more than Hogwarts students; ordering frequently and in tons. But the twins overcame the shock when Fred made his meaningful statement.
"Hey, we're going to grow up someday too; aren't we?"
George smiled at the memory and decreased his pace as the severed boar's head of Hogshead came into view. As expected, few entered this apparently dodgy pub; most just casting a wary glance and walking quickly away. George stopped in front of it and was surprised to see a notice floating at the door.
Major Detoxification Under Process
Sorry For The Inconvenience.
"Tch…." An annoyed voice came from behind George.
"I don't see what the inconvenience is; people should be thanking us for making this shithole a place worth standing in."
George looked around, no down; to find a black-haired, narrow-eyed man, wearing a napkin on his nose and mouth and holding his wand in a gloved hand. He was small, but quite fit. The expression on his face suggested that he had something extremely unpleasant under his nose. From the corner of his eye, he also saw the mangy barman of the pub give an offended glare towards their direction.
Glaring at George, he asked,
"Who are you?"
"Eh?" George attempted to answer, but he was so distracted by the man's stature. He would be about ten or fifteen years older than him but the red-head couldn't help thinking him as a child. The napkin and gloves also made him look slightly comical. It was with immense difficulty that George was holding back his laughter, but perhaps not for long.
"Is there something funny?" he asked in a low, threatening voice.
"Mr. Levi? Where do I have to put this?" another, this one a bit familiar called out from inside the pub.
The man named Levi was distracted as a harassed looking boy and a black-haired girl came out of the shop holding buckets full of what looked like dead insects. Or rather paralyzed, they were blinking at George with their otherwise still bodies. George recognized them, he and the others had encountered them back in Grimmauld Place. They were called Doxy's and Fred had George had done some test on some of them too.
However, he was more concerned about the people holding them.
"Eren!" he shouted, feeling relieved. That man Levi seemed to have been on the verge of cursing him and however deceiving looks may be, George was quite sure it would have been painful.
"George!"
Thank God, Eren remembered him.
"…That was Auror Levi Ackerman. He came here to give some training and intro to the students who want to join him in the future. He's the best Auror in the entire field, and he chose some of us to come with him today….." Eren Jaeger blabbed excitedly to George as the three of them hauled up more buckets of motionless Doxy's in a room on the third floor of the pub.
"And he's making you do this? And it's a part of Auror training?" George queried feeling slightly wrong-footed.
"…Yeah." Eren answered with a somewhat apologetic smile, "…..Mr. Levi has a slight …fetish for complete cleanliness and when he booked Hogshead for his stay…well he said he'd rather sleep on the street than this freaking shithole…but still couldn't stand the murk and ended up cleaning it."
George politely nodded at this information, even though he agreed with the detoxification process; he still felt at a loss for words. Levi Ackerman reminded him of Ex-Auror Mad-Eye Moody (except that Ackerman's limbs were all intact), who was also once considered the best in the field. Were all Aurors unhinged? Or being the best gave you some kind of right?
"Ackerman..?" George felt his train of thought pursue a different way and he looked at the black-haired girl on Eren's right, who George noticed was casually holding more buckets than Eren; who was struggling with just one.
"Oh! Didn't I tell you? He's Mikasa's uncle… but of course she was chosen on pure skill. She's better than all of us combined. It's in the blood I guess…" Eren's voice had a little envy in it but Mikasa, who had been acting amazingly indifferent this whole time; seemed to glow with pride because he had praised her.
George raised his eyebrows a little at the two, but then pondered on exactly why he got stuck in a weird place like this…
The letter!
"Hey! Did you guys see a letter somewhere…somewhere near the bar…?" he asked them, growing alarmed.
"Eh? Sorry, that place is supervised by Mr. Levi; he says it's the filthiest so he won't let us come near it….so I really don't know if it's still there…" Eren replied.
"It might be at the back," to George's surprise Mikasa had spoken, her voice was soft and barely audible, "Mr. Levi said to put everything worth salvageable in empty wine barrels at the back of the pub. It might be there." She had barely finished when George had turned on his heel and dashed away down the stairs dropping the bucket full of Doxy insects.
He made two other cleaning students jump as he ran down the corridor towards the back door, one of them who was bald and the other who cursed at him from behind and in George's opinion looked rather like a horse.
He wrenched open the rickety door and felt cold, fresh air hit his face-
"Arghh..!"
George was face-down onto the icy ground, spitting snow from his mouth and wiping his eyes he tried to get up only to almost fall down again as he saw the angry face of the person he had collided with.
Again
"Lestrange!"
He was kicked off by the feisty Head girl in reply.
"I'm pretty sure something like that came here, I think it was put…." George heard Jade's voice, slightly echoed coming from inside one barrel in which she had buried herself in while diligently searching for the lost letter.
"… Here!" Jade's triumphal voice came as she retrieved herself from inside the barrel, holding a rectangle-shaped, sealed letter.
George, who abruptly straightened up from inside his own barrel, now took the letter from her feeling a wave of relief and happiness wash over him.
"Thanks." He grinned at her.
"Welcome." Jade said returning his smile. She seemed honestly happy for him, which struck George as slightly out of character but he dismissed the thought. He had decided that with everything else aside, Jade was a dignified person at heart. Because there was a distinct possibility that she still felt guilty about her mishap a week ago and wanted to do anything to make it up to him.
He smiled a little more, because he was relieved that he hadn't made a wrong choice.
For a friend
George was surprised when these words didn't give the heart-warming feeling of satisfaction they ought to have given.
Jade had gone back to her work, carrying empty wine barrels and other bulky stuff outside where they will be kept until the cleaning had been done. He saw the Head Girl approaching a wooden box full of wine glasses; George moved to help her because it looked quite heavy but stopped in mid-step when Jade pushed back the sleeves of her robes and in one mighty heave, picked it up. It was apparent that she was new to this kind of manual work, but was trying hard and succeeding.
Girls were insanely strong creations.
Sighing a little, he changed direction and made to leave; pausing again when he took one last glimpse at Jade and a question came to his mind.
She noticed him staring gave him an annoyed look.
"Why are you –?"
"-You want to be an Auror?" he interrupted her.
Jade looked taken aback at the query, it could simply be because he had blurted it out of the blue but as much as George knew her; Jade wouldn't be that surprised on just a sudden statement unless the thing itself bothered her.
He had just come to that conclusion, when Jade retrieved her calm and answered,
"Well, not exactly, I-I haven't decided that yet; I am just taking different courses to find out which I'm best suited to…..I mean…" Jade's tone became more nervous when she saw George's skeptical face, "being an Auror….I think it's a bit far-fetched for me. I'm taking different trainings to hone my skills a bit. That's it." She finished confidently, but George felt still a little unconvinced.
However something told him that this subject was best if left alone. Jade's reaction testified to that, so George cleared his doubting expression. He suspected the reason was because, if they did talk about it, her parents would come in; because that was why he had asked in the first place. The daughter of two convicted Death Eaters becoming a Dark-wizard catcher…..
"What were you doing here anyway?" he heard the Slytherin's voice and came back to the present.
"Huh?" he said.
"Well, you lost your letter here, didn't you? What were you doing in a dodgy old pub like this in the first place?"
"Oh… well there was a-." George stopped for a moment then continued, "-I was meeting up with some of my friends."
He paused again, studying Jade who was looking expectant for more explanation, should he tell her? Could he tell her? She didn't attend the meeting and they weren't supposed to shout it about. But he would have told his friends however confidential a thing is. She was a friend wasn't she? Then why was he hesitating? Maybe he should invite her to join too…
When they finally said goodbye, George perceived something and he was sure the Head Girl must be thinking the same.
He might have destroyed everything.
"Um, Mr. Ackerman why can't we use wands?" a blonde seventh-year asked in a low voice.
He was one of a small group of students wearing Hogwarts robes. They were wearing anxious yet excited expressions on their faces, their attention fixed on a small figure standing at the front of a ghastly pub eyeing them coldly with all of their wands held in his right hand.
He turned his gaze at the blonde student at the question.
"Eh? What's your name brat?"
"Armin Arlert" the boy answered, with a terrified look in his eyes.
"Well Armin, you want to be an Auror, Don't you?"
"Y-yes Sir!"
"Being an Auror isn't for sissies who start to bawl like freaking babies when they lose a shitty stick of wood!" Levi shouted at them and continued, "An Auror is supposed to protect normal wizards; he can't have the same weaknesses as them, he-" his voice became more powerful, "needs to be ready in every situation. That is why; you need to be to be powerful even without magic. That is what you will learn today."
Powerful even without magic, huh?
A black-haired girl amidst the group contemplated and silently agreed with the Strongest Auror. He had a very valid point, wands were easy to lose after all; even more by battle perspective. What she didn't understand was how cleaning a decade-old grubby pub was going to help them be ready for that. Well, she would know soon enough.
I do need to get powerful. She thought.
I don't have much time left, either.
I was so happy more people liked and followed my story, and they REVIEWED! It was like a gift from heaven…..
So thank you very much everyone!
Well, some mentions.
Yukimura is from Kaichou wa Maid Sama
The other unknown characters in this chapter are from Attack on Titan.
They are awesome enough to mention (sorry)
Levi Ackerman, Mikasa Ackerman, Eren Jaeger, Armin Arlert and the two unnamed, Jean and Connie.
And Shigure Sohma is from Fruits Basket.
Won't bother you more with this
I hope.