- CHAPTER TWELVE -

Conversing

The remainder of the holidays went by much quicker than I cared for. We were back at Hogwarts again readying ourselves for the start of term long before I was ready. We were almost immediately bombarded by schoolwork again, but that wasn't the worst of it. What was possibly even more trying on my temper was the fact that the number of people badgering me about Fred had increased to four. Alicia and Lee must have had a conversation with George, because by the time classes had started up again, I was putting up with everyone's constant badgering. Ginny, thankfully, seemed to have toned after returning to school. For that I was thankful, because I found it harder to be annoyed with her than with my own friends.

In fact, the only time I didn't have George, Alicia and Lee taking the piss out of me about Fred was during classes. None of them seemed keen on bringing it up in the middle of a lesson. They also seemed civilized enough to keep their mouths shut when Fred was around. Thus, it actually came as a relief when school hours recommenced and I had something to distract from the lingering awkwardness between Fred and me.

Transfiguration was the first class we attended in the New Year. Professor McGonagall was having us transfigure goblets into fairies. It was fairly simple work for me. Transfiguration was my strongest class by far. Fred and George, however, found Transfiguration more difficult. Unlike me, the twins were extremely good at Potions and excellent at Charms. I was fair in Charms, but constantly sought help from the two of them in Potions class. In Transfiguration, the twins tended to call on Lee and myself for assistance. It was a fair trade-off.

"When will we ever use this in real life?" Fred grumbled to me irritably. I had to admit, despite the fact that I was having no trouble with my goblet, I too couldn't see the use in the lesson.

"No idea," I said with a casual shrug as I watched George examine a goblet with lopsided wings.

My goblet had changed into a chirping fairy on my second try.

"Very good Miss Christie," Professor McGonagall complimented as she passed by during her rounds of the class. "Five points to Gryffindor."

I grinned and George grumbled.

"How did you do that?" George asked. His tone was a mixture of annoyance and awe.

"Very good, Mr. Jordan," Professor McGonagall said before frowning at Fred and George's shoddy work. "You two would do well to take notes from your partners."

Lee gave the twins a triumphant grin and George tossed his half-goblet-half-fairy at his head.

"How come you are so much better at this than we are?" George asked me. "It's not normal. You're usually the stupid one."

I glared at him, kicking him hard under the table as my goblet fairy flew around my head, chirping loudly.

"Ah well," Fred said with a shrug, "at least this is useless magic. It's alright to be lousy at producing fairies. Who needs that?"

"You say that now," I said, "but sooner or later I'll be able to turn you into a duck and you'll feel pretty silly that you never learned."

Fred grinned and pinched my arm, making me yell out. Professor McGonagall whipped around and fixed us with a hard stare, but said nothing.

"Did you hear Harry got a Firebolt?" asked Lee as Fred jabbed his wand at his goblet in frustration. He took a swipe at the fairy flying around my head.

"Yes, I saw it arrive with the post," I answered as the fairy stuck its tongue out at Fred.

"But McGonagall confiscated it," George said in an irritated tone, casting a nasty glance at Professor McGonagall. He slammed his wand down on the desk, causing red sparks to fly out of the end, accidentally catching Fred's robes on fire.

"Does she honestly think Black would be able to buy a broomstick while he's on the run?" Fred asked, casually patting the small fire out on the sleeve of his robe before it spread. He took another swat at the fairy, missing again.

"Well I guess she does," I answered, "though I don't know how it would be possible."

"Alright class," Professor McGonagall said standing at the front of the classroom, "Those of you who were not able to complete the transformation, I suggest you practice until you are able to. If you cannot perform it by next class, I will be assigning you to write two feet about the usefulness of the spell."

There were a few groans from the students as they gathered their things and headed out of the classroom. I turned my wand on the irritating fairy (who was now circling Fred's head, pulling on the ends of his hair) and turned it back into a goblet, placing it neatly on my desk.

"Well we know at least two of us won't be doing that assignment," George said with a roll of his eyes. He took my left arm and pulled me out of the room.

"That essay will be impossible to write!" Fred protested angrily as the three of us pushed our way out of the door. "There are no uses for turning a goblet into a bloody fairy!"

"It's more useful as a goblet," George agreed. "But Juliet and Lee will give us a few pointers."

"You can count me out," Lee said. "I've got no interest in trying to teach you lot."

I rolled my eyes at them. "Well I suppose I could help you learn the spell in time for next class."

"Well, I don't doubt that," George said, ignoring my unwilling tone, "you always come through for us." He smiled cheekily.

"What would you two ever do without me?" I asked with a roll of my eyes as Fred looped his arm through my right one just as George had done on the left.

Fred shrugged. "I reckon we'd be all right."

"A little bored maybe, but with fewer headaches," George stated.

I ignored them as the four of us made our way back to Gryffindor tower. Transfiguration had been our last class of the day.

When we entered the common room students were chattering around pleasantly. Oliver was there planning team tactics with his ridiculous miniature Quidditch pitch. The bloke is obsessive.

"Hey Wood," George said, sitting down in an armchair. Fred and I followed suit, flopping down on the couch next to his chair. Lee ran up to his dormitory to toss his stuff.

"Hey," Oliver answered, not bothering to look up.

"Is Harry going to be alright next match, with the Dementors and all?" Fred said, directing his question towards Wood.

"I had a talk with him earlier; he said that Professor Lupin is giving him some kind of lesson. It's supposed to help him deal with it…not be affected by them or something."

I looked at him curiously. "Really?"

Wood looked up and eyed me for a moment. "That's what he said. Why?"

I pondered it for a minute, wondering how on earth Lupin expected Harry to be able to perform that kind of magic.

"It's just…I only know of one way to fight a Dementor," I said.

"What is it?" Fred asked.

"Well, it's to form a Patronus," I said. "But that's pretty advanced magic—far too advanced for a third year, surely."

Fred and George quirked their eyebrows at me in identical looks of surprise.

"How do you know that?" Fred asked.

I shrugged. "Dad told me about it. He's seen accidental cases of Dementors getting out of control. I was curious about how to prevent them getting to you."

"All I know is that Harry said it was under control," Oliver replied, turning back to his miniature Quidditch pitch, unconcerned by my line of thinking.

"I'm not sure we'd be able to form a Patronus, never mind Harry," I said, more to myself than to either of the twins. Wood had obviously stopped listening.

"I don't know about that," George said.

"I wouldn't put it past you," Fred told me.

"Her?" George said, looking aghast. "I was referring to me."

I rolled my eyes and ignored him, addressing Fred instead. "Just because I'm good at Transfiguration—"

"You're good at everything else you do too," Fred disagreed. I tried not to let the blush caused by his flattery rise to my cheeks.

"That's rubbish. I'm lousy at Potions, and I can't see worth a damn. I had to give up Divination, remember?" I pointed out.

"Divination is a joke," George said with a laugh.

"You two are clever enough to work it out," I said.

"Clever," Fred repeated. "You say that like it's a surprise."

I shrugged. "It kind of is."

"So what, now you think we're stupid?" George questioned, feigning offense.

"No," I said sarcastically. "Pulling out a bottle of shampoo and washing your hair in the middle of Potions class is an absolutely brilliant thing to do," I laughed with another roll of my eyes.

"That was one time!" George defended. "And I swear it worked. I still uphold Snape's hair was shinier the next day."

"He took that joke to heart," Fred agreed.

I winked at him. "It was still moronic. He nearly took off your head he was so angry."

"Well that's just great," George muttered, sounding defeated. "Now we're idiots, Fred."

"Looks that way."

The two of them mumbled and slumped down further in their seats, clearly looking for some display of sympathy. I ignored them, putting my feet up on the table in front of me. I stared at the crackling fire for several minutes until their sighs of disappointment and fake sniffs finally broke me down.

"I don't think you're stupid," I said, giving in.

"You…you don't?" Fred asked, pretending to look hopeful as he wiped away non-existent tears.

"No," I answered with a sigh.

"You're lying," George insisted, feigning a look of hurt.

I rolled my eyes. "You drive me crazy."

The two of them grinned.

"Why, thank you Juliet," Fred said with a cheeky grin plastered on his face. "That's the greatest compliment we could receive."

"It means we've done our job well," George agreed.

"Well, now that we're all complimenting each other I'd just like to say that George, I've always been jealous of your eyebrows," Fred said. "Mine don't reach nearly as high when I'm surprised. It's kind of disappointing."

I smacked my hand against my forehead and pushed myself up off of the couch.

"Alright, enough of the ridiculousness for one night," I said with a laugh. "I think these little heart-to-hearts we have are going to have to be put to an end. I think my brain will explode if I have to endure any more of this."

Lee hurried down the stairs. "I'm going down to supper," he announced.

George grinned.

"I was waiting for someone to say that," he said happily, standing up from his seat.

The common room was indeed starting to empty of students as the Gryffindors headed down to the Great Hall for dinner. The four of us followed suit, pushing through the portrait hole door and into the corridor.

George was blathering on about something or other to Lee—"Charlie told me he was planting the sock in the garden, but I must have misheard…"—but I was paying zero attention to his antics.

I was daydreaming about some Honeydukes chocolate I had tucked away in my trunk in the dormitory when Fred interrupted my thoughts.

"Jules?" he asked quietly.

George's ranting didn't stop. "I mean, how many times do you have to tell a person—they're flesh-eating frogs…"

"What?" I asked, turning to Fred (and ignoring George as he continued).

"You don't actually think we're stupid, do you?" he questioned, catching me totally off-guard. The look on his face almost made me laugh out loud. He was serious. "I mean, it sounded like you were joking around…but you can tell me if that's what you really think."

I surveyed his expression for a moment longer before deciding that this wasn't some sort of bizarre joke. George and Lee weren't paying attention to either of us ("…that's just the way life works you know, sometimes you win, other times you just gotta suck it up…so I gave in and drank it…").

"Fred you're a moron," I said rolling my eyes.

He must have misunderstood me, because he bent his head down a little and replied with a muttered, "Oh."

I was confused for half-a-second before I recovered, tugging on Fred's arm forcefully. "Wait, no. I didn't mean that literally…well I did…but I don't mean it like that," I said, trying to correct my mistake. "I don't think you're stupid, Fred."

"You sure?" he asked.

I laughed. "The fact that you think I do is a little concerning. We've been friends for how long and you still don't know what I think of you?"

Fred laughed and put his arm around me. I unwillingly began to glow at the gesture. George's voice babbled on… "…and then Mum tells me she already gave my old t-shirts to Ron…"

Fred surveyed me intently for a minute. "What do you think of me?"

My eyes widened a little in shock, and I fought to keep myself breathing. That was not the kind of question I wanted to be asked by him. Fortunately, George saved me.

"…then Percy pops his head in and says he's not going to the party! Can you believe that?"

George stared at us expectantly. His face was flushed and Lee was laughing. He was clearly passionate about whatever he was talking about.

Fred's face was expectant too…but for an entirely different reason.

"That's pretty ridiculous, George," I said just as the four of us entered the Great Hall.

The Great Hall was already filling up with students. Katie and Alicia were seated at the Gryffindor table, and we made a beeline for them. I pretended like Fred hadn't asked me a question in the hopes that he would forget about it. Thankfully, he didn't bring it up again.

Dinner was long and unsatisfying despite my hunger. I was far too focused on pondering how I would have answered Fred's question to enjoy my dinner. I also missed George re-telling his story, so I'm still not sure what flesh-eating frogs and Charlie planting socks in the garden has to do with Mrs. Weasley giving away George's old t-shirts.

When dinner ended, George caught my attention, and the two of us fell back behind the others as we headed back to Gryffindor.

"So, I haven't had the chance to check in on you yet today," he said. I sighed. I knew where this was going. I glanced forward and was relieved to see we were out of ear-shot of Lee and Fred. "Have you given any thought to how you're going to deal with your Fred situation yet?"

"I already told you, I don't feel the same way about him," I said a little harshly.

It was a blatant lie…or at least I think it was a lie. How I felt about Fred was something I didn't even want to think about myself, let alone discuss with another human being.

"Are you sure about that?" George questioned.

"Of course I'm sure George!" I yelled, and then jerked my head around to make sure the other two hadn't heard me.

"You don't seem to mind all of the attention he's been giving you," George said pointedly, dropping his voice even more.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked, glaring at him.

"Do you, or do you not like him back?" George asked me. He gave me a look telling me he was serious.

"This is ridiculous," I told him instantly.

"Answer the question," he said sternly.

"It's Fred…I could never like him as more than a friend," I answered. It sounded like I was trying to convince myself and not George. I hoped he wouldn't pick up on it.

"Oh really?" he asked smirking.

"Yes really!" I yelled, remembering to be quiet a moment too late. I dropped my voice again. "And even if I did—and I don't—I would never do anything about it."

"Why not?" George asked.

"Because, if anything ever did happen between us everything would change," I said, becoming very quiet and looking at my feet.

George fell silent and I listened to Fred and Lee laughing ahead of us until he replied.

"Change isn't always a bad thing," he said. He wasn't mocking me anymore. He sounded genuine and sympathetic.

"In this case it would be," I replied.

"How do you know?" George asked. "Have you ever dated your best friend before?"

"No."

"Well then why don't you give it a shot?" George asked seriously.

I sighed, feeling annoyed that George had somehow wormed his way into getting me to reveal more than I had wanted to.

"George, why are we even talking about this? I do not like Fred," I repeated loudly.

"Who are you trying to convince?" he asked, "because it certainly isn't working on me."

I couldn't reply to that…because I wasn't really sure how to answer. Was I really being truthful to George, or was I just trying to convince myself of how I should feel?

I shook my head in an irritated manner.

"And besides, you wouldn't want me dating your brother would you?" I asked, deciding to ignore his question.

"I thought it didn't matter because you don't like him," George replied eyeing me suspiciously.

"I don't."

"Ok."

I paused and looked at him.

"You don't believe me do you?"

"Not even a little bit," George replied smugly.

We were silent again as I debated whether or not I should really talk to George openly about the situation. He seemed like he really wanted to help. I sighed again.

"Nothing is going to happen between Fred and me," I said quietly.

George turned to me with a look of surprise on his face. Whether it was from my sentence, or the tone of my voice, I'm not quite sure.

"Why not?" he asked again.

"I wouldn't want to do anything to muck up our friendship."

He pondered that for a moment, studying my expression.

"If you like him you have to risk it."

My reply came several minutes too late, thus giving me away.

"Well I guess it's a good thing I don't like him then."

I don't think I fooled anyone…not even me.