"So, Aly, are we friends now?" George asked, sitting in the common room with Fred and Alya. Alya had managed to get her hair back to normal, but it would occasionally go back to the bright red Fred and George had turned it.
"If.. If you guys want to be. I'm sure being seen hanging out with me probably isn't the best." Alya replied quietly, playing with a strand of hair that seemed to have grown quite a bit since the train ride home.
"Who cares what everyone thinks!" Fred exclaimed, throwing his arm around Alya and winking. "I told you you'd be friends with us if you just spent some time with us."
"You're a prat, Fred." Alya muttered, a smile pulling on her lips.
"Hey Aly, we're not here alright!" Fred and George said, running through the library to hide in the small amount of room there was between the side of two bookshelves and the wall. In a matter of minutes two older Slytherin girls ran into the library.
"Oy, girl!" The taller girl said coldly as they walked up to the table Alya was sitting at. "Where are those two you're always with?"
"No idea." Alya replied softly, looking up at the intimidating girls calmly. She noticed they had rather large red marks on their face and figured it was some sort of prank pulled by the twins.
"You better not be lying." The other girl glared at her threateningly.
"Try the boys' washroom. That would seem the most obvious hiding spot." She said simply, turning away to return her focus on the book she was reading as the girls walked away.
When the girls had left, Fred and George came slinking out of their hiding spot and sat at the table with Alya.
"Thanks, Alya!" Fred exclaimed, grinning
"We thought they were going to kill us!" George added, the same grin plastered on his face as Fred had.
"You both are daft." She muttered, rolling her eyes as she shut her book carefully. "Did you honestly think it would be a good idea to pull pranks on those two?"
"It was funny to see their expressions, you got to admit!" Fred argued, the grin never leaving his face. Alya just laughed at the two, who suddenly looked at her strangely. It was the first time she had laughed in their time of knowing her, and somehow it made her seem different to the twins, good different though.
"You really should laugh more." George commented after exchanging looks with his brother.
Alya groaned, staring out the window as the snow fell to the silent ground. There weren't many people venturing outside in this weather, but winter holidays were just around the corner.
"Alright, Alya?" Fred asked, looking over at the blonde girl sitting beside the window, looking terribly miserable.
"Hm? Oh, yeah, just thinking about the winter holidays." She mumbled in response, dreading the thought of having to return home even though she knew she would be returning to Hogwarts after not too long.
"Don't want to go home?" George asked, sitting in a chair nearby. Fred pulled up another chair, and the three sat around the window staring at the falling snow.
"You can stay at Hogwarts over the holidays." Fred suggested.
"I'm sure mother would hate that." Alya replied, putting her head against the cold window.
"Well we'll be sure to send you lots of owls!" George said after a couple minutes, looking at Fred who nodded.
"You better or I might never return!" The girl turned dramatically, looking at the twins. "Merlin knows in any extended amount of time Draco and I will end up killing each other. I'm surprised we've survived this long."
"See you survived." George noted as Alya slipped inside the compartment they were in on the Hogwarts Express.
"No help from you two, you prats!" She muttered, slumping against the seat next to George. "Honestly, I nearly got murdered by my mother."
"Sorry for not sending any owls" George said after a couple minutes of silence, trying to get rid of the tension that surrounded them.
"Mum had us busy from the minute we got home!" Fred explained simply, looking at the girl curled up in the corner.
"I'm sorry for snapping at you." She mumbled after a couple minutes, sitting up properly and letting her feet down the seat where they were previously hugged against her chest. "My parents just get to me. You get told you're not good enough and you start to believe it, you know?"
"You're perfect to us, Aly!" The twins said in unison, a skill they seemed to master easily. Alya looked at the twins and smiled, tears springing to her eyes. "Anyone who thinks otherwise is a nutter." Fred added.
"Or got on your bad side…" George shuddered, remembering when they had first started communicating.
"I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you two." Alya sighed one day, laying her head against George's shoulder. They were sitting in the common room after the day's classes, as well as dinner, were finished. Fred was off talking to Lee Jordan.
"Why do you say that?" George asked, turning his head to look at her curiously.
"Well you and Fred seem like you're always trying to get into some sort of trouble." She replied sleepily, her eyes closed, "I just don't want something bad to happen, y'know? You're the most important people I've ever had in my life."
"Well you'll just have to make sure nothing bad happens to us then." George winked at the girl when she opened her eyes and looked at him with tired eyes.
"I'm sure your mother would love me for doing that, wouldn't she?"
"Definitely."
"Well, Aly," Fred said as the train was slowly getting closer to it's stop where they were to depart. "Think you can survive a couple months without us?"
Fred winked as Alya just rolled her eyes. "Maybe if you two actually wrote this time!"
"We'll make sure of it!" George replied before his brother could make a smart remark. "Surely mum can't keep us busy the whole summer."
"I bet she could, Geogie. Ickle Ronniekins is coming to Hogwarts next year, remember." Fred smirked wickedly at thought of his little brother attending the same school.
"Oh, bother!" Alya cried, putting her palm against her forehead. "You've just reminded me, my brother's coming next year as well!"
"If he's anything like you, we're safe."
"He's not. He's terrible!"
"We'll take care of him." Fred mentioned, looking delighted for the next year.