Fred rubbed his eyes and stared at the Marauder's Map again. No, it was really there. A space between two walls—of which he was one hundred percent sure it hadn't been there before. He jumped up to tell his twin, but his shoulders slumped when he remembered that George was not in their room.
He had another stupid date. The... tenth one already?
It was starting to get really annoying. Fred folded the map, put it in his pocket and sauntered out of the room. Maybe that date was done by now and he couldn't get through the common room because everyone wanted to know every detail about their dumb date. Fred didn't understand. Something like that could hardly stay fun, right? He would have expected George to be bored with Aryss by now. It had always been like that, with both of them. They fooled around with the ladies and after a few kisses, Fred had enough of them. A few times he had gone a little further, but these girls always wanted more in the end. Something serious. Well, he didn't need that. When he was somewhere past his thirties, he would start thinking about a serious relationship.
A serious relationship, those words alone gave him the jitters. He thought that during their last year at Hogwarts, they would make as much fun as possible, but apparently, George preferred to do other things. Maybe he should work on a Polyjuice Potion, pretending to be his girlfriend and dumping him. And he would do the same to her; he wouldn't need a potion to act like he was George.
Fred left the bedroom behind. All bitterness aside—of course he would never really do that. He would do nothing that would hurt his brother. But fantasizing about it still brought a grin to his lips.
He headed down the stairs, towards the common room. Alas, no huddled ladies asking anyone's ears off. Lee was playing Exploding Snap with some others in the corner and Fred considered joining them, but the map with his discovery burned in his pocket. He knew how that went, here at Hogwarts. A secret room could disappear in the blink of an eye. If he wanted to know where that corridor led to, he had to do it now.
Although he would figure out where George was first. Maybe he was on his way back. Fred left the tower, but before descending the stairs he consulted the Marauder's Map once more. His brother and Aryss were outside, just before the entrance to the castle. The perfect place to say goodbye.
He put the map away again and walked down the stairs, thinking halfway down that a broom would have been faster. By the time he got outside, however, the girl was still standing there. George had hoisted himself onto the stone balustrade and Aryss was standing between his legs, her arms around his waist.
Yuk. Slimeballs.
'So, are you guys done slobbering each other's faces?" Fred shoved his hands in his pockets and sauntered towards them.
Aryss looked over her shoulder. A dark smile crept around her bright red lips. He really didn't understand how that could make George's blood run faster. Then they were not as alike as he had always believed.
"Why?" Even in the light of the lanterns, he could still see that her blue eyes had an almost purple undertone. "Do you have exciting plans, hm? Hide stink bombs? Releasing a bullfrog somewhere?" Contempt dripped from her voice.
There was nothing wrong with stink bombs or bullfrogs.
"None of your business," he answered.
Instead of looking at her, he looked at his brother. George was clearly conflicted. Fred suppressed a sigh and tried not to let his annoyance show.
"I found something cool. Let's check it out."
Aryss now turned around completely. She leaned casually against George's chest. "I'm curious too."
Fred clenched his teeth. "Of course you are."
George stroked his hands back and forth over the white-haired wench's upper arms. 'She can come along right?"
The boy looked at him almost pleadingly.
Fred, however, did not feel like it at all. The three of them had gone out before and each time Fred had regretted it. He was just the fifth wheel on the wagon.
"Never mind. I'll go alone." Fred turned around.
"Wait..."
Fred didn't wait as he heard George's footsteps behind him. He was not so childish that he felt a trace of triumph because his brother came after him anyway. He shouldn't even have hesitated.
George grabbed his arm. "What's this? Why can't she come with us?"
Fred stood still. "Why would she? Surely you live without her for an hour."
George turned red.
It made Fred feel nauseous.
"It's just... Why can't you just be happy for me?" Suddenly, he sounded irritated.
"Who says I'm not? But that doesn't mean I like to be pushed aside."
George seemed to want to say something more, but then he looked over his shoulder at Aryss. "Alright then. Just let me say goodbye."
Fred wanted to brush it off, as he was already in no mood to hang out together. Yet he also thought it rather childish to say that out loud and so he waited silently for his brother to return.
The two of them went off in search of the new corridor Fred had seen. But it wasn't the same. There was a tension between them that had never been there before and Fred wondered if it would ever go away as long as that parasite was attached to George. It seemed like it was sucking up the old George completely.