Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Broken Curfew
I blew hot air through my teeth to keep myself from yelping. "Lee" I seethed as I glared at the boy standing next to me. "That was my foot". In the darkened corridors, hiding behind a suit of armor that faces the door to the trophy room, it was hard to see Lee's face was hard to make out. None of our targets had arrived yet, so we had decided not to risk casting Lumos.
"How long do we have to wait?" Lee whispered. Seemingly not caring about my toes that he had just flattened. This is revenge for kicking him earlier, isn't it? "It's already after midnight".
Glaring at Lee without him noticing, I sighed before turning my attention to the activated map; squinting my eyes in order to read it in the dark. "They've all left their dorms," I said; first checking Gryffindor tower and then the Slytherin dorms. "It doesn't look like they're too far away".
"I'm surprised Fred and George aren't here yet", Lee whispered as he peaked out behind the suit of armor to peer down the poorly lit hallway. "You should have seen how they were glaring at me and watching my every move when we were getting ready for bed. I'm surprised I was able to sneak away at all". And it was an impressive feat Lee had pulled off. I've lived side-by-side with Fred and George for thirteen some years, and I still couldn't break away from them when they really put their minds to it. "No sign of Filch or the cat?" Lee asked as he continued to look around the suit of armor.
"No," I assured him. "He's currently in the transfiguration hall, and Mrs. Norris is skulking around the astronomy tower". Both of us breathed a sigh of relief. It's not like we're afraid of Filch. Lee and I have spent many detentions with him to the point of desensitization. But Filch wasn't something we needed to add to this equation. This was one elicit activity Lee and I did not want credit for.
We fall into silence as we wait. All our eyes focused on the trophy room's doors. "Oh", Lee exclaimed in a hushed whisper as he ducked behind the suit of armor. "Here comes Pucey". A quick glance at the map confirmed it. Anticipation builds as time passes. A light with the intensity of a dim flashlight shining from the tip of a wand passed by our hiding place; the sound of calm and collected footsteps accompanying it.
Holding our breaths, we watched as the door to the trophy room creaked open and Pucey slipped inside. "One down", I exhaled once the door had closed behind Pucey.
"Hopefully Fred and George get here soon", Lee whispered. "How long do you think Pucey will stick around, waiting for you?"
I shrugged; turning my attention back to the map. Where were Fred and George? "I guess this is a test in itself. Seeing how long he waits will help me determine if he's serious or not". It was surprising; how open I was being with Lee. This was our first duo prank together, so I never had the opportunity to work this closely without Fred and George before.
Although, any thoughts I was having about the chance of Lee and me becoming better friends were pushed to the side when I felt Lee inch closer to me. "You know", he whispered in his best attempt at a sultry voice. "I can be serious too".
A vein above my left eye started to twitch as a disgusted shiver shot up my spine. "Keep going and I'll lock you in the trophy room with the others".
Snickering softly to himself, Lee withdrew; barely having enough time to quiet himself when two more approaching footsteps could be heard. Once again, Lee and I waited with bated breath as Fred and George got closer and closer to the doors of the trophy room. "This better be a prank", Fred muttered as he and George passed our hiding spot. "I mean, Holly and Lee together. It's just-"
"- a disturbing, skin-crawling thought", George finished; agreeing completely. "Who's idea do you think it was? If it is a prank", George asked as they stood in front of the trophy room's doors.
"Holly", Fred snorted without a second thought. "Lee prefers slapstick, and this has Holly's underhanded little mind written all over it".
"Aw. They really do understand us", Lee gushed in my ear; only to be silenced by my elbow digging into his side.
George sighed. "Let's just make sure they're not doing something they'll regret later". The door creaked open and both my brothers slipped in.
"Go", I said in a harsh whisper.
Lee and I charged forward; reaching the doors just in time to hear Fred ask, "Pucey, why are you here?" Lee pulled the doors shut and I made quick work of making sure they couldn't be easily opened. By magical means or otherwise.
Sitting on the floor with our backs against the door, Lee mentioned offhandedly, "We should have brought snacks".
From the other side of the door, we could hear Fred, George, and Adrian yelling at each other. Each of them accused the other party of being behind this whole scheme as they made a poor attempt at figuring out what was going on. I hummed. "I'm not sure what would pair well with a revenge prank".
Lee shrugged as George loudly exclaimed that he and Fred never sent Pucey any letters pretending to be me. "Something salty would be appropriate, I think". Using the corner of his eyes, Lee looked at me and grinned. "It'd fit your mood".
I narrowed my eyes in return for his comment. It made sense, I guess. But… "You make it sound like I'm like that all the time".
At the same time, someone tried the door handle and pounded on the door. "It's been locked!" Fred announced to the other two people in the trophy room with him.
Taking that as my cue, I tilted my head back and spoke loud enough to be heard through the door. "Yes, and it's going to stay locked until I hear the magic words".
"Holly?" Fred sputtered. I'm not sure why he sounded so surprised. Before he had entered the trophy room with George… What had he said? That this had my underhanded little mind all over it.
There was a ruckus on the other side of the door. One that had me and Lee exchanging pleased looks. Then, George's voice joined Fred's. "Haha, Jolly Holly. You got us good. Now, let us out. Slimy git is catching and Fred and I don't want to get it".
"Nope", I chimed; sounding far too cheerful than was appropriate for this situation. After all, I didn't want to be called salty. "Those are the magic words. Try again".
A brief pause followed before Fred said in a flat voice, "Alohomora".
In an equally unimpressed voice, George added, "Bombarda".
Lee snickered; appreciating his friends' wit. But other than that, he was okay with letting me take the lead. "Not the magic I was going for", I called through the door. When locking the doors in the first place, I had made sure that the basic unlocking spell wouldn't work. And I wasn't worried about the threat of them casting the exploding charm. They wouldn't use it. Not when Lee and I were sitting in harm's way. "Dig deeper".
I could only imagine what was going on behind those doors. Lucky for me, what I was picturing in my head was satisfying enough. There was a knock on the door; asking for recognition. It wasn't obnoxious or demanding as Fred's had been. Instead, it was stern and I interpreted it as sounding irritated. Although, it shouldn't be possible for a knock to sound irritated. "Weasley", the unhappy voice of Adrian carried through the door. "What do you think you're going to accomplish by locking us in the same room as one another?"
"Gee, I don't know". The sarcasm was so thick in my voice that it felt like molasses. "But you three seem to enjoy telling me what I should be doing, or thinking, or feeling. So, how about you tell me?"
From my side, Lee leaned in and whispered so the others behind the door couldn't hear. "Have I told you how nice it is not to be on your bad side?"
I shushed him just in time to hear Fred say with certainty, "George and I don't do that". Adrian snorted incredulously; evoking the ire of Fred. "You got something to add, Pucey?"
"No", Adrian started with his own brand of molasses. "I agree with you. Your sister is only constantly looking over her shoulder to see if you two approve or not for fun".
"That's rich", George broke in; jumping to take Fred's side. "Coming from the bloke who acted like he's in charge of our sister's future".
This went on for a while; with Adrian and my brothers arguing about who was more controlling. Meanwhile, Lee and I remained steadfast in our roles as jailers and audience. They dug up a lot of different dirt to fling in each other's faces. Some of the things I was surprised to hear. But neither of them were getting close to the magic words I wanted to hear. "They're really thick, aren't they?" Lee asked with a yawn. It was well past a time when we would usually be asleep. I nodded; tuning out the circular arguments taking place in the room behind us. "Should we speed it up?" Was Lee's second question as he fished a dung bomb out of his pocket and held it up for me to see with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. Visible even in the darkness of the castle.
I glared at the object; wondering how long he had been carrying it around. If he had put the bomb in his pockets specifically for a chance to use it this night. But, after fighting a yawn myself, it made sense to allow Lee his fun. Getting some sleep tonight would be nice. "Go for it".
Shifting out of our sitting positions to allow the doors to be cracked open (after unlocking them, of course). None of the occupants seemed to notice as they continued to bicker. Not when there was a chance to escape. Nor when Lee used his wand to ignite the bomb's fuse. They didn't notice that anything had changed until Lee called into the trophy room, "Fire in the hole!" Three heads swiveled in our direction; only visible by individually maintained Lumos spells from each of their wands. Their eyes widened in a vaguely cartoonish manner as they watched the dung bomb sail through the air.
Snickering, Lee and I were quick to close the doors; locking them once more. We managed it just in time before the bomb's fuse ran out and the room was drenched in a foul scented gas. "Ugh!" Fred and George loudly exclaimed through the doors. "Lee you traitor", they yelled in sync.
Grinning ear to ear, Lee clasped back to sitting with his back against the door. "This is the first time I've managed to prank them'. He shared. "They've always managed to turn the tables when I've tried before".
Lips twitching at the distraught and disgusted sounds of my brothers and Adrian, I shared some amusement with Lee. Pulling a prank on Fred and George and getting the last laugh was a big milestone. "They'll be so proud", I said, feeling grateful that the walls and doors of the trophy room were enough to protect us from the odor of magically enhanced dung. "Once they get over it".
"Alright!" Adrian caved first. His voice sounded muffled; probably covering his nose. "Alright, I should have asked what you wanted. It was wrong of me to presume".
Hearing Adrian say that was like having a heavy book removed from your book bag. I sighed in relief. "Adrian knows the magic words", I called through the door. "Fred? George? What about you? Have you figured it out?"
A few seconds passed where all Lee and I could hear were the sounds of some very put-off grumbling. Impressive, really. Since we could hear it through the door. "Yes, Holls", Fred said after a while; sounding like he was done with everything. With tonight. With us. Just done. "You're your own bloody woman".
"We shouldn't be deciding things for you", George contributed; being much better at it than his identical match. "Now, let us out. This stench sticks, you know".
Genuinely smiling and truly feeling like the nickname, Jolly Holly, matched me for the first time, I climbed to my feet. Lee followed suit after a few seconds. Together, I unlocked the doors, and Lee pushed them open. Immediately, we had to cover our noses as the air from the trophy room escaped and the smell of dung oozed into the hallway. Lee and I stepped back and out of the way to make room for our three victims. When the three did exit the room, Lee and I had to take an even bigger step back. The smell was that bad. And so were the annoyed and slightly cowed expressions on their faces. Trusting that this comment would go over Lee's head, I asked, "Can we get back on track now?" There was still Quirrell and his parasite to worry about.
But none of the boys got the chance to respond. "Miscreants", a fowl-tempered screeching voice echoed down the hall as Filch stormed towards us. Oops… Lee and I exchanged glances. We had forgotten to pay attention to the map. The old caretaker came up behind Lee. He was carrying a lantern in one hand. With his other hand, he grabbed a fistful of Lee's robes from the shoulder and gave him a shake. His gleaming yellow teeth were easy to see; even with the poor lighting. It seemed that Filch was reveling in catching us in the act of mischief. Not sure why. It's not like we haven't done this song and dance many times before. "Five first-years, one Slytherin, and the demon spawn all caught out of bed after hours". Filch said sleazily. "What a night". While Adrian seemed completely pained at being put on the same level as us 'demon spawn', the only thing I could think was….what first-years?