FORTYTHREE
There was little chatter in the corridor, only the occasional melodramatic sigh or nervous tapping of feet. Ahead of her, Eve watched a familiar-faced Ravenclaw girl twirl slowly from her spot in line, her ankles twisting delicately on the stone floor. As she turned, the girl's face deepened into a scowl of strained concentration while her arms fidgeted awkwardly at her sides. It looked like the Ravenclaw was trying to escape an invisible rope tied around her middle, and to Eve, this wasn't a good sign.
A great creak startled the awaiting students, causing every head to turn upright in the direction of the giant doors of the Great Hall. The Ravenclaw girl stopped mid-spin, almost tipping over if not for the girl beside her catching her shoulder.
Out of the door, silent and slightly dazed, another Ravenclaw appeared, a boy Eve recognized from quidditch. He glanced at the girls next in line, the spinner giving him an expectant look. He smiled, nodding, and after a few exchanged words, the girl disappeared through the cracked entrance, her feet still toppling with gravity.
"Looks like Baxter passed."
Eve hummed to Louis's observation from behind her shoulder, her eyes still transfixed on watching the giant door of the Great Hall close again.
"I hope that Ravenclaw girl keeps her arms down," she said after another beat of silence.
"If she's lucky, she'll only lose a finger or two," Louis shrugged.
"I don't know why they say the spinning helps with the concentration; it only makes me start concentrating on not falling flat on my face."
Eve turned to Fiona, who had said this from behind Louis. Her eyes were still on the leaflet that had passed out to the students earlier: Common Apparition Mistakes and How to Avoid Them.
"Spinning in place invokes the feeling of the magic before it becomes summoned. It's helpful for beginners. It connects body and mind in a singular impulse," Eve replied. When Fiona began to ruffle through the leaflet, she added quickly, "It's on page 3."
Eve turned again to the line ahead and counted for probably the twentieth time since this morning: one more to go now before she was up.
"Louis, go ahead of me."
Louis scoffed.
"No way. You can't switch line placement; it's changing cosmic order. And two is my lucky number anyway."
"Since when were you superstitious?" Eve asked, her eyes abandoning her counting and turning again to her friends.
"Technically, you were like 20th in line," Fiona added. Her eyes were still on page 3 of the pamphlet.
Before Louis could manage a worthy rebuttal, the familiar groan of the Great Hall door sounded, and all awaiting heads turned again.
But instead of the spinning Ravenclaw girl, their Apparition instructor, Wilkie Twycross, slowly peered his head out of the hall. His bony face slowly scanned each of their perplexed expressions before fixing a stern smile upon his.
"Ah, no sign of Miss Thomas here," Twycross remarked, smoothing a hand over the front of his ministry robes with the casual impassivity expected for a missing teenager. "Professor Flitwick, might I suggest checking the castle grounds first? You know we often find them in a field somewhere."
The tiny Charms professor dashed by Twycross's side and out into the corridor, his expression far more animated than the instructor's.
"No need to worry, my friends," Flitwick chimed, his voice reaching a tone too high for any comfort to be drawn from it.
The students watched as he disappeared past the corridor, a final call of "Good luck!" echoing off the walls.
The sound of a throat being cleared brought the students' attention back to their awaiting fate, where Twycross already had his eyes on the last Ravenclaw.
"Abernathy, right? Do come in, dear."
For a moment, the girl glanced behind herself as if contemplating whether to run off. Her wide eyes settled on Eve, who returned the stare with an encouraging nod, though neither girl was convinced of its earnestness, considering the Ravenclaw's friend had just been reported missing.
But after another second, she returned the nod and, turning back to the Ministry official, disappeared behind the door as every other student had before.
"I knew her spinning wouldn't work. Way too much arm movement," Louis said. He let out a sigh and turned towards Fiona. "Can I see that for a second?"
Fiona handed him the pamphlet, but her eyes continued to peer over his shoulder as if anxious that she still might have missed something.
"At least Umbridge isn't sitting in," Eve said, remarking on the last-minute news of their beloved headmistress being pulled away from overseeing Apparition Testing Day on the grounds of urgent Ministry business to attend to.
"Just the thought of that woman's horrendous face makes me want to apparate right in the middle of the Black Lake," Louis murmured between the girls as if just the mention of the witch would incarnate her in their very presence.
He turned the page he had been reading, causing Fiona to blink a few times with her gaze as if suddenly awoken from a deep trance.
"Right, I can't possibly wait a moment longer with you two. Eve, let me go first."
"What did we do?" Eve started, although she allowed Fiona to slip ahead and push Eve's body behind her, giving herself the next spot in line.
"I'm still second," Louis retorted, nudging Eve along until she remained stood last of them.
Just then, the great groan of ancient wood sounded again, and all three of their bodies straightened to study the results of the test's last victim. The final Ravenclaw girl breezed past them, a look of pure, serene elation on her face, like when one has just received a divine piece of gossip or the first drops of a love potion.
She had passed.
And Eve smiled as if the remnants of the girl's success might dust off and land on her.
"Exceptional work, Miss Abernathy. Do be a good friend and give Miss Thomas some study notes—that is, of course, once we locate her."
Twycross's words were accompanied by a slight look of amusement that dropped almost immediately when his gaze landed on Fiona's face now in front of him. He studied her for a moment, and Eve watched his eyes quickly glaze over Louis and finally land on her.
"Switching spots in line, very unlucky..." He tsked, turning to disappear back into the Great Hall.
Louis's eyes widened as he looked between the two girls, as if a prophecy had just been murmured for all to hear. Fiona frowned at them both before turning to follow Twycross's steps.
Watching the door shut behind Fiona, Eve turned back to Louis, the two alone now.
"Think she'll do well?"
Louis's mouth curled up as if he was holding back a laugh. Eve sighed.
"At least Lucie will have someone to test with next term when she turns 17."
"Always the optimist," Louis grinned, "Anyways, what will you be doing once you pass?"
"If, I pass," Eve corrected. "And I'm not sure. Scare my parents around the house, I suppose."
"Or, you could, you know, apparate to a certain someone's house," Louis said, the suggestion paired with a wiggle of his brow.
Eve laughed.
"There would have to be plans of me seeing George's house, first of all."
At this, what Eve assumed to be a casual admission, Louis turned his attention fully to her, his face screwed in a funny expression.
"You and George haven't made plans yet for the summer? Fernando and I already have train tickets to visit his aunt in Cambridge. She said we could just floo, but we both think muggle trains are kind of romantic."
It was Eve's turn to form a funny expression on her face. She thought over Louis's words: his summer plans with his boyfriend and, perhaps more importantly, his genuine shock at Eve not having any with her boyfriend. Despite his final year at Hogwarts, Fernando had made plans with Louis. Mind you, plans far away from the judgement eyes of his parents, but still, solid, reliable plans all the same.
Eve suddenly felt hot and slightly breathless, but it wasn't the nerves. It was something far worse to feel—embarrassment.
She gave a glance at the giant doors ahead of them.
"Fiona is taking a long time, don't you think?"
At Eve's words, and in the way timing sometimes works alongside our lucky stars, one of the doors of the Great Hall creaked open, indicating Fiona's arrival and the end of their current discussion.
Both their heads turned at once to find Fiona appearing through the doorway, her face frozen in an aghast expression. From Fiona's wide eyes, Eve's gaze traveled across her face to where her appearance differed only moments before.
Louis was first to react, a loud choke of air escaping his lips that perhaps could have been mistaken for an empathetic reaction of shock if Eve didn't know him so well. And, of course, if Fiona hadn't been standing in front of them now with half of her hair missing.
Louis made another choking sound, the laughter he was holding increasingly finding a way to erupt. Eve flung one of her hands over her mouth, desperate not to participate.
Fiona looked between her friends' expressions, shaking her head slightly as if to confirm the news they already knew was before them. This sad gesture, though, which would have easily conveyed the girl's disappointment, was ruined by her now slightly bald head, which gave the other half, the haired half, a strange movement in the air as it shook.
Louis burst out laughing, which caused an eruption of laughter from the students still in line behind them. Eve covered her mouth with both hands but didn't dare try to speak.
Fiona sighed, reaching a hand up to cover the bald side of her head as if everyone in the corridor hadn't just had a full view of it only a second ago. She looked at Eve, seemingly the only person still waiting for an explanation.
"I think I concentrated so hard on not moving my arms I forgot to keep my head still..."
Eve nodded, desperately trying to convey understanding without amusement.
"Miss Hangrove, straight to Madam Pomfrey. She'll have a hair growth tonic sorted in no time."
Twycross appeared again from the door, his words accompanied by a casual last glance in Fiona's direction before turning to the line.
"I've been meaning to get a haircut anyways," Fiona said without much enthusiasm before turning past her friends and down the corridor.
"Mr. Dawson," Twycross said, turning back inside the doors without another word.
Louis glanced back at Eve, raising his eyebrows in feigned surprise, his expression still slightly delighted by the image of Fiona. Wordless, he turned again and slipped inside the Great Hall.
Eve watched the long stretch of the door close behind him and fell into silence, her friends now gone and the students in line behind her mostly Slytherin and uninterested. Their voices continued to murmur through the corridor walls, but Eve presumed the nervous chatter had been exchanged for reactions to Fiona's hair disaster. Or maybe the missing Ravenclaw was still on their minds.
But Eve was already thinking of other things.
Why had she and George not spoken about summer plans? Sure, she had mentioned visiting the shop once it opened, but all their friends had made the same promise. She was not just his friend. They had both made it very clear when he had called her his girlfriend back in the spring. And then, of course, what had happened only a fortnight ago in his bedroom.
Eve had presumed having sex would rectify what was still unsaid in their relationship, what was still floating in the air between them, unaccounted for and unnamed. In bed, when she had asked if things would be different now, she didn't specify what things she meant. But that didn't seem to have mattered to George.
"Not now… But soon everything will be," he had answered simply, almost confidently.
What did he know that she couldn't quite see yet?
He had spoken about things his family was involved in, matters Harry was dealing with behind closed doors. Had he always meant these things? Things in the air far beyond these castle walls and teenage romance?
Eve felt naïve and somewhat uneasy, no better off than she had been before Louis mentioned the conversation. Maybe she would follow suit with the Ravenclaw and apparate straight out of here as well.
"Fucking brilliant!"
Eve hadn't noticed the sound of the Great Hall door this time, far too lost in her spiraling, but Louis's voice was unmistakable. Turning, she watched his body spin across the entrance, his arms raised in a fashion that could only possibly resemble the elation from a sporting match win.
"Celebration is no excuse for the use of inappropriate language, Mr. Dawson. This is not the World Cup finals," Twycross's voice called from the hall's door, his head popping out a moment later to glance at the young man with a bored expression. Clearly, students passing was not nearly as interesting to him as administering emergency protocols.
Louis, still grinning mad, turned to Eve quickly.
"Keep your eyes on the ring, think of nothing else in that pretty head of yours," he said, clasping Eve's shoulders and giving them a firm shake. It appeared that Twycross's sports analogy had gone lost to Douglas's ears.
"I believe Miss de Santos was also there for lessons, Mr. Dawson," Twycross replied, glancing between the pair. His head turned, disappearing behind the door again.
"No thoughts but the ring," Louis repeated, still grinning from ear to ear.
"Easy enough," Eve replied unconvincingly.
Louis gave her shoulders another squeeze, this time far gentler, and turned both of them toward the door.
"Good luck," he said, and Eve allowed him to give her a slight push along ahead.
In a second, adrenaline took over Eve's limbs, capturing all her senses and steering her through the magnificently lit stretch of the Great Hall.
Before her, the room was cleared of its usual long tables, now merely a space with a few chairs, though none were filled. Professor McGonagall stood to the right of the room, looking at Eve with her usual calm intensity. Her version of encouragement. The left side of the room was empty, but Eve knew this must have been Professor Flitwick's place, another of the professors to help oversee the Apparation exam. However, the professor was currently occupied with overseeing elsewhere.
Twycross stood in the middle of the room, the star of the whole ordeal. And, directly laid out in front of him, was the golden hoop. This was, to every exam taker, the real star of the show.
It was all simple enough: apparate successfully several yards across the room. And the only catch? You must make it inside the golden ring—all of you, every single bit. All lost fingers or scalps of hair left behind is an immediate disqualification.
The door closed behind her, far quieter than expected, creating a soft echo around the room that Eve felt to be a bit ominous. She cleared her throat, unaware of whether she was waiting to be prompted.
"Okay, Miss de Santos. Good luck, and remember those three Ds: Destination, Determination, Deliberation!"
Twycross's voice boomed in the nearly empty hall, his enthusiasm obviously saved for this very moment in each exam. Eve's glance caught Professor McGonagall's raised brow at the sound, but otherwise, the witch stood still and settled her stare back on Eve. She nodded.
Eve turned her eyes down to the ring in front of her. She studied the color first; the deep golden hue had a slight shine, and she could see a glow emanate at the corner of it, where the sunshine hit just perfectly from the windows overhead. After the color was sealed in her mind, she studied the shape of it, the perfect symmetry of the circle, and the way it looked lying there on the stone floor. She closed her eyes, and the image of it was still there.
She had done this before, and the memory came back to her. Once it was there, she quickly erased it from her mind again until nothing but the golden ring existed again in the vision of her mind.
She took a deep breath and thought about the ring. She imagined standing inside of it, how it would feel, and how it would look across the room.
Nothing, nothing, nothing but the ring, she told herself.
The feeling of spinning hit her stomach first, and then the rest of her body cascaded into the tornado of air and magic.
And then, just as quickly, it stopped. The feeling was still in her stomach, but her feet were undoubtedly on solid ground. When she opened her eyes, the first thing caught in her vision was the golden glimmer.
"We've got a nonspinner. Fairly understandable strategy considering previous outcomes."
Eve knew Twycross was speaking but her eyes were examining her now raised arms. She counted: two arms, ten fingers. And she was standing upright, which meant both her legs made the trip too.
She reached for her hair, her curls still connected to her.
"Well done, Eve."
At the sound of Professor McGonagall's voice, Eve finally raised her head. She glanced between the adults staring at her now, expressions of mild approval on each of their faces. Eve glanced down again and counted one golden ring.
The next moments were a blur, the adrenaline that had accompanied Eve in the Great Hall leaving with her in a floating elation. She had done it, and she couldn't remember whether she had even said goodbye to the professor and instructor, but before she knew it, she was down the corridor without any second thoughts about where her feet were headed.
It was the silence, though, that made her pace begin to slow, her footsteps eerily loud to her now as she focused on the unmoving castle around her.
Sure, since Umbridge's crackdowns the last few months, much of the castle had lost its liveliness and revolving energy, but this Saturday afternoon felt different. No creaks, whispers, or even another footstep to accompany Eve's. Not even a ghost passed her to move amongst the walls.
Eve knew the feeling rising in her as she walked, her nerves beginning to tighten their hold over her muscles and quicken her heartbeat. This quiet was no relief; it was a warning, like the calm before a thunderous storm, the deep breath before a scream, or the lighting of a match before detonation.
But for some reason, it wasn't fear that became of Eve's thoughts, but rather, an apprehensive curiosity. For her, the question wasn't exactly what would happen but whether she was in the right place for it to occur.
"Eve!"
The voice wasn't exactly familiar to Eve, but when she turned around to identify its owner, she was hit with a brief second of nostalgia. Or would it be déjà vu?
She couldn't define the exact feeling when her eyes met the tiny frame of Colin Creevey shuffling down the corridor after her. But by the time he made it to her, his face had turned pink, and his breaths had turned into huffs, and she couldn't help but smile slightly at his displeased expression.
"I've been looking for you everywhere. Why do you walk so fast?"
Eve raised a brow, unable to come up with an immediate answer.
"Professor Umbridge wants you to meet her in her office."
Eve couldn't help but laugh at Colin's words as she was struck with a memory she had from what felt like ages ago: Colin coming into the greenhouse to interrupt Eve's Herbology lesson, the ominous request hitting her ears, the birthday surprise. Seeing Colin had been déjà vu after all.
"Colin, we've already done this once before."
The boy's face screwed into a strange frown in what Eve perceived as an attempt to hide a smile. He opened his mouth for a moment, as if he meant to challenge her, before closing it again with a shake of his head.
"I told George you wouldn't believe me."
Eve grinned.
"And I told George it wasn't funny the first time."
Colin shrugged, entirely uninterested in the romantic disarray he had found himself yet again involved in. But like any loyal messenger, he only offered the information he had at hand.
"George wants you at Umbridge's office," Colin clarified, continuing his strut down the corridor until he passed Eve's side completely. He paused for a second, glancing over his shoulder, confused as to why Eve wasn't following him.
Eve sighed, joining Colin's movements down the corridor as they turned toward the direction of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. A moment of silence was shared between the two before the boy sent her another quick glance as if again he had just remembered vital information.
"Oh, I almost forgot. George said congratulations on passing your Apparition exam."
Eve frowned.
"How could he have possibly known-"
Just as they turned into another corridor, a loud uproar of voices echoed across the walls, meeting Eve's ears in a muddled mesh of screams and laughter. As their steps quickened down the corridor, she could see the backs of students crowding her vision, standing in the way of whatever was responsible for the shouts.
But before she could spot any sign of the commotion, a sharp stench filled her nose, like rotten wood or muddy water. She scrunched her nose and went to call Colin, but the boy had already disappeared between the bodies of students in front of them.
It was unlike her to act so impolitely, but Eve found herself pushing between people until she came to the front of the crowd. But just as she moved further into the scene, she felt a hand grab her arm and hold her back. Her eyes moved to her feet first, where she spotted water only inches from where her shoes had intended to go.
Her eyes followed the image in front of her now, where they stretched along the long corridor and were met with a scene entirely unnatural for the dusty ancient castle she had grown so accustomed to seeing. There was water, lots of it, a confusing amount of it that suggested this wasn't another flooded bathroom dilemma.
Movement sprouted from a large patch of plant Eve hadn't noticed by her feet, causing a girl beside her to yelp and kick at the ground. A large frog landed next to Eve's shoe, croaking at the disturbance of the students' presence in its home before leaping back into the water. Eve blinked at the interaction, momentarily stunned into silence.
"It's… a swamp," a quiet voice said somewhere behind Eve.
Turning toward the source, she realized Colin had found her in the crowd and was by her side again. Though it appeared he had been speaking to her, the boy's eyes stared transfixed at the display of nonsensical magic before them, his mouth slightly agape in awe.
Following the direction of his eyes, Eve found herself sharing a similar bewilderment at the scene: the dark luminous water, the living animals, the tiny islands of earth guiding a tricky path between the shorelines, if one could call the opposite directions of the corridor such a thing.
In all her years at Hogwarts, Eve had yet to see such a thing. Not in classrooms, not in photos in The Daily Prophet, not even in those asinine tasks they had students complete in the tournament last year. Nothing was quite like the beautifully absurd and magnificently ambitious display of magic before her now.
A sharp, bird-like shriek broke the daze of Eve's amazement. The sound rose from the other end of the swamp and was quickly accompanied by the wincing glare of a familiar pale pink tweed pattern.
Dolores Umbridge's kitten heels stood dangerously close to the embankment's edge, so much so that Eve hoped for a second the woman would lose her footing and find herself treading with the frogs.
"INSOLENCE! In all my years-"
Umbridge's voice roared over the clamor of a growing student body around the swamp, though it seemed no one attempted to quiet their own retorts at the surprise awaiting their sight.
"Is that... a pond?" The voice of a girl said.
"It's more like a tiny lake, don't you think?" Another replied.
"That's a pond, idiot," Came another voice.
"Does this mean detentions will be canceled tonight?" Someone asked, not at all concerned with the discussion at hand.
"I bet you lot all of my galleons it was those twins!"
Eve's head twisted at the sound of this last voice, far louder than the rest and with an unmistakable tone. Her eyes scanned sharply between the faces across the swamp, thanking, as she had so many times before, how easily recognizable the Weasley twins were in any crowd.
It was Fred who had spoken, and it was he who Eve spotted first, his face hovering over the students around him, all of whom were now turning their heads to identify the culprit's voice.
"Mind if I double it, Freddie? I'm feeling rather lucky this afternoon!"
Heads turned again, but this time in Eve's direction from across the water. Although the crowd behind her had thickened while she had stood at the edge of the swamp, Eve could still spot George's face among the growing pack of students. His gaze was fixed on his brother across the corridor, a bright smile decorating his expression as he appeared to be basking in the chaos of their creation.
"This is it! I will not tolerate this type of behavior at this school any longer! I will have you two in the headmistress's office immediately!"
Umbridge's voice once again boomed from across the corridor, causing a jump of surprise within the mass of students standing around in shock and delight, as if they had all collectively forgotten the woman had been standing there the entire time this exchange between the twins had taken place.
It occurred to Eve now, clear as day and without much surprise, that Fred and George had no inclination in hiding the mastery of their work for the school, or Umbridge, for that matter.
They wanted to get caught and, in fact, walked into it with all the glory and satisfaction of conquerors declaring their thrones. This was no typical Weasley prank.
"You know, George?" Fred called again from across the water, no sign given that he had heard the threat thrown at him and his brother only moments ago.
"Yes, Fred?" George answered, and as he did, Eve could see that he was slowly making his way to the front of the crowd, where she stood at the edge. But as far as Eve knew, George had not spotted her and was merely coming closer to get a better view of the disarray.
"I think we've outgrown full-time education!"
Like a tennis match, the students snapped their heads between the brothers, their eyes already turning from Fred onto George for an awaiting reply. A loud murmuring was growing in the frenzy as the reactions of students mixed with more obscenities directed at the boys, now from Filch, who had arrived at the scene with an ancient looking mop and bucket.
Eve's gaze steadied on George as he continued to push his way to the front of the crowd, his eyes traveling over the sea of faces until landing on Eve.
The eye contact they shared was intense but momentary, Eve's eyes narrowing and her mouth twisting into a baffled expression as if asking for an explanation for the madness ensuing. George, seeming to understand the wordless language, only mouthed a single reply: "I'm sorry."
Before Eve could make out actual words between them, George's eyes were already back on his brother.
"Fred, I was thinking exactly the same thing!"
In an instant, a rush of air blew through the corridor, heads raising as two brown shapes flew through the air, causing students in the crowd to yelp and duck their heads under their arms.
Turning to George again, Eve watched his hand reach and catch the shape that hovered directly over his head. Now caught, Eve could see clearly that it was his broomstick.
A collective understanding washed over the crowd standing around him, and in a matter of seconds, students moved out of George's way, creating space around him to mount his broom. But this also cleared a path for Eve, who had remained motionless in her spot in front of him.
George moved quickly, and Eve, who by now had given up any attempt to guess where any of this drama was headed, stood completely disoriented as the boy swept her into his arms.
By the time his lips were on hers, Eve's only response was to grab both his shoulders so as to not tumble into the swamp water dangerously behind her.
Seconds passed, but before the usual feeling of comfort could build in his embrace, the warmth of his lips left hers, and Eve watched with the rest of the crowd as George mounted his broom and took off down the corridor, his brother in tow.
Eve stood, silent and dazed, as the scene unfolded into the perfectly executed chaos she knew now the twins had intended all along to leave behind.
First, a roar of cheers bellowed throughout the corridor, followed by the sounds of splashing coming from the water behind her. Eve turned and watched as students began to attempt to cross the swamp to get to the other side of the corridor, jumping between patches of earth, some successfully and others not so much.
Umbridge and Filch moved among the masses of students, obviously retreating when it appeared the situation was not at all manageable for a ministry employee in a pencil skirt and a squib with a mob.
Just then, a boom was heard over the madness, causing a second of calm amidst the clamor as students raised their heads to identify the noise. And again, another boom came and another.
Eve watched as smiles began to creep onto the faces around her as recognition began to paint their expressions.
Fireworks.
All at once, impulse took control of Eve's limbs as she followed the body of students heading down the direction of the twins' escape. As she moved, turning corridors and descending the grand staircase, the cracking and singing of the fireworks raised into loud, piercing cries.
Passing the doors of the Great Hall, the fears of her Apparation exam fizzling into a distant memory, Eve followed the sounds into the massive outdoor courtyard that overlooked the castle's cliff, where a large group of students had already formed to watch the twins' final show.
Zooming overhead the long-stoned pillars overlooking the courtyard, Fred and George took turns throwing ignited fireworks into the air above them, flicking their wands at the explosions of sparks and fire and causing the fireworks to manipulate and transform into elaborate shapes and creatures.
A massive ball of glitter formed above their heads, transforming before their very eyes into the ginormous face of a dragon. Fred flew directly above it, and with the flash of his wand, the dragon roared a smoke of fire and descended upon the students, causing screams of fear and delight.
Anarchy.
That was the word that came to mind as Eve watched professors and students take in the fire and glitter of the display. She had not seen such a collective pure delight take place in the castle in a long time. And it was all because of those two red-headed boys on their confiscated broomsticks.
"STOP THEM!"
Umbridge's voice shrieked through the cheers, but her attempts to control were far too late. If she hadn't been such a nightmare of a woman, her desperate pleas would almost be cause for sympathy from Eve. But that, of course, wasn't the case and Eve couldn't help but grin at the frantic woman pushing through the crowd.
"If anyone fancies buying a Portable Swamp, as demonstrated upstairs, come to number 93, Diagon Alley—Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes!" Fred's voice boomed over the crowd. "Our new premises!"
"Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they're going to use our products to get rid of this old bat!" George's voice continued, pointing his wand in the direction Umbridge stood in the crowd.
Umbridge pointed her wand back at him and sent a spell in the air at him, but George quickly dodged its course with the turn of his broom.
"Give her hell from us, Peeves!" Fred called, and all heads turned to look at the ghost that had joined the twins in the air.
The phantom bellowed out a deep, hoarse laugh, twirling into the air before steadying himself beside one of the giant pillars and returning the request with a salute of respect.
It was all almost a dream to Eve, the strange pandemonium of magic and mayhem. When she watched the final explosion of fireworks transform into a giant 'W' above their heads and the twins ride off with their brooms into the skyline, she barely remembered it was her boyfriend she was waving goodbye to.
"He didn't tell you about this, did he?"
Eve turned to Louis, who had somehow found her side within the crowd.
"What gave you that impression?"
"Oh, I don't know," Louis answered, tossing his head back as if he was really giving a second to gather his thoughts, "Probably the complete look of disbelief on your face."
Eve watched as George and his brother's silhouette connected with the shapes of the rolling hills, far and wide, and remained transfixed on the image as they shrunk smaller and smaller into view.
When they were gone, she finally turned to Douglas but found there were no other words that needed to be said.
Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who is still reading this! Your comments mean the world to me and are pushing me to finish this!