The Girl Who Lived part 51-60

So yeah. This is my fifth addition (I think). I hope you enjoy it. The sixth addition or installment will be out temporarily. Go to wattpad to see the story if you can't wait

So, I guess that's really about it and I'll just babble on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on, to try and take up this one hundred characters

  1. Part 51
  2. The Grim Reaper glided closer as if it was floating on thin air. By this time, I didn't have any feeling left in any part of my body. I felt a slight warmth flowing through my fingers. They say that when your about to die from the cold, you feel a certain warmth. When I enrolled into Hogwarts, I never expected to die from freezing to death like a popcicle. The Grim Reaper or Dementor as Draco had called it, halted in it's tracks. Maybe tracks isn't the right word. It didn't have feet and it hadn't stepped physically on the ground so there actually weren't tracks. A dark fog that surrounded the Dementors along with the aura that they brought with them, seemed to lessen by the second. It seemed as if there were some kind of magnetic pull that was pulling them out of the compartment and out of the train entirely. Although, the fog wasn't appearing outside. Eventually, the Dementor disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared before. These creatures hadn't appeared outide the train like I thought that they would along with the fog. Where had they disappeared to? I felt that same tingle of warmth that I had felt earlier. Several waves of heat spread throughout my body along with gradual flow of returning senses. My eyes felt moistened again, they weren't frozen open like they had been minutes ago. In time, my sense of touch returned. I could feel the warmth from Neville's hand in mine and I'm sure he could feel mine in his. When Neville and I had thoroughly been thawed out, we sat back into our seats. Draco still stood in his corner completely thawed out, and it seemed as though he was looking into the soul of something that we didn't have the capacity to see. "Draco. The dementor's gone." No response. I knew exactly what would make him wake up from this situation. Work with what you've got. I whispered my brilliant idea in Neville's ear. At first he was hesitant, but I convinced him. Neville waddled over to Draco and gave him a huge bear hug. They stayed like that for a minute until Draco pushed him off. "Get you're hands off me Longbottom!" "And he's back to normal. Thanks Neville, I figured that it would certainly wake him up. "What do you mean back to normal?" Draco asked. "After the Dementor came in, you haven't moved the slightest bit." "Oh, and was poor mudblood Scarlet worried about me?" I liked him way more when he was frozen like that and wasn't so arrogant. "Actually, I'm sure that your father would try to sue me and shout something along the lines of 'my lawyer will hear about this!'." "I get what you mean. Luckily I'm not a bit like him." Draco said. I wasn't too sure if he had been joking or not but, I didn't want to say anything that would tick him off. When talking to him, it seemed as though I was stepping around eggshells. The train soon pulled up to our stop. We got off the Hogwarts Express and hopped in a horse drawn carriage to get closer to Hogwarts. I shared a carriage with Neville while Draco shared a carriage with his cronies. The smell wasn't too fresh coming from behind the horses but, I loved how the atmospere felt so classy and old fashioned. All I needed was an outfit to match. "Neville, are you excited about your classes this year?" "Only Herbology. I fear having Snape as a teacher. I have a feeling that he's out to get me." We continued to have a lengthy conversation mostly based on teachers and gossip on other studen's in Hogwarts. Eventually, our conversation became such a time killer that it took all of our travel time in the carriage to Hogwarts. I've come accustomed to this place. Neville and I exited the poorly smelling but classy horse drawn carriage and entered the wonderful and grand Hogwarts. PART 2 The grand staircase and hallways still the same. In a way, Hogwarts felt like home, with a huge extended family. I entered the Gryffindoor common room with my belonings in both hands and headed up towards the completely unoccupied room that I had to myself. After packing everything away, I was herded downstairs in the dining hall by the teachers. Dumbledore had been standing in front of his huge chair with ornaments attached to make it appear fancier. He went on about how the Dementors would be gaurding Hogwarts while Sirius Black was still on the move. There's a new teacher, Professor Lupin and Hagrid was assigned the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher. I attempted to pay attention to the lengthy slow words Dumbledore was saying but i'm just never in the mood to sit still. My eyes shifted from Dumbledore to the twins. A natural tendency I have now whenever I'm bored. They will do anything for a laugh and they're always up to stuff. This time, they were putting mentos in the coke of people's drinks when they weren't looking. Difficult to believe this went almost completely unnoticed but it did anyway. Ron was paying the food on his table more attention than anything else, shoveling it into his mouth as if someone was going to come in between him and his food. "Ron, you can chill, there's plenty of food to go around." Ron stopped his food shoveling and looked over at me. He attempted to say something with all that food in his mouth. To a normal person right off the street, it would come off as some kind of jibberish. To me, it's Ron language. He was saying something along the lines of "No there's not. At my house, there isn't that much food to go around." I should really invent some kind of Rosetta Stone for Ron. For example, if Ron said 'mmph.' it would probably translate to 'how are you doing today?'. "Ron, you can relax, there's plenty of food." I continued on. "Harry, what do you think of the new teachers?'" Harry turned my direction. "I'm not too sure about Lupin, but I'm excited for Hagrid being our Care of Magical Creatures teacher. Although I'm not too thrilled to be iin Snape's class again. I'm so sure he's out to get me." "It's not bad if you're paired up with Malfoy. Snape favors him." I started. I already knew Drac's and Harry's distaste for each other so I knew that when talking to Harry that I shouldn't be calling Draco Malfoy 'Draco'. "I can't trust him as fat as I can throw him." It's hard to be friends with both of them. I stayed quiet, knowing that if I defended Draco in this situation, that Harry and I would have an argument. Dumbledore finished his lengthy speech and we were dismissed to our common rooms. I talked to the twins and soon headed up to bed. I dreamed of being invited to the party at Draco's house and the dress i wore, how it swished. The dancing, the food and just about everything. It wasn't the fanciness of the party I remember, it was the fun i had. I dreamed sweet dreams of dancing with Draco and Parker. How the event seemed almost magical. Not because everyone was a wizard. When I stepped on Draco's foot several times. I would never forget how Fred and George purposely spilled wine all over Pansy Parkinson, and I'm sure that she never would either. I smiled at the few memories I had where I could never have had been happier. I thought of the other events that happened in my first two years. I can't help but wonder, if Mr.Weasley hadn't brought me to the Burrow with him, if I hadn't met Harry, Neville, Ron, or the twins, how my life would be like now.
  3. Part 52
  4. I woke from my long dream with a smile plastered on my face that wouldn't be possible for me to replace with a frown. The only thing negative about it was when the fairytale-like dream ended. I threw on my robes, brushed my hair and all those preparations to get ready to go to breakfast. The twins were up to their normal shenanigans. When I sat in my normal spot between them and the Golden Trio sat across from us, there was a loud farting noise. Not only a noise, but there was some sort of putrid unidentifiable smell. I clamped my nostrils shut. "Ron, what have you been eating?" Asked Fred holding his nose. "Whatever it is, you'd better stop. It isn't very safe for other's to breath out that almost toxic gas." George commented with a clothes pin clamping his nose shut. By this time, everyone in the cafeteria was gagging from the smell. George and Fred happened to have the perfect thing everyone needed. For a certain price, that is. They had a huge basket of clothes pins that they went around selling. It was a perfect 'I need this right now' kind of situation. Kind of like how you buy salty peanuts at a baseball game or that ultra unhealthy lipid-loaded popcorn. By the end of breakfast the twins were counting the cash they made and were totalling up their profits. "I say we did a good job today Freddie." "I can't agree more George." "You planned that didn't you." I told them, making it not of a statement than a question. "Why would you think that dear Scarlet?" George put his hand to his heart and giving a hurt face. "Would we ever do anything like that? Make money off at our brother's expense?" George continued on being an awful dramatic. "Yes, you would." I stated firmly. Fred turned towards me. "Cut it out George, of course we would. Everyone knows that." Fred cut in. "I don't really care about you making money off of Ron. I just want to know how you did it?" I said. "Good magicians never reveal their secrets." George stated raising his eyebrows several times. "How about you magicians tell me your secret or I tell your mom and dad that you almost failed potions last year, and you wrecked the car several times without permission." I pointed an accusing finger at both of the twins. "My, my Scarlet, is that blackmail I hear? Alright very well. It's simple my dear Scarlet, we filled a whoopie cushion-" " With a bunch of items that smelled. We added Ron's socks to the collection." "Then we bought clothes pins and sold them, giving us a fairly high profit." The twins finished each other's sentences as they always do. The next few classes seemed like a bore. The only thing that I had to look forward to is the Quidditch game later.Potions bored me to tears but I could say the opposite for Neville. He was stiff in his chair. I tend to forget that Neville has some kind of thing against Snape. I gotta say, he doesn't seem all that frightening but he does seem to have that essence about him when he stares at you with those soleless eyes of his. The classes passed as slowly as I had anticipated. Lunch wasn't as eventful as breakfast but Ron did chase the twins around the mess hall until Ron just collapsed from all of the running. "I'm gonna get you two!" Ron had yelled. "You're gonna have to try a lot harder than that to catch us little brother." They answered over their shoulder as they ran away from him. I saw Harry afterwards in his Quidditch outfit witht the other Gryffindoors about to play a match. "Harry, good luck.in your match." I turned over towards Oliver who was telling the team, their offense and defense. "Oliver, please don't get hit by a bludger. I know that you love the sport anyway, but please be careful." He nodded, and the team marched onto the field, brooms in hands. I took my place in the stands and enjoyed the game. PART 2 The game had been more exciting than all of my classes put together, although it wasn't as exciting as most of the things that had happened. By now, Ron had let bygones be bygones and forgave the twins since they had to play a game with each other and it would be so much easier if they hadn't been fighting. The Gryffindoors won and Oliver didn't get hit by a bludger at all which is a huge bright side to what I'm used to. The game ended and I headed upstairs on the girls side to my sleeping quarters. The next morning I had Boggarts with Proffessor Lupin. In the center of the room was a rattling wardrobe that wielded either a fierce beast held in too tight a space or some heartless malicious monster waiting to tear us to shreds. Well, this is Boggarts. It could be both. "Boggarts have no known shape or form when they're by themselves. But, when a boggart is in front of your very eyes, it molds itself into your largest fear. "Professor Lupin went on. He ushered us from being a huge cluster in the middle of the room into a messy two by two line. Somehow, even though Neville and I were in the back of the cluster closest to the door, we had been pushed up to the front of the classroom. I stood a couple behind Neville and he was up first. "Now, what frightens you most?" he asked Neville. Neville was hesitant. "Proffessor Snape." Everyone laughed, but I'm sure it wouldn't have had been the least bit funny if it was them. "Now I understand you live with your grandmother." "Yes, but I don't want the boggart to turn into her either." Another laugh from the rest of the class. "No. Now I want you to picture her clothes and only her clothes. Very clearly in your mind. Now when I open the wardrobe, I want you to-" He whispered something in his ear. "Now. One, two, three." Professor counted, and on three, he muttered a spell releasing the lock on the wardrobe.The door to the wardrobe opened slowly and Snape stepped out. Neville held out his trembling had and shouted "Riddikulus" and what happened next was rather ridikkulus itself. Soon Snape was wearing a whole new grandma ensemble. A red handbag, a striped coat and a stuffed fox draped around his neck. The rest of the class everyone went up to the front of the classroom and faced the boggart. Ron's greatest fear is spider's which I'm sure everyone knew already. He shouted the charm and the spider soon had rollerblades, making it slide everywhere. Harry went in front of the class. The boggart had shifted into a dementor. Lupin slid in front of Harry making the boggart change forms once again, but into his worst fear. An image of a full moon was shown and shortly after, he shouted "Riddikulus!" turning the image into a deflating balloon. I was next up to go. The boggart had changed several times when I stood in front of it. It had become several swirls of colors, kind of like a washer when it's at a high speed and all the colors of clothes are meshing together. I had actually never though of my greatest fear. Up until now, I didn't think I even had one, but, everyone has fears. The boggart had stopped on a figure. At first I couldn't comprhend what it was. Everyone around me gasped in horror. I could feel shivers throughout my body. I looked up to face the boggart and gulped, raising my wand up towards the figures. My eyes felt wet and I couldn't muster the strength to shout that stupid charm. Harry stepped in to aid me. He shouted the charm but my fear was too horrible to laugh at. To even joke about. Lupin dismissed class. I sprinted into the hallway, water droplets falling from my eyes as I passed by people. I finally stopped when I thought I had gone far enough. I was outside of Hogwarts near the lake, under the willow tree. I heard footsteps coming in my direction, not just of one person, but several. They sat near me and we formed a circle. The twins, Harry, Hermione and Neville. Neville sat directly beside me and I hugged him tightly. After squeezing Neville so hard that he almost turned as purple as a plum, I leaned my head on his shoulder. His touch and smell filling my mind. It was utterly calming. "What was that?" asked Harry. "Apparently my worst fear." "What is that?" "Well, it's-" I was interrupted by Ron who ran in panting, holding a bag of sour gummy worms. Hermione gave him a menacing look, staring daggers at him. Although he didn't seem to notice. "Sorry I'm late, I almost forgot my snack bag." I held out my had towards him. "Aren't you going to share?" He seemed relieved I wasn't upset with him like Hermione. Ron passed me the bag, I took a few, passed it around and continued speaking. "They're bodies." The shiver returned. "Of what?" They asked. "Of the ones I love."
  5. Part 53
  6. They had stayed quiet. Neville reached his hands around me, giving me a hug. I accepted and returned the hug. The day had passed quick, it was almost dinnertime and I could begin to smell the aromas coming from the dining hall. Ron's mouth had been watering, not the usual amount for a normal person. Although, I'm not entirely sure if being a Wizard would qualify as being normal. As we headed towards the dining hall, the twins brightened the mood. They showed us their recent ideas for pranks and merchandise. A majority of their ideas are almost insane that I'm quite sure that no one in their right mind would purchase. However, it could be popular just because it's that outrageous. "We've got so many ideas. We've got Wideye potions, Volubilis Potion, Truth Serum, Polyjuice potions, invisibility potions, and quite a variety of love potions." The two went on. "Wait, did you two just say love potions?" I asked. "Yeah we did, we not only wanted our store to appeal to men, but women as well." "You do plan on making antidotes for them, right?" "Well, we haven't exactly planned it all out. We've thought of it but haven't created an antidote for them yet." "Make sure that you do before you begin to put them on the market. If not, people will be stuck having that infatuation instead of real emotion for that other person. This is why I don't like love potions. They're so fake. The emotions aren't real." "They're just potions." Commented the twins. "I know, but they just seem to defy all things that are realistic." "We're Wizards, Scarlet. There's nothing really realistic about it." Then, for possibly the first time, I thought about what the twins had said. To me, all of this was usual behavior. Pranks, potions and magic had seemed to become something that was just so normal now. Although in the eyes of another, a non-magical being, this would simply all be hogwash. Something that would completely be disregarded and labeled plainly as fantasy. Nothing more, nothing less. The existence of Dragons, Poltergeists and mostly Wizards are considered fiction by adults but believed in by children. But as they grow older, their amount of belief fades as they attempt to figure out whats fact and whats fiction. The twins and I continued on our little argument. I put their ideas into consideration on pranks, potions and the wonders of the world. "How do you guys feel about Poltergeists? I mean, they must have some reason for staying behind and they play pranks." "I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing but I wouldn't want to stay back and haunt an area for an entire afterlife. Seems boring. Said George. "I like the idea of being a poltergeist. Being a Ghost seems boring. You can't do a single thing and you can't touch objects if you're a ghost. If you're a Poltergeist you can touch objects and still play pranks. It must be awfully lonely though." Fred stated. "What makes you think that?" I asked. "Well, playing pranks alone with no one to enjoy it with makes me feel lonely." By this time, all of us had reached the cafeteria and extremely hungry. We took our usual places. Ron, Hermione and Harry sat next to each other, while I sat with the twins and Neville. Dumbledore still sat at his podium and stated once again in his long slow voice, that the Dementors would still be patrolling Hogwarts. He continued on with his usual speech that he would say every night before we would retire for the night. All the students were dismissed from their tables and headed to their common rooms. On the way, I caught Harry and Hermione. I had asked them about what had happened during some of their classes since we only have a few together and I would have those tomorrow. "Well, in Dark Arts we learned of more spells. You should check with Neville about Herbology." "I doubt he'll know. We're in the same Herbology class. There's a chance since he's friends with the teacher." "Hey, do you know what's going to happen during Hagrids class? I'm eager to find out." Questioned Harry. I thought about it for a couple of minutes as the three of us headed up the stairs and past the magical Gryfindoor painting that opened to reveal the passage to the common room. "If I can remember right, you learn to ride Buckbeack. He's a Hippogriff that Hagrid owns." It's been a long day. As we reached the common rooms, the three of us parted ways and I headed to my lonely one person room. PART 2 My normal routine began the next morning, just as any other typical day at the magical school of Hogwarts started. I scrubbed plaque off my teeth and threw on my school robes and Mary Janes. I got into trouble once by Snape in the hallway. Apparently, the dress code has only specific kinds of shoes that you can wear. They have to be certain types of shoes. The classier kind. Mary Janes were on the list, so I had to borrow a pair of Ginny's although they're a tad big for me. Stuffing footie socks in the tip of the show solved that problem easily for me. It wasn't that big of an issue. I looked at my combat boots sitting in the corner of the room, all lonely and cold. I definitely will wear them this winter since they do fir the Hogwarts dress code for Winter. Heading downstairs to the common room and then to the dining hall. In the common room, I found Neville surrounded by books. Normally, it's Hermione that's here instead of at the dining hall doing a little bit of 'light reading' before breakfast. The amount of books she can read is amazing. I know already that she'll get some kind of amazing job that almost no other Wizard out there is smart enough for. "Herbology again huh?" I looked over his shoulder and into the textbook. "Yeah, The Herbology teacher asked that I look up a few plants and find out what plants would grow well in the gardens." "Thanks for waiting, lets get to breakfast." I scooped up a couple of books from the ground that he had been reading and onto the table. "Yeah, let's go before Ron eats all the good stuff is gone." We then went to the dining hall for Breakfast. Like I had guessed, all of the good food was already picked over. The food left wasn't bad though. There's always fruit leftover. "I could never be a vegetarian. Ron stated. "I loves my meats." He continued on. It was more of me translating for him than Ron actually saying this. He had been stuffing his mouth with crispy bacon dripping in fat and mumbling in his own Ron language that I had soon become fluent in. "You might want to slow down little brother." Said Fred. "Wouldn't want you to choke on all that grease your inhaling". Said George. "Speaking of which, I've got a joke." The twins turned to each other and nodded as if they had read each others minds and later turned their bodies to me. " Little Ron has 40 pieces of bacon and eats 50 pieces-" From across the room I heard Draco shout "Where'd my bacon go?" I suppose that answered that question. The twins continued on with their joke. "As we were saying, little Ron has 40 pieces of bacon and eats 50. What does Ron have?" Fred asked. I shrugged my shoulders. "I have no clue. He ate all of his and then some." I answered. "What does Ron have now George?" Fred asked, turning to George for an answer. "Clogged arteries. Ron has clogged arteries." The three of us held a long stare at each other, making it a contest not to laugh. When my lips quivered and wouldn't stop, I knew that I was going down. But fortunately, at the same time, the twins were about to crack soon. All I needed to say was one single sentence. "Ron has clogged arteries." First, I got a snicker from the twins which soon led to a full on laugh and I joined in as well when I couldn't stand not laughing. While we were laughing so much, I felt eyes on us but I didn't care the slightest bit. We wiped the tears from our eyes after we has settled down and it was soon about time to head to our first class. Throughout the course of the day it wasn't very interesting. Although in Herbology I learned of a few new plants. By the time all of my classes had passed by, it had been lunch. I began heading to the mess hall when I was stopped by a voice. "Hey Scarlet, wait up." I turned to see Oliver Wood headed my way, wearing his usual Quidditch attire. "Do you ever change to normal Hogwarts robes? Cause I can't ever recall seeing you wearing anything but Quidditch robes." He shook his head. "I've got some shocking news. It's about Buckbeak." "What happened?" By the way he was carrying himself, I felt as though I already knew the answer and it wasn't good. He gulped. "Buckbeak's being executed."
  7. Part 54
  8. I was surprised that out of all people, Oliver would be telling me. There's absolutely nothing wrong with him telling me but, he is in his 7th year while I'm in my 3rd. News must travel fast if this happened to a bunch of 3rd years only last class and news has already spread to the 7th years. "Rumor has it, Draco aggravated Buckbeak." He paused and turned to look both ways as if to ensure that other students wouldn't be listening. Although, I have no idea why if it had already spread to the last years within Hogwarts. " I don't have many of the details in between but, it ended with Draco going to the Hospital Wing with an injured arm or something along the lines of that. You know how rumors are, you say one thing and someone else hears another. Even when you say it right, pronunciation and all, people still interpret it wrong or hear it wrong." "Thanks Oliver. I hadn't even heard of it. Do you know where Hermione is? I should go find him before he attempts to kills Draco" "I bet that's really likely to happen. I'll catch you later." "Bye Oliver!" "Bye Scarlet!" He waved as he left, heading the other direction. He headed left, I went right. Off I went to find Hermione, through the great hall, down some stairs and to the grand library. Some Hogwarts students wouldn't consider it 'grand', but I do, along with a few selective bookworms. I had a strong feeling that Hermione would be in the library. She always loves to read, but she reads excessively whenever she's stressed or upset. she sits in a specific area of the library too, within the heart of the library. I continued to that center table where she sat, surrounded by a huge mountain of books that went over from the table to at least the top of the hair on her head. "Hermione!" To get her attention away from a book, you have to shout. "Scarlet, you didn't need to shout" Yes I did. Only shouting can wake her from her reading. "Hermione, I heard about Buckbeak." "From who? The only people that would really know about it would be the people in our class." "Word spreads." "How many people know?" "It's gotten to the 7th years. So pretty far." "That Malfoy has quite a big mouth doesn't he? How dare he provoke buckbeak and then shove the entire blame on Buckbeak when it was entirely his fault!" She had stopped reading her thick novels entirely and was now raging on about Draco. People had began to look and gather. It must've been a sight for the others within Hogwarts. Most know Hermione Granger for her intelligence like people know Harry for surviving Voldemort. She rarely ever loses her temper. To Hogwarts students, seeing Hermione losing her temper was as if a Human had seen a poltergeist. A mix of emotions was projected onto the faces of the other students at Hogwarts who simply watched as Hermione ranted on and on. Since Hermione was this upset, I figured that I'd only be adding more fuel to the fire if I asked more about what happened. "Hermione, where's Harry?" "He's in the the common room." I left her and went upstairs to the cozy Gryffindoor common room where Harry was, reading a lengthy novel and pushing his glasses up whenever they fell down. "Harry, how's it going?" Placing a bookmark in his novel, he looked up at me. The fire gave his skin a golden glow and reflected off his glasses. "Not very well. Buckbeak's being executed all because Malfoy just had to provoke him and open his big mouth." "Isn't there something we can do about it? I mean, surely there's some kind of loophole." "What makes you say that? It just seems as though now, it's way too late to do anything at all." "I know this because I watch reality TV shows. There's always a way out." By this time, the day was mostly over. Dinner would start in a few minutes, and then off to bed. "Aren't you going to dinner?" "No thanks, I'm not very hungry right now-" His sentence was cut off by a loud growl from his stomach. "It's alright, I'll sneak back some leftovers for you. If i don't, I can always get the twins to take some from Ron. I'll see you later." He pushed up his glasses, the fire reflecting off of them. I knew he was upset, but at times like these, some people need solitude. PART 2 I headed down to dinner and took my usual place. 2 of the usual seats that were normally occupied were now vacant. My best guess is that Hermione wasn't "hungry" either. But Ron was certainly there. Believe it or not, it seemed as though he was shoving his face more than usual. A normal human would define this as an issue called binging, where people obsessively stuff their faces all at once. If a human were to have this issue, a family would probably create an intervention, but this is Ron we're talking about. "Hey Ron, I heard" "Of course you've heard of it, the entire bloody campus heard of it right directly after class. Draco ran his mouth so much that word spread like a fart in a warm classroom" Under the seriousness of the situation, I found myself laughing from his remark. He said bunches of other things that would be censored on television. Ron continued to argue to himself about how much he hates Draco, and right now, I couldn't argue at all. Plus, it honestly wouldn't help the situation at all. "The worst part of it all, is that it wasn't Buckbeak's fault. Malfoy was the reason for it, and now Buckbeak's gotta pay the price." Ron continued to shove his face with food. Water dribbled down his chin after he drank and crumbs were all over his face. I handed him a hanker chief that I keep stuffed in my robe. He sighed and eventually he was too tired to be angry. I felt a slight breeze on both sides of me, to find the twins sitting in their usual spots. "Good day, scarlet." They said. "What's with the get-up?" Fred had been wearing clown shoes, make-up and an outfit to match that they had been wearing underneath his normal robes while George was covered in hair. So much that he looked like Cousin It. "Well dear Scarlet, we've been experimenting with potions" said the one underneath all of the hair. "Fred, that outfit suits you. George, you like you're Cousin It from the Adams family" When Ron saw them, he broke out into laughter and seemed to forget about the mountains of food piled up on his plate. He began laughing so hard, that everyone at the table thought he was going to choke himself. He did for a moment, but was fine a second later. And even after that, he was still laughing uncontrollably to the point where people gave him looks, as if he were a mad man. Seems as though he got a bit too caught in the moment because as he was laughing, he somehow fell off the seat and still somehow remained laughing hysterically waving his arms and kicking his legs in the air. His overall response was funnier than watching the twins in their get-up. Eventually, Ron finished his laughing, but only after he saw the twins two more times and repeated the entire fit he did earlier. I took a picture of them and Ron who at this point was rolling on the floor with tears in his eyes. I helped him up from the floor. His hands were black from the dirt on the floor while his face was a shade that matched his hair. "Bloody heck, why would you two be wearing such outfits?" "We've been working on ideas for our shop" "And well, they didn't go exactly as planned." Answered the twins. He wiped a tear that slowly rolled down his cheek. I tightened my hair band and readjusted my ribbon to be straight that had shifted during one of my first classes. I'd never gotten the time to straighten it during any other classes. Ron turned to the twins and gulped down the rest of his laughter. "So, how's that shop idea of yours going along?" He began to chuckle but soon stopped when he realized that he had no laughter left within him whatsoever. Part 3 That when he tried to, he felt as if he were a squeaky toy that had lost it's voice. Although in this case, he hadn't lost his voice altogether, just laughter. No sound came out, just air. "Who's laughing now?" asked Fred. "Well Freddie, certainly not Ron." They began to point at Ron and laugh at him as they usually do. Ron's face had turned a pinkish shade as he settled down from laughing. The twins turned to me "Scarlet, will you do a favor for us?" They asked, slightly begging. "Depends, what do you want?" Before I really got to know the two, I would always say yes to their requests, initially thinking 'it couldn't be that bad'. But over quite a period of time, I've learned that it definitely could be THAT bad. One involved me helping them bake a cake for Ron once and the twins put way more baking soda than was required especially since baking soda wasn't needed at all. In the end, the cake exploded all over the kitchen and I spent the rest of the day re-baking the cake while the the twins began to clean up the kitchen which later, I soon joined them. Another time was when they wanted to wrap a present for themselves for Christmas, fireworks. Great idea to have the box sitting next to a burning candle. The box lit on fire, and I'm sure that you can guess the rest of the story from just that. But, it ended with me losing my eyebrows, the twins losing their privileges for using fireworks, matches and giving themselves gifts. So with only two examples, I bet that you know what kind of trouble the twins have gotten me into over the small amount of time that I've known them. I can't help but love the both of them even if they pull me into difficult situations. By this time, Fred was able to, and had taken off his clown get-up and George had cut his hair unevenly, but at a similar length similar to what it was earlier. "Dear Scarlet, would we ever think to do anything that would cause you anger?" George asked me, batting his eyelashes real fast as if they were wings on a bird. I didn't even need a flashback at all to know the answer to this, but I did anyway. So many scenes flashed through my mind when they have. Too many to count. "Yes, you have." I answered. "Come on Scarlet, we really do need your help, it's for a good cause." Pleaded Fred. "What do you want?" I had a feeling that my chances of getting out of helping them was slipping by ever so slowly each moment that I talked to them. "Well, our life dream is to own our own prank shop, and since our family isn't that rich, we need to start earning money. At this rate, we'll never earn enough money with just the two of us, but with three, we'll get there much faster. Will you work with us tomorrow on the Hogsmeade trip?" They continued to plead with me on this. Those two can be annoyingly persuasive. I eventually gave in. "Fine, when do I need to be there?" "We'll take you there." It seems as if they really had planned this out. "You planned this out didn't you?" This was more of a statement than a question. "We sure did, we had no idea what we would do if you said no since we already told the owner of The Three Broomsticks to expect five workers tomorrow." I was so close to strangling them. "Wait, who are the other two that are working?" "Well, we told Neville that you would be working at The Three Broomsticks tomorrow and asked him if he wanted to join in. He said that he would since you'll be working there and he said that he could always use a little extra cash. Then, that Oliver Wood agreed to work with us." Even closer to feeling like strangling them. I was cracking my knuckles and about to straight out yell at them when two big shadows covered us. Goyle and Crabbe. "He requests your presence."
  9. Part 55
  10. So, he (Draco) requested my presence and I had no choice whether or not I wanted to go. I stood brushing off the crumbs that had fallen off Ron's face, onto the table and onto my lap. I was guided towards the Hospital Wing by them as if I didn't know where that was at all. "so Crabbe, still being forced to do Draco's bidding huh? Why do you even follow what he says, he doesn't seem to be holding anything over you." "Draco and his parents don't hold anything over us like blackmail or anything. It's just that since his parents are pretty much the Alpha's, and our parents follow them, we follow Draco since he's their heir." "That sounds terrible." "Well, it's much better than watching over Parkinson, she can be a brat. I couldn't stop laughing when those Weasley twins poured wine on her." The three of us chuckled from the fond memory. "That must've been an expensive dress that she had." I said. "It was, and to top it all off, she had just bought it for the special occasion to impress Draco." Answered Goyle. "How do you know that? Wait, I think I can guess. Once the boss's leave, all the workers criticize them right?" "That's exactly what happened. Her maids told us and we all shared such juicy gossip. How did you know?" "When I worked at Malfoy Manor, we would often spread gossip that we heard during our break." "I forget sometimes that you used to work at Malfoy Manor." By this time, we had arrived at the hospital Wing. "We'll leave you two." "But why?" "Draco's orders." I entered the almost completely empty hospital wing and headed towards the only occupied bed in the room where Draco lay. "Good, your here. I wanted to know if you would help me catch on some of the assignments I missed during the Hogsmeade trip. Asking you is way better than asking Parkinson. She'd be fawning over me and we would never get any work done." "Actually, I have plans. but when I come back, I'll fill you in on the details." "You, have plans! Doing what, helping the Weasley twins achieve their dreams, or even worse, help that Mudblood Potter." "Don't you dare accuse him when he hasn't done anything." I'd never liked being angry, it only ruins relationships. but as he continued to talk, I felt my curly ginger hair straighten out out and become the color of hate. Red, the color of angry men. I took a deep breath. "so hows it been without your arm?" "I've been bloody useless without one of my arms. That Buckbeak should pay." he waved his fist in the air quickly. "Oh, and he isn't?" I said sarcastically. "Not enough apparently. I told my father, he'll make Buckbeak and that Hagrid pay." "Buckbeaks going to be executed thanks to you and your so worried about your precious arm. Hagrid may even have it worse. But your the one who caused all of this." I turned on my heel and left as quickly as I had entered the room before I would become angrier. Directly outside the hospital wing was Crabbe and Goyle who were listening at the door. Who both claimed that they were evaluating a picture hanging on the wall outside of the wing. At this point, I didn't care whether they were listening in or not. I walked out, each step that I took further from the Wing, I felt better. The next day............ I traveled with the twins to Hogsmeade. "Thanks so much Scarlet! We're glad that you came to help us out." Both of them said while we rode by carriage into Hogsmeade. 'As if I had a choice. The two of you planned this all out before I agreed to it' I thought. But on the outside, I simply smiled at them. At least it was for a good reason. I'd gotten stuck in tons of bad situations with the twins for a lot of bad reasons. But since it's to help them achieve their dreams, I think I'll let this one go. "Scarlet, have you heard about buckbeak?" "Yes, I'm sure that all of Hogwarts has heard of it. I actually heard it from Oliver who's a 7th year on that day." "There are lots of rumors about it though. Rumors spread like wildfire. I heard that Buckbeak really gave it to Malfoy." "Hermione, Ron and Harry are all so furious with him. I am too, but they hate him more. I have a feeling that if we don't watch them they might do something they'll regret." "No need to say 'them', we both know who you're talking about. Harry and Hermione are both smart enough to know that if they mess with the Malfoy heir, they mess with a bunch of the Slytherin. We'll keep Ron from being his usual impulsive self." They both winked at me and I got a really bad feeling. "So what will we be doing today at the Three Broomsticks?" "Well dear Scarlet, we'll be doing all kinds of stuff. From cleaning to serving people to persuading people to come into The Three Broomsticks." "Sounds fun...." "Don't worry Scarlet, wherever we are, it'll always be fun." They smiled the biggest smile I had ever seen. It wasn't very happy looking, it was more frightening, like the serial killer smile that you would see in movies. As we continued to walk in, never had I felt so nervous of what the twins were up to. I think I'll always be curious what the word 'fun' meant to them. We ventured into the completely vacant area. "Glad that you could help me out today. I always ted to get swamped with customers these days when the Hogwarts students have their trip. Its nice to have a helping hand. But I suppose in this case, it'd be 6 helping hands." The owner welcomed us into the dark, but surprisingly friendly atmosphere. We began setting up the tables and cleaning up the floors. There was lots of gunk on the tables that I'm gonna guess was placed there purposely by some of the customers. Most of it was gum which I spent quite some time scraping it off with a paint scraper and into a plastic bucket. It was quite a gross task, but it wasn't gonna get done if I just whined in the corner about how terrible and gross the job wasn't. Cause truthfully, it really wasn't that bad. Sure, it may have been stuff that people took out of their mouths and stuck under the table, but there are tons of worse jobs out there. As I continued with work, I began to tally up all the 'little favors' the twins owed me. Every week, the number seems to get higher. "You've been doing such a wonderful job so far. But it seems that we're lacking customers. Would one of you go outside and attract more customers?" It was very true though. The Three Broomsticks did seem to be lacking customers. I nodded and headed outside with a beat up poster with letters that had once been written in a fluorescent green which were now beginning to fade. I waved the poster up and down and I even jumped and even did a few card tricks with the deck of cards that I brought with me just in case I got board. In a matter of time, I gathered a small crowd. Directly outside the store. I was able to convince quite a few of them to go inside while others just wanted to see what other tricks I had hidden under my sleeve. After a bit of more sign-flipping, I finally saw some people in the crowd I knew. Ron and Hermione. It seemed as though Hermione was fed up with Ron eating so much, that she was nagging him about it. Something that never gets old about those two. They stayed to watch my tricks and soon after the crowd I had attracted disbanded, the two pushed to the front to where I could speak to them. "Hey Ron, Hermione. What brings you both here? And the bigger question, where's your other third?" Ron and Hermione both opened their mouths to speak at the same time. But Hermione spoke first, while Ron got distracted by wafting scents of food coming from inside of The Three Broomsticks. "I suppose that you mean Harry. He had to stay behind since he hasn't gotten permission from his guardians."That stinks. There's no way the Dursley's would sign his permission slip" By this time, Ron was on the verge of drooling. Hermione elbowed him. And by the looks of it, she elbowed him hard. I ushered them inside The Three Broomsticks and found them a vacant table. I grabbed a miniature notebook and a pen from the back pocket in my pants. "So, what can I get ya?" "The usual. One of everything" The first time I heard Ron say that, I laughed it off thinking he was only joking."But I have no idea what Hermione's having." Ron continued. "You're such a pig. I'll have a butter beer please." I scribbled down the orders and returned a few minutes later with the assistance of Fred for carrying everything back to the table. There was barely enough room to fit all of Ron's food on the table. "Thanks Fred. I think it would've taken me about 5 trips to bring all the food." I don't mind it since in helping you. " I was about to ask them something when I got called over to another table. "Oh waitress!" called some Hogwarts students from a table. I turned around. I was the only female server right now so it had to mean me. All kinds of whistles came from that table. It wasn't until later that I realized Oliver was at that table along with a bunch of other 7th years who were elbowing him and obviously teasing him. It was obvious just by looking at his face. He was as red as a tomato.
  11. Part 56
  12. I finally reached the table with my pen and notepad out ready to take their orders. I opened my mouth to speak but was interrupted by the hyper 7th years who blurted out lots of cheesy pick-up lines. "Your smile is like expelliarmus. Simple, but disarming." "You must be my Hocrux because you complete me." "I'm just like Oliver Wood. Cause baby, I'm a keeper." "You like Hogwarts right? Cause I aDumbledore you." All of them were awful jokes, but I couldn't help but laugh. Oliver sat in the middle seat rather embarrassed by his friends. A few bad pick-up lines later..... I was able to finally get their orders. I returned to the table with all of their orders. I carried all the orders halfway to the table when I slipped in a puddle (how convenient) that must've been left there by Fred or George since there was a mop nearby. I lost a grip on a few of the butterbeer mugs and they flew high in the air. I was saved (not like this was a life or death situation. It was more like he 'saved' me from losing more brain cells) by not one person as I had thought initially, but two. Together they caught all the mugs and were able to keep some of it in the mugs. "Nice catch", I commented. "Anything for our dear Scarlet". Said the twins. They were on either side of me, holding my hand with one hand and supporting my back with the other. The rest of the time working was rather uneventful. After a day's work, we received money from the shop owner. "Thanks to you, I was able to earn more money in a day than I have in quite a while". "It was our pleasure". Fred and George accepted the money and turned to Neville, Oliver and me. "Thanks for helping us. Especially you, Scarlet. The only way we had gotten the other two to agree was by mentioning that you had already signed on. We wouldn't have had known what to do if you hadn't had agreed. Isn't that right, Freddie?" "R-right George". This was an example of how I could tell the twins apart. Their appearances may have been identical but, if you pay attention to the small details, you can easily tell them apart. When compared to each other, George is definitely more devious and mischievous than Fred is. Although its only slightly, Fred is more introverted. From my experience, I know that George was the mastermind behind this. Knowing this, George probably would've made me come whether I had volunteered or not. By this time, Oliver had left. He had gone to the sports shop within Hogsmeade. We exited the shop and walked around Hogsmeade. Just the four of us. "That's right. Today is Hallowe'en. There's supposed to be a feast tonight". "I bet Ron eats three times his weight". said George. "I'll bet four. What do you wanna wager?" I asked. "5 galleons. Do you want to enter our little bet?" George asked Fred and Neville. "I'm game. I'll bet two". Said Fred. "You game, Neville?" George taunted. I turned to Neville. "Don't waste your money. George is just looking for a couple of extra bucks". I know that Neville only has his grandmother, which is why I can't let George take his money. I've seen Neville spend money before. He's very careful whenever he handles money. Fred and George, but mostly George, are always looking for a quick buck and were just trying to sucker him out of his money. I figured he had known that, so what he had said next surprised me. "I'm game. In fact, let's make it 6 galleons. I'll bet five times". "How daring". Said the twins. "Neville-" I began but didn't finish when I overhead the conversation of a group of girls next to us. They were discussing Sirius Black, an escaped prisoner who was convicted murderer. "Rumor has it, he wants to murder Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived". I'd heard about these rumors circulating around Hogwarts from Hermione and Ron so it wasn't a surprise, but hearing other people say it aloud made me feel unsettled. "Dumbledore has Dementors all over searching for him". Neville placed his hand on my shoulder and lightly squeezed it. "Even if he does, I can assure you that nothing will happen to you". Talking to Neville always puts me at ease. He's like the safety net underneath a treetop ropes course. I place my hand over his. "Thanks". "Aw, look. Our Scarlet's all grown up". Commented the twins. I let go of Neville's hand in embarrassment and he let go of my shoulder as he blushed profusely. "We've got news for you, Scarlet's our toy. Isn't that right Freddie?" George said as he placed his arm around my shoulder. He's definitely the devious one. "Right George". Unlike usual, Fred's response was delayed. Like George, Fred put his arm around me as well. "Excuse me, the toy has feelings". I commented. We continued like this until we entered the carriage to return to Hogwarts. A little while later.... We entered the dining hall and sat in our usual seats. Fred and George on either side of me, Ron, Harry, and Hermione sitting across from us and Neville sitting to the side. Jack-O-Lanterns were floating around the cafeteria. I found the individually carved Jack-O-Lanterns more entertaining the feast sitting in front of me. Apparently Ron didn't find anything more entertaining than the large plates of foor sitting in front of him. If he weren't shoving down as much food as he could cram into his mouth at one time, I could swear that he'd be drooling. I had lightly snacked all day, saving up plenty of room for the feast tonight. I was somewhat in between famished and Ron hungry. But like a puddle of water on the pavement on a hot summers day, my hunger evaporated when I heard the conversations around us. "I guess you could say that its a Sirius conversation". Said the twins. Although my hunger had gone, it was replaced by a storm. A storm of butterflies. I wasn't concerned about my safety, as much as some of the other students were about themselves. I was frightened about what would happen to Harry. If these rumors were true, and they seemed even more so by the minute, then this meant the Sirius Black would do anything to reach him. I added a couple of foods to my plate and only picked at them while Ron, who was sitting across from me, was still chewing away nonstop. By this point, Ron had almost eaten four times his weight in food. "Look at him go. I may not a doctor, but he definitely will get type 2 diabetes when his metabolism drops. Isn't that right Freddie?" "Right George". We noticed that Ron's eating had slowed. Crabbe and Goyle came over to the table. "Draco would like to speak with you". I glanced across the room at the long table filled with Slytherins. There was always something so cold about that table. Each Slytherin had a colder stare than the next. A majority of them look like they ate children for breakfast with their menacing grins and almost emotionless eyes. I often liked to refer to them as shark eyes for one, and only one reason. Both organisms Slytherin and shark alike, were both cold blooded. I then glanced at the Jack-O-Lanterns that appeared more like they were floating rather than suspended from fishing wire attatched to the ceiling. This was a magic school, after all. The saying people have, that whenever someone is looking at you, you can feel their stare. This could never be more true. The hairs on my neck stood up. I looked around, to find whose gaze I had been holding. I found who was the one who had staring at me and I met his eyes. Draco looked a little different after our fight. His cast was no longer a pure white, but in between a light brown and an off white. I noticed a few dark circles under his eyes. When I looked away, i found Crabbe and Goyle standing there. "Draco requests your presence". They said. My response may have been cold, but my uneasiness about Sirius Black and the bet with Fred and George didn't help my nerves. "Is this really what it's going to be like being his friend? Is he going to have you two fetch me every time he wants to talk to me? I'm not playing his immature games anymore.Tell him that if he wants to talk to me, he should come here and tell me himself". As they returned to Draco, I heard Neville call out to me. "We determined who won the bet. Ron's stopped eating". I looked over my shoulder just in time to see Crabbe and Doyle relay my message to Draco. Our eyes met once again and for the first time ever, I was the one who was smirking. "Scarlet. You won!" Said Neville. "Yes I did".
  13. Part 57
  14. In no way had I felt like I had won. Not even the bet. Those words were more for reassurance than anything else. Even the money I had won from the bet was sure to be taken by Fred or George one way or another. "Alright. Hand it over". I said to Fred and George. They each handed me 6 galleons and so did Neville. I didn't feel right about taking his money, but when his birthday comes around, I'll spend it on him. Ron was no longer full and his plates were stacked high and appeared to have been licked clean. I'm quite sure that if I, or any other human being had comsumed that much, we'd either have exploded right there on the spot or would be full until a week after. But it was Ron, so he'd be shoving his face by morning. My plate was still full of foods that had several puncture wounds from my fork. As we headed to the common room, I got stuck in another one of Fred and George's conversations again. "Hey Scarlet. We'd love for you to try another one of our prototypes" Said the twins. "We rarely ask anything of you. Isn't that right Freddie?" "Right, George". "Really? What about when it was Ron's Birthday and you two got into a fight on who got to use the mixer and flipped the switch on high, causing flour to spill all over the place? Or when you wanted to play a prank on Ron, you asked gor my help, and I got poison ivy all over? Or more recently, when you looped me in to working on the Hogsmeade trip?" I could never be mad at the twins for long periods of time. Although, that doesn't mean that they can't be infuriating at times. They gave me the saddest eyes I'd ever seen. So sad that I almost considered giving in right then and there. But I knew what was behind their sad looks. "What is it? Is there a cure? And could I die from it?" These had become my standard questions whenever the twins asked me to do a "favor" for them. "It's a potion". Said Fred. "Last time you made potions and tested them on yourselves, you turned into a clown". I said to Fred. "And you turned into Cousin It" I said turning to George. "That was ages ago". George said waving his hand up and down. "That was a week ago". I said bluntly. I sighed. "What type of potion is it?" "It's a love potion, my dear Scarlet" said George. "Fine". I look across the table. Ron, Hermione, and Harry had left already. "Before you try it, we need to get it and a couple other things from our room for you to test". They said that and practically ran to the common room. "I'm actually gonna go to the common room. Do you wanna tag along?" I asked Neville. "Yeah. Sure". "I'm gonna test some of the products the twins made. Would you like to join us?" "I would, but I don't really trust the products the twins make". "I can't say I'm suprised. I don't really trust their products either but I know that George will plan to prank me if I don't do this". We reached the painting containing the fat lady. Only, she wasn't there. Several students had gathered around, including Harry, Hermione, and Ron. "This can't be good. I'm going to find out what happened. I'll be back". I pushed through the crowd that was continuously growing and tried to reach Harry. His black hair seemed to stick out within the crowd. As I tried to reach him, I bumped into several people in the process. Including Oliver. I stopped my shoving and asked him if he knew anything. "The fat lady wouldn't let Sirius Black into the Gryffindor Tower and he attacked her". "Sirius Black is here?" My stomach felt unsettled. It felt as if it were turning like a washer. My hands began shaking. "Yeah". My hands began shake wildly. I grabbed my wrist and squeezed it tightly to prevent him or anyone else from noticing my hands. He did. "Are you all right?" "Not really". I'd say I was fine, but I'd be lying. He already saw my hands. No use in hiding it. "I won't let anything happen to you, if you're concerned about that". There was lots of comfort in his words. Just like no one can make me feel comfortable like Neville, or no one could make me laugh more than the twins, no one could make me feel safer than Oliver even though he's probably concussed whenever I talk to him. "That's only partially what I'm worried about. I'm not really afraid for myself. Sirus isn't after me. He's after Harry. But who know to what lengths he'll go to and-" He shushed me. "Don't get yourself too worked up". "I know, but it's the not knowing that's killing me". "Harry's tough. He's taken a couple blows from the bludger". His words weren't reassuring, but simply his presence was. I saw Neville push through just about half the population of witches and wizards who attended Hogwarts. "Excuse me. Pardon me". He said nervously as he gently pushed past a few Slytherins. Not noticing their robes, you'd easily be able to identify them as Slytherins. From their rudeness, sneers, and inability to not talk about someone behind their back. I felt a tug on my ponytail. I turned to Oliver. "Dumbledore is going to make an announcement". Dumbledore stood in a place where he could be seen by all. This wasn't too hard considering that he towered over a majority of people, if not all. He cleared his throat to gather everyone's attention. "As you all have heard, Sirius Black has entered Hogwarts. We will be searching for him but in the meantime, you will sleep in the Great Hall. That is all". He left slowly, but that was probably as fast as his legs could carry him, while stroking his lengthy beard. I turned around to find Neville still struggling to get through the crowd of Slytherins. I moved through the crowd with ease and grabbed Neville's hand, pulling him along with me with ease. "I guess that means we migrate to the Great Hall after we gather our stuff". I said. And so we did. While I was in my room, I changed into my pajamas which was nothing less than a hoodie and sweatpants and grabbed my sleeping bag. The Great Hall was fairly empty The only girls there besides me was Hermione and Ginny who stood near the wall just inside the room. "Where do you think all the girls are?" Hermione asked. "Probably finding the cutest outfit in their closet and caking as much make up on their faces as they can" I answered. There was a knock on the wall. Probably to get our attention. I turned around. Draco was there, his shoulder blade leaning on the wall, legs crossed at the ankles. Hermione held up her wand in a threatening way. "I'd like to talk to you". He said. "You should feel bad about Buckbeak. But I wouldn't think you would since you obviously have no heart". He held his finger up into the air as if that finger had all the power in the world. "Don't test me. Or so help me-" "My father shall hear about this!" Hermione mimicked him and even wagged her finger in the air. It really was a good impression of him. "This is what I get for trying to talk to a filthy mudbl-" I gave him a disapproving look. Hermione still held up her wand, with contempt. She looked as if she were going to murder him. Knowing Hermione, she would definitely know how to do it, too. I walked past him, grabbing his tie and pulling him with me in the process. "I can't believe you did that. I know that you don't like my friends, but I've at least tried to get to know yours". "That's hardly fair. My friends are better in so many ways". "Please. What ways? They barely know you. You order them around. You squirt then with that spray bottle when they misbehave. That's not a friendship. And just because of their blood status doesn't mean they're inferior. Hermione is probably one of the smartest wizards out there. I can't say that much about Crabbe or Goyle". "I wanted to apologize about Buckbeak. I shouldn't have run to my father about something I had caused. Forgive me?" If he hadn't had that fight with Hermione, I probably would've forgiven him. "Give me some time". I left, leaving Draco with a crumpled tie. More people had entered the Great Hall. I set up my sleeping bag which was unzipped and spread out and blankets near the entrance. As soon as I laid down, two bodies laid beside me. "Fred, George. What are you doing on my sleepin bag?" "You, Ron, and Ginny have our only sleeping bags". Explained George. "So? Go sleep with them. They're your siblings". "But Scarlet, we're already comfortable. Too late to move now, don't you think Freddie?" "Right George". These two shorten my life span. I sighed, knowing they wouldn't budge. They found themselves fast asleep soon after.I however did not. Fred wouldn't give me any breathing room and squeezed me like you could do with an orange. He would also sleep talk. It'd always be some sort of gibberish. And then George was a kicker. Finding myself still unable to feel confortable, I decided that maybe a little fresh air might help. I pried Fred's arms off of me and found a comfortable spot directly outside the Great Hall. I sat there for several minutes. 'A couple more minutes' I told myself. I felt my eyelids become heavy. I stood and was about to return to my sleeping bag when I heard a voice greet me. "You're still up". Said Oliver. "I couldn't sleep either". "Fred was practically squeezing the air out of me". I commented. "You're sharing a sleeping bag with Fred?" "And George. Don't forget George". "Aren't you a little squished?" "A little. But I don't mind it". "I've got an idea. I'll be right back". He left empty handed and returned carrying a backpack and a sleeping bag. "What's that for?" I pointed at his stuff. "I like it better out here anyway". He placed down his sleeping bag and unfurled it. e gestured for me to sit and so I did. He dug two blankets out of his bag and handed me one. "I don't think that Fred was the reason you weren't able to sleep. I think you're still scared. But you shouldn't be because you have Fred, George, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and me. Should you fall into danger, we'll undoubtedy protect you. I'll protect you. Because Scarlet, you're a keeper". And as I found myself falling asleep next to him, I realized something. Never had I ever felt safer. And what I wanted to say back to him was, 'No, Oliver. I'm no keeper. I'm nothing special. You're the one that's a keeper. And in more ways than one'. But I couldn't bring myself to say it. He's a senior this year and I know that he'd be doing great things beyond these walls. I don't want to be the person who holds him down. His anchor. The gravity that keeps him in this universe. In this case, it's mine.
  15. PArt 58
  16. Hogwarts has been odd lately. And I'm not talking about the magic. It seems to have become stranger since the fat lady was attacked by Sirius. Gryfindoor's first quidditch match is coming up, but I don't have a good feeling about it. There's a certain coldness in the halls. But then again, it's winter and Christmas is approaching fast. Gryffindor would've gone against Slytherin, but Draco's arm is still busted. Speaking of him, our relationship hadn't gotten any better since the last time we talked in the great hall. I still hadn't quite forgiven him yet. Lupin got sick one day, and Snape taught one of his classes. Instead of continuing with what we were currently learning we learned about werewolves and were assigned to write a paper on them. Strange. I had already finished writing the paper, and found myself wandering the halls. I needed gifts for everyone. I was quite a bit strapped for cash and I couldn't ask the Weasley's for money. They had taken me in. I couldn't ask anything more of them. Luckily, I had found myself a spot of employment at Honeydukes. The couple who owned it were extremely nice and were eager to have someone willing to help especially with the ever increasing popularity of Honeydukes. They were even willing to give me an employee discount. I decided that I should finish working on my gift for Neville and Draco just in case we had made up. I needed to wrap a couple others. I wrapped Oliver's gift with care. It was a mug that I had bartered with Crabbe to get. I told him I'd do him a favor when the time came. I had written on the mug to make it say "I'm a catch" a picture of a golden snitch I had drawn next to it in gold. I put his gift into a box and carefully wrapped the box with snowflake wrapping paper. As the last touch, I added a card signed with my name. I wrapped Hermione's gift next. A book that I had gotten Gildrey Lockhart to sign last year addressed to Hermione. I had gotten him to sign it before he had lost his memory, which was after christmas last year so I couldn't have had given it to her then. I figured at least someone besides me would get a laugh out of the book. It was even on a topic she was interested in. I then wrapped Ron's gift by placing his gift, a coupon for me to make any meal he desires in an envelope and sealed it shut. Thinking about how many pranks the twins had played on me, I decided to prank them back. I wrapped two jars of peanut brittle separately. One was actual peanut brittle and the other had a compressed spring in it ready to fly out. I also included two coupons with their gift. It said that I would willingly be their guinea pig for their prototypes once for each coupon. I had yet to buy Harry a gift and finish Nevilles. I figured that I could just buy Harry candy from Honeydukes. I grabbed my project for Nevilles gift and as I was about to leave the room, I saw a black box with a green bow neatly tied around it. My gift for Draco. I had made him a black handkerchief with the Slytherin Logo embroidered on it. I continued on to the common room.I sat in a chair near the fireplace in the common room. I had a couple hours until the quidditch game was going to start and I figured I'd be able to finish before then. In my spare time, I had made Neville a scarf with Gryffindor colored stripes. It looked fairly similar to his Gryffindor scarf, but his had seen better days. It's definitely time to retire that scarf. It had several large holes within it and parts of it had become unraveled. The fireplace was warm in contrast to the miserable weather outside. I ran my fingers along the knitted fabric of the scarf and tied uniform pieces of yellow and red yarn to both ends. I checked the clock, which continuously ticked each exact second. Like a metronome. Thirty minutes before the game. I hurriedly placed Neville's scarf underneath my bed in a box full of presents I would be giving and threw on one of the hand-me-down jackets given to me by the Weasley's and my Gryffindor scarf. Down the stairs, through corridors, and to the quidditch field I went. Outside, the sky appeared darker. It looked as if it had some pent up rage and would soon be releasing it upon us. I found the tent where Oliver was giving a pep talk to the team. It wasn't really a pep talk. It was more of him rambling on about quidditch and trash talking the other team than anything else. When he finished, everyone began to both mentally and physically prepare for the game. "Hey Scarlet. Nice to see you". "Hey Oliver. Are you sure that you want to play in this kind of weather? The clouds are getting darker by the minute". "Absolutely. Quidditch stops for no one". Sometimes I worry about his judgment when it's related to Quidditch. "Scarlet! It's been a while". Said Fred. Normally when they'd say that, it'd only been a day. Although, it was true this time. I actually hadn't seen the twins in a while. I'd been busy with making gifts, classes and securing a job at Honeydukes. "I suppose it has. Where's your other half?" "Right here". A voice said behind me. George then took his usual place next to Fred. "Hey George". "I'm not George. He's George". "This isn't going to work on me. I can tell you two apart". I said. "The jig is up, George". Said Fred. "We tried this on Mom once, and she assumed she mixed us up". Said George. "You still haven't tried our prototype yet. Do you have any plans after the game?" They said. " I don't, actually". "We'll see you then". They said and left, as Harry approached. "Glad to see that you came. You should play quidditch next year. It'll be really fun". "I'm not too sure about that. I tried riding a broom once. I didn't care for it". I hated flying. Heights was another fear of mine. It was frightening to me. The thought of falling off that broom was enough to encourage me to get no where near a broom. "Oliver's calling me. I've got to go". "Harry". He had begun to walk towards Oliver and turned his head towards me at the sound of my voice. "Yes?" "Be safe". He waved goodbye to me and joined Oliver. I found myself an empty spot on the bleachers relatively near Ron and Hermione, who sat a couple rows down. I would've sat with them, but I wasn't sure if I was up to Ron's constant munching and Hermione's screaming at the players. The seats filled up quickly and the game soon began. Crabbe and Goyle took a seat near me. "You know that favor that you said you owed me?" Began Crabbe. "Yeah..". "I'd like to cash thay in now". "What's the favor?" "Well...." He gestured to Draco who stood on the stair that was on our level of the bleachers. "He's been really upset. He's been giving out orders like crazy. He's driving us mad. He was so much nicer when you were talking. So that's why we'd like you to forgive him". "PLEASE!" Begged Goyle. "We'll leave you two alone to talk". As soon as they had left their seats unoccupied, Draco had occupied them. "Scarlet. I want to apologize to you. I'd never meant to offend you or anything of the sort". "I know. I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have gone off on you like that. I was really anxious and scared. I still am". "You have nothing to apologize for". "I do. And you know that". "Are we okay?" "Yeah". The game seemed slow. Well, to me anyway.I'd never fancied quidditch. Oliver saw me and waved eagerly. I waved back. He then frowned. I can assume that he saw me sitting with Draco. A Slytherin. He looked even sadder as raindrops began to fall. First a few, and then it began to pour. Meanwhile, a bludger was making its way toward Oliver from behind. "Oliver! Behind you!" He turned in time to be able to dodge it. Well, for the most part. He was hit in the shoulder. There was definitely going to be a bruise left there. "I was curious on whether or not you'd like to spend Christmas with us". "Wouldn't your dad hate that?" "Yes. Even more of a reason to come. But my mom likes you, so you're safe". "As tempting as that sounds... I actually had plans to stay here for Christmas with the Weasley's, Neville, and Harry". "So you'd rather spend your Christmas with Potter than with me?" He was obviously upset. "It's just that I had figured that you had no intention of staying at Hogwarts seeing that you-" "I what?" "You and Harry probably couldn't be in a room alone together without you two trying to kill each other. In an instant, rain began to pour down. The quidditch game continued. The next few events happen in a blur. Dementors entered the match, Harry's screaming, and a win for Huffllepuff.
  17. Part 59
  18. Not only had those specific events passed by in a blur, but so had the rest of the day. I walked to the hospital wing with a basket of muffins the next day. I had gotten permission from one of the teachers to use it as long as I hadn't interfered with the house elves work. They were assorted. I walked into the wing where Harry was sitting. He was stuck here for twenty four hours when he was brought here last night. That meant that he had a good twelve hours left. I came by, trying to help him pass the time. I grabbed a chair near the his bed, the first one. All of the curtains were pulled out, making me unable to see the if anyone else was injured yesterday and was being kept in the wing. "Harry! How are you?" "I'm doing just fine. I'm a little bored. But I'm glad to have you here". "I brought you a surprise. I brought you some assorted muffins". "Great. I've heard from Ron that you're food is fantastic". "Ron is a vacuum". I stated. "That's true. I'll have one now". I gave him the basket. Just then, the curtain blocking our view of the next bed over was pulled in the other direction, allowing us to have a view on the other side of the curtain."I thought I heard our dear Scarlet's voice". Said George. He had been the one who pulled the curtain. Fred was here too. He was bandaging parts of Oliver's shoulder and arm, which I suppose was hit by the bludger yesterday. Fred stopped bandaging Oliver's arm and joined me and Harry. "What am I, Chop Liver?" Said Oliver to no one in particular. I aided him in bandaging the rest of his arm. "Maybe I should hurt myself, since Scarlet's treating people". Fred had thought aloud. "Scarlet. I cut my finger earlier. Would you kiss it to make it better?" Asked George, who shoved his finger into my face. "Fresh". I commented, using the palm of my hand to lightly bop him on the forehead. I finished bandaging Oliver's arm, which couldn't be described without using the word "muscle". Although, I couldn't say the same about Ron. I tied off the bandage. "There. Should be good to go". I glanced over at the twins who were smiling like they were mad. Which they undoubtedly were. "Oh dear Scarlet". Began George. As I put away the medical supplies, I dreaded what he would say next. "You still need to be out little test subject". "Fine" I said. I just knew that if I had tried to weasle out of it, then they'd get me back in one form or another. "What is it?" "A love potion". It was a sickening hue of pink. "Are you sure it's safe?" I asked. The twins looked at one another for several minutes before responding together. "Sure". I looked at Harry, who sat in the hospital bed. "Fine. Let's get this over with". I turned to Harry. "If I lose my mind, please do me a favor and slap me back to my senses. What happens in the hospital wing, stays in the hospital wing. Got it?". George handed me the vial. "Whenever your ready". He had said. In no way would I ever be ready. I unscrewed the spongy cork that had been used to keep the potion from spilling out of the vial. It didn't smell right. But I decided not to ask and drank a tiny portion of the potion. I didn't feel any different, but I decided to play along in Fred and George's game. We'd learned about love potions during class. Love potions didn't make the drinker actually fall in love. It was more infatuation than anything else. I threw my arms around George, embracing tightly. I had to be on my toes, literally. I whispered in his ear. "I-" "Yes?" He looked at me. Harry sat in his bed uncomfortably and Fred looked rather confused. "I believe it was a success, dear brother" "We should probably give her the antidote now" Suggested Fred. "I don't see why we can't milk this for all it's worth. It might not be bad having Scarlet be infatuated with me for a while". "You wish". I whispered, pushing George away from me. "Potion didn't work. Try again next time". I handed him back the vial. "Harry. Take a picture". It's definitely a time to remember". George looked embarrassed, while Fred appeared highly amused. He high-fived me. "You got me, Scarlet". That night, I thought as I wrapped my gift for Neville. I'd still recieved letters from my father, but they'd been coming less and less. I'd always wondered why he hadn't come to see me. Or why I couldn't see him. Much less, know his actual identity. I'd heard from Voldemort that he was a foolish Slytherin, and my mother was a Gryffindoor. But like the other things he's told me, I can't trust. I decided that I needed to find out who he was. Even if that meant I had to do some snooping at Malfoy Manor. The Hogsmeade Trip: Today was my first day working at Hogsmeade. Ambrosius Flume, gave me an apron and assigned me to check out people who wanted to purchase candy. The sweets had definitely put me in the holiday spirit. With the money I will earn today, I still won't have enough to buy Harry a new broomstick. I'd been trying to save up, but it never amounted to be enough. I'll just save it for later. 'I suppose I'll just buy him some candy' I had thought. Several people I had known had entered the shop. Ron and Hermione were talking about what type of candy to but Harry. I'd made several suggestions to them, but them seemed so deep into thought that they didn't notice. I mostly stayed at the desk. "That'll be 2 galleons". I had said. The door jingled. Someone new had entered the shop. "Hey Scarlet". It was the twins. I could tell that George was still a little peeved about the love potion. The door chimed. Neville entered the shop. He came straight towards me. "Hey Scarlet. I heard that you worked here from Harry. He pointed to Harry, who was now standing next to Hermione and Ron. That's strange. He didn't have his permission slip signed, so why is he here? It was best not to ask, sometimes. This was probably one of those times. "I don't know what's sweeter. You, or the candy" Said Oliver. He was so sweet. He'd make my day by saying some of those comments. But like all candy, that sweetness didn't last very long. "The candy". Yelled Ron from across the room. The twins thwacked him upside the head. "You'll never get a girlfriend like that". The twins said, shaking their heads. "Look at Oliver. He's got the technique". Commented the twins, as Oliver and I talked. 'What can I get you?" "It's more of, 'what can I get you?'. I wanted to wait to give you your Christmas gift later, but I couldn't wait. I don't know when I'll see you next, and I'm not staying for Christmas gift". "If I had known, I would've brought yours. I suppose I can just give it to you later". He took a box from out of his pocket. "Here". I was handed the box. It was one of those small boxes that normally held wedding rings and such. I opened the black velvet box and inside, was a snitch necklace. "Oliver..." I was about to tell him he shouldn't have. It appeared as if he had spent a lot of money on it. Oliver stood behind me and attatched the ends of the necklace around my neck. It was a little looser than a choker. "Don't say anything. It didn't cost much. It was made from the materials of the first snitch I ever used". "Definitely a pro". George whispered to Fred. The cold chain tickled my skin. "I didn't get you anything nearly this special". I said, regretfully. "Anything from you, is precious". He said. We now faced each other, looking into each other's eyes. "Bullocks!" Yelled Ron from across the room, only to be bopped again on the head by the twins."That hurts, you know". Commented Ron. "What are you gonna do about it, dear brother?" Taunted the twins. I glanced at my feet and laughed to myself. "Scarlet, I may be a keeper-". As Ron and the twins fought across the room, I could hear another one of Ron's comments. "Like we haven't heard that one before". Oliver observed the scene from across the room for a quick moment before continuing. "-But when it comes to you, I'm a seeker. Like the golden snitch, I'll always catch you". My face felt warm, especially my cheeks. "Get a room!" Yelled Ron before the twins put their hands over his mouth and carried him out of the shop like a sack of flour. My shift ended soon after, and I was one of the last to get a carriage back to Hogwarts. "Please wait!" I had begun to run faster. I was panting heavily by the time in sat in the carriage. Draco sat in the carriage, looking amused. "Is there still room for another person at your table for Christmas?" Draco Smirked. "For you, Always".
  19. Part 60
  20. With Christmas break arriving, I'd decided to give everyone their Christmas gift the day before I left. Hermione reacted to my gift of Lockhart's books better than I had anticipated. She did still throw a fit, though. Ron couldn't have had loved his gift more, even though it was a coupon. The twins were suspicious of the peanut brittle I had given them. "Scarlet, this is the oldest one in the book". They said. "Fine. I'll just enjoy the peanut brittle myself". I took back the can that wasn't pressurized and ate a piece. George gave his to Ron, who was then hit with the springs in the can. "You've fallen for the oldest trick in the book, dear brother" Said George. "Nice effort". Commented Fred. The coupons I gave them, guaranteeing that I'd be their guinea pig for anything, they said they'd "most definitely use it later". Neville had adored his gift. He placed his old scarf in the box and I tied the new scarf around his neck. I'd given Harry candy since I still couldn't afford to buy him a new broom. He seemed a tad disappointed. Had he been expecting more? Oliver enjoyed his gift, but not nearly as much as I had enjoyed the one he had given me. That Christmas, I found myself at Malfoy manor. A place that I'd never wanted to go back to when I had left. I found myself constantly comparing it to the Burrow. It's cold and lonely atmosphere highly contrasted with the Burrow's warm and loving one. Lucius wasn't too pleased. He still treated me like the help, which I hadn't minded as much as I used to. I had greeted the staff, who'd always been much more welcoming than the ones whose care I'd been entrusted with. It was odd that I wasn't the one preparing dinner this time. We all sat at the four ends of a lengthy table that required us to yell when we wanted to speak to one another. It had been silent for the longest time, so I had decided to break the ice. "Who are my parents?" This caused Narcissa, who was sipping on a cup of tea, to do a spit take. She wiped her mouth with the white napkin on her lap. "It doesn't matter much now. They're dead". "But that can't be true. I've been receiving letters from my father since I was little". This caused Narcissa to gasp. Lucius was the only one who hadn't looked surprised. He knew something. The rest of dinner had remained quiet. It wasn't my presence that made the dinner threateningly silent. They were always like this, no matter what occasion. Birthdays, Christmas, New Years, and other holidays. Before I retired to my room, I gave Draco his present. A handkerchief with the Slytherin symbol embroidered on it. He seemed surprised. "Thanks..... I didn't get you anything". I waved my hand in an upward and downward motion. "Don't mention it". In my room, I layed there staring at the ceiling. I stayed like this, wondering, and waiting. What kind of secret did Lucius have? Why wasn't he surprised? I looked through the letters I'd received from my father. The dates getting farther and farther apart as I looked at them chronologically. I skimmed through them, hoping to finding something. Anything. The smallest change in tone could be a hint. But no such luck. As the clock struck midnight, I crept out of my bed and wandered the halls. Checking every room, every nook and cranny. Anything could be a clue. I'd searched rooms that were no longer used by the Malfoy's and found nothing. As I continued walking in the seemingly endless hallway, I came upon a small door to the right. It was a door that I'd seen before. It didn't appear to be anything out of the ordinary. Over years of working here, I'd always figured it was a storage space instead of a room. But I decided that it would be better if I checked anyway. On the inside, I had seen what I hadn't expected to see. Instead of cardboard boxes piled high, the room only had a desk, a lamp, and a comfy appearing leather chair. I ventured into the room at my own risk. On the desk, a quill and a couple letters. All written in what appeared to be my father's handwriting. I began reading them in chronological order. "Dear Lucius, I've found myself reconsidering whether or not to stay one of Voldemort's loyal followers. My wife's pregnant with our child and she doesn't want Voldemort anywhere near her. Please, dear friend..... what do I do?" I placed the letter brief letter down and began reading the next. "Dear Lucius, I can't find myself on Voldemort's side any longer. He brutally murdered my wife in front of my child's eyes to keep me from swaying back and forth. I can no longer side with him. Even as I'm writing this letter, I feel the burn of the dark mark in my skin. There's only one way to end this....... So I'm leaving Scarlet with you, old friend. Please care for her as your own child" So, it was true. Voldemort had spoken the truth. My head was spinning. I used the back of the chair at the desk to keep myself standing. But there was one more letter. I placed the one I had been reading onto the desk. 'If my father's dead, then who's been writing me those letters?' I thought. I heard the door creak from behind me. There wasn't a breeze. Someone was there. I turned. "Oh, Draco. It's just you...." I had felt relieved. He stepped closer. The emotion in his eyes was gone. He'd looked just like Lucius. My eyes widened. I pulled out my wand. But it was too late. I'd already been hit with a spell. As I fell to the floor with a large thump, I could only see flashes of memories. Not just the ones of Hogwarts, but the ones from before that you normally wouldn't be able to recall. Flashes of blood, curdling screams, two Cruciatus curses, and one killing curse. In a moment, it was all over. The memory, and my ability to stay concious, as my body was dragged away.

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