My One and Only

Chapter 14 - Year 2

"I HATE THAT DISGRACE OF A MAN." Maia tossed a grape into the air, catching it effortlessly in her mouth. "First, he pulled Harry and me out of Herbology just to reprimand us; spouting o about how we can't go flying cars for attention and apologizing for giving us a taste of fame. And, just when I thought he couldn't get worse, the prat released a cage of Cornish pixies and left me, Harry, Ron, and Hermione to collect them all!" Maia scoffed at the absurdity of the memory and she reached for the bowl of grapes once more. Fred snagged the grape she'd just tossed into the air and popped it into his own mouth with a speed that surprised the younger girl. She glared playfully at him and shoved him with her foot, squealing as he grabbed onto her ankle and pulled her off of the couch.

"Hi!" she cried, wincing as pain flared up from her tailbone. "Careful! I'm not going to the hospital wing two nights in a row!"

The twins snickered as Maia jerked her foot away from Fred and stood with a huff, her eyes glowing orange in annoyance.

"C'mon, M, lighten up." George drawled, popping a grape into his mouth. "You're going to start growing gray hairs at this rate."

Maia swatted at his hand as he tugged on the ends of her hair and stuck her tongue out at him. "Easy for you to say. You two had an amazing day of pranking and easy lessons. Meanwhile I was concerned twice by Lockhart, nearly fainted when Malfoy ripped my earmuffs away while we were handling Mandrakes, and, after an hour of Defense, all I managed to learn was that Lockhart's favorite color is lilac." Pale red was slowly beginning to creep up the ends of Maia's hair and she clenched her fists in her lap. "Not to mention the Howler from your mother." Maia's cheeks burned at the memory of the screaming letter Ron had received that morning and she sighed in shame.

"Aw come on, My." Fred said, hoisting himself up onto the sofa beside her. "If anyone should feel bad about the howler its Ron. Don't worry, mums not mad at you or Harry."

"But she should be!" Maia burst out, startling the redheaded twins. "It was my idea to take the car! Ron only drove because Harry and I didn't know how." A wave of guilt crashed through her as she thought of the letter and how because of them, Mr. Weasley was facing issues with the Ministry. If she was the reason he was sacked, she'd never be able to forgive herself.

"There's no use worrying about things you can't change." George said, rather bluntly, and Fred shot him a scathing look.

"What George means to say." He said, wrapping an arm around the small girl. "It is that its okay to feel bad, but don't drown yourself in regret. Everything will be fine in the long run. You'll see."

Maia smiled, despite herself, and shook her head. "When did you become a fortune cookie?" she muttered, chuckling softly at Fred's confused expression. "Never mind." She grabbed another grape and flicked it at the older boy, laughing as his frown morphed into a mischievous grin, and suddenly the three were in a grape war, their shouts loud enough to wake the whole castle.

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By the time Maia returned to her dorm, a pale orange glow had begun to seep in through the windows as the sun peeked over the horizon. She was bloody exhausted and knew that lessons that day would be miserable, but it was worth the fatigue to spend some time with her favorite twins.