stardust ⋮ george weasley

thirty :

T H I R T Y

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After her Transfiguration class one November afternoon, Adeline left to go meet her friends in the library. On the way, however, Adeline had come across a tearful Neville, who tried to pretend as if things were alright when he saw her. However, Adeline refused to believe him and, after a little bit of prodding, learnt that Professor Snape had subtly hinted at poisoning his toad Trevor if he could not brew an antidote correctly in their next class.

Upon learning this, a horrified Adeline ended up spending most of her afternoon tutoring Neville in Potions. Neville had seemed shocked that Adeline insistence, as apparently he "didn't expect a Triwizard Champion to help him out with his miserable Potions abilities." But Adeline refused to let him think otherwise and sat down at a table with him, and the pair spent a long time reviewing antidotes and the easiest ways to correct them.

After Neville left, she found Estelle, Ophelia, and Melanie at a nearby table, all working on their various studies for their N.E.W.T. classes and decided to join them. "What the hell are our Defense exams supposed to be like?" Melanie questioned aloud. "He hasn't told us about what they're even on or the format, and it's scheduled Monday!"

"Knowing him it'll be all practical exams," Estelle responded, glaring down at her elaborate notes. "No preparation at all because 'that's what the real world's like!'"

"Constant vigilance!" Adeline giggled, hoping the Defense professor wasn't nearby and could hear her making fun of his infamous catchphrase. "He's absolutely brilliant, but he's also kind of mental, don't you think?"

Meanwhile, behind Melanie's shoulder, Ophelia spotted someone and ducked her head. "Oh, Merlin, guys get ready for this–"

"Get ready for what–"

"Hello, everyone!" Hermione grinned, not asking before sitting down in the empty seat beside Adeline, carrying a small pouch and a pile of pamphlets. "I want to talk to you about S.P.E.W."

Hiding her head in her hands, Ophelia mumbled something that Adeline barely make out but sounded something like "Here she goes again."

"What's S.P.E.W.?" Melanie asked hesitantly, unsure if she wanted to know the answer if Ophelia already seemed so annoyed.

"The Society for the Promotion of Elfish Warfare!" Hermione informed them as she pulled a bunch of small green badges out of the pouch and placed them in the middle of the table. "Our mission is to advocate for and establish rights for house elves."

"Hold on, house elves?" Adeline questioned curiously. "What are those?"

"They're the elves that work down in the kitchens," Estelle explained, starting to shift uncomfortably in her seat. "They...they don't work for any pay though."

"We have slaves at Hogwarts?"

"Not just at Hogwarts!" Hermione added furiously, making Adeline's mouth drop. "At least at Hogwarts they get bonuses and vacation days, and even that's not enough! Most house elves are abused and don't get any time off! I know a wonderful house elf named Dobby who's old master made him punish himself by ironing his own hands."

"Are you serious?" Adeline gasped as she grabbed one of the pamphlets and began flipping through it. "It's no wonder I've never read about them."

"Only the super rich and powerful wizards have them," Ophelia said. "I think that there's even some passed down through pureblood families."

"Passed down? As in they're treated like some family heirloom and not an actual living creature?"

"Not even like a family heirloom!" Hermione responded. "They're treated with more respect than house elves are."

"You said it was just a Sickle right?" Adeline asked as she went rummaging through her coins purse. "A Sickle to join?"

Hermione beamed, as this was the first person who actually seemed interested in S.P.E.W. and wasn't joining just to shut her up. Adeline happily picked up one of the badges in the middle of the table and pinned it to her uniform, the pale yellow color standing out against the dark blues, greys, and blacks of her uniform.

Once it was secure on her sweater, Adeline turned her and looked expectantly at her best friends. "Well aren't you guys joining too?"

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The Gryffindor Common Room was, per usual, bustling with activity later that night. While Fred and George were bent over one of the tables, talking about Weasley Wizard Wheezes and how to get their money back from Ludo Bagman, Hermione was trying to convince the pair for what had to be the fifteenth time that week to join her organization.

"Like we said, we're not joining S.P.E.W.," George told her with an eye roll. "Has anyone actually joined your group willingly?"

Hermione smiled smugly. "Adeline joined this afternoon."

Fred rolled his eyes as George walked over and begrudgingly pressed a Sickle in a smirking Hermione's hand.

"Can you just ask her out already?" Fred questioned when George was sitting back down at the table again. "I've had to deal with you enough this past summer swooning over all those letters, and I don't want to deal with you freaking out because your hands just happened to brush in one of Hermione's S.P.E.W. meetings."

"I don't do that!" George protested.

"So you're saying you didn't keep a shoebox under your bed with all her letters in it–"

"How the hell do you know about that–"

"And you're telling me you didn't spend nearly half of the summer learning how to knit with Mum just so you could give Adeline something for her birthday?"

"What if I just wanted to pick up a new hobby?"

"Do you two ever shut up?" Ophelia hissed from a nearby table, throwing a crumpled up piece of parchment at Fred's head and causing Lee to snort with laughter beside her. "I'd like to play a game of Exploding Snap with my wonderful friend Lee here without getting interrupted by you two knuckleheads."

"I think our conversation is wonderful, thank you very much," Fred shot back, throwing the ball of parchment back at Ophelia's head. "I thought you'd even be interested in, considering I'm teasing Georgie here about how he's so mad for your best mate that he knitted her a hat for her birthday."

"He knitted her a hat?"

"He knitted her a hat," Fred confirmed, causing George to smack him in the arm, embarrassed yet furious that he had brought that up in front of everyone.

"And Adeline's convinced you don't fancy her," Ophelia muttered before turning back to her game with Lee, ignoring all of George's questions as to what Adeline felt about him.

Fred stood up and clapped him on the back before tugging George up by the collar of his uniform. "Now, come on, Georgie," Fred teased. "Lets get back you up to the dorm before you make even more of a fool of yourself. Which...I'm not entirely sure whether that's even possible at this point."

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a/n:

hi guys!!

i'm so sorry for the delayed update. i've been stuck with a lil bit of writers block for this book for the past couple of days and – combined with some not-so-fun writers block and a really busy school week – this update ended up being really delayed. i have all the chapters of this book planned out it's just?? getting them into writing can be crazy weird.

this chapter ended up being a lil short, but i hoped you enjoyed it!! have a lovely day and i'll see you all at the next update!!

- g ♡